Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?” – Revelation 7:13

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 26, 2018): Revelation 7

The French philosopher Voltaire (the pen name of Francois-Marie Arouet) argued that we should “judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.” The problem with answers is that they tend to set our minds in stone about the topic at hand. If I know the answer, then I stop looking at the problem. Questions indicate that we are still actively involved with the problem. Voltaire’s comment is very true even when it comes to exploring the biblical writing. When we come to the Bible with answers, we have actually shut down the real power of the sacred work. When we come to the Bible asking our questions, then the power of the Word of God is given a chance to work in us.

Of course, often we come to the Bible, and we seem to be either awed or confused and don’t know the proper questions to ask. And if that describes you, you are not alone. Apparently, that describes John at this moment. He is awed by everything that he sees going on around him. It is not that John believes that he knows the answers. He is quite aware that he doesn’t. The problem is that, at this moment, he doesn’t even know the questions that he should be asking.

So one of the elders prompts him by asking the appropriate question. In contemporary conversation, we might just offer the information. But in this case, the elder asks the question, maybe recognizing the power of a question. Who are these people? It is a gentle reminder to John that this is important. He needs to know. John needs information that he simply does not have.

One of my favorite phrases is “I don’t know.” But sometimes I miss things that I need to know, and I don’t ask the questions that need to be asked, and I often need someone to prompt me or remind me about what is important. Unfortunately, with many of us, we feel that that lack of knowledge is a weakness. But it isn’t. In fact, it is the reverse. The questions that we are willing to ask reflect our strength and not our weakness. And there is no doubt that Voltaire was right. We need to be able to “judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.” And we need to be willing to ask questions, rather than to think that we know it all because the reality is that we don’t understand everything, and even some of the things that we think we understand are actually wrong.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Revelation 8