Four By Four
“Have you not known? Have you not heard? Was it not told to you from the beginning? Did you not discern from the foundations of the earth?” Isaiah 40:21
Have You Not – Four repetitions of the same negation, ha-lo, the combination of a pronoun and the negative adverb, lo. Hebrew has two negatives, lo and ‘al. The strong negative is lo, usually an introductory adverb to an unconditional prohibition like “You shall not murder.” When lo is used in a question, it indicates an expected affirmative answer. So, each of these questions should be answered by “Yes, we knew. Yes, we heard. Yes, we were told. Yes, we discerned.”
But the use of lo in these questions seems strange, doesn’t it? After all, by using lo, the question suggests that there is no possibility that the one questioned could have been ignorant. If every answer must be “Yes,” then the answer assumes that God Himself provided all that was necessary to answer and there is no excuse for not saying “Yes.” How can this be? Wouldn’t we object, saying, “Lord, we don’t know. We haven’t heard. No one told us from the beginning. We didn’t see these things from the foundations. Lord, we are excused. We were ignorant of Your truth.”
Ah, but God does not allow such an answer from His people. Why? Because all that they needed to know was plainly spoken and clearly seen. It was as obvious as the hand in front of their faces. Read verses 22 to 31. God explains why there is no excuse. His sovereign majesty has been demonstrated again and again. Any man with reflective capacity can clearly see that he is not his own god, and this propels him to ask, “Who is my creator?” God has answered with power and might.
What does this mean for us? We are not Israel in the time of Isaiah. We don’t have a prophet who delivers God’s rhetorical questions. Are we not excused? No! What we discover in these questions is the God who demands that we know His past demonstrations of power and glory. This is the God who brought the world into being. This is the God who rescued Noah. This is the God who chose Abraham. This is the God who brought His people out of the house of bondage. If we forget that we stand as the last of a line of divinely-engineered legacy, then we are without excuse. All that has come before is an answer to these questions. And we must know it!
It is inexcusable that we, His children, do not know our own story because it is the story that is filled with the answers we must have. Religious platitudes, ethical hierarchies, creedal commitments and theological theories are of no value without the legacy of God’s actions among men. What it means to know, to hear and to discern is found in the stories that must become our repeated living reality.
Didn’t you know?
Topical Index: ha-lo, excuse, Isaiah 40:21
I hear the questions written about here a lot – “How can they be held responsible if they’ve never been told?” Usually that’s followed with the bit from Paul (?) about “how will they hear unless they’re told and how can they be told unless you go” (or whatever it actually says, sorry I don’t know exactly where that verse is or what it precisely says – no time this morning to investigate). This puts it beautifully. God is evident all around us – in the lives of others and even in the wind that blows and the smallest seed that grows. There aren’t adequate excuses. It’s quite obvious we have nothing to do with making any of this and the complexity of each of the created things on this planet continually astounds us. Those who seek Him, find Him.
And speaking of seeking, has anyone heard of the Mechanical Translation and Revised Mechanical Translation of the Bible? I found this interesting comparison between the MT and Young’s Literal and a couple of other versions (http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/9_comparison.html). Does anyone who has this version of the Bible have any thoughts about it? It seems from what they’ve got posted there and on the actual version’s website (http://www.mechanical-translation.org/) that it’s pretty accurate an in line with many of the things that we’ve discussed here (as far as translation goes), I think. Any thoughts?
Peace and joy this day!
Shalom Amanda 🙂
You were right on the money so to speak: Sha’ul is making a general truth known to all … but primarily the Gentiles. Point made however …. there are no excuses!
Romans: 1:18 For the wrath of Elohim is revealed from heaven against all un-GODliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; 1:19 Because that which may be known of Elohim is manifest in them; for Elohim hath shewed it unto them. 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and GODhead; so that they are without excuse: 1:21 Because that, when they knew Elohim, they glorified him not as Elohim, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 1:23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible Elohim into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four footed beasts, and creeping things.
But Skip is specifically pointing out these questions in the context of “believers”. And if the vast majority of purported believers today be Gentiles then what is the heritage that is taught from generation to generation? As Skip states ….
This is the God who brought the world into being. This is the God who rescued Noah. This is the God who chose Abraham. This is the God who brought His people out of the house of bondage. If we forget that we stand as the last of a line of divinely-engineered legacy, then we are without excuse. All that has come before is an answer to these questions. And we must know it!
How accurate are we really being however when most children are not even taught correctly the first commandment? I don’t know about you all …. but I was not originally taught the “bringing you out of the house of bondage” part of the text …. that would have been much too closely aligned with the Jews!
l’dor v’dor has many implications … Sadly not so many years ago – I did not know! But now I do know and there is a responsibility to insure that others also know. If we want to save our grand children let’s forget about social security and focus on the real solution … YHVH – G_D, KING and REDEEMER of Yisrael and all the Earth!
Amen to that! I so want to raise my children to know His law and to know the deeper richness of the scriptures that I’m just now discovering. I share what I learn here a lot… and I think many people think I’m nuts… But I did get one of the churches that I sing at to invite Skip to talk (that’s what got me hooked)! Granted, it was a highly selfish request, but my friend there listened to the Worldview series, and hopefully he’s one step closer to truly seeing. 🙂
“there are no excuses”
Hi Drew,
I agree, it is difficult not to notice such things as “In God We Trust” on our currency.
And after reading the first four lines in 1 Corinthians in relation to the Ripple Effect, I got in the car to take my daughter to school and One, by U2, was playing on the radio:
Love is a temple
Love a higher law
Love is a temple
Love the higher law
You ask me to enter
But then you make me crawl
And I can’t be holding on
To what you got
When all you got is hurt
One love
One blood
One life
You got to do what you should
One life
With each other
Sisters
Brothers
One life
But we’re not the same
We get to
Carry each other
Carry each other
I can’t listen to Bono’s lyrics above without thinking of 1 Cornthians:
1 Cr 13:1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
1 Cr 13:2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
1 Cr 13:3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body [fn] to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing