Mysteries of the Bible
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The greatness of its themes should inspire faith in it as the word of
God.
The Bible unfolds truth with a simplicity and an adaptation to the
needs and longings of the human heart that has astonished and charmed
the most highly cultivated minds, while to the humble and uncultured
also it makes plain the way of life. “The wayfaring men, though
fools, shall not err therein,”
Isaiah 35:8
. No child need mistake the
path. Not one trembling seeker need fail of walking in pure and holy
light. Yet the most simply stated truths lay hold upon themes elevated,
far-reaching, infinitely beyond the power of human comprehension,—
mysteries that are the hiding of His glory, mysteries that overpower the
mind in its research,—while they inspire the sincere seeker for truth
with reverence and faith. The more we search the Bible, the deeper is
our conviction that it is the word of the living God, and human reason
bows before the majesty of divine revelation.
God intends that to the earnest seeker the truths of His word shall
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be ever unfolding. While “the secret things belong unto the Lord our
God,” “those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our
children.”
Deuteronomy 29:29
. The idea that certain portions of the
Bible cannot be understood has led to neglect of some of its most
important truths. The fact needs to be emphasized, and often repeated,
that the mysteries of the Bible are not such because God has sought
to conceal truth, but because our own weakness or ignorance makes
us incapable of comprehending or appropriating truth. The limitation
is not in His purpose, but in our capacity. Of those very portions of
Scripture often passed by as impossible to be understood, God desires
us to understand as much as our minds are capable of receiving. “All
Scripture is given by inspiration of God,” that we may be “thoroughly
furnished unto all good works,”
2 Timothy 3:16, 17
.
It is impossible for any human mind to exhaust even one truth or
promise of the Bible. One catches the glory from one point of view,
another from another point; yet we can discern only gleamings. The
full radiance is beyond our vision.
As we contemplate the great things of God’s word, we look into a
fountain that broadens and deepens beneath our gaze. Its breadth and
depth pass our knowledge. As we gaze, the vision widens; stretched
out before us we behold a boundless, shoreless sea.