Picture the scene. A seasoned fisherman has labored all night, but he and his team have come up empty. Out of the blue, an itinerant rabbi tells this blue-collar worker that he will catch some fish if he lets down his nets one more time. The fisherman, named Simon, doubted this rabbi knows what He is talking about. After all, Simon is the experienced, no-nonsense fisherman. But the man is a rabbi, so it’s probably best to comply out of respect, even if it’s a pointless exercise.

And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” (Luke 5:5, ESV)

Then, the impossible happened. They caught so many fish that the nets began to break. Simon quickly realized his boat simply couldn’t handle this much weight. He called his partners over to help him out. It was the greatest fishing story of Simon’s life.

In that moment, Simon recognized that he was in the presence of pure holiness.

But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” (Luke 5:8, ESV)

Self-assurance was replaced by awe. Reluctant compliance was replaced by humble trust. After this, Peter left everything to follow Jesus. How could he turn Jesus down now? And Peter would continue to learn just how much he didn’t know.

“The Word of Our God Endures Forever”

If you study the Bible long enough, you will always have questions. Sometimes a passage just doesn’t seem to make sense. We may even wonder aloud, “Why would God do it that way?” Sometimes our cultural distance from the events in the Bible make it hard for us to grasp what was really going on. At other times, we understand the context well enough, but God’s plan or design for human life just seems weird or confusing—maybe even flawed.

Sometimes, people invoke the ancient cultural situation of the Bible’s human authors when they want to relativize Scripture’s teaching on things like generosity, self-control, and sexual ethics. “That was then,” people often say. “But things are different now. This is the 21^st century after all.”

The fallacy of that argument is that when God speaks clearly on a matter, He speaks for all times.

“The entirety of Your word is truth, and all Your righteous judgments endure forever.” (Psalm 119:160, BSB)

Unlike your smartphone, the Bible never needs updates.

“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” (Isaiah 40:8, NIV)[1]

The Bible is the only flawless thing on earth.[2] When God speaks, He doesn’t stutter or fumble for words. God gave Scripture through men for our encouragement and edification.[3] While their historical and cultural situation matters, God is not limited by human cultures to say what He wants to say. Without the Bible, we are spiritually lost, like a submarine without a navigation system.

The French intellectual Voltaire is reputed to have quipped, “One hundred years from my day, there will not be a Bible on earth except one that is looked upon by an antiquarian curiosity-seeker.” The ironic twist of Providence is that Voltaire’s own house in Geneva, Switzerland, later became a storehouse for Bibles by the Evangelical Society of Geneva (pictured above).[4] Those who try to mock the Bible end up making a mockery of themselves.

The Apostle Paul clearly believed the whole Bible was still relevant and authoritative when he wrote:

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17, ESV)

He said that to Timothy, even though much of the Scripture available at that time (the Old Testament) was written some 1,400 years earlier and in a different culture.

“Come Let Us Reason Together”

It’s never a good idea to think you know better than God. At the same time, God is not opposed to questions. The psalms and prophets are filled with God’s people asking Him why certain things must be so. God even welcomes our frustrated pleas for understanding and our laments over why the world is in the sordid mess that it is.

“Come let us reason together,” God invites us (Isaiah 1:18). Questions are good; they indicate thoughtfulness and engagement with what God has said. But questions should always be tinged with humility. Those who want to sit in judgment on God’s Word are following the plan of the serpent, who asked, “Did God really say?”[5]

We need to remember that God is infinitely holy and majestic. We are finite human beings with a three-pound brain who have only been around for about two seconds compared to the eternal God. To assume we know better than God is the height of arrogance. We should admit that we know almost nothing next to our all-knowing God.

Whenever I come across a passage that confuses me or seems to paint God in a negative light, I should start with the assumption that I am missing something significant.

For instance, many people might ask, “How could God kill everyone on earth in the Genesis flood? That seems so extreme!” or “How can God command Joshua to utterly destroy those Canaanites?”

But God is holy, and His ways are perfectly just. What people often forget is that, as our Creator, He is in a category all by Himself.

“The Beginning of Knowledge”

As we grow in our understanding of God’s holiness, we begin to see things with a better perspective. When people say, “I would never do it that way!” I would agree and add, “That’s because you and I are not God. He alone is the holy and good Ruler of all.”

As the Lord and King of this world, God has every right to judge sinful people who rebel against Him and blaspheme His Name. The real question the Bible pushes us to ask is not “How can God judge?” but “How can God be so incredibly merciful to those who persist in atrocious deeds against their fellow man and moral rebellion against His perfect will?” Solomon reminds us:

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
    fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Proverbs 1:7, ESV)

Notice what this verse says. We can’t even begin to have a true knowledge of God, ourselves, and the world we inhabit until we develop a right fear of the Lord. Jesus reminded us that while we often fear corrupt men, we should be fearing the incorruptible God who can send people to an eternity in hell.

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28, ESV)

When we lack a healthy fear of God as the all-powerful Judge that He is, we begin to think that we get to put God in the dock and accuse Him of wrong. And those who slander God tend to slander their fellow man who has been made in His image.

The Lord says:

“These things you have done, and I have been silent;
    you thought that I was one like yourself.
But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.
Mark this, then, you who forget God,
    lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!” (Psalm 50:21-22, ESV)

When we have a low view of God, we will misinterpret His actions. If we want to honor God and be blessed by Him, we should consider that God blesses those who revere His Word.

“But this is the one to whom I will look:
    he who is humble and contrite in spirit
    and trembles at my word.” (Isaiah 66:2, ESV)

Every time we open the Bible, we should ask God for a humble attitude that is ready to learn and an open heart ready to be transformed more and more into His likeness.

Once we recognize where we have arrogantly flouted God’s Word (we all have), we need to come back to Him in humble repentance, falling on our knees as Simon Peter did before the Lord Jesus (Luke 5:8). When we do that, we get to experience His forgiving mercy and grace.

“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:5, ESV)

I pray this encourages you. If you have any thoughts or questions about any of this, I would love to hear from you!

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[1] Also see Psalm 111:7-8; 119:89.

[2] Proverbs 30:5; Psalm 12:6; 18:30; 2 Samuel 22:31.

[3] 2 Peter 1:21.

[4] https://bellatorchristi.com/2019/03/18/voltaires-prediction-home-and-the-bible-society-truth-or-myth/

[5] Genesis 3:1