Over the years of reading the Bible, I’ve come to appreciate the
questions God has asked people. His questions are always deep with meaning and sometimes
a call to repentance. I like that he asks people to explain themselves to him. The
questions make them either make excuses or say they are sorry.
When man first sinned, God gave him the chance to explain himself. The Bible
says, “Then the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” and later, "Who told you that you were
naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" Genesis 3:9
Instead of repenting, Adam and Eve blamed each other and the serpent.
But God was merciful to them. The next person God questioned was Cain.
Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?"
"I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?" Genesis 4:9
God gave Cain a chance to tell him what he had done and repent. He didn’t,
in fact, he was flippant about it. This was the first human death and it was a
murder. God gave him a punishment, but when Cain complained about it, God
helped him.
Moses didn’t want to go back to Egypt to bring God’s people out of
slavery. He made many excuses, and one of them was that he was not an eloquent
speaker. God wouldn’t accept any of his excuses and asked him this:
Then the LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him
mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Exodus 4:11
God is telling him to trust him because he is the mighty God who can do
anything.
Balaam was a prophet of God. But as Israel was coming into the promised
land, King Balak of Midian, asked him to come and curse the Israelites. He was
afraid of them because he knew they were coming to take his land. When the
messengers came to ask Balaam to do this he said he would ask God what to do.
God told him, “No.” The men went and
told the king his answer, but he sent them again with more money. Balaam told
them to stay another night and he would ask again.
And God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?” Numbers 22:9
Balaam explained and God gave an answer Balaam didn’t like. He ended up
chasing the messengers and going to King Balak. His heart had become greedy.
Job, the man of God who suffered the loss of all things, questioned God.
He didn’t understand why God was letting all these terrible things happen to
him. God’s question is a stark one.
“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you
have understanding. Job 38:4
This was a question to make Job think about whom he was questioning. God
is Almighty, all-knowing, all-seeing. Can we humans make a flower out of
nothing? No. But God can. Look at the vastness of the universe. Look at what
God can do and what he has made. Study the human body and how it works and you
will be in awe.
We may not like this question and answer of God’s; but that’s too bad.
Lol.
Jonah was the prophet God sent to the wicked city of Ninevah. They were
a brutal nation, killing thousands of people to take their lands. God told Jonah
to go there and tell them he was going to destroy them. Jonah didn’t want to
and ran away, but later he went since God wouldn’t let him get away with that.
The people of Ninevah repented! How wonderful! Jonah should have been
happy, but he wasn’t. He probably hated these people and also thought he might
be considered a false prophet. God asked him a question to teach him
compassion:
“And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more
than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left (this
means children), and also much cattle?” Jonah 4:11
Elijah was one of the greatest prophets in the Bible. But he ran away in
fear when Queen Jezebel threatened him with death. He was in the wilderness and
tired and asked God to take his life. Instead, God sent an angel to give him
food, water and comfort. Elijah was wandering in the wilderness for 40 days.
There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the
LORD came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 1 Kings 19:9
I love this question. Elijah told God about all his troubles. But God
told him he still had many people in Israel who still worshiped him. He told
Elijah to go back, and he did. Eventually, he was taken to heaven in a chariot
of fire. Good old Elijah.
These are some of God’s questions in the Old Testament. I’m going to
continue next post about the questions Jesus asked of People.
