How Is It That You Do Not Understand?

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Revelation 2:29

How tragic and sad it is to continually hear the Word of God and not discern the message and lesson the Spirit is saying to the church.

This scenario happens all too often in the house of God, and as a result, the door is open for the enemy to deceive and defeat the saints of God in the midst of trials. It is paramount to hear the message, discern the lesson, and make the appropriate application mixed with faith and prayer (Hebrews 4:2; St. Luke 18:1).

The Pharisees tried to tempt Jesus “seeking of him a sign from heaven” (St. Mark 8:12). Undoubtedly, because of their unbelief, they wanted Christ to authenticate His deity by stooping to their fleshly desires and wishes. Jesus knowing their intention quickly tells them that no sign would be given to their generation. Christ being the master teacher seized the opportunity to warn His disciples to take heed and beware of the “leaven” of the Pharisees. The disciples misunderstood thinking Jesus was speaking about natural bread as they didn’t bring sufficient with them. They failed to remember and understand the miraculous feeding of the multitude with bread available only for one person; nor could they distinguish leaven as having a far greater spiritual truth and significance. Although being with Jesus daily and hearing Him teach using parable after parable, the term leaven totally eluded them as they disregarded the spiritual implication of His caution and they could only comprehend with their natural mentality. Jesus being frustrated by their lack of spiritual discernment asked the question, “how is it that ye do not understand” (Mark 8:21)?

Christ referenced the doctrine of the Pharisees as leaven. Hearing and accepting false doctrine is as eating a steady diet of junk food that will only result in any number of health issues causing the body to deteriorate. As such, false doctrine is palatable but is detrimental to the spirit man, ending in spiritual death.

God continually speaks to His church through His anointed servants. The message must at all times be heard and spiritually discerned. Scripture clearly exhorts, “and with all thy getting get understanding” (Proverbs 4:7c) Further, it is imperative that every message heard must be hidden in the hearts of God’s people (Psalm 119:11), meditated upon (1 Timothy 4:15), and remembered from time to time (Hebrews 2:1) as God reveals “all things that pertain to life and godliness” (I Peter 1:3).

Too, consciously remembering previous messages and connecting their central themes grants an increased perspective of what God is doing in the lives of His people and even the church at large. Without pursuing deliberately the necessary action tasks of understanding and remembering the precious words of life, which are able to deliver and give victory, the message will fall short of its intended purpose.