Getting Job-ed
This article will be a different format than the other articles, but keep in mind this is a multi-part discussion. We’ll start by a listing of Bible verses/sections to lead us down the logic trail and we’ll explain each one. This will be a lengthy article. Please read them, they’re extremely important for this discussion. If we can begin to understand where Scripture is coming from on the topic it will make the discussion much easier. This discussion may make some feel uncomfortable or uneasy; this is a difficult topic. But as we’ve discussed before, what authority do you submit to? What guides or holds sway over your life? The culture? Philosophy? Humanism? Existentialism? If you’re a Christian, Scripture must hold ultimate authority over your life and it is the truth in Scripture that we submit to. Ok, we start with that premise, let’s look at Scripture:
1. Deuteronomy 13:5-18 ESV
But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
“If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or the wife you embrace or your friend who is as your own soul entices you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which neither you nor your fathers have known, some of the gods of the peoples who are around you, whether near you or far off from you, from the one end of the earth to the other, you shall not yield to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him, nor shall you conceal him. But you shall kill him. Your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. You shall stone him to death with stones, because he sought to draw you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. And all Israel shall hear and fear and never again do any such wickedness as this among you.
“If you hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you to dwell there, that certain worthless fellows have gone out among you and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, then you shall inquire and make search and ask diligently. And behold, if it be true and certain that such an abomination has been done among you, you shall surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword, devoting it to destruction, all who are in it and its cattle, with the edge of the sword. You shall gather all its spoil into the midst of its open square and burn the city and all its spoil with fire, as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. It shall be a heap forever. It shall not be built again. None of the devoted things shall stick to your hand, that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of his anger and show you mercy and have compassion on you and multiply you, as he swore to your fathers, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, keeping all his commandments that I am commanding you today, and doing what is right in the sight of the Lord your God.
This is the longest passage we have to start with, and possibly the most troubling for some. Most would ask, “why would a good God command something like this?” or “this sounds like the extremist groups…” But it’s imperative to think about where we are at in Bible history.
In Deuteronomy, Moses is calling Israel to be faithful to Yahweh as they move into the Promised Land. Their unfaithfulness can make them lose the promise of being Yahweh’s chosen people. He’s calling Israel to be a ‘holy’ people- a people set apart from the rest of the world to worship the one true God. Yahweh is beginning to establish His theocracy: His rule as their King.
We don’t understand Kingly rules in our modern societies, but this concept would not have been foreign to the Israelites. God is an infinitely perfect, just, and good King. His ways cannot be scrutinized, His judgments are perfect. We see that actually the Israelites moving into the Promised Land and purging the land of the evil was actually a righteous judgment from God on those people for their rebellion against God (see Genesis 15:14-16). Think about it: what does a king do with a rebellion against his rule? In the day of kings, the rebellion would have been eliminated. And that’s an earthly, finite king- we’re talking about the infinitely holy King whose judgments are perfect. The interesting thing is that once Israel (Israel and Judah after their divide in 1 Kings-2 Kings) continuously rebels against God and turn to worship other pagan gods, Yahweh overturns the Israelite’s rule by having them conquered by Assyria and Babylon (and later Persia) as an act of judgment on their unfaithfulness. So, was this passage in Deuteronomy given to Israel based on something special from them in and of themselves? No. God choosing Israel was a sheer act of grace. Did God judge His own ‘chosen people’ once they continuously rebelled against His rule? Yes. Was it perfectly justified? Absolutely.
Also, note that this is not genocide or plundering towns like pirates. Instead, if a town is destroyed they were to burn it all. All of it is a sacrifice to God. Not taking for their gain, it’s a sacrifice to God. God uses the verbiage don’t let the things “stick to your hand,” showing them that this is not about gaining resources and goods for themselves; this is about God’s holiness. That’s a very important piece to understand.
Ultimately, this passage was extremely important for an era in time to establish the concept of God being the ruler of His people. This passage does not suggest that this is how the conduct of God’s people is today because we are not in a theocracy (study the progression of Covenant Theology from Adam through the New Testament). In fact, in the New Covenant (New Testament), God’s followers are called to love their enemies (Matthew 5:43-48). We are currently living in a time of grace and repentance to God (Mark 1:14-15), but that time will run out. God will definitively establish His rule and judgment over creation, as we will see in the coming passages.
2. Exodus 20:1-5 ESV
And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me…”
This language God is using here in the Ten Commandments is typical of historic Suzerain-Vassal treaties. A greater king conquers/rescues a lesser king and gives them orders due to the newly established rule. You can see this in the verbiage (which is used very frequently in the Old Testament) “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery…” then a commandment follows. Here, God is giving His chosen people the command to make God their only god and serve Him only. Is it a coincidence that this is the first commandment He gives? Definitely not. This would coincide with the Shema (Primary Commandment) given in Deuteronomy 6:1-19.
God is a jealous God? Absolutely, because He is the greatest good for people. For people to choose otherwise is death. He is absolutely jealous for that good. God’s purpose is for Him to be glorified, which is ultimately fulfilling our purpose, which is our greatest good (Isaiah 48:9-11). To put it simply: His Praise=Our Benefit. We will unpack God’s purpose in the next articles.
3. Exodus 34:6-7 ESV
The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
God is merciful and good. God is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. That is God’s nature. He even forgives sin, which He is not bound to do for rebellious creatures. We tend to forget that. God is by no means obligated to forgive us. We forget who we are and who God is, as R.C. Sproul put it (follow that link, it’s worth every second of the two-minute video!). We should be in hell based on our rebellion. So for God to choose to interact with us is a sheer act of grace.
But, because He is perfectly just, He will not let the guilty go free. That sounds contradictory, doesn’t it? It’s not, especially in view of the Cross. When we have a low view of what the cross did (the atonement for our sins), we lose sight of what it took to reverse the charges against completely guilty and rebellious sinners. Keep this in mind, the importance cannot be overstated.
4. Matthew 10:34-39 ESV
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
What do you think of when you think of Jesus? Long-haired, British-English speaking, soft-spoken Jesus? Or is He more like a hippy from Woodstock only preaching love and acceptance? Jesus draws the line here: love for God and following Christ will create tension and strife, possibly even against those closest to us. The so-called “violent” God is the same God in the New Testament. However, this God is perfectly just, and His justice is all in relation to His holiness. God calls for radical devotion to Himself, even if it costs us our lives.
5. Revelation 16:5-7, 9, 11 ESV
And I heard the angel in charge of the waters say, “Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was, for you brought these judgments. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve!” And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!…” They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory… and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds.
Now we fast forward to the end of time in the Book of Revelation. The angels and those in heaven are praising God for His righteous judgment against sinners with some tough imagery. But yet a recurring theme is that a plague is enacted, yet the people still did not repent and turn to God. Those people should have called them to repentance, instead, they cursed God. God, even in His wrath, was gracious and merciful giving an opportunity for repentance, and yet the people did not. God never gives wrath and judgment to people that do not deserve it.
6. Revelation 19:1-5, 11-16 ESV
After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.” Once more they cried out, “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” And from the throne came a voice saying, “Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great…”
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
To end our quick exposition through the Bible about God’s judgment, we see again a snapshot at the end of time. God is praised for His judgment against wickedness by those in heaven. Even the “smoke” of His enemies gives them a reason to praise God. I know that’s graphic, but that’s once again because we fail to comprehend the wickedness of sin and the holiness of God.
In the next section, we see Jesus riding a white horse with a robe dipped in blood. Whose blood is it? By context, the blood of His enemies. Once again, this is disrupting our weak view of Jesus. This is definitive and righteous wrath against people who deserve judgment. God will someday completely overthrow evil and rule the entire universe perfectly. Can you accept this?
Conclusion
I wanted us to take a few snapshots throughout Scripture to see God and different time periods in Scripture. God is exactly the same God in both Exodus and in Revelation. Why was God more violent in the Old Testament than in the New? I would say He wasn’t, you have to keep reading into Revelation- this is the same exact God in the New Testament. God is perfectly wrathful against creatures that absolutely deserve it.
So why isn’t God doing this today? Based on a Covenant Theology approach to Scripture, we are in a time of mercy, grace, and repentance. The call today is to turn away from sin and towards the God that is slow to anger. Turn to Him, love Him, and be devoted to Him. That is the period in which we currently live. Turn to Him while there is time.
In the next article, we will explore how Yahweh upholding His glory is Him being righteous, which is ultimately for our good.
-Austin
