Getting Job-ed
If you have not read Part 1, please do not go on to read this or the next part. The first article is imperative for understanding this and the next part. We are going to turn our attention to God and His ultimate purpose. Now, we are talking about an infinite God, so there are going to be things we truly cannot understand but yet there are also many things that He has infact revealed to us to understand (Deuteronomy 29:29). We often approach the Bible anthropomorphically: what does the Bible say about me? What does the Bible mean to me? That’s the wrong approach to Scripture. The study of “theology” can be broken down into two words in the Greek: “Theos” meaning “God” and “Logos” meaning “word about, wisdom, idea, concept.” So in short, the study of theology is the idea, wisdom, and concept of God. This is not about religion because religion is anthropomorphic (man’s practices in relation to God, rituals, etc.). Theology is the study of God and who He is. So when we approach the Bible, we approach it through the lens that it is the teacher, we are the student. We are going to look at some Scripture that I use frequently but are some of the best 1,000-foot overviews of God’s ultimate purpose. They are massive to see the underlying current that is seen throughout the entire Bible.
God’s Purpose
We will not have time to go into great detail about every verse in Scripture that covers God’s purpose. However, we seldom ask what God’s purpose is in the Universe. Why does God exist? Let’s look at some verses:
“…remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose…” Isaiah 46:9-10 ESV
We see that God has a purpose and He is moving His creation towards fulfilling that purpose.
“For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you (Pharoah) and your people (the Egyptians) with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.” Exodus 9:15-16 ESV
God is speaking through Moses to Pharoah in this section. God says that He could’ve wiped Pharaoh out without any problem up until this point. So why didn’t He? Why did God allow the injustices of Egypt on His people? Answer: “…to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.” God acts for His own glory, which is for our good. Is God unjust in doing this? Read the next verse.
“For my name’s sake I defer my anger; for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.” Isaiah 48:9-11 ESV
When you read the Old Testament, you will see God use the phrase “for My name’s sake” or “for the sake of My name” or “for my own sake” countless times. The verse above is important because it’s written for Israel who are getting ready to go into exile because of their wickedness and rebellion against God. But also, that He will not totally abandon them. Why? For the sake of His name.
Again, is God unjust for doing this? Absolutely not. God does not owe a rebellious people anything. God is sovereign and is absolutely not obligated to serve mankind any good because of them breaking their covenant with Him (Genesis 1-3). God’s mere acting is Him acting in perfection (refer to the Attributes of God). God can not sin, therefore when He acts it is perfectly just. We are the ones that are flawed, not God. When we approach God without fingers pointed at Him, we are already the ones in the wrong. In fact, God acts for His praise, and that is for our benefit. We fail to see that praising God for who He is and what He does is not just about His praise, it’s for our benefit.
Fast forward to the New Testament:
…even as he (God) chose us in him (Christ) before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1:3-14 ESV and Greek
Note the recurring phrases: “purpose of His will” and “praise of His glory.” Since before the foundation of the world, God has chosen a people for Himself. Why did He do that? To the praise of His glory. God has been moving in history towards this end: to rescue a people for Himself, a people that will praise Him and all of His glory. This is completely unhinged by mankind’s worth, this is about God’s worth. That is why He will be praised, because He is worthy, and we are not.
What does this have to do with violence?
Someone would ask, “what does all of this have to do with the violence in the Old Testament?” It actually has everything to do with it. To understand what God’s purpose is is to see the Old Testament (and the entire Bible) through a different lens. All of a sudden this perfectly righteous God is acting according to His own perfect plan, not for mankind’s philosophical presuppositions. God is not a mean kid with a magnifying glass. God is, in a way, acting in order to preserve a people that will worship Him for all of eternity (Romans 9:20-23). God is doing things that we can not even begin to understand, all for preserving the world (the earth/universe itself), or for judgment (or correction of His people), or for His faithful love (Job 36:15). We have no right to scrutinize the only perfectly holy, powerful, and infinite Being.
Now the real question is, can you admit that possibly you have been reading the Old Testament, and possibly the entire Bible, with the wrong lens?
-Austin
