Our God comes and will not be silent; a fire devours before him and around him a tempest rages. (Ps 50:2)
I am continually amazed at how dramatically the Bible portrays God’s wrath and the judgment to come. I have the sense that most Christians today tend to focus on the loving side of his character. Certainly that’s the most popular image of God in the broader culture. But if love is all we know of God, what sense can we make of a verse like this one? “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Heb 10:31 ESV) We cannot fully appreciate who God is without holding in our minds at once both his wrath and his love. In his wrath we are due his judgment, but in his love he has provided a way of salvation through the sacrifice of his Son. He is a God of both justice and of mercy. When I meditate on this, I can now better appreciate his patience. Knowing of his wrath, I am amazed that he delays the day of judgment. But knowing his love, I understand why he does. Thank you, Lord, for your mercy.
Showing posts with label judgment of God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label judgment of God. Show all posts
Friday, October 22, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
Deadly Pride
They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God who had control over those plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him. (Rev 16:9)
At the very end of the tribulation God sends the “seven bowl judgments,” seven plagues that afflict everyone on earth who worshiped the beast. Even though they know that these plagues are sent by God to afflict his enemies, astonishingly they refuse to repent and glorify God. Their hearts are truly hard and they are captive to their own pride. Maybe some of the very people I know today will be among their number. And there are many others who may not live to see that day and yet God knows their hearts. He knows they are just as stubborn and prideful as these who would endure the seven bowl judgments without repenting. The condemnation and punishment of such men is truly just. They have surely chosen their own fate. They would only deal with God on their own terms, and so he will deal with them on his.
At the very end of the tribulation God sends the “seven bowl judgments,” seven plagues that afflict everyone on earth who worshiped the beast. Even though they know that these plagues are sent by God to afflict his enemies, astonishingly they refuse to repent and glorify God. Their hearts are truly hard and they are captive to their own pride. Maybe some of the very people I know today will be among their number. And there are many others who may not live to see that day and yet God knows their hearts. He knows they are just as stubborn and prideful as these who would endure the seven bowl judgments without repenting. The condemnation and punishment of such men is truly just. They have surely chosen their own fate. They would only deal with God on their own terms, and so he will deal with them on his.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Razing Canaan
It is not because of your righteousness or integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you…” (Deut 9:5)
Popular critics of the Bible portray the God of the Old Testament as a vicious tribal deity because he ordered the Israelites to conquer Canaan and slaughter all its inhabitants. People think God was cruel to them and unfairly favored the Israelites. But here we see the real story. The Canaanites were destroyed for their great wickedness – child sacrifice, temple prostitution, idol worship, etc. God explicitly tells the Israelites it is not because they deserve it or are holy – they themselves are a “stiff-necked people” who continually rebel against him. They only avoid the fate of Canaan because they acknowledge God as Lord and repent of their rebellion.
Popular critics of the Bible portray the God of the Old Testament as a vicious tribal deity because he ordered the Israelites to conquer Canaan and slaughter all its inhabitants. People think God was cruel to them and unfairly favored the Israelites. But here we see the real story. The Canaanites were destroyed for their great wickedness – child sacrifice, temple prostitution, idol worship, etc. God explicitly tells the Israelites it is not because they deserve it or are holy – they themselves are a “stiff-necked people” who continually rebel against him. They only avoid the fate of Canaan because they acknowledge God as Lord and repent of their rebellion.
Friday, April 16, 2010
High Stakes
Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. (Pr 24:11)
Every month this verse leaps off the page to convict me. The image is so terrible and so vivid it grabs me and forces me to stop reading. Whether it is literal or figurative doesn’t matter. It forces me to realize that every day people face physical and spiritual death. Every day there are some for whom tomorrow will be too late. I am timid, I am lazy, I am afraid, and what a horrible thing that I can passively watch fellow human beings go down to destruction. Lord, forgive me. Lord, give me the boldness, the energy and the courage to wade into the fight and not hold back, and never give up.
Every month this verse leaps off the page to convict me. The image is so terrible and so vivid it grabs me and forces me to stop reading. Whether it is literal or figurative doesn’t matter. It forces me to realize that every day people face physical and spiritual death. Every day there are some for whom tomorrow will be too late. I am timid, I am lazy, I am afraid, and what a horrible thing that I can passively watch fellow human beings go down to destruction. Lord, forgive me. Lord, give me the boldness, the energy and the courage to wade into the fight and not hold back, and never give up.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Do the Wicked Prosper?
Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power? They spend their years in prosperity and go down to the grave in peace. (Job 21:7,13)
Job’s counselors, confident of God’s justice, speak about how the wicked will be punished and the righteous blessed. But Job looks at the evidence of his eyes and says, no, the wicked often prosper, at least until death lays them low like all the rest (24:19). In a way they are both right, but they are looking at different parts of the picture. Job asks, “Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment?” (24:1) But he has. There is one time for judgment, and it is after our life on earth is complete. Job wondered that God did not judge, and his counselors imagined confidently that God judges in this life. They both failed to have God’s eternal perspective. Lord, help me to have your eternal perspective. Let me not be lulled into complacency by the apparent lack of judgment in this life. Help me to always remember that the lost people I speak with every day are bound for eternal punishment without the light of the Gospel which I can share with them.
Job’s counselors, confident of God’s justice, speak about how the wicked will be punished and the righteous blessed. But Job looks at the evidence of his eyes and says, no, the wicked often prosper, at least until death lays them low like all the rest (24:19). In a way they are both right, but they are looking at different parts of the picture. Job asks, “Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment?” (24:1) But he has. There is one time for judgment, and it is after our life on earth is complete. Job wondered that God did not judge, and his counselors imagined confidently that God judges in this life. They both failed to have God’s eternal perspective. Lord, help me to have your eternal perspective. Let me not be lulled into complacency by the apparent lack of judgment in this life. Help me to always remember that the lost people I speak with every day are bound for eternal punishment without the light of the Gospel which I can share with them.
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