When we can't find answers in the Bible

Perhaps out of misplaced zeal, some Christians give the impression to others that the Bible has answers to everything. And then many get disappointed when they can't get answers for some of their problematic questions. Some of them become disillusioned, and some even leave their faith altogether! That is an unnecessary tragedy. In many cases, there are people around who have studied the Bible at length and arrived at answers, and these people could have referred to them. But the fact is also that there are many things God has chosen not to reveal to us in the Bible. The Bible is God's word given to us in order to lead us to Him and to our salvation. But it was not meant to be an encyclopedia of knowledge, even spiritual knowledge.

The Bible reveals to us enough truth about God and His ways so that we can come to know Him personally in such a way that we feel confident to trust Him and obey Him in everything. But then, God being who He is and we being only created beings who are entirely dependent on Him, our relationship will be such that His ways will be always far above ours as the heaven is above the earth! There will be things He chooses to reveal to us, and there will be other things He thinks are not necessary for us to know at this time on earth. "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law" (De.29:29). When we come across matters that are not clearly told us in the Bible, we have to accept that with trust in God's wisdom. We can think that He would have revealed to us everything that was necessary for us to know. Then we can leave the other matters to Him. This is not difficult to do if we know Him and trust Him.

Instead of taking this humble approach to ourselves, if we imagine that we ought to know everything about everything, and that if the Bible does not give us an answer we cannot trust it, or God eventually, that is a most unrealistic and hence foolish way of looking at things. Of course, how can we imagine that we ought to know everything? If we could, then that would make us equal to God, who alone is all-knowing. That was the bait Satan held before Eve when he tempted her.

Can we reckon with the situation now that we will be unable to find answers to many questions here on earth? People often speculate, and some of them insist that their opinions are truth. But is it not wise for us, if the Bible is not clear about some things, to hold our opinions somewhat tentatively, considering the possibility that we could even be wrong about some of them?

Let's take a look at the question about who the sons of God were in Gen.6. Some people are insistent that they were angels. Others claim they were men from Seth's family. Are these not mere conjectures that cannot be precisely ascertained from the Bible? While we can have our opinions, must we be dogmatic when the Scripture is silent?