I grew up with Bible stories. I loved them ... still do. Stories of Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham sacrificing Isaac, oh, and Jacob and Esau. On and on. Jacob stole his brother's birthright and is sent to Laban. On the way, he sleeps and dreams. The famous "Jacob's ladder." God promises him blessings and he wakes up excited ... well ... not quite. "Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, 'Surely YHWH is in this place, and I did not know it.' And he was afraid and said, 'How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven'" (Gen 28:16-17). (Note: That "awesome" is literally "fearful.") Jacob wasn't delighted; he was terrified.
It's a running theme. Think of Isaiah, God's chosen mouthpiece, one of God's prophets. A "major" prophet. He encountered God like no one else. Seraphim cry, "Holy, holy, holy!" and Isaiah is wonderfully enthralled. But ... no. Isaiah is terrified ... because of his mouth "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, YHWH of hosts" (Isa 6:5). Isaiah wasn't excited. He was ... damah in Hebrew. Cut off, ended, destroyed. Not, "Wow! Cool!" Terror. Or, Peter (Luke 5:1-10). Jesus "borrowed" Peter's boat as a platform for teaching. When He was done, He told them to drop their nets. Peter protested, but ... did it ... and caught enough fish to start to rip the nets. Being Jewish, he pulled out a contract to have Jesus visit once a week. No! He "fell down at Jesus' feet, saying, 'Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!'" (Luke 5:8). Terror. One of my favorites is the one where they're crossing the Sea of Galilee and a storm hits (Mark 4:35-41). Jesus is asleep in the boat. They're in trouble. They're afraid. So they wake Him. "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?" (Mark 4:38). Jesus simply said, "Hush, be still," and the storm instantly stopped. And the text says, "They became very much afraid and said to one another, 'Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?'" (Mar 4:41). Terror.
It has been said the most offensive verse in the Bible is this one: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Gen 1:1). Natural humans are, by nature, hostile to God (Rom 8:7). We have, as a race, suppressed the truth of God (Rom 1:18) and "exchanged the truth of God for a lie" (Rom 1:25). As a result, when we, clothed in our sin and rebellion, actually encounter God up close and personal, it has to be ... terrifying. Not pleasant. When we get comfortable in our sin and come face to face with Him, it has to be the most terrifying thing we can encounter. Not the warm "Big Man Upstairs" kind of experience. The "beginning of wisdom" kind of thing (Psa 111:10).
2 comments:
I often hear people muse that when they get to heaven they have questions for God, or have someone they want to meet. Not me. The first thing I want to do when I get to heaven is fall on my face before my holy and merciful God, and worship Him.
You have highlighted some good biblical accounts of sinful and weak men experiencing a glimpse of the unfathomable holy and Almighty God. Even a hint of the light that must emanate from a holy God would put any unrighteous man or woman to shame in its painful contrast, with God’s brilliance exposing our darkness. While it is common to be afraid of the dark, we are rightfully terrified of the True Light. “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed” (John 3:19-20). Praise God that the fear of the Lord you mentioned in closing leads the wise and penitent ones among us to embrace that Light and move from the darkness. “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.” (Eph. 5:8) “But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” (John 3:21)
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