God is Great.

This past weekend, I was able to Galilee for a four-day field study. I saw so many beautiful places and learned some amazing things. So much to think about. Anyways…

On our first day, we first stopped at Ceasarea, which is on the Mediterranean Sea. This was not a ‘comfortable’ area for most Israelites because they saw the sea as being uncontrollable and dangerous. It was mainly Canaanite territory, and the Canaanites worshiped their god Baal, who was the god of all nature. Baal was supposedly in every created thing – when it rained, they believed that Baal was impregnating the earth so that it could be productive (gross, I know). While we were by the Mediterranean, we read Psalm 29, which is written in a meter similar to Canaanite epic poetry. This psalm involves imagery of God – not Baal – coming as the thunderstorm comes from the Mediterranean and across the land. It does not end in chaos, however, but in shalom, peace, for all of God’s people. It is clear through the Psalm that God is not one with nature but He is the Creator of it all. He is ontologically different and set apart from any created thing.

            While standing on Mt. Carmel, we talked about the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18 & 19. While the story itself clearly shows God’s dominance over Baal, there is a part of the story that I had not paid much attention to. After Elijah gives this great demonstration of God’s power and shows up all the crazy prophets of Baal, he eventually flees by himself to a cave. You’d think that he would feel empowered after defeating all of the prophets and proving that his God is superior, but this is not the case. He runs away. Dr. Wright suggested that it is possible Elijah fled because he was having an ontological problem with his God. The prophets of Baal prayed for fire from heaven, and that is exactly what Elijah got, so is Yahweh really any different from Baal? The next few verses in 1 Kings 19 give insight into this matter. Verses 11-13 say,

            “And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper….and behold, there came a voice to him and said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’”

            God was not in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire. He was in the sound of the low whisper. According to Dr. Wright, there is no English word for the ‘low whisper’, but it can also be understood as the ‘thinnest silence’. It is nothing like the noisy acts of nature described earlier, which are all Baal imagery. God chooses to show up in the thinnest of silence. Yahweh is not just a bigger version of Baal but is completely ontologically different. He is not competing with the ‘gods’ of other peoples, but is totally set apart – the one, true, creator God.

            This was such an encouragement to me in thinking about the incredible greatness of my God. Although being here has provided more insight into the Bible and more growth in knowledge than I thought possible, it has not come without some struggle. In classes, we’re constantly talking about how we know what we know about history and about the Bible, and for a while, I think I forgot about what ‘faith’ means. I found myself subconsciously doubting many things, which was honestly not fun at all. But I have gained so much encouragement recently through spending more time in the Word and really considering what it means to have faith – to not be able to prove things according to the world’s standards, but to have full assurance anyway. What I learned this weekend only reinforced this idea of having faith in my God who is completely separate – on a whole different level of ‘being’ – than all other things, including the human mind and reason. I choose to put my faith and hope in the God who can communicate in the earthquake and wind or in the thinnest silence. He far beyond my understanding – and far greater than I can even imagine.

            I’ve learned so much this weekend – I really haven’t had time to process through much of it. Hopefully I’ll be writing more soon!