There is a standard joke about a man that slipped and fell off the edge of a mountain. After the fall he grabs hold of a limb on his way down. He is still a long way from the bottom and the limb begins to break. He yells out in desperation “is there anybody up there that can help?” A deep voice comes back “yes, let go of the limb.” The man thinks a little while and yells out “is there anybody else up there?”
Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
The Bible, as a whole, uses the first-mention method of introducing a subject, idea or principle. The author (Holy Spirit speaking through men) introduces a subject by first the mention, sometimes with very limited information, then, at a later point, will fill in a few more pieces of the puzzle. If you continue to read and study the Bible from cover to cover and pay close attention to any one subject, it will eventually crescendo at some point, and you will learn all the Word has to say about it. In the first sentence of the first book God is introduced with no information other than He created everything. As we follow the story of Genesis, we find out more about His characteristics.
Psalms 111:10
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding.
There is a difference in knowing a lot about God and knowing God. The God of the Bible is not only our Creator, He wants to be in fellowship with us and be our God. As we grow in our relationship, we lean more about Him. Life experiences create opportunities for us get to know our God better. As we pray and become familiar with the Bible, we gain faith and begin to understand the idea of trust. Faith and trust are some of the key ingredients to any relationship.
James 2:23
And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
Then, when life hits suddenly, in those sink or swim moments, we start to wonder if we have made the right Friend. It is in those moments we have a choice. Do we rely on God or our own strength? If we are to take this journey in Wisdom, we have to step back and ask ourselves what is God trying to teach us? What do we need to learn about God and ourselves? It takes patience, along with an open mind, to consider going to the next level in our relationship with God. We have to look through His eyes to see a bigger picture. As we experience life, hear a new sermon or read more scripture, we continue in the process of developing our understanding of God. This is a cycle for life, of those truly seeking wisdom.
John 4:19
“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
The first question the Samaritan woman at the well asked Jesus (once she perceived Him to be a prophet) was which mountain was the right mountain to worship on. This seems totally foreign to our way of thinking. How could this be relevant? The answer goes back several hundred years earlier. Without going into a long study, I will try and give a brief history. After King Solomon died, the kingdom of Israel was split. The northern kingdom “Israel” and the southern kingdom “Judah”. The northern kingdom did not want their citizens traveling to Jerusalem three times a year to worship, as was required in Jewish law, so the King of Israel set up another place to worship and created different feasts that mirrored the ones God had laid out for Moses. In essence, to solve the problem of two kingdoms, the northern king simply created a new religion. Later, because of the northern kingdom’s evil ways, they were taken captive by the Assyrians. The Assyrians displaced Israel (Jews) with Assyrian (Gentiles). The new Gentile inhabitants mingled their worship into this already false religion which created even more confusion, so add to that foundation, 700 years of false worship and meaningless traditions. Now the Samaritans (Assyrian/Jews) were lead to believe that the only true worship of God could be on Mt. Gerizem. They believed that the Jews in Judah had it all wrong because they worshiped in Jerusalem on Mount Mariah (the Temple Mount).
Luke 9:51
As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem.
The reason Jesus was not welcomed back in this Samaritan village was because of the original question asked by the woman at the well, as to which mountain was the right mountain? In reality it was not “which mountain” that was in question it was “which god”. The Samaritan woman and the Samaritans wanted Jesus to authenticate their beliefs as being correct. By Jesus heading to Jerusalem, he was answering their question and would not be affirming their false religion. Their whole religion was made up of facts that were not based on Scripture. They were waiting on a Messiah that was made up, and matched their man-made hopes and beliefs.
John 4:23
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”
The problem is this, as we start learning about God, we tend to take what we like and leave out the hard stuff. We usually base our idea of God on what the church, and other sources of influence have told us. We start knowing a lot about God. The Samaritan woman knew about a Messiah that would come, she knew about worship, she knew about God but did not know God. Once she met Jesus face to face, it was a brand new experience.
Matthew 11:28
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
We sometimes pick out our own mountains to worship on, and make up our own rules to fit God in. The mountains we pick allow us to ease our conscience with sacrifices that are convenient, and allow us to check off our list of weekly commitments in a ho hum kind of way. Sometimes our messiah is one that we use like a rabbits foot or a four-leaf clover. We just need Him when we want to make a wish.
John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life:no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
The God that is not man-made is worshipped in Spirit and in Truth. Spirit being heart-felt like Jeremiah 20:9 states…. “But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones”, we need a passion for God’s Word that cannot be extinguished. Truth that cuts deep in our soul, like Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit,” We need to not only know about God, we need a Face-to-face encounter.
I believe, even if we have the greatest mind and the greatest faith, we can never fully comprehend God or totally understand His ways. Yet, there are those that never seek or stop seeking when His ways becomes too hard. As we Journey in Wisdom, if we are to follow the right path, our foundation has to be His Word, the Bible. We have to look at our circumstances through God’s eyes, following His ways, we have to “let go of the limb”.