The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Jeremiah 13:11,
"'For as a belt is bound around the waist, so I bound all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah to me,' declares the Lord, 'to be my people for my renown and praise and honor. But they have not listened.'"
I am such a jerk, that I have to admit I find it amusing when some theological type resorts to a comment such as, "We just can't know this side of glory, as the Lord, in the counsel of his sovereign wisdom has not disclosed it to us" as they are challenged by some question that points to an incoherence in what they are advocating. Other lofty terms are employed as well, "In the redemptive will of God, he has not chosen to disclose to us..."
Most of the time a simple "I don't know" would suffice and would certainly be much more palatable, much more believable. After all, God is transcendent and there should be those things we just don't know and can't know.
The trick is knowing when someone is hiding behind this ploy, using it to duck the hard questions. There is an entire theological school popular in our day that resorts to this for its very survival. It can't even answer the most basic of questions, such as why one person is saved and another not. I have to say, the Lord in his Word is loud and clear on that answer. The problem is the truthful and knowable answer to that very question renders the theology completely incoherent.
I think at times the theological "black box" as described above is employed to cover for a failure of doing the heavy lifting of reading and studying the Scriptures or not thinking through the position, or, in fact, that the theological position being advocated really is incoherent - it simply doesn't square with the Scriptures.
Here is a very simple question that many have not figured out: Why did God chose Israel as his own covenant people? Why are the Jews God's chosen people?
Don't know? We don't have to resort to the "black box." Read Genesis 15:6.
What was God's intention for having a chosen people? We don't have to resort to the "black box." Read the above verse, Jeremiah 13:11. Read also Romans 9:4-5 for some further information. (I'll bet you know other passages that answer that question as well.) These are the kinds of verses that may keep us from having to resort to the "theological black box."
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
"'For as a belt is bound around the waist, so I bound all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah to me,' declares the Lord, 'to be my people for my renown and praise and honor. But they have not listened.'"
I am such a jerk, that I have to admit I find it amusing when some theological type resorts to a comment such as, "We just can't know this side of glory, as the Lord, in the counsel of his sovereign wisdom has not disclosed it to us" as they are challenged by some question that points to an incoherence in what they are advocating. Other lofty terms are employed as well, "In the redemptive will of God, he has not chosen to disclose to us..."
Most of the time a simple "I don't know" would suffice and would certainly be much more palatable, much more believable. After all, God is transcendent and there should be those things we just don't know and can't know.
The trick is knowing when someone is hiding behind this ploy, using it to duck the hard questions. There is an entire theological school popular in our day that resorts to this for its very survival. It can't even answer the most basic of questions, such as why one person is saved and another not. I have to say, the Lord in his Word is loud and clear on that answer. The problem is the truthful and knowable answer to that very question renders the theology completely incoherent.
I think at times the theological "black box" as described above is employed to cover for a failure of doing the heavy lifting of reading and studying the Scriptures or not thinking through the position, or, in fact, that the theological position being advocated really is incoherent - it simply doesn't square with the Scriptures.
Here is a very simple question that many have not figured out: Why did God chose Israel as his own covenant people? Why are the Jews God's chosen people?
Don't know? We don't have to resort to the "black box." Read Genesis 15:6.
What was God's intention for having a chosen people? We don't have to resort to the "black box." Read the above verse, Jeremiah 13:11. Read also Romans 9:4-5 for some further information. (I'll bet you know other passages that answer that question as well.) These are the kinds of verses that may keep us from having to resort to the "theological black box."
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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