Rev. Don Campbell
Isaiah 44-48
THOUGHT FOR TODAY, July 27, 2019
“GOD DOES NOT OWE US AN EXPLANATION”
One hundred and fifty years before Cyrus was born, God said, “He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose,” which was the return of the remnant of Judah to the land and the rebuilding of the temple (Isaiah 44:28). Through Isaiah, God spoke to Cyrus as if he were already alive. He explains that Cyrus is nothing special, but a tool to serve God’s purpose: “And why have I called you for this work? Why did I call you by name when you did not know me? It is for the sake of Jacob my servant, Israel my chosen one. I am the Lord; there is no other God. I have equipped you for battle, though you don’t even know me, so all the world from east to west will know there is no other God. I am the Lord, and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:4-6, NLT).
When speaking of God’s will, making a distinction between God’s sovereign will and God’s permissive will is essential. God wills some things to happen and he permits some things to happen. God does not owe us an explanation for either. After pointing to his sovereign power over the material creation (“I form light and create darkness), he then says: “What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator. Does a clay pot argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying, ‘Stop, you’re doing it wrong!’ Does the pot exclaim, ‘How clumsy can you be?’ How terrible it would be if a newborn baby said to its father, ‘Why was I born?’ or if it said to its mother, ‘Why did you make me this way?’” (Isaiah 45:9-10).
God owes us no explanations, but should he give us one, we probably could not grasp it or if we did, we would refuse to accept it. Paul begins a discussion of God’s sovereign in Romans 9, using the same imagery of the clay vessel questioning its maker. He concludes: “Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways! For who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice? And who has given him so much that he needs to pay it back?” (Romans 11:33-35, NLT).
Job demanded an explanation from God for his sufferings. Instead, God gave him insight into himself and the God whom he had challenged:
“I know that you can do anything,
and no one can stop you.
You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’
It is I—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about,
things far too wonderful for me.
You said, ‘Listen and I will speak!
I have some questions for you,
and you must answer them.’
I had only heard about you before,
but now I have seen you with my own eyes.
I take back everything I said,
and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance” (Job 42:1-6, NLT).
Eddy Arnold, Elvis Presley, and others sang a song “I really don’t want to know.” The singer asks his lover, “How many lips have kissed yours and how many arms have held you?” He then says, “I really don’t want to know.” We sing “Farther along we’ll know all about it; farther along, we’ll understand why.” That may be true, but God might say, “You really don’t want to know.”
CONNECTIONS
1. There are some things I don’t want to know in life. I don’t want to know the day of my death nor that of my loved ones. Do you?
2. There are some things I don’t want to know in the hereafter. I don’t want to know who in my family might be lost in hell. Do you?
