If you have even a cursory knowledge of the Bible, you're probably familiar with the passage in Isaiah, chapter 55, verses 8-9:
"For My Thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are My Ways your ways", declared the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My Ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts."
On the surface, if you think about it, that actually sounds a bit pompous! I mean, while He's perfectly within His Rights to remind us that He is superior to us in every way, it's kind of tacky to point it out so bluntly, don't you think?
We have generally taken the two verses to answer the universal question, "WHY would God ever DO such a thing?", filling in whatever the inexplicable event du juor is. "Because God is smarter than us and has a better plan than we do... Because He sees the future and knows what the alternative would cause, and He's looking out for us... Because His priorities are simply different than ours..." and so on, right? Sound familiar?
All of that may also be accurate.
But that's not what God was saying.
As always, context is king. Isaiah chapter 55 begins with a description of the glorious kingdom to come - much of the last two dozen or so chapters are about the End Times, and 55 is no exception. Verses 1-5 tell "everyone who thirst, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy, and eat!" (v. 1) Your cognitive dissonance takes over at this point - "you with no money, spend money?" He now has your attention. In verse three, He invites all to join the Davidic Covenant, whether you knew Israel or not! The clearest invitation in the entire book of Isaiah is in verses 6-7: "Seek the Lord while He may be found!", and it's equally clear that this invitation is available to Gentiles as well as Jews. Not only that, it's available to sinners of all levels:
"Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." (V. 7. And you thought forgiveness was only a NT thing!)
At this point, the reader/listener is undoubtedly saying or thinking, WHY would God DO this amazing thing?
The answer is Isaiah 55:8-9.
He does not think as we do, for we are sinful, unforgiving creatures who cannot see or think on God's level. Someday, perhaps - but certainly not now.
God's mercy is so profound that the only explanation we can grasp of it is to be told that He is simply that much more elevated than we are. At least, at the time of Isaiah, there was no way for us to grasp it.
NOW, however, we have the Holy Spirit within us, Who can help to elevate us towards a Christlike view of the world and humanity. We still can't think like GOD, but we can begin to aspire to being like Him, and He can work with us, His Children, in striving towards that goal while still on earth.
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