Introduction. We have now spent several months looking at a variety of reasons why unity among disciples remains so elusive. Since Jesus returned to heaven, many new doctrines have been devised and many different opinions created. We have sought to see if they are true, false, or questionable because they violate the logic and truth of one or more passages. If we must wrest a single passage to arrive at our conclusion, then it is a false premise that will be false no matter how many other passages are made to fit and teach it.
When God told Noah to make an ark, He gave him specific instructions on dimensions and materials. He said, “make an ark of gopher wood... the length three hundred cubits, the breadth fifty cubits, and the height thirty cubits.” In these things God left nothing for Noah to contribute or modify. By specifying material (gopher wood) and dimensions (300 x 50 x 30), He made it clear to Noah exactly what He wanted. All Noah could do was follow those instructions, which he did: “Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.” (Gen. 6:22)
Yet in the very same command God said “make an ark” with no further guidance. Do we see the paradox? Noah needed to “trust in the Lord with all his heart and lean not on his own understanding” on materials and dimensions, while at the same time “leaning on his own understanding on how to make it. God allowed Noah to decide (lean on his own understanding) regarding how to gather and prepare the wood, where to build the ark, and how to assemble it. God fully trusted Noah to use his wisdom in these things.
When God told Noah to make an ark, He gave him specific instructions on dimensions and materials. He said, “make an ark of gopher wood... the length three hundred cubits, the breadth fifty cubits, and the height thirty cubits.” In these things God left nothing for Noah to contribute or modify. By specifying material (gopher wood) and dimensions (300 x 50 x 30), He made it clear to Noah exactly what He wanted. All Noah could do was follow those instructions, which he did: “Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.” (Gen. 6:22)
Yet in the very same command God said “make an ark” with no further guidance. Do we see the paradox? Noah needed to “trust in the Lord with all his heart and lean not on his own understanding” on materials and dimensions, while at the same time “leaning on his own understanding on how to make it. God allowed Noah to decide (lean on his own understanding) regarding how to gather and prepare the wood, where to build the ark, and how to assemble it. God fully trusted Noah to use his wisdom in these things.
This really isn’t that complicated. We all do it. When we have a complicated task for someone or we don’t trust their wisdom and competence, we have to give specific instruction. The way we word a command either gives step by step instructions, or if we trust them we give a general command and allow them to use their own wisdom. If we need something specific like sugar or salt, we might say “go to the store and buy some sugar or salt....” While we specified the need, we did not specify the means of going. How they go is of no consequence to us. We trust them to choose the best way, but we need exactly what we send them to get. They can do whatever they want in regard to going, but only buy what we asked for when they get there.
There are multitudes of both types of commands in the Scriptures. God is specific when He wants something done only one way and unspecific when it is not important how it is done. With the former we “trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not upon our own understanding” and in the latter we still “trust in the Lord with all our heart,” but are now allowed to “lean upon our own understanding.” We are expected to assess the wording of the command and fulfill it exactly as God wanted it done. Thus it is simple. When God worded a specific command, it must be done exactly as specified. If He gave a general command, we seek the best method we can to do it well.
God was specific with Moses. He told Moses to give water to the children of Israel by “speaking to the rock.” In anger, Moses said “shall we give you water” and then “struck the rock.” He did what God asked him to do, but not in the way God asked him to do it. God’s response to Moses’ embellishments is an example to us all. God told him his actions revealed a lack of “trust in the Lord” and thus he failed to “sanctify” and treat God as holy. God said: “you believed not in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel” (Num. 20:10-12). The penalty for his minor addition was severe: “you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” God used Moses to reveal that no one can go beyond the specifics of what God asks.
God was specific about moving the ark of the tabernacle. Whenever Israel moved the tabernacle, God had given a very specific method. It was to be carried “on the shoulders of the sons of Kohath” (Num 4:15; 7:1-9). To make certain they clearly saw this, when wagons were given to the Levites to help them carry the boards and hangings of the temple, they were given to Gershon and Merari, “but unto the sons of Kohath he gave none, because the service of the sanctuary belonged unto them; they bare it upon their shoulders.”
Many hundreds of years later this instruction was ignored, possibly out of ignorance or an oversight. Someone decided to move the ark on a cart. No one sounded an alarm or registered any concern. As the ark moved, Israel worshiped “with all their might” (1Chr. 13:1-8), oblivious to their failure to “sanctify” God by doing it exactly as He had said. God was unimpressed with their sincere ignorance that had led to disobedience, bringing the festivities to a terrible close: “The anger of Jehovah was kindled against Uzza, and He smote him, because he put forth his hand to the ark; and there he died.” (1Chr. 13:10).
When this occurred, “David was displeased, because Jehovah had broken forth upon Uzza.” (1Chr 13:11). He could not imagine why God had done this. They had done their very best to bring the ark to Jerusalem. Yet after a careful study of the Scriptures, he found the error and was humbled: “For because you bare it not at the first, Jehovah our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not according to the ordinance.” David had unknowingly violated a specific command and God had no grace for that. Now that he knew he did exactly as God has specified: “the children of the Levites bare the ark of God upon their shoulders with the staves thereon, as Moses commanded according to the word of Jehovah.” (1Chr. 15:13-15)
The commands not to add to nor take from make it clear that these principles moved seamlessly into the NT. It is the only way we “learn not to go beyond what is written” (1Cor. 4:6). If God specified how within the command, it must be done exactly and only that way. When God gave the how, He set down the boundary of right and wrong. He must always be sought “according to” that “ordinance.” Only when it is done exactly that way do we truly “sanctify him” and “trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not upon our own understanding.”
There are multitudes of both types of commands in the Scriptures. God is specific when He wants something done only one way and unspecific when it is not important how it is done. With the former we “trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not upon our own understanding” and in the latter we still “trust in the Lord with all our heart,” but are now allowed to “lean upon our own understanding.” We are expected to assess the wording of the command and fulfill it exactly as God wanted it done. Thus it is simple. When God worded a specific command, it must be done exactly as specified. If He gave a general command, we seek the best method we can to do it well.
God was specific with Moses. He told Moses to give water to the children of Israel by “speaking to the rock.” In anger, Moses said “shall we give you water” and then “struck the rock.” He did what God asked him to do, but not in the way God asked him to do it. God’s response to Moses’ embellishments is an example to us all. God told him his actions revealed a lack of “trust in the Lord” and thus he failed to “sanctify” and treat God as holy. God said: “you believed not in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel” (Num. 20:10-12). The penalty for his minor addition was severe: “you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” God used Moses to reveal that no one can go beyond the specifics of what God asks.
God was specific about moving the ark of the tabernacle. Whenever Israel moved the tabernacle, God had given a very specific method. It was to be carried “on the shoulders of the sons of Kohath” (Num 4:15; 7:1-9). To make certain they clearly saw this, when wagons were given to the Levites to help them carry the boards and hangings of the temple, they were given to Gershon and Merari, “but unto the sons of Kohath he gave none, because the service of the sanctuary belonged unto them; they bare it upon their shoulders.”
Many hundreds of years later this instruction was ignored, possibly out of ignorance or an oversight. Someone decided to move the ark on a cart. No one sounded an alarm or registered any concern. As the ark moved, Israel worshiped “with all their might” (1Chr. 13:1-8), oblivious to their failure to “sanctify” God by doing it exactly as He had said. God was unimpressed with their sincere ignorance that had led to disobedience, bringing the festivities to a terrible close: “The anger of Jehovah was kindled against Uzza, and He smote him, because he put forth his hand to the ark; and there he died.” (1Chr. 13:10).
When this occurred, “David was displeased, because Jehovah had broken forth upon Uzza.” (1Chr 13:11). He could not imagine why God had done this. They had done their very best to bring the ark to Jerusalem. Yet after a careful study of the Scriptures, he found the error and was humbled: “For because you bare it not at the first, Jehovah our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not according to the ordinance.” David had unknowingly violated a specific command and God had no grace for that. Now that he knew he did exactly as God has specified: “the children of the Levites bare the ark of God upon their shoulders with the staves thereon, as Moses commanded according to the word of Jehovah.” (1Chr. 15:13-15)
The commands not to add to nor take from make it clear that these principles moved seamlessly into the NT. It is the only way we “learn not to go beyond what is written” (1Cor. 4:6). If God specified how within the command, it must be done exactly and only that way. When God gave the how, He set down the boundary of right and wrong. He must always be sought “according to” that “ordinance.” Only when it is done exactly that way do we truly “sanctify him” and “trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not upon our own understanding.”
| But if God gives no specific method, it is impossible “to go beyond” and we can “lean upon our understanding.” When God told Moses to go to Egypt (Ex 4:19) he gave no “how.” No matter how Moses chose to get there, he could not “go beyond” the command. Thus there is no paradox! Every command falls into one of the circles in the figure. Each command forbids or seeks our wisdom. In each command, by the way it is worded, God either specified, thus making our wisdom unlawful, or He left it unspecified, making our wisdom and input lawful. |  |
When God said “the bishop must be...” He gave the how! For example, the Spirit said he “must be ... the husband of one wife.” No matter how good the man appears in our eyes, it would violate God’s sovereign will to appoint an unmarried man. We can’t use our wisdom to refuse to do what God specified. A command that specifies any detail forbids all human wisdom. This is why striking a rock or carrying the ark on a cart was punished. When God specified, human wisdom dishonored and disobeyed God.
On the other hand, “can any man forbid the water” leaves the water unspecified. An ocean, lake, river, bathtub, watering trough, or heated baptistry would all be lawful. No matter what container is used and no matter how much human wisdom is involved, it is impossible to rebel. God left it to us! When God leaves details unspecified, all human wisdom is lawful and encouraged. This is why Noah could make the ark using his own wisdom.
Conclusion. When we understand the distinction between specified and unspecified commands, we are ready to move to the next set of principles on submitting to the authority of God. For all specified commands we must “learn not to go beyond the things that are written.” But for all unspecified commands which are therefore lawful, Jesus added an additional layer of responsibility. “All things are lawful; but not all things are expedient All things are lawful; but not all things edify.” (1Cor. 10:23)
On the other hand, “can any man forbid the water” leaves the water unspecified. An ocean, lake, river, bathtub, watering trough, or heated baptistry would all be lawful. No matter what container is used and no matter how much human wisdom is involved, it is impossible to rebel. God left it to us! When God leaves details unspecified, all human wisdom is lawful and encouraged. This is why Noah could make the ark using his own wisdom.
Conclusion. When we understand the distinction between specified and unspecified commands, we are ready to move to the next set of principles on submitting to the authority of God. For all specified commands we must “learn not to go beyond the things that are written.” But for all unspecified commands which are therefore lawful, Jesus added an additional layer of responsibility. “All things are lawful; but not all things are expedient All things are lawful; but not all things edify.” (1Cor. 10:23)