Then [Pooh] began to think of all the things Christopher Robin would want to tell him when he came back from wherever he was going to, and how muddling it would be for a Bear of Very Little Brain to try and get them right in his mind. “So perhaps,” he said sadly to himself, “Christopher Robin won’t tell me any more,”and he wondered if being a Faithful Knight meant that you just went on being faithful without being told things. -A. A. Milne
How often do we as mankind have the attitude of Pooh. What injustice we feel at not being told something by God. How quick we can be to point the finger at God and accuse him of deception. But as God said to Job, “Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right? Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his?” (job 40:7-9)
I had a discussion on a message board that i frequent about creation. A member hinted that if the earth was young and created with the appearance of age that it would be deceptive of God. He said, “My problem is that it would seem deceptive on God’s part to intentionally produce evidence that pointed to to false conclusion. What we know of God does not allow for that.” I see several issues with this statement
1 .) Who said God did what He did in order to “intentionally produce evidence that pointed to to false conclusion?” Maybe, instead, those who come to theses false assumptions are at fault for improperly assuming. Not to mention that they already start with a false presupposition.
2.)“it would seem deceptive on God’s part…” Here is another issue. Who are we to know the mind or intentions of God. Who are we to accuse God of deception. Perhaps the appearance of agehad more to do with having a worn in and working ecosystem than about deceiving scientist that are already deceived.
3.) “…pointed to a false conclusion…” Actually the evidence points to the right conclusion if one has the eyes and the presuppositions to see it.
I close with some words of Jehovah as He confronts Job.
Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Dress for action[a] like a man;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.
“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements–surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone,
when the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
“Or who shut in the sea with doors
when it burst out from the womb,
when I made clouds its garment
and thick darkness its swaddling band,
and prescribed limits for it
and set bars and doors,
and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,
and here shall your proud waves be stayed”
“Have you commanded the morning since your days began,
and caused the dawn to know its place,
that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth,
and the wicked be shaken out of it?
It is changed like clay under the seal,
and its features stand out like a garment.
From the wicked their light is withheld,
and their uplifted arm is broken.
And the LORD said to Job:
“Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty?
He who argues with God, let him answer it.”
“Dress for action[a] like a man;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.
Will you even put me in the wrong?
Will you condemn me that you may be in the right?
Have you an arm like God,
and can you thunder with a voice like his?
“Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity;
clothe yourself with glory and splendor.
Pour out the overflowings of your anger,
and look on everyone who is proud and abase him.
Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low
and tread down the wicked where they stand.
Hide them all in the dust together;
bind their faces in the world below.
Then will I also acknowledge to you
that your own right hand can save you.
(Job 38:1-15; 40:1-2,7-14)
These words were spoken by Virgil Grissom shortly before the Apollo 1 mission that took the lives of himself and two other astronauts during a “plugs out” test in January of 1967. The fact that we have not heeded his words and have, for so many years, continued in the same monotony of low earth orbit and useless space stations should ruffle more feathers than it, seemingly, has. In an effort to spark some interest among those three people who read my blog, I have decided to begin a series (of undetermined length) about the American space program. From the simple ping of Sputnik to the splashdown of Apollo 17 I will seek to examine the brave men and the amazing missions that captivated the hearts and minds of Americans (and those around the world) for the tumultuous years of the 60’s and 70’s.