Category: Theology

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Theology

Isaiah 37 God’s sovereignty over evil

Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, has beseiged Jerusalem during the days of King Hezekiah.  The situation is hopeless.  Sennacherib and his military commander, the Rabshakeh, are mocking the Jews and their God.  This has always been one of my favorite Bible stories because it is a hopeless situation.  The Jews are unable to do anything to answer the mockery.  They are completely powerless and unable to deliver themselves, and yet the end of the story is 185,000 Assyrian soldiers being struck down by God in a single night and the king of Assyria slinking back to where came from, humiliated and defeated, ultimately struck down by his own sons exactly as God declared through his prophet in Isaiah 37:7.

Part of God’s answer to Hezekiah’s prayer for deliverance is the following,

   ““ ‘Have you not heard that I determined it long ago? I planned from days of old what now I bring to pass, that you should make fortified cities crash into heaps of ruins, while their inhabitants, shorn of strength, are dismayed and confounded, and have become like plants of the field and like tender grass, like grass on the housetops, blighted before it is grown. “ ‘I know your sitting down and your going out and coming in, and your raging against me. Because you have raged against me and your complacency has come to my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will turn you back on the way by which you came.’” (Isaiah 37:26–29, ESV)

I think it is glorious that in God’s words against the king of Assyria here, he doesn’t just say that he is greater than the king of Assyria, and he doesn’t just say that his power is greater.  He says that everything the king of Assyria is boasting of is actually only what he, God, has brought to pass!  The king of Assyria boasts of his conquests, and God says, “I planned this!  I determined it long ago!”  God is the one who caused the king of Assyria to “make fortified cities crash into heaps of ruins.”

Because the king of Assyria rages in pride against God (note that “complacency” in the ESV is “arrogance” in NASB and “insolence” in NIV) God declares that he will drag him away with a hook in his nose!  What a picture!  A “bit in your mouth” pictures a man guiding a horse.  In the same way, God directs every motion of this wicked king in accordance with his eternal plans (v. 26).

Surely this truth of God’s sovereignty over Sennacherib can be extrapolated and applied to his sovereignty over every human and spiritual power, from unjust governments and forces in the world today to the power of Satan himself.  Through all of this evil, God is “bringing to pass” what he “determined long ago.”

Categories
Bible Study Theology

Psalm 5 Does God really hate evildoers?

This is a psalm that challenges our paradigm of how we often view the world.  Are we ready to reckon with the fact that according to Psalm 5:5, God “hates all evildoers”?

For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. You destroy those who speak lies; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. (Psalm 5:4-6)

What in the world does this mean?  How are we to understand this?  What are the implications of this for our relationship with others?

The first thing we should say is that according to many, many other scriptures, this includes all of us.  Just consider Romans 3:10-20.  We are all evildoers.  We are all God’s enemies.  Therefore, the only way that we can “enter God’s house” is through the “abundance of his steadfast love”.  The psalm goes on to say:

But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you. Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me (Psalm 5:7-8).

As the psalm continues, in vs. 9-10, we see David’s expression of the paradigm given in vs. 4-6.  David does not desire that those whom God abhors be absolved of their guilt.  He actually requests that God would “make them bear their guilt.”  He asks God to “cast them out” because of their rebellion.

For there is no truth in their mouth; their inmost self is destruction; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue. Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled against you (Psalm 5:9-10)

What are we to make of these verses?  How should we pray this same psalm?  It is the Word of God!  Shall we overlook it and just conclude that to pray in such a manner is incomprehensible to us?  Actually, I think that might be a good way to respond.  Let me explain:

If we have trouble praying according to a certain scripture because it seems in our minds to contradict other biblical truths, then we should be careful not to discard those other truths in favor of the scripture we are seeking to follow.  If we cannot pray from a pure heart with no doubts asking God to “cast out” evildoers, then we should refrain and simply ask God to give us insight into what he is revealing of himself here.

That said, here is my best understanding of how we  can reconcile these strong verses with those verses that talk about God’s love for sinners and his lack of pleasure in killing the wicked (Ezekiel 18:32; 33:11).  What we are asking God to do is to not forgive sin where there is no repentance from that sin (see also Psalm 7:12).    This is why he says, “let all who take refuge in you rejoice…”

But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you. For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover him with favor as with a shield (Psalm 5:11-12).

David asks for salvation, joy, protection, love, blessing, and favor for ALL who take refuge in the Lord.  Our prayers for evildoers, then, should be that God would graciously bring them to repentance.  We should pray that God would give them a heart that flees to him for refuge.  May God give my non-believing friends a heart that loves his name and exults in Christ Jesus.

Only when we let verses 4-6 sink in to our hearts can we begin to understand the depths of God’s love and grace.

Categories
Theology

Mark 14:12 Where would you have us go?

Mark 14:12 (ESV)

And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” (Mark 14:12 ESV)

The disciples’ question to Jesus points to an important principle of how we should serve the Lord.  They could have come to Jesus and said, “Lord, we know how important the Passover is to you, and that you would want to eat it, and so we have served you by going and finding a place where we can all gather and eat it.  Everything has been prepared, Lord.  Aren’t you pleased that we did this for you?”

Instead, they say, “Where would you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?”  They are ready to serve their Lord.  They are ready to do the hard work of preparation themselves, but rather than doing what seems best to them, they ask their Lord for instruction.

We should serve Christ in the same way.  How easily we jump into all kinds of good activities, without first asking the Lord, “Where will you  have us go…?”  The foundation of all our service should be obedience to the Master who will guide us into his service according to his wisdom and eternal plan.