The First 10 Questions Recorded in Scripture.
Questions are not always questions. In fact, I would go so far as to say questions are rarely questions. What do I mean by that? A question in its purest form is a request for knowledge. An honest request. A request from someone without the knowledge to someone with the knowledge.
“Are you hungry?” is an honest question, an honest request to know something. It’s hard to know what others are feeling or thinking, asking is a good way to find out. “How many books are there in the Bible?” is a straight-forward question, a request for knowledge. It may not have a straightforward and simple answer, but it is a straightforward question.
But a lot of questions are not like these. A lot of questions are asked not with the intent to gain knowledge but with some other intention. The intention may be to trick, or persuade or influence or make oneself look good.
If you have ever gone to see a lecture or a debate or perhaps an author speak there is often a question and answer session afterward. But few people ever ask questions. They usually stand up and say something like, “Yeah this isn’t really a question more of an observation…” or they say a whole bunch of words that ramble on without arriving at a question, or they say, “Yeah have you ever considered the fact that… which is not really a question it’s just a statement trying to persuade.
And of course when God asks a question it’s never a straightforward request for knowledge either. This is because God is all knowing. He has no need to ever ask a question. Therefore, every question God asks is always for the benefit of the listener.
Satan’s questions will always seek to trick or confuse or muddy the water. God’s questions will always seek to steer the person toward honesty and the good. Man and Woman’s question will sometimes be a good honest request for help or knowledge or direction. But often times it will be an attempt to lie, or shift blame or hide guilt…
What is amazing in first few Chapters of Genesis is how quickly the questions escalate in seriousness.
SATAN TO EVE
- Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?’
GOD TO ADAM
- Where are you?
- Who told you that you were naked?
- Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?
GOD TO EVE
- What is this that you have done?
GOD TO CAIN
- Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen?
- If you do well, will you not be accepted?
--- Cain murders his brother Abel ---
GOD TO CAIN
- Where is your brother?
CAIN TO GOD
- I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?
GOD TO CAIN
- What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground.
Looking at these first ten questions in the Bible shows how quickly sin can escalate. The first question was itself a lie and an enticement toward questioning the Word of God. Satan tricked Eve into defending a commandment that wasn’t a true commandment in the first place… God in fact had not said they could not eat of any of the trees. Satan knew this, it’s not an honest question… but it served to muddy the water and confuse things to the point that Eve was ready to be influenced toward breaking God’s command.
Questions 2-9 are all spoken by God to Man, to Adam, Eve, and Cain. The questions invite honest answers and reflection. The questions guide them toward repentance. But already by the time of Cain the heart of man had grown stubborn and hard. Although Adam and Eve would squirm and shift blame they never outright lied to God. With Cain we have the first recorded question not spoken by either Satan or God in the Bible and this question is a famous and callous lie: Am I my brother’s keeper?
To which God responds, What have you done?
Well that escalated quickly… the first sin of eating fruit from the wrong tree has already escalated to murder in broad daylight of one’s own brother. They may seem miles apart but the foundation of both are the same. A lack of trust in the word of God. God set boundaries God gave warnings and God tried to steer Man in the right direction… and when Man ignored what happened? Hiding, nakedness, shame, guilt, banishment, murder, lies, blood in the field.
Just ten questions in and oh how far we have strayed from Paradise already.
Well thankfully God has sent the answer to our question. The question is who will answer for all of this, who will give us a hand and pull us back out of this pit we’ve fallen into? Jesus will of course. His life, death and resurrection answer not only the sin question, but ALL questions we have. Why are we here? What is the meaning of life? Am I worth anything? Does God exist? Does God love me? Every promise, every question finds its fulfillment in Christ. As the book of Hebrews states the blood of Jesus speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
So we have looked at the first ten questions in Scripture, how about the first question in the New Testament.
WISE MEN TO HEROD
- Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?
Why, Bethlehem of course.