Have you ever struggled with God's orders to exterminate the people who inhabited The Promised Land before the Israelites? Chapter upon chapter chronicles (pun intended) the destruction of pagan nations. Many modern atheists and liberals have objected to this "barbarism." They raise the same objection written above. "It's not loving. That's cruel." My reply? It's justice. Get over it. So you're going to elevate your mind above the Mind of God and make moral judgements about Him? How dare you be so arrogant! Your finite mind would be annihilated by the vastness of God's knowledge, wisdom, love, and justice.
See, our problem is that we are trying to fit God into our little framework of "fair." God is not bound by human convention or foolishness. You know what He IS bound by? Himself. He is perfectly holy and righteous. That is basic to who He is and He cannot deny His own nature. God's holiness defines morality. We have rebelled against and offended this holy God who defines morality by His very essence. His justice then becomes manifest. His just nature demands a sufficient restitution. What is the proper punishment for offending an eternal God? Eternal punishment of course. Now, the fact that we aren't all burning in hell this very instant is a testament to God's immeasurable grace. But when He decides to withhold His grace and do what is just, we criticize Him for it? God forbid! He giveth and He taketh away. When God decides to righteously bring judgement upon an entire nation, no man can raise objection.
I like to explain our understanding of God in this way. Imagine a small cube. Now, envision a massive vortex spiraling to a single point within the cube. That cube is our finite minds. God has revealed an accurate but condensed version of Himself to us. That is the single point within our minds. The vortex begins to spread from that point, but quickly passes out of our comprehension. That is our understanding of something greater, beyond our comprehension. It is the surety of the entire massive vortex that exists entirely outside of the small cube, that is, God's infinite attributes we can only trust rather than understand.
Another interesting point, is the parallels between the journey of Israel and the journey of the Church. You remember the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness? Perhaps you would consider them sojourners? Exactly. The Bible tell us that we are sojourners in this world. The Israelites were sojourners in the wilderness just as we are sojourners on this earth. When the Israelites entered the Promised Land, the land was purged. This directly parallels God' judgement and purging on the last day. Then, the Israelites' entrance into the Promised Land is a fulfillment of God's promises that directly parallels our entrance into Paradise. Clearly, in the midst of God' righteous bloodshed, there was an even bigger picture plan in store. We can take comfort in the wisdom of our God to plan and the justice of our God to judge.
God Bless,
Stanley
No comments:
Post a Comment