GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 13:27
I Don’t Know
I faced a major hurdle in 1976. I scheduled my preliminary doctoral examinations for that spring. Up until that time, I was a doctoral student. If I passed the examinations, I would become a doctoral candidate and be allowed to continue the program. I would face five professors, each of whom I had taken several classes with, and Dr. David Conrad, my mentor and the chairman of my program. Dr. Conrad called a meeting of the examination panel and asked them to tell me what types of questions I could face. Each member explained what he expected. Dr. Lon Shelby, the Medieval History professor, said, “Claude, I will not ask you any question outside the social, intellectual, and political history of the Middle Ages.” Gee, thanks, I thought.
After everyone left the meeting, Dr. Conrad and I reviewed what each committee member had said. Then he said, “Claude, if someone asks you a question you don’t know the answer to, don’t be afraid to say, ‘I don’t know.’ They will know if you are stalling or faking it.”
There was a time when I was fascinated by biblical prophecy. I had many of the major books and charts on that fascinating subject. Then I realized that none of the writers I studied agreed on the details. Each writer had a different interpretation. So, one day I thought, “I don’t know,” and gave away all my books and charts. An example of the mystery of prophecy is Jesus’ lesson to his disciples: “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the heavens and the powers which are in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with much power and glory. And then he will send his angels, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth and until the end of heaven.” (Mark 13:24-27)
Even Matthew, who was in Jesus’ audience that day, records additional information about this lesson. So I don’t know. I don’t know the time, the circumstances, or the precise interpretation of Jesus’ language. The one truth that everyone agrees on, however, is that the Father remembers “His elect.” In the midst of turmoil like what Jesus described, the Father remembers “His elect.” In the midst of my personal turmoil, the Father remembers “His elect.” That, I know.
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