"Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah: I will water thee with my tears, O Hesbon, and Elealeh: for the shouting for thy summer fruits and for thy harvest is fallen." Isaiah 16:9
The people who throw self-righteous fits about Old Testament accounts of genocide and judgment have a very childish view of both God and the world. God is not vindictive; He is no sadist. Destruction and misery are not pleasures for Him (see Ezekiel 33:11). Likewise, the world is not "just fine, thank you" and needs God to leave it alone. This world has been spoiled by Sin, and is continually further corrupted by those beings whom Sin has devoured whole and become their only pleasure. Destruction is not God's pleasure; redemption is (Luke 15:4-10). Destruction, however, is the only way to deal with and remove that which is corrupted and refuses to be made whole, for destruction is the only end for Sin (Romans 6:23a).
Too many people look at the Old Testament and see only the wrath of God. Very few see the tears of God, how it pains Him to see His good world spoiled, and how it pains Him to have to cut the deadness out so as to help that which is corrupted become whole and keep that which is pure undefiled.
In addition, we must never forget that the greatest destruction unleashed on Sin fell on God Himself in the person of Jesus Christ. No matter what God dishes out, let us not say that He never took His own medicine.
The people who throw self-righteous fits about Old Testament accounts of genocide and judgment have a very childish view of both God and the world. God is not vindictive; He is no sadist. Destruction and misery are not pleasures for Him (see Ezekiel 33:11). Likewise, the world is not "just fine, thank you" and needs God to leave it alone. This world has been spoiled by Sin, and is continually further corrupted by those beings whom Sin has devoured whole and become their only pleasure. Destruction is not God's pleasure; redemption is (Luke 15:4-10). Destruction, however, is the only way to deal with and remove that which is corrupted and refuses to be made whole, for destruction is the only end for Sin (Romans 6:23a).
Too many people look at the Old Testament and see only the wrath of God. Very few see the tears of God, how it pains Him to see His good world spoiled, and how it pains Him to have to cut the deadness out so as to help that which is corrupted become whole and keep that which is pure undefiled.
In addition, we must never forget that the greatest destruction unleashed on Sin fell on God Himself in the person of Jesus Christ. No matter what God dishes out, let us not say that He never took His own medicine.
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