Opus 2025-392: Filling in the Blanks

I found myself reading through Samuel and wondering about the ages of Samuel when his mother left him at the house of God and later when he was called by God and kept waking Eli up.  I’m going to look again, but I don’t think it tells us.  It came to my attention that there are a lot of things that God does not tell us, but being inquisitive troublemakers, we tend to want to know.  Think of the questions that you keep asking.  You started with your Sunday school teacher in second grade.  You may be asking the same questions of your pastor this week.

Where did Adam and Eve’s children get their spouses?

Who were the Nephilim?

Where in the Bible does it use the term “penal substitutionary atonement?  I know atonement is in there, but I don’t know about the rest.  While we’re on that topic, why do people keep trying to say that there was no forgiveness of sin in the Old Testament when “atonement” is used time and time again?  Don’t they know what atonement means?

We can go on with all kinds of questions, but you get the idea.

Why does God leave these blanks in the biblical record?  I would respectfully suggest that maybe He knew that these were details that we didn’t need to know and He was working with a medium that can’t just swap out memory every time things start overloading.  He was working with parchment and stone.  They didn’t even have paper in those days.  Yes I know about papyrus.  It was not paper.  It was also expensive.  He had to economize on what we needed to know, and I can’t think of any better editor than God himself.

Some people think that allows them to speculate and come up with theories that have the power of inspired scripture.  I don’t think that’s why God left it out.  I don’t think He knew that He would have frustrated authors who couldn’t get published needing to express their ideas.  Well actually, He knew it, but He didn’t care.  We do not have the right to go out and just make up our own theology based on the need for system.

One of my paths of investigation is separating out the traditions of men from the word of God.  It’s not easy.  We have so many built-in traditions we don’t even think about that tailor how we look at what God tells us.  Some of those traditions are harmless and might even be helpful. Sitting in pews facing the front where we’re not distracted by the dandruff on our neighbors shoulder or the baby in the back row could be a good thing, but it is a long way from the house church concept that is explained in Acts.  Sometimes basic understandings that large segments of Christians believe are clearly not taught in scripture.  When you look at the TULIP theory and start analyzing such things as the limited atonement, all you have to do is read John 3:16 and see that that doesn’t work.  Yet it is part of the foundation of many churches.

Learn to tell tell the difference between the traditions of men and the doctrines of God.  Base your life on the latter.

homo unius libri