For your Maker is your husband – the Lord Almighty is his name – the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth. Isaiah 54:5
Some believe Christians made up the idea of God to explain things they don’t understand or simply to believe in something beyond themselves. However if human beings were going to create a god they would have made him lenient, indulgent and benign. A god who would let them do whatever they wanted with few consequences. This isn’t the God we find in the Bible. Though he is rich in mercy and grace, there are consequences to our actions. We reap what we sow. Though he loves us greatly, he does not indulge our wimps or overlook our faults.
The truth is the God of the Bible isn’t what we want him to be. The God we find in the Bible is more holy and righteous than we could ever have imagined. He is wiser and more insightful than we could comprehend. He is far too involved in our lives yet loves us more than we have ever experienced. How could we have made that up?
Sometimes though, we do find ourselves believing caricatures of God, clinging to distortions because they make us feel comfortable. For example, if life appears to be falling apart, it’s easier to believe God is disinterested than to believe he’s deeply concerned but seemingly doing nothing. It’s easier to believe God is powerless in the face of suffering than to grapple with his apparent absences.
However, God won’t change to fit our ideas so we need a Biblically accurate picture of what God is really like. A picture that includes not only his mercy and love but also his immense holiness and ultimate Sovereignty.
a difficult reality to grapple with as i read through the OT right now. for some reason the brutality of god commanding israel to kill everyone and level everything is definitely not the picture of god i have or want. yet it is there all the same.
although i do have to say that allowing myself to be uncomfortable and even disgusted at some of the charcteristics of god and wonder “why is he like this? why is he asking this?” has helped me to understand Job more clearly than ever before!
a difficult reality to grapple with as i read through the OT right now. for some reason the brutality of god commanding israel to kill everyone and level everything is definitely not the picture of god i have or want. yet it is there all the same.
although i do have to say that allowing myself to be uncomfortable and even disgusted at some of the charcteristics of god and wonder “why is he like this? why is he asking this?” has helped me to understand Job more clearly than ever before!
One of the things that comes out of Jon’s descritption of God telling Jashua to kill everyone, even the children, is very one sided. Maybe God sent someone to them saying, “Allow my children a place to live.” Then they blasphemed Him instead. That is a side we do not see. We just see the side of the story that we see.
But I agree. Our made up God would allow us to do what we wanted and it would be OK. Why, because it is what humans have always wanted.
One of the things that comes out of Jon’s descritption of God telling Jashua to kill everyone, even the children, is very one sided. Maybe God sent someone to them saying, “Allow my children a place to live.” Then they blasphemed Him instead. That is a side we do not see. We just see the side of the story that we see.
But I agree. Our made up God would allow us to do what we wanted and it would be OK. Why, because it is what humans have always wanted.
the brutality of god commanding israel to kill everyone and level everything
Hmm, I’m thinking maybe this has got to do with His immense holiness? Trying to keep His people from merging with other nations/idols.
In the book Hind’s Feet on High Places, God’s love is described as “beautiful but it is also terrible – terrible in its determination to allow nothing blemished or unworthy to remain in the beloved.”
the brutality of god commanding israel to kill everyone and level everything
Hmm, I’m thinking maybe this has got to do with His immense holiness? Trying to keep His people from merging with other nations/idols.
In the book Hind’s Feet on High Places, God’s love is described as “beautiful but it is also terrible – terrible in its determination to allow nothing blemished or unworthy to remain in the beloved.”