Secret Things
Copyright © January 2, 2024 by Robert Wayne Atkins, P.E.
All Rights Reserved.
What are Secret Things?
In the Holy Bible the book of Deuteronomy mentions secret things:
Deuteronomy 29:29 - King James Version:
29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God:
but those things that are revealed belong to us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.
There are some "secret things" that God has not clearly explained to us. For example, the Holy Bible tells us that God created the sun, the moon, and the stars but God does not tell us exactly how He made these things. Therefore each one of us has the option to simply accept that God created these things. Or we can develop elaborate complicated theories and firmly proclaim that we know exactly how the sun, the moon, and the stars were created. As an engineer and as a scientist I am 100% content to simply accept the fact that God made the sun, the moon, and the stars. And I cannot personally accept any of the elaborate theories of the creation of the universe because all of those theories contain significant errors that can be easily documented by anyone who has ordinary common sense and whose primary objective is to not contradict the Holy Bible using wild and preposterous theories.
That's all I wish to say about "secret things."
The rest of this article will discuss a few of the things that God has revealed to us and which are easy to understand.
Discussion
The year 2024 may become a significant milestone in the history of the world.
For example, not too long ago World War I and World War II seriously damaged many of the nations in the northern hemisphere.
And the Great Depression of the 1930s impacted most of the nations all around the world. Prosperous countries were devastated and poor countries became even poorer.
At the beginning of the year 2024 it appears to me that the entire world is at a very important crossroad.
- We can continue to follow the broad road that we are currently on and we will continue to spiral further and further down into depravity and misery.
- However, if enough of us decide to follow the narrow road then there is a very good chance that God will forgive us and bless us and God will answer our prayers. And God will restrain the evil demons that are destroying our world. And God will allow honest and righteous people to once again assume leadership positions where they can overturn the wicked laws that have been passed and our world can once again head in the right direction.
The single most important issue that confronts the entire world at the beginning of the year 2024 is the answer to one simple question: What is the right road?
The Holy Bible is very clear on this issue. Obeying God is the right road. Ignoring God is the wrong road.
The Holy Bible also very clearly explains the benefits of obeying God in the book of Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy 30:8-11 - King James Version:
8 And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the LORD; and do all his commandments which I command thee this day.
9 And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers.
10 If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statues which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.
11 For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.
The Holy Bible very clearly tells us how God expects us to live in harmony with one another.
One very simple set of God's rules are the Ten Commandments as documented in Exodus 20:3-17 and again in Deuteronomy 5:7-21.
Most middle aged and older people have heard about the Ten Commandments sometime during their lives.
Unfortunately, many younger people have never even heard that there is such as thing as the "Ten Commandments."
Deuteronomy 5:7-21 - King James Version:
7 Thou shalt have none other gods before me.
8 Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth:
9 Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me,
10 And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.
11 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
12 Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee.
13 Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work:
14 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.
15 And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore, the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.
16 Honour thy father and mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
17 Thou shalt not kill.
18 Neither shalt thou commit adultery.
19 Neither shalt thou steal.
20 Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbor.
21 Neither shalt thou desire the neighbor's wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbor's house, his field, his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbor's.
If we would do the above then we would have the opportunity to live in a peaceful prosperous society with equal opportunities for everyone and with equal punishments for anyone who did evil.
However, each one of us is only responsible for our own behavior. When each one of us stands before God on judgment day, we will individually answer directly to God for our behavior while we were alive here on this earth. Although every one of us will ask God to please forgive us for our failures, how many of us will be able to say that we honestly tried to obey God's Ten Commandments? How many of us will say that we did not agree with one or more of the Ten Commandments and therefore it was okay for us to disregard the ones we didn't like.
Conclusion
If our world continues down the broad road then the year 2024 may become the worst year in the history of our world for the past 100 years. The year 2024 may devastate the entire world far worse than World War II did.
In the year 2024 a World War may not be necessary to push mankind from a worldwide depression into a new dark age. The economic and infrastructure systems of our world may simply collapse and people everywhere may start fighting and killing one another in a desperate effort to just survive one more day.
Deuteronomy 31:29 - King James Version:
29 For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you, and evil will befall you in the latter days, because ye will do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands.
However, if enough of us will commit our lives and our eternal future to the God of the Holy Bible, then the year 2024 may become the turning point where honesty and integrity once again have tangible value in our daily lives and not just in our speech.
May God Bless,
Grandpappy.
Footnote: In this article I intentionally decided to only quote the Old Testament in the Holy Bible, and I intentionally decided to only quote Deuteronomy which is the fifth book of Moses. Therefore this article should be acceptable to Christians and to Jews. And I only quoted the King James English translation of the Holy Bible that was originally published in the year 1611 in order to minimize arguments among Christians of different denominations.
Grandpappy's e-mail address is: RobertWayneAtkins@hotmail.com