Most would say “Yes, of course God is smart. What a stupid question!” And yet many of the same people live as though God is not very smart. How so? By treating His Word as though it is nothing special.
Some imply that God is not very smart by not bothering to read His Word. If we really believed that God was the epitome of wisdom and intelligence, would we not search His Word for guidance more than we do? Do we think we are wise enough and don’t need any more wisdom? If not, then why don’t we read and study His Word? Do we think we know all that the Bible could possibly tell us? If not, then why don’t we read it more? Maybe we don’t think He is that smart after all.
Some imply that God is not very smart by not obeying His commandments. If God is so smart, then why don’t we do what He says to do? Why do we do our own thing? If we thought God was so smart, wouldn’t we be eager to follow His instructions?
Some imply that God is not very smart by the way they relegate His Word to first century relevance. Is God smart enough to write a book that is relevant for all time? Or is His Word imprisoned in first century culture and modes of thinking, making it irrelevant for us today and incapable of solving the problems of 21st century man? Have we become too “sophisticated” for the Word of God? Have we “evolved” too far? When God wrote the Bible (using human authors, of course), did He not realize and foresee how “sophisticated” we would become in the 21st century? Think about it. If we treat the Bible as though it is time-locked and culture bound, aren’t we suggesting that God wasn’t smart enough to write scriptures that would be relevant to us? Aren’t we making a commentary on the intelligence of God when we look condescendingly on biblical morality and think we have “evolved” a superior and enlightened ethic – as is frequently the case with respect to sexual practices? How smart do we really think God is?