Devilish Details
What do we make of things Scripture does not tell us?
June, 2023
As this month's spotlight verse indicates, God alone knows all things, and chooses to reveal some of those to mankind. What Scripture does not say is that God reveals "everything" to "everyone." The English expression "the Devil's in the details" means it's harder to apply a concept than to state a broad idea. Yet it can also be applied to a unique spiritual temptation: to delay obedience while insisting on more details…and then more…and then more, as if we can never know anything unless we know everything. Rather, we should note that if God's not telling us something, it's not critical—and the lack of detail might even be part of the message.
These unresolved details are everywhere in Scripture. Where, exactly, did Cain's wife come from (Genesis 4:16–17)? Did Esau forgive his brother, Jacob, early, late, or gradually (Genesis 33:4)? What size were the precise dimensions of the Ten Commandments carried by Moses (Exodus 24:12)? Did Jephthah burn his daughter, or make her a priestess (Judges 11:39–40)? What was Jesus doing from age twelve to age thirty (Luke 2:52)? Did the Romans nail Jesus' right hand first, or His left (John 19:18)? When Paul survived a shipwreck, was he one of those who swam, or floated on debris (Acts 27:43–44)? What was the exact mud-to-saliva ratio Jesus used on the blind man, and how many eyelashes did he have (John 9:6)?
Some of those details seem petty. Others are interesting. Some are troubling. But they all have a common element: knowing the answers is not vital. In fact, there's something of a lesson in what's left unsaid. The meaning of Esau's forgiveness is unrelated to when or how he came to it. Jephthah's promise was stupid, regardless of the outcome. Jesus was crucified—what difference would it make which hand bled first? And so forth. The point is not that those questions have no answers, at all. It's that we don't need to know those answers to get the point of God's revelation.
Sometimes, the answer to literary analysis is "the text does not say." Usually, the reason is because the author did not choose to give that information. An intended point can be buried in an avalanche of trivial facts. Worse, people can miss the difference between what's secondary and what's critical. Had God recorded the exact timeline of Esau's change of heart, people would likely insist Esau's timing ought to be ours. I.e., "Esau forgave in a single instant, so must I," or "Esau gradually forgave, so I can, too," or even, "Esau took fifteen years to forgive, so I can wait that long." People can already "find" everything God requires them to know in the story: that forgiveness is not merely preferable, it's possible. Filling in narrative details using sanctified imagination is fine, but not necessary to grasp the meaning which God intended.
Obsessing over such trivia begs the question, "why is it so important to know that detail?" Can one not understand the story, apply it, or learn from it without that facet? If we knew that level of detail, what would stop someone from wanting more…then more…then more? Humanity is constantly demanding more proof after God's given us plenty (Matthew 16:4). The same can apply to understanding His written Word. Bertrand Russel's quip that he'd blame God for not giving him enough evidence seems arrogant, but it's just as hardheaded for Christians to claim we "cannot" know what God meant in a passage because He didn't give us some arbitrary—and ultimately shifting—level of detail.
User manuals for cars don't contain textbooks on mechanical engineering or chemistry. The manual doesn't explain every possible nuance of the vehicle. Knowing the exact radius of some gasket in the engine, or the precise method used to make a window button, has no impact at all on how a person operates the vehicle. We don't need to know the precise instant Esau forgave Jacob or the clinical time of death for Rebecca (Genesis 35:19). Nor, despite what well-meaning enthusiasts claim, did God feel we needed to know God's exact process of creation.
These are not "hidden truths," they are simply "unrecorded details." God does not tuck special knowledge away for special people to find. He's making what we need to know relatively clear, and what we don't need to know He simply does not say. Where He leaves things vague, we should be vague. That is not, even remotely, the same as pretending that none of the Bible has objective meaning, at all. That we might need to apply the same truth differently in certain situations does not change the underlying truth.
There is a button to roll down the car window; knowing exactly how it was installed and all its dimensions is a waste of time, as far as driving the car is concerned. Filling up with that information means leaving no room or time for what's meaningful. That's why the Bible refers to some things—even when they have objective answers—as a waste of time (Romans 14:1; 1 Timothy 1:4; Titus 3:9). In other cases, the answer is clear, and the search for "detail" is a thin disguise for disobedience. Too often, people claim they are "leaving no stone unturned," when they've simply come up against the truth and are trying to scratch their way through it.
Eventually, we must accept that it's enough to "know enough." We can understand what God wants us to understand. At times, God puts further information within reach, and we do well to seek it out (Romans 1:18–20; Matthew 7:7-8). In other cases, the exact answer is beyond natural ability. When we attempt to replace God's message with our own meaning, either by ignoring or over-analyzing, we're usurping His role as the absolute arbiter of right and wrong. It's disrespectful of His authority to insist we cannot go on without knowing some random, unspoken tidbit. That's just one reason God strictly condemned things like necromancy, divination, mediums, and such. In Scripture, these are all attempts to gain information through spirits. But if God isn't speaking, angels aren't, either. The only beings who answer—if any—are demonic.
This month's spotlight verse comes from the story of Daniel. King Nebuchadnezzar's occultists were forced to admit they couldn't read the king's mind, let alone interpret his dream. To prevent wholesale slaughter of the entire corps of wise men, Daniel promised he could meet the challenge. In that special circumstance, God provided information in a vision (Daniel 2:17–19). When he spoke to the king, Daniel was clear that only God knew the information being sought, and only God chose to reveal it (Daniel 2:27–28). Even then, what God revealed was very brief, leaving many details to be answered by then-future events.
The main form of special revelation, today, is the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16–17). God encourages us to deeply investigate the Scripture using context and Spirit-guided reason, discerning preferences from what the text truly means (Acts 17:11; 1 Corinthians 4:6; 1 John 4:1). This should also lead to careful self-examination (2 Corinthians 13:5; 1 John 4:1; Galatians 1:8). That will reveal some clear ideas and some "doubtful issues" (Romans 14:1) where Scripture gives little or no detail. What's missing is not meant to be prominent. When we take drastically different theological lessons from Jephthah, or Esau, or Jesus, based on assumptions not laid out in Scripture, we're not handling the Word correctly.
-- Editor
