How Do We Know? Part I

I don’t know about you, but I often find myself facing the age-old decision, dilemma rather, of whether to speak up or to remain silent.  I encounter such dilemma quite often and in many places.  At work, at church, at home, at social gatherings, among family, friends, co-workers, acquaintances, I feel as if I’m standing out on a ledge somewhere, considering, trying to decide whether to jump or to climb back inside.  In this era of political correctness, however, I tend to go the way of silence more often than not.  I choose not to jump in order to avoid a messy situation.  That silence, however, comes at a cost.  The cost I pay is deep regret and a sense of frustration due to my lack of boldness, my timidity, my failure to speak up.  The thing is that I’m just not sure.  How am I supposed to know?

As I usually do when I have serious questions to ponder, I go to the source of all wisdom.  I go to the Bible.  Ecclesiastes 3:1,7 says, “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven…”  And yes, you guessed it, there is, indeed, also “a time to be silent and a time to speak.”  As I read what others have said regarding this particular segment of Scripture, I found in the Gill’s Exposition to the Entire Bible online commentary, that there comes a time when it is our “duty to be silent, when it is an evil time.”  The Book of Amos also refers to silence where it says in chapter 5:13, “therefore, the prudent man keeps quiet in such times, for the times are evil.”  Considering all these, I find three key concepts that might unlock the dilemma:  silence, speaking and time.  Along with these concepts we also see “prudence” and “evil.” 

At the time Amos proclaimed these words which he received from the LORD of the covenant; God wanted Israel to hear of its faults, of its offenses and of its sins against Him.  The prophet was speaking the words of God to convict Israel on its many sins, one of which was their aversion for the truth.  The commentary says that “they were such inveterate enemies of honesty that they could not endure the sight of an honest man.”  That is why the prophet’s words spoke of the “prudent man” who knows when to keep quiet because they did not know how what they said might be misrepresented, so they were cautious and would say nothing in such evil times. 

I am reminded here of the words of our Lord Jesus Christ when, while at the Garden of Gethsemane, at the time of His arrest, He tells to his captors:  “But this is your hour-when darkness reigns.”(Luke 22:53)  This certainly is the hour, the time of the prince of darkness, who is loose in the world, plotting against God at every hour, at all times. 

So what are we to think of all this?  The times are evil, and we must exercise prudence and wisdom before we speak; and maybe even lean toward silence most often than not.  Like David says in Psalm 39:  “I said, I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth as long as the wicked are in my presence.”  The Word seems to be telling us that for as long as we are in the presence of evil, the best thing to do is to be silent.  Jesus himself did this.  On the night of his arrest, after they took him away from Gethsemane, He carefully chose to whom He would speak.  He spoke to Pilate, but he did not waste any words with the chief priests in the Sanhedrin or with King Herod.  On those instances, Jesus endured the offensive presence of His enemies quietly, for He sure was in the presence of evil, and He chose not to dignify it with His words. 

         

However, the fact that we live in an evil world, surrounded by darkness must not keep us muted forever, for there will be a time when we must speak.  Like when the Pharisees told Jesus to rebuke His disciples and tell them to be quiet and Jesus replied:  “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out” (Luke 19:40 NIV).  There comes a time, then, as my commentary says, when we must speak, “for the glory of God, when silence would be the betraying of a righteous cause.”