Danny Hickman

There's a tendency today to imagine that the people of scripture were "bible" aficionados; it's as if they knew the Word! I think not!

Do a study today; ask the average person whether there's a book of the bible called 'the book of Moses' and their eyes start to roll around in their head! Regular church attendees don't fare much better. This, and the bible is a well distributed publication. I say it that way because it's much more than a book these days.

Church members have bible apps they open at 9:00 on Sunday morning, and doesn't open it again until 9 AM the following Sunday.

I know I'm generalizing, but okay. I understand why people don't bible study. That's a topic for another time. I'm trying to point out that if people have access to the scriptures the way we do today, and the scriptures are largely ignored by the average person, what makes us believe that the average person knew the scriptures before there was anything in print? Typically, they did not know the Word.


They knew of the wilderness years of Israel; they knew of King David; they had heard talk of a coming Messiah; that kind of thing. They had heard about animal sacrifice, etc. But I don't think they could retell prophecy.

There are people today who have heard the term, 'Daniel in the lions den,' but most can't tell you why he was put in it; or who was king when it happened. Many church members get that one wrong!

Jesus' contemporaries didn't know the details of the scriptures! Same as now!

September 01 2023 • Report