88. GOD CANNOT DESTROY

Dear Grandma Donna: As John was reading through his Bible for the first time, he was shocked at the story of the worldwide flood and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. He read about the plagues that were rained down upon Egypt, and the command to the Israelites to destroy the Amalekites including all their little ones. It was too much. The man said he could neither love nor serve a God who could manifest such cruelty. So my question is, “How can we reconcile our witness that ‘God is love’ with these stories that present a God who kills the disobedient?” Love, Savana

Dear Savana: The problem you have presented is one of the reasons the Son of God came to this earth—namely, to correct the lies being told about the Father’s character. Since the beginning of sin in our world, many have seen God as an angry, vengeful being who pours fire down on the heads of sinners.

The Savior, with His gentle, loving, kind, forgiving, humble, patient character came to show us what the Father is like. Jesus never once retaliated against His enemies. And He said, “He who has seen Me hath seen the Father.” From this we know that any view of God the Father, which in any way differs from the ways of Christ is to be discarded as error.

Now let’s look at an Old Testament story that clearly demonstrates how we must search for understanding of God’s character as we read the Word. God called Moses to go to Egypt to deliver His people. Moses and Aaron go in before the king to demand the release of the Israelites, Pharaoh’s flat refusal followed by ten devastating plagues, changes the king’s mind and he gladly sends them out.

A surface reading of this story gives a false picture of our Heavenly Father. Contrast it with powerful criminal organizations in big cities. They ask specific payments from a certain businessman. The man refuses, whereupon they hit him with a vengeance. They blow up his car, smash his shop windows, and hit him again and again until he is finally beaten into submission.

The witness of Jesus proves that the Father’s behavior in Egypt could not have been like the criminals in big cities. Another view of God’s actions must be found—a view that is strictly Scriptural and in perfect harmony with the witness of the Son of God.  

Through the life of Joseph, the eyes of the Egyptians had been opened to behold the love and power of God working for their salvation. The mighty ruler had obeyed God’s instructions given through the young man, and Egypt became the most powerful nation on earth. Prosperity brought apostasy, and soon God was forgotten. Year after year, despite the love and care of God, the nation slipped further and further from Him. By so doing, it was moving closer and still closer to the point where God would be utterly rejected and forced to lay down His control of the mighty powers of nature surrounding it, thus leaving it to its fate. What God desired to convey to the king was this:

“Pharaoh, mighty king of Egypt, despite the increasing apostasy which has marked you and your subjects, the rod of power has still been in My hand and under My control. I now plead with you to repent of your backsliding. Let the Israelites go. I do not wish to see you shattered and destroyed by the fearful suffering you are about to bring upon yourself and your people. If you refuse to repent, the last controlling grip I have on these powers will pass out of My hands and they will become elements of terrible destruction.

During the falling of the plagues, God yearningly, and lovingly, kept the door of mercy open. He was ever ready and willing to retake control of the forces afflicting the Egyptians. But He could do this only if they repented and gave the work back into His hands. Pharaoh, compelled to recognize that neither he nor his magicians had any power to control those elements of destruction, took advantage of the character of God. When the terrible pressure was upon them, Pharaoh made great promises to God and pleaded with Him through Moses to take the plague away. In response, God reached down and took up the serpent by the tail, whereupon, it immediately became a rod again. As soon as the trouble passed, Pharaoh’s confidence returned and he forgot his promises to God.

When the pressure was upon Pharaoh, he appeared to repent, but when it was lifted, he showed that there had been no genuine putting away of sin. Each such prevarication had an adverse effect on his mind and character, significantly hardening his heart and thus making him less and less capable of surrendering to God. This, in turn, separated God from control of the forces surrounding the nation, with the result that a fresh plague burst upon them. Finally, with the tenth scourge, when the first-born lay dead, the king was so broken, and his land so shattered that he had no further power to hold the Israelites.

But not one of those afflictions befell them because God had control of the chastising elements. It was only when the control had passed out of His hands, that they could and did come. To confirm beyond doubt the veracity of these Old Testament witnesses, Christ came to give a personal declaration and demonstration of His Father’s character and methods. His persecutors related to Him exactly as Pharaoh did to God, and Christ responded precisely as His Father had done.

They reviled Him, taunted Him, scourged Him, spat on Him, loaded a cruel cross on His back and hung Him upon it. Yet there is no trace of any spirit of retaliation. Christ did not reach out to grasp the weapons of power to control and direct them in withering destruction upon His foes as He easily might have done. His only response was to cry out with unutterable love and pity, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34

God has committed Himself never to solve problems by the use of force. Therefore, the timing for the Israelites’ release would be determined, not by God’s own personal choice, but by the effects of the Egyptians’ deepening apostasy. This brought about a separation from God which released destructive powers upon them until they had destroyed their capacity to hold their slaves. Then and only then, could the Israelites go free.

There are many Scriptures that show that the wrath of God is Him giving up on His people:

(“Then My anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they shall be devoured . . .” (Deuteronomy 31:17).

“ . . . The Lord is with you, while ye be with Him; and if ye seek Him, He will be found of you; but if ye forsake Him, He will forsake you” (2 Chronicles 15:2).

“So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels. Oh that My people had hearkened unto Me, and Israel had walked in My ways!” (Psalm 81:12-13).

May this explanation of the Israelites being set free from Egyptian slavery be an inspiration to each of us to study every Scripture in light of the life of our Savior. As we see the immeasurable love of both our Heavenly Father and His Son, we will be drawn to love Them more and to pledge every energy of our lives to tell the world about Them.  

TOMATO LENTIL SOUP

8 oz dry lentils

4 c water

1 medium onion chopped

3 potatoes cubed

2-3 carrots sliced

1 stalk celery sliced

1 bay leaf

2 t basil

1 t oregano

2 garlic cloves minced

2 c tomatoes

2 c tomato sauce

1/2 c chopped spinach

Salt to taste

Rinse lentils and place in a pot with water, onions, potatoes, carrots and seasonings. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer covered 45 minutes to 1 hour until lentils are soft and vegetables are tender. Add spinach and simmer until done.