Lamentations 2
Of all the things you want to say about God, that “He is like an enemy” is not one of them! But neither do I wish to ignore or “gloss over” issues in the Old Testament that may be troubling to some Christians. And when you’re writing a blog about what the Bible has to say about who God is, it seems only fair to tackle the descriptions that seem “bad” right along with the “good” ones.
Jeremiah 51
To the Hebrew mind, the sea was associated with evil. In Isaiah 57, Isaiah wrote that the wicked were like the sea. In Psalm 89, the psalmist wrote that the raging sea was akin to the opponents of the Lord. In Revelation, the sea is pictured as the birthplace of the Satanic beast (Rev 13) and the place of the dead (Rev 20). No wonder, when John pictured the earth made new, he wrote that the sea had disappeared (Rev 21).
Jeremiah 19
This chapter of Jeremiah has quite a tone of finality about it. It seems God has reached the end of His rope, and there is nothing ahead for Israel except doom and gloom. Thus, God tells Jeremiah to go back to the potter and buy a clay pot that he can then smash in a dramatic, prophetic display.
Isaiah 34
Whoa, scary chapter! No wonder lots of people read the Bible (especially the Old Testament) and get the idea that God—while He may graciously be biding His time—is out to “get us” in the end. In fact, this chapter is so scary that it (and lots of other chapters in Isaiah) got completely cut out of the Revised Common Lectionary, used by many (if not most) mainline Protestant churches. If you attend such a church, that means you will never hear this chapter of the Bible read in worship. Ever.
Isaiah 27
The title of today’s blog post seemed like a no-brainer. After all, how many Bible passages are (1) spoken directly by God, and (2) spoken so clearly? “On that day sing about a desirable vineyard: I, Yahweh, watch over it; I water it regularly. I guard it night and day so that no one disturbs it. I am not angry, but if it produces thorns and briers for Me, I will fight against it, trample it, and burn it to the ground. Or let it take hold of My strength; let it make peace with Me—make peace with Me.” (vs 2-5)
Isaiah 12
The first verse of this chapter can take on different meanings, depending on which translation you read. I like this one: “At that time you will say, ‘I thank you, Lord! You were angry with me, but you stopped being angry and gave me comfort.’” (CEV) Many versions render the verse this way; the others add a word that isn’t in the original: though. In those translations, the worshiper says, God, I will praise you, because even though you were angry with me, you aren’t angry anymore.
Psalm 140
Fire and brimstone. We hear quite a bit of that from the Christian pulpit these days, and we find it (or at least a request for it) in this psalm, too: “Those who surround me proudly rear their heads; may the mischief of their lips engulf them. May burning coals fall on them; may they be thrown into the fire.” (vs 9-10)
2 Chronicles 15
In some ways, I wanted to title this blog God is not a stalker. But, I guess I do believe that God is a stalker—in the sense that He will pursue us, leaving no stone unturned in winning us back to Him. But, if we ultimately want to have nothing to do with Him, He will eventually leave us alone.I love it whenever I see plain talk in Scripture. And today, this is the message about God I found in 2 Chronicles 15: "The Spirit of God came on Azariah son of Oded. He went out to meet Asa and said to him, 'Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.'" (vs 1-2)
1 Chronicles 10
Well, we made it through the genealogies. Now on to something a bit easier—or so I thought. As someone who is educated in the principles of journalism, I have to say that I encountered a bit of a problem in chapter 10 regarding the death of Saul. There are two seemingly-different accounts of his death within a few paragraphs of each other!
EXODUS 11
Let’s face it. This chapter is problematic for God. On the surface, it doesn’t make Him look very good, does it? What can you say about a God that goes around killing children? (Oh, I wish I had a little more time to write about death today, but I’m sure it will come in time. It’s a large Bible... )
In the past, I have hea
