Foolish Things :: “Did God actually say . . . ?”: Introduction

{ 2006 03 04 }

“Did God actually say . . . ?”: Introduction

¹ Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” ² And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, ³ but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” ⁴ But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. ⁵ For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” [Genesis 3:1-5; ESV]

Genesis 3 records the first lies told in human history, fittingly told by the deceiver himself; the “father of lies”. Satan knows very well that God did not forbid Adam and Eve from eating “of any tree in the garden”, just one tree in particular, but that doesn’t stop him from planting the seed of doubt. He then goes on to tell his second lie; that they will not die. In Genesis 2:16-17 God tells Adam in the plainest of terms that he will surely die if he eats of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but Satan, having already planted the seed of doubt in Eve’s mind, follows up with his death-blow — a blatant contradiction of God’s word.

It is clear from the wholesale rejection of God’s word by the church as well as the secular world that the lie is still effective today. “Did God actually say . . . ?” What better way to sow the seeds of doubt, especially when combined with the lack of discernment by Christians regarding false teaching, the attitude that all beliefs are equally valid and a general lack of knowledge regarding what God actually did say.

There is a mindset that we need to listen to the experts when it comes to everything. When you’re sick you go to the doctor and do whatever he says. Why would you doubt your doctor? He went to medical school and served an internship and has been in practice for however many years. He subscribes to all the medical journals and reads all the latest literature so he must know what he’s talking about. Right? Why would we as parents or students doubt what the teachers say? They went to school and learned how to teach. They use the latest textbooks with up-to-date information and they read, read, read to stay up on the latest knowledge in their areas of specialization. They’re the experts. When it comes to God’s word, we are the same way. I don’t need to study the Bible because there are pastors and preachers who are experts and they’ll tell me what I need to know so why should I try to wrap my brain around the truth when I can have it served to me on a silver platter.

Why, indeed. Consider the following passage from Acts 17:

¹⁰ The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. ¹¹ Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. ¹² Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men. ¹³ But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds. [Acts 17:10-13; ESV]

The church at Berea was not content to just accept whatever was taught to them, but searched the scriptures to make sure what they were being taught was true. Never mind that it was Paul who was teaching them. Would that we had the same desire to test all teachings today. Too often we are more like those described in Ephesians 4:14, “tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” We just accept the word of the experts and “go with the flow.” Never mind checking to make sure that what they say is really what the Bible says.

As I have gone through various stages in my development as a Christian, I have fallen in and out of the habit of searching the scriptures for the truth; sometimes trusting completely sometimes searching relentlessly. Lately it has been a real burden for me to be able to know not only what I believe, but why I believe it. There are many things that I believe to be right or wrong, but I don’t always have the “ammunition” to back up my belief, so I am going to begin searching. It’s not good enough for me to have a vague sense of “I know it says that somewhere in the Bible”, I need to know where it says it in the Bible, not only for my own sake, but also to answer the questions of the world and to stand up to the deceptions of Satan.

This post will serve as the beginning of a series (very intermittent, I’m sure — you know me ) in which I will examine those beliefs that are clearly set forth in the Bible, but are often denigrated by the world. I can’t promise that the conclusions will be popular, but they will be biblical. One thing that is outside the scope of this series is the question of the validity of the Bible. There will always be those who will say that it doesn’t matter what the Bible says about anything because they don’t accept it (the Bible) as being true. Perhaps I will tackle that question at a later time, but until then I will soon follow up with a post of some links to sites that defend the accuracy of the Bible.