From
booty won in battles they dedicated gifts for the maintenance of the house of
the LORD.
This is an interesting
verse that causes me to ponder. My first thought is: How would God feel about
the spoils of war contributing to the upkeep of His holy house? How would God
feel about His people waging war? Then I’m faced with the contra thought that
God may even have sent His people into battle. Indeed, the annals of the Old
Testament would have us believe that God sent His chosen ones into battle many
times. And there are times when hundreds of thousands of casualties occurred.
There are other accounts of God appeasing His wrath by annihilating great
numbers of His own people when these same appear to be in rebellion or
disobedience.
All of this is
apparently contradicted in the New Testament with Jesus’ message of peace and
grace.
So, what’s
going on? Do we follow a schizophrenic God? Despite these seeming
contradictions, I don’t think so! In all of this I see the pursuit of
righteousness, and God’s working to restore fallen mankind to a state of
holiness. Jesus advocated a way of openness. We do wrong and we know that we
have done so! The way, then, is to confess our faults and seek restoration by
our holy yet forgiving God.
To me, this is
eminently preferable to hiding my sin and trying to get away with it, only to
be shot down by an angry God.
Almighty God,
I do not understand You. I don’t think it pleased You
in any way to annihilate so many. But this is Your business not mine.
I come to You as a sinner. Some sins I am most
conscious of. In other areas I may be unaware of my failings. I lay all my sins
before You, both known and unknown, and I humbly seek forgiveness, in Jesus’
name. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment