"And it came to pass, as Sennacherib was worshiping in the house of...his god, that...his sons smote him with the sword..." Isaiah 37:38
God did not merely send the Assyrians on their merry way. That might have been enough for the average deity, but not for God. It seems that the Lord of hosts cannot help but put an exclamation point on the whole affair. Not only was Sennacherib turned back, but he also was killed; not only killed, but also killed in the house of his god, showing his deity to be impotent (the exact same charge that he leveled against God); not only in the house of his god, but also by the hand of his own children. If all that is not an exclamation point, I do not know what is.
The delicious irony of the situation is more proof that God is not merely a machine, some cosmic thought process moving everything with cold and calculating mathematical precision. One could almost swear that you were dealing with a writer, or at least a poet. He seems to revel in grand monologues, near escapes, romantic rescues, and ironic finishes. He cannot simply enter the formula, press the buttons, and let things fall as they fall; He has to put in a little twist, a little touch, a little of Himself in the process. The "fingerprints" of God are never some sort of authorization signature, as though God were corporate manager, and the universe a well-oiled machine and business. His fingerprints reveal something like a playwright with a play: it is littered with dramatic crescendos and ironic punchlines. One feels like there should have been a comedic drum roll after verse 38 (ta ta, dum!). In addition, one feels (and can wonder at the idea) that verse 38 not only reveals God's judgment and faithfulness, but also, in some sense, His mirth as well.
"You who laughs at the vain things of this world,
You who sings with the morning stars,
And dances in eternal communion,
Take me into Your Mirth and Joy..."
-Jon Vowell
God did not merely send the Assyrians on their merry way. That might have been enough for the average deity, but not for God. It seems that the Lord of hosts cannot help but put an exclamation point on the whole affair. Not only was Sennacherib turned back, but he also was killed; not only killed, but also killed in the house of his god, showing his deity to be impotent (the exact same charge that he leveled against God); not only in the house of his god, but also by the hand of his own children. If all that is not an exclamation point, I do not know what is.
The delicious irony of the situation is more proof that God is not merely a machine, some cosmic thought process moving everything with cold and calculating mathematical precision. One could almost swear that you were dealing with a writer, or at least a poet. He seems to revel in grand monologues, near escapes, romantic rescues, and ironic finishes. He cannot simply enter the formula, press the buttons, and let things fall as they fall; He has to put in a little twist, a little touch, a little of Himself in the process. The "fingerprints" of God are never some sort of authorization signature, as though God were corporate manager, and the universe a well-oiled machine and business. His fingerprints reveal something like a playwright with a play: it is littered with dramatic crescendos and ironic punchlines. One feels like there should have been a comedic drum roll after verse 38 (ta ta, dum!). In addition, one feels (and can wonder at the idea) that verse 38 not only reveals God's judgment and faithfulness, but also, in some sense, His mirth as well.
"You who laughs at the vain things of this world,
You who sings with the morning stars,
And dances in eternal communion,
Take me into Your Mirth and Joy..."
-Jon Vowell
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