According to Wikipedia, “”Quizás, quizás, quizás”, sometimes known simply as “Quizás”…is a popular song by the Cuban songwriter Osvaldo Farrés.”[1] Translated to English, the song title is “Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps” and the song has been covered by many artists over the years in both English and Spanish since it originally became a Spanish hit in 1947. The artists covering it are diverse, from Doris Day to Cake. The song is about someone trying to figure out whether someone else loves them, but they only answer “perhaps, perhaps, perhaps,” leaving the person perpetually wondering. Being in such a position can be frustrating, but sometimes we can do no better, as the song suggests. And when we can do no better, maybe we should stop trying.
What’s this doing on a Christian blog? Well, in a lot of sermons, discussions, and elsewhere, we can find many instances of “perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.” Or “maybe.” Or “most likely.” I see it regularly when I read study Bible notes. I also find that if I’m not careful, I take something that is “perhaps” true and treat it as Gospel truth. I base a doctrine on it. I base an action on it. I build more “perhaps” thoughts around it. One unlikely thing grows into more even less likely things.
The temptation to do this comes up more often when reading passages of the Bible we don’t understand. For example, in Numbers 29, there is a long list of daily offerings to be made during the Feast of Booths. There are sacrifices of bulls, rams, and lambs. The number of rams and lambs doesn’t change over the 7 days of the Feast, but the number of bulls decreases by one each day until it gets to 7. Why? The Bible doesn’t tell us, but that doesn’t mean people don’t have theories. In such situations, I think the best approach comes from John Calvin in his commentaries: “why the distribution was so unequal, I confess, is not clear to me, and it is better to confess my ignorance than by too subtle speculations to vanish into mere smoke.”
How to avoid speculation? Consider these two quotes from each end of the Scriptures:
Deuteronomy 12:32 – “Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it.”
Revelation 22:18-19 – “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.”
While the first is referring specifically to the law and the second to the prophecy of the book of Revelation, the principle is consistent: don’t add to God’s words or take away from God’s words. Anything he wanted to say, He would have said it, and anything He said He wants us to take seriously. Beyond God’s own words, I find “it is better to confess my ignorance than by too subtle speculations to vanish into mere smoke.”
The song “Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps” ends without a resolution. The singer still doesn’t know the other person’s feelings toward them. Likewise, there are a lot of unresolved, unexplained things in the Bible, but unlike the song that doesn’t mean we don’t know that God loves us. God has given us everything we need to know, but He also doesn’t expect us to understand everything.
Therefore, don’t be afraid to say, “I don’t know.” Don’t be overly concerned if you can’t explain everything in the Bible. This doesn’t mean to just give up and stop trying to wrestle with God’s word, but to insist on answers sometimes can lead us to conclusions we should have never jumped to. When we read or hear “perhaps” or “maybe,” realize we just might be on shaky ground. The Bible doesn’t exist to satisfy all of our intellectual curiosity, but it does exist to point us to our Lord and Savior. When I cling tightly to what I do know about God, what doesn’t come with a “perhaps,” I find everything I need to trust God, yet also everything I need to know that I am far from perfect and have plenty of work to do. Perhaps I should focus on that.
“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” – Deuteronomy 29:29
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quiz%C3%A1s%2C_Quiz%C3%A1s%2C_Quiz%C3%A1s
