Keeping It Real

Posted on December 19, 2016 by Graeme Wilson in Victory Call

One of the things I have admired about some of the Bible teachers I have had the privilege of sitting under is their ability to interject reality into the biblical accounts, in other words, considering what biblical events might have been like from a human perspective.
Such as:
1.    I wonder how Adam and Eve’s hearts broke to have one son kill another son. (Genesis 4:8)
2.    How did Noah navigate having all those animals on the ark?  Was the smell enough to gag him?  We read the biblical account – and we don’t smell a thing sitting in our living room with our Bibles but do we stop to think about the human experience of these different biblical events? (Genesis 7:6-9)
3.    I wonder how Isaac viewed his father after he raised a knife to his heart.  Was he fearful of him?  Did it cause him to doubt or ask questions of this God that told his father to kill him? (Genesis 22:6-8)
4.    How did Mrs. Lot, Lot’s daughters and their future husband’s react when Lot offered his virgin daughters to the depraved men who wanted to have sex with the strangers that came to town staying as guests in his home? (Genesis 19:8)
5.    How did Mrs. Job feel?  We always think about poor Job – and I understand God chose Job to be the focus of the Truths He shared but consider what Mrs. Job experienced. It seems likely that she bore Job 10 children (Job 1:2).  Her husband was a man of great wealth.  In one day, all 10 of her children were killed.  Imagine losing one child – it would be devastating enough but losing all 10?! This poor mother. Numerous servants were also killed.  Animals slaughtered.
Stop and think about having a day like this.  Fear had to grip her heart.  Her entire world was shattered almost instantly.  Then on top of that, her husband develops “loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.”(Job 2:7)  (And we know what good patients some people can be!-I’m just saying….)
At the end of Job, we see that God restores Job and makes him prosperous again- twice as much as before (Job 42:10). With the restoration God blessed him with 10 more children!  Now assuming these children are born to his wife that means she would have had 20 pregnancies!!
That’s around 180-200 months being pregnant!
I could go on and on but you get the idea.  I think we enter into the biblical accounts when we use our sanctified imaginations to consider the human experience in the midst of the workings of God.
Blessings, Diane
After serving 16 years full-time on the staff of America’s Keswick, Diane Hunt and her husband moved to North Carolina where she continues to serve part-time as a contributing writer and Partner Care Consultant.  She is also a biblical counselor and women’s event speaker. For more information about having Diane speak at your next event please contact her at dhunt@americaskeswick.org.