Update: the four points below were written in response to the "burn-a-quran-day", which is now apparently (as of the evening of 9/9/2010) cancelled.  Sarah Palin's quote in Richard Fernandez' article here is quite relevant.
--------

1. The Quran-burning event seems like an expression of anger rather than a rational argument.  While anger toward Islam as a system might be justified (because it sometimes leads people to commit terrorist acts, and even worse, because it keeps precious Muslim individuals away from the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the forgiveness and eternal life that they could otherwise experience in Him), the Quran-burning seems like a bad idea for several reasons.  First, when a book is banned or burned, the usual response is that people become more interested in the book.  A better approach would be to present reasoned arguments about why the Quran is false, rather than merely burning it.  Burning the paper and ink of the book does nothing except send a message of "I don't like this book".  The ideas and teachings are what need to be addressed, to answer the question of "Why" the Quran is false.  Second, the Quran-burning will probably cause lots of violent protests throughout the world, both toward Americans abroad and especially toward vulnerable Christian families in Muslim areas throughout the world, even if they are not American.  Thus, the Quran-burning is a bad idea. (see http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/8937514887.html )

2. However, Muslims burn Bibles quite regularly.  Why do these burnings not cause Christians worldwide to go on violent protest rampages?  Perhaps the contrast (between many Bible-burnings leading to no Christian violence, versus one Quran-burning leading to lots of Muslim violence) needs to be made obvious to the world, and people need to ask themselves the question as to WHY the difference (and hopefully, read the Bible and the Quran and discover the difference for themselves).  Perhaps the aftermath of the Quran-burning event will have this good effect, even though I would personally disagree with the event itself because I prefer to show respect to other people who believe differently than I do.
(examples of Bible-burning: here are a couple links that I found with a little internet searching...  also if you search for 'churches burned', you will find hundreds more links, and often Bibles are burned along with the churches.  E.g., churches burned by Hindus in Orissa, by Muslims in Indonesia, Pakistan, etc
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/245762/re-not-my-name-jonah-goldberg
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/285123/christians_in_gaza_fear_for_their_lives.html?cat=9
http://demo.newvoicemedia.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=54&Itemid=53   )

3. A really interesting response to the 'Burn a Quran Day' is found at this Youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91AM7665cbo  It is entitled, "The Original Burn-A-Quran Day", and recounts the history of Caliph Uthman (an early Muslim) burning all Qurans other than his own standardized copy.

4. Have you ever read the Quran yourself?  I've read both the Quran and the Bible.  If you read the Quran, you will find verses like this: "Let there be no compulsion in religion; truth stands out clear from error." Sura 2:256 .... and you will also find verses like this: "Kill those who join other gods with Allah wherever you find them; besiege them, seize them, lay in wait for them with every kind of ambush...." Sura 9:5
These verses seem to contradict each other.  Peaceful Muslims take the former as overriding the latter, violent Muslims take the latter as overriding the former.  It is interesting to study the reasoning behind their interpretive decisions as to which parts of the Quran to obey and which parts to ignore.  Al Qaeda teaches that 9:5 "abrogates" (replaces, overrides) 2:256 because it was sent down later in Muhammad's life.  But liberal/peaceful Muslims tend to pick and choose only the parts from the Quran that they like, and so they tend to ignore 9:5.  Which is the "true Islam", and how would one know?

The Bible, on the other hand, is consistent... the story/invitation about the glorious God who created the universe... who did not crush us humans as we deserved because of our rebellion against Him... but instead took upon Himself the penalty for our rebellion.  The innocent volunteered to pay for the guilty... because of His love for us...

As Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

Here is a letter from a friend of mine who helped in Haiti, and a response by me.   How would you respond?  What are your thoughts on this topic?

 

________ wrote:
> Bonswa once again,
>
> It's hard to believe that our trip is coming to a close. In all honesty, I'm really unsettled about coming home; I'm fairly certain that most of us would never be able to sustain this pace or make Haitian reality our permanent reality, but I've felt sick for the past two days and have a sense of overwhelming guilt about not being able to perform at my peak in the last hours. It's gotten harder to take pictures of Haitians and even tell stories of horrible patient scenarios as I'm reminded that I can quickly jump a plane and go home to my comfy life and they have no way out. I'm not sure if my thoughts completely make sense, but the only comfort I'm finding through prayer is the reminder that Christ was fully God, but he was also fully human. The enormity of his healing work regularly tested his human nature and I'm sure he fell into physically illness and exhaustion. He can relate to the stress felt whenever and wherever we encounter overwhelming need, in America or in foreign lands. He repeatedly holds us accountable, disciplines us, and perhaps lays guilt in our hearts so that we may be tested. I have faith that His aim is not to destroy me through this experience. I'm sure that He will actually do the opposite and even though I'm sitting with this horrible feeling of worthlessness, I pray that He allows it to pervade all facets of my life and allows me to realize just how weak I really am (II Cor 12:9-10). Please pray for safety as we journey home and that we may all have to peace of mind to settle any internal struggles. Your prayers have been with us and I can't wait to give and receive your hugs. I thank God for the girls that I have been able to share this experience with and thank you for all of your encouraging letters and emails. They have meant the world to me in time when I needed them.
>
> Love,
> ____________

 

 

Hey ________,

Yes....  thanks for the update...  praying for you all...

Regarding the poor and abused, I have wondered similar questions and felt guilt too.  I lived for six months in Africa when I was a child and traveled briefly in Thailand in college, and lately I've learned more about the persecuted church and the slaves trafficked around the world and have been trying to help in what little ways I can.  For what it's worth, this passage comes to mind:  Mark 14:6-7

But Jesus said, "Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to Me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me.
At first it almost seems callous, when Jesus says "you always have the poor with you...".  Somehow Jesus was able to fully comprehend the suffering of the poor, and even the fact that there will always be poor, suffering people in this world until the end comes, yet he stayed sane and trusted in God through the knowing.   Perhaps His implication is "Don't despair...  put Me first in your life, and then secondly keep helping other needy people all your life long whenever the opportunity arises, knowing that there will never be an end to the poverty and need until the new earth comes."    ?

I'm not trying to give an easy answer to the questions you're wrestling with because of Haiti.  I know it's not just about poverty in Haiti, but about the earthquake suffering, and the violence and abuse there, etc.  Surely they need the gospel more than any other type of aid there, especially long term.  But as I've been pondering these things myself over the past few years, I'm coming to the conclusion that for me it's a matter of doing my little daily part to help the poor (out of love because of the love with which God has loved me first)... like the man walking along the beach tossing stranded starfish back into the ocean before they dried out and died, and the passerby who told him "you can't save them all", and his answer "I know, but I can save THIS one (toss), and THIS one (toss), and THIS one..."

Other related passages that come to mind - Isaiah 58,  Proverbs 19:17,  Luke 13:1-6,  Psalm 37...  and there are obviously many more.  Also if you have time and interest, I recently posted some thoughts on my blog about Psalm 37 - http://tim223.xanga.com/726147754/psalm-37/   I'll be interested to hear more of your thoughts on these things and some passages that you find helpful, as things become clearer some time after the Haiti trip.

With esteem, Tim

Three separate items in tonight's blog post:
1. "What is natural?"
2. Modern usage of the word "Church"
3. Son Jong Nam - inspiring modern-day Christian hero of the faith

 

1. On the question "What is 'natural'?" - cool quote from http://creationsafaris.com/crev201007.htm#20100727a -

"Materialists can’t have it both ways.  They cannot argue that only particles and natural laws exist, then turn around and blame humans for global warming, pollution, war, acid rain, extinction, or anything else.  Nature is what nature does.  If humans are a part of nature, whatever they do is only natural....

The only perspective that permits natural/unnatural distinctions is the Judeo-Christian world view.  Sin is unnatural, because God is holy.  Death and disasters are unnatural, because God created a perfect world that was cursed because of sin.  Human beings stand between the natural and the supernatural by having the image of God implanted in their nonphysical souls.  These foundations allow for politics, economics, criminal law, and all the institutions that engage us, including science."

 

 

2. A thought on the modern usage of the word "church", compared to the ancient usage, and a comparison:

"church" (modern english term) = "christian community center" (what Bible-era folks might call it if they observed it)

"small group" (modern term) = "church" (Bible-era usage)

"What church are you attending?" (modern) = "What Christian Community Center do you regularly attend and drop your kids off at?" (Bible-era)

"I feel called to be a pastor." (modern) = "I feel called to be the director of a Christian Community Center." (Bible-era)

etc

 

 

3. Son Jong Nam  -  modern hero and role model... recent North Korean Christian martyr

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gdZrqqz2CUFMIoE9WoGEBDkKU6QAD9GOARA00

Why would a 50-year old man return secretly with Bibles into North Korea, from which he had escaped a couple years earlier, knowing full well that if he was caught, he would be jailed and tortured to death?

As far as I can tell: (1) Because Son Jong Nam believed that the Bible's account about Jesus Christ was true (that Jesus Christ really did come, die, and rise again as the Bible relates); (2) Son Jong Nam believed that Jesus Christ was His Lord and so he took seriously the command to make disciples of all nations, and (3) Son Jong Nam loved his own countrymen, and was willing to sacrifice his life (if necessary) to bring them the gospel.

Son Jong Nam died in some secret dungeon, penniless and unknown to the vast majority of the world.  It would seem that he wasted his life and his efforts to help his North Korean countrymen.

But his life and death were not in vain.  God saw everything.  And when the King returns, Son Jong Nam's reward will be incalculably awesome.

For His eyes are upon the ways of a man,
And He sees all his steps.
Job 34:21

And turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say, "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven." Luke 6:20-23a

And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on." Mark 12:41-44

Behold, the Lord GOD will come with might,
With His arm ruling for Him.
Behold, His reward is with Him
And His recompense before Him.
Isaiah 40:10

"Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done."
Revelation 22:12

 

 

Our government seems to be relying more and more on Other People's Money these days... in the continued welfare programs for unemployed people, in moving toward a more socialized healthcare system, in borrowing money from China and other countries to sustain our deficit, etc.

At some point, there usually comes a time when it is generally realized that borrowing other people's money won't work any more.   "Why don't you spend the money from your own pocket to help the poor, rather than taking money from someone else's pocket?"... the sentiment is eventually inevitable.

However, this post is not primarily about fiscal policy, but about an analogy between the eventual breakdown of such "OPM" expectations and the salvation of our friends who do not believe in Jesus.  First a bit of background, then a thought at the end making the link.

As many of you readers know, the Bible indicates that all humans have an inborn bent toward sinning (inherited from Adam and Eve) which causes us to commit actual sins... thousands of them every day... acts of arrogant evil and corruption in blatant disobedience to God.   Even people who do not read the Bible still have some knowledge of what is right and wrong... and still often choose to do what's wrong anyway.

As the Bible explains, the One True God who created the world happens to be both Just and Loving.  His Justice does not allow him to turn a blind eye to our sins.  Instead, "the person who sins will die" (Ezekiel 18:20); "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23).  But His Love caused Him to decide to essentially pay the debt Himself that we owed... God the Son in cooperation with God the Father volunteered to be "pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5).

It so happens that not everyone will receive this salvation, however... only those who "believe"; those whose hearts God "opens" (Acts 16:14) to accept God's free gift of salvation and put their allegiance and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.   Moreover, according to Jesus this will be a minority of humanity:  "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it" (Matthew 7:13-14).

It so happens that I have received this free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, and so I will some day be in heaven forever with God in indescribable joy and bliss, though I fully deserve instead to be forever in hell.  But it also so happens that a large percentage of my friends, neighbors, coworkers, and other acquaintances do not believe in Jesus and so are on their way toward eternal hell and what the Bible calls "the second death".   So I am often burdened to pray for my friends, that God would have mercy on them and open their eyes to see the truth.

And so, I often beg for "Other Person's Mercy", specifically, that God would have mercy on my friends, changing their minds to see the evil of their own souls and their need for Jesus Christ.  I so desire it.... I so want my friends to experience eternal life rather than eternal death.  I want this so badly that sometimes I almost get upset with God for His delay in answering these prayers, and my fear that maybe He will say "no" and my friends will end up in Hell.

Recently then, I was reminded how it is completely God's prerogative to show His own mercy to whomever He deems would be best to enter Life, since He is "paying the bill" of their ransom, so to speak.  I can ask, but that's all I can do.  It's not my place to dole out His mercy and His suffering and His 100%-commitment-'chesed'-covenant-love to various humans that I meet during my seventy-whatever year trek on earth with my 3-pound puny little brain.  If He decides not to select any of my unbelieving friends for salvation, I can trust the all-knowing, eternal, infinitely loving and infinitely wise God to choose what is best.

"Raising a daughter is like watering your neighbor's garden."

-- fascinating, horrible, quote from this article examining the trend of 'gendercide' (more and more baby girls being aborted around the world).

This raises again the old questions of morality and altruism, for atheists.  Why should one be good to one's fellow man, if one does not believe in an afterlife?  Especially if it inconveniences you?  Why water your neighbor's garden?  Why succor people who are 'inconvenient' to care for and who don't have any potential to repay you (at least in the way you desire), like the baby girls of that article, or elderly people, or handicapped people?

For those of us who believe in the one true God (described in the Bible) and His Son Jesus Christ, the reasons and motivations to love our neighbor (even when it requres self sacrifice) are compelling.  Not that we are trying to 'increase our reproductive success'.  Not that because we are 'guilted into it'...  Not because we are trying to earn our way to heaven... Not that we are trying to better our karma for a higher reincarnation and eventual absorption into nothingness... Not simply that it makes our earthly lives more pleasant in the long run...

Instead, because we ourselves have already been shown huge, specific, mercy through Jesus' sacrifice of Himself to die for our sins.  And because God has already given us the undeserved hope and reward of eternal life in glory out of "the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus".

Why do we, disciples of Jesus Christ, go out of our way to help those who are struggling around us?  Because we want to - because it's what God did for us - because of the incredible inheritance that God has given us...

Luke 14:12-14

And He also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

Several months ago, a group of Christian friends and I were asked by a mutual friend to compose in one or two sentances our own answers to the question: "What is the good news of Jesus Christ?"   Here are our answers, for you to ponder...   (and, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, to REJOICE in!)

 

"What is the good news of Jesus Christ?"
---
That you are loved beyond your imagination by God who created you and, though knowing every secret thing about you, desires intimacy with you for eternity.

God is actively rescuing us from the brokenness of this world through the life and work of Jesus Christ.

God's gracious and merciful response to human sin.  Jesus' work is the only cure for our chronic sin disease.

God, who created and loves man more than words can say, sent his only Son to die on the cross to reconcile our sins so that we can have eternal life if we confess our sins and believe.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died as a sinless sacrifice to bridge the gap of sin that separates humans from God forever, so that by believing this we can live in the presence of God forever.

Joyful news that Christ has reconciled finally God and man through his death on the cross and resurrection, and that through Him we may have life everlasting.

God, instead of sending us all to the eternal destruction that we deserve, has instead taken upon Himself the penalty for His people's sins (sending Christ to die in our place), and then raised Christ from the dead and has given us His Spirit to live in our bodies to cause us to act more and more like Christ, with the eventual future result of a completely renewed creation and eternal joyful fellowship between God and His people.

Reconciliation with God and with man.

God's solution to our brokenness.

God rescues mankind.

We were made by God in His image, yet we fell into sin.  Jesus Christ died for our sins so that we can be restored to our relationship with God in order to rejoin with God in heaven.

God loves His creation and desires that we would be reconciled to him so he sent His son, Jesus Christ, into the world as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins, something that only one who lived a blameless life could have done.  We are redeemed by Christ's blood and await for when this world will be redeemed and a new world formed.

 

Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation."
For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.   2 Peter 3:3-13

 

---

 

Once there was a man who wrote a script for a play.  He had spent many hours planning out the plot and how the play should be directed for the best effect.  Finally he finished writing the script.  It was an amazing masterpiece... full of subtle genius and haunting beauty.  He decided to direct the play himself.

Now it so happened that the director had some unique abilities that most other directors don't have.  For one thing, he could see the future.  For another, he was omnipotent - he had the power to do anything he wanted to do.

So the director began to make the sets.  He sculpted vast breathtaking sets that filled not only the stage, but encircled the whole auditorium.  The lights were set up, and the microphone system was put together.  He composed and orchestrated all the music. Video cameras were put in place to record the drama for later viewing.

Before he could work on the costumes, he had to get the actors.  But how to get precisely the right actors and actresses for each subtly nuanced part?

He decided to make them... each one perfectly created for his or her part in the masterwork.

How would the actors learn all their lines?  And how would they rehearse such a vast play with so many subplots?  The director decided to try something novel - since he could see the future, he would introduce each of the actors at the right times and in the right places so that they would accurately fulfil their lines without ever needing to read them.  That way it would be not only the playwright's work, but also in a real sense, the spontaneous choices of the actors themselves that moved the play along.

The director decided that he would remain behind the curtain throughout most of the play, though he would step on stage at a few key points.  Since he could see the future, he knew that some parts of the play would be extremely dark and painful, not only to watch, but even to him personally... and physically.

The day came - everything was ready.  The director took a slow, deep breath, turned on the video cameras, turned off the house lights, and began creating the actors...

The play began in stunning beauty.  The director walked out to center stage to talk with two of the first group of actors about the play, and the theme of the play.  The theme of the play was Love.  The two actors were excited about the project, and thanked the director effusively for the privilege of being given such an important starring role.

But things almost immediately went awry.  One of the other actors talked the two center stage actors into rejecting the director's directions.  He convinced the two that they should instead try to "be their own directors".

Things got really bad.  Before long, the actors were ripping apart the sets, screaming at each other in rage, maiming and killing each other.

The director knew this would happen.  After all, he had written the play.  He whispered something to a small group of actors on the side, then waited by the controls of the curtain, looking at his watch.  The few actors he had spoken to ran into center stage, trying to make their voices heard above the din.

The time had come.  The curtain fell.  The play was finished.

But no - the group of actors he had spoken to were standing in front of the curtain, and they were still talking.

---

 
The fire crackled healthily in the fireplace.  The two middle-aged couples around the table bantered energetically over the remnants of a small meal.  But hardness lurked beneath their words.

The old actor quietly listening by the fireplace slowly reached up to a shelf and pulled a yellowed scroll into his lap.  His son spoke from the table.

"The king has been spending too much time in the wine cellar," he chuckled.  "I'd like to hale him up to the wall personally to look at the seige.  He's not the one who will have to drink..." he winked.

The other man at the table scowled.  "The king has his priorities right," he retorted.  "And you know what he predicted," jerking his eyebrow toward the old man.  Everyone was quiet for a moment.

One of the women turned to look at her father-in-law by the hearth.  "Where is Messiah?" she asked simply.  It sounded like a rhetorical question.  All five of them knew that she considered belief in the director (that is, the belief that the mythical director of the old stories was actually real) to be preposterous.

The old man had never personally met the director.  But he spoke as if he knew him.  "He will come," he replied.  "No doubt about it.  He will come someday."

He heaved a slow, trembling sigh.  "But we will not be ready for him.  He will be despised and rejected when he comes."

The fire crackled.  The director, listening and watching intently from offstage, heard every word. He knew the script by heart.

---

 

Five vultures circled silently overhead.

The director hung gasping on a pole, bloody and naked, in the center of the stage.  Thousands of sweaty actors pressed around him, yelling and jeering and spitting.

"Check out the guy who called himself 'the Director'!  Let's see him direct his way down from there!"

The dying man's thoughts raced.  "Why am I here again?  Why did I cast myself in this role?  Why did I ever step onto the stage?"

He knew why.  He wished he could explain to the mob around him.  But he knew they wouldn't listen.

He thought backwards and forwards about the thousands of years involved in the great drama.  He knew that the scene he was in was the most important part; the turning point of the plot.  Without his role, the actors could only look forward to pain, death, and destruction.  He knew that he was the only actor that could fulfil the role - the Redeemer.  Only he could bring them life.

His mind returned and lingered on his favorite part of the play - the ending.  In his mind's eye he saw the greater drama to follow - after this dark Act had finished, after the great wedding, after he lead his loyal actors to safety from the great war and the subsequent auditorium fire.  In that glorious day, the final act of his play would begin... the one that would never end.

He closed his eyes.  The fragrance of his dying love, unheeded by the screaming mob, quietly infused the whole theatre.

 

---

 
Billions of actors roamed the vast sets.  Only a few still laughed or smiled.  Smoke filled the air.  Explosions and screams rang out repeatedly.  The auditorium trembled as a great fire began to erupt on all sides. The great drama neared the finale of its fearfully magnificent first Act.

One actor sat bleary-eyed at her computer.  She had heard the story of the director's masterpiece countless times.  Yet she knew that it was only a narrative, and all narratives can be countered by other narratives.  She knew that one sage had written "in the last days mockers will come", while another had written "Which is more likely-that a man rose from the dead, or that this testimony is mistaken in some way?"

Her mind was filled with the conflicting opinions of others.  But she knew that she herself had to choose.  If the director was real, she needed to start following his lead in her role.  If he was a myth, she could follow her own wishes for the rest of her life.

The director (very much alive again) watched the girl as she struggled to decide.  He knew what was coming.  His joy knew no bounds.  He glanced at his watch.  Five seconds until his last sheep joined his flock.

The girl decided that the evidence really did point to a real director, regardless of how odious that conclusion was to her.  She had to follow the evidence... the truth was more important than her pride.

With tears of joy the director strode over to her and gave her a hug.  The trumpets sounded.  The stage shook.  The amazing first Act was finished.

Yet the story had just begun.

 

 

(originally written March 2007)

The questions about the Canaanite conquests recorded in the Bible used to bother me a lot, and since one of my friends recently raised the questions with me, I thought I'd post a few thoughts on it.  Below I'll point people to Glenn Miller's article at http://christian-thinktank.com/qamorite.html , and discuss four other thoughts:
1. "Justice" will indeed be done, but not fully until Judgment Day.  Until then only limited/partial justice will be seen here on earth...
2. Fairness - what do we really deserve?  What did the Canaanites really deserve?
3. God is the 'Landlord'... and so He has the right to evict destructive tenants...
4. True love always implies hatred of anything that hurts the beloved.  Besides loving the Israelites in a special way, did not God have some concern/love for all the people that the Canaanite nations were abusing and killing?  Did not God hear their cries?

 

------

The questions include:  How could a "God of love" order the destruction of millions of people?  What about the innocent babies and children?  What right did Israel have to come in and take over other countries' land?  How should one respond when other groups today use same passages to justify their wars of aggression (the Crusades, Jihad, etc)?

If you have time, Glenn Miller's articles (such as http://christian-thinktank.com/qamorite.html ) are excellent and thought-provoking.  He has five to ten related articles about these things, and they're all fascinating.  They have helped me through these questions.  Here's a brief quote from his article:

"Did God actually command Israel to do this, or did they just invent this divine sanction to justify territorial greed or genocidal tendencies?
Why would God use a nation as questionable as the post-Exodus Israelites to deliver His "judgment" on the Canaanites? (Why not just use natural disasters, such as earthquakes [Num 16], volcanic-type phenomena [Gen 19], or plague [2 Kgs 19.35]?)
What about all the innocent people killed in this "holy war"--families, "good" Canaanites, etc.? Even if it is 'okay' for God to execute judgment on nations within history, why didn't He only kill the evil-doers?
Doesn't wholesale slaughter of nations seem a little incompatible with a God of Love and Mercy?

These are NOT simple or light questions (if your heart is in right!), and so we must be VERY thorough in our analysis of the situation. We will need to approach this issue from a number of different sides, to make sure we have seen it clearly and from a large-enough perspective.
We will use the following question-set in analyzing the issue:

Do we have any precedents, paradigm cases, or similar incidents of such orders/actions to annihilate?
Who exactly WERE these people that God wanted Israel to 'exterminate'?
Were there any limits placed upon Israel in this venture, and what was the EXACT content of the orders?
What general principles of God's governance might shed some light on the situation?"

[end quote from Miller's article]

Miller also discusses the "eviction" aspect of God's command to the Israelites ("drive them out"), noting that in most cases the Canaanites were free to convert to Judaism and follow God, or leave the country (and God gave them 40 years to do so! after hearing about the Israelites' leaving Egypt, until they actually crossed the Jordan)... I.e., there were only a few specific battles in which God said "you shall not leave anyone alive".
Here are some more thoughts to consider.

1. Consider what "justice" really means.  According to the Bible, God is just, but the full application of His justice will not be seen until Judgement Day. Here are a few out of many passages:

1 Corinthians 4:5
"Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts; and then each man's praise will come to him from God."

Luke 12:
47"And that slave who knew his master's will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes, 48but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.

Revelation 20:12-13
"And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds."

So in the end, everything will be meted out justly...  Every wicked deed will be appropriately recompensed, and every good deed likewise.

But in THIS life, on this side of Judgement Day, life is obviously "not fair".  Good people get cancer and have their houses destroyed by hurricanes.  Drug barons drive around in fancy luxurious cars while ordering the killing of innocent fathers and mothers and policemen.  Innocent Christians in many countries are thrown in jail and worse simply because they are Christians.

There is SOME general sense in which the righteous 'usually' prosper 'in general', as Psalms and Proverbs state repeatedly, e.g. "The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked, But He blesses the dwelling of the righteous." (Proverbs 3:33)   But as the book of Job poetically explains, many times those who are righteous have HUGE troubles in their lives.

Jesus answered a similar question in John 9:1-3:
"As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth.
And His disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?"
Jesus answered, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him."

Abraham was told that the Canaanites would be given hundreds of years to repent, before the order to destroy them was finally given:  Genesis 15:13-16
"God said to Abram, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.
But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions.
As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age.
Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete."

And the author of Psalm 73 likewise asks why the wicked seem to have it so good... here on earth at least...

   1Surely God is good to Israel,
To those who are pure in heart!
2But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling,
My steps had almost slipped.
3For I was envious of the arrogant
As I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4For there are no pains in their death,
And their body is fat.
5They are not in trouble as other men,
Nor are they plagued like mankind.
6Therefore pride is their necklace;
The garment of violence covers them.
7Their eye bulges from fatness;
The imaginations of their heart run riot.
8They mock and wickedly speak of oppression;
They speak from on high.
9They have set their mouth against the heavens,
And their tongue parades through the earth.
10Therefore his people return to this place,
And waters of abundance are drunk by them.
11They say, "How does God know?
And is there knowledge with the Most High?"
12Behold, these are the wicked;
And always at ease, they have increased in wealth.
13Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure
And washed my hands in innocence;
14For I have been stricken all day long
And chastened every morning.
15If I had said, "I will speak thus,"
Behold, I would have betrayed the generation of Your children.
16When I pondered to understand this,
It was troublesome in my sight
17Until I came into the sanctuary of God;
Then I perceived their end.
18Surely You set them in slippery places;
You cast them down to destruction.
19How they are destroyed in a moment!
They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors!
20Like a dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when aroused, You will despise their form.
In conclusion of this first observation, any "justice" we see on earth is only partial.  Sometimes the wicked are punished, but sometimes they are not... here on earth.   Eventually, at the Judgement Day, everyone will get what they deserve (or better than they deserve, because of Jesus Christ).

As Glenn Miller puts it in his article, "On those very rare occasions when God displays His judgment within human history, it is very sobering and one which we find genuinely disturbing..."

 

2. On "fairness" and "justice", this question seems crucial:   What do we all truly deserve?  

For those of us who honestly see our own heart's wickedness and who believe what the Bible says about the evil of the human heart, the only answer is the Bible's answer (Romans 6:23) -  we all deserve death and hell.

That is, the question about the Canaanite destruction is really not "how could a loving God command that millions of people be killed,"  but "Why would a holy God refrain from immediately destroying people such as the Canaanites or such as ourselves, when we commit such abhorrent sin all the time?"

The latter question doesn't seem as relevant as the former to us sometimes, but it's because we often whitewash our own sins in our minds, and we forget the true horror of them.

What about 'innocent' babies?  Well, although they haven't yet committed many conscious sins, they have the same corrupt soul and 'bent-toward-sinning' that all the rest of us are born with.  It is only a matter of time before their evil hearts cause them to commit specific sins.  As far as I can tell, God would be completely justified in destroying all of us, just as one might destroy a weed ravaging one's garden or a plate of moldy food in one's refrigerator.

But He doesn't...    He waits with extreme patience, and calls us to repentance, and pays the price of our sins HIMSELF through Jesus Christ so that we can be forgiven.
3. "God is the landlord."  That is, God owns the universe, and it seems reasonable that He has the right to evict tenants who don't follow His rules and who abuse His creation.   He could use anything - a flood, a plague, an earthquake... or, in principle, a human army.   God the Landlord can delegate and authorize human agents to be his eviction representatives...

The main difficulty would then seem to be: how do we know that it's really God who's behind some agressive attack?  I think there is actually a smaller number of attacking armies than one might initially think who specifically claim to be acting on God's authority.... and each one's case has to be evaluated individually.  Two common ones might be the Crusades and the current jihadis.  The claim of the Crusades to be on God's authorization would stem back to the Popes and their alleged infallibility.  The claim of the jihadis to be authorized in killing 'infidels' would stem back to Mu ha m mad and his claims about the Qur an.

Essentially the question about the Canaanite battles is closely related to the question of the death penalty and whether it's ever justified.  It seems pretty clear to me that in some cases it is...  Genesis 9:6 - "Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man."
4. True love implies enmity against anything that hurts the beloved.   Related to the previous point, when the Canaanites were sacrificing their children by burning them alive for hundreds of years, or raiding the sick and weak stragglers of the Israelite camp, or ravaging the hearts and bodies of so many within their own nation by their fertility-cult immorality, God was listening.  He is not deaf.  He is "the God who sees" (El-Roi - Genesis 16...)    Anyone who cared about the Canaanite babies and who had the power to do something about it would naturally be expected to do something about it...

Here is some of what the Bible says about the Canaanite practices:  (copied from Glenn Miller's qamorite article... he also cites what secular scholars have found from extrabiblical sources)

The LORD said to Moses, 2 "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: `I am the LORD your God. 3 You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices. 4 You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the LORD your God. 5 Keep my decrees and laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them. I am the LORD.
6 "`No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the LORD.
7 "`Do not dishonor your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; do not have relations with her.
8 "`Do not have sexual relations with your father's wife; that would dishonor your father.
9 "`Do not have sexual relations with your sister, either your father's daughter or your mother's daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere.
10 "`Do not have sexual relations with your son's daughter or your daughter's daughter; that would dishonor you.
11 "`Do not have sexual relations with the daughter of your father's wife, born to your father; she is your sister.
12 "`Do not have sexual relations with your father's sister; she is your father's close relative.
13 "`Do not have sexual relations with your mother's sister, because she is your mother's close relative.
14 "`Do not dishonor your father's brother by approaching his wife to have sexual relations; she is your aunt.
15 "`Do not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law. She is your son's wife; do not have relations with her.
16 "`Do not have sexual relations with your brother's wife; that would dishonor your brother.
17 "`Do not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter. Do not have sexual relations with either her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter; they are her close relatives. That is wickedness.
18 "`Do not take your wife's sister as a rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is living.
19 "`Do not approach a woman to have sexual relations during the uncleanness of her monthly period.
20 "`Do not have sexual relations with your neighbor's wife and defile yourself with her.
21 "`Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
22 "`Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.
23 "`Do not have sexual relations with an animal and defile yourself with it. A woman must not present herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it; that is a perversion.
24 "`Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled. 25 Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. 26 But you must keep my decrees and my laws. The native-born and the aliens living among you must not do any of these detestable things, 27 for all these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you, and the land became defiled. 28 And if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you. 29 "`Everyone who does any of these detestable things -- such persons must be cut off from their people. 30 Keep my requirements and do not follow any of the detestable customs that were practiced before you came and do not defile yourselves with them. I am the LORD your God.'" (Lev 18)

You must not worship the LORD your God in their way, because in worshipping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods. (Deut 12.31)

Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, (Deut 18.10)

There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land; the people engaged in all the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites. (I Kgs 14.24)

So in summary of point #4, yes, it is shocking that God would order the destruction of some specific nations, but it is helpful to understand more about the practices of these nations, to put into context God's commanded destruction of them.

 

For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it; and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions. But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus.  (Galatians 1:13-17)

 

Twenty years ago I was a young boy, lying in bed around 10pm, listening to a radio program called Open Forum as I often did at that time.  Each night the host of the program would answer questions about the Bible from people who called in.  At the end of many conversations, the host would often exhort the callers to make sure that they had received God's gift of salvation from their sins.

I had grown up in a big Baptist church.  I had been a missionary kid in Africa.  My parents had read the Bible to me every night for years.  I knew all the sunday school answers and could ace every Bible quiz.  I was proud of my Bible knowledge.  

I knew that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God".  I knew that "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life" because of the sacrifice Jesus had made for sins.  I knew that it was important for every person in the world to ask Jesus to save them and "come in to their heart", taking up His residence as King.  I knew that if a person disbelieved or rejected Jesus, that person would end up in Hell forever.

I had raised my hand twice before in Vacation Bible Schools, when they told us a prayer to repeat and said "raise your hand if you want to accept Jesus as your Savior".  Afterward they talked to me and told me that if I really meant the prayer, then I was saved.  But I wasn't sure, or didn't fully understand.

But this night, suddenly, the choice was right in front of me and the way forward was clear and exciting.   Asking Jesus to save them was something that everyone needed to do;  I had never done it;  why not do it at that moment?

So I did.  Afterward I immediately got out of bed and wrote down on a piece of paper "I became a Christian at 10:00pm November 29th 1989."  I was happy!   I didn't need to be afraid of death or Hell any more, because I was now a Christian and I was on my way to heaven!  For the first time, it wasn't just "Jesus died for sinners", but "Jesus died for ME."

I now know more.  I know that I understood almost nothing about salvation twenty years ago.  I had no way of knowing how to "count the cost" of following Jesus.  I didn't realize that it was God who was drawing me to Himself.  I had no idea of all the skeptical questions about Christianity which would wrestle in my mind over the next decades.  I had no idea of the depths of sin and evil in my heart. 

But fortunately, God is the one who saved me (and all of us who believe in Him).  I didn't save myself.  He had "set me apart" from eternity before the world was even created, and then at just the right time He "called" me and "opened my heart to believe" in Him.  Since that time He has been preserving, growing, protecting, teaching, disciplining, and wooing me.

I am still happy...  so extremely happy about Jesus Christ!   Thank you Lord Jesus for everything You have done for me, everything You are doing for me, and everything You are currently preparing for our awesome eternal future together with all of your redeemed ones.

 

    How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered!
How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit!
When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away
Through my groaning all day long.
For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah. 

    I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I did not hide;
I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD";
And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah. 

    Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found;
Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him.
You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah. 

    I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;
I will counsel you with My eye upon you.
Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding,
Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check,
Otherwise they will not come near to you.
Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
But he who trusts in the LORD, lovingkindness shall surround him.
Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous ones;
And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.

 

Some thoughts on Lamentations 3.    First, a brief intro.  Then the passage copied and pasted for you to read.   Then some thoughts.  Notice: this is a very long post.   I have kind of a backlog of xanga posts right now... I started this particular post more than a week ago, but haven't had time to finish it until now... and I have a few more things that I wanted to write about but haven't had time to write this week.

-----

Jeremiah was a young man who was called by God to give his nation a message.  He was scared and told God he didn't know how to speak and that he was only a youth.  God told him not to be afraid.

Jeremiah told the inhabitants of Jerusalem to repent, or else God would judge them.  They laughed at him.

Then the Babylonians came and besieged Jerusalem.  Jeremiah told the Jews that they should surrender, for their own good.  Now Jeremiah's neighbors didn't laugh at him anymore.  They called him a traitor.

The king put him in jail, and he was thrown into an empty water pit and almost died by sinking into the mud at the bottom.  He was pulled out just in time by one of his friends.

The Jews sent to the Pharaoh of Egypt for help against the Babylonans, despite Jeremiah's warning (from prison) not to do so.  Their attempt to enlist the Egyptians backfired.  Within a couple months, the Babylonians broke into Jerusalem and horrifically destroyed the city.

Jeremiah was taken with the other captives to Babylon, where he wrote the poetry now known as the book of "Lamentations".   In chapters 1 and 2, he laments specific aspects of the destruction.  In Chapter 3, he gets a little more 'philosophical', drawing some conclusions from what he has learned in his grief.
Lamentations 3, whole chapter

    1 I am the man who has seen affliction
Because of the rod of His wrath.
2He has driven me and made me walk
In darkness and not in light.
3Surely against me He has turned His hand
Repeatedly all the day.
4He has caused my flesh and my skin to waste away,
He has broken my bones.
5He has besieged and encompassed me with bitterness and hardship.
6In dark places He has made me dwell,
Like those who have long been dead.
7He has walled me in so that I cannot go out;
He has made my chain heavy.
8Even when I cry out and call for help,
He shuts out my prayer.
9He has blocked my ways with hewn stone;
He has made my paths crooked.
10He is to me like a bear lying in wait,
Like a lion in secret places.
11He has turned aside my ways and torn me to pieces;
He has made me desolate.
12He bent His bow
And set me as a target for the arrow.
13He made the arrows of His quiver
To enter into my inward parts.
14I have become a laughingstock to all my people,
Their mocking song all the day.
15He has filled me with bitterness,
He has made me drunk with wormwood.
16He has broken my teeth with gravel;
He has made me cower in the dust.
17My soul has been rejected from peace;
I have forgotten happiness.
18So I say, "My strength has perished,
And so has my hope from the LORD."
19Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and bitterness.
20Surely my soul remembers
And is bowed down within me.
21This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.
22The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
23They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
24"The LORD is my portion," says my soul,
"Therefore I have hope in Him."
25The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
To the person who seeks Him.
26It is good that he waits silently
For the salvation of the LORD.
27It is good for a man that he should bear
The yoke in his youth.
28Let him sit alone and be silent
Since He has laid it on him.
29Let him put his mouth in the dust,
Perhaps there is hope.
30Let him give his cheek to the smiter,
Let him be filled with reproach.
31For the Lord will not reject forever,
32For if He causes grief,
Then He will have compassion
According to His abundant lovingkindness.
33For He does not afflict willingly
Or grieve the sons of men.
34To crush under His feet
All the prisoners of the land,
35To deprive a man of justice
In the presence of the Most High,
36To defraud a man in his lawsuit--
Of these things the Lord does not approve.
37Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass,
Unless the Lord has commanded it?
38Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That both good and ill go forth?
39Why should any living mortal, or any man,
Offer complaint in view of his sins?
40Let us examine and probe our ways,
And let us return to the LORD.
41We lift up our heart and hands
Toward God in heaven;
42We have transgressed and rebelled,
You have not pardoned.
43You have covered Yourself with anger
And pursued us;
You have slain and have not spared.
44You have covered Yourself with a cloud
So that no prayer can pass through.
45You have made us mere offscouring and refuse
In the midst of the peoples.
46All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.
47Panic and pitfall have befallen us,
Devastation and destruction;
48My eyes run down with streams of water
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49My eyes pour down unceasingly,
Without stopping,
50Until the LORD looks down
And sees from heaven.
51My eyes bring pain to my soul
Because of all the daughters of my city.
52My enemies without cause
Hunted me down like a bird;
53They have silenced me in the pit
And have placed a stone on me.
54Waters flowed over my head;
I said, "I am cut off!"
55I called on Your name, O LORD,
Out of the lowest pit.
56You have heard my voice,
"Do not hide Your ear from my prayer for relief,
From my cry for help."
57You drew near when I called on You;
You said, "Do not fear!"
58O Lord, You have pleaded my soul's cause;
You have redeemed my life.
59O LORD, You have seen my oppression;
Judge my case.
60You have seen all their vengeance,
All their schemes against me.
61You have heard their reproach, O LORD,
All their schemes against me.
62The lips of my assailants and their whispering
Are against me all day long.
63Look on their sitting and their rising;
I am their mocking song.
64You will recompense them, O LORD,
According to the work of their hands.
65You will give them hardness of heart,
Your curse will be on them.
66You will pursue them in anger and destroy them
From under the heavens of the LORD!

Lamentations 3 again, with interspersed comments

    1 I am the man who has seen affliction
Because of the rod of His wrath.
2He has driven me and made me walk
In darkness and not in light.
3Surely against me He has turned His hand
Repeatedly all the day.
4He has caused my flesh and my skin to waste away,
He has broken my bones.
5He has besieged and encompassed me with bitterness and hardship.
6In dark places He has made me dwell,
Like those who have long been dead.
7He has walled me in so that I cannot go out;
He has made my chain heavy.
8Even when I cry out and call for help,
He shuts out my prayer.
9He has blocked my ways with hewn stone;
He has made my paths crooked.
10He is to me like a bear lying in wait,
Like a lion in secret places.
11He has turned aside my ways and torn me to pieces;
He has made me desolate.
12He bent His bow
And set me as a target for the arrow.
13He made the arrows of His quiver
To enter into my inward parts.
14I have become a laughingstock to all my people,
Their mocking song all the day.
15He has filled me with bitterness,
He has made me drunk with wormwood.
16He has broken my teeth with gravel;
He has made me cower in the dust.
17My soul has been rejected from peace;
I have forgotten happiness.
18So I say, "My strength has perished,
And so has my hope from the LORD."

Jeremiah is here "brutally honest" with his feelings about God in his suffering.  Few places in the Bible are as explicit as this, and even fewer writings of modern American evangelicalism.

Jeremiah emphasizes that it is GOD who has deliberately brought this hardship into his life.  It is GOD who "set me as a target for the arrow".   It didn't just happen.

God, furthermore, "shuts out my prayer".  When Jeremiah asked God for national relief, none came.  Cf. vs 44, 55-56...?  When people asked God to relent on the national calamity, He shut out their prayer.  When Jeremiah asked God for physical deliverance when he was about to die, God answered him.  Yet God doesn't answer all such prayers.  Why the variability?  What principle can be drawn?  Maybe just that God answers some prayers and not others... ?

Why would God allow His own special prophet, the godly man, to suffer in this way?  ...to be mocked by the vulgar people, to experience no peace in his heart, etc?   Why do really bad things happen to God's own people, when they are walking closely with Him in righteousness?
    19Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and bitterness.
20Surely my soul remembers
And is bowed down within me.
21This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.
22The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
23They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
24"The LORD is my portion," says my soul,
"Therefore I have hope in Him."
25The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
To the person who seeks Him.
What was Jeremiah's consolation in the midst of his grief?  Apparently, the belief that EVENTUALLY, God would turn around and bring peace and honor and joy to his life.  The whole Bible echos this theme repeatedly.   However, for most people this reversal is not promised in this life.

On v. 25, cf. Isaiah 40:31/context.

    25The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
To the person who seeks Him.
26It is good that he waits silently
For the salvation of the LORD.
27It is good for a man that he should bear
The yoke in his youth.
28Let him sit alone and be silent
Since He has laid it on him.

"It is good that he waits silently....  what does this mean?  "Let him sit alone and be silent."  Is it better to sit alone, when suffering grief, rather than seek the company of friends?

Cf. Jeremiah 15 -

    15You who know, O LORD,
Remember me, take notice of me,
And take vengeance for me on my persecutors
Do not, in view of Your patience, take me away;
Know that for Your sake I endure reproach.
16Your words were found and I ate them,
And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart;
For I have been called by Your name,
O LORD God of hosts.
17I did not sit in the circle of merrymakers,
Nor did I exult
Because of Your hand upon me I sat alone,
For You filled me with indignation.
18Why has my pain been perpetual
And my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?
Will You indeed be to me like a deceptive stream
With water that is unreliable?

There may well be a place for silent isolated endurance of grief.  But perhaps Jeremiah is talking more about the loneliness that occurs when one is concerned about the things of God, and one's neighbors and acquaintances and even family and church friends don't care about God and His Kingdom purposes.  Why God, says Jeremiah, are you pouring out your fury upon me, when I was the one concerned about following You and about righteousness and about my nation while my acquaintances didn't care and just partied?   They all criticized and mocked me, even though "I was called by Your name" and I deeply loved Your Word.  Why me?
    29Let him put his mouth in the dust,
Perhaps there is hope.
30Let him give his cheek to the smiter,
Let him be filled with reproach.
This seems to be talking about "humbling oneself"... even extremely/excessively...  not clamoring for justice for himself, but 'waiting' for God's vindication...

Cf. Jesus -- "while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously..."  2 Peter 2:23

and Peter's conclusion: "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time..."  1 Peter 5:6

 

Another powerful example of this is David, when fleeing from Absalom.  Here's the story from 2 Samuel 16-

⁵When King David came to Bahurim, behold, there came out from there a man of the family of the house of Saul whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera; he came out cursing continually as he came.
⁶He threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David; and all the people and all the mighty men were at his right hand and at his left.
⁷Thus Shimei said when he cursed, "Get out, get out, you man of bloodshed, and worthless fellow!
⁸"The LORD has returned upon you all the bloodshed of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned; and the LORD has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. And behold, you are taken in your own evil, for you are a man of bloodshed!"
⁹Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, "Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over now and cut off his head."
¹⁰But the king said, "What have I to do with you, O sons of Zeruiah? If he curses, and if the LORD has told him, 'Curse David,' then who shall say, 'Why have you done so?'"
¹¹Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, "Behold, my son who came out from me seeks my life; how much more now this Benjamite? Let him alone and let him curse, for the LORD has told him.
¹²"Perhaps the LORD will look on my affliction and return good to me instead of his cursing this day."
¹³So David and his men went on the way; and Shimei went along on the hillside parallel with him and as he went he cursed and cast stones and threw dust at him.

 

False accusations.....   how extremely extremely painful they can be.   I have experienced them myself, and several of my friends have also.

Was David "a man of bloodshed" as Shimei said?  Was God punishing David because of his treatment of Saul's family, or because David was somehow 'in cahoots' with violent deeds of his predecessor Saul?  Was David a usurper of Saul's crown, and now God was booting him out because of his past?

There are so many ways David could have responded.  He could have spoken about his extreme respect for his father-in-law Saul, and how he refrained from killing him many times when all his friends were urging him to kill him, and when Saul's death would have made life a lot safer and more pleasant for David.  He could have quoted one of his own psalms about how he habitually walked in integrity and righteousness and honesty before God (confessing and forsaking sins as soon as possible).  He could have quoted the story of Job to illustrate that personal calamity does NOT necessarily mean that the person is being judged for some particular sin.  He could have reminded Shimei that Samuel had personally annointed David king in Saul's place, so that David was indeed God's approved/rightful king.

But David responded instead in complete humility.   "If he curses, and if the LORD has told him, 'Curse David,' then who shall say, 'Why have you done so?'" ...Let him alone and let him curse, for the LORD has told him."

What is going on here?  What is David cognizant of that Abishai was overlooking?

His own sin.    The sins he really DID commit.

That is to say ---  every time someone accuses you falsely of something, you have a choice:  You can either get defensive and upset and try to vindicate yourself, or you take the accusation quietly and use it as an opportunity to personally repent of OTHER sins in your life.  Every false accusation people make against you is an opportunity for you to walk more closely with God!   Wow.

Specifically, in David's case, although he was innocent in Saul's case, he was spectacularly guilty in the case of Bathsheba.  He really could legitimately be labeled "a man of bloodshed", after having slept with Bathsheba and then having killed Uriah by proxy so that he could marry Bathsheba.   After the debacle, Nathan had said the following to him from God:  'Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.'  This had indeed come true - his son Amnon had raped his half sister Tamar, then his other son Absalom had killed Amnon in revenge, and now Absalom had just staged a revolution and deposed him from being king.   David was mindful of his own sin, and so he responded in humility to the criticism.....    essentially, "Yes, I am indeed a very wicked person.  Probably far more wicked than you're even aware of.  Although the specific thing you're accusing me of is incorrect, I have so much other evil in my past and present that it's not worth trying to defend myself here.  The One I am putting all my hope in is God.  He is the One who has forgiven all of my sin through the coming Lamb-of-God-who-takes-away-the-sins-of-the-world (Psalm 32, 51), and He is the One who will vindicate me in this matter you're falsely accusing me of."

Wow.  What an example...  this is exactly what Jeremiah is talking about, albeit back and forth between 'personal' and 'national' senses, in Lamentations 3 --

    25The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
To the person who seeks Him.
26It is good that he waits silently
For the salvation of the LORD.
27It is good for a man that he should bear
The yoke in his youth.
28Let him sit alone and be silent
Since He has laid it on him.
29Let him put his mouth in the dust,
Perhaps there is hope.
30Let him give his cheek to the smiter,
Let him be filled with reproach.
...
39Why should any living mortal, or any man,
Offer complaint in view of his sins?
40Let us examine and probe our ways,
And let us return to the LORD.
41We lift up our heart and hands
Toward God in heaven;
42We have transgressed and rebelled...
If it ever happens to you that circumstances shatter your life, and then on top of everything some of your friends start to point fingers at you and say that it happened because of such and such a sin in your life (while you know that their remarks are not accurate), and when the gossip causes you to lose friendships and other things that you consider precious, use that as an opportunity to "examine and probe your ways, and return to the Lord."

Sure you may be innocent in that matter that they're falsely accusing you of, but you surely have other sins in your life that need to end!   Sure the Lord is not crushing you in punishment for those sins, but He is graciously crushing you in discipline... 

"He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness." Hebrews 12:10

"...when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world." 1 Corinthians 11:32
   31For the Lord will not reject forever,
32For if He causes grief,
Then He will have compassion
According to His abundant lovingkindness. 

Huge, awesome promise here!   Again, nowhere does it say that this reversal will happen in THIS life, on THIS side of death.    But EVENTUALLY, it will happen........

    33For He does not afflict willingly
Or grieve the sons of men.
34To crush under His feet
All the prisoners of the land,
35To deprive a man of justice
In the presence of the Most High,
36To defraud a man in his lawsuit--
Of these things the Lord does not approve. 

Well, why do these things happen then????

If God is good and kind so that He does not "approve" these things, and if God is big enough and powerful enough to put a stop to them right NOW, then why doesn't He?

...the fact that evil exists implies either that God doesn't exist (as the atheists argue), OR... that He has some bigger and better plan, such that although the short term brush strokes are heartbreaking (to Himself as well as to us and others), the complete painting will be so awesomely beautiful as to be worth every single stroke.... such that not a single item of earthly life will be desired to have occurred differently, when seen from the perspective of eternity.... such that we might, in fact, indeed be living in 'the best of all possible worlds'.

Lamentations 3:33 is an incredibly important verse.  Is this true?  The implications are huge.

What kind of a Father would send His Son on a mission, knowing that His Son would end up being crucified?

I highly recommend this article "Are there two wills in God?" by John Piper and the book "God's Greater Glory" by Bruce Ware to investigate this point more fully..... how God "unwillingly wills" evil to occur, in a sovereignly-permissive way (yet with 100% meticulous ordained sovereign control, cf. 2 Chronicles 18:19?!?!?!?!)  while in contrast "willingly wills" good to occur... "   Literally in Lam. 3:33 "from-His-heart", as "He does not afflict from-His-heart".... He reluctantly allows evil acts to be performed, ravaging sicknesses to kill, earthquakes, tornados, car crashes, etc (and perfectly using each 'bad' event for overall good, Genesis 50:20), while joyfully "from-His-heart" "willingly" pours out love upon His adopted children "according to His abundant lovingkindness"........

 

More: look at the "spectrum texts":

    37Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass,
Unless the Lord has commanded it?
38Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That both good and ill go forth? 

Contrary to the sunday-schoolish notion of God as a jolly old guy who chuckles when people have good harvests and get married but wrings His hands and disowns responsibility for wars and tsunamis,  the Biblical God is a robust, energetic, majestic Lion of a Personage who roars with laughter when the tiny squeaking voice of the wicked shrills self-exalting words.... the weeping-and-laughing King who BOASTS repeatedly to His dearly loved people of His sovereign omnipotence....

    "I am the LORD, and there is no other;
Besides Me there is no God
I will gird you, though you have not known Me;
That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun
That there is no one besides Me.
I am the LORD, and there is no other,
The One forming light and creating darkness,
Causing well-being and creating calamity;
I am the LORD who does all these."    (Isaiah 45:5-7)

One implication of Lam 3:37 is that any human authority that exists has been established by God... Romans 13:1...  As Jesus said to Pilate - "You would have no authority over me unless it had been given to you from above."   This can give us peace if/when the government (or other authorities) abuses its authority.... God sees... He doesn't miss anything...
    39Why should any living mortal, or any man,
Offer complaint in view of his sins?
40Let us examine and probe our ways,
And let us return to the LORD.
41We lift up our heart and hands
Toward God in heaven;
42We have transgressed and rebelled,
You have not pardoned.
43You have covered Yourself with anger
And pursued us;
You have slain and have not spared.
44You have covered Yourself with a cloud
So that no prayer can pass through.
45You have made us mere offscouring and refuse
In the midst of the peoples.
46All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.
47Panic and pitfall have befallen us,
Devastation and destruction;
48My eyes run down with streams of water
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
...
51My eyes bring pain to my soul
Because of all the daughters of my city. 

Jeremiah repents for the sin of his people...  He admits that God's judgment against them was justified... but he still cries over the awfulness of it all...

 

    49My eyes pour down unceasingly,
Without stopping,
50Until the LORD looks down
And sees from heaven.

What is Jeremiah saying here?  I don't quite understand what he's praying for.   Any thoughts?

 
    52My enemies without cause
Hunted me down like a bird;
53They have silenced me in the pit
And have placed a stone on me.
54Waters flowed over my head;
I said, "I am cut off!"
55I called on Your name, O LORD,
Out of the lowest pit.
56You have heard my voice,
"Do not hide Your ear from my prayer for relief,
From my cry for help."
57You drew near when I called on You;
You said, "Do not fear!"
58O Lord, You have pleaded my soul's cause;
You have redeemed my life. 

His own story, in poetic form... read the prose here...

God sometimes gives these awesome direct deliverances.    But sometimes He doesn't, I think (Hebrews 11)..... am I right or wrong about this?    Anyway, either way He will be glorified... and in the END, He will certainly 'deliver' all His servants.... just not all of them here in this life.....

 
    59O LORD, You have seen my oppression;
Judge my case.
60You have seen all their vengeance,
All their schemes against me.

 

Again-- trusting in God for vindication, not in human justice...   God is the one who sees all and will reveal all secrets at the Judgment Day... including the thoughts and motives of every man's heart....

 
    61You have heard their reproach, O LORD,
All their schemes against me.
62The lips of my assailants and their whispering
Are against me all day long.
63Look on their sitting and their rising;
I am their mocking song.
64You will recompense them, O LORD,
According to the work of their hands.
65You will give them hardness of heart,
Your curse will be on them.
66You will pursue them in anger and destroy them
From under the heavens of the LORD!

 

"Give them hardness of heart"....    Wow.... what a terrible curse to ask for someone!!    To what extent is it right/good/proper/correct for us to pray imprecatory curses of this sort upon our enemies ( / "the enemies of the Lord") ?

 

 

In summary, the verse that could summarize the whole chapter, the whole book and in some sense (for those who have believed in Christ Jesus), the whole Bible:

"The LORD is my portion," says my soul,
"Therefore I have hope in Him."