Concerning Questions

The good deeds of some men are plainly seen and other good works follow later.  May God see fit to greatly use the godly influence of His followers during their pilgrimage and beyond.  By virtue of age a book is not necessarily better, yet I appreciate when I read words written hundreds of years ago which are perfectly relevant to me and others today.  Time has changed but man remains the same, for man's nature and thirst for knowledge goes back to the beginning.  This drive to discover has many good points, but there can be a sinister side as well.  When it comes to searching out spiritual truth, much time and effort can be wasted straining gnats while swallowing camels.  The theoretical can be more attractive than the practical.  In a quest to search out obscure truths God in His wisdom has hidden, we can ignore the personal implications of what God has plainly said.  We all have to know what is in the locked chest, whether it is intended for our possession or not.

Consider what Henry Smith, the 16th century "silver-tongued preacher" had to say on this subject:

"It is not necessary to know that which God hath not revealed; and the well of God's secrets is so deep that no bucket of man can sound it; therefore we must row in shallow waters, because our boats are light, and small, and soon overturned...Let men desire knowledge of God as Solomon did; but not desire knowledge as Eve did.  For these aspiring wits fall again like Babel, and run into doubts, while they seek for resolutions...Curious questions and vain speculations are like a plume of feathers, which some will give anything for, and some will give nothing for.  Paul rebuked them which troubled their heads about genealogies; how would he reprove men and women of our days, if he did see how they busy their heads about vain questions, tracing upon the pinnacles, where they may fall, while they might walk upon the pavement without danger!  Some have a great deal more desire to learn where hell is, than to know any way how they may escape it; to hear what God did purpose before the world began, rather than to learn what he will do when the world is ended; to understand whether they shall know one another in heaven, than to know whether they belong to heaven.  This rock hath made many shipwrecks, that men search mysteries before they know principles; like the Bethshemites, which were not content to see the ark, but they must pry into it, and finger it.  Commonly the simplest men busy their heads about the highest matters; so that if they meet with a rough and crabbed question like a knob in the tree, and while they hack and hew at it with their own wits to make it plain, their saw sticks fast in the cleft, and cannot get out again; at last in wrath they become like malcontents with God, as though the Scripture were not perfect, and either fall into despair, or into contempt of all.  Therefore it is good to leave off learning where God hath left off teaching; for they which have an ear where God hath no tongue, hearken not unto God, but to the tempter, as Eve did to the serpent." (Spurgeon, C. H. C.H. Spurgeon's works as published in his monthly magazine The sword and the trowel. Vol. 1. Pasadena, TX: Pilgrim Publications, 1975. Print. pages 202-203)

God be praised, for even when we ask the wrong questions God graciously answers with Himself.  God's aim is not to keep men ignorant, for Jesus is wisdom for us.  How can we know if the questions which puzzle us are "vain speculations" which have no practical use?  I answer with another question:  do you so value God's revelation of Himself and His commands that you labour to walk according to them?  When we put into practice what we already know, God will reveal Himself to you in ways you cannot imagine now.  He will open your eyes and transform your heart.  The first time when God revealed Himself to Moses in a burning bush Moses averted his eyes because he was afraid to look at God (Ex. 3:6).  After obeying God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, when Moses communed with God face to face as a man speaks to a friend he asked, "Please, show me your glory." (Ex. 33:18)  Moses was satisfied, even though God withheld him from seeing all.

Are you willing to accept there is much about God and the Bible we will never understand?  Some content themselves with saying, "We'll never know this side of heaven," inferring that in our glorified, eternal state all our questions will be answered.  I believe many burning questions we have today will not be remembered or be relevant in heaven and therefore not asked.  God will answer many honest questions we ask Him, and others are sealed up for another time.  Let us be content in knowing God, for He is the answer we truly seek.