The Sin of Not Knowing
“They say to God, ‘Depart from us! We do not even desire the knowledge of Your ways. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we entreat Him?’” Job 21:14-15 NASB
Do not even desire – Job suffers. So do you. If God is so good, why should Job (and you) suffer? Job was righteous. He followed the ways of the Lord. So do you. Then why do bad things happen to good people? More importantly, why do the wicked seem to prosper? Why do they live in comfort? Why are they spared punishment? It’s bad enough that the righteous should be afflicted, but there would at least be some consolation if those who really deserved trouble received it. But they don’t. They escape. They die contented. OK, so they might be punished in the next world, but why should God trouble the righteous now and let the wicked get away now? It just doesn’t seem fair.
Job’s examination of this conundrum contains an important insight about the wicked. They don’t even desire to know God’s ways. As far as they are concerned, there is nothing for them to gain by serving Him. The Hebrew verb is haphets. In Paleo-Hebrew, it is the picture of separating the person from what is needed. To desire is to want something I do not have. But the wicked have it all. They have influence. They have money. They have personal comfort. They have control. From their perspective, there is nothing that they lack and since they are motived by gain, nothing God offers seems necessary.
But you object. “Wait, the wicked are going to hell. They will be punished. They need to be saved.” The wicked man considers your warning. “Oh, you mean I should change my ways and follow the God who leads His children into suffering? Are you serious? Salvation? What do I need to be rescued from? I have it all now. Do you really think it makes any sense to give up a good life in order to follow a God who allows His children to be abused, rejected and afflicted? What kind of God is that?” You see the problem, don’t you? How will anyone who carefully observes the lives of the righteous by persuaded to walk away from a life of comfort in order to serve a God who takes His own into the storm? No, I’m sorry, but “Where will you go when you die?” just isn’t very motivating. Especially when Job is a model of devotion to God. Most of us are not Francis of Assisi. Most of us would rather not be Job. Don’t try to convince me to give up what I have in order to follow a God who doesn’t protect me from the enemy. The failure of “heaven later” evangelism is its disregard for “heaven now” living. Quite frankly, the man who has everything he wants doesn’t need God.
Job’s insight means that our approach toward those who have no desire for God’s ways needs to be much more tactile. It seems useless to attempt to convince them that God’s way is the better way. As far as history is concerned, it isn’t. There is no point in painting a rosy picture of discipleship. Nor is there any point in focusing on what might happen later. True evangelism comes when we face life exactly as it is. The question is not about God giving me more. The question is about God, period. If there is a God, then He has some claim on me because I am not God. And if He has a claim on me but I refuse to acknowledge that claim or make any attempt to understand it, then I have rebelled against Him. And everyone knows that rebellion must be quashed. No one, not even those who live in splendid comfort, can ultimately tolerate insurgence. The rebel must die if life is to have order. And once I realize that I am that rebel, all of my life, all that I worked so hard to keep, all of the order I brought to my own world, is threatened. It’s not threatened because I am going to hell. Who cares about hell now? It’s threatened because rebels must be eliminated and that means all I have held so dear will be lost. In the end, my life will be nothing.
Now I have a real reason to want to know what He says.
Topical Index: wicked, haphets, desire, evangelism, Job 21:14-15
TRAVEL NOTE: On March 3, Rosanne and I will both be traveling to South Africa for 3 weeks of teaching and fellowship. That means no one will be in the USA to ship books to you. So, if you plan to order soon, please do it no later than Monday, March 2. That will be last day I can send in the mail until I return. Thanks.
Hi Skip
Been reading today’s word for ages. Thank you so much for your diligence and your insight. The first part of this today’s word reflects exactly a conversation with my teenage step-son-to-be last weekend. I completely agree with your critique of the modern evangelistic method but I don’t quite understand your alternative. How are those who do not believe in God able to accept they are rebelling against him either..especially when think they have all they need? Have you any more insight on how to present this perspective so that it makes sense to the mind of those who do not accept accountability to anyone but themselves?
If you don’t believe in God at all, that is, you don’t believe that God exists, then you must suppose that all of this, everything, is simply by accident. That means you should never complain at all when life goes against you. What are you complaining about? Chance? Randomness? No, you should be a man and take it as it is. No God = no morality. No reason at all for me to honor you, care for you, help you, protect you, worry about about. Just take what you can get now.
And if you agree with this, then don’t be surprised, amazed or confused when someone takes all you have. It’s just random. Accident.
Do you want to live in that kind of world? Because THAT is the alternative.
Amen. This makes far more sense. It is the message that “turned the world upside down” and got Paul and Silas run out of town. Now, it is our turn to present it to a church that thinks grace is a permanent covering for continued rebellion. As an institution, is their complacence any different than that of the rich man?
ALL MY CHILDREN
~ For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness(es) are everlasting and His faithfulness (is) to all generations~
(Psalm 100.5)
It has been said, (mostly by ignorant people!), “ignorance is bliss..” This is both sad and “sheep-dumb.” Being referred to as a “sheep” is NOT a compliment!!
It is God’s desire that we should know Him and know Him intimately. The onus is on us. We are the ones whose responsibility, (no, privilege!) it is to know Him. While some may say, “ignorance is bliss!”, there are others (such as myself) who would say, “no, – ignorance is very costly!” God invites (all of) us to know Him! – and to know Him intimately, -up close, and personal! He is (very much) both a Person and a “personal Savior!”
God loves all of us, Yes!, but God loves not only all of us, but far more wonderful, – He loves EACH of us!
If you will recall.. there was another whose words were also, “Who is the LORD that I should obey Him?” (Exodus 5.2) In glorious reality, a very good question!! One of the best! A question we each should ask of ourselves! And Pharaoh did find the answer to his question, but the answer (Pharaoh’s “aha moment”) came too late, as he and his army were sinking to the bottom of the sea!
“They say to God, ‘Depart from us! We do not even desire the knowledge of Your ways!” There is a name for people like this, everyday people who willingly, purposefully, shamefully, amazingly say in their hearts, “No, God!!” Our Bible does have a name for this “people group..” – and the Word of God refers to them as “fools.” The fool has said in his (or her) heart, – “No, God!” – (talk to the hand).
Is it even possible for any man to (ever) say “No, LORD?” For if He is not LORD of all, then He is not LORD at all!
The wicked prosper because their god, Satan, looks after them while they fulfill his purposes. But when satan is done with them, he removes his protection from them. while satan has a hold on them, only God Almighty can help them
Can I gently suggest that you take a longer look at our human penchant to give ha-satan so much credit? I wrote about this recently. I believe at this point that most of our ideas about the power of ha-satan come from mythology, not the Bible. Anyway, take a look at what is written on this site and see what you think.
If the world were full of atheists they surely wouldn’t care if they were being rebellious, but how many people actually, factually do not believe God exists? A fraction of a percent. I think we must be hardwired to think this way. It is REAL hard to row up the atheist creek, and most people I know actually do end up failing at it. I hope this vein of thought continues and we can discuss some particulars of just HOW to go about bringing up this subject with said rebels!
A functional illiterate is someone who should know how to read, has the training, but actually can’t perform the task. A functional atheist seems to be one who should know about God, has the information concerning God, but when it comes to actually doing what God would require, doesn’t perform the task. For all intents and purposes, the person acts like an atheist, that is, acts in such a way that God has no effect on behavior. This, I believe, describes MOST of those who say that they believe God exists. The fact that He exists has no effect on their daily lives. These are the true atheists, the ones who actually deny God. An intellectual atheist who simply denies God’s very existence is not nearly as difficult a problem to confront than those who are functional atheists. A true atheist must also deny any logic for morality and any real sense of purpose beyond himself. He is actually a pretty easy target to show the error of his thinking (since he can hardly live this way). But the functional ones, oh, my, they have all the answers and none of the practice.
And they are the hardest to convince that they need something more than mental assent to belong to His Kingdom. The “Jesus in your heart” doctrine plays right into their comfort zone — saved, and no behavior change required.
Now you are hitting the crux of the matter! Most elegant rebuttal! Now, how to go about, like Suzanne points out, addressing functional atheism? (Love the term!) IF practically everybody admits the existence of God of some sort, but has still figured out how to ignore Him, what to do? Anybody?
Praying for your trip to S. Africa. Will you be seeing Irene or speaking to anyone who can give us an update on her, her baby, and her family? We (my students and I) continue to pray for her. They decided to continue to bring in their donations for her again
I will try to find out something.
Functional vs. intellectual atheism, very useful construct, thanks. And Welcome back to South Africa!