YET
“To be or not to be, that is the question;” (Hamlet by William Shakespeare)
Ecclesiastes 4:2, 3 Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive. Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
Not to be is not the question, or the answer. Not to be is simply nothing. To be or not yet to be, that is the better question. We are better off in the waiting room of a doctor’s office than in the office receiving bad news. How many can argue against this premise? Not yet to be prevents an evil witness and participation in an evil world. But, what if the doctor has a cure? That’s the rub isn’t it; the “what if” and uncertainty of a viable future? It is still better never to have seen the doctor and to have our days forever halted; our living arrested in the waiting room of ignorance. Unfortunately, being forever in a frozen moment is not a possibility.
Who is this “he” which hath not yet been? Is there such a one? The Bible does not suggest that we are better off not being, but that in our not yet being we are better off. This “he” which hath not yet been is a person which will be. There is no option of not ever being for any “he” in a state of “not yet been”. The word “yet” implies and proclaims there is going to be a state of being. If the Bible had simply stated, “which hath not been” then all belief in creation would be unraveled and God’s plan and promise brought to naught. “Which hath not been”, would suggest there is a way for something to come of nothing. Such a verse would support the world’s view of man’s existence. With this verse lacking one small word there would be no argument against the world’s belief in the “Big Bang” theory or Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. We would have to chuck the Bible, admitting there is no God-breathed creation and there are many paths to God.
How important is a three letter word to the integrity and believability of the Bible? How important is the preserved Word of God? God did not cavalierly command us not to tamper with His Word. Why then must men alter the Bible? This should be a lesson and defense for us all. Never tamper with God’s Word in the guise of making it more acceptable to the world. The world must receive Christ for the Word of God to become acceptable. Is there any greater commission and commandment?
All those who are not yet will be. The sad part of the being is being in the world. Our being brings with it an ability to see evil. We have the burden and curse of Adam to know good and evil. God had already declared all of creation good. All that Adam saw was good. All that Adam and Eve knew was good. Why then must Adam and Eve have desired to see evil? Most sad is the evil which they did see. It was not the evil of God’s creation, for there was no evil in God’s creation. They first saw their own evil of unbelief and then the evil of disobedience when they gained the knowledge of good and evil. It was not the knowledge of good which the tree gave, but the knowledge of “and evil”. It is that added part of knowledge which caused ruin. Why do men always seek to add to what God has given? Men ruin salvation by adding works to grace. Is there salvation when works are added to grace? Was creation ruined when evil was added to good? God gives grace and demands no work from men. Only God saves, only God can provide atonement, only God’s blood can cleanse sin. Who are we to add to God?
Men must learn to quit meddling with God and simply receive and accept God.
Adam did not accept God. Many Christians do not accept God. The lost and troubled soul with no future with God can receive Jesus Christ and be reconciled to God. But, after reconciliation we should accept God. We accept God by being obedient to God. Obedience plays no part in salvation; receiving eternal life. Salvation is of the Lord, freely given. Yet afterwards, obedience proclaims an acceptance of God.
Have you, yet, received God?
Have you, yet, accepted God?
