Why?

Little children are very curious. They're always asking questions. Where do babies come from? Why does it rain so much? Why is it so hot? Why do I have to go to school? You know, these type of things. Ours, they get a little bigger. When can I drive the car? Or when can I get my driver's license? Or how can I be more popular? They're constantly asking where, why, how, when, these type of things.

Down through the centuries, there have been philosophers who've come up with what are known as some of the major questions of life that keep being addressed. Who is God? What is God? What's His purpose? What's His plan? What is man? Why was man born?

Is the Bible His word? How can you prove the Bible is His word? You can go on and on. You can ask a series of questions about each one of these. Over the years, we have published articles that deal with some of these. Why does God allow suffering? Why wars? Why disasters? Why do the innocent suffer? These have all been addressed in our publications. I would dare say that most of us sitting here today could answer or address, to one degree or another, most of these questions.

But when you read through the Bible, you will discover that the servants of God ask many questions. In fact, it's surprising how often they ask God or others who represented God, why? Why are you doing this? They wanted to know answers. We also discovered that God, likewise, turns the table around and He asks men questions. You ask yourself, why would God do that? The word why is mentioned 430 times in the New King James Version of the Bible. God does not always answer the why questions when they were asked. You'll find a number of questions that are asked. God doesn't answer them, but He does understand the fact that we want to know why and that we do ask the question.

I think when you begin to look at some of these, you will discover that there are important lessons that we can learn. When God answers the question and when God doesn't answer the question because He doesn't always. What should we do if we don't receive an answer to a question like this? We ask God why certain things happen or going on and we don't immediately get an answer or maybe we never get an answer. If you want a title for the sermon, it's why. If you haven't guessed by now. Let's start by looking at the example of Naomi.

In the book of Ruth, if you'll turn over the book of Ruth, Joshua judges Ruth. If you haven't been there in a while. Ruth chapter 1 verse 1. We read the story of Naomi, her family. It says, Now it came to pass, verse 1, in the days when the judges ruled that there was a famine in the land and a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab. He and his wife and his two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech. The name of his wife was Naomi.

The name of his two sons were Malon and Chilon. Ephrath, her fights of Bethlehem, Judah, and they went to the country of Moab and remained there. Then, Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died and she was left and her two sons. Now they took wives of the women of Moab. The name of the one was Orpha, and the name of the other was Ruth.

They dwelt there about ten years. Both Maon and Chilon also died, so the women survived her two sons and her husband. Now you can go on to verse 8. She decides to go back to Judah, go back to her family, where she can have someone to help her. Because now she's lost her breadwinner, her husband, her two sons.

She's got two daughters-in-laws. She tells them, you go back to your own people. Ruth refuses, if you remember the story. Where you go, I go, she said. So she returns with Naomi. Now verse 19, Now the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem, and it happened that when they came to Bethlehem that all the city was excited because of them, and the women said, it's Naomi.

And she said to them, do not call me Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. Now she doesn't say that she's bitter, but she says that God's dealt with me very bitterly.

And then she goes on to say in verse 21, I went out full, where I had a husband, two children, and the Lord has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi? She wanted to know. The word Mara means bitter.

She said, you should call me Mara. And that might imply that maybe she was somewhat bitter over her circumstances, what had happened to her. Naomi means pleasant one. So she said, I'm no longer the pleasant one. I'm bitter. Now, what would you do if you lost everything?

Lost your mate, lost your children, probably she's living in a foreign, was living in a foreign country, had to return home. Would you become bitter? Would you accuse God? Would you say, why did you do this to me? You'd probably ask God, why? Why is all of this happening to me? I try to obey you. I try to do what's right. Now, we may never know exactly why in this situation, but there is one factor to consider. Something that Naomi never knew, and something that maybe God had in mind. Whether this was the overriding issue or not, I don't know. Her daughter-in-law Ruth married Boaz. Ruth became the great-grandmother of David, King David of Israel. David and his descendants were in the lineage of Christ. So Ruth actually is a poor generator of even Jesus Christ, centuries later. Now, I don't know if that's one of the reasons, obviously, if her husband had continued to live. Naomi's husband had lived. They had stayed in Moab. They may have lived there until their body died, and Ruth would not be counted in the lineage.

So we don't always know why, but sometimes God works things out. And we may not always know the end result, but we have to realize that God does. Now, let's take a look at another man. Let's go over to the book of Job.

Job chapter 1.

We have Esther, Job, Psalms. There are over 300 questions asked in the book of Job, and most of them go unanswered. It's amazing how often a question is asked, almost every verse.

In chapter 1, if you remember the story, Satan comes before God. God says, hey, look at my servant Job down there, how righteous he is. He's obedient, and so on. He fears God. He's blameless. I don't know if he said righteous, but he says he's blameless. He fears God. He's upright, God said. Satan says, well, the only reason why he obeys you is because you bless him. You take away all these blessings, he'll curse you. So God says, okay, you can take away his blessings.

In chapter 1, we find that his wealth is stripped from him. His camels, his oxen, everything that he would have as wealth, that's taken from him. His children are killed.

He loses his family. His wealth is stripped away from him. You come to chapter 2, verse 7. Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. This time he came back, and God said, well, see my servant Job? He hasn't turned around and cursed me. He said, well, the only reason he hasn't you haven't afflicted him. You afflict him, he'll do it. So God said, okay.

So he struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. He had hundreds of boils. If you've ever had a boil, they're extremely painful. Just think of them all over your body. So he's in excruciating pain. He's got three friends who finally come to comfort him. When they see Job sitting on a pile of ashes, scraping himself with potsherd, you find, verse 13, they sat down with him on the ground seven days, seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.

So you can imagine this is not a trial that just was a fly-by-not trial. This was something that went on for weeks and possibly months. The three friends sit there for a whole week and don't utter a word because they see the pain and the suffering and the agony that he's in.

Now in chapter 3, verse 11, well, you might read verse 1.

Chapter 3 says, after this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. In verse 11, he begins to ask a series of questions. Why did I not die at birth?

Why did I not perish when I came from the moon? Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts that I should nurse? Verse 16.

Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child and like the infant who never saw light? I should have been stillborn, he said, but I was not. Verse 20, why is light given to him who is in misery and life to the bitter of soul? So he was bitter over what was occurring to him. And he said, why has God enlightened me so much, given me so much understanding?

And yet, here I am in this misery. Verse 23, why is light given to a man whose way is hidden and whom God has hedged in? He asks, why didn't he die? Why hadn't he die? Well, in chapter 10 and verse 1, notice, there comes a point, chapter 10 and verse 1, in Job's discussion here, that he begins to ask some questions even of God. He says, my soul loaves my life. I will give free course to my complaint. He says, look, I've got a reason to complain. I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. I'll say to God, do not condemn me. Show me why you contend with me. So, he's now voicing his complaints to God. You shouldn't contend or condemn me. Does it seem good to you that you should oppress, that you should despise the work of your hands? And then he goes on, verse 6, that you should seek for my iniquity and search out my sin, although you know that I am not wicked. There's no one who can deliver from your hands. Now, see the problem that occurred here with his friends. They kept telling Job, Job, the only reason why we suffer is because we bring it on ourselves. See, the only reason they knew why a person would go through a trial is you've done something wrong. You're bringing on yourself. So, they said, you know, you must be mistreating the widows. You must be neglecting this. You've got to be sinning somewhere. And Job kept saying, I'm not doing that. They were falsely accusing him of things that he was not guilty of. So, he kept saying, you know, I'm not guilty. And they said, you've got to be guilty. Verse 18, he again says, Why then have you brought me out of the womb? All that I had perished and know I had seen me. It had been better for me to have been miscarried and to have died early. So, you know, he was giving his complaint. Chapter 13 and verse 14. Why do I take my flesh and my teeth and put my life in my hands? And then verse 24. Why do you hide your face and regard me as your enemy? Now, the question is, does God regard his servants as his enemy? The answer is no. God does not. But he felt God was his enemy. You know, God was allowing this to come on him. He didn't know what all was going on behind the scenes. You know, who was doing this. But he knew that God had hedged him in. God had blessed him. He had obeyed God. And then all this trouble occurs. Verse 15 is one of the key verses in the Bible and one that we need to focus on. Verse 15. Though he slay me, yet will I trust him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before him. So he still defended himself, still proclaimed his own righteousness, and that there's no reason why this should come on him. See, he was like, perhaps, a lot of us. We say, well, God, you know him. I'm doing what you tell me. I keep the Sabbath. I observe the Holy Days. I go to the feast. I tithe. Why would you allow these problems to occur to me? Look at my righteousness. See, Job didn't realize that there was something that God saw that he didn't see. And so, consequently, God was working with him in a way that he did not truly comprehend.

Now, as I read here in verse 15, do we trust God even though we may not know why certain things happen to us? Though he slay me, yet will I trust him. Is that our approach?

Even if God allows me to die as a martyr, will I still trust him? How would Paul answer that question? How did Peter answer that question? Well, they were very willing to die in honor of God and his service. Notice sometimes the questions we ask God.

God, why did you allow my baby to die or my child to die? Why can't I find a job? Doesn't God see my needs? Doesn't he know that I can't make ends meet? That we cannot pay our bills? How does he expect me to tithe when I'm going through this trial? Why hasn't God helped me to get a job? Why hasn't he healed me? What's happened to all the miracles? Why am I always having health problems and difficulties? We don't always know why God doesn't answer immediately. When do we want him to? We'd like to go to God in prayer and say, Father, I'm having this trial. Why? Then we hear this booming voice. My son, you're having this problem because. You know, that would be nice, but it doesn't happen that way, does it? There are lessons that God wants us to learn. God wants us to change. He wants us to rely upon Him. He wants us to obey Him, no matter what the circumstances going on around us. Now, Job continued back here in chapter 21 in verse 7 when he uttered a common complaint that people have voiced. David voiced it in the Psalms. He said, Why do the wicked live and become old? Yes, become mighty in power.

They're not going through all these trials, he said. Their descendants are established with them in their sight and their offspring before their eyes. Their houses are safe from fear. Neither is the rod of God upon them. Their bulls breed without failure. Their cows cab without miscarriage. They send forth their little ones like a flock. He said, and their children dance, they sing, and so on. Who is the Almighty that we should serve Him? Notice another one of these profound questions in the Bible. What prophet do we have if we pray to Him? Notice the question. What's in it for me? What prophet is it to obey God? Why do the wicked prosper?

They don't seem to have the problems that the righteous have, the members of God's church. What prophet is there in serving God? Does God hear our prayers? Does He answer our prayers? We have to realize that God is not dealing with the world as a whole.

In the last 6,000 years, God has allowed the world to go its own way. This is the present evil age. This is Satan's world. People live and die in this world. They get by by their cunning, their knowledge, their wisdom, their conniving, who they know, all of these types of things. God doesn't say that they can't prosper if they apply proper principles.

God calls it, Christ said, to reign on the just and the unjust. Sunshine is on the good and the bad. God is dealing with whom today? His church, His people, His servants. And what is God trying to do with us? He's interested in developing our character. He's interested in us being in His kingdom. He will always do the best for us so that we will be in the kingdom of God. He wants us and His family. He wants to give us a better resurrection and key positions in His family for all eternity. And He's preparing us for that.

We might go through trials and tests that others may not. A lot of people in the world go through the same thing. But they don't understand that there are lessons that should be learned.

God is working with us. So Job asks many questions here in this book. And you go back to the last chapter in the book of Job, as you remember.

After God Himself came down and talked to Job and said, Listen, Job, you don't know what you're talking about. You think you're so great and so righteous compared to me. Where were you? And I did all the creating and all of this.

So Job finally came to see himself. And he said, I've heard of you, verse 5, chapter 42, with the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you. Therefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes. Or some translations say, I'm nothing but dust and ashes. He came to realize his own humanity, have some humility. He didn't realize that he had some deep spiritual problems that God was working on. And so Job had to learn. Now let's notice another servant of God. Let's go over to Psalm 10, Psalm chapter 10, verse 1. And notice what apparently David says here.

Psalm chapter 10, beginning in verse 1. The Bible clearly reveals that David will be king over all Israel and the millennium. So he's got to be there, yet he had struggles. He faced many trials.

Why do you stand to far off, O Lord? Why do you hide in times of trouble?

He said, look, I'm having all these troubles and trials. People trying to kill me. I'm running for my life, hiding in caves, going without food. My family's in danger. Why? Why is all of this occurring? Verse 13 of this chapter. Why do the wicked renounce God? See, they don't praise God. They don't acknowledge God. He has said in his heart, you will not require an account. That's what the wicked say. God doesn't see. God doesn't know what's going on. But you have seen, for you observe trouble and grief, to repay it by your hands. A helpless commits himself to you, and you're the helper of the fatherless. So God is our helper. He promises to take care of us. You remember Matthew 6, 33, what it says? Seek you first the kingdom of God.

See, that's our goal. That's what motivates us. We are to seek first God's kingdom.

Sometimes we forget the second part of that sentence. Seek you first the kingdom of God. And his righteousness. You and I have to do what is right. We must want and desire to be in the kingdom of God. That's our goal. But we must also seek not our righteousness, but his righteousness. We must do what is right. We must obey God. Notice over here in chapter 42, this apparently, you know, some of the other Psalm writers, but here in verse 5, Psalm 42.5 says, Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, and I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. O my God, my soul is cast down within me. Therefore, I will remember you from the land of Jordan, from the heights of Hermit. So, you know, he, Psalmist wrote, Why have you forsaken me? But then he says, I'll remember you, verse 9, I will say to God, my rock, Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? Because of what I'm faced with? As God forsaken us, no, he may not always answer the way we would like or as quickly as we would like. Doesn't the New Testament say, I will never leave you nor forsake you? That God says he will always be with us? We have to learn to hope in God, put our trust in God. God wants to know, as Luke 14, 26 tells us, that we will put Him first above all others, that we love Him more than father, mother, sister, brother, even our own life. God must know that we will always do what He wants us to do. We have to love God and obey God and do what He says, even if we don't always understand why. I remember the story years ago when Mr. Herbert Armstrong began to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. He kept the Holy Days for 12 years and did not understand why. He understood a little bit about some of them, but his understanding of why God commanded us to keep them developed over a period of time, over a decade. He finally came to understand how they pictured the plan of God, but he didn't know that initially. All he knew is that he could see in the Bible that it said, keep these days. So he kept them. God tells us to do things that humanly we might not always see why. Do we always need to know why in order to obey God?

The answer is no. Our limited understanding does not nullify God's wisdom and understanding.

God has supreme wisdom and supreme understanding. He never tells us to do something that is bad for us. He knows what we need. If we know that it's the will of God, we must do it. That's what God expects. John 6, 63. God's words are what? They are spirit and they are life. So the words of God that we have here by Christ spoke, the Bible, these are spirit. They're spiritual principles, and they are life. They lead to eternal life. John 17, 17 says, thy word is truth.

So if God says it, it's the truth. And if it's the truth, God expects us to do it. God expects us to put him first. So does God really forget our afflictions and hide his face? Well, he may not answer the way or as fast as we would like, but he does not. God wants us to learn to trust him, to rely upon him. Abraham did not fully understand why God wanted him to leave his own country, go over here to this Promised Land. He did it because God said to. He picked up, moved, left his family, turned his back on his family where he grew up, his business, and traveled over to what we call Palestine, you know, in that area today. Let's go back to Exodus chapter 14, take a look at Moses and Israel. Oh, the Israelites were good in asking questions. They were constantly asking why. In chapter 14, verse 10, remember they'd come out of Egypt.

They come to the Red Sea, mountains on both sides, Red Sea in front of them, Pharaoh's army behind them. Verse 10, Pharaoh drew near, and the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were what? Full of faith. No, they were very afraid.

And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. And they said to Moses, because there were no graves in Egypt, you've taken us away to die in the wilderness. Why have you so dealt with us to bring us up out of Egypt? Is it not the word that we told you when we were in Egypt? Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians. And Moses said to the people in verse 13, do not be afraid. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. Now, that's what God wants us to do. He wants us to pray to Him. He wants us to trust Him. And He wants us to look to Him to see His salvation. In other words, His deliverance. Verse 14, For the Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace. In verse 15, notice, And the Lord said to Moses, Why do you cry to me? Notice, God is asking Him a question. Why are you coming to me?

Tell the children of Israel to go forward. In other words, do what you need to do. Move forward.

Well, they lack faith. They could not see what God was doing in their lives. They couldn't see that God was going to rot something here. It was going to shake up all the other nations that they would ever come in contact with. Because what happened at the Red Sea, and all the plagues that came upon Egypt, were heralded to all the nations. And when they began to margin to Palestine, or through some of the countries, the people quaked and feared because they knew there was a power. God was with them. And so, therefore, God was working something out.

They looked at the immediate mountains, Red Sea, army, couldn't see the future, couldn't see what God was going to do. Brethren, we need to look to the future. Remember in Hebrews 12, verses 1 and 2, chapter 11 is faith chapter, lists all the men and women of faith. Chapter 12, verse 1, talks about how we're surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses that we should lay aside the sin that so easily besets us, obey God. And then it talks about Jesus Christ, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the shame, endured the cross, endured the crucifixion, endured the discouraging, everything that he went through. Now, what joy did he have in front of him? Well, he knew what the kingdom of God was like. He'd come from there. He was going to go back to there. He knew what glory was. He knew what the spirit world was like. And so, he looked to the future, to the joy of once more being in the kingdom of God. That's what we have to do.

Maybe he had an advantage in that he had been there, but you and I, brethren, have it painted for us. We can read it in the Bible. It should be our motivation. God wants us to obey and not to just look at the physical. You realize that many of the great miracles of the Bible, divine interventions, took place when it seemed to be a hopeless situation. Example, God parting the red seed there looked hopeless. Where are we going? He parked the red seed and they went through.

What about how you're going to feed us in the wilderness? God gives them manna. They want water in the wilderness. It comes out of a rock, and so they've got water to drink. What about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? God, again, allowed them to be thrown into the fiery furnace. He didn't intervene back here or back there or right here, or even at the door of the furnace. They fell into the furnace, and God intervened on their behalf. What about Daniel and the lions, then? Same thing. He got thrown in there. So we see examples where God waited and tested them to see what they would do. Did Daniel say, well, the jig's up. I'm going to stop praying? No, he kept on praying. Did Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego say, well, I'm going to fall down before this idol, and I won't have to worry about fiery furnace? No, they obeyed God.

God provided for his people in the wilderness.

Notice, well, you could go on. We could cite many, many examples of Israel, but let's notice one specifically about Moses, Numbers 11. Numbers 11. We'll begin to read here in verse 10.

Verse 10 says, Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families. Everyone at the door of his tents. So they're crying, and they're weeping, and they're wailing, and they're complaining, and they're upset. The anger of the Lord was greatly aroused. Interesting verse here. God really gets mad, and Moses was also displeased. It shows you the difference. Moses was displeased, but God was really angry. So Moses said to the Lord, why have you afflicted your servant? Why have I not found favor in your sight that you have laid the burden of all these people on me? You could have been upwards to three million people. He said, why have you given me the burden of taking care of all of these people? I can't do it. Did I conceive all these people? Did I beget them that you should say to me, carry them in your bosom? As a guardian, carries a nursing child to the land which you swore to their fathers, where am I to get meat to give to all of these people? Verse 14, Moses says, I am not able to bear all these people alone. He said, I can't do it because the burden is too heavy for me. It's just too heavy.

Verse 15, if you treat me like this, please kill me here and now. Take my life. If I found favor, do not let me see my wretchedness. Now in verse 17, it says, then I will come down and talk with you there. God says, I will take of the Spirit that is upon you. We'll put the same upon them. You remember in verse 16, he told Moses to select 70 men, officers of the people, who would help Moses, who would stand there and share the burden with him, and they shall bear the burden. Now, there's, I think, a valuable lesson that we learned from this. God knows our breaking point. He knows when we've come to the point where we can't take it anymore. Now, God has said that I will not test you or trial you above what you were able to bear, but will with the trial make a way of escape. Here was Moses. He said, I finally had it. I can't do it anymore. These people keep complaining. They're weeping. They're crying. I don't know what to do. Where am I going to get meat? And so God said, look, I'll provide those who can help you. So he will not try us beyond what we're able to handle. He's promised that. There were some lessons that Moses needed to learn. He had not come to the point of sharing responsibility with others. He was trying to do it all on himself. He was wearing himself out. That's a lesson sometimes we all have to learn. Sometimes we want to do it all, and you can't do it all. You have to share and delegate with others. What about Judges 6 and verse 12? Judges chapter 6 and verse 12, the example of Gideon.

The angel the Lord appeared to him, appeared to Gideon, said to him, the Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor. And Gideon said to him, O my Lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all of this happened to us? Why are we having all these problems as a people? And where are all of his miracles, which our fathers told us about, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt? But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. So he said, why has all this happened? Well, notice verse 1. We find out why all of this had happened. Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord delivered them into the hands of Midian for seven years. Now, I think the principle here is many times we bring our own problems on ourselves.

Why did they go into captivity to the Midianites? Because they did evil. They disobeyed God. They broke the covenant. They worshiped other gods. You know, they disobeyed God. Many times we bring our own problems on ourselves because sometimes we don't always obey. We begin to compromise. We begin to let down. We're not always doing what we know that we should be doing. As true Christians, we have to constantly examine ourselves and evaluate our actions. It's easy to blame somebody else for our problems and not see our own actions, that our own actions of cause some of these difficulties. So, you know, you learn the lesson here from Gideon. Now, as I said, there are hundreds of these. You can go through the Bible studying all of these. If you want a good Bible study, get your concordance out and look up all the words why and you know study through them. Isaiah 58 is a classic example here. Let's go over to Isaiah 58, beginning in verse 1. And you will notice here Isaiah 58 verse 1.

Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet, tell my people their transgressions. In the house of Jacob, there are sins. Yet they seek me daily, God says, and they delight to know my ways. And as a nation, they did righteousness, and they did not forsake the ordinance of their God. They ask of me the ordinance of justice, and they take delight in approaching me. Now, notice what the people say. Why have we fasted, they say, and you've not seen. Why have we afflicted our soul, you take no notice.

So here they were. God said they were much like us. They sought God daily. They'd come up to the temple. They'd offer the sacrifices. They tried to keep the ordinances of God, the laws of God. They delighted in approaching unto God. And they said, look, we're fasting. Why don't you see? Why don't you listen? Sometimes we wonder, maybe we voice the question in a little different way. Why have we kept the Sabbath, and you've not noticed? And that can then be tied to, you know, I've had to turn down jobs, but I can't find the job because of the Sabbath. Why are you not blessing me? Why have we not, why have we tithed and you've not noticed? Why aren't you blessing us?

Why have we trusted in you for healing and not hurting anything? Why have we not been healed of this? You see, you could go on, you could ask the same question, and the same question has been voiced by God's people down through the ages. God had to reveal in chapter 58 here that, yes, they fasted, but they did it for the wrong reasons, had the wrong motive. They were trying to get, instead of fasting to see their faults, their weaknesses, and the change. Now, again, I could give a lot of other examples, but let's go on to something else. This is what I would call questions that God asked His servants or His people. Let's go back to Genesis 4.

Genesis 4 verse 6.

Genesis chapter 4 verse 6. You remember the story.

So the Lord said to Cain, why are you angry? Why are you so upset, Cain?

Why has your accountant fallen?

If you do well, notice God says, will you not be accepted? If you do not do well, sin lies at the door, and its desire is for you, but you should rule over it. See the problem? He asks, why were you angry? See, Cain had a wrong spirit. He was angry. Why? Well, he didn't do what God had told him to do. Apparently, God didn't accept his offering. He did accept Cain's or, excuse me, Abel's. He was angry at God for not accepting his offering. He was also angry with his brother, because the Bible says Abel is called righteous Abel. God, in a sense, gives Abel a pat on the back. You did right. That's exactly as I said. With Cain, he didn't do it properly. There was something wrong in his motives and his attitude. Now, when God intervenes to ask a question, I want you to notice a difference. It's not a complaint like the people. Why are you doing this? You know, where they're complaining and asking a question. When God intervenes and asks a question, there's a purpose behind the question. God is trying to teach something. God was trying to help Cain by pointing out his sin and the actions that he needed to take. If you do well, you'll be accepted, God said. Then he explained what would happen if he didn't do well.

He told him you can rule over sins. Now, Cain didn't get it, because he turns around and does what? Kills his brother. Murders his brother. God doesn't just ask a question to complain, or gripe, or grumble, but to teach to point out what we need to be doing. In the book of Joshua, Joshua 7, we have another example that shows the same thing. Joshua 7, verse 1, Now the children of Israel committed a trespass regarding the accursed things. For ancient the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdai, the son of Zera, the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed things. So the anger of the Lord burned against the children of Israel. Now, you might say, well, this is a very minor thing. Only one person out of all the Israelites took some of the booty, and he hid it in his tent. And yet everybody else suffered as a result of it. What happened? Well, in verse 4, they had sent 3,000 men up to A.I. Remember, Jericho had fallen. God performed a great miracle. They scouted out A.I., a small city. Hey, we can send 3,000 up there. We can take that city very easily. Well, they got into battle, and the men of A.I. put them to flight.

So why? What happened? That was the question. Verse 7, Joshua said, Alas, Lord God, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us, all that we had been content and dwelled on the other side of Jordan? And God has to tell Joshua that the problem is not his. The problem is with the people. Verse 10, So the Lord said to Joshua, Get up. Why do you lie thus on your face? Israel has sinned. See, the problem was with Israel. They've sinned. Now, it may seem like a minor thing. How often do you hear somebody in this nation, I've heard many times, somebody who has a practice, you know, some type of what we might classify as an egregious sin or lifestyle, say, well, it doesn't hurt anybody. Yeah, I'm doing it. It doesn't hurt anybody else.

But what we need to realize is that when you disobey one person in a nation, in a community, that it begins to destroy the very fabric of that society and tears it down. Same thing can happen in the church. One rotten apple, one bad attitude, one wrong approach can begin to affect others around it. A little leaven can leaven the whole lump, the Bible says. And so we find that our sins and actions can affect the whole group. And God is very concerned about the whole.

In Judges chapter 2, we have another example here, Judges 2, verse 1, the angel the Lord came up from Gilgal to to Baucom and said, I led you up from Egypt, brought you to the land which I swore to your fathers, and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. You shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land. You shall tear down their altars, but you have not obeyed my voice. Why have you done this?

See, God said, you sin. Therefore, I also say that I will not dry them out from before you, but they shall be thorns in your side, and their gods shall be snared to you. See, originally, God told Israel, you go into the Promised Land, I'll send bees, wasps, hornets, wild beasts. They'll dry the people out. Their armies would come in and mop up after all of this.

Well, here they disobeyed God, so God said, I'm not going to dry them all out. But He left some of them there to test the people to see if they would obey Him or not.

When they obeyed God, these people were in subjection. When they didn't, they rose up, and they were a test. They were a thorn in the flesh. So again, there is cause and effect. And here, God asks a question, and He points out that their sins have a penalty.

Throughout the Scriptures, God brings out that when we sin, there is a penalty.

You obey, there are blessings, you sin, there are penalties. In 1 Samuel, chapter 15, one of the classic examples here, God chose Saul to be king. Samuel had come to Saul and told him to go kill the Amalekites, last man, woman, child, annihilate all of their stock, wipe them out.

Verse 17, chapter 15, Samuel said, When you were little in your own eyes, were you not the head of the tribes of Israel?

So we find humility is a prerequisite for God using an individual as a leader. And so, that's the way Saul started out.

Then, in verse 19, Why did you not obey the voice of the Lord? He asks. Why didn't you do what God told you? Why did you swoop down on the spoil and do evil in the sight of the Lord? And Samuel said, But I've obeyed the voice of the Lord. It's the people. They saved some of the stock alive so they could sacrifice it to God.

The only thing I've done is save Agag alive.

He said, The people took the plunder. Notice how Samuel replied, Has the Lord, verse 22, as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice. What is God more interested in? Our obedience.

Verse 23, do we agree with this?

Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.

Do we ever in our mind put down rebellion equals witchcraft?

And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.

Are we ever stubborn? Do we ever get set in our own ways, refuse to do something, and just sheer stubbornness? As a result, God says, that's just like worshiping an idol.

We don't normally think of these traits in this manner, but God obviously had revealed to Samuel the consequences of it. As a result, Saul was removed from being king. God sought a man after his own heart, which was David, who would obey him and do what he wanted. Let's go over to the New Testament very quickly, to Jesus Christ's example in Matthew 6.

Matthew 6, verse 27. He was God in the flesh, and he asked a number of questions. Notice, which of you, by worrying, can add one cubic to his stature? Then, verse 28, chapter 6. And why do you worry about clothing?

Consider the lilies of the field. He says, why do you worry about food? Why do you worry about housing? See, this is in connection with verse 33. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and what? All these things will be added to you. God says, I'll supply your physical needs. Why do we worry? We worship the Almighty God.

If we seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, he promises to supply our needs. See, that's one of those truths.

Why God asked questions is to point out what the right approach should be. So he's saying here, don't worry.

Chapter 7, verse 3. Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, and do not consider the plank in your own eye?

Hypocrite, verse 5. First, remove the plank from your own eye, and then you shall see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. So we're to be looking at ourselves, not the problems of others. God wants us to learn to trust him and look at ourselves. Chapter 8, verse 24.

They're rowing across the sea here. Verse 24, a great storm, tempest comes up, boats covered with waves. They're afraid they're going to collapse. They go to Christ. He's in the belly of the ship sleeping.

And they said, in verse 25, we are perishing. And he said to them, Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?

Are we fearful?

Or do we trust God? Are we afraid and lacking faith and trust in God? Fear is an enemy of faith. Worry is an enemy of faith. Doubt is an enemy of faith. And those are things that plague all of us. You might remember in chapter 14, here in verse 29, Christ came walking to them again on the water. Peter saw it. He said, Well, can I walk on water? Christ said, Sure. Peter hops over the side and he starts walking on water.

Then he began to look at the physical evidence.

This is water.

Winds blowing. Waves are high. There's a storm. I can't do this. And he started to sink. He doubted.

And as a result of his doubt, he was afraid.

Notice verse 31, what Christ said, O you of little faith, why did you doubt?

What? Why did you doubt?

I want you to notice probably the greatest question asked of all times.

You know what that is?

Let's go over to Matthew 27, verse 45.

Matthew chapter 27, in verse 45.

That this is my summation of it.

Christ is hanging on the stake.

In about the sixth hour, chapter 27, verse 45, till the ninth hour, darkness was over all the land. And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, Lamai, Lamai, or Eli, Eli, I should say, Lamai, Sabatini. That is, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Now, we know that Psalm 22, verse 1, is a prophecy.

You can go back and read it. It quotes this, prophesied this, but it's almost as if Jesus Christ stated this as something perhaps He had not anticipated. He knew all of the sins of mankind were going to be placed on Him. Apparently, at this point, God placed all of our sins on Christ and then turned His back on Him.

He said, why have you forsaken me?

I don't know if Christ knew that was going to happen ahead of time, but the way it's penned here and the way He cries out, it's almost as if He did not anticipate it.

But He was willing to go through with the plan of God, carry it out. He was willing to give His life as a sacrifice and to die for us.

But He also asked the question, why?

And at the time, He may not have fully understood that.

So, brethren, if I could summarize it, just as Christ gave Himself on the stake with His own question, perhaps unanswered at the time, you and I are to trust God, even though there are things that we don't understand. We don't see. We don't clearly always know.

We don't have to have all of our questions answered up front before we can choose to trust God. Knowing God can be trusted should be enough. Knowing who God is, His nature, we should be able to trust Him. God must know that we will obey Him, serve Him, for all eternity. That's why the Bible says, without faith, it is impossible to please God.