Somebody observed that the Bible will make you wonder, but it will never make you wander. To that I would say a hearty, “Amen!” Does the Bible ever make you “wonder?” Wonder is defined @ merriam-webster.com as “a cause of astonishment or admiration; rapt attention or astonishment at something awesomely mysterious or new to one's experience.” The Grand Canyon, the Rocky Mountains, the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the birth of my sons — I (and perhaps you) have been blessed to see at least some of these things that are “a wonder to behold.” Astonishment, admiration, rapt attention and awesomely mysterious — those are words that describe our reaction to such things.
So why would anyone say the Bible makes you “wonder?” First, consider its inspiration. The Bible claims, and tons of evidence support the claim, that God is its author. “All Scripture is given by the inspiration of God” is the claim in 2 Timothy 3:16 (also 2 Peter 1:20-21; 3:15-16). “God-breathed” is the way the New International Version says it. The Library of Congress in Washington D. C. contains a vast collection of 110 million items stored on 838 miles of bookshelves. The wonder in that is the Bible is the only book in the whole bodacious thing that can rightfully claim God as its ultimate author! Hundreds of times the Bible’s authors record the words, “Thus saith the Lord.” As someone said, if you want to hear God speak audibly, open your Bible and read it out loud! Now consider the Bible’s preservation and duration. Psalm 119:89 says, “Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven.” There is no debate in Heaven about the Bible being from God. Meanwhile, on earth, the Bible is booed, banned, belittled, burned, denounced, debated and devalued. But one thing the devil and his agents will never be able to do is destroy the Bible! In the words of theologian and author Bernard Ramm, “A thousand times over, the death knell of the Bible has been sounded, the funeral procession formed, the inscription cut on the tombstone, and committal read. But somehow the corpse never stays put. No other book has been so chopped, knifed, sifted, scrutinized, and vilified.” And yet, like the Energizer Bunny, it just keeps “going and going and going!” It always will. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Matthew 24:35). Now consider the Bible’s translation and propagation. It has been translated into 704 languages as of 2021, the most of any book in the world, reaching 6.1 billion people worldwide (biblica.com). As to propagation, “Christian missionaries” in some 160 of the 195 countries teach the Bible today. Given fair consideration, as stated above the Bible will make you wonder.
The Bible makes you wonder, but it will never make you wander! In the words of Psalm 119:105, God’s word “is a lamp to my feet and a light to path.” Faithfully followed, that light guides us to God and to Heaven. The proper attitude we ought to have toward the Bible is captured by the apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 2:13 — “when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.” In light of eternity, the real wonder about the Bible is why more people don’t welcome it.
Dan Gulley
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