Today's Scripture Reading (July 26, 2024): Revelation 16
How can a loving God pour out his
wrath on the object of his love? It is an important question, especially if
there is no opportunity for the object of his passion to make restitution and
come back to God. It is related to the question of how God could allow evil to
exist on the earth. Why are children dying in Ukraine or Gaza? Why are people
starving in some places in Africa? And yes, part of the answer to the question
is that we must acknowledge that our sin directly causes a portion of this pain.
There are forces in Eastern Europe who have caused harm where there didn't need
to be pain. The military in Palestine has put children at risk and actively
killed them in Gaza when another path was open to them to get their point
across. And regardless of which side you might stand with, the truth is that
both sides have caused pain.
But these circumstances are only
part of the story. As I listen to the news, I am reminded that the storm season
we are now in is likely to be worse than any storm season we have seen during
our lifetimes. Part of this is directly related to global warming, but not all
of it. We have always had storms, and people have died in those storms long
before we realized the damage we were doing to our environment. This brings us
back to the question of why. A friend admits that he would gladly give up his
freedom to choose if it meant that children wouldn't have to die. I am not sure
we know what life without the ability to choose would be like, but I understand
his anger.
I have a feeling that I can't prove,
but it is something about which I openly wonder. My question is this:
recognizing that this world in which we live is broken, and for the most part,
it was the human race that broke it, what is God's role in restoring this world?
It is something that I began to consider when I was studying the passage where
God sent snakes against Israel in the wilderness. Now, snakes in the wilderness
are not an unusual thing. And yet, Israel seemed to not struggle with them. Is
it possible that God had placed a cone of protection around them that kept the
snakes away, and then, in their disobedience and only for a moment, he removed
his protection and let the snakes in among the people? Is that possible?
If that happened with the snakes,
could it have been the circumstance with the original plagues that hit Egypt
and resulted in Israel being let go from their slavery? Just for a moment, God's
protection slipped. The people had fought against God and his protection, so
for a moment, God revealed what it might be like if his protection was removed.
Maybe, as the angels symbolically
poured out God's wrath, what is really happening is God is letting his
protection slip once again, protection that we don't seem to want anyway. It is
part of this broken world, which continues to break only because of our sin.
And God will continue to remove his protection, even for a moment, so that we
see what life might be like without him.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Revelation
17
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