Chapter 4:
Many people assume that because God is Almighty, absolutely everything is under his direct control. Everything that happens, happens because he wants it to; indeed, he planned it long ago. Is this view of God correct?
The Bible says, ‘not one sparrow falls to the ground without God knowing it, and the hairs of your head are all numbered.’ (Matt 10:29, 30) And it says "The eyes of Jehovah are in every place, keeping watch upon the bad ones and the good ones." (Prov 15:3) From this we could assume that God is instantly aware of every least movement or thought in all creation.
On the other hand, before Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, Jehovah said to Abraham, "I am determined to go down that I may see whether they act according to the outcry over it that has come to me, and, if not, I can get to know it." (Gen 18:21) It would appear that knowledge of Sodom’s wickedness first came to God in angelic reports, not by his own personal presence there. Now he was making an official, judicial visit, to decide what to do about it.
Later, God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son. Just as Abraham was about to do so, Jehovah stopped him, saying, "Now I do know that you are God-fearing in that you have not withheld your son, your only one, from me." (Gen 22:12) Did God really have to test Abraham to know that? If all things were decided in advance, God would certainly have already known, because he would have planned it long before Abraham was born! Evidently that is not the way God does things.
There are numerous other instances where God plainly says that he looks at people’s behavior to find out what is in their heart. For example, read Deut 8.2, 13.1-3, 2 Chron 32.31, Jer 26.2, 3 and 36.2, 3. The last two shows that Jehovah appeals to men to change their ways and can then change his own mind, if they respond well.
Yes, the Bible often calls out to us, saying, "choose life" "turn away from bad" "repent of your sins" (see De 30.19, Prov 3.1-7, Ezek 18.30-32, Acts 3.19, Rev 22.17, Matt 22.14). If, in fact, our response is predetermined, every invitation for us to choose would be a sham, a pretense. Our freedom to choose would be just an illusion. Our actions would be just like the playing of a prerecorded videotape! But is our "reality" just the playing of some great recording? If so, whose videotape would it be? Since God is the Creator, it would have to be his. That would mean every wicked "choice", every vicious crime, every cruel word, was predecided in the mind of God. God would be the source of all evil!
That makes no sense at all. The Bible is very clear in saying that God becomes disappointed when man chooses evil; he becomes angry when we persist in it. (Gen 6.6, 7, 1 Sam 15.11, Deut 29.19, 20) Why should he feel that way if men were only doing exactly what He had decided they would do, even millions of years before they were born? —unless God too were just an illusion, an actor on the videotape himself, reacting helplessly as the story plays itself out!
No, such a concept of God is inherently false. The Bible is true: we have free will. We can please God or disappoint him. We do indeed decide NOW which way we will go in life. And we will be held accountable for our own choices, for they are truly ours, not pre-ordained for us. —see also Deut 32.4, 5.
But of course, God does foretell the future. At Isaiah 46:9-11 we read: "I am the Divine One and there is no other God, nor anyone like me; the One telling from the beginning the finale, and from long ago the things that have not been done; the One saying, ‘My own counsel will stand, and everything that is my delight I shall do’....I have even spoken it; I shall also bring it in. I have formed it, I shall also do it." As Creator, certainly he can decide in advance that some specific event must happen. As necessary, he can step in to influence the flow of history so that a desired event occurs or a desired outcome is obtained.
This does not mean God foreknows the future by literally looking forward into time, nor by extrapolating from the present, detail by minute detail. For Him to merely see into the future would imply that time is greater than He is; he would have to take what must come, for what he would see must occur, or else he would not see it. On the other hand, figuring out what many, many persons would decide to do in response to a multitude of subtle circumstances would automaticly negate free will; to precalculate the future in this way is to foreordain it. It would declare our "decisions" to be blind reactions to stimuli; consciousness would be an illusion.
No, God respects our freedom. So while he influences trends and events to accomplish specificly those things he wants to occur, he leaves the rest up to us, or to the natural flow of his physical laws. He can also use his intimate knowledge of the personality of his creatures to make some predictions. For example, even before Israel was settled into their land, God said that they would not turn out well. Why not? He explains: "I well know the inclination they are developing today, before I bring them into the land." —Deut 31.16, 21.
Psalms 11:4, 5 says: "Jehovah —in the heavens is his throne. His own eyes behold, his own beaming eyes examine the sons of men. Jehovah himself examines the righteous one as well as the wicked one, And anyone loving violence His soul certainly hates." When Jehovah looks at you, what does he see? It’s up to you.
What sort of personality does Jehovah have? Is he someone you could grow to love if you knew him well? Can you be his friend? Or is he distant and aloof, as mighty rulers of this world usually are?
As chapter 1 of this book mentioned, we can learn something of how Jehovah thinks from his creative works. Life can be so beautiful! Have you ever admired a particularly beautiful sunset? Surely this proves that God has a sense of aesthetics, and he gave to us the ability to appreciate beauty too. Consider also how many kinds of delicious food there are. All of them were designed by the Creator. Our body was designed with senses not "merely to aid our survival," as evolutionists would say, but really to take delight in life. Does this not tell us something about Jehovah?
The Bible says that man was made "in God’s image." Obviously, we are flesh and blood, planet-bound material creatures, while he is "spirit," able to traverse the universe in an instant. But in immaterial ways, in matters of the heart and mind, we can resemble God. So we can learn something of him by examining ourselves. For example, are you angered at seeing injustice? Does cruelty disturb you? Do you have a sense of fair play? Do you have moral standards? Is it possible to hurt your feelings? Are you able to forgive if someone apologizes, or even if they don’t? Does your patience have limits? If so, you are reflecting how Jehovah feels about things. (see Acts 10.34, 35, Deut 16.18, 19, Ps 78.36-41, 58-62, Ezek 18.19, 20, Prov 12.10, Luke 17.3, 4)
Of course, Jehovah exhibits these qualities in perfect balance. We, on the other hand, can be very imperfect in the way we deal with our fellowmen. If you can imagine a person who is very kind and helpful, generous and sympathetic, yet who will not countenance lies and laziness and other hurtful behavior, you have some idea of Jehovah’s personality. It would take many lifetimes to really become acquainted with Jehovah. We are warmly invited: "Draw close to God, and he will draw close to you." (James 4.8) You are doing that now as you learn about him. Don’t quit. No better friend can you find. (compare Isa 41.9, 10, 13, Ps 46.1, Prov 17.17, 1 John 4.7-10.)
In a word, yes. The Bible says: "The conclusion of the matter, everything being heard, is: Fear the true God and keep his commandments, for that is the whole obligation of man." In Revelation 14.7 we see an angel proclaiming to every nation and people on earth: "Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of judgment by him has arrived!" But didn't Jesus say that the greatest commandment is to love God with our whole heart, mind, soul and strength? And did not John say "there is no fear in love, for love throws fear outside; indeed, he that is under fear has not been made perfect in love"? Yet the command to "fear" God appears many times throughout the Bible. How can fear coexist with love? Can we really love God if we are afraid of him too? Would not ‘fear throw love outside’? —Ecclesiastes 12.13, 1 John 4:18, Mark 12:28-33.
The problem arises because the word "fear" has different levels of meaning. As it applies to God, close synonyms would be respect, awe, and reverence. We respect people and things which have power over us (if we have any sense, that is.) Yet we can enjoy and "love" them at the same time. For example, we love a warm campfire on a chilly night. We are drawn to its warmth and light. But we take care not to fall into it, do we not? We respect (fear) what it can do if we get careless with it. Likewise, "our God is a consuming fire." And "it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" by incurring his anger. We find his mighty power awesome and even comforting, knowing that he can be our protector, but we also respect (fear) it, and do not presume to be careless or reckless with him by disregarding his standards. (Heb 12:28, 29, Heb 10:26-31; see also Deuteronomy 4.24, 2 Pet 2:1-10 and Job 9:4.)
To use another illustration: Imagine you are at the very edge of a tall building or cliff, looking down. What is your first urge? To throw yourself wildly into the abyss? OK, so some people are crazy. But if you are normal, your heart pounds, your chest tenses with dread and you ve-e-ery carefully back away. You find yourself trembling at the thought of falling. This does not mean you feel the height hates you. It is not malevolent, trying to seek your harm. Even so, you respect it intensely. Fear is the right word.
On the other hand, if we feel in control, we are less fearful. If we stand without rope on a ledge with nothing to hold to, our attention is extremely focused on our footing. But with proper equipment and training, we could move confidently and enjoy the awesome view. The same can be said of our relationship with God: do we feel safe, or teetering on the edge? Love is that "equipment and training" that "throws out" the terror of insecurity. But it does not mean the cliff is no longer there. We always have to keep that in mind. Carelessness and overconfidence will still kill.
Do you love to swim? How do you feel about drowning? Yet you swim anyway, right? But while you enjoy your swim, you are careful, because you know that the water should remain outside your lungs. That is wisdom, possibly borne of some experience. Likewise in our walk with God: "the fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom." Be careful to respect him, and you can find great pleasure as his friend. So Psalm 25:14 really does make sense: "the intimacy [friendship, closeness] with Jehovah belongs to those fearful of him."
Thankfully God is more forgiving than fire, gravity, or water. If we make a mistake with him, we are likely to get another chance to get it right. He is not an impersonal, uncaring, mindless force, but a personal, caring, loving Father. People naturally fear the unknown, especially if it is ominous. But we can know Jehovah, and any foreboding we may have can become deep respect. With knowledge, we can "understand" the fear of Jehovah. —see Prov 2:1-5.
Jehovah is "fear-inspiring", or awesome, to be regarded with wonder and amazement, and we also revere him, which means we add honor and esteem to awe. In a word, we worship him.
Throughout history mankind has worshipped many gods in as many ways. There are those who chant in mournful tones in dark temples, others dance and shout, others bow to the ground again and again and again. Many pray before images or idols, speaking to them, lighting candles, even offering them food.
How should we worship Jehovah, the only true God? First, what does the word "worship" really mean? One dictionary says, "Prayer, service in reverence to a deity; intense love or admiration." Does Jehovah tell us how we should speak to him, and how we can serve him? How do we really show that we love and admire him?
Certainly we would not be doing so if we ignored what he said, and did only what we thought was appropriate, whatever ‘felt right’ to us. So the first step in worshipping God is to listen to him, which today means reading his Word. —John 14.15.
The question of true worship was raised by a sincere Samaritan woman. She had been brought up to worship God according to Samaritan thinking. Yet she did not say, "what’s good enough for Mom and Dad is good enough for me." She was interested in how God felt. One day she went to the well to draw water, and there she met Jesus. After a short conversation it became plain to her that Jesus could answer the question that was burning in her heart. Please read the account at John 4.19-26.
She wanted to know which way of worship was right: the Samaritan way or the Jewish way? Jesus’ teachings establish him as kind, understanding, reasonable and yielding. (Matt 11.27-30) No one can accuse Jesus of being a narrow-minded bigot. Yet did he say, "Don’t worry, you worship the way you like, we’ll worship the way we like, and God will bless us all"? Many people believe that way. But no, he said, ‘The time is coming when neither the Samaritan nor the Jewish way will be accepted. Rather, the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.’ Yes, truth is a word Jesus used often. Clearly the Father, Jehovah, wants us to worship him according to the way he directs: by his spirit, his word, the truth. —John 17.17.
Jehovah gave very thorough instructions concerning worship to the nation of Israel. The Ten Commandments (Ex 20.1-17) are considered to be the essence, the fundamentals, of that Law. There we find, first of all, that He is the only true God, and He will not share worship with other gods. If you are married, how would you feel if your mate committed adultery? You then have a sense of how God would feel about us if we tried to worship Him and other gods as well (Isa 42.8). In other words, fidelity, loyalty, is important to him.
Second, we learn that to bow before or address images, icons, or idols— anything material— as an aid in worship is not only unnecessary, it is foolish. In fact, it offends God very much. —see Isa 46.5-10, 44.14-20, Ps 115.4-8.
The third Commandment teaches us to be in awe of Jehovah, using his Name respectfully. Our service to him must reflect a deep respect, reverence, yes, "fear" of him. It must be of the utmost quality that we can muster. He requires it. —Mal 1.6-14.
The sabbath law (the 4th Commandment) teaches us to set aside time to learn about Him and do work that furthers His will, not working only for our own interests.
The rest of the Ten Commandments teach us to respect the family arrangement as being ordained of God, and to love our fellowman. If we do these things, we are "not far from the kingdom of God." —Mark 12.28-34.
The Israelites often lost sight of the purpose of the many rules concerning worship that God had given them. They focused on slavishly observing rituals and offerings, as if they could buy God’s favor with the outward form of religion. Jesus observed: "you give the tenth of the mint and the dill and the cumin [they carefully counted out 1/10 of these tiny seeds to pay the precise ‘tithe’ required by God] but you disregard the weightier matters of the Law, namely, justice, and mercy, and faithfulness!" In the 8th century B.C. God told them: "Of what benefit to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? I have had enough of whole burnt offerings of rams and the fat of animals; in the blood of young bulls and male lambs and he-goats I have taken no delight.... Stop bringing in any more valueless grain offerings. Incense— it is something detestable to me.... Your new moons and your festal seasons my soul has hated. To me they have become a burden.... when you spread out your palms [in prayer], I hide my eyes from you. Even though you make many prayers, I am not listening; with bloodshed your very hands have become filled. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the badness of your dealings from in front of my eyes; cease to do bad. Learn to do good; search for justice; set right the oppressor; render judgment for the fatherless boy; plead the cause of the widow." (Isa 1:12-17) Again he said: "you people were finding delight [congratulating themselves as religious] in the day of your fasting [making a show of self-denial as a form of worship], when there were all your toilers that you kept driving to work.... Should the fast that I choose become like this, as a day for earthling man to afflict his soul? For bowing down his head like a rush, and that he should spread out sackcloth and ashes as his couch? Is it this that you call a fast and a day acceptable to Jehovah? [Rather,] is not this the fast that I choose? To loosen the fetters of wickedness, to release the bands of the yoke bar, and to send away the crushed ones free?... Is it not the dividing of your bread out to the hungry one, and that you should bring the afflicted, homeless people into your house?... In that case your light would break forth just like the dawn.... In that case you would call, and Jehovah himself would answer; you would cry for help, and he would say, ‘Here I am!’" (Isa 58:3-9; see also Micah 6:7, 8, Deut 10:12-21, Psalm 51:17, James 1:27, Matt 9.13, Hosea 6.6, and Amos 5:21-24.)
From this it is very clear that true worship is first of all a matter of trying to be like God, being loving, compassionate, just, truthful. That is the underlying purpose of all the rules that God gives us. "Become imitators of God, as beloved children." (Eph 5:1) That is true worship. "Worship" that consists primarily of formulaic ritual, no matter how costly, impressive or beautiful, is actually worse than useless: it is disgusting to God. As John put it, "He that does not love does not know God, for God is love. . . he who does not love his brother, who he has seen, cannot be loving God, whom he has not seen. . . Little children, let us love, neither in word nor with the tongue [only], but in deed and truth." —1 John 4:8, 20, 3:14-18; see also Romans 13:8-10.
Jehovah wants us to be honest, sincere and earnest in our worship. Sophistry and compromise are unacceptable. (Matt 7.21-23, Prov 15.8, 29) Still, even a sincere person can do the wrong thing if his knowledge is inaccurate. Paul wrote of the Jews: "They have a zeal for God, but not according to accurate knowledge." (Romans 10.1-4; see also John 16.2, 3) Paul was sympathetic to such sincerely wrong people, for a very good reason: at one time he had been one of them. Because of his zeal for God, he had violently persecuted the Christian faith. (see the account at Acts 8.1-3, 9.1, 2) He believed Christianity was an unholy apostasy from the pure religion given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai. He believed that God’s law required him to oppose the Christians. (Deut 13.1-18) This he was doing with all his might. Yes, he had an admirable zeal for God. There was just one problem: he was wrong.
What happened? Did God say, "that’s OK, as long as he’s sincere about it, I’ll accept that as worship to me"? Of course not. The man needed to be stopped. Did God incinerate him? No. He acknowledged and appreciated the sincerity— and enlightened him. First, he had to get his attention. So Jesus, acting in the authority given him by God, stopped him in his tracks. Paul (then known as Saul) showed his true quality by accepting the correction. Read the entire dramatic account at Acts 9.3-22. (see also Paul’s recounting at Acts 22.3-21 and 26.12-18.)
We too may at times need to be corrected by God. Will we "kick against the pricks" (resist the correction) or accept it as the loving benefit that it is? Notice how Paul felt about it in his own words at 1 Tim 1.12-16. —compare also Psalm 32.8-10.
The practice of using images in worship dates from earliest times. It is a natural instinct to want to see the person you are speaking to. Most say that they do not worship the image or idol itself; it merely represents the invisible god they are petitioning. Most do feel, however, that their god actually looks like the image before them. And most also believe that their god acts through the image, so that having it in the house or on their person is protective. Jehovah, as the true living God, cannot be reduced to a mere symbol or an image. This is a point that He makes very forcefully, both in the citations given above and again at Isaiah 40:12-26 (please read). He refuses to allow us to use a crutch, an idol, as an aid in worshipping Him. He knows that we will quickly shift to giving the object itself the faith and devotion we should be giving to Him. He knows human nature; after all, he created us.
Most churches prominently display a cross or crucifix as a symbol of Christ. Despite its being a material object, it is often given devotion that can easily be taken as worship: no doubt you have seen someone kneel before or kiss a cross. Perhaps you have done it yourself. Millions wear a cross as jewelry, some thinking it gives protection like an amulet, others merely to advertise their profession of Christianity. But are you aware that the cross is a symbol borrowed directly from pagan religions? Indeed, history reveals that variations of the cross have been sacred symbols in many pagan religions all over the world since long before the time of Christ. Yet the first Christians did not use or display the cross; such usage is not even hinted at in the Bible. Only in later centuries, when the church began to abandon the simple purity of the original faith and bring in symbols, rituals, and celebrations from other religions to make themselves more palatable to the world, was the cross adopted as the symbol of Christ.
|
But did not our Savior actually die on a cross? Thinking so, many reason that it is a simple and convenient symbol of that supreme act of loving sacrifice in our behalf (more on that in the next chapter), and so displaying it shows our appreciation and acceptance of Him as our Lord. Unfortunately, a little research reveals a surprising finding: the Greek word used in the Bible for the manner of Jesus’ death is stauro'o, which means "impale" or hang upon a post. The post itself was called a stauros, which does not refer to a cross made of two timbers. It meant only a stake or post. Secular history confirms that this was the usual instrument of execution at the time.*
So according to the Bible’s original Greek, Jesus did not die on a cross. Stauros was later translated into Latin as crux, which is what the Latin-speaking Roman authority actually used to execute Christ. Eventually church tradition established this to mean a two-piece instrument of torture-execution, but historians are divided as to whether the Romans ever used the two-piece form in first-century Judaea. In the end, the exact shape the Romans used to execute Christ does not matter. He did have to be hung up on public display as a criminal, Paul explains at Gal 3:13, 14, so that detail was necessary.* But whether his arms were outstretched or not, is not important; what is important is that He gave his life for us.
God makes his feelings about both idolatry and intermixing of worship abundantly clear. True Christians, who "understand the fear of Jehovah," (they are seriously careful not to offend Him) obey His inspired command to "flee from idolatry." (1 Cor 10:14; see also vss 19-22 and James 4:4, 7, 8.) They cannot reduce their Savior to a symbol, especially not to a hideous instrument of cruelty. How can you tell if a person is a Christian, then? Certainly not by his or her jewelry. Let Jesus tell us: "By this all will know that you are my disciples," he said, "if you have love among yourselves." This love is not shown by tokens, but "just as [he] loved [us]": courageous self-sacrificing service, particularly by teaching all that he has taught us, which is what people really need. —John 13:34, 35; Matt 28:18-20.
Now that you know these things, are you moved to act to please Jehovah God? Why not look around your home and ask yourself if you have anything that would offend Him? What should you do with it? —see Deut 7.25, 26; see also 2 Cor 6.14-18.*
Further, when you see a church that displays a cross, you can know at once that they do not understand how God views that symbol and their worshipful misuse of it. Surely if they knew, they would quickly remove it. Surely they would not be insensitive to His express feelings, preferring what is popular and traditional over what God himself says. You might try sharing these facts with them. What kind of reception do you expect? Would Jehovah prefer that you say, "It doesn't matter, as long as they feel good about it"? Would He be pleased with you if you joined with them in their way of worship?
If you try to worship God in the way that pleases Him, He will notice your sincere efforts. Listen to the advice King David gave to Solomon, his son: "And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a complete heart and with a delightful soul; for all hearts Jehovah is searching, and every inclination of the thoughts he is discerning. If you search for him, he will let himself be found by you." (1 Chron 28:9) The blessings of having God’s favor are beyond counting. You will live forever, and never regret your decision to serve God. —Mal 3.16-18, Psalm 37.29, 34, 37.
However, Jesus said: "No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14.6) Why did he say that? Why do we need anyone’s help to draw close to God? That is the subject for the next chapter.
