A mask won’t protect you.

The day I decided to devote the rest of my life to teaching Torah to Christians happened because of a life-changing incident. It wasn’t a burning bush, a shofar blast, or an angelic visitation. It was a conversation with the Associate Pastor of a beautiful North Dallas church. He told me there is never a reason for a Christian to read the “Old Testament”. I asked, “Not the beauty of the Psalms, the Wisdom of Proverbs, David and Goliath, none of it?” He replied that it was “old” and “done away with”. If a Christian simply reads the red-letter words of Jesus, he will “be just fine”. I replied, “Done away with? You realize the ten commandments are in the Torah, right?” Crickets.

That’s the day I realized this belief was not only spiritually lazy but also dangerous. And far more pervasive than one shepherd in a church. It was the beginning of a cycle that repeated throughout the Hebrew scriptures with dire consequences.

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.” Hosea 4:6

The greatest threat to God’s people has never been the nations around them. It has been forgetting the Word that was given to them. That theme runs throughout the entire Tanakh. Israel forgot and then slowly drifted away. Israel suffered. Then they remembered, were restored to sanity, and returned. That lesson has never changed.

Whether Jew or Christian, the danger is not merely rejecting Scripture. The greater danger is assuming we know it when we no longer read it.

Many Christians have neglected the Hebrew Scriptures in favor of the New Testament. Many Jews are culturally Jewish but have never seriously studied Torah, the Prophets, or the Poetic Books. Different communities. Same danger. Biblical illiteracy.

“Therefore, My people are in captivity for lack of knowledge. Their honorable men are famished, and their multitudes parched with thirst.” Isaiah 5:13

Neither prophet’s warning is aimed at outsiders. They are aimed at God’s own people. Whenever God’s people neglect His Word, captivity follows. That was true for ancient Israel. It can be true for both modern Jews and Christians.

In fact, Hosea and Isaiah were speaking to covenant people who already possessed the Scriptures. Their problem wasn’t access. Their problem was neglect. Knowledge is not presented as a luxury. It is presented as a matter of survival. The captivity came before the chains. The people first became captive in their minds, their values, their actions, and their understanding of God. The physical captivity merely followed. That spiritual truth is highly relevant today.

Neither prophet says: “My people are destroyed for lack of passion, worship, programs, or good intentions.” They say, “for lack of knowledge.” We can be sincere and still be ignorant. We can be religious and still be oblivious. We can even believe we know God while becoming increasingly unfamiliar with His Word.

There is a false sense of security in simply “showing up” at church or synagogue. Many Jews have a menorah, yet can’t tell you the Parasha for that week. Many Christians have a fish on their car. But can’t find the Book of Ruth unless they go to the Table of Contents. The lack of Biblical literacy in the faith world today is astonishing.

In the days of King Josiah, the Book of the Law was rediscovered in the Temple (2 Kings 22). God’s Word had become so neglected that finding it was a national event. When it was finally read aloud, Josiah tore his clothes because he realized how far the nation had drifted.

That story feels surprisingly modern. Many homes contain multiple Bibles. Most phones have Bible Apps. Many believers can quote their favorite verses. Yet relatively few have read the entire Torah, the Prophets, or even the whole Bible from beginning to end. The result is often a faith built on fragments rather than the full counsel of God. We can possess a Bible, attend services, celebrate holy days, keep kosher, and still be starving spiritually. That is precisely the tragedy Hosea and Isaiah confronted, and it may be one of the greatest challenges facing both Jews and Christians today. People can even believe they know God while becoming increasingly unfamiliar with His Word.

The Torah Is Not Merely Information. It Is A Matter Of Spiritual Life And Death.

The Torah was never intended simply to be read. It was meant to be meditated upon, discussed, taught to children, spoken of at home, and carried into daily life (Deuteronomy 6). Knowledge of Scripture is relational. To “know” God means more than knowing facts about Him. It means walking with Him, understanding His expectations, and realizing that “covenant” is more than just a Biblical word. It is our lifeblood, our reason for being. And when Torah becomes unfamiliar, God often becomes distant.

How did God’s chosen people get to this point:

“For My people are foolish. They do not know Me. They are senseless children, and they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to do good they do not know.” Jer 4:22

Here are those two words again: “My people”. Rust grows over time. Weeds take over a field slowly. And the spiritual decline of a person, a household, or even a nation happens “here a little and there a little” (Isaiah 28:10)

Lack of knowledge leads to destruction (Hosea) and captivity (Isaiah).

Ignorance is never neutral. It’s serious business.

What we do not know about God eventually affects how we live before Him. Every generation is only one generation away from biblical illiteracy. And every generation that forgets God’s Word eventually pays a price for that forgetfulness.

My message for you emerges directly from the Hebrew Scriptures and invites every reader to ask: “When was the last time I opened the Scriptures and truly sought to know the God who gave them?”

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105

Somehow, the spiritual journey feels safer when we have a guide. And that map is God’s word. All of it.