Acts of God part 2: when God roared
The God of Biblical epics now behaves in a more civilised manner,surely?
There is a massive disconnect in much of the Church today in the West. It is between the God of the Bible and the God of history. Many Christians find it difficult to relate to the God who destroyed the world through a Flood, parted the Red Sea, caused the sun to stop in its tracks and slaughtered so many people through plagues, earthquakes and fire. And dare we mention the apocalyptic destruction waiting for us in the Book of Revelation, or do we take comfort in the cosy refuge of symbolic interpretations? Surely this is the God of Biblical epics, of grim-faced Charlton Heston, of fictional excesses brought to us through the silver screen? Surely this God has grown up now and behaves in a more civilised manner, like a good Englishman that He surely is at heart?
If there is a disconnect here, then it is in the understandings fed to us through theologians and their ilk and it is typified by what is known as Deism1, where God is seen as Creator and Observer and occasional Fixer of problems. It is a God that fits around the gaps in our lives and in the affairs of mankind. Is this really how some Christians think about their God? Have we returned to a form of this 18th Century corruption, this halfway house between the denied god of the atheists and the revealed God of Christians? Although I would suggest the Church generally does engage with the personal God who deals with the individual and answers prayers, what of the God … who has the whole world in His hands? Is this a comfortable notion for today’s Church? In other words, can the same God who just healed Auntie Juneof cancer, be somehow responsible for the conflict in Afghanistan that just saw to cousin Alf, or at least be involved in some way?
The thinking goes something like this: We now have Jesus in our heart to guide us and answer our prayers. As far as God is concerned, we thank him for all He does for us but we can’t believe that He still works on a national level, as He did in Bible times. Surely He has given us the Holy Spirit to do the best we can to be salt and light in society, somehow?
This may not be voiced or acknowledged but it certainly seems to be how the liberal mainstream Church thinks. This is a form of the same disconnect that was overtly declared by the heretic Marcion 2 in the 2nd Century AD, a man heavily influenced by the Platonism 3 that had seeped into the Church. This disconnect is between the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament (and the Church), as if they are two distinct Individuals. It really seems that some people think that the God of the Bible is anythingbut the same yesterday, today and forever. To remind us, let’s see Him in action in Bible times, just a few examples to remind us of … when God roared.
■ When Aaron and the Israelites built and worshipped the golden calf, God prompted the Levites to strike down 3,000 of them and the rest were struck with a plague (Exodus 32)
■ Anyone caught working on the Sabbath would be put to death (Exodus 35:2)
■ God destroyed not just the people in Sodom and Gomorrah, but also the vegetation on the plain. (Genesis 19)
■ God killed 70,000 people through a plague because of the census that David made of the people. (2 Samuel 24)
■ God incited the Assyrians to remove the people of Israel into exile. (2 Kings 17)
This is all drastic stuff, enough to make us choke on our quiche. Oh yes, they say, surely it all changed when Jesus came on the scene?
All is well (apart from the odd episode, such as the story of Ananiasand Sapphira) until we get to the final book. The Book of Revelationmakes for difficult reading. As the account of a vision given to one of Jesus’ major apostles it is far more graphic than anything inflicted by the“angry God of the Old Testament”.
■ The rider on the white horse will ride as a conqueror bent on conquest (Revelation 6:2)
■ The rider on the red horse will make people kill each other (Revelation 6:4)
■ The rider on the pale horse will have power over a quarter of the earth to kill by sword, famine, plague and wild beasts (Revelation 6:8)
■ Then earthquakes, the moon turning red, stars falling to earth etc. (Revelation 6:12-14)
■ A third of the Earth burned up (Revelation 8:7)
■ A third of fish in the sea destroyed (Revelation 8:9)
■ A third of mankind killed (Revelation 9:15)
Yes we can retreat into our safe haven of symbols, but however we interpret this, it won’t be pretty. But John himself gives a warning to us concerning the words of his vision:
I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll. (Revelation 22:18-19)
A similar warning is not given for any other part of Scripture and it is directed to us. It may not just be a warning against adding to the words of Scripture, but adding man’s interpretation to them. In other words, the words of this prophecy may actually describe a literal sequence of events that are actually going to happen, using the closest language that would make sense to those of us who may have to endure these events! : A frightening thought, and if you are following my drift here – a frightening God.As C.S. Lewis wrote in his Narnia stories, Aslan is not a tame lion!
Then the Bible age passed and God turned from a lion into a pussycat …or did He? Let’s read Psalm 2:
Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the LORD and against his anointed, saying, “Let us break their
chains and throw off their shackles.”
The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. He rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, “I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.” I will proclaim the LORD’s decree:
He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father. Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”
Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling. Kiss his son, or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
Yes we can again retreat into denial (wasn’t that where they found Moses?) and suggest that this Psalm has been written for those who inhabited the pages of the Bible. If so, then who is to say which Psalms are actually applicable to us now? Where are the Bible thought-police to tell us what to think? It’s a lot safer and consistent to suggest that all of the Bibleis applicable to people of every age.
So what does Psalm 2 tell us? It’s a classic three-act play. In the first act the Nations go about doing their own thing either in rebellion or indifference to God. They are blind and still are blind, but at least they have given God a good laugh, as we see at the beginning of the second act. He is laughing because of their foolishness. Don’t they know Who I am? Don’t they know the real King of this World – the One who sits on the holy mountain? The One who has the power, if He so wishes, to dash the nations of the Earth to pieces like pottery. The third act provides a warning and a reminder that they’d better take notice … or else!
It is time we all, whether kings and rulers of Nations, or ordinary citizens, take notice of the One Who has the whole World in His Hand.In the final analysis it really doesn’t matter what our opinions are, or what our leaders think, The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all (Psalm 103:19).
Next time we move to the pages of history, to see how this has played out …
1 https://www.thoughtco.com/deism-95703