Where did God come from?
"Where did God come from?" What kind of question is that?
Well, for one thing, it may be an innocent child's question -- to which the
answer is something like this:
'Look, sonny, God has always been; there never was a time when
He did not exist! He created everything else in this whole universe. Everything
else came from God. But God did not come from anything. The Bible says He is
from everlasting -- that's forever! -- and He will go on to everlasting --
that's forever again!"
But, before we get over our heads in trying to explain the
simplest, and yet the most profound, of matters -- the existence, and plan, and
purpose of God -- we might pause for a moment and imagine that the questioner
might (and in this case, since I know the questioner... most definitely DOES)
have a different point in mind.
And the fact is... the Bible does answer this question in the
most straightforward and literal manner:
Question: Where did God come from?
Answer: The Bible says, "God came from Teman" (Hab 3:3) -- a
region in the Sinai Peninsula. The passage appears to refer to God's
manifestations of Himself in the days of Moses and the wilderness wanderings of
Israel.
The lesson, perhaps, is that we should be careful to
understand, if possible, what the questioner wants to know, and needs to know,
and what he can understand of an answer.
Another lesson is: Sometimes the simplest approach is the
best!
Which reminds me of the little tyke who finds his Dad
(probably watching a football game on TV at the time), and asks in all
innocence: "Dad, where did I come from?" All of a sudden, Dad forgets about the
ball game and now has visions of storks and cabbage patches whirling through his
head -- and maybe a first primer on the facts of life -- for which he is far
from ready. This wasn't supposed to come along for a few years yet. Stammers and
hums and haws follow, and finally Dad can do no better than, "Son, that's a big
question; we'll have to think about that a bit!" To which the little fellow
replies: "But, Dad, Johnny -- who just moved in next door -- came from Dallas.
And all I want to know is... where did I come from?"
Oh....
So, in this spirit, we can answer the following questions,
taken straight and verbatim from the Bible:
Q: Where did God come from?
A: Teman (Hab 3:3).
Q: Where did the LORD come from?
A: Sinai (Deu 33:2).
Q: Where did Jesus come from?
A: Galilee (Mat 3:13), or Nazareth (Mar 1:9).
To which may be added the following (until now) unasked
questions, with their irrefutable answers, directly from the Bible.
Q: Where did Jacob come from?
A: Paddan Aram (Gen 33:18).
Q: Where did Boaz come from?
A: Bethlehem (Rth 2:4).
Q: Where did Solomon come from?
A: Gibeon (2Ch 1:13).
Q: Where did the queen of Sheba come from?
A: The uttermost parts of the earth (Mat 12:42).
Q: Where did the scribes come from?
A: Jerusalem (Mar 7:1).
Q: Where did Timothy come from?
A: Thessalonica (1Th 3:6).
And, last but not least...
Q: Where did the goat come from?
A: The west (Dan 8:5).
Inquiring minds want to know!
