“You do not know what disaster may come upon the land… As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things…
Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that.” Ecclesiastes 11
If it wasn’t such a horrendous sin, the arrogance of man would probably make God laugh. Modern man flaunts his knowledge. Modern man, and science, look down on all who preceded them. He believes he is superior to previous generations in his advanced scientific knowledge. Despite the construction of the pyramids or the
building of great aqueducts, previous generations are seen as
“backward” and “unadvanced”.
Hosea 4:6 says, “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you.” Sometimes
men are ignorant because they don’t know what they don’t know. Other times they are willfully ignorant. They reject the knowledge God gives us, that He wants us to know.. While unintentional ignorance about earthly topics is understandable, intentional ignorance about spiritual matters is arrogance of the highest degree. It exalts man over
God and ultimately leads to eternal spiritual death.
In Ecclesiastes 11 Solomon (remember this is the wisest man to ever live) writes about the futility of man’s knowledge. If man thinks he is wise he should consider what he does not know. Man cannot predict when disaster may come. (Remember the great flood, Y2k or 9/11?) Peter tells us this ignorance will be common in the last days. “Knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last
days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water.” (2 Peter 3:3-5) Evidence is present but men refuse to see it. Solomon goes on to list other things men do not know. They all flow back to one central point. “You cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.” Don’t despise that truth – rejoice that the wisdom of God is much greater than our understanding. Sinful man demands that God answer to hm – unless what God does meets arrogant man’s expectations, he rejects that God is real. This lack of understanding makes man god and God a robot to align with man’s intellect.
These things are written There are many things God does not tell us in this life. Many of those things are interesting but they are not primary. What is important is what God tells us He gave us in His word to know. Multiple times we are told in scripture “These things are written that you may know”. In the New Testament we find this phrase most often used by the Apostle John. He uses it often in his epistles but he uses if first to give us the purpose of his gospel. “But these are written so that you may believe (know) that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” John 20:31 Unbelieving man has all kinds of questions for God. He throws out issues he wants God to answer. God, however, states what man must know. You must know Him. In eternity God will unveil unbelievable truths for His children to know and enjoy. In this life, our goal is centered on one priority – knowing Him – for that is what is necessary to complete our mission in this life.