Free will and accountability
Isaiah 47: You’re acting like the center of the Universe.
God Almighty hands his chosen people over to Babylon, the powerhouse of that day. His purpose is to humble Israel and bring this rebellious people back to himself. However, Babylon goes farther than God intends and now the Lord rebukes Babylon for going too far. I think there’s a case to be made here for the doctrine of free will. God gives Babylon the power and position to dominate the region. Then when Babylon behaves in cruel ways God says they’ve gone too far and that he’ll now knock them off their high horse. They think they’re the “center of the universe” but the real “Center of the Universe” is about to put them in their place. Another thing that comes to mind here is the underlying theme of God’s love. God has been stern with Israel, but it’s out of love. He’s willing to use Babylon to bring them to submission but there’s a limit to how far God wants that to go. I’m reminded of how in the book of Job that God gives Satan permission to strike Job, but in doing so the Lord also tells him that there’s a limit to how far he can go. On one hand, therefore, I see here my accountability to God as to what I say and do, even when I’m operating within the providence of God. On the other hand, I see that God loves me, and when I’m on the receiving end of hardship that he’s set boundaries, not allowing me to be tempted beyond what I can bear.
Take Away: The Lord’s discipline of us is governed by his love for us.
Tag: Job
Devotional on Lamentations
Working through grief and loss
Lamentations 1: Judah has gone into exile.
Lamentations, to me, is the book of the Bible most like Job. In Job’s story we find him in a state of misery, lamenting all that has been lost. Lamentations takes us into similar unwelcome territory. The destruction of Jerusalem isn’t a tidy event. There’s a long siege that results in starvation and a descent into barbarism of the worst sort. It’s the mildest of statements to say that things get ugly. Inhumanity and misery rule. Now, Jeremiah, still reeling from it all creates poetry in an effort to describe the remaining sense of loss and grief. While it’s true that their destruction is the result of their own sin the misery of it all is real. In Lamentations the weeping prophet takes us on a walk through the rubble of his beloved Jerusalem. He replays for us the scenes of murder and rape and loss. I confess that I’m not looking forward to spending these few days with Jeremiah. Two things come to mind as I begin this journey. First: loss is a part of the human condition. Even as Job faced it, so does Jeremiah; and so do we. Second: sometimes we’re wise to allow ourselves to embrace this unwelcome aspect of life. We tend to hurry past the bad times; to smile through our tears; to cheer up believing things will get better. It really doesn’t work that way. The route to healing may begin with our taking time to grieve — to lament — all that’s been lost. Like it or not, that’s the path we follow when we walk with the weeping prophet in the book of Lamentations.
Take Away: The route to healing may begin with our taking time to grieve.