“Now while the
children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on
the Sabbath day. And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses
and Aaron and to the whole assembly … and Jehovah said to Moses, ‘The man shall
surely be put to death; the whole assembly shall stone him with stones outside
the camp.’ So the whole assembly brought him outside the camp and stoned him to
death with stones, just as Jehovah had commanded Moses.” Numbers 15:32-33,
35-36.
If someone were to ask you to name a few of God’s
characteristics, I would wager that “loving, kind, and compassionate” would be
near the top of any list. “Patient” would be another, and probably “gracious”
as well. Powerful, merciful, gentle- these are traits we feel good about,
right? They’re those that give us some type of “nice, warm, fuzzy feeling” about
God.
But what happens when we continue listing his traits and
come to “vengeful, jealous, and wrathful?” What do we say when we read stories
like the one above, or verses like Nahum 1:2? “Jehovah is a jealous God and One who avenges; Jehovah avenges and is
full of wrath; Jehovah takes vengeance on His adversaries, and reserves wrath
for His enemies.” If I may, I’d say this is when we begin to ignore or
simply “forget” about that side of God. People don’t like these characteristics
as much, and so they are pushed aside, never really talked about, and sometimes
even denied by the notion that God is “nice,” and a nice God couldn't be full
of wrath.
I’m no expert, but I've never seen a verse in the bible that describes God as nice.
I've been consumed by reading much of the Old Testament
these past few months, and I have been engrossed by the tingle of contradiction
my heart feels when I see God’s wrath displayed and wonder, “How is this
loving?” This is our dilemma, isn't it? We know that God is love, and so when we read or see Him do something that seems
unloving, we are confused by His actions and character and struggle to
understand how two such things- wrath and love- can coexist. Many times I
believe this causes us to write off the more undesirable aspect of God’s
character as if it weren't a part of Him, and just run back to the truth that
God is love.
In no way do I think it is bad to cling to such truth, but I
do think such a mindset has disabled us from understanding the entirety of who
God is. While we’ll never be able to fully comprehend His greatness on this
side of heaven, we’re not helping ourselves any by ignoring a portion of His
character. God is the epitome of
love, but I think we misunderstand what this means. Part of the problem is that
we are convinced loving someone means making them feel good all the time, which
right away keeps us from understanding what God does.
I have come across
countless stories in the Old Testament where I've seen God’s judgment and jealousy, and there indeed were a few that have triggered my questioning and confusion.
I wondered why, at times, He seemed so quick to anger if He is patient. I
contemplated why, for something I thought insignificant, He seemed graceless if
He is gracious. I had a host of conundrums regarding God’s character as I read,
but one day God told me I was missing the whole point.
The truth is: I’m not
going to understand God- not fully, anyway. I’m just not. God is way too great
for my mind to fathom, and His ways are not always going to make perfect sense
to me. If I become obsessed with my questioning, I miss out on the opportunity
to know Him more.
Reading the bible isn't about enabling yourself to predict
every move God is going to make or to wholly comprehend everything God does. In
fact, the more I read the less I feel capable of doing so (God is a very complex being). I began picking up
the Old Testament not for such wisdom, but so that I could get to know God better
and see more of His character revealed to me- it’s not about answering all the
questions.
So yes, sometimes they can stir in me more questions than
answers, but I love delving into stories about God’s wrath and judgment. It’s
not because I’m sadistic and enjoy watching people perish (because I’m
certainly not and I certainly don’t) but because I enjoy seeing more of God,
and when I read the bible that’s exactly what I see.
The thing about God’s wrath is that it paints a clear
picture about what God hates, and how deeply He hates it. I don’t think these
stories were meant to scare me or fearfully preoccupy my mind, but rather to
humble me, instruct me, and display to me that God isn't indifferent. He cares,
and He cares a lot. They were meant
to illustrate that God doesn't just dislike sin- He hates it- and we should treat the sin in our own lives with the
same type of disdain. That’s not to say we should be stoning people (please don’t
do that) but to look at our own sin and be just as hateful and intolerant
toward it.
When I think about the man who was killed for picking up
sticks on the Sabbath, I don’t see an irrational or impatient God; I see a God
who hates pride and disobedience. I mean, really think about it: the man was
picking up sticks. How important
could that have possibly been? Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't, but either way I’m
sure the man was aware of the law of the Sabbath, and yet he purposefully
disobeyed it. The way I see it, he must have been too disobedient to listen to
what God said, or too prideful to care what God said. Either way, God didn't appreciate it.
More than any matter-of-fact verse could've shown, this simple
story revealed to me how deeply God hates pride and disobedience, and how seriously
God means what He says. When He told them not to do any work on the Sabbath, He wasn't kidding (as you can see). This could
be intimidating I suppose, sure, but I think it’s totally awesome.
Maybe it’s
because I grew up thinking God was a pacifistic being who didn't care, and I
love seeing His passion. Maybe it’s because it incites within me a strong
intolerance and hatred for my own pride and disobedience- it teaches me to hate
what God hates. Maybe it’s because I recognize how miserably deep in sin I
live, and yet I know how God pursues me and loves me. When I read these stories
and see how much He hates sin, it says a lot about how much He loves me.
Whichever it may be, ultimately I see more of God when I
read through these stories, and I want to know Him. At the end of the day, I
want to know all of God, not just the
“nice, warm, fuzzy” parts of Him.
The great thing to remember, too, is this: God's wrath doesn't make Him any less loving, nor does His love make Him any less wrathful.We may not understand how seemingly contradictory traits can coexist and work together, but that doesn't make God any less of either. He is who He is, period.
