“At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes.” Matthew 11:25 (NKJV)
When Jesus spoke this strange sounding passage to His Father, He was also giving us some insight into how we come to a right understanding of the deeper content of scripture. The babes that Jesus refers to (ne’ pios) are not babies as we might think; they are the simple minded or immature, the unlearned, or unenlightened. Those who (then and now) were not given to, nor capable of, studying to comprehend the deep things of God contained in scripture, often received understanding through revelation. In contrast; those who were/are wise and capable enough, often disallowed the truths (or missed the truth altogether) contained in God’s word because it doesn’t fit their intellectual understanding. Proverbs 3:5-6 speaks directly to this, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
If indeed we trust in the Lord with all our heart, we will take His word by faith as well; this acceptance of God’s word coupled with a desire to know Him and His will results in obedience to the scripture that we are able to understand. This faithful obedience will result in revelation of wisdom and truth that can be attained in no other way. In Matthew 16:16-17 Peter receives revelation that Jesus said did not come from within Peter and could have come only from God.
This revelation comes to those who genuinely trust God and His word, who have determined to know God’s will, and are willing to study the bible in order to find it, and having found it, are obedient to all that is then revealed. Sincere obedience enables revelation, regardless of intellectual ability.
In all the thousands of years that theologians have poured over God’s word, and in the many thousands of books written, not one new fact about God has been discovered that is not revealed in His word. We simply have no way, other than revelation, to know anything about God; That said, we can all know all that we need to know in order to follow His will if we lean not on our own understanding.
