God Is Unfathomable, Part 1

Today on Fellowship in the Word, Pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ. Job looks at life and says, you know what, it's not fair. Have you ever done that? Have you ever looked at life and say, this doesn't seem fair to me? Especially when you see terrible horrific things happen to people that you and I deem as relatively innocent in these things. How can this be fair? Life doesn't look fair out there.

In fact, it's not fair out there. And that's what Job goes on and says. And the idea that he has is what's such an interesting idea from his point of view is this whole idea of what's the point. You see, what is he doing?

Why? God knows why, but Job doesn't know why. It's the point of the book. But pain and suffering will often lead us to this question. Thank you for joining us today on this edition of Fellowship in the Word with Pastor Bill Gebhardt. Fellowship in the Word is the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible Church located in Metairie, Louisiana. Let's join Pastor Bill Gebhardt now as once again, he shows us how God's word meets our world. I would think that many of you have come to the same realization as I have. Life is often a mystery. And if you think that you're Christian and that'll solve that dilemma for you, you're mistaken.

It won't at all. C.S. Lewis assessing life, he wrote this, he said, the best is perhaps that we understand the least. As only C.S. Lewis could say it. Much of the time as we go through life. And you observe all the inexplicable things you see around you.

And there are plenty of those going on now. Almost all of us are left with the same three letter word. Why? Why? You ever ask God that?

Why? So in light of that and some other issues, I've decided that I'm going to begin a series of sermons that I've entitled, put on your thinking cap. And so if almost none of you are here in three or four weeks, I'll know why.

You've decided not to go through that. I don't promise to provide the indisputable, clear answers on these topics. But I, I have hope that I'll be able to give you a biblical perspective that will help you through what I call the mysteries of life.

And so I do understand, by the way, that the subject that we'll be talking about for the next few weeks are inscrutable. But I'd like you to open your Bibles to Job Chapter nine. Job Chapter nine. You're pretty familiar, I'm sure, with the Book of Job. And if if I were to summarize the entire book of Job. Into one word. The word would be why?

That's the whole point of the book. Everybody's talking about it. Why? Why is this happening?

Why am I suffering? So why? I just need to know.

I want to know why. And when you get to Job nine, you've already gone by like in Job four and five, Eliphaz, the first of the of the friends came to be with Job. And he said, as friends often do, I know why. You know, you've done bad stuff. And because you've done bad stuff, God's punishing you for doing bad stuff.

And that didn't help Job much. And then we get to Chapter eight and Bildad comes by and he says, look, you've done something wrong and you're going to have to repent. Bildad goes on and says God would never reject a man who has integrity enough to repent. So just repent. But Job knows he doesn't have anything to repent of. And so he's still up for the same question.

So in Chapter nine, Job sort of makes his own response. He says in verse one, in truth, I know that this is so what had been said by Bildad. He said, but how can a man be right before God?

It's an interesting question. If you're saying I have some sin in me, of course I do. How could any man be right before God so God could punish everybody if that's the case? So he has that question. And then he says, if one wish to dispute with him, he could not answer him once in a thousand times. He said, God is not going to answer me.

I don't know. He's feeling this thought. This thought of why he understands it. And then he goes over to verse 10 and he says this.

God does great things, unfathomable and wondrous works without number. Were he to pass by me, I would not see him. Were he to move past me, I would not perceive him. Were he to snatch away, who could restrain him? And who could say to him the other question? What are you doing? It's not just why, but you see something happening in your life and you say, well, what are you doing?

It's just a question we often have as human beings. So you go to verse 22 and he says here, he said, you know, God, as I look at life, it is all one. Therefore, I say he destroys the guiltless and the wicked. If the scourge skills kill suddenly, he said, he mocks the despair of the innocent. The earth is given into the hand of the wicked. He covers the faces of its judges.

If it is not he, then who is it? Now, let me summarize that. Job looks at life and says, you know what? It's not fair.

Have you ever done that? You ever look at life and say, this doesn't seem fair to me. Especially when you see terrible, horrific things happen to people that you and I deem as relatively innocent in these things. How can this be fair? Life doesn't look fair out there.

In fact, it's not fair out there. And that's what Job goes on and says. So then he talks about himself down in verse 25. And he says, now, my days are swifter than than a runner. They flee away. They see no good.

They slip by like a reed boat, which are really quiet boat. He said, like an eagle that swoops on its prey. And though I say I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my sad countenance and be cheerful. God says, no matter. Job says, no matter what I try to do, when I see the way life really works and how short it is, I know I'll try to smile.

I'll try to look like I'm happy, but I'm not. I mean, I love the way he says that. He says, I'm afraid of all my pains. I know that you will not acquit me. I am accounted wicked.

Why then should I toil in vain? He has suffered so much that he's saying what I've seen other people say. I wish I were dead. He says it differently. He said, I wish I were never born.

That's what pain does to us. And the idea that he has is what's it's an interesting idea from his point of view is this whole idea. What's the point? You see, what is he doing?

Why? God knows why, but Job doesn't know why. It's the point of the book. But pain and suffering will often lead us to this question. But let me ask you this with some hypothetical situations. You see on the news or read in the newspaper, a young child is kidnapped, seven or eight year old little boy or girl.

Then they find him beaten to death and lying somewhere. You ever ask God why? Like, why did you let that happen? Why? I don't get it. A mass shooting at an elementary school, an earthquake that kills thousands of people. Pandemic that threatens the whole world.

The mother of four small children is diagnosed with fatal cancer. A drunk driver kills newlyweds. On the night of their wedding. Do you ever ask why?

I can guarantee you that if those newlyweds were your children. You'd ask why, wouldn't you? Why? Why did this? Why? Why?

How did this happen? Well, the great word in this chapter of Job is in verse 10 again. You see, that's the great word. God does great things. Unfathomable.

That's the word. You see, what's hard for us is we believe in God. We know God can do anything and we know God is good. So that leaves us with the question, why? Why did this happen?

Why? You see, that's the question of the Book of Job and it's a question often in our lives. But Job says something here that leads us at least down a road to begin to understand this. He said God is unfathomable. Now, what does that mean? Some of you may try to get up and say, well, it means he can't be fathomed. That's true. But you don't use the word fathom very often.

So it's a little bit more difficult for you. But this word unfathomable in Hebrew is the only time it's ever used in the Old Testament. And it's not a word. It's three words in Hebrew. Job takes and puts three words together and the English translators translate it unfathomable.

The first word is chagir and chagir means inscrutable. OK, it means inscrutable and that means not screwable. But what's that mean? It means you can't understand it.

That's what it means. You can't understand it. It's inscrutable. The second Hebrew word is ion and it means beyond. It is beyond being screwable. The third word is odd and odd means forever.

Interesting. Put the words together. God's actions. God is unscrewable.

He is beyond inscrutable forever. Now, what's that mean to you and me? You don't understand and you never will.

That's what it means. You don't understand and you never will. Now, remember, in the book of Job, what we end up seeing is that's the whole point of the book.

Job keeps saying, why? God, what are you doing? Just tell me why. And God won't. Why won't he?

Because he's unfathomable. That becomes the word. Let me explain. Does Job does God ever appear to Job? Yes. And he said, Job, you're really a neat guy and you really ask some good questions and I'm here to answer them for you. Is that what God did? Nope.

Comes out of the whirlwind. And he basically said, Job, who are you? Who are you to question me? Tell me. He said, I don't recollect this, but when I created everything, you weren't there. So who are you to question me?

Why are you doing this? You see, and Job got it. Job understood that and he repented in sackcloth and ashes. He said, you're right.

I should have never been even having the thought, why or what are you doing? Now, let's look at that a little bit closer and go to Isaiah Chapter 55. Isaiah Chapter 55, verses eight and nine. We start getting an explanation.

God says this through Isaiah, verse eight. He wants to explain something. He says, for my thoughts. Are not your thoughts, neither are your ways, my ways, declares the Lord, for as the heavens are higher than the earth. So are my ways higher than yours. My thoughts than your thoughts.

That's really an interesting thing. God says, I don't think like you at all. You and I might be able to think like God a little bit, but he doesn't think like us at all.

He is so infinitely different in his thinking and his actions. He tries to show you the differences between the distance between earth and heaven, which is infinite. He said, that's when I have a thought, it is infinitely higher than any thought you have. And when I do something, it's infinitely more than anything you could possibly have. And when we question God, whether we want to admit it or not, what we end up doing is saying, based on how I'm thinking about this, I want to know what you're doing.

I want to know why this is happening. And I think God would tell you and me and has told us in his word, if I explained it to you, you would have no idea what I'm saying. None. Because I don't think like you think.

Not at all. I'm infinitely higher than the way I do things than you do them. You see, but that's what we usually want when we ask the question, why? What we're looking for is an answer. Come on, God, give me an answer.

And I can tell you this, almost every time you'll never get the answer. Because from God's point of view, this whole idea is a different idea that I'll get to a little bit later. He has something else in mind. Now, go with me and back this up to Romans Chapter 11 in the New Testament. Romans Chapter 11.

Same idea. I'll give you a little bit of background. When you study the Book of Romans, whenever you finish Chapter 8, the idea, the thought that Paul has picks up again in the beginning of Chapter 12.

Chapters 9, 10 and 11 are parenthetical. He pauses to try to explain something. And what he wants to explain, he wants to explain something to Jewish believers who are in Rome. Jewish believers in Rome are part of the Church of Rome, but they don't understand what's going on. They don't. They can't.

Their view is, wait, wait, we have a question. What happened to God's covenant with Israel? What happened? Now you're saying I'm in a church and I'm with gentiles. But what happened to God's promise to Israel? So Paul spends three chapters trying to explain this. The first thing he says in Chapter 9 is, look, from a point of view of the church, all Israel is not Israel. And what he means by that is how does a Jew get saved at the time that Paul is writing? The exact same way that a gentile gets saved. He has to put his faith in Jesus Christ.

If he doesn't put his faith in Jesus Christ, he can't have a relationship with God. So he lets you know the Jews that have put their faith in Christ, they're saved. The Jews that haven't, they're not. He then goes on and the Jews, the Jews are still thinking, though.

Well, wait, then. But what happened to his promise to the nation? So in 1125, we'll go first to 1125, Paul says this. For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery, Musterion, so that you will not be wise in your own estimation.

Let me explain it. A partial hardening has happened to Israel as a nation. And then these words until the fullness of the gentiles come in.

What's the fullness of the gentiles? Well, we know from the rest of the Bible, the church age. Until the church age is over. God has set aside his covenant relationship with the nation Israel and he will pick it up as soon as the church age is over. So Paul goes on and tries to explain this so that they could possibly understand it.

He still has a commitment to the nation. In this section, Paul uses three words that are interesting. The first word is Musterion. It means this is a mystery until I reveal it. You don't know. So the Jews didn't know the answer. Why?

Why is God not dealing with Israel the way he promised it? The second analogy that he uses is the analogy of the the pot and the potter. That's famous in this section. Paul asked the question. Does a potter have control over the pot? The answer is pretty simple.

Yes. If if if you're a potter, you don't hear the pot say, I don't like my shape. I don't I don't like this. I want something different. Now, the analogy of the pot and potters with us is the pot. And I'm sure a lot of us would say to God, I don't like my shape and I prefer something different. But you're going to get what you're going to get.

And that's about it. But the point of it is, is that that's the analogy. Pots don't have any right to talk to a potter about what they look like. You see, so that's an analogy and he uses that. Now, the third word that he uses is interesting, starting in verse 33. Paul says, oh, the depths of the riches, both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God. He said, how unsearchable are his judgments? And there we go again. And unfathomable his ways.

Same word Job uses. Unfathomable. It cannot be understood by us.

It cannot be. You see, his ways are unfathomable for who? He said, for who has known the mind of the Lord? He said, or who became his counselor? He said, or he said, who has first given to him that it might be given back again?

God is not answerable to man in any sense. And he goes, then he says, for him, he said, for from him and through him and to him are all things. He gets so wound up, he says to him, be the glory forever. Amen.

He goes into a doxology. Paul says, wow. You see, when you and I ask why or what are you doing? We are questioning an infinite God with an extremely limited mind. We what you're saying when you say that to God is you need to answer me.

I want to know why. I want to know what you're doing. God says you're not going to know.

I mean. It's an amazing thing what God is able to do. His scrutiny can't. We cannot scrutinize what it is that God does.

Let me explain this in a much clearer way of this sort of greatness of God. Go with me to Psalm 139. Psalm 139. It's very likely could be my favorite psalm in this order.

Maybe it's yours, too. It's just an amazing psalm that David writes. And I give you the context because we'll see it at the end of the psalm. David's going through a hard time. David is king of Israel. Why is he king of Israel? He worked his way up the chain, right?

No. No, he's a shepherd. God said he's king of Israel through Samuel. He said, there's the king. So now he's king of Israel. Did he have a hard time with Saul?

Yeah, pretty hard. Saul's out to kill him over and over again. Now David's king and he has enemies everywhere and they want him dead. So he's going through a hard time and he's trying to think this process through. So here's how it starts in these first six verses. He says, you know, I cannot even fathom your understanding of me.

This is very insightful. He said, oh, Lord, you have searched me and known me. That's a generic term. If I said, do you think God really knows you? Yeah. But what you're going to see is he really knows you. He says, you know, when I sit down and when I rise up.

Well, that makes sense. God knows everything and he knows if I'm sitting or standing, but watch. You understand my thought from afar. He says, you understand my thoughts. What thoughts? All your thoughts.

Unbelievable. There are seven billion people on the planet at any moment, like right now. God knows all of our thoughts right now, simultaneously. You've never had a thought that God doesn't know. Not one said, I know every thought you have. You had thoughts that you don't even know. You see what I mean? You can't even remember thoughts.

But God has got them all. He says, you scrutinize my path and my lying down. He said, you are intimately acquainted with all my ways. You know, everything is going to happen in my life. We're going to see in a moment from the time I was conceived till today. God knew every single thing that was going to happen in every single day, every single hour, every single minute of my life.

Before there was one and mine and yours and everybody else's. You start getting an idea like, wait, he's not like us. He's not like us. You see, his thoughts are not like our thoughts. Well, then he goes on and says, even before there was a word on my mouth, behold, oh, Lord, you know it all.

He said, you have enclosed me behind him before you laid your hand upon me. If you're a believer in Jesus Christ, let me just say this. You know why you're alive right now?

Because God has protected you. Satan would kill all of us. He'd kill every one of us. Remember Job's story when God and Satan were talking? God said, look at my servant Job.

He's the most righteous man on earth. And Satan said, yeah, but that's because you build a hedge around him and you don't let me get at him. Remember what Jesus said to Peter? Peter, he desires to sift you like wheat, but I prayed for you.

He'd kill us all. He said, the reason you have life is because God has given it to you. To this moment, it is his gift to you. You've been listening to Pastor Bill Gebhardt on the Radio Ministry of Fellowship in the Word. If you ever miss one of our broadcasts, or maybe you would just like to listen to the message one more time, remember that you can go to a great website called oneplace.com. That's oneplace.com, and you can listen to Fellowship in the Word online.

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