Knowing What We Don't Know

Having studied our Scriptures for over 60 years, including studying them in Hebrew and Greek, there was a moment when I was talking with a young person and I told them that my opinion was better than theirs. They were initially furious at such a suggestion. In their mind, every opinion was of equal value. It was just an opinion. But, mine was different because I knew what I didn’t know. Their opinion was spoken as if it had the value of being close to fact. My opinion was, as I knew deep within myself, taking into account the variety of possibilities and the reasons why most of those were probably not true. Some were closer to possible than others, but where I was landing had the greatest likelihood of being true. My young friend didn’t know what they didn’t know. I was just reading about the Tower of Jericho. It is a building outside the present city of Jericho in Israel, and it is 10,000 years old. The tower’s walls are 5ft thick and it stands at 28ft tall. It is built with stones that weren’t shaped, just placed together with mortar and it has a staircase of 22 steps. For archaeologists, it marks a movement in the growth of civilization, but they are challenged at explaining what this was made for. It may have been a watch tower, for protection, or control (which are very different goals). One suggestion is that it may have been built to create awe. Another is that it was a project to bring people together, to enable community. One point in considering all this is to recognize that different people may suggest different purposes, but no one opinion stands above the rest, except for one thing. There were no known invasions of the area by anyone for the 30+ years of its construction, so the idea that it was meant for something other than protection or control starts to rise up. Knowing what we know and knowing what we don’t know is a basis for humility. Humility is the fear of the Lord and the fear of the Lord is the basis for wisdom and true knowledge. We don’t have to know everything, but when we know what we don’t know, it’s the wise person who uses their mouth to ask questions. Blessings, Geoff