The Rorschach GodMuestra

What Is God’s Ideal?:
Human violence and sacrifices are the two main overarching themes of much of the Old Testament. Therefore, they are what we see God challenge most directly through the revelation of His nature time and again. Now that we have examined these two major themes, we can more easily identify some other examples where God is trying to share His ideal within the fallen and distorted image of humanity.

Contrary to what we have traditionally believed about God, He would never endorse or encourage violence between any of His beloved children. This doesn’t mean that God is passive when it comes to injustice or the need for correction, but it does mean that His methods do not reflect our desire to assert dominance or destroy enemies. Consider the unusual account in Deuteronomy 7:20-22 (ESV) when Moses declares:

"Moreover, the LORD your God will send hornets among them, until those who are left and hide themselves from you are destroyed. You shall not be in dread of them, for the LORD your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God. The LORD your God will clear away these nations before you little by little."

Is it possible that God would literally use bees to drive people out of the land meant for Israel slowly over time? Why not? This type of action appears to reflect the crucified Christ much more than the later declaration of Moses when the Israelites would encounter anyone worshiping false gods: “But you shall kill him. Your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people”(Deuteronomy 13:9, ESV).

Have you ever considered how God first dealt with the Egyptians’ oppression of the ancient Israelites, setting the stage for their exodus? Each of the plagues mentioned in Exodus 6-11 looks nothing like God using the violence of the sword to influence Egypt to set Israel free. It’s certainly not enjoyable to endure plagues such as water turning to blood, frogs, lice, flies, livestock pestilence, boils, hail, locusts, and extended darkness, but these are much better alternatives to the typical carnage involved in the overthrow of oppressors. But as these stories tend to unfold in the Old Testament, the God who is patiently influencing Pharaoh to set Israel free turns extremely violent and is attributed to killing, either personally or through the angel of death, the firstborn of all Egypt. Which influence looks more like the crucified Christ? I submit that allowing plagues to influence hard hearts to grant Israel freedom from oppression aligns much more closely with His character and nature than commanding the killing of the firstborn.

We could examine many more instances to drive the point home, but I think you get the idea. When you begin to see images of God that look nothing like Jesus, you are perfectly free and encouraged to question what you’re reading. Remember, disagreeing with the Bible is not the same as disagreeing with Jesus, to whom the Bible is meant to point us. Even when Scripture presents un-Christlike images of God that don’t look like Jesus, I trust “I don’t know” as the only answer I have to explain it more than applying a rigid interpretation of violent imagery to the God who is our always good Father.