In my latest installment on some of those difficult passages in the Old Testament, I talked about the Midianite affair. I said in that entry, "This passage, without a doubt, is not pleasant to our modern thinking. I don't like it either." I got to thinking about that. Of course it's not pleasant. But the real question is why I don't like it. The question arises, you see, because there are multiple passages where God orders the deaths of entire cities. So the question is if God ordered it and I don't like it, isn't that a problem? And, indeed, it is.
Why don't we like these passages? There is almost a universal response even among believers who see these portions written as the Jews and the Church have always seen them -- historical narratives. The response is a collective wince. "Oh, that doesn't sound right." We see it as cruel and mean and perhaps, at first glance, even evil. I suppose it's when we get to that last part that we pull ourselves short and say, "Wait, hold on ... this is God we're talking about." So either we decided "It doesn't really mean what it says" (by whatever means you wish to employ) or we argue like I have that it was right and just and correct. But we still have that collective wince or, as in my case, that "I don't like it either." Why?
I think I've figured out the problem. We're sinners; God is holy. We see people; we don't see God. We understand sinfulness; we do not grasp sinlessness. In other words, we far more readily identify with the sinners than with God. Consider, as an example, the difficulty of human justice. Biblically, the death penalty is a valid tool of justice. It was approved in Noah's day (Gen 9:6), perpetuated in Israel's laws (lots of references), and confirmed in Paul's day (Rom 13:4). Yet, we tend to stay the hand, so to speak. The Roman Catholic Church has said that they are essentially opposed to capital punishment. Why? Well, because we just don't like the idea of putting someone to death. Vengeance is a bad reason and, while justice is a good reason, we just don't like the idea of going that far. Most civilized people, again, have that collective wince at the idea. And that's because we can all think, as John Bradford said, "There but for the grace of God go I." Or, as the world tends to think, we all have the capacity to do the same.
The answer to the question, "Why do I no like these stories?", then, is problematic. The reason, at the bottom line, is that I am siding more with sinful Man than with a Holy God. The answer is that I think I am more merciful than God and have a clearer view of things than He does. The final answer is that sin, since I engage in it, just isn't that bad, really. We have not arrived at the point where we say with the psalmist, "O you who love the LORD, hate evil!" (Psa 97:10). We don't actually believe "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil" (Prov 8:13). You see, as God demonstrates, the proper response to sin is wrath. We want to make it not so bad. We are, at the bottom of this problem, on the wrong side. That is the real problem we need to face and deal with.
5 comments:
This is a wonderful post from the heart. : ))
We need to understand that Satan is the enemy of God and mankind, as the proof was given by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. All those who are under sin, serve their own enemy, their own killer, in the darkness that blinded their eyes.
Israel was on a mission for 2000 years from the call of Abram till the sacrifice of Jesus. Surely the fights described in the Old Testament were not some selfish acts for gain, but were done in order to accomplish this mission, which led to redemption. Redemption of us and of those too who died in those battles and terrible events.
Well, perhaps, we all want to believe in the loving, merciful God, who is long-suffering; and push to the side the God of justice and holiness.
Our sense of mercy is viewed through the flesh filter. We don't notice the deep evilness because, as you said, we have become numb to evil.
To be fair, I know that the response will be not that the wicked should not have been punished, but that "innocents" were wiped out along with them. Indeed, some passages indicate God's command to wipe out every living being in the targeted area. Some have claimed that such areas were not necessarily villages, but the military "bases" defending (or oppressing) the villages and it was those concentrations of military personnel that were hit.
But as they are written, the passages suggest that non-military people, some beneath the age that could be considered old enough to know better, could be killed as well and it is this that troubles those who are troubled by the passages.
I still believe that God is well within His rights as Supreme Being and Creator of All Things to take whatever lives He chooses regardless of my ability to fathom His possible reasons for doing so. Though I think it is too bad for those "innocents", I don't believe it lessens the Biblical description of God as a Being of perfect love and justice.
What is clear to me in such discussions (now ongoing) with a certain particular blogger, is that this blogger is judging God on the same terms as one would judge a human being, and this is way, way above his pay grade, if you'll pardon the expression.
Rather, one must accept regardless of whether or not one can personally resolve this troublesome passages, maybe put them off to the side until a resolution can be had, and trust that God knows what He is doing.
I guess this is a reflection of my poor writing skills. I say this because you're not the first to suggest it.
I say that it's poor writing skills because there is nothing in this post that suggests that I was offering an answer to someone else's viewpoint or question. The post is about why I find such texts as difficult and how I tend to connect more easily to the sinner than to God. I believe that all humans do, but that's not the point. The "we" to whom I was referring who didn't like these passages was the "we" who I identified as "believers who see these portions written as the Jews and the Church have always seen them -- historical narratives." "They" have other reasons for having problems with this text, beginning with "If these texts are genuine historical narrative, then God doesn't align with my viewpoint."
Wow. Great post, Stan.
(No, that wasn't meant to sound as if I was surprised :) )
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