I BELIEVE IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND

 

 

We tend to think that there is something the matter with the Scriptures if a particular passage eludes or contradicts our understanding.

 

Israel often felt this way. God had promised to provide for them, but when hardships hit, their understanding of God ways and promises eluded them, and the rebelled. For example, when they were hungry or thirsty, they brought angry accusations against Moses and the Lord.

 

However, these trials were necessary. Moses explained:

 

·       “The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers. And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you. So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him.” (Deuteronomy 8:1-6)

 

Keeping Gods commandments had to come before understanding the “why” of the commandments. Israel had been like little children who, before all else, had to be taught to obey, even if they didn’t understand the reason for the commandments.

 

In this case, Moses referred to the manna. God had given them precise instructions about how much and when Israel was to collect this heavenly food. He instructed them to collect only what was enough for that day. They were to leave none for the next day.

 

However, the Israelites thought they knew better and collected more than what they could eat to save for the next day. However, the worms got into it, and it stank. God also instructed that they should collect a double portion on the sixth day to eat on the Sabbath. Nevertheless, they went to collect the manna on the Sabbath, but none appeared.

 

By relying on their own understanding, they were humbled and were learning that “man does not live on bread alone, but by every word of God” (also Matthew 4:4).

 

Through this process, God taught them that their blessings depended upon their adherence to every word of God, even if it was unpleasant or seemed foolish.

 

To not do so was both rebellious and arrogant. Their disobedience showed that Israel thought more of their own understanding than of the Words of God, and this would often prove costly.

 

But if God’s instructions didn’t make sense to them, and maybe made them look ridiculous, like having to march around Jericho for seven days, wasn’t it understandable for them to baulk? Besides, God never explained to them why He required them to do this. Therefore, wasn’t God, in effect, telling them to turn off their minds?

 

I don’t think so. Instead, it was reasonable for them to suspend their own judgment in favor of His. This is what first-graders learning addition are expected to do!

 

Why should they submit to a subservient role? God had counseled Israel to remember their Egyptian slavery and the many ways He had provided for them, like miraculously parting the Red Sea for them to pass safely through. Therefore, it was reasonable for Israel to continue in obedience to God even if they didn’t understand God’s reasons.

 

Our problem is that we often think too highly or ourselves and our understanding. One friend had informed me, “If God is against LGBTQ, I am against God.” I replied, “Then God will be against you.” He felt he knew better than God and was more compassionate towards LGBTQs than God.

 

I tried to explain that perhaps He was trusting too much in his understanding and too little in God’s (Proverbs 3:5-7). But he was adamant.

 

I perceive this same attitude in many young people who have an interest in God but not in His Word. They want the benefits of God but not His yoke (Matthew 11:28-30). They want Him on their terms and not His. They want to recreate God according to their own image. They expect Him to conform to their understanding and not the other way around. Therefore, they will pick out the verses they like and leave behind what they don’t like. Instead of subservience, they want control. They fail to realize that they are unable to assume command of their own lives.

 

If we are downing, and a boat comes to our rescue, we should not say, “I’d rather be rescued by an airplane.” This would be to misunderstand our need and to fail to appreciate our rescue. We too fail to understand the depths of our need and the price that Jesus had paid to rescue us.

 

I too had wanted God my way. He had to conform to my agenda and understanding, but He would have none of it. Instead, He began to show me that I too am in a desert and need His love and manna every step of the way.

 

One Christian philosopher had written, “I believe that I might understand.” I now appreciate this pearl of wisdom. We, therefore, do not reject understanding but pursue His knowledge through prayer, by His Word, and a humble appreciation of how little we know:

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.  (Psalm 62:5–8)