Saturday, February 20, 2010
What if the desert was different?
My study in trusting God took me to Deuteronomy 9 today and for the second time I’ve come to a passage where Moses is reminding the people that he threw himself down on the ground before the Lord and begged him to save them from their wicked ways. In fact, Moses didn’t just ask God to save them, he pleaded with God that if he didn’t save them, his very own image would have been tarnished among the nations. “People will say that you brought them out of Egypt just to kill them,” etc, etc. He isn’t the only guy to use this either… so did Isaiah and others. They always reminded God that his reputation in world opinion was on the line when it came to Israel.
It made me wonder though… what if God didn’t listen and the desert was different?
The Israelites never made it to the promised land.
We know from scripture that God had a purpose for the Israelites. They were to be his chosen people and from them he would deliver The Christ who would complete his plan to reconcile all men to himself, correcting the sin of Adam and saving man by his own arm. In their lives he would demonstrate his character, reveal himself to the world and give us both his written instruction, but also a practical demonstration of who he is as our creator.
Thank God he didn’t give up on them. What would that have said about God’s character? I tremble at that thought. But if you listen to many hard-core fundamentalists Christian preachers today, you would think that they would have rather God eliminate the Israelites and start over. The choice is clear among them – punishment for sin is more important than grace given to a woeful and broken heart.
Had God not kept his promise to Isreal, had he not forgiven their sin and carried them on, the greatest piece of his character would have been broken – unconditional love. The Israelites would have died in the desert and God would have chosen a new people to bring about his Christ. There would be no Nation of Israel today, Judaism would have been a lost religion and Bethlehem might have been Calcutta or some other ancient city. And the lesson learned would not be God’s grace, but that God had chosen a people, they rejected him and God wiped them off the face of the Earth.
The very nature of God would be changed.
I’m so thankful for a God who sticks by his people, his children, even when they are woefully wrong and desperately in need of forgiveness and love. Because when we need it, and we know we need it, he’s right there waiting to pour it out on us. That to me, is the miracle of the desert.
My study in trusting God took me to Deuteronomy 9 today and for the second time I’ve come to a passage where Moses is reminding the people that he threw himself down on the ground before the Lord and begged him to save them from their wicked ways. In fact, Moses didn’t just ask God to save them, he pleaded with God that if he didn’t save them, his very own image would have been tarnished among the nations. “People will say that you brought them out of Egypt just to kill them,” etc, etc. He isn’t the only guy to use this either… so did Isaiah and others. They always reminded God that his reputation in world opinion was on the line when it came to Israel.
It made me wonder though… what if God didn’t listen and the desert was different?
The Israelites never made it to the promised land.
We know from scripture that God had a purpose for the Israelites. They were to be his chosen people and from them he would deliver The Christ who would complete his plan to reconcile all men to himself, correcting the sin of Adam and saving man by his own arm. In their lives he would demonstrate his character, reveal himself to the world and give us both his written instruction, but also a practical demonstration of who he is as our creator.
Thank God he didn’t give up on them. What would that have said about God’s character? I tremble at that thought. But if you listen to many hard-core fundamentalists Christian preachers today, you would think that they would have rather God eliminate the Israelites and start over. The choice is clear among them – punishment for sin is more important than grace given to a woeful and broken heart.
Had God not kept his promise to Isreal, had he not forgiven their sin and carried them on, the greatest piece of his character would have been broken – unconditional love. The Israelites would have died in the desert and God would have chosen a new people to bring about his Christ. There would be no Nation of Israel today, Judaism would have been a lost religion and Bethlehem might have been Calcutta or some other ancient city. And the lesson learned would not be God’s grace, but that God had chosen a people, they rejected him and God wiped them off the face of the Earth.
The very nature of God would be changed.
I’m so thankful for a God who sticks by his people, his children, even when they are woefully wrong and desperately in need of forgiveness and love. Because when we need it, and we know we need it, he’s right there waiting to pour it out on us. That to me, is the miracle of the desert.
