For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
—Habakkuk 2:14
In the last session, we brought up the blessing of the promise that there will be a day when the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord’s glory. But there is also a promise that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord Himself! Listen to the similar words prophesied by Isaiah:
“They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea.”—Isaiah 11:9
There is coming a day when there will not be any more violence and destruction. Why? Because the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord. It’s a blessing alone to know the nations will acknowledge the glory of the Lord, but it gets even better knowing that the nations will know the Lord. I’ll briefly cover three points concerning the knowledge of the Lord:
- The Judgment of the Knowledge of the Lord
- The Outcome of the Knowledge of the Lord
- The Extent of the Knowledge of the Lord
The Judgment of the Knowledge of the Lord
Notice first that the spreading forth of the knowledge of the Lord is in itself the judgment for the violence. The Babylonians hated God. Many people hate God today. Violence continues to grow because of their hatred. There are Atheist groups today who boast that they’ve killed God. They can think that all they want, but boy they’re going to be in for a great surprise when they find themselves kneeling before that same God. As much as they try to squelch the teaching of the Bible and as much as they try to silence those who preach His word, there is coming a day when the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth. They can try all they want, but it is all in vain.
The Outcome of the Knowledge of the Lord
The earth will be filled with this knowledge. Isaiah 11:9 makes the connection between this knowledge and peace. Why will there be no more violence and destruction? Because everyone will know the Lord. Much of the violence we see in our world today is being committed by people who are simply acting upon their instincts, their carnal, sinful nature. In the words of Ephesians 2, the lost are “dead in trespasses and sins.” They are simply walking “according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2). In the first post I wrote on this woe of violence, I shared a video. If you missed it, you can view the video here. Again, I ask that you ignore the politics of the video for the sake of this Bible study. In the first few seconds, the video shows a news reporter standing in front of a building on fire just after an instance of rioting and looting, and the reporter says, concerning the rioting, “. . . it is not, generally speaking, unruly.” The reporter is literally standing in front of a burning building, and he is claiming everything is alright. These are the actions of a lost world, free to act upon their own desires apart from the knowledge of the Lord.
In this time of political unrest and uncertainty, it is easy for us to say that the problems we see can be fixed if the right person got in office. But that is simply not true. No worldly leader can fix today’s problems. They may paint the problems in a better light to make it seem as if it is not as bad as it appears. But the only true fix to today’s problem of violence is the knowledge of the Lord. Why don’t born-again believers riot and loot? Because they know the Lord who humbly suffered and submitted during his crucifixion. Don’t expect the violence of this present world to stop. As more and more people reject the Lord, expect the violence to wax worse and worse. I am thankful for that wonderful day I met the Lord. I know whom I have believed!
“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)” —Ephesians 2:4-5
The Extent of the Knowledge of the Lord
“as the waters cover the sea.”
Scientists estimate there to be 352 quintillion gallons of water in the ocean. That’s 352 with 18 zeros after it. That’s also about 332,500,000 cubic miles of water. The average depth of the ocean is about 12,500 feet (2.3 miles). If you were to somehow stand on the ocean floor 12,500 feet below the surface, there would be about 390 tons of water on top of you.
We are told that the knowledge of the Lord would fill the earth even as the waters cover the sea. Thankfully, we won’t have to be worried about being squished by 390 tons of the knowledge of the Lord, but the image that is portrayed tells us that this knowledge will saturate every part of our day-to-day life. After the Rapture and Tribulation, when the Lord Jesus Christ establishes His kingdom on a renewed earth, the knowledge of the Lord will be everywhere. Right now, God’s people are in a minority. Evolution is forced and shoved into our children from kindergarten to college. Though the sciences were advanced largely by Creation scientists, not too many Creation scientists are taken seriously anymore. God’s people have been silenced and ridiculed. But Brother, Sister, I’m taking a moment right now as I write this post to picture how things will be in the Millennium under the reign of Christ. Take a moment and picture it yourself. Each and every day in His kingdom, every single person you meet will know about the Lord. Every single person you talk to will delight in His creation. The theory of Evolution may be completely forgotten. It will just be common sense that Jesus Christ is the Lord God of the Universe. Praise be to the name of the Lord! Hallelujah!