I recall teachers saying to learners when I was at school … “Use your brains”. That saying is far more accurate than certain scientists saying … “The average person only uses 10% of their brain.” In an article, “medicalnewstoday.com” says:
“So how much of your brain do you actually use? If you’ve ever believed in the 10% brain myth, you might be surprised to learn that human beings use virtually every part of their brains. Moreover, over the course of an average day, humans use nearly 100% of their brains.”
medicalnewstoday.com
In another article, “verywellmind.com” says:
“The human brain is complex and mysterious. This may be why questions and misconceptions about how the brain works persist. Many people are curious about what percentage of our brain we use. The answer is all of it! How much of your brain you are using at any given time varies depending on what you are doing or thinking, but is not true that humans only use a small part of the brain’s power. The popular belief that we only use 10% of our brain leads people to speculate that how we could tap into a deep well of potential if only we could use our brain’s full capacity. But the only time certain regions of the brain are unused is when brain damage or disease has destroyed those areas.”
verywellmind.com
Although not a scientist, I would suggest that the brain, being a muscle is developed more and more as it is exercised more and more. When people go to a gym they build and develop muscle. The more they do so the more muscles are developed. Should they stop, those muscles, over time become flabby again. Exercising the brain would be using it in a variety of ways such as reading, studying, memorization, thinking through problems to reach understanding and answers. Anyone, from whichever background could develop the brain more and more or neglect the brain more and more. This is why education is so important. It is one thing to get through secondary education but once a person starts at tertiary level they learn many skills to collect, collate and store information. A progressive student will work at these skills throughout their lifetime. Some may attribute their brain capacity or usage greater than others, yet in reality through diligent development of the “brain muscle” they have collected, understood and stored information that is readily available for use. This by the way is the fundamental reason for studying and memorizing Scripture. Once understood and stored it may be recalled at any time, especially in the hour of temptation! Today we turn to Daniel chapter 12:4:
Dan 12:4 “But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.”
An immediate question could be … “how can one go here and there to increase knowledge and develop the brain to maximize its capabilities if the Divine Messenger tells Daniel to … close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end?” How can there be such an apparent contradiction within one verse? Let’s analyze the verse and prove there is no contradiction, neither are there any in all of the Bible.
1) Daniel is told to close up and seal the words of the scroll. These words of revelation from the Messenger are to be “closed up” … guarded, preserved and protected for the purpose of preservation … that is … “seal”. One commentator put it something like this (I paraphrase) … “The original documents are sealed and laid up in the archives (closed up), that it might be preserved for a future time, but the content will not remain secret as copies will be made for public use.” It seems as though this last revelation formed the conclusion to the Book of Daniel and as a whole Book it was “archived”, but also copied.
2) Daniel is told that the Book will be sealed up until the time of the end. His ministry has ended and the Book preserved until the Lord Jesus returns in all His glory from Heaven to judge the living and the dead and bring all things as we know them to be to an end! Just in case anyone still thinks this prophecy is about Antiochus … they are wrong … it’s about the second coming of Jesus. Although the Book of Revelation spans from the First to the Second coming of Jesus, Revelation contains similar prophecies to Daniel as both books are apocalyptic.
3) Daniel is told that “many will go here and there to increase knowledge”. Some people feel this means people will travel all over the world to the best universities to obtain knowledge. However, although these words are difficult to translate, the thrust of the verb means traveling all over the world to gain knowledge, but in vain! But note … this does not mean knowledge in the sense of secular education. 4) So, Daniel is told just what about knowledge? The key to the answer is that the original means “in vain” people will search all over the world for knowledge. This excludes secular knowledge which has been and will always be available. To understand this difficult phrase we need to look at:
Am 8:12 Men will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the LORD, but they will not find it.
What is told to Daniel does not necessary apply only to the end of time. It is a phenomenon throughout all ages. Because people reject the true God and because man was created to worship … man will run to every part of the world seeking the religious offerings available, but sadly, even though they experiment and even go further than that, their souls are never satisfied because they will not find the true God who gives real peace and tranquility. Without meeting the true God through His only means of revelation in Jesus Christ, no person will ever have true knowledge because they don’t know the true God. Naturally, this is mans’ own fault:
Ro 1:28 Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity.
The only way to recover lost knowledge is through a relationship with God:
Phil 1:9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
To Know God is to know Jesus as Lord and Savior. Without Jesus, there is no true knowledge.
Father thank You that Your Word is available to all who will believe and repent and receive Jesus Christ as Lord. Amen.