The Man of Revelation and the Man of Academia: Two Trees, Two Fruits.

A message to the New Creation…

IThere is a man I saw, one deeply woven into academia, one who wears the garments of human credentials and makes his living debating the Bible. He is a PhD candidate, head of apologetics, a professional debater, a teacher of biblical history and Christianity, a traveler and producer of a  series on social media. A man fully interlaced with the systems and recognition of the world. As I watched, I felt the immediate contrast rise within me: I would rather have revelation than a degree. I would rather drink water from the living well than pick fruit from the counterfeit tree. I am not here to debate the Bible, I am here to demonstrate it. I am not here to defend something that is unassailable. I am not here to live powerless when I am embodied with the fullness of the Godhead at all times. And I see how the powerless look up to the powerless, credentials or not, clothed in academia or not, worldly achievements or not. In that moment I understood my position more clearly, that the divide is not between belief and unbelief, but between revelation and counterfeit knowledge, between the living well and the fruitless tree.

The Bible speaks of two trees. The tree of life, rooted in revelation, Spirit, and demonstration, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil, rooted in human wisdom, intellect, debate, and pride. From the beginning of creation these two trees have stood opposed, one bearing the fruit of eternal life, the other bearing fruit that leads to death. Psalm one declares that the blessed man is like a tree planted by streams of water, whose fruit does not wither. Genesis two and three show us the counterfeit tree, where Satan, in the form of the serpent, offered knowledge as a replacement for revelation. Yehoshua Himself declared that every good tree bears good fruit, but every bad tree bears bad fruit, and that by their fruit we will know them. These two roots still produce two types of people today, and their distinction is clear.

Yahweh has always chosen revelation over academia, Spirit over intellect, demonstration over debate. He raised up Moses not from the schools of Egypt but from a wilderness encounter with fire at the burning bush. David was not chosen because he was educated, credentialed, or impressive to men; he was chosen because of his heart, overlooked by his own father, yet anointed by Yahweh’s hand. Amos declared openly that he was not the son of a prophet nor trained in any prophetic guild, but simply a herdsman whom Yahweh plucked from the flock and commanded to prophesy. The apostles of Yehoshua were fishermen, tax collectors, craftsmen. Acts tells us that the rulers recognized them as untrained and uneducated men, yet they marveled because they could see that they had been with Yehoshua. Paul stands as the one exception, a Pharisee, a scholar, trained under Gamaliel, steeped in institutional authority—yet even Paul declared that all of his credentials were dung compared to the surpassing value of knowing Messiah Yehoshua. Yehoshua Himself, the cornerstone, revealed the truth to infants while hiding it from the wise and intelligent. The pattern is consistent, the blueprint unchanging.

Satan, on the other hand, has always chosen the academic counterfeit. He was the first debater in Eden, twisting revelation into endless questions: did God really say? He armed Pharaoh’s magicians to mimic Yahweh’s power with counterfeit enchantments. He raised up Goliath, clothed in heavy armor and worldly strength, only to be opposed and slain by a shepherd clothed in Yahweh’s name. He exalted the scribes and Pharisees, scholars who sat in Moses’ chair, yet were condemned by Yehoshua because they searched the Scriptures but refused to come to the One they pointed to. He empowered false teachers who blended the truth with human philosophy, who took men captive with empty deception and traditions of men. Satan dresses his vessels in wisdom, in credentials, in the garments of authority, but their fruit is dead. They look powerful, but they are powerless. They look authoritative, but their authority is counterfeit. They are the fruit of the counterfeit tree.

The man of revelation is different. He drinks from the living well and receives directly from Yahweh. From his innermost being flow rivers of living water, just as Yehoshua declared. He demonstrates the truth rather than defending it in endless debates. He walks in the fullness of Spirit, for in Yehoshua the fullness of Deity dwells bodily, and in Him we are made complete. He builds altars of demonstration, not arguments. The man of academia, by contrast, is always learning and never arriving at the truth. He exalts human wisdom above the Spirit. He appears clothed in knowledge but is hollow in Spirit. He builds arguments and institutions, but not altars. He is admired by the powerless, but remains powerless himself.

Yahweh chooses revelation over academia so that no flesh may glory in His presence. Paul said it clearly: God has chosen the foolish things to shame the wise, the weak things to shame the strong, the things that are not to nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before Him. Zechariah declared, not by might nor by power but by My Spirit, says Yahweh. Yehoshua promised that the Spirit Himself would be our teacher, not the institutions of men. Vessels of revelation are transformed into living demonstrations of His Word, their lives becoming proof without debate.

Satan chooses academia because it offers him the appearance of authority. He disguises himself as an angel of light, and so his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. He twists the Scriptures into endless debates so that the unassailable appears questionable. He blinds the natural mind so that spiritual truth seems foolish. He produces vessels who profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him. He dresses them in robes of scholarship, but inside they are dry cisterns. He makes them fruit polished on the outside but rotten with death on the inside.

I see now where I stand in this contrast. I stand with shepherds, fishermen, prophets, the overlooked, the ones Yahweh has always chosen. I stand aligned with His blueprint. I refuse the counterfeit tree of academia. I drink instead from the living well. I hear the testimony of Scripture: men of whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts, mountains, and caves. James reminds us that Yahweh has chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom. I stand among them. My contrast with the academic man is not a deficit but a confirmation. It is proof that I am aligned with the eternal blueprint, that Yahweh has chosen the foolish to shame the wise, the weak to shame the strong, the vessels of revelation to shame the vessels of debate. And the question, are they like me or like the man on YouTube, answers itself in Scripture.

This message is not aimed at a single man, but at a type. It is not a callout of an individual, but a call up to a generation. There is a distinction being drawn between the man of academia and the man of revelation, between the tree of life and the counterfeit tree, between vessels of Spirit and vessels of argument. This is written as a beacon for those who feel the calling I feel, those overlooked by institutions but chosen by revelation, those rejected by men but anointed by Yahweh. Romans reminds us that all of Scripture was written for our instruction. Revelation declares that we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. This is that testimony. It is a lighthouse shining into the night for those who are called, so that they may know that Yahweh chooses them, not the ones who exalt themselves.

And so I close with this: if you are called, you will feel it burn. If you are chosen, you will know the voice that bypasses debate and fills you with demonstration. Do not reach for the fruit of the counterfeit tree, do not drink from dry cisterns, do not clothe yourself in credentials that carry no life. Come instead to the living well. Stand with Yehoshua. Walk as the apostles walked. Speak as the prophets spoke. Live as the demonstration of the Godhead. Let the powerless debate among themselves, for you are called to be powerful. You are called to be filled. You are called to shine. This is the lighthouse. This is the beacon. This is the call to those who know that Yahweh has chosen them over those who hold themselves up.