Sunday, February 3, 2008

Katrina? Tsunami? God's Judgment on Sin?

There is a discussion going on at the TM forum about the OT God. As should be expected, there are two main schools of thought...

Those who want to hang onto every word of the OT no matter what....and those who are willing to at least explore that everything in the OT does not represent the true God we see in Jesus. Following is a post I made there this morning prompted by the following remark:

The weekend of Katrina the mayor, city council, and police had approved an event called "Southern Decadence." They expected to make many millions of dollars from 100's of thousands of attendees (sorry I forgot the exact #'s.) The organizers had already done as they promised when demonstrating in Washington, D.C., perform gay sex-acts everywhere in public as much as possible. This they were promising for New Orleans.
In Thailand the Tsunami struck where there had grown up a local "thrill kill" culture. People were casually shot for sport. This I learned from someone who lives in that area.
Judgment?

In case there is any confusion...he is one who insists on hanging onto every act in the OT no matter how heinous...and actually seems to be bringing the OT into the times in which we live with his talk of judgment in New Orleans and Thailand. (Doesn't he know God "got saved" somewhere between Malachi and Matthew...totally repented of his wicked ways...or so it seems since he appears to be a completely different God) Anyone who has read anything on this blog probably knows I very much disagree with this guy and so following is my reply:

You forgot the bridge collapse this summer...remember....the bridge on Interstate 35W over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis. Surely that was God's wrath displayed against all those who cross the bridge perhaps listening to their "satanic" death metal hard rock music....or to Howard Stern (is he still on the radio?) or on those who worked on the bridge with God knows what evil habits or perversions....perhaps lusting at some woman passing by in a car.....or worse...


Perhaps Minneapolis is a particularly evil city...with those homosexuals...and people with guns shooting each other for sport (like they do in gang violence all over the nation including the small town where I live in Central Pennsylvania). That makes as much sense. Did not God chastise one of Job's miserable comforters for suggesting that Job brought his calamities on himself by wickedness?


This discussion has centered mainly on the OT...but perhaps we should move into the NT and see God, in the person of Jesus, interacting with sinners.

How about the woman caught in adultery? You know, the one to whom Jesus said in John 8:
"Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?"
She said, "No one, Lord."
And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more."
(and to my way of thinking, the whole experience and the words of Jesus EMPOWERED her to repent and change her ways. We have no way of knowing if that is what occurred but we do know he did not condemn her)


How about the woman at the well in John 4? What an unlikely missionary she was....what with that life style of hers...... ....but that is what she became when her encounter with Jesus so changed her that she hurried back to become a "missionary" to her own people. And let's acknowledge that she is no goody two shoes....which Jesus clearly illustrates when he says:
"You have well said, "I have no husband,' for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly."


This is the part where he condemns her, right? Lambastes her for having had FIVE husbands (talk about making poor choices ) and tells of the judgment to come if she does not change her ways. How could she even rectify her situation when she has committed adultery five times? So does he withdraw his offer of living water? Does he condemn her?

No.

It should be also pointed out that his disciples are dumbfounded that he is even talking to her.....a woman...a Samaritan....and to their way of thinking so damaged by her lifestyle as to not be worthy of his time which goes to show that the disciples did not get it either. They did not understand the character and nature of God that Jesus was trying to show them. Actually the followers of Jesus were so steeped in OT judgment they could not see what was as plain as the nose on their face which was clearly illustrated in the following exchange in in Luke 13....


1 There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus answered and said to them, "Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.


I think (and so do quite a few Bible commentaries) that Jesus is calling them to take a long hard look in the mirror and see the dirt on their own faces. Sort of like the lesson we are to take from the Pharisee in Luke 18 who "stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican."


And what about clueless James and John....when they came to the Samaritan village....the village that wanted no part of Jesus because he had "set his face toward Jerusalem" and would not even show him the hospitality of one night's stay....and the disciples (still influenced by the judgment they perceived in the OT) said..... Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"


And Jesus turned to them and said...."Absolutely...they are worthy of judgment....burn everything that has breath and take their gold for me"?????????????


NO......


"He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."


And so I cannot help but wonder if those who are intent on bringing an OT mind set into this day and age...and see judgment everywhere....in earthquakes and natural disasters really know what spirit they are of. I mean no disrespect to anyone who believes this way, but I think to take it upon oneself to lay blame and assign the wrath and judgment of God to modern day catastrophes is wrong. Perhaps those who are steeped in the judgments of the OT need to look squarely in the face of the expressed image of the invisible God we see in Jesus and get to know HIM...because he shows us he is not about judgment or wrath. In him we clearly see that it is the kindness of God that leads men to repentance. The Amplified renders Romans 2:4 this way:


Or are you [so blind as to] trifle with and presume upon and despise and underestimate the wealth of His kindness and forbearance and long-suffering patience? Are you unmindful or actually ignorant [of the fact] that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repent ( to change your mind and inner man to accept God's will)?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cindy, I have looked at where you guys are trying to go. I sincerely and humbly prayed about it some time back. I believe the Holy Spirit revealed two obvious road blocks that you have to overcome in your pursuit.

One, is that this life ends in physical death. Second, There is the Mystery of Iniquity. God instituted both in His purpose and plan. It's painful ...... it's humbling and I think that the point.

Our life in this world is vaporous/temporal and we are sojourners. I have seen enough of this world and have tasted much of the next. The Vaporous nature of this world is one of the great and much appreciated truths for me now. It seems to me you guys want to make this fallen world your home and are possibly afraid of physical death. That may be a wrong presumption but I think not.

I've looked into Tentmaker lately and there are some real tangents being drawn by some that strip Christ of His Divinity and make His sacrifice of none effect. In my view that place has become a real Hell hole filled with the intellectual and prideful pursuit of God and that always ends badly. Seems Jesus has become nothing but one of the boys with some over there and I believe you know of whom I am talking about.

The sovereignty of God is the hardest thing I have ever found to see and it was painfully gained. It came about during a week when God showed the very best my two children could ever find here on this earth and their end here. I learned of Abraham's sacrifice of Issac and it's needfulness in my own life with regard to my children. I speak of my spiritual laying of my two children on the altar and really giving them to God. I know He has their best interest at heart and He will accomplish it. I believe when you finally see this world and our futility it is then you begin to overcome fear and find rest in Christ.

Those are a few of my thoughts and I hope you know the sincerity and cost behind them. God bless,

Jack

PS. One day soon I hope to write a blog post where I can take more space to elaborate on what I have seen and what I have experienced with regard to the "two God's of the Bible" dilemma.

Cindi said...

Hi, Jack...
I'm not sure where to begin to answer your comments. First of all, I just want to say that your comments are welcome here...and even though your point of view differs from mine in many ways I would never deny you the opportunity to voice it. I am flattered that you read at my blog...seeing that we are often not on the same page. But anyway...to address a few of the points that you made....

Jack said:
One, is that this life ends in physical death.

and

Our life in this world is vaporous/temporal and we are sojourners. I have seen enough of this world and have tasted much of the next. The Vaporous nature of this world is one of the great and much appreciated truths for me now. It seems to me you guys want to make this fallen world your home and are possibly afraid of physical death. That may be a wrong presumption but I think not.

Cindi says:
Yes...that is true. We all die. And it's absolutely true....I don't like the thought of dying. I am afraid of dying. I love life here and now on this planet and do not look at it as the old hymn goes....one more valley....one more mile....doing my time till I am finally out of here--suffering as I go. I see this life as a gift and I am in no hurry to leave it.

Jack went on to say:
I've looked into Tentmaker lately and there are some real tangents being drawn by some that strip Christ of His Divinity and make His sacrifice of none effect. In my view that place has become a real Hell hole filled with the intellectual and prideful pursuit of God and that always ends badly. Seems Jesus has become nothing but one of the boys with some over there and I believe you know of whom I am talking about.

Cindi says:
I have only recently delved into posting at TM. I picked an avatar the other day...signaling, I suppose the fact that I am going to post there on a more regular basis for a while. I do not look at Christ as "one of the boys" and although I probably see his sacrifice in a different way than you do, I definitely do not see it as of none affect. In fact, it is the belief that Jesus is the expressed image of the invisible God...God with skin on as some say...that makes it impossible for me to reconcile many of the acts of the OT God with what I see in Jesus. That was the point of this post. So since if we have seen Jesus we have seen the Father, I don't know how you can reconcile the two. Perhaps you can...but I cannot. You might want to read the post I made today...just an edited version of something I posted on TM where I acknowledge that God....being the life giver, death destroyer. creator of all does hold life and death in his hands. He alone has the right to take a life....which is my concern over much of the OT. It is a whole different arena to acknowledge that God drowned Pharoah's army than to believe that he commanded the atrocities against all the "ites" in the Promiced Land. (Especially since there are verses where he tells the Children of Israel that he will fight for them and send the hornet before them to drive their enemies out of the land little by little...not with their sword or their bow. By the way the word translated as "hornet" means in the original language...hornet. If you go back to the root word it implies pestilance or natural disasters. There are other "conquests" which were handled non violently by the Lord himself....thinking of the jehosaphat incident and several others I am going to do more research on...and other things that I cannot go into in the scope of a comment. This is way too long already) I think, also, that there are enough verses in the OT where God declares he does not desire sacrifice, (Isaiah 66, Jeremiah 7, Psalm 50, Psalm 40, Isaiah 1) that, in fact, he abhors it that should make one pause to ponder if it really means that he was just ticked because they did not sacrifice with the right heart/frame of mind or if he really truly means what he says when he declares "For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices"

Jack said:
The sovereignty of God is the hardest thing I have ever found to see and it was painfully gained. It came about during a week when God showed the very best my two children could ever find here on this earth and their end here. I learned of Abraham's sacrifice of Issac and it's needfulness in my own life with regard to my children. I speak of my spiritual laying of my two children on the altar and really giving them to God. I know He has their best interest at heart and He will accomplish it. I believe when you finally see this world and our futility it is then you begin to overcome fear and find rest in Christ.

Cindi says:
But in the story of Isaac and Abraham it was not a spiritual laying of Isaac on the altar. He was prepared to kill him--lifted the knife to slay him. I truly cannot believe that God calls us to break his laws. Thou shalt not kill...take thee thy son, thy only son...and sacrifice him to me. I agree that Abraham heard a voice telling him to sacrifice Isaac. Child sacrifice was a part of that culture and I think he was influenced by that. Did he hear satan? Did he hear his carnal nature? I'm not sure but I don't believe he heard the voice of the true God...and in fact, it was the true God who stopped him. And I find it a distressing possibilty that people like Andrea Yates might somehow construe that they hear the voice of God telling them to sacrifice their children...because afterall, it is right there in scripture.

And about sovereignty....well, you know that is a subject we will never see eye to eye on until one of us gets further revelation. Don't forget...I live with Keith. We have had many, many, many discussions about it. I believed it in the beginning but I found more problems with it than it solved. I understand it, I can argue from that perspective..but I don't believe that is the way God deals with us.

No offense is meant in anything I've written here. And when you get that blog post done, let me know.

Cindi....

Anonymous said...

Cindi, I truly did enjoy your latest post this morning and please don't believe I think of you as one at Tentmaker that eschews the Deity of Christ. That is step some others have taken. I believe that to be the worst of poison and proves to me a lack of relationship with the God I know.

I believe Abraham's call to sacrifice his child was as Divine as mine. I believe Abraham heard from God, but possibly in the surroundings of another dispensational realm where God dealt with mankind on a different level. I might even think these that went before us as an example were martyrs (martyr means witness), both the chosen and the enemies of the chosen. They played their roles perfectly in the purposed perfection of all mankind into the corporate image of Christ.

Please know also that I do have joy here on earth. I have however tasted enough of the next realm that should He call me soon it would be pretty cool. What's a few years when they're vaporous anyway. lol

As I said it is called "the Mystery of Iniquity" that plays such a great role in this cosmos and try as you and I might we will always be left with questions as to the whys of God's terrible workings on earth.

Yes, I will surely let you know when I feel free to share on my blog what I believe God is showing me in relation to some of the points we discuss.

For me I see God as sovereign and full of love. Because of His sovereignty and His love I can surrender all and rest knowing the outcome will be glorious.

I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Romans 8:18

After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. 1Peter5:10

Be blessed Cindi and thanks for being a gracious host to my thoughts.

Jack

PS Just thought to ask what you think of our "sojourner status" on this earth? I think that might important to our differences.

Cindi said...

Jack said:
Just thought to ask what you think of our "sojourner status" on this earth? I think that might be important to our differences.


Cindi says:
I wrote a post to answer this question..."Why Are We Here?" Actually, I used an email annie sent me a couple years ago when I was really trying to search some of this stuff out and was really, really conflicted as far as total determinism and "free" will.

I do see both in the scriptures...I am not denying that there are verses that declare...or at least seem to declare...that God has predetermined everything. There are just as many verses that declare we have the ability to choose (and I am not refering to a psuedo choice...but rather a real one) I told Keith that I thought the quaratine thing could work for a view of total determinism too..just like it works from a free will perspective. Nothing that happens here can infect eternity. So could God send us here as a sort of intensive study program where everything is planned down to the nth degree to teach us what it is we have to know in the shortest amount of time possible with no wasted pain or suffering? That makes sense...but for me it makes me question God's integrity. He says he does not lie...but for total determinism to work, sometimes he does lie.

Cindi said...

Continued...somehow the above comment got posted...so I will just proceed from here.

There are other objections that I have about total determinism. One of which is that to me that message is one of futility. Que sera, sera. TO ME it is seems futile and hopeless. I know that it is a comfort and an anchor to those who believe in it. It just does not add up for me. I tend to believe more along the lines of annie's view which she sums up nicely in the following statement which is also in the post:


i believe that in our previous state, there was no true choosing. in order for us to have true self-governance, to truly be of the same substance, nature, will - we had to go through this life experience, this time of separation - near enough that we're never forsaken, but with enough distance between us that we can actually choose - kind of like getting far enough away from the magnetic pull of the earth that one is no longer bound by the law of gravity.


I know you see things from an entirely different perspective. But that is my answer given vicariously through annie's words :) You are more than welcome to post your answer to the "why are we here?" question in this thread of comments.

Blessings to you...
Cindi.....

Anonymous said...

dear cindy, just so you know, your blogs are very very interesting.

first of all, i agree with jack. i sincerely believe that Abraham heard from God to sacrifice his child. We may not know the reason why God asked abraham to do so, but i believe that it was to test the obedience of abraham. You see, i come with a different point of view. For God to truly know Abraham's loyalty to Him, God had to see if abraham was willing to sacrifice that which was important to Him.

Secondly, the reason why i believe abraham did indeed, hear from God.
In the bible, there were 4 men that were mentioned to have "walked with God", Elijah, Noah, Enoch and Abraham. This goes to show that abraham was a man who was very very close to God. For someone to have been so close to God, i believe that he was a man who was sensitive to the voice of God.

Cindi said...

Anonymous said...
dear cindy, just so you know, your blogs are very very interesting.

Cindi:
Thank you, I very much appreciate that.

Anon said:
first of all, i agree with jack. i sincerely believe that Abraham heard from God to sacrifice his child. We may not know the reason why God asked abraham to do so, but i believe that it was to test the obedience of abraham. You see, i come with a different point of view. For God to truly know Abraham's loyalty to Him, God had to see if abraham was willing to sacrifice that which was important to Him.

Cindi:
I'm pretty sure Jack would disagree with the part that God didn't know if Abraham would pass the test or not but there is definitely scripture to support your point of view...God says something along the lines of "now I know" which would seem disingenuous if he did in fact know ahead of time.

Anon:
Secondly, the reason why i believe abraham did indeed, hear from God.
In the bible, there were 4 men that were mentioned to have "walked with God", Elijah, Noah, Enoch and Abraham. This goes to show that abraham was a man who was very very close to God. For someone to have been so close to God, i believe that he was a man who was sensitive to the voice of God.

Cindi:
Actually, I read a really good article about the binding of Isaac that kind of takes a more detailed look at that view. Did you read the post called "The Binding of Isaac- Traditional View" here on my blog. In it there is a link to the article about Isaac and Abraham on a site called (I think) The Christian Think Tank. You might enjoy reading it. Thanks very much for your comments and for stopping by. And thanks for the kind words. I try to keep it interesting and don't always just post my point of view but research I do to try to actually come up with a point of view.

Cindi....