Numbers 14 describes the event of the people rebelling against God. Remember in Numbers 13, the 12 leaders of the tribes of Israel went into Canaan to see what the Israelites would have to face. And they found other peoples in the land, and 10 of the tribe leaders were scared. They didn't believe they could overthrow these peoples, and they spread negativity throughout the Israelites so that they wouldn't have to invade. Joshua and Caleb were the only two tribal leaders to have faith in the Lord, and they tried their hardest to convince the people of Israel to have faith, too.
"Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them." (Nu 14:9)
To me, this verse is saying to not be fearful of obstacles. To have faith in God. To trust that He is with me. Did God really not know that there were already other settlements throughout Canaan? Of course not. Did God really need the 12 tribal leaders to go spy on the land of Canaan? No way. God already knew everything there was to know. But He needed the Israelites to see it for themselves. He needed them to see what they would be up against. And even after seeing these peoples who were clearly stronger and more prepared for war, God needed the Israelites to trust that He was with them. He needed them to have faith in His power - to follow him and to take over Canaan.
I've decided that God is all about tests. He enjoys testing us and testing our faith. Because it only strengthens our relationship with Him. When we are presented with something that seems difficult, or even impossible, we must choose to trust Him. We must choose to follow His plans for us.
Ultimately the Israelites kinda screwed themselves over. For not trusting God, they were punished and forced to stay in the wilderness for 40 years before entering Canaan so that the current generation, the ones who were counted in the census, would all perish in the desert. Only then would God allow their descendants to finally take back the Promised Land.
So then I got to read Psalm 90, which is the first Psalm I've ever actually read. I really loved verse 2:
"Before the mountains were born
or you brought forth the whole world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God." (Ps 90:2)
If that doesn't speak to the magnitude of God, I don't know what does. This whole Psalm speaks to God's magnitude in the most poetic way. His strength. His power.
And then, I've got a question about verse 4:
"A thousand years in your sight
are like a day that has just gone by,
or like a watch in the night." (Ps 90:4)
An old friend once told me that perhaps this verse is an explanation for science and Biblical history not always seeming to match, especially in the case of creationism vs evolution. It suggests that maybe God's years and months and days aren't the same as ours. A thousand years to us might literally be like a day to God. It's an interesting thought and one I can't help but think about whenever we hear "millions of years old" tossed around by science. But I still can't quite figure out my own stance on it. It's like missing that last puzzle piece that fell on the floor and got eaten by the dog or the vacuum, and you spend hours it seems searching for it only to come up short.
The commentary I've been using suggested a theory that before Noah and the flood, the atmosphere of Earth was otherworldly. And I can see that. In the creation story, on the second day, God created a "vault," which was called "sky," to separate the waters above and below it. And there was also no rain before Noah. And people lived for hundreds of years. After the flood, the atmosphere became what we have today. My thought is this different atmosphere created aging. The commentary also mentions that Adam and Eve did not first appear as infants but as adults. Again, another sign that God created this aging process that us, humans today, cannot totally comprehend because it doesn't support the current scientific theories on the beginning of the universe.
Perhaps this thought does support Psalm 90:4. Supposedly this world is millions of years old, yet God created it all in six days. God created millions of years of science in just six days, which can explain why a thousand years to us is literally just a day to God.
The thing about God is you really have to believe in order to truly understand scripture. I have always maintained that the Bible is not a science or history textbook but a sacred Word whose true meaning can only be understood with the help of God, just as it was penned by men who were divinely inspired. Many people in the science field, I don't think really believe in God. (And I guess it's unfair to pinpoint science. There are people in all fields who don't believe.) So to them, how could it make sense that the world is only a few thousand years old when science says otherwise? When you don't believe, there is no logic or reason in Biblical claims. And I get that. I really do.
But when you believe in God, or rather, when you KNOW the Truth, it is actually quite rational to believe that a divine being, that God, has powers that are unfathomable to the human mind. It makes perfect logical sense that the world is only a few thousand years old despite scientific claims. He's God. God can do whatever He pleases. It actually kinda goes back to my thought that God really likes tests. When He created the world, He created a test. Do you denounce Him to support science, or do you choose to still have faith in Him and His existence regardless of what facts arise?
I still believe in science. Science is good and teaches us so much. But I believe in God, too. And I believe both can exist in this world. I think the theory I just described is actually a huge scientific breakthrough that will never be proven.
I guess I've kinda answered my question in all this rambling, but still, I'd love to hear your thoughts. What do you think about Psalm 90:4? What do you think it suggests? And what theories do you have about creationism and evolution and science and religion and how it all connects?
No comments:
Post a Comment