Posted by Yong TM (202.172.43.132) on January 13, 2003 at 17:09:37:
In Reply to: Man-eaters in the past..., God spoke to us.. posted by Khew Chee Keong on January 11, 2003 at 18:25:02:
You are actually asking two questions, one on history, the other on discerning the will of God. It would be helpful to post 2 different questions in the future, so that people can access them accordingly.
On question 1, whether man can learn from history and get better: The Biblical understanding is a resounding "NO". On the secular side, GFW Hegel said that the only thing we learn from history is that we have not learned from history. On the reformed side, the first acronym of Calvinistic theology (T.U.L.I.P) stands for Total depravity of man - in other words, mankind is totally deprived and beyond hope. Anyone who thinks that mankind is heading towards a brighter and brighter future obviously have to ignore the horrifying atrocities that still occur throughout the world on a daily basis. After the horrors of the holocaust in the Second World War, 2 million Cambodians were killed in their Killing Field, millions died in the recent Rowanda genocide, the Israelis and Palestinians are slicing each other throats, etc, etc. In this day and age, very few people would dare proclaim that the humankind is marching towards greater enlightenment simply because the facts show otherwise.
On question 2, discenment of the will of God. This is a difficult and personal issue, but there are some pointers to note:
1. Whatever the case may be, the will of God cannot violate His own Word. Therefore, the correct understanding of scripture and its overall principle is vitally important to the understanding of God's will.
2. Because #1 is difficult and opinions vary from the immature to the wise, it is important to seek godly counsel from mature Christians, who can point out the correct reading of scripture.
3. God does often speaks to us while we are silent, not so much because He needs to, but more because we are often so over-whelmed by ourselves that we do not want to hear Him. Typically, it is when we are still and concentrating on Him that we hear Him. This is why prayer and fasting are important discipline to 'force' us to listen to God, and discern His will via His Word.
4. People like to claim that God gave them this verse or that verse to answer their prayers. I am not certain of this, as I believe that such dynamic usage of scripture is not necessary, nor was scripture written for that purpose (e.g. I have never heard Dr Tong said that God 'gave' him this or that particular verse to do this or that). It seems to me that our problem is not wanting to be obedient to all that scripture has talked about in the first place, rather than a lack of direction from God. If you look at the fruit of the Holy Spirit for example, I have problem getting by love, joy, peace; let alone progress to patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
It may sound exciting to say God used this verse to tell you this or not; but it could be wrong. Saying it and then proving yourself wrong meant that you have actually taken the name of the LORD in vain, saying things that God did not say in the first place and claiming it to be from Him. I would be very careful before I dare to claim specific direction from scripture.
My own feel is that just being obedient to the revealed will of God found in scripture is enough to exhaust our entire life and energy. Rather than seeking after specific revelation (as if we are so important that God MUST direct our pathway), we ought to seek to be obedient to the basics. I can accept that God may use certain biblical verses to impress some great truth to some people called for special task (like Hudson Taylor going to China), but I can tell you honestly that I have never had an experience where the words of God 'jumped out' to grab me, telling me to do this or that. My life is completely exhausted just following the general, generic WORD of God.