Do I indeed derive any pleasure from the death of the wicked?
says the Lord GOD.
Do I not rather rejoice when he turns from his evil way
that he may live?
The passage above is followed by an rhetorical question,
"You say, “The LORD’s way is not fair!” Hear now, house of Israel: Is it my way that is unfair, or rather, are not your ways unfair?
Our life with the Lord, as described in the Old Testament, is an endless quarrel which we must lose. We engage in this tiresome debate with furious energy for our objections come from some deep, rebellious place within our hearts. Superficially we might wish it were not so, for resistance is not only futile; it's fatal. And yet we quarrel.
Part of our resistance is the refusal to believe in ourselves. We know we're vessels of clay and insist we will shatter under the burden of obedience. We suppose the wine of grace is molten gold and, though we might hold a small amount of such dense fluid we cannot possibly be filled to the brim! It's just too much.
In fact we have tried to be obedient to overbearing human masters and found them unbearable. When we offered cooperation and compliance to our pharaohs they demanded love and loyalty. But, try as we might, we could not love them with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. They did not deserve it and proved themselves unworthy of it.
So when the LORD demands complete devotion something within our hearts says, "We've been to Egypt! We've done that! And have the scars to prove it!"
When the LORD delivered the Hebrews, our spiritual ancestors, from Egypt they supposed that he was just another god. YHWH was certainly more powerful, more generous, and more resourceful; but also too demanding. They would hide their souls in outward compliance until they could shake off his domination and be free to do as they pleased.
Sure, they were helpless in the desert, and needed God's help at the time. But they'd get through it to a promised land and then do as they pleased. That would be heaven!
They could not suppose that obedience to the LORD is freedom. The generosity they should give to one another looked and felt like a pleasant form of connivance. It never comes without strings attached. You scratch my back; I'll scratch yours. Isn't that how it works?
The Lord of Moses and Jesus is not simply another god. He is just and merciful for he is Justice and Mercy and Truth. We find ourselves, if we do, in His Truth. There is no corruption in the Lord, no wickedness and no wrongdoing.
The wicked have no place with him for they would fashion their own truth, a "reality" which is entirely fictitious, arbitrary, and as fragile as an earthen vessel. Their reality cannot bear even the wine of grace. It shatters under molten gold.
God's people will learn to love justice; they will delight in mercy. That is our truth; there is boundless freedom under his sovereign rule.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.