There may be situations
where it is important to not tell all you know. We need
to learn when to keep our mouths shut. As much as we
may be anxious to share with people just how much we
know, sometimes things are better left unsaid! We do
not want to get ourselves into trouble by saying something
that should have gone unsaid. God can let you know when
to not tell all you know.
It is good to especially be aware of this principle
when we are sharing God’s Word. The Greek word
euangelizö is translated “preach
the Gospel” or “bring good tidings”
or “declare glad tidings.” Its basic meaning
is to teach well, but it does not mean you teach everything
you know. You share everything that is necessary, and
you do it well ? but you do not try to teach everything
you know. There is another Greek word, katangellö,
which means to fully teach, announce, or declare. Katangellö,
does imply a more thorough teaching of a subject where
one could teach all he knows. At times that is appropriate,
but not always.
Proverbs 17:28:
Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise:
and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.
It is very similar
to the current adage, “Better to be silent and
be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove
all doubt.”
Joseph’s dream: When God
gives you a word of knowledge it is just for you. Unless
you also get a word of wisdom to tell someone else,
you just keep it to yourself. It is the same with discerning
of spirits. Did God tell you? If He wants someone else
to know, He can tell them, too.
Genesis 37:3-11:
Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children,
because he was the son of his old age: and he made him
a coat of many colours. 4 And when his brethren
saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren,
they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him. 5 And Joseph dreamed a dream,
and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet
the more. 6 And he said unto them,
Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: 7 For, behold, we were binding
sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also
stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round
about, and made obeisance to my sheaf. 8 And his brethren said
to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou
indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet
the more for his dreams, and for his words. 9 And he dreamed yet another
dream, and told it his brethren, and said,
Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the
sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance
to me. 10 And he told it to his
father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked
him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou
hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren
indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? 11 And his brethren envied
him; but his father observed the saying.
These dreams were
not because Joseph had jalapenos before he went to bed.
These dreams were from God. They were revelation for
Joseph, but God never told him to tell them to his brothers.
If God had wanted his brothers to know He would have
told them Himself. Remember the account of Ananias and
Paul. God told Ananias to minister to Paul, and He also
told Paul that Ananias would be coming. God wanted them
both to know so He told Paul, and God told Ananias,
too. God also told Ananias to tell Paul to confirm it.
If God wants you to tell someone He will let you know.
Solomon exercised sound judgment in not telling
all he intended to do when deciding on the fate of a
young child.
I Kings 3:16-28.
Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the
king, and stood before him. 17 And the one woman said,
O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and
I was delivered of a child with her in the house. 18 And it came to pass the
third day after that I was delivered, that this woman
was delivered also: and we were together; there was
no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the
house. 19 And this woman’s
child died in the night; because she overlaid it. 20 And she arose at midnight,
and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid
slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child
in my bosom. 21 And when I rose in the
morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead:
but when I had considered it in the morning, behold,
it was not my son, which I did bear. 22 And the other woman said,
Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son.
And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the
living is my son. Thus they spake before the king. 23 Then said the king, The
one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is
the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the
dead, and my son is the living. 24 And the king said, Bring
me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. 25 And the king said, Divide
the living child in two, and give half to the one, and
half to the other. 26 Then spake the woman
whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels
yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give
her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the
other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide
it. 27 Then the king answered
and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise
slay it: she is the mother thereof. 28 And all Israel heard
of the judgment which the king had judged; and they
feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God
was in him, to do judgment.
Sometimes in addition
to not telling all you know, you may have to instruct
others to do the same. The instruction to “tell
no man” occurs nine times in the Gospels (Matthew
8:4; 16:20, 17:9; Mark 7:36; 8:30; 9:9; Luke 5:14; 8:56;
9:21). Jesus specifically told people to tell no man
when God directed him to do so.
Here are some other examples for you to check
out if you’d like:
David before Achish: (I Samuel 21:10-22:1)
Mary raising Jesus: (Luke 2:19,51)
Samson regarding his strength: (Judges
16:4-21)
The magi after seeing the young
child Jesus: (Matthew 2:1-12)
Obadiah hiding the prophets
from Jezebel: (I Kings 18:3,4.)
Paul not telling of his Roman
citizenship when he was thrown in jail:
(Acts 16:19-39)
