For those that know God, the following verses will ring true as the Lord and the God that we worship is truly a God of mercy and grace, slow to anger and abounding in grace. Creator God is a God of reconciliation and hope, love and peace, justice and fairness.
Malachi 2:16 - I hate divorce
Exodus 22:21,22 - "Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him. Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan.
Malachi 2:5 - My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace
Exodus 23:9 - Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt.
Zechariah 8:16,17 - These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts; do not plot evil against your neighbour and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this declares the Lord
Leviticus 19:10 - Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.
Zephaniah 2:3 - Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility.
Leviticus 19: 32-34 - Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the LORD. When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself. I am the LORD your God.
Nahum 1:7 - The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him.
Leviticus 23:22 - " 'When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.' "
Micah 6:8 - He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Leviticus 24:22 - You are to have the same law for the alien and the native-born. I am the LORD your God.' "
Amos 5:21-24 - I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. For let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!
Leviticus 25:35 - If one of your countrymen becomes poor and is unable to support himself among you, help him as you would an alien or a temporary resident, so he can continue to live among you.
Joel 2:13 - Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
Numbers 9:14 - An alien living among you who wants to celebrate the LORD's Passover must do so in accordance with its rules and regulations. You must have the same regulations for the alien and the native-born.' "
Hosea 14:9 - Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them. The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.
Numbers 15:15 - The community is to have the same rules for you and for the alien living among you; this is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. You and the alien shall be the same before the LORD
Hosea 12:6 - But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always.
Deuteronomy 10:17-19 - For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt.
Hosea 10:12 - Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love.
Deuteronomy 14:28,29 - At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year's produce and store it in your towns, so that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
Hosea 6:6 - For I desire mercy, not sacrifice.
Deuteronomy 24:14 - Do not take advantage of a hired man who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother Israelite or an alien living in one of your towns.
Hosea 4:14 - I will not punish your daughters when they turn to prostitution, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery, because the men themselves consort with harlots and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes.
Deuteronomy 24:17 - Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge.
Daniel 9:4 - O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands.
Deuteronomy 27:19 - Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow.
Ezekiel 36:26 - I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
Deuteronomy 23:15 - If a slave has taken refuge with you, do not hand him over to his master. Let him live among you wherever he likes and in whatever town he chooses. Do not oppress him.
Ezekiel 34:11 - 17 - I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. I look after my sheep. I will rescue them. I will pasture them. I will tend them in a good pasture. I myself will tend my sheep. I will search for them, the lost and the injured and strengthen the weak. I will shepherd the flock with justice.
Exodus 23:1,2 - "Do not spread false reports. Do not help a wicked man by being a malicious witness. Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, and do not show favouritism to a poor man in his lawsuit just because he is poor.
Exekiel 33:11 - As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.
Lamentations 3:22 - Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Isaiah 55:7 - Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
Jeremiah 22:3 - The is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place.
Jeremiah 9:23,24 - This is what the Lord says: Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength, or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that they understand and know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth for in these I delight, declares the Lord.
Jeremiah 1:5 - Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.
Isaiah 66:2 - This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.
Isaiah 58:6 - - Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter - when you see the naked, to clothe him, and to not turn away from your own flesh and blood.
Isaiah 55:6,7 - Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
Isaiah 55:1 - Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come and eat!
Isaiah 49:23 - Those who hope in me will not be disappointed.
Isaiah 46:4 - Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.
Isaiah 43:1,2 - Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.
Isaiah 42:2-4 - He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth.
Isaiah 41:10 - So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 40:31 - Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 30:15, 18 - In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength. Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!
Isaiah 26:3 - You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.
Isaiah 25:4 - You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat.
Isaiah 11:2-4 - The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him - The Spirit of wisdom, of understanding, of counsel, of power, of knowledge. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
Isaiah 1:17,18 - Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as withe as snow, though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
Ecclesiastes 2:26 - To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness.
2nd Chronicles 16:9 - For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.
Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the person who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous.
Ps. 4:8 - I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord make me dwell in safety.
Ps. 9:9,10 - The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.
Showing posts with label Old Testament. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Old Testament. Show all posts
Monday, April 14, 2008
Friday, January 12, 2007
I Could Never Love The God Of The Old Testament
There seem to be comments on blogs, a lot of them actually, that go something like, "Jesus was all about love. That’s cool. I could follow that. But I could never worship the Old Testament God." There are also many, many blogs that address this line of strained thinking. So why add another? Umm, well, I can’t resist.
What the other blogs point out and what I reiterate is this. Jesus IS the God of the older testaments. Jesus said that He was and is eternal God. He said, "If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father." He said, "If you do not believe that I Am God, you will die in your sins." He is ‘the Word that came in human form’. The Word that Jesus claimed to be, is the revealed Word of the Old Testament. Enough about that.
The real issue that I want to look at is this. The reason that people take exception to the "violence" directed toward other nations, as depicted in the set of older testaments is our present-day tolerance for evil. Not only do we have a high tolerance for evil, we revel in it. It excites us. It makes us feel powerful and free; at least at first. We enjoy evil even though we are dimly aware that when it manifests itself in others it makes our communities worse places in which to live.
Yet evil is something for which a perfectly Holy God has zero tolerance. Some people can’t recognise evil until it crashes into a couple towers full of office workers. God recognises it in calling someone a fool, or in not repaying a debt, or in not loving one’s enemy, or in not respecting one’s parents, or in separating sex from a loving monogamous, committed relationship. Jesus tried to show how little tolerance God has for evil when he equated anger with murder and lust with adultery. And for what it’s worth, because Jesus is about love (His love for us), He preached far more about hell than He did about Heaven. He spoke about hell to warn those He loves about their tolerance for evil. Regardless, Jesus / God said in the older testaments that society could not survive if there was even a hint of corruption that was tolerated. If God comes across as angry in parts of the older testaments it’s because He was. He was furious that the paradise that He created for the objects of His love had been deliberately destroyed by those very objects ie. us. It’s like the anger we might feel toward a cancer that is killing our child. We want what is killing our loved one to be destroyed. Same with our Creator.
Look at it this way. Have you ever noticed that there is something really, really wrong with our world? When children kill other children, teachers and parents, when there’s been murder and war since the dawn of civilization, when it’s ok for a powerful segment of society to kill off a powerless segment because that segment is considered inconvenient or embarassing, when homeless people are beaten to death for recreational purposes, don’t you think that maybe there is something wrong with us? When tens of thousands of children are allowed to starve to death EVERY DAY, when millions of children are allowed to be sold into sexual slavery, when individuals who are emotionally stunted, sexually disoriented, morally bankrupt, relationally retarded and spiritually deluded are adored and followed with interest simply because they are beautiful and rich, when religious people kill other religious people in the name of ?, when we turn on those whom we have promised to love, don’t you think that means that something is wrong with us? When those who speak out against the lack of love in our society are called intolerant bigots and those who protest wars are labelled unpatriotic, don’t you think there is something terribly wrong?
Well, God / Jesus says there is something terribly wrong. He said that what’s terribly wrong is passed on from generation to generation like a genetic code. And He said that behaviours that do not begin in love and end in a society where all are protected should not be tolerated. In the Old Testament, Jesus / God, said that societies that were evil as a whole should be wiped off the map. Now, I can see how some might think that wiping out every living thing is over doing it. But just step back for a second or two. Do you know what kind of societies He was talking about? These were societies where child sacrifice was the accepted norm, no, the promoted norm. These were societies where individuals were so "spiritual" that offering their children as burnt sacrifices to their gods was ok. Think about that! What kind of society must it be where child sacrifice is not condemned? Can you imagine how corrupt and evil the rest of societal behaviours must have been for child sacrifice to be accepted behaviour? The amount of violence toward our neighbours that we tolerate and / or perpetrate today is nothing compared to what would have been accepted back then. Or is it?
In our Global Village, genocide is watched on the news with a ‘ho hum that shouldn’t happen. So what’s for lunch?’ kind of attitude. We do that because, "hey, I’ve got my own problems to worry about." In rural India unwanted babies are left by the side of the road for wild animals to eat. And that’s ok because, well, that’s their business. Warning our children about AID’s while pummelling them with messages that do nothing but encourage them to take part in behaviours that practically guarantee an STD is just business as usual. Sacrificing our children to the god of our corrupted self-love as we drag them through one sick relationship after another is promoted because ‘freedom to do what I want, think and say’ is the highest good in the land.
The point is, no matter what you think about behaviours and attitudes that are destructive to self and others, God thinks they’re an abomination.
The word love is used almost four hundred times in the Bible with almost 375 times being used to describe God’s love for us. (Interestingly the word love isn’t used even once in the Koran to describe God). Nevertheless, those 375 references to love are talking about the Old Testament God’s love for us. If you’ve missed it when reading the Bible, 1st Corinthians 1:18 and 2nd Corinthians 4:3 and 4 will tell you why. Any how, when you consider God’s willingness to die for us even while we are still hating Him, rebelling against Him and denying His existence, one cannot successfully argue that God doesn’t love us. But His love goes beyond His enormous sacrifice. His love extends to providing guidelines for behaviours. These guidelines are intended to show the importance of putting away behaviours that don’t originate in respect and love and protection for others, particularly for the weakest members of society. The ‘rules’ of the Old Testament God were meant to show that for society to survive there must be zero tolerance for behaviours that are destructive to self and to others. It would take too much room to explain why most of those rules don’t apply to us and our society.
Bottom line is, The Old Testament God came to earth in the form of Jesus because we were then and are now powerless to resist the temptation toward acts of evil. In fact we are drawn to them like a moth to a light bulb. We know what Jesus wants from us regarding loving our neighbour, but we don’t do it. We don’t do it because we’re not ok. Because we’re not ok, our families are not ok. Our communities are not ok. Our countries are not ok and our world is not ok. Sadly, we accept that we’re not ok and we even celebrate and reward the very things about us that are not ok.
I believe that some day we’re going to be called to account for this tolerance of sin in our own lives. This day of reckoning is coming because Jesus, the God of both the older and the newer testaments takes His Creation very, very seriously. He takes it seriously because the God of the Old Testament loves you more than you ever imagined or could ever wish to be loved.
What the other blogs point out and what I reiterate is this. Jesus IS the God of the older testaments. Jesus said that He was and is eternal God. He said, "If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father." He said, "If you do not believe that I Am God, you will die in your sins." He is ‘the Word that came in human form’. The Word that Jesus claimed to be, is the revealed Word of the Old Testament. Enough about that.
The real issue that I want to look at is this. The reason that people take exception to the "violence" directed toward other nations, as depicted in the set of older testaments is our present-day tolerance for evil. Not only do we have a high tolerance for evil, we revel in it. It excites us. It makes us feel powerful and free; at least at first. We enjoy evil even though we are dimly aware that when it manifests itself in others it makes our communities worse places in which to live.
Yet evil is something for which a perfectly Holy God has zero tolerance. Some people can’t recognise evil until it crashes into a couple towers full of office workers. God recognises it in calling someone a fool, or in not repaying a debt, or in not loving one’s enemy, or in not respecting one’s parents, or in separating sex from a loving monogamous, committed relationship. Jesus tried to show how little tolerance God has for evil when he equated anger with murder and lust with adultery. And for what it’s worth, because Jesus is about love (His love for us), He preached far more about hell than He did about Heaven. He spoke about hell to warn those He loves about their tolerance for evil. Regardless, Jesus / God said in the older testaments that society could not survive if there was even a hint of corruption that was tolerated. If God comes across as angry in parts of the older testaments it’s because He was. He was furious that the paradise that He created for the objects of His love had been deliberately destroyed by those very objects ie. us. It’s like the anger we might feel toward a cancer that is killing our child. We want what is killing our loved one to be destroyed. Same with our Creator.
Look at it this way. Have you ever noticed that there is something really, really wrong with our world? When children kill other children, teachers and parents, when there’s been murder and war since the dawn of civilization, when it’s ok for a powerful segment of society to kill off a powerless segment because that segment is considered inconvenient or embarassing, when homeless people are beaten to death for recreational purposes, don’t you think that maybe there is something wrong with us? When tens of thousands of children are allowed to starve to death EVERY DAY, when millions of children are allowed to be sold into sexual slavery, when individuals who are emotionally stunted, sexually disoriented, morally bankrupt, relationally retarded and spiritually deluded are adored and followed with interest simply because they are beautiful and rich, when religious people kill other religious people in the name of ?, when we turn on those whom we have promised to love, don’t you think that means that something is wrong with us? When those who speak out against the lack of love in our society are called intolerant bigots and those who protest wars are labelled unpatriotic, don’t you think there is something terribly wrong?
Well, God / Jesus says there is something terribly wrong. He said that what’s terribly wrong is passed on from generation to generation like a genetic code. And He said that behaviours that do not begin in love and end in a society where all are protected should not be tolerated. In the Old Testament, Jesus / God, said that societies that were evil as a whole should be wiped off the map. Now, I can see how some might think that wiping out every living thing is over doing it. But just step back for a second or two. Do you know what kind of societies He was talking about? These were societies where child sacrifice was the accepted norm, no, the promoted norm. These were societies where individuals were so "spiritual" that offering their children as burnt sacrifices to their gods was ok. Think about that! What kind of society must it be where child sacrifice is not condemned? Can you imagine how corrupt and evil the rest of societal behaviours must have been for child sacrifice to be accepted behaviour? The amount of violence toward our neighbours that we tolerate and / or perpetrate today is nothing compared to what would have been accepted back then. Or is it?
In our Global Village, genocide is watched on the news with a ‘ho hum that shouldn’t happen. So what’s for lunch?’ kind of attitude. We do that because, "hey, I’ve got my own problems to worry about." In rural India unwanted babies are left by the side of the road for wild animals to eat. And that’s ok because, well, that’s their business. Warning our children about AID’s while pummelling them with messages that do nothing but encourage them to take part in behaviours that practically guarantee an STD is just business as usual. Sacrificing our children to the god of our corrupted self-love as we drag them through one sick relationship after another is promoted because ‘freedom to do what I want, think and say’ is the highest good in the land.
The point is, no matter what you think about behaviours and attitudes that are destructive to self and others, God thinks they’re an abomination.
The word love is used almost four hundred times in the Bible with almost 375 times being used to describe God’s love for us. (Interestingly the word love isn’t used even once in the Koran to describe God). Nevertheless, those 375 references to love are talking about the Old Testament God’s love for us. If you’ve missed it when reading the Bible, 1st Corinthians 1:18 and 2nd Corinthians 4:3 and 4 will tell you why. Any how, when you consider God’s willingness to die for us even while we are still hating Him, rebelling against Him and denying His existence, one cannot successfully argue that God doesn’t love us. But His love goes beyond His enormous sacrifice. His love extends to providing guidelines for behaviours. These guidelines are intended to show the importance of putting away behaviours that don’t originate in respect and love and protection for others, particularly for the weakest members of society. The ‘rules’ of the Old Testament God were meant to show that for society to survive there must be zero tolerance for behaviours that are destructive to self and to others. It would take too much room to explain why most of those rules don’t apply to us and our society.
Bottom line is, The Old Testament God came to earth in the form of Jesus because we were then and are now powerless to resist the temptation toward acts of evil. In fact we are drawn to them like a moth to a light bulb. We know what Jesus wants from us regarding loving our neighbour, but we don’t do it. We don’t do it because we’re not ok. Because we’re not ok, our families are not ok. Our communities are not ok. Our countries are not ok and our world is not ok. Sadly, we accept that we’re not ok and we even celebrate and reward the very things about us that are not ok.
I believe that some day we’re going to be called to account for this tolerance of sin in our own lives. This day of reckoning is coming because Jesus, the God of both the older and the newer testaments takes His Creation very, very seriously. He takes it seriously because the God of the Old Testament loves you more than you ever imagined or could ever wish to be loved.
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