Is God Relentless?
Going way back to my So Many Pedestrians post, I mentioned my Bible reading plan, which consisted of a daily dose of one chapter of Psalms, three OT, one Gospel, one NT, resulting in various repetitions through each section in a year. There was only one problem with this plan. That is, if you miss a day, double it, if you miss two days, triple it, and before I know it, I'm trying to read 20 chapters in a day with the only goal of catching up to my schedule, and not of meditating on God's word. Easy solution. I am no longer obsessed with catching up. If I miss a day, so be it. I take Paul's advice, "forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead", and just pick it up again on the same schedule the next day, praying for the discipline to do so.
Also, since I am no longer racing against the calendar (and inevitably losing), I have allowed myself the freedom to cut back to one chapter of OT per day. As a result, now at the pace of only four chapters total per day, it allows me to slow down and think about what I am reading, and even, (a recent development), to take notes on what I am reading, to write down verses that either excite me (!) or that I don't understand (?) or that outright instruct me to do something.
Now I know that there are some of you out there who would say to me that even four chapters a day is way too much to take in at one time. Perhaps your method is to read a verse, or even a word, and meditate on it all day. God bless you for that. And guess what, with my new found freedom, I can do the same if the situation arises. If something grabs me, say for example a certain Psalm, and I want to go off and study it, I can. I will get on to the other stuff at a later time. All very free flowing, but with a dose of discipline as well. It is not my intention or desire to use this freedom to neglect the reading of the Bible entirely.
In short, I am less interested in getting through the Bible and more interested in the Bible getting through me.
As a practical example of what I am talking about, I came to this decision to stop obsessing with the calendar right about the time I was finishing with Isaiah and starting into Jeremiah. So I read through Isaiah (66 chapters) in about 5 days, when I was in catch-up mode. How much do you think I got out of Isaiah in 5 days? Not much. I love Isaiah, and look forward to spending more time in it next time around.
By contrast, I have spent about three weeks on the first 20 chapters of Jeremiah, and it has been an eye-opener. And that is, finally, the topic of this blog. All the preceding was the longest introduction in blog history. Congratulations if you are still with me.
From what I have read so far, Jeremiah is, if nothing else, a profound study in the sovereignty of God vs. the free will of man. God's chosen nation Israel is in serious rebellion at this time, and Jeremiah is the lucky guy who has been chosen to go and tell them so. What really jumps out at me is God's seemingly intractable anger. He is literally relentless, as I suggested in my title. Some of the verses I wrote down in my notebook:
"Then you shall say to them, 'Thus says the LORD: Behold, I will fill with drunkenness all the inhabitants of this land: the kings who sit on David's throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And I will dash them one against another, fathers and sons together, declares the LORD. I will not pity or spare or have compassion, that I should not destroy them.'" - Jer. 13:13-14
"The LORD said to me: "Do not pray for the welfare of this people. Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, and though they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence." - Jer. 14:11-12
Did you catch that? God is saying to Jeremiah, "Do not pray for the welfare of this people"!
"Then the LORD said to me, "Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go! And when they ask you, 'Where shall we go?' you shall say to them, 'Thus says the LORD:
"'Those who are for pestilence, to pestilence,
and those who are for the sword, to the sword;
those who are for famine, to famine,
and those who are for captivity, to captivity.'
I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the LORD: the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, and the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. And I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem." - Jer. 15:1-4
Now, since I don't have twenty more chapters to read before midnight, I can take time to go back and see what in the world Manasseh did in Jerusalem to cause all this trouble. A small sampling:
"Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hephzibah. And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel. For he rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, "In Jerusalem will I put my name." And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. And he burned his son as an offering and used fortune-telling and omens and dealt with mediums and with wizards. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger." - 2 Kings 21:1-6
OK, I guess He may have a point this time. But from what I know of God, and what I read in the rest of the OT history books, which is basically a history of Israel rebelling, God punishing, Israel repenting, God relenting, ad infinitum, I kept waiting and waiting and waiting for him to relent. Surely at some point he must relent. Then I read this:
"You have rejected me, declares the LORD;
you keep going backward,
so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you--
I am weary of relenting. "
- Jer. 15:6
He has had it! He is weary of relenting! The God of Israel who has relented and relented and relented in the past, is weary of relenting! Surely this cannot be the end! This can't be all there is to it! Somebody do something! (See, I get so much more into it when I am not skimming). Then finally, to my great relief, I read this:
"Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: 'Thus says the LORD, behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.'" - Jer. 18:6-10
This is probably the single best explanation of God's sovereignty in relation to man's free will that I have come across in a long time, and it is in God's own word. Imagine that. First note the phrase "If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom...". This shows God's sovereignty. At any time, he can declare. Declare what? Note the two parallel statements. In the first, to pluck up and break down and destroy. And in the second, to build and plant.
Now it is man's turn. For the nation declared to be plucked up, broken down and destroyed, if it turns from its evil, and for the nation declared to be built up and planted, if it does evil in God's sight and does not listen to His voice. And what are the consequences of these choices?
God relents! In the first case, God will relent of the disaster that he intended to do to it. But in the second case, God will relent of the good that he intended to do to it! Have you ever thought of God as relenting of the good he intended to do?
Now let's replace "nation or kingdom" with "church or fellowship". Imagine if at any time God declares concerning a church or fellowship that he will build and plant it. Then imagine if by its choices, doing evil in his sight, not listening to His voice, that God relents from the good that he intended to do to it! Something to think about. Something I have thought about a lot.
But back to Israel. After having their backs against the wall, after God saying he is "weary of relenting", he is now giving them a way out - "Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds." Do they take it? Well, since I am already well beyond the average 21st century adult attention span, I have decided to break this into at least two parts. So stay tuned....
Also, since I am no longer racing against the calendar (and inevitably losing), I have allowed myself the freedom to cut back to one chapter of OT per day. As a result, now at the pace of only four chapters total per day, it allows me to slow down and think about what I am reading, and even, (a recent development), to take notes on what I am reading, to write down verses that either excite me (!) or that I don't understand (?) or that outright instruct me to do something.
Now I know that there are some of you out there who would say to me that even four chapters a day is way too much to take in at one time. Perhaps your method is to read a verse, or even a word, and meditate on it all day. God bless you for that. And guess what, with my new found freedom, I can do the same if the situation arises. If something grabs me, say for example a certain Psalm, and I want to go off and study it, I can. I will get on to the other stuff at a later time. All very free flowing, but with a dose of discipline as well. It is not my intention or desire to use this freedom to neglect the reading of the Bible entirely.
In short, I am less interested in getting through the Bible and more interested in the Bible getting through me.
As a practical example of what I am talking about, I came to this decision to stop obsessing with the calendar right about the time I was finishing with Isaiah and starting into Jeremiah. So I read through Isaiah (66 chapters) in about 5 days, when I was in catch-up mode. How much do you think I got out of Isaiah in 5 days? Not much. I love Isaiah, and look forward to spending more time in it next time around.
By contrast, I have spent about three weeks on the first 20 chapters of Jeremiah, and it has been an eye-opener. And that is, finally, the topic of this blog. All the preceding was the longest introduction in blog history. Congratulations if you are still with me.
From what I have read so far, Jeremiah is, if nothing else, a profound study in the sovereignty of God vs. the free will of man. God's chosen nation Israel is in serious rebellion at this time, and Jeremiah is the lucky guy who has been chosen to go and tell them so. What really jumps out at me is God's seemingly intractable anger. He is literally relentless, as I suggested in my title. Some of the verses I wrote down in my notebook:
"Then you shall say to them, 'Thus says the LORD: Behold, I will fill with drunkenness all the inhabitants of this land: the kings who sit on David's throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And I will dash them one against another, fathers and sons together, declares the LORD. I will not pity or spare or have compassion, that I should not destroy them.'" - Jer. 13:13-14
"The LORD said to me: "Do not pray for the welfare of this people. Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, and though they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence." - Jer. 14:11-12
Did you catch that? God is saying to Jeremiah, "Do not pray for the welfare of this people"!
"Then the LORD said to me, "Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go! And when they ask you, 'Where shall we go?' you shall say to them, 'Thus says the LORD:
"'Those who are for pestilence, to pestilence,
and those who are for the sword, to the sword;
those who are for famine, to famine,
and those who are for captivity, to captivity.'
I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the LORD: the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, and the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. And I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem." - Jer. 15:1-4
Now, since I don't have twenty more chapters to read before midnight, I can take time to go back and see what in the world Manasseh did in Jerusalem to cause all this trouble. A small sampling:
"Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hephzibah. And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel. For he rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, "In Jerusalem will I put my name." And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. And he burned his son as an offering and used fortune-telling and omens and dealt with mediums and with wizards. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger." - 2 Kings 21:1-6
OK, I guess He may have a point this time. But from what I know of God, and what I read in the rest of the OT history books, which is basically a history of Israel rebelling, God punishing, Israel repenting, God relenting, ad infinitum, I kept waiting and waiting and waiting for him to relent. Surely at some point he must relent. Then I read this:
"You have rejected me, declares the LORD;
you keep going backward,
so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you--
I am weary of relenting. "
- Jer. 15:6
He has had it! He is weary of relenting! The God of Israel who has relented and relented and relented in the past, is weary of relenting! Surely this cannot be the end! This can't be all there is to it! Somebody do something! (See, I get so much more into it when I am not skimming). Then finally, to my great relief, I read this:
"Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: 'Thus says the LORD, behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.'" - Jer. 18:6-10
This is probably the single best explanation of God's sovereignty in relation to man's free will that I have come across in a long time, and it is in God's own word. Imagine that. First note the phrase "If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom...". This shows God's sovereignty. At any time, he can declare. Declare what? Note the two parallel statements. In the first, to pluck up and break down and destroy. And in the second, to build and plant.
Now it is man's turn. For the nation declared to be plucked up, broken down and destroyed, if it turns from its evil, and for the nation declared to be built up and planted, if it does evil in God's sight and does not listen to His voice. And what are the consequences of these choices?
God relents! In the first case, God will relent of the disaster that he intended to do to it. But in the second case, God will relent of the good that he intended to do to it! Have you ever thought of God as relenting of the good he intended to do?
Now let's replace "nation or kingdom" with "church or fellowship". Imagine if at any time God declares concerning a church or fellowship that he will build and plant it. Then imagine if by its choices, doing evil in his sight, not listening to His voice, that God relents from the good that he intended to do to it! Something to think about. Something I have thought about a lot.
But back to Israel. After having their backs against the wall, after God saying he is "weary of relenting", he is now giving them a way out - "Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds." Do they take it? Well, since I am already well beyond the average 21st century adult attention span, I have decided to break this into at least two parts. So stay tuned....
posted by wilsonte | 11:36 PM
2 Comments:
I am tuned! And thanks for taking care of everything in my absence - I really appreciate everything.
I'm curious to hear more of your thoughts regarding church and God relenting from sending good since you said you have thought about it a lot. Even if that means another 6:30 a.m. Panera appointment.
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