[Note: This is the prepared text for a sermon given to The Dalles congregation of the United Church of God on Sabbath, November 18, 2023.]

What is the power of a teacher? I am aware that we do not, as Americans, tend to think of teachers as a particularly powerful profession. There are several interrelated reasons for this. For one, America has a longstanding tradition that views teachers as a pretty low-status profession that is generally held by those who were not very good in school, at a par with those going into social work, and both professions tend to be paid accordingly at fairly low levels. We have sayings in the United States that those who can do, and those who can’t teach. These sorts of sayings do not reflect a high degree of respect for the teaching profession. In addition to this, Americans have a wide tradition of seeking knowledge through self-directed means. If we want to educate ourselves, our instinct is to seek books or how-to-videos to teach ourselves how to accomplish some task, not to seek after a teacher to instruct us. We pride ourselves on being self-taught, and those people whose living it is to teach are, unless they teach more advanced subjects or show an obvious and high degree of knowledge, are simply not viewed with all that much respect. All that said, though, when we look at the Bible, it is our job to look beyond our own cultural background and prejudices and to consider what the Bible has to say about the power of a teacher, and what do we find there? In addition to answering that question in the remainder of this message, I also hope to point out why this is relevant to us, and why it is important that we think of teaching connected with power and related ideas like authority and responsibility.

One of the most interesting discussions of teaching is also the most subtle. Let us turn in our Bible to Acts 18:24-28. Here we have a short passage that relates to the ministry of the Apostle Paul in Corinth. Acts 18:24-28 reads: “Now a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only the baptism of John.  So he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.  And when he desired to cross to Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him; and when he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace; for he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.”

As far as incidents in teaching go, this is a small one but an important one for several reasons. Apollos was obviously a talented and eloquent speaker, but when he began his life as a public orator and teacher of God’s ways, his knowledge was obviously defective in that he knew only of the baptism of John and not the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Rather than shame him or embarrass him in public, the husband and wife team of Aquilla and Priscilla (in which Priscilla’s name is usually mentioned first in the Bible, suggesting that she had the higher status of the two in Roman eyes, which is itself a complicated matter), gave him private instruction about those aspects of God’s ways that he did not know. This man and woman taught Apollos what he did not know, rather than insulting his lack of knowledge or undercutting his obvious zeal for God’s ways, and to his credit Apollos was grateful for the instruction, as there is no resentment shown here by Apollos for needing to learn more about God’s ways in order to be a more effective speaker. As a result of this increased knowledge gained through the instruction by Priscilla and Aquila, Apollos was qualified to teach believers and to refute the fallacious reasoning of unbelievers in Corinth through a thorough knowledge of the Bible and its references to Jesus Christ, and was able to serve as a more effective servant of God’s people.

We can see this as an instance of the power of teaching in a single encounter of a single learner, but what larger body of educational insight about teaching and its power does the Bible have? Let us turn now to Ephesians 4:11-16. This is a familiar passage, or at least it should be, in looking at the purposes of various works of service within the Church of God, but I want to focus on the role of teaching that is described here. Ephesians 4:11-16 reads: “And He [that is Jesus Christ] Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”

Let’s break down this passage and explore the power of teaching that is discussed here. Jesus Christ has appointed various offices, various tasks to be filled within the church, and all of those are obvious positions of power and authority to us with one exception, the last-mentioned office of teacher. In God’s church, people have proclaimed themselves as apostles, they have pointed to themselves as prophets, they have gloried in being evangelists and pastors and sometimes viewed themselves as being in a privileged place above other believers and even other ordained leadership as a result of having had these titles in one or another church organization. Yet what is described by all of these positions is the work of teaching. What is the job that Paul describes here for all of these offices, including that of teacher? It is not for the glory of the person who has these titles or fulfills these roles, but the focus is rather on what service and benefit is provided to the body of Christ through these people who have been so appointed.

And what are these servants of God and God’s people to do with their gifts and talents and offices and roles within the Church? Let’s point them out. First, the saints–that is, the believers as a whole–are to be equipped–taught-to engage in the work of ministry, of service. The goal of this instruction is not to puff up the leaders with pride and arrogance, but to build up the body of Christ. The goal of these offices is not to divide the Church into petty and feuding organizations where people fight over titles and prestige and seek their own authority, but is instead to further the unity of the faith and to bring people to a perfect and mature knowledge of the fulness of Christ. We are supposed to develop maturity and not to remain as immature children who are easily led astray by the deceitful plotting of others or confused and scattered by every wind of false doctrine. We are to hear and speak the truth in love, and are supposed to help each other grow in grace and knowledge so that we can all do our part and grow as a body as a whole. It is important for us to realize that the power of a teacher that the Bible presents is not power over others, but the power of imparting knowledge to encourage growth of God’s church, so that those who hunger and thirst after God’s ways may be filled, and that the truth of God’s ways spoken in love can help us to grow as believers, increasing our knowledge of God’s ways and our understanding of what God tell us in His Word that we may no longer be vulnerable to deception. This is a tall order.

Nor is this the only place in the Bible where power and authority are connected to teaching and instruction. Let us turn to another passage from the writings of Paul, Romans 10:14-15a. This short passage asked a set of rhetorical questions that point to God’s own goal in providing people to preach–and teach–God’s ways to others 10:14-15a reads: “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?” We may better understand how this process works if we reverse the process. God wants people to believe in Him, she sends people out to preach. The goal of these people is to preach so that others may hear of God’s ways, and believe what they hear, and believe in God and call upon Him. This is part of the power of a teacher, in that those whom we teach come to the same knowledge of God and the same faith in God that we ourselves possess. Knowledge, in the eyes of God, is not something to be hoarded, but rather something to be given generously. Every teacher is, at least potentially, a teacher of teachers.

The idea that God does not expect people to come to an understanding through their own reading of the Bible unmediated without teaching and instruction is something we find throughout the Bible, but two examples should suffice. For the first example, let us turn to the book of Acts, in Acts 8:26-40. Acts 8:26-40 gives us the story of Philip the deacon and the Ethiopian eunuch, and it is a familiar enough story, but one that is vital to the discussion of teaching in the Bible. It reads: “Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert.  So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet.  Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.” So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.  The place in the Scripture which he read was this: “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so He opened not His mouth. In His humiliation His justice was taken away, and who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.” So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?”  Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.  Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.  Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea.”

There are a lot of miraculous aspects of divine intervention going on here, from the angel of God telling Philip where to go to the Holy Spirit catching Philip away from the eunuch and bringing him to another place. At the core of this story, though, is a very simple truth. The eunuch, a man of great authority himself within the Kingdom of Meroe, which is in the present-day nation of Sudan, was reading a striking passage in the Bible and it was not obvious enough for him to understand it by virtue of his reason and intellect alone. We read this passage and instantly understand that the sin-bearing sacrificial servant of whom it speaks is Jesus Christ, but we understand that not because we are so much smarter inherently than the African believer was, but because we have been so taught. Once Philip taught him about Jesus Christ, he was ready to commit to a belief in Christ and baptism to publicly identify as a Christian, and that baptism was forthcoming. The expectation of Acts, though the details are not given, is that the eunuch returned to his own service of his Queen in Meroe and himself served as an example of God’s ways and as someone who was equipped to teach others who knew of the scriptures and believed in them, which would further the growth of God’s knowledge and a body of believers in that land.

The second example of the pivotal importance of teaching comes from the Old Testament. In Nehemiah 8:1-12, we have a moving example of teaching that occurred on the Feast of Trumpets during the time when both Ezra and Nehemiah were serving together. Nehemiah 8:1-12 reads: “Now all the people gathered together as one man in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate; and they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men and women and all who could hear with understanding on the first day of the seventh month. Then he read from it in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate from morning until midday, before the men and women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. So Ezra the scribe stood on a platform of wood which they had made for the purpose; and beside him, at his right hand, stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Urijah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah; and at his left hand Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam.  And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up.  And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. Then all the people answered, “Amen, Amen!” while lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law; and the people stood in their place.  So they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading. And Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn nor weep.” For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law. Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, “Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved.”  And all the people went their way to eat and drink, to send portions and rejoice greatly, because they understood the words that were declared to them.”

While we tend to think of the great leaders like Ezra as being the teachers of Israel, it is worthwhile to know that this book helpfully names a great deal of the more obscure people who helped Ezra to teach the returned captives in Jerusalem, and it gives some idea of the specific tasks that were involved in this teaching. Ezra himself read out from morning until noon, which is far longer than even I tend to go on for in these messages. But he was reading from the Word of God in Hebrew, and at this time and for centuries afterwards, the Jewish people did not speak Hebrew as their regular language, for they had acquired Aramaic as their native language during their captivity under Babylon and during their time in the Persian Empire, and so it was necessary for teachers–some of whom are named here–to read distinctly from the Bible, to give the sense, and to help them to understand the reading, even though Aramaic is a close language to Hebrew. Some sort of translation and interpretation was necessary for the words of God to be understood by the believers there who were not fully able to read and understand the Bible on its own. The sort of teaching that was required, to make the teachings of the Bible plainly understood to those who did not fully understand the nuances of the Hebrew scriptures, remains an important aspect of teaching God’s ways to this day.

Having seen, at least briefly, the continued importance of teaching that is reflected throughout the Bible, let us turn our attention to some of the critical comments the Bible sometimes makes with regards to the relationship between believers and the title of teacher. While these passages may first appear to be intension with each other, when we examine them together, we get a good picture of the tension that often exists in the New Testament in particular between those who sought the power of being a teacher with the importance and expectation of longtime believers being teachers of others rather automatically. Let us first turn to Matthew 23:1-12. Matthew 23:1-12 serves as part of the excoriating criticism that Jesus Christ had for the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees, and part of that had to do with the question of the identity of being called a teacher. It reads: “Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.  Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.  For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.  But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.  They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’  But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.  Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.  And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.  But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Though this is a harsh judgment on those who seek glory for themselves through titles, and though people nowadays, at least not in the United States, tend to seek after the title of teacher as bringing a huge amount of earthly glory and power, the point of this passage is easy enough to understand. Jesus Christ is our teacher, through the instruction of the Holy Spirit as well as the guidance of those whom He has appointed as teachers. Those who teach serve God and His people, not their own selfish interests. And even when we teach according to the Bible, our example remains important. It is very easy to know the truth and to tell others the truth, and much harder to live according to the truth and practice the truths that we preach. Let’s keep this in mind because it is a major aspect of the problem that we find in our next passage that involves the cautions about the ambition for seeking the title of a teacher.

We next find a caution about not seeking the title of a teacher in James 3:1-2. James 3:1-2, coming in the middle of this book full of challenging yet practical advice, tells us: “My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.  For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.” James’ advice is worth taking into consideration. James warns us that those who seek after authority and titles face a greater judgment because we all struggle as people and having more power and influence over others makes us accountable for the example that we set, and not only for the teaching that we provide through our words.

Having said this, though, there are expectations about teaching that are present whether or not we seek after a title. Hebrews 5:12-14 reminds us of the other side of being a teacher, and that is that we are expected to be able to turn decades of faithfulness to God into being able to instruct others. Hebrews 5:12-14 says: “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.  For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.  But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” Those who have spent many years in the Church are expected to have progressed beyond the basics, and be able to teach others what they know.

What do we get when we put these passages that show a warning not to seek the title of teacher for ourselves, remind us that those who are teachers will have a greater judgment because we will be held accountable not only our teaching but also for our example, and that show that to the extent that we have a great deal of knowledge as a result of having read, studied, and been taught God’s ways for years that we are expected to teach others in turn? What we end up getting is a somewhat complex picture where we are cautioned not to be ambitious for titles, but told that when we have received God’s generous gift of knowledge, that knowledge is not merely for ourselves to hoard and to use as a source of pride, but it is to be shared with others. God’s gifts to us give us obligations. Where we have been richly blessed, our duties to serve others are to be found. This deals with teaching specifically when we look at those who have obviously been gifted with knowledge of God’s ways, abilities in teaching others, certain skills like having a good memory as well as speaking and/or writing abilities, and the like. These gifts are not for our own glory, but create an expectation that we will develop these gifts and practice using them to serve for others for God’s glory and for His purposes.

We began this discussion of the warnings and expectations that come to teachers with a discussion about the Pharisees, and it is worthwhile to turn once more to them because Jesus Christ’s harsh attitude to the way that they taught and to the content of their teachings has a lot to do with the subject at hand and is a solemn reminder to us of the power of and the importance of teachers within the biblical worldview. The Pharisees give us a negative example of teachers, but it is still an important lesson for us to learn nonetheless. We have already seen that the Pharisees were held as a negative example to believers in that we should not seek the sorts of titles that they sought in order to make themselves out to be people of great power and influence within society as a whole, but it goes far deeper than that.

In order to see this, let us turn once again to Matthew 23:13-22 and continue the warning against the scribes and Pharisees that we discussed earlier. Matthew 23:13-22 reads: ““But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’  Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.’  Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.  He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.”

There are several things that we can learn from this rather harsh passage. For one, the scribes and Pharisees, for as much as they prided themselves on their knowledge and education, were not by and large followers of God’s ways or people whose lives were obedient to God. They were not, as Jesus said, entering God’s kingdom. They were not a part of the firstfruits, by and large. And by their authority and their attitude towards God’s ways and God’s people, they actively hindered people from entering into the kingdom. We see this problem even today, in the way that the Talmud and the prestige that unbiblical Jewish traditions and the attitude of the Pharisees in appointing themselves teachers of God’s ways without God having anointed them for that purpose have long been problems for those who have desired to follow God’s ways. In addition, we see that they taught others to be like themselves, and were very zealous in trying to create disciples, whom Jesus harshly calls sons of hell, rather than children of God. In addition to this, we can see that the Pharisees had a complicated relationship to the temple, in that they did not regard the altar, at which Levites made offerings, but were very interested in the gifts on the altars, gifts which they greedily sought for themselves. Let us note that the Pharisees were not of either the priesthood of Levi through Aaron nor were they of the priesthood of Melchizedek like Jesus Christ. They were self-appointed leaders who sought the power to teach others according to their own unbiblical traditions, many of which remain Orthodox Jewish dogma in the Talmud that remains the Pharisees’ religious project.

It is to two of these unbiblical traditions that we can now turn, because they help to demonstrate what the Pharisees were trying to do. Fortunately, both of them can be found in the same passage, in Mark 7:1-23. This is a long passage and I will read the entire passage and then explain it part by part and show that what we think are two unrelated traditions are in fact connected both to each other as well as the power of the teacher that the Pharisees were seeking to usurp from those whom God had given that authority to. Mark 7:1-23 reads: “Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem.  Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault.  For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders.  When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches. Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?” He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.” He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.  For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’  But you say, ‘If a man says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban”—’ (that is, a gift to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.” When He had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear Me, everyone, and understand:  There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man.  If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!” When He had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable.  So He said to them, “Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?”  And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man.  For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.  All these evil things come from within and defile a man.””

Let us begin to analyze this passage with a question? Why is it that the Pharisees were so concerned with washings, not only of their own hands and forearms but also of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches? It is by no means a bad thing to be interested in cleanliness, but the Pharisees went far beyond that, with elaborate washings that were focused on ceremonial cleanliness. What was the point of this elaborate washing? As a point of fact, the Pharisees viewed themselves as being priests of God, and thus their washings were to mark themselves–and those who washed like they did–as being engaged in priestly service, and since they perceived Jesus Christ and His disciples of being religious leaders like they were, demanded that they act in the way that priests did when they were engaged in the service of the temple on an ordinary basis as the Pharisees did. This is nowhere commanded in the Bible, and God, as we noted earlier, had never ordained or appointed the Pharisees to be religious authorities at all. Their titles were chosen by themselves, awarded among themselves, and had no genuine authority from God. We normally examine this passage in the context of clean and unclean meats, because there are people who, like the Pharisees, seek to circumvent God’s laws and ways and consider themselves to be self-appointed authorities on God’s word, use this passage to try to deny the validity of the laws concerning clean and unclean meats, which have nothing to do with this passage. Indeed, by their hostility to God’s laws and ways and by their desire to misinterpret the Bible according to their own evil desires to partake that of which God forbids us to, they enter into the same condemnation that God gave the Pharisees here and elsewhere for being self-appointed authorities whose manmade traditions were viewed as being more important than the commandments of God.

After the discussion of washings, we come to another example that seems to us to be an unrelated subject, that of the tradition of Corban, wherein the Pharisees and their disciples were taught to tell their parents that the obligations to honor our parents and to help them and support them in their old age were null and void because everything that they had was already dedicated to the service of God. This too is related to the way that the Pharisees viewed themselves as being priestly religious authorities who, like the corrupt priests that they were competing for power and influence with, were in the habit of multiplying property and riches for themselves while claiming that this was the blessing of God to His appointed leaders. God’s own attitude of it can be fairly understood by the fact that Jesus Christ condemned both the Pharisees and Sadducees for their greed, denied that the Pharisees were any sort of authorities that believers had to respect and regard altogether, and destroyed the temple that was the source of the power of the corrupt priesthood of the time.

It is easy for us to see how the Bible is harsh against the Pharisees and to avoid looking at the larger lessons that were involved here. Jesus’ criticism of the Pharisees and his pointing out of their hypocrisy was not a personal attack on the Pharisees. Some individual Pharisees, including Paul, later came to believe in Jesus Christ and worship Him and did enter into the congregation of the righteous. When the Pharisees came to be, many of the priests had neglected the teaching of the law for decades, and the Pharisees stepped into the gap and sought to provide religious instruction for the ordinary people of the people of Judah that were largely being neglected. And yet they did so without having been appointed to God, they held the scripture in too low of respect and esteem, and they sought the same titles and wealth and influence that the corrupt priesthood of the day had. Yet when we look at the Pharisees, we ought to see that the same temptation that the Pharisees had is an easy one for us to fall into. We can see the failures of human authorities within institutions and seek to fill the void ourselves and seek power and titles for ourselves without having received any particular anointing by God, or having built the humble attitude that allows us to wield power and authority without being corrupted by it. The self-righteous hypocrisy of the Pharisees is a trap that we all can fall into if we are not careful and if we are not engaged in rigorous reflection and an attitude that is quick to repent to God when our own weaknesses and struggles are brought to our attention.

Let us now close with a look at a few more scriptures in the Bible that deal with the subject of teaching and its importance to God and its relevance to us. First, let us look at a prophetic passage in Isaiah 30:18-21. Isaiah 30:18-21 reads: “Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him. For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you. And though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, but your eyes shall see your teachers. Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.” It is worthy of note that when Isaiah speaks of the blessings of the Millennium and of the religious instruction that will be given to people, including the guidance of the way that they should follow in their daily lives, He calls those beings guiding the people of Jesus’ millennial kingdom teachers, where we normally would think of such people as kings or priests. That is how powerful a teacher is.

Let us turn to our final scripture with Proverbs 1:1-9. Proverbs 1:1-9 gives us a picture of teaching and instruction that we all ought to cherish, and it reads: “The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and instruction, to perceive the words of understanding, to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion—A wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel, to understand a proverb and an enigma, the words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. My son, hear the instruction of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother; for they will be a graceful ornament on your head, and chains about your neck.” The power of a teacher begins in the home, as Solomon points out that our first teachers are our parents, and a wise child grows up learning from his parents and later other teachers, so that he or she may become wise themselves. Godly wisdom comes from obedience, but that obedience comes from being taught what way to follow and in listening to that instruction and heeding it.

The power of a teacher begins with the instruction that is given to children by their parents starting at a very young age, and it continues all the way into the Kingdom of God. Those who are given great knowledge by God are not to brag about that knowledge, and are not to use it to arrogantly seek titles and glory and power for themselves, but are to teach others by their words and by their example, so that God’s ways can spread throughout a world that would otherwise be greatly ignorant of His ways. To the extent that God has called us and we have responded to that call by seeking knowledge of His ways and seeking, as best as we are able, to practice those ways, we may find that we shift as we grow older from always being in the position of a student and a learner to being a teacher as well. Let us not seek the power of a teacher for our own selfish benefit, but to the extent that the responsibility has been placed on us, let us strive to honorably seek to learn God’s ways well enough that we may be fit to teach them to others, both now and in the world to come.