Being a Silent Witness

#4 – All Creation is a Silent Witness

We are surrounded with innumerable silent witnesses pointing to God and showing what He is like – and yet we go about our everyday lives hardly giving them notice. The sun, moon, and stars move overhead in quiet precision to remind us of God’s infinite power and majesty. We need only open our eyes to things around us and notice that He is a very personal and caring God.

The Psalms (36:5-6; 90:2; 104:1-35; 114:4,6; 148:1-14) and Job Chapter 38 (see also Job 12:9-10) rehearse the wonders of God’s creation that remind us of His handiwork, whether in mountains, animals, insects, trees, flowers, rain or snow. They all “speak” about their Creator. We are surrounded with divinely-designed object lessons:

- Great mountains show us God’s enduring judgment and righteousness

- The lilies of the field and tiny birds demonstrate His care for the smallest details of life

- The complexity of the human body illustrates God’s purpose and marvelous workmanship

- The simple but unique, life-giving qualities of water speak of God’s sustaining care

- The unending variety of clouds in the sky are examples of His infinite wisdom

The invisible witness of creation speaks in a language that God designed especially to draw every human being who ever lived to Himself. Unregenerated mankind cannot honestly claim that God does not exist or that His hand in the world cannot be known. (Romans 1:20-21) God uses unique, and sometimes dramatic, characteristics of mountains, animals, trees, flowers, clouds, and the human body, to grab an individual's attention. If the individual responds then God gives him more truth of who He is. God’s desire is for all mankind to agree with the most basic truths of creation and to want more. Mankind’s hunger for more truth about the Creator will result in revelation of more spiritual truth.

Another daily witness is the providential cycle created by God to nourish and energize our bodies.[1] The wonderful self-sustaining cycle of life begins with the sun’s energy which plants miraculously combine with water and the earth’s minerals to reproduce and give edible fruit. Our human bodies are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14) so the same plants and their fruit are used in a complex metabolic system for the life-giving energy to sustain life. God created this providential cycle as a witness to His loving care for all mankind. The simple act of eating a meal should remind us of our dependency on Him.

Those who are born-again children of God are moved by the witness of creation to give glory to the beauty, majesty, and love of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is Creator and Sustainer (Colossians 1:16-17; John 1:3; Hebrews 1:2) of all we need in this physical life. His daily provision now is but a foretaste of the “pure river of water of life” and fruit of the “tree of life” that will nourish us for all eternity in His presence. (Revelation 22:1-2)

Take time each day to “see” and “listen” to God’s silent witnesses that surround us. They are a persistent witness pointing to our loving God!

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[1] Johnson, J.J.S., Our Daily Bread: How Food Proves God’s Providence, Acts & Facts, 40 (4):8-9, April 2011, Institute for Creation Research↩

Being a Silent Witness

#3 – The Heavens are a Silent Witness

Previous studies on what it means to be a silent witness showed that a witness may be a person or a thing that “confirms a fact which may be in doubt” or “reminds or points to another thing or truth.” A biblical witness is “a person or thing that points others to God.” God’s vast celestial realm is just such a witness.

God’s work on the fourth day of His good Creation is a silent witness on several levels of truth. The heavens (sun, moon, stars) were created for the specific purpose of being sources of light on the earth. (Genesis 1:15-18) But the Immutable and Eternal God also made them to function as reliable chronometers, marking the passage of time in seasons, days, and years so His creatures could live their temporal lives on earth. (Genesis 1:14) The same verse says that the celestial objects were also given to us for signs.

The word sign in this context means a representation of something else which cannot be seen. An object that is a silent witness points to a truth, in this case about God, that cannot be seen directly. What do the sun, moon, and stars say about God as witnesses to truth?

A universal truth about God is given eloquently by David in Psalm 19:1-3:

The heavens declare the glory of God;

and the firmament sheweth His handiwork.

Day unto day uttereth speech,

and night unto night sheweth knowledge.

There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.

The vast, complex, and enduring precision of the heavens are a silent witness to God’s manifold characteristics which are summed up by the psalmist in the word glory. God’s heavenly creation “speaks” in a language understood by all mankind about who God is and what He is like. (Romans 1:20)

Besides His glory, what are some other characteristics we can learn about God by observing the heavens? God uses the heavens as object lessons to show what He is like:

- God is infinite because the One who created the stars, which appear innumerable to us, has numbered and named each of them. (Psalm 147:4)

- For His reliability and faithfulness, God pointed to the stars in the heavens as His witnesses when He made his covenant with Abraham. (Genesis 15:5, 22:17, 26:4; Exodus 32:13) He repeated this illustration for the Davidic covenant by calling the sun and the moon as His witnesses. (Psalm 89:34-37)

- Not only is God faithful to perform what He has said, He also has the power to make good on His promises no matter what circumstances or difficulties develop on earth. This was evident when He changed the course of the heavens. (Joshua 10:13; Isaiah 38:7-8)

- God promised that the heavens would be witnesses to His judgment if Israel did not obey Him. (Deuteronomy 4:26) He would further demonstrate His wrath in the heavens in the latter days when the sun, moon, and stars would be darkened at His command. (Isaiah 13:9-10; Ezekiel 32:7; Joel 2:31, 3:15; Habakkuk 3:11)

- Similarly, God will use the brightness of the sun and moon as instruments of His graciousness when His people turn to Him. (Isaiah 30:26, 60:19-20)

In the New Testament we discover that Jesus Christ is the Creator of all the heavens and their continued existence and motion is sustained by His power. (Colossians 1:16; John 1:1, 2, 10; Hebrews 1:2; Ephesians 3:9; Romans 11:36)

We stand in awe and admiration of the sun, moon, and stars – created by God, controlled by God, and pointing to God – as a universal example of a silent witness to God and His attributes. They are truly witnesses to His glory!

Praise ye Him, sun and moon: praise Him, all ye stars of light.

Psalm 148:3

Dental Evangelism in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico

Testimony from Pastor Manuel Acedo


God is faithful! We give thanks to God for the marvelous things He does. God is pleased to use human instruments to accomplish His work. Among those is Dr. Mitchell, his wife, and a fine team he has to assist him. Thank the Lord for the past five years that the Lord has used them among us. We see the enthusiasm the have in serving the Lord. THEY SERVE THE KING OF KINGS: JESUS CHRIST!!

In those years we have seen people come to the feet of Jesus Christ. Now, our duty is to follow up with them so those souls become true followers of Christ.

In this past month of February [during a GDMMissons dental evangelism clinic] we saw approximately 26 souls saved. Pray that this is fruit that lasts! Please!

Thanks for each one of the participants in this group. They were very enthusiastic. May the Lord continue using them greatly among us, but first that God continues sending them to us each year in the month of February so that…God continues saving souls, and so His name is glorified!

The Living Hope Fundamental Baptist Church (formerly San Bosco) is supremely thankful for your help. Continue forward! Your labor “in the Lord is not in vain.” Many thanks!!

Sincerely,

Pastor Manuel Acedo and Family
Psalm 39:7 - And now, Lord, what wait I for? My hope is in Thee.

Being a Silent Witness

#2 – A Misunderstood Witness

A “witness” was defined in our last study as

“…one who has a personal knowledge of God, one who strengthens and confirms God’s testimony of Himself, who draws attention to the Lord.”

This definition is equally applicable to inanimate objects and helps us learn something more about a silent witness.

The Old Testament is replete with examples of inanimate objects intended to be silent witnesses to a truth. God used objects to represent or symbolize something that pointed to Himself or some intrinsic truth.

One example was a large stone to remind the people of Israel about God’s Word. After the tribes of Israel occupied the land of Canaan, Joshua rehearsed the Law of Moses by reading it aloud before them. He then used a large rock as an object lesson in the event people ever forgot the Law or someday denied that it was God’s Word. The large rock was meant to be an unchangeable silent witness to the truth; it would endure as a never-changing reminder even if the people changed. (Joshua 24:27)

Four times the tabernacle in the wilderness, which was designed by God and constructed by Israel for worship, (Exodus 25:9) is called the “tabernacle of witness.” (Numbers 17:7, 8; 18:2; 2 Chronicles 24:6) Its presence as the dwelling place of Jehovah God (Exodus 29:45-46) and place of God-ordained worship was a silent witness to Israel and the surrounding nations that Jehovah had chosen to dwell in the midst of a peculiar people.

Another example of a silent witness in the Old Testament is the stone altar described in Joshua chapter 22. When the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh chose land on the eastern side of the Jordan River for their inheritance, they promised Joshua and the other tribes that they would leave their families and land to fight side-by-side with their brethren and claim the Promised Land on the western side. They swore to fight as long as it took to subdue the inhabitants of the land. (Joshua 1:12-18) When the war was over and Joshua granted the nation rest they were honorably released from their promise and sent back to their families. (Joshua 22:1-9) When they reached the western shore of the Jordan River they built a large stone altar as a monument before they crossed over the river. (Joshua 22:10) Shortly thereafter, the other tribes in Israel heard that Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had built an altar on the edge of the Jordan and, thinking they had broken their promise to worship only Jehovah and had defected to pagan worship, the other tribes amassed an army to go to war with the two and a half tribes. (Joshua 22:11-20) Before civil war ensued the two and a half tribes explained their reasoning for the stone altar and assured their brethren they had not forsaken the Law of Moses. They repeated their dedication to the God of Israel and their unity with the other tribes. With the purpose of the stone altar finally made clear, a catastrophic civil war was averted, and everyone parted in peace. (Joshua 22:21-34)

The intended purpose of the stone altar was to be a silent witness to their commitment to the other tribes, their promise to never forsake the Law of Moses, and their bond to Jehovah the God of Israel. But this was not obvious by simply seeing the stone altar itself. Their commendable purpose – “…it shall be a witness between us that the LORD is God” – could not be discerned by seeing the altar of stones alone. An explanation was needed.

Inanimate objects, whether a single large stone, written tablets of stone, a tent, or a pile of stones, can be misunderstood or not understood at all. A lesson for us as we consider what it means to be a silent witness is that a silent witness, whether a person or an inanimate object, can only make a partial or incomplete statement. A silent witness may be intended to point to God but it might be misinterpreted as something entirely different. Our best intentions and purest motives may need further elaboration before they can point the observer to truth about God.

Rather than discourage us from being silent witnesses, this should motivate us more to pray for an opportunity to explain why we do what we do (1 Peter 3:15) and how those who see our silent witness can come to know the One who is “…the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”

To be continued…

Sowing by Grace - Winter 2011

Winter 2011 Issue Available Now
The latest issue of Sowing by Grace is available now by clicking on the title above. Two articles on Asia highlight how God used dental teams in India and a Southeast Asian country during 2010. Also, our newest Associate Missionary - Katrina Caturan, RN - shares her testimony and burden for medical missions. We've received great comments on the format and content of our quarterly newsletter and would like to hear from you. Send an e-mail to office @gdmmissions.org and tell us what you think!