“Curiosity,” it is said, “killed the cat.” When O. Henry wrote Schools and Schools in the early 1900's, I doubt that he knew that his original expression would be altered and carried forward as a common proverb. Regardless of his intentions, the cat and curiosity have been inextricably linked for all time. However, cats are not the only curious creatures that God made; humans also have their share of the population that is almost willing to die just to find out a bit of hidden information. Today's message deals with curiosity from a biblical perspective.
“And being assembled together with them, He [Jesus] commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, 'which,' He said, 'you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.' Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, 'Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?' And He said to them, 'It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.'” (Acts 1.4-8). God's purposes are not to satisfy man's curiosity as this text shows.
Where is Moses' tomb? What were the boyhood years of Jesus like? What did Jesus do between the age of twelve and thirty? What did Jesus write on the ground when He was confronted regarding the woman taken in adultery (John 8)? Where and how did Peter die? What happened to Paul after the events recorded in the book of Acts transpired? Why didn't the writers attempt to reconcile the apparent difficulties in the gospel accounts? These questions and ten thousand more could be asked, but to no avail. We need to realize that if we knew the answers to all of these questions, we would not be one whit closer to God than we can be now without those answers!
The lesson for the apostles and the lesson for us is that there are some things that belong exclusively to God's purview. Or, as Jesus not so tactfully put it, “It is not for you [us] to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.” One thing of which we can be assured and which is fundamental to our spiritual and mental well-being is that God is in control. Nothing will happen to us of which He is unaware and nothing will befall us which He cannot handle! His eye is on the sparrow and it surely is upon us. The fact that He does not respond to our every whim with lightning and thunder from heaven is not evidence that He doesn't care; it is just evidence that He is in control and that He does not need our help to manage things just the way He wants them managed!
One oft quoted passage from the Old Testament goes like this: “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” (Deuteronomy 29.29). The heart of this passage is the reason given for God's revelation. He revealed what He did for the express purpose of enabling us to “do all the words of this [His] law.” Beyond this, curiosity may lead but it will not assist in pleasing Him any more than can already be done with what He has openly given to all mankind.
Regardless of what others want us to believe, there are no secret keys or codes to the scriptures. They are what they claim to be and that is all. God's purposes for us are revealed in the Bible and so are other details which He has permitted us to see. Otherwise, we can be assured it is not for you [us] to know.
Questions:
1. If Jesus had answered the apostles' question in Acts 1.7, would this information have enabled them to serve God to a greater or more acceptable degree? Why or why not?
2. What level of confidence is possible regarding God's ability to handle things even when they seem to be out of control? What source is available to give us that level of confidence/faith?
3. Why do you think the Bible does not contain answers to all of man's “curiosity questions”?
4. According to Deuteronomy 29.29, for what purpose has God revealed those things which He has allowed us to know about Him?