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Beyond Understanding - It's a Wonderful Thing!

In my last post, I wrote that that God keeps certain things hidden (Deut 29:29).  In some cases, these hidden things are beyond our understanding. 

In response to that, one Psalmist wrote that he did not occupy himself with things too great and too wonderful for him (Ps 131:1).  That’s a healthy response as we, as humans, are finite and cannot completely know everything about an infinite God.

A quote attributed to American novelists, Philip Roth, speaks volumes on this:  “All that we don’t know is astonishing.  Even more astonishing is what passes for knowing.”

From a more spiritual perspective, one commentator put it this way:  "What God has thought proper to reveal, he has revealed what is essential to the well-being of man, and this revelation is intended not for the present time merely, nor for one people, but for all succeeding generations. The things which he has not revealed concern not man but God alone, and are therefore not to be inquired after."   (Clarke’s Commentary)

There is another interesting verse related to all this:

But the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask my name, for it is wonderful?” (Judges 13:18)

Other versions translate “for it is wonderful” in the following ways:

  • Seeing it is secret
  • Since it is beyond understanding
  • Too great for you to understand
  • Too amazing for you to understand
  • Because you cannot comprehend it


Some commentators suggest that when the Angel of the Lord referred to His name as being wonderful, He was referring to Himself as the one spoken of in Isaiah 9:6:  “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”  And, of course, that one is Jesus Himself!

Our Creator has revealed some things to us about His plans, attributes, and character but He has not revealed everything. God has hidden some things from us but what He does reveal is enough for us.  And we find what He has revealed primarily in His word.  And His word points us to Jesus, the one whose name is wonderful and who is wonderful in every way. 

Perhaps this takes us back to the verse I started with in my previous post (Deut 29:29).  The EasyEnglish Bible translates it this way:   “Some secret things belong to the Lord our God. He does not let us understand everything. But he has shown us many things clearly. Those things belong to us and to our descendants for all time. They are the words of his Law that we need to obey.”  

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