Balancing Analogies with the Mystery of God's Nature and Actions
The nature and actions of God are often described through analogies in scripture, yet these analogies consistently point to a divine mystery that transcends human comprehension [2, 5]. The Bible itself poses the question, "Can you fathom the mystery of God? Or can you probe the limits of the Almighty?" [2]. This inherent unknowability is not a deficit but a characteristic of God's glory [5].
Scripture frequently highlights the vast qualitative difference between God and humanity. Job 9:2 asks, "howe should man compared vnto God, be iustified?" [1]. Similarly, Job 22:2 states, "Can man be compared with God, even though he were of perfect knowledge?" [3]. These rhetorical questions underscore the incomparable nature of God. While humans can seek God, their understanding is limited, often likened to "men groping their way in the dark" [9]. The difficulty in finding God outside of revealed religion is attributed not to God's distance, but to humanity's "distance from Him through the blinding effect of sin" [9].
The concept of "mystery" in relation to God's nature and actions is a recurring theme. Proverbs 25:2 states, "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing; And the glory of the king to search out a matter" [5]. This suggests that God's glory is revealed in His ability to place "mystery upon mystery" before humanity, thereby making humans conscious of the limitations of their own knowledge [5]. This divine concealment compels an acknowledgment of human insufficiency, echoing Deuteronomy 29:28 [5].
The incarnation of Christ is presented as a profound mystery, described as "great is the mystery of godliness" in 1 Timothy 3:16 [7]. John Gill explains that this mystery, encompassing Christ's birth of a virgin and the union of divine and human natures, is "not to be discerned nor accounted for, nor the modus of it to be comprehended by reason" [7]. Despite being revealed, it remains beyond full human grasp, encouraging both internal and external piety [7].
Even when God reveals aspects of Himself, the "deep things of God" remain profound [4]. John Chrysostom, commenting on 1 Corinthians, explains that the Spirit's ability "to search" these deep things indicates not ignorance, but "accurate knowledge," a knowledge fully equal to God's own [4]. This implies that while the Spirit comprehends God's depths, human understanding is necessarily more limited.
The unpredictability and mysteriousness of God's activity are also noted in Ecclesiastes 11:5, which suggests that "The activity of God is often unpredictable and mysterious" [8]. This calls for a response of diligent work when opportunity arises, rather than an attempt to fully decipher divine plans [8]. The "wondrous works of God" deserve and require consideration, which can help reconcile individuals to God's ways [6].
Sources
- Job “Job 9:2 (Geneva1599) — I knowe verily that it is so: for howe should man compared vnto God, be iustified?”
- Job ““Can you fathom the mystery of God? Or can you probe the limits of the Almighty? -- Job 11:7”
- Job “Job 22:2 (DRC) — Can man be compared with God, even though he were of perfect knowledge?”
- CCEL/NPNF (Eastern Orthodox) “John Chrysostom, Homilies on 1 & 2 Corinthians: the deep things of God.” For the word “to search” is here indicative not of ignorance, but of accurate knowledge: it is the very same mode of speaking which he used even of God, saying, “He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit.” ( Rom. viii. 27 .) Then having spoken with exactness concerning the knowledge of the Spirit, and having pointed out that it is as fully equal to God’s knowledge, as the knowledge of a man itself to itself; and also, that we have learned all things from it and necessarily from it; he added, “whi”
- Proverbs (Lutheran) “Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 25:2: It is characteristic of the purpose of the book that it begins with proverbs of the king: It is the glory of God to conceal a thing; And the glory of the king to search out a matter. That which is the glory of God and the glory of the king in itself, and that by which they acquire glory, stand here contrasted. The glory of God consists in this, to conceal a matter, i.e., to place before men mystery upon mystery, in which they become conscious of the limitation and insufficiency of their knowledge, so that they are constrained to acknowledge, Deu 29:28, that "”
- Job (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Job 37:14: Elihu here addresses himself closely to Job, desiring him to apply what he had hitherto said to himself. He begs that he would hearken to this discourse (Job 37:14), that he would pause awhile: Stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God. What we hear is not likely to profit us unless we consider it, and we are not likely to consider things fully unless we stand still and compose ourselves to the consideration of them. The works of God, being wondrous, both deserve and need our consideration, and the due consideration of them will help to reconcile us to all”
- 1 Timothy (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 1 Timothy 3:16: And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness,.... What follows is so, the incarnation of Christ, his birth of a virgin, the union of the two natures, divine and human, in his person; this is a mystery, which though revealed, and so to be believed, is not to be discerned nor accounted for, nor the modus of it to be comprehended by reason: and it is a great one, next, if not equal, to the doctrine of a trinity of persons in the divine essence; and is a mystery of godliness, which tends to encourage internal and external religion, powerful and practical g”
- Ecclesiastes (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Ecclesiastes 11:5: 11:5 The activity of God is often unpredictable and mysterious. Our job is to work when we have the opportunity to do so (see Prov 12:11; 24:27).”
- Acts (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Acts 17:27: That they should seek the Lord--That is the high end of all these arrangements of Divine Power, Wisdom, and Love. if haply they might feel after him--as men groping their way in the dark. and find him--a lively picture of the murky atmosphere of Natural Religion. though he be not far from every one of us--The difficulty of finding God outside the pale of revealed religion lies not in His distance from us, but in our distance from Him through the blinding effect of sin.”