6 Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature, a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are being abolished. 7 But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom which has been hidden, which God predestined before the ages to our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But just as it is written,
“THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD,
AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN,
ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”
10 But to us God revealed them through the Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. 1 Corinthians 2:6-10 (LSB)
I’m sure the title of this post struck some of you in a way hard to explain. When I first started this study, I could not help but think back on an investigation I did many years ago into some false teachings by a man who claimed that his ministry was based entirely “in the deep things of God.”…
That mysterious statement seemed to be used by him as a smokescreen to hide the fact that he was teaching rank heresy and that heresy was claimed by him to be coming to him as a direct revelation from God. Well, if that were true then it would indeed be “the deep things of God,” but what he was teaching was very shallow spiritually and really called for people to become submissive to him as a prophet based on one thing; he said so. This is not what the depths of God (the deeps things of God) are. Let us take a closer look.
Carefully read 1 Corinthians 2:6-10, which I placed at the top of this post. In that passage from the LSB, the word “depths” translates the Greek noun βάθη, which is the Accusative, Plural of βάθος (bathos). In this context, Paul is using a word that refers to “deep water” to make the analogy in an attempt to describe the profundities and deep-laid plans of God. We find this word in Luke 5:4 and Matthew 13:5 as well in which it is used analogously to refer to fullness, abundance and immensity. Paul used it again in Romans 11:33 to refer to “an extreme degree.”
In Matthew 13:1-9, our Lord gave us the parable of the Sower. Here this word for “depth” was used in v5 in the literal sense where “And others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil.…” However, in 1 Corinthians 2:6-10, as I stated above, this word referring to the depths of God, refers to greatness, immensity, profoundness, inscrutability, and abstruseness. We also find this word in Ephesians 3:18. Here it is in context. <Continue reading post>