p. 9 | Some "Whys" by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Jul 26, 1910

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 37, No. 29.

Some "Whys"

By Editor

GOD does not reveal His truth to satisfy mere human curiosity. In the first place this would be humanly impossible, and in the second place it would be entirely apart from His great purpose in revelation — the salvation of souls.

Neither does God answer directly the many questions which it is helpful for His children to know; yet He answers them not less emphatically and much more fully in the development of His plan and in the lives of the actors in the great drama of His Word. A few illustrations will help to make this clear.

1. One of the queries which our worldly wisdom might raise, and which doubtless came to the mind of the young man Abraham, is, Why did God call Abraham from Ur of the Chaldees to the land of Canaan? from a wonderful land of fertility, from a seat of civilization and culture, from the world's great center of learning, to sojourn in the varied climate of Canaan, among idolatrous and degenerate tribes?

The secret is learned in the life of Abraham. He was there a missionary. Wherever he pitched his tent, he built an altar to the true God, and in that and his holy life proclaimed the Gospel. Gen. 12: 1, 2, 7; 13: 18. In so doing he gathered souls out of idolatry to the worship of the true God. Among the devoted worshipers in his family was Eliezer of Damascus. Gen. 15: 2. We may well believe that "the souls they had gotten in Haran" were multiplied in Canaan. Gen. 12: 5. A little later he could summon from among them, for the rescue of Lot, three hundred and eighteen men. Gen. 14: 14.

He and his household were in all their sojournings a light to the people of that dark land. All his days he had no certain abiding place, because the "iniquity of the Amorite was not yet full." Gen. 15: 16. God desired to save the Canaanites, the people of the land; therefore as long as there was hope, they must not be dispossessed, and Abraham, the father of the faithful, must share with God the burden-bearing of labor in their behalf.

2. Another "why": Why did Abraham go down into Egypt during his sojourn in Palestine? Gen. 12: 10. Obviously because there was a famine in Canaan. But God permitted the famine, perhaps caused it, that men might learn not to trust in false gods, but to see the True. But He had another mission for Abraham. It was not that Abraham should seek knowledge in the great empire of Mizraim. It was not to learn of the priests some new, sacred mysteries of religion. It was not for these. His visit was but another step in the carrying out of God's purpose in Abraham. "I will bless thee, . . . and be thou a blessing." Gen. 12: 2. Abraham was to be a blessing to Egypt, to bring to that land, to its king, even, the knowledge of the true God. He had naught to learn from Egypt; he had the Gospel of life to give.

God may disturb our nest, call us away from place, business, associations, pleasant and dear to us, to less congenial country, clime, and neighbors. But our mission is not one of self-pleasing, but of finding pleasure, strength, and greater blessing in doing the Master's work, in holding forth the light of His truth. Our selfish, half blind heart may question why; but the after years will answer.

— ★★ —