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 Two Ways to Ask, Why? by Robert Wurtz II

That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? (Genesis 18:25)



Our passage deals with God bringing judgment to Sodom and the cities of the plain. God and Abraham are having a conversation in which Abraham is trying to discover the limits to God's righteousness and mercy. He starts at fifty and drops down to ten in increments asking God if there are fifty, forty-five, forty, thirty, twenty, and finally ten righteous persons in the city, will He still destroy it. Abraham is assuming that there are many more righteous people than truly exist, which was one (Lot). Abraham knows that God is the judge of all the earth, but he does not stop there. He states emphatically, 'will not the judge of all the earth do right?' The answer is yes, He will. We have to settle this question before we take a single step in our Christian walk. God will always do what is right. He will always conduct Himself in harmony with His revealed personality.


Questioning God


A 'why' that charges God foolishly


There are two ways we can 'question God' one is acceptable and the other is not. We can ask why in a way that hurls the question as an insult or we can ask it in humble sincerity with a genuine desire to learn. The first is not interested in 'why' it is only interested in expressing contempt. They who ask in this way want to argue and express anger. To answer 'why' in a comprehensive way usually only angers the person more. They are not interested in details, they are mad because you have crossed them and they are confronting you with a, why? Paul deals with this behavior in Romans 9:20, But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” (ESV) We are not to charge God foolishly with our questions. (Job 1:22) As one preacher put it, 'Why' is not a question we can ask God through clinched teeth.


A 'why' that is humble and attentive


We also have many examples of men 'questioning' God in their dialogue with Him. In Exodus 5:22ff Moses questions God. Joshua in Joshua 7:7ff questioned God as well. Other examples we could site. Yet it is important to note that they came humbly before the Lord with a desire to know the truth. There are times when answers are too wonderful for us. That is to say, they are beyond our comprehension. To give an example of how this can be, there was an angel that appeared to Manoah to tell him of the birth of Samson. When he was leaving he asked his name. He replied, The LORD’s messenger said to him, “You should not ask me my name, because you cannot comprehend it. (Judges 13:18 NET) God has named His messengers (angels) names we cannot fathom. How awesome is that? This should encourage us to know that God's ways are at times very very complicated. We would not understand if He told us. We are called to trust and to worship. But this does not beam that God, because He is sovereign, can behave however He desires. He is governed by His own personality. He cannot deny Himself. He will always be moving in love and righteousness. If we cannot understand what He is doing it is best to admit, "we don't understand" than to potentially mar God's character with behaviors that are not His own.


Regenerate Believers Can Trust Their Sensabilities


We can rest our heads at night knowing that God is consistent with Himself. He does not have a 'secret will' that operates unlovingly. Will not the Judge of all the earth do right? If God does not conduct Himself in harmony with the scriptures, we are of all men most miserable. We are told that God is love and he that loveth not knoweth not God. This implies that the love that we understand and are to employ towards our fellowman can be trusted. The regenerating work of the Spirit changes our constitution to understand God aright. Otherwise, if we can't trust our sense of love, we might behave as the devil to our fellow man and think it righteous. No matter how we spin God's sovereignty, we cannot make God's love a servant to sovereignty; but vis versa. God is glorified when sinners respond to Him in repentance. The angels rejoice! Regeneration re-calibrates any discrepancies in our sensabilities.


Summary


We may not always know why God does what He does, but we can rest assured that He never ceases to do what is right. He will never act contrary to His own unalterable deportment. He moves by design, not just random. We can safely trust in the Lord. If our beliefs and theologies don't square with these realities it would be better to say 'we don't understand' than to impose on God a false construction of His character. He is truly a good God no matter what the situation looks like. We don't need less information we need more; but until we get that info let us trust Him as He has revealed Himself to be and resist the temptation to redefine God into anything other than He truly is, love.


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 2012/2/26 19:14Profile
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 Re: Two Ways to Ask, Why? by Robert Wurtz II

Thanks for posting this. It's something I've been thinking a lot on. I used to think asking "why" was always wrong, but then I saw how Christ asked, My God, my God, WHY hast thou forsaken me? And it's really changed my perspective... I certainly don't understand it all, but this article is helpful.

 2012/2/26 19:45Profile





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