Recent News reports have announced that protesters have taken to burning copies of the Bible. Believe it, or not, Bible burning is nothing new. 2600 years ago, King Jehoiakim sat to listen as the prophesies of Jeremiah were read to him from a scroll. At the completion of each section, he took his penknife, cut off the text and incinerated it (Jer.36). But since God fulfilled every word of the Book of Jeremiah, his deed was futile. Two countries, North Korea and Saudi Arabia have made possession of Bibles illegal. A list of 52 countries is posted as being hostile, to one degree or another, toward Bible ownership, distribution or teaching of its message. Some scoff at the notion that governments would care about a book that they consider a fictional work, but a quick investigation of the countries concerned reveals that the authorities fear its impact upon their power-base. And so they should fear. The word of God is light that exposes evil, comfort to the sad and weary soul, and that which convicts the heart of sin. It is a library of 66 Books that is the Words of God in our very hands. To see people burning the Bible you are caused to pray, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!” But what must we pray when we see apathy and neglect of the scriptures? To neglect the Bible is to quench the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit cannot burn in the heart of someone who isn’t listening to his words. The Biblically illiterate Christian is defenceless against the devil. Tragically, for too long we have judged one another by each other’s standard when it comes to Biblical knowledge. We live in a Bible knowledge wasteland, where we are dying for lack of spiritual nourishment. May we again hunger and thirst for righteousness—it is only then that we will be spiritually satisfied.
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