PRE-EXISTING KNOWLEGE IMPACTS NEW HEARING

Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

What the serpent did in this encounter was why scripture used the word ‘crafty’ in describing it. Those seemingly harmless words captured in Genesis 3:1b, presented a conundrum to the woman and she now had another school of thought to consider. While it seemed like a helpful question at the time, it triggered a cascade of events that has had long lasting impact.

Thus, we realise that ‘Hearing is always subject to interpretation’. So in many cases, it’s no so much about just what we hear, it is the spin we put on it; and this is influenced by our experiences with similar words, culture, timings and our expectations. So we see the serpent refer to the words God had already said, and the woman began putting her imagination to work since she had already seen the tree in question.

So hearing as we might think, does not always come to a blank canvas as with say an infant. Instead, it comes to minds furnished with pre-existing information. This serves as the platform for deciphering what is heard.

So here is the summary “what you already know will influence every new thing you hear’. While mental strongholds can make it difficult for new information to be absorbed, the goal of transformation is for upgraded and superior information to come in to replace preexisting intelligence.

#sly