Guilty as charged
2Kings 17: In the end, God spoke a final No to Israel and turned his back on them.
Second Kings 17 is a long chapter that burdens the reader with a heavier and heavier weight of despair and condemnation as its read. These are painful words: “God was fed up” – “God had had enough,” – “God spoke a final ‘No’.” There’s the feeling of hearing a guilty verdict read in a courtroom. The evidence for conviction is overwhelming and the conclusion is obvious. God’s only choice is to turn his back and to declare “no” to them and their sin as they’ve declared “no” to him. Reading this chapter not only condemns the people of ancient Israel and justifies God in his abandonment of them, but it also frightens me. How far can a nation push God? How many of his blessings can it forget? How many of his Laws can it break before the Almighty is fed up? My nation is foolishly testing the patience of God right now. Second Kings 17 is not before us as just some dusty old history lesson. It’s a warning that we’d better heed.
Take Away: If we say “no” often enough, the Lord will take us at our word.
Tag: sin
Devotional on Job
B-B’s and Battleships
Job 7: Even suppose I’d sinned — how would that hurt you?
In this passage Job wonders why it is that God is so serious about sin in the first place. He has a hard time understanding how a puny man’s sins can impact the Almighty. Now that’s an interesting question! If God is merely sitting on his throne making up rules for me to follow this argument has some merit. Job, though, underestimates the relational intimacy the Lord wants to have with us. He doesn’t want to be far above me, looking down from heavenly realms, keeping his distance. Rather, he wants to live in me and through me. When he created me, he made me in his own image. Now, even though that image is marred, there remains something of God in me. If this is true, and the Lord has connected me to his life then my sin will touch him in a direct way. Sin not only destroys my relationship with God but it actually wounds him. Now, I don’t intend to be too hard on Job at this point. After all, I have one big advantage Job doesn’t have. I can turn to the New Testament Gospels and watch God being touched by sin as Jesus hangs on a cross. For God our sin is more than our firing B-B’s at a Battleship and it’s more than an academic issue.
Take Away: Because the Lord connects us directly to his life, we actually have the ability to cause him pain or bring him pleasure.