{"id":76140,"date":"2020-06-17T10:53:49","date_gmt":"2020-06-17T07:53:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=76140"},"modified":"2020-06-17T10:53:49","modified_gmt":"2020-06-17T07:53:49","slug":"the-caring-yet-punishing-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-caring-yet-punishing-god\/","title":{"rendered":"The Caring Yet Punishing God?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"76140","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":74351,"related_cahpter":"505","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Wrath vs. randomness: theological quandaries\r\n\r\n","content":"

If I\u2019m being honest, I\u2019m a little tired of the whole \u201cIsrael has committed unforgivable sins\u201d and \u201cGod has turned His back on Israel\u201d doom of Hosea. After a whole book of Ezekiel\u2019s bleakness, I just don\u2019t have any more optimistic things to say about God punishing Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n

This chapter felt particularly harsh. God proclaims that even when Israel brings sacrifices \u201cTo seek the LORD, they will not find Him. He has cast them off\u201d (5:6). God describes Himself as a \u201clion to Ephraim, Like a great beast to the House of Judah; I, I will attack and stride away\u201d (5:14). What happened to the God that <\/span>protects<\/span><\/i> the people \u201cAs a lion\u2014a great beast\u2014 Growls over its prey?\u201d (Isaiah 31:4) Where is the God who will not abandon us even as we \u201cwalk through the valley of death?\u201d (Psalms 23:4)<\/span><\/p>\n

When I began writing for 929 a little over a month ago, I was happy to read between the lines of Ezekiel for the \u201cpositive take\u201d on God hating us. I waxed poetic about the human relationship with divinity and the beautiful, if problematic, marriage between God and Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n

But it\u2019s becoming increasingly harder for me to accept the Prophet\u2019s theological approach. How can I argue that bad things are the results of our sins and God\u2019s subsequent wrath? I mean, where does that leave us today amidst global pandemic, a failing economy, and civil unrest? Subscribing to the prophetic approach feels like choosing the lesser of two evils. By rationalizing terrible things by saying God hates us, at least we\u2019re keeping God in the picture. It\u2019s better to have an angry, jealous God than a world that belongs to chaotic randomness. There\u2019s even comfort in the notion that amidst tragedy, God may be punishing us, but He hasn\u2019t deserted us.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I cannot imagine creating a narrative around the pandemic that portrays God unleashing COVID-19 onto the world out of anger, jealousy, or spite. But that doesn\u2019t mean I think God is out of the picture. Perhaps there\u2019s a way to combine the Prophet\u2019s perspective<\/span>\u2014<\/span>God cares, albeit that caring manifests in punishment<\/span>\u2014<\/span>with my modern sensibilities that refuse to judge the character of the entire world based on the pandemic that plagues us. Maybe there\u2019s a way to still <\/span>cry out<\/span><\/i> to God in our suffering without attributing it to divine retribution.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Image: John Martin, The Great Day of His Wrath, 1851-53 \/ wikipedia\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":76141,"id":76141,"title":"hos5-the_great_day_of_his_wrath-john_martin","filename":"hos5-the_great_day_of_his_wrath-john_martin.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos5-the_great_day_of_his_wrath-john_martin.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-caring-yet-punishing-god\/hos5-the_great_day_of_his_wrath-john_martin\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"hos5-the_great_day_of_his_wrath-john_martin","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":76140,"date":"2020-06-17 07:53:33","modified":"2020-06-17 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