For various reasons, this week’s big news has been centered on this weekend’s Super Bowl. Many fans were shocked by the Eagles’ overwhelming performance, which Saw them dominate the powerhouse Kansas City Chiefs.
There was even more controversy over the halftime show. People had a lot of complaints about the brief 13-minute performance that overshadowed the 3 ½ hour game:
- Inaudible
- Too ghetto
- Not widely accepted
Lamar is known for being a brilliant award-winning creative; a week before the Super Bowl, he won 5 Grammys, including one for his diss track against the artist Drake. The well-choreographed show proved how well the artist planned and prepared for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Just like the halftime show, the football players had to train hard to prepare for the big game. When the Eagles players were asked how they were able to dominate the Kansas City Chiefs, they overwhelmingly replied how much time they spent preparing for the game. Being prepared is a big part of life (Proverbs 6:6-10.)
What Is Prepare
Being prepared is key to being successful in whatever we are attempting in life. Preparing properly can compensate for a lack of skills, strength, and even numbers. Prepare is defined as, “To make ready beforehand for some purpose or activity; put in a proper state of mind.”
There is nothing in life we don’t need to prepare for. The Bible tells us that we need to be prepared for the next life and whatever God has for us (Hebrews 11:7, Revelation 2:11.)
Growing up in the South, I remember hearing the cliché that this life is preparation for Heaven. How we live, treat others and what we say is preparation for wherever you we will spend eternity.
The Bible teaches God’s people to be prepared for hardships, and trials and explain our hope (John 16:33, Romans 5:3-5, James 1:2-4, 1 Peter 4:12-1. 1 5.) And most importantly, we need to be prepared for the end of this temporary life and the return of our true Savior Jesus (Matthew 24:42, John 14:3, Romans 13:11-14, 1 Corinthians 15:52, Colossians 2:8, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 2 Timothy 4:2, Titus 2:3.)
The Apostle Paul remembered his Jewish education about the need for and how to prepare.
Kûn
Thousands of years before Israel became a nation, God called for His people to be set apart from the world and its selfish ways (Leviticus 19:2, Deuteronomy 7:6.) God’s people had to be disciplined and prepared to be His holy people (Deuteronomy 6:6-9; 11:18-21, Joshua 1:8, Psalm 119:11, Proverbs 3:1-2.)
God’s people still lived in sinful bodies and had sinful ways and needed to be educated and trained in the ways of God. The Hebrew word in the Old Testament for prepare is kûn and it can also mean, “Establish, direct, arrange, order, ready, or to set up,” depending on the context it was used in.
Judaism teaches God’s people to prepare themselves for religious services, prayer, meals, and holidays because God should be their focus at all times (Exodus 29:4-9, Leviticus 8:6-13, 2 Chronicles 29:15-19.)
God gave His people ordinances to follow to prepare for service to Himself. There were sacrifices to prepare and cleanse oneself of sin. All of these services and ceremonies had to be taught to God’s people.
So they developed a system to teach and train God’s people to prepare to serve God and how to be different from the rest of the world. Below are the three main stages of the Jewish education system:
- Bet Sefer
- Bet Talmud
- Bet Midrash
The New Testament fulfills Jewish prophecy about John the Baptist preparing the way of the Lord (Psalm 5:8, Isaiah 26:17, Jeremiah 21:9, Matthew 3:3.) Keep in mind, that John the Baptist was preaching to the people of God from the wilderness of Judea, not the Gentiles to return to the ways of God because the Messiah had come and would deliver them from this life and Rome.
Jesus fulfilled the role of the Messiah as a Teacher (Deuteronomy 18:18, Isaiah 28:29; 61:1-3.) The New Testament writers repeatedly called Jesus a teacher (Matthew 4:23, Luke 6:40, John 3:2; 13:13.)
As a Jewish Rabbi (teacher) Jesus taught His Disciples through the common teaching tool of parables to help them understand the ways of God and to prepare them for the Kingdom of God (Matthew 13:1-55, Mark 4:10-12, Luke 20:9; 21:29.)
The parable of the Good Samaritan tackles numerous social issues that are close to God’s heart: loving our neighbor, caring for the least of these, caring for the foreigner in the land, and loving your enemy. Jesus often rebuked the religious leaders of His day because they had failed to prepare themselves for the Kingdom of God (Matthew 23:1-17.)
The parable of the ten virgins expressed the need to be prepared for the Lord’s return and the parable of the servants emphasizes the need to be faithful with what we’ve been given. As does the parable of the talents, these parables were part of a rabbinic teaching process.
Education Department
Yesterday, President Trump voiced his approval of shutting down the education department as proposed in Project 2025. First, it wasn’t long ago that the president declared that he had nothing to do with the controversial hostile takeover of our government, particularly the education department.
President Trump knows the importance of education, but he wants to dictate what is being taught in our schools. For over a century the education department has helped prepare our children for life and college. Education can be a factor between being successful and being held back economically in this world.
If you’ve watched the show Squid Games, you’ve seen the ideology that the rich are entertained by the struggles and hardships of the less fortunate. This social injustice imagery was replicated in Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show. It was the performer’s way of making a bold political and social statement against the higher echelon of America. Success when handled properly can do a lot of good, but when abused, both education and success can produce evil results:
- Greed
- Deception
- Abuses of power
However, the symbolism was lost on many Americans because they weren’t familiar with the show or the culture many who are struggling must endure. Here we see why education and knowledge are important, even in the entertainment industry.
The prophet Hosea rebuked God’s people for their lack of knowledge, but it wasn’t because they lacked worldly knowledge, but because they preferred it over the knowledge of God’s Word and His ways (Hosea 4:6.)
God’s people had forsaken their love for God and turned to idols and earthly greatness. It is the prophet’s job to help God’s people kûn!
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