Monday: God Wants to Be Understood
Daily Lesson for Monday 31st of March 2025
Nothing is quite as frustrating as urgently needing to communicate, perhaps at a clinic or pharmacy, while in a foreign country where you barely speak the language. You know what you need to say, but you do not have an adequate vocabulary to say it.
With God, a different problem emerges. “ ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth,’ ” He says, “ ‘so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts’ ” (Isaiah 55:9, NKJV). The problem isn’t that God doesn’t have the vocabulary to communicate with us; the problem is that we don’t have the vocabulary or intellectual capacity to understand Him fully.
What do the following passages suggest about God’s understanding in comparison to our own?
Psalms 139:1-6
Psalms 147:5
Romans 11:33
1 John 3:20
The truth of the matter is that we will never fully understand the mind of God because He is infinite and omniscient. After all, we can barely understand everything about the creation; how would we fully understand its Creator? We can’t.
Image © The Classic Bible Art Collection – Formerly Standard Publishing at Goodsalt.com
Though we will never understand everything, we can understand what is necessary for our salvation. (See 2 Timothy 3:14-15.) When the apostles explained the gospel to their audiences, they frequently referred to fulfilled prophecy, from which we can deduce that one of the key purposes of prophecy is to illustrate the plan of salvation. Indeed, in the end, Bible prophecy must ultimately, in one way or another, lead us to Jesus and the promise of salvation that He offers to all humanity.
After all, the Lord, through whom all things were created (see Colossians 1:16, John 1:1-3), comes down to this earth and then offers Himself as a sacrifice on the cross for the sins of every human being, even the most wretched. That is how much God loves all of us. Having done all that for us, the Lord would obviously want everyone, wretches included, to know what He offers us in Jesus. And prophecy can do just that.
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Though, yes, there is much that we don’t know, why is it crucial to focus now on what we do know and to follow what we know—as opposed to obsessing over what we don’t know? |
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Re the thought question; There is enough that is known to keep us busy with contemplation and application. It's possible to obsess so much over what is not known that we neglect or forget what is known.
The Lord desires to be understood through prophecy because He wants His people to be prepared, strengthened in faith, and assured of His divine plan. Prophecy reveals His character, His love for humanity, and His ultimate purpose of redemption.Prophecy is like a guiding light, showing believers the way forward in uncertain times
The Watchman's Warning illustration
In a peaceful village near the mountains, a wise elder named Elias served as the village watchman. His role was to warn the people of any dangers approaching, whether storms, wild animals, or enemy attacks. Over the years, he gained a reputation for his wisdom and foresight.
One evening, as Elias sat on his watchtower, he noticed unusual signs in the sky—dark clouds forming rapidly and birds flying away in panic. He remembered stories from his ancestors about such omens leading to devastating storms. He rushed to the village square and called the people together.
"A great storm is coming," he warned. "We must prepare by securing our homes and gathering provisions."
Some villagers heeded his words and took action, reinforcing their homes and storing food and water. Others scoffed, saying, "Elias always sees trouble where there is none. The sky has been cloudy before, and nothing happened."
That night, the storm struck with immense fury—rains flooded the streets, winds tore roofs off houses, and trees were uprooted. Those who had listened to Elias were safe in their reinforced homes, but those who ignored his warning suffered great losses.
The next morning, the people gathered to thank Elias. "You saw the signs before we did," they said. "Because we listened, we were saved."
Elias replied, "I only shared what I was given to see. A true watchman speaks not to frighten, but to prepare."
Just as Elias served as a watchman for his village, God provides prophecy to warn and prepare His people. Through prophets like Daniel and John, He reveals events before they happen so that His followers can stand firm in faith. Those who take prophecy seriously and seek understanding are like the wise villagers—they prepare spiritually for what is to come.Ezekiel 33:7 – “So you, son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me.”
This verse shows that God appoints people, like prophets and leaders, to warn and prepare His people, just as Elias warned the villagers
As we study prophecy, we must remember that God's messages are not to instill fear but to give hope, direction, and assurance that He is in control. Amos 3:7 – “Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.” God always reveals His plans through prophecy before they come to pass, ensuring His people are not caught unaware.
"The problem isn’t that God doesn’t have the vocabulary to communicate with us; the problem is that we don’t have the vocabulary or intellectual capacity to understand Him fully."
Take home message!
it's an amazing miracle, how God can go down to our level to get us to understanding Him.
Wow! What manner of Love!
I pray that my heart comprehends as my acts become part of telling this Wonderful story of Love.
Principle #2:Though we cannot fully understand God's ways, through prophecy we can comprehend His plan of salvation for humanity. Approach the study of prophecy with that purpose in mind.
I certainly believe The Lord wants us to understand prophecy. My question is, how does understanding prophecy translate into loving God with all of our hearts and our neighbor as ourself. 1 Corinthians 13:1 states, “Though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing.” How does even our correct intellectual understanding of the Bible translate into having the fruits of the Spirit- “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, [23] Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” Galatians 5:22,23
Prophecy has it's limitations - it is not capable of transforming lives, though perhaps it will lead us to trust in God's Word and allow Jesus to tranform our lives. It certainly isn't the most important thing - not by a long shot. Many people will be saved who knew little of prophecy.
I Corinthians 14:22 actually says prophecy is for believers, not unbelievers. Which maybe suggests we have the wrong focus. I'm not saying that all prophecy is meant for believers only, but it seems a lot of it is.
I may be stepping on some toes or sacrificing some Adventist sacred cows, but maybe our evangelistic focus of prophecy is not the best, especially today when so many have a limited knowledge of Jesus. Maybe it should be Jesus first and prophecy second. Of course there are prophecies about Jesus too. It probably isn't one without the other, but each situation is different.
To me, prophecy is to give us confidence and help us trust, not necessarily to lead us to salvation, though some prophecies might do that. Some definitely have other applications.
"Why is it crucial to focus on what we do know and follow that, rather than obsess over what we don’t know?"
According to the answer Jesus gave when an expert in the Law asked about the most important commandment, we can know all that is necessary for salvation: Love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself - Matthew 22:35–40.
This answer can satisfy everyone who desires to know God and understand what is essential to maintain a relationship with Him. If “God wants to be understood,” then the question becomes: Do we truly understand what this most important, all-encompassing commandment implies/means? When asking the Holy Spirit to reveal God's Spirit behind His Laws, He will indeed reveal it.
But it seems we often want more — we want to understand the ‘why’ behind His ways. Yet the "why" cannot be answered through fulfilled prophecy; prophecy can only reveal the 'when or how' His revelations will come to pass. So which is more important: to fully understand what He requires of us and why, or to know ‘when or how’ He will bring His Plan of Salvation to completion?
Beautiful