Tag Archives: Wrath

Hosea 9: Strumpet, Harlot, Night-Walker: 71/365

Posted on by
Reply

When I was a late teenage a very good friend of mine had a very curious idea. Inspired by Shakespeare’s creative vocabulary for prostitutes / sexually meandering folk, my friend decided to dedicate the next few months of her life compiling a list of prostitute synonyms. This hobby of hers became a quirk that her friends enjoyed fueling. Often on the train from Hurstville to Allawah we’d throw out synonyms that we’d encountered from the week to see if it’d make her list.

My favourite (what a weird thing to say) was strumpet by virtue of the vitriol you could conjure whilst saying it. Strumpet – what a gloriously aggressive word.

This morning I haven’t learnt a new synonym, but I have collected a powerful image:

You have loved the wages of a prostitute on every grain-threshing floor.

This metaphor really represents to thought-trains colliding in my mind. At the moment I am surveying the carnage and trying to work out what to do next.

Thought Train 1: Sin is serious. It’s wages are death. I do it all the time.

Thought Train 2: Christianity is about having a relationship with God.

The collision? I don’t think I realised just how hurtful my sin was to God. I think I tended to see it like a victimless crime, it is bad and wrong but nobody is getting super-hurt from it? Man I couldn’t be more wrong.

The above verse suggests that each time I sin it is like me cuckolding God like a prostitute. I am spitting on his love and provision. For what? For the temporal wages of a prostitute that I seek – not once – continually on every floor. This is not a flattering depiction of me.

Further, the wages of a prostitute seem so hollow. Temporary acceptance and love, small sums of cash to pay my way. It is nothing in comparison to what God is so willing to provide me in his house.

I feel like, even as I write this, I want to move on because the image is so confronting. Further I can’t help but reflect on all the times I’ve denied my sinful nature and tried to pretend that everything is OK. I can’t imagine the pain of seeing your spouse cheating on you for them to deny it. And go out and do it again, and again, and again.

Worse, I think of all the times I’ve judged others for their sin. In this context it is like God finding me in the unfaithful act only for me to point out another in the opposite corner of the barn. This logic sounds like the beginning of a Jerry Springer episode!

No wonder God is so infuriated. To my great amazement, however, that he can find comprehensive forgiveness in his heart.

Hosea 5: God’s Wrath is Like…: 68/365

Posted on by
Reply

God’s judgement doesn’t sound that pleasant.

Previously, I have always envisioned God’s judgement like a courtroom. God is the judge sitting intimidatingly on his throne in heaven. Jesus is our barrister, intervening on our behalf. It is intimidating, it is spare-pants deservingly scary too. But in my conceptions of judgement I have always remained… (how to put it) whole, untouched, entire. What I mean is, the judge will listen to me from a respectable distance. There are barriers between he and I. He will pass judgement, but it will be from an external viewpoint.

I’ve never once considered that, having made me, God could be within me whilst passing judgement.

Yet the similes used in Hosea 5 tend to suggest otherwise. Consider:

  • I will pour out my fury on them like water
  • So I am like rot
  • and like decay
  • I am like a Lion
  • and like a young lion (I will tear them to pieces and then depart)

There is nothing in these similes that suggests that I will stand in court, in my suit, and remain untouched. No, rather his fury will be like a tidal wave (we don’t need overly long memories to recall the devastation that they bring). Further his conviction will be like rot or decay within my sinful bones.

This freaks me out. A couple of nights ago I was watching an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, she was trapped in a room with a vampire who took medication. Her method of killing him was to substitute his pill-water with Holy Water. Consequently, an item that caused discomfort when applied locally proved deadly when ingested. Instead of dripping off his skin it coursed through his veins.

I think I’ve spent too long seeing God’s judgement like the former. Something uncomfortable that you can shake off: something you can walk away from in your suit and say, “that wasn’t too bad”. These similes have got me thinking differently. God has made us and indeed pervades us (we openly acknowledge the Holy Spirit in us). Consequently, it makes sense that his judgement isn’t just going to ‘wash off’ but involve every fibre of our being.

Isaiah 24-25: The Bronze Pre-Extermination Party: 13/365

Posted on by
Reply

Isaiah 24 is pretty heavy. I realise that I’m being a bit more flippant in my analysis today. I think it is because I’m stressed about hospital and the way I usually deal with stressful things is to make jokes. Needless to say, I got pretty quickly floored reading this chapter.

Look, the Lord is stripping the earth bare and making it desolate. He will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.

Why do I find this chapter so particularly confronting? It is no longer talking of the judgement of a distant nation. This is the judgement of the entire earth. The author quickly lists binaries of people to ensure that the message is made clear: this affects everyone.

What is going to happen to everyone? The answer comes hard and fast.

The earth will be stripped completely bare and will be totally plundered

There are no mentions of refugees like in previous oracles. No offer of escape. Rather we will be front and centre in the spotlight. In case you are saying, “I’m pretty cluey, I could squirm my way away”, the author leaves an ominous message:

Panic, pit and trap await you who dwell on earth. Whoever flees at the sound of panic will fall into a pit, and whoever escapes from the pit will be caught in a trap.

So there is no escape, that answers our first instantaneous question. Now we have time to move onto the second question, which – if we were thinking logically – we should have asked first: Why is this happening?

God is clear in his justification, “The earth is polluted by its inhabitants, for they have transgressed teachings, overstepped decrees, and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse has consumed the earth, and its inhabitants have become guilty.”

This is not a random act of vile folly. It is a measured act of punishment. Punishment for the way everyone has chosen to live their lives in defiance of God. Like the kid who sneaks a bite of a chocolate bar behind his desk, we temporarily believe we have gotten away with it. Unlike the grubby kid who hastily wipes away the smears of evidence, God sees all and holds all accountable.

To lighten matters, this apocalyptic scenario reminds me of an episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer that my wife and I watched yesterday. In this early episode, the gang are enjoying drinks at The Bronze as part of the Pre-Extermination Party. In short, The Bronze holds this party every year before it closes for three days to set off cockroach extermination bombs.

At the end of the episode, the gang are drinking at the Post-Extermination Party. Buffy asks, “What is the difference between the Pre and Post Extermination parties?” To which Xander replies, “Not much bar the existence of much hardier bugs”!

Perhaps this is where the similarities end. God’s judgement is final, not annual. What will come out at the end is judged humans, not hardier ones.

Indeed, Isaiah himself chooses a different simile to explain the nature of this judgement more clearly:

For this is how it will be on Earth amongst the nations, like a harvested olive tree, like a gleaning grape after a harvest.

The peoples on earth will be like a harvested olive tree? I’ve seen how aggressively they prune these trees after they produce fruit. I am sure the process wouldn’t be pleasant for the tree (if trees had feelings). But the pruning process is done out of duty and care, not hatred or for a desire of destruction. Perhaps this explains the amazingly incongruent start to chapter 25…

Yahweh, You are my God. I will exalt You, I will praise Your name.

Huh? Doesn’t Isaiah realise the destruction that God has wrought?

For you turned the city into a pile of rocks, a fortified city, into ruins; the fortress of barbarians is no longer a city; it will never be rebuilt.

Oh… so you do know of the destruction. Well this response can only be justified if you know something of the bigger picture.

On this mountain he will destroy the burial shroud, the shroud over all the peoples, the sheet covering all nations. He will destroy death forever. The Lord God will wipe away the tears from every face and remove His people’s disgrace from the whole earth, for the Lord has spoken.

It is at this point where the big picture comes into focus. Judgement is an act of redemption for his people, not destruction. I love the image of the torn burial shroud.Love it! His people, dead to sin, have distorted visions due to this macabre cloth that envelops them, us. This explains how the logic of the world can distort and decay. The sheet symbolises our comprehensive death to sin, we are not just a little sick. We are dead, and have been for a while. We are wrapped up, cocooned in consequence. Yet this will all be torn!

Awesomely, the first verb in our response to God captures the quintessence of the excitement of this day:

Look, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He has saved us

Look. It seems like such a simple verb but I can imagine how superb it will be on that day. Throughout my 28 years, I have often felt frustrated, confounded, betrayed and outright lost due to the obfuscated vision of God. Like a reflection, I can make out key features but the entire picture of God never seems to be in clear view. Indeed, we talk about the doctrine of God’s revelation because as Christians, we piece together a picture of God based on what he has given us. But, despite amazing stewardship, our picture of God is inherently limited. Why not? There is the symbolic death shroud as a barrier. To see God clearly, completely, perfectly… it is an event worth waiting for.

I really like Isaiah 25 and am kind of amazed that I haven’t noticed it in this light before. However, to fully appreciate the grace extended in this passage, Isaiah 24 should be coupled with it. I think the words of the bible best sum up how we should react to this passage:

This is the Lord; we have waited for Him. Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.

Go to: Isaiah 26

Isaiah 12-14: A Tale of two cities: 8/365

Posted on by
Reply

I guarantee that Dickens wasn’t thinking of Isaiah when he penned his famous opening, “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times”, but it seems to surmise these passages well.

The juxtaposed fate of two nations, besieged Judah and powerful Babylon, demonstrates clearly how all things are under God’s control and operate in His timing. Chapter 12 is a song of praise to God for showing compassion on His people.

Indeed, God is my salvation; I will trust him and not be afraid… the Lord, is my strength and song

I really like that this line starts with the self-affirmation of “indeed”. It is like the author knew of God’s strength and capacity, but this conviction was wavering until he saw God’s actions which reinforced his beliefs. It feels like a gentle reminder, almost akin to saying “It was silly to forget”.

How often do I entirely forget the control God has in my life? It is God who “works among the peoples” and is worthy of celebration, it is he who does “glorious things”. Yet I often forget this fact. I think part of it is because I live in an opulent society. In an age where I can store a month’s food in a refrigerator, it becomes difficult to remember how it is God who provides everything for me. In some respects it feels like God is relegated to only providing spiritual meals. We thank God hastily for our spiritual conversion and forget his role in every other facet of our lives…

In case I am too hasty to forget God and congratulate myself, Isaiah follows up this song of praise with a foretelling of the fate of Babylon. The horror of opposing God’s wrath is made amply clear,

Therefore everyone’s hand will become weak, and every man’s heart will melt… pain and agony will seize them; they will be in anguish like a woman in labor… faces flushed with fear.

God’s power is so overwhelming that brave soldiers will react like this before God’s troops and wrath arrives. This is the reaction of Babylon whilst God’s banner is on the “distant horizon”. I can’t help but think of The Lord of the Rings to help gain a sense of scope for God’s army. I know that in comparison to the real thing I am probably only envisioning a Lego army version, but it helps to give a sense of scale.

You can understand the fear of the Babylonians, they are not fighting a standard human opponent. Rather, God’s cosmic power is emphasised by the stars not shining and a darkened sun.

Interestingly, chapter 14 extends the juxtaposition beyond the fate of two nations and beings to compare and contrast the fate of the two leaders of these nations. God vs King of Babylon – Fight! Whilst God spends his energies relocating his people in their land, the King of Babylon does what all humans do. He dies. Whilst God is praised and exalted for his mighty power, compassion and generosity, the King of Babylon is ridiculed by the people of Judah, singing

Is this the man who caused the mountains to tremble, who shook the kingdoms, who turned the world into a wilderness, who destroyed its cities and would not release the prisoners to return home?…

You are thrown out without a grave, like a worthless branch… dumped into a rocky pit like a trampled corpse

God did warn that he would humble the arrogant.

Too often I am like the King of Babylon. I survey my domain: my relationship with my wife; my career choices; my DVD collection; my comfortable couch; my close friends; my family. I hastily attribute these to myself and not to God who provided them all, who can take away all too. Arrogant, I believe the illusion of my own control, just like the King of Babylon. I seldom acknowledge the true King and true power in my life.

It would be wise to re-affirm what is tangible and true. “Indeed, God is my salvation”.

Indeed.

Go to: Isaiah 15-16

Isaiah 10: Context, Context, Context: 7/365

Posted on by
Reply

It is altogether too easy to lose sight of the big picture. It is simple to focus on curios and forget what is important. Isaiah 10 is the focus-pull that brings events into sharp contrast again.

The people of Judah are again warned of their fragility.

What will you do on the day of punishment when devastation comes from far away… There will be nothing to do except crouch amongst the prisoners or fall among the slain

In this context profiteering from others seems rather ridiculous. Regardless of the power rulers assumed they had, death operates as a great leveler. We are all small in the context of this undiscriminating judge.

Interestingly, one could think to themselves, ‘But the conquerors look so large. It is a case of being endeared to them’. Isaiah retorts immediately by proclaiming “Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger”. Even those that seem temporarily powerful are just a tool to God. Assyria is not the terrifying behemoth that Judah shakes at confronting; rather, Assyria is the axe that farcically “exalts itself”.

Self-interest, both domestically (v1-2) and abroad (v13-14), are ridiculed in regard to God’s power. It makes a good case for humility. Any strength, or intelligence, or good fortune, or difficulty, or woe is given by God for his purpose. You cannot hold yourself up then for being used how God intends.

Importantly, it is not only strength that God uses for his purpose. Rather, the end of Isaiah explores the role of the remnant of Israel to “become a fire” that “will burn up Assyria’s thorns and thistles”. These disparate people still play a role in God’s plan! This is interesting given the prior warnings that God’s “anger is not removed, His hand is still raised to strike”. Despite the judgement passed on “a godless nation” (which must have been horrifying at the time) God still redeems and uses Israel.

This passage helps to remind me that regardless of the darkness of the times, God still has a plan and purpose for his people. It succinctly answers the earlier rhetorical question that Isaiah raises, “What will you do on the day of punishment when devastation comes from far away? Who will you run to for help?” Definitely not to myself.

Go to: Isaiah 11