Readings for today: Nahum 1-3, Revelation 8, Psalms 136, Proverbs 30:7-9
“The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord is avenging and wrathful; the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; he dries up all the rivers; Bashan and Carmel wither; the bloom of Lebanon withers. The mountains quake before him; the hills melt; the earth heaves before him, the world and all who dwell in it. Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken into pieces by him. The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him. But with an overflowing flood he will make a complete end of the adversaries, and will pursue his enemies into darkness.” (Nahum 1:2-8)
The Romans had a myth about a god named Janus. Janus was the god of beginnings and endings. He looked to both the future and the past. He was the god of transitions. The god of dualities. The god of doorways and gates. As such, he was always depicted as having two faces.
One of the most common questions I get when we read the Bible in groups is why God seems to have two faces. Why God seems to have two natures. The Old Testament often depicts Him as a vengeful, angry deity capable of great atrocities while the New Testament often depicts Him as a God of love and grace and mercy. What gives? How can both be true? Should we just jettison the Old Testament as irrelevant to our understanding of God’s nature and character as some are wont to do? Jesus doesn’t leave us that option. He tells us not one “jot or tittle” will pass from the Law. He clearly believes His Messiahship is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as much as He is our God today. He is the Alpha and the Omega. The Beginning and the End. He is the Lord of life and the Lord of time. In a sense, He is the true Janus with this one critical difference…He only has one face.
God is eternally consistent and He interacts with His creation in an eternally consistent way. From the beginning, God makes the heavens and the earth out of nothing. It is perfect. It is good. He then makes a creature in His own image. Endows it with the ability to discern right from wrong. Good from evil. Obedience from disobedience. He gives this creature dominion over all He has made. The sole reason for this creature’s existence is to steward all creation for the glory of God. Care for creation as the high priest of God. And creation itself is designed to thrive under the authority of this image-bearing creature. Tragically, the creature rebels against God. Rejects his calling. And abuses his authority. Now the world suffers. The world groans. The world cries out in pain. Disease. Pestilence. Violence. Natural disasters. Famine. Drought. These are signs of a world in chaos. A world in turmoil. A world in upheaval because the high priest has abandoned his call in order to serve himself.
All of us are guilty. All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory God originally intended for us. All of us are naturally selfish. Self-interested. Self-promoting. Self-absorbed. We are our highest priority. Taking care of self is our number one goal. This is the opposite of God’s design. In God’s eyes, it is “evil” and the source of all the pain in the world. God is just. He is holy. He is righteous. So He judges the people of the earth. He sends His prophets to call them to account for their sin. He rightly demands they get back to work. Return to their high calling. Fulfill the purpose for which they were designed in the first place. But humanity continues to rebel. Continues to dig in their heels. They make other gods. Gods they can control. Gods they can manipulate. Gods who reflect their broken image. These gods are lifeless of course. They offer nothing because they are not real. So sin piles up on sin. The injustice and violence and suffering of the world increases. Eventually, God does step in. He punishes. He puts an end to evil. The results are terrifying in their scope and power. Still humanity protests. Still humanity blame-shifts. How can God be so cruel? How can God be so unfair? How can God be so unloving?
Eventually, in the fullness of time, God sends His one and only Son into the world. This has been God’s plan all along. Hatched in the mists of eternity before time began. God plotting to rescue His creation from the Fall. Planning to redeem the creature made in His image and restore him to his rightful place in the world. Sin has piled up on sin. The injustice and violence and suffering only continues to increase. So God steps in. He takes our punishment. He puts an end to evil. The scope and power of Jesus’ suffering and death is terrifying to behold. How can God be so cruel to His Son? How can God be so unfair as to lay the sin of the world on His shoulders? How can the Father be so unloving towards His beloved Son?
In Christ, the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament come together. Jesus satisfies the demands of the Father’s justice. He turns away the Father’s righteous wrath. He takes the Father’s righteous judgment on Himself. In so doing, He becomes a refuge for all who would come to Him. He becomes a stronghold for all who would run to Him. He becomes a sanctuary for all who would seek shelter in Him. He is good and His love endures forever!
Readings for tomorrow: Habakkuk 1-3, Revelation 9, Psalms 137, Proverbs 30:10