The Three-Hundredth (Distance)

You probably don’t recall, but about four years ago almost to the day, we mentioned the song “From a Distance” in one of our studies.  The mention was a little side note regarding the song lyrics that we’ll review again, but this week it’s going to be an integral part of the message.  Not that we’re going to analyze the song specifically, but we’re going to talk about reasons we might feel distant from YHWH and a couple other things.

The song lyrics are about YHWH watching the world from a distance.  They paint a picture of peace, harmony, and love when you look at the things happening in this world from a distance.  They also include YHWH is watching us from that distance, and as mentioned four years ago, according to scripture, we know that’s not the case.

Regardless of what scripture says, sometimes that’s exactly how we feel.  We go through things in our lives, tough things, that make it seem like YHWH is not around.  They make it feel like He’s not with us.

I submit for your consideration that those types of experiences are one of the most challenging things we have to deal with as believers.  They may even be the most challenging thing we have to deal with.  In fact, this is a story you hear a lot from believers that walked away from YHWH.

It’s a story of people that once had faith, but something tragic happened in their lives and they either decided there is no YHWH or that even if He does exist, they don’t want to follow Him after what He allowed to happen in their life.  It’s a question from unbelievers as to why there are bad things that happen in the world if YHWH is so good that we should follow Him.  It’s a question from unbelievers as to if He even exists, why does He allow these types of things to happen.

These are the types of things we have to wrestle with as believers, not just because of things that happen in our own lives that fall into this category, but also to be able to have an answer for those seeking an explanation for things that happen in theirs.  When writing about suffering in his first epistle, Peter tells the reader to “always be prepared to give a defense…for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15).  In context, what Peter is saying exactly, is that we need to think about why bad things happen to good people and be able to explain it to people.  We need to understand why YHWH seems distant, or even nonexistent, and provide an answer to these types of questions.

It's not that we should feel like it’s our job to convince those that ask the questions that our beliefs are valid or justified.  Sometimes, the folks that ask these types of questions are really just looking for more reasons not to believe in YHWH and submit to Him.  They ask the question with the full purpose of poking holes in the response and then further cementing themselves in their own position of unbelief.

That statement by Peter however, is actually where you get the group of Christians that call themselves the apologists.  The word “defense” in the quote above is translated from the Greek word apologia, and while it is the same word that our English word apology comes from, to the Greeks it meant more than just saying you were sorry.  It was the word they used to refer to a legal defense one would make in a courtroom.

While I obviously agree with always having the ability to soundly defend your faith and hope, as Peter says we should, my view on apologetics today is that it has turned into a pharisaical sect of Christianity, focusing on having an airtight, logical explanation for things in scripture and losing the heart of it.  Once you start requiring these logical explanations in order to justify faith and hope, it’s a short hop to end up down the road of apostacy, in my opinion.  I know this from experience.

It's not logical to believe that a group of people can march around a city for seven days and then cause it to crumble just by shouting and blowing trumpets (Joshua 6:1-20).  It’s not logical to believe that throwing a stick into a river will cause an axe head to float (2 Kings 6:5-7).  It’s not logical to believe that the dew cooperated with Gideon’s request to YHWH, twice (Judges 6:36-40), and that his group of 300 men were able to defeat a company of thousands, if not tens of thousands, with just some horns and jars with torches (Judges 7).

When you’re building your whole premise, your ministry, on being able to explain things logically, you have to start losing the miracle aspect of scripture along with the heart of it.  Jericho has to have crumbled by an earthquake rather than a miraculous intervention of YHWH.  There are earthquakes written of in scripture, and one is not mentioned during that account, by the way.  The axe head floating has to have some scientific material properties explanation, rather than it being miraculous.  The dew has to have some scientific dewpoint explanation related to sheep fleece, rather than it being a miraculous sign from YHWH.

If you don’t have these explanations, the basis of your apologetics ministry falls apart.  Your ministry is catered to reaching those who will only accept reasonable (according to the worldly definition), logical bases for believing in YHWH and the things He did throughout history.  Unfortunately, man’s definition of reasonable and logical is based only on the things he can observe and explain, which is a small fraction of the entirety of YHWH’s creation.

Apologetics is not the subject for this week, but I appreciate you sticking with me on that detour!  The point is that while we should be able to defend, or reason, our explanation logically if that is appropriate, we also need to be able to include the intangible aspects where needed.  Logically, it doesn’t make sense, according to the world, that YHWH, who is good, merciful, and gracious (Exodus 34:6, Psalm 25:8, 145:9, 1 Chronicles 16:34, etc.), would stand by and let bad things happen to His people.  I mean, while the world wouldn’t fault someone for not jumping into a situation and helping someone else, it would certainly judge them for not doing it.  If you remember the sitcom Seinfeld, the series finale was all based on a trial held for the main characters because they didn’t help someone in need!

It's in these bad scenarios, these tragic events, that mankind would absolutely expect an all-powerful and all-knowing YHWH to step in, and seeing them play out without His intervention leads to feeling like He is distant or nonexistent.  There are multiple reasons for this perception though.  One bad thing happening is not always because of the same reason another bad thing is allowed to happen.

While the unbeliever might chalk it up to YHWH not being real, the believer tends to leave it at “everything happens for a reason.”  That’s certainly a safe bet, because it is, in fact, true, but that answer is severely lacking for a parent that just lost their child in an accident or a person that became wheelchair bound and lost their whole family because of a sickness.  We want, very much, to give answers to these people, comforting answers, but that explanation and that “they’re in a better place,” doesn’t help the typical unbeliever, or sometimes even the believer.

Sometimes, the perceived distance of YHWH from a person or situation really is a distance.  Sometimes, His lack of intervention is because sin really does have consequences and a person is separated from Him.  Not truly following Him and His commandments really does lead to the types of curses listed in Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 28:15-68).  If they didn’t, Israel would not have experienced those exact things due to their disobedience as recorded in scripture.  

Other times, however, His lack of intervention is not because someone did something wrong, but rather, in my belief, that He can’t do anything about it.  His perceived distance is not actually distance at all.  He’s right there beside the person, but according to the circumstances surrounding the event, He has to let it play out the way it does.    

That certainly needs more explanation, doesn’t it?  Let’s look at an example from scripture, because my words only hold so much weight.  In the case of Joseph, one of the sons of Jacob, his brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt after kidnapping him and throwing him into a pit (Genesis 37:13-28).  

While the specific conditions that Joseph endured during that time are lacking, except for him being thrown into prison at some point (Genesis 39:13-23), you can bet that before he reached the status he did with Pharaoh things were not good for him.  According to what is written in scripture about all the other parts of his life, it was definitely the worst experience he had in his whole life.  Even given what he went through though, he saw that YHWH had a purpose in it all (Genesis 50:19-21).

In all respects, Jacob had lost a son and Joseph’s brothers had lost their brother, which they ended up greatly regretting their involvement in, by the way.  Had YHWH intervened and prevented all that, Joseph would never have ended up as Pharaoh’s right-hand man, Egypt would have certainly become a desolate wasteland due to seven years of famine, and Israel wouldn’t have survived for the same reason.  From all that we can read in scripture, other than stirring his family up by his bordering-on-prideful recounting of his dreams, Joseph was a good person that had a really bad thing happen to him.  While it probably didn’t seem to him like YHWH was there through it, YHWH certainly showed Himself on occasion by giving Joseph important interpretations for key dreams.

Not every situation is a Joseph situation though, is it?  Let’s look at one more example, and one of utmost importance.  Yeshua had gone through His whole ministry, at a minimum, with a connection to YHWH through the Holy Spirit (John 1:32), but also His whole life knowing YHWH was with Him (Luke 2:49).  Yet, the one moment in His entire life that was the hardest, He felt distant from YHWH, even abandoned by Him (Psalm 22:1, Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34).

Did Yeshua reap the consequences of sin?  Of course not.  He is the only sinless man to have ever lived.  He is the ultimate “good person” and yet He went through the ultimate “bad thing.”  However, any involvement of YHWH during that bad thing would have given Satan justification to challenge the validity of Yeshua’s sacrifice for mankind.  Even for YHWH to have eased Yeshua’s pain would have opened the door for Satan to argue that He never would have voluntarily sacrificed Himself if He had to experience every aspect of pain and suffering that a man that wasn’t the Son of YHWH would have had to go through.

If YHWH had prevented Yeshua from being further separated from Him by taking Yeshua up immediately after death rather than Him going through Sheol first, Satan could have argued the same thing.  If Yeshua could have even just felt the presence of YHWH during that time, Satan could have argued special treatment and made a case that Yeshua’s death was not representative of the death of every man, woman, and child who had ever, and would ever have, lived and died throughout the history and future of creation.    

The events that occurred at Yeshua’s death show that YHWH was present throughout (Matthew 27:50-51, Mark 15:37-38, Luke 23:45-46).  Despite Yeshua’s feeling of abandonment, YHWH was there the whole time.  Yeshua didn’t actually know for sure what would ultimately happen.  He was asking that it wouldn’t come to pass only hours before, but He knew YHWH had a plan and that whatever it was, He trusted YHWH in it (Matthew 26:39-44, Luke 22:41-42, Mark 14:35-41).

Yes, this sounds like “everything happens for a reason,” and no, recounting these things to someone in pain will not always help to comfort them.  However, being able to point to scripture to give our reason for faith and hope, despite our feeling of distance from YHWH and whether or not what’s written seems logical to man, is exactly what Peter was talking about.  It’s absolutely not logical, according to man, to believe in a dead person coming back to life again after days in the grave.  Even the disciples, who had been with Yeshua throughout His ministry, began to doubt He was the Messiah after His death (Luke 24:13-27).

We will go through seasons in life where YHWH will seem distant to us.  Sometimes those times will be long and sometimes they will be short.  However, you and I must ground ourselves during those times in what we know is truth based on what’s written in scripture.  He is always near, and while things may be tough for a time, He has a plan and it is good!

Have a great week!  Shabbat shalom and YHWH bless you!  

-Rob and Sara Gene

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The Gospel

We are born sinful as a result of Adam and Eve's sin (Genesis 2:17, 3:6, 1 John 1:8)

The consequence of sin, which is unavoidable through our own works, is death (Romans 6:23)

Yeshua, the Son of YHWH, lived sinless and was put to death (Hebrews 4:15)

His death, therefore, cleanses us of sin that would have required our death

(2 Corinthians 5:21)

He rose on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:4)

Because of His resurrection, we are confident in our future resurrection and eternal life

(1 Corinthians 15:17-18, John 3:16)