I am still trying to keep pace to read the entire Bible in a year, albeit a bit behind. Obviously, I am even further behind on recording my thoughts. It may be a several year project to jot down just basic thoughts on each chapter. This connects to one of the strands of thought that I have been pondering over the past few weeks.
Have you noticed how Abraham almost at once seems to recognize God when He comes and visits, however it is only recorded that God visited Abraham a handful of times. This leads me to one of three possibilities. First is that God visited Abraham more frequently, but those visits were chosen to be omitted. Considering Genesis as an introduction to God, it seems odd that the Genesis writer would fail to mention that. (However, Genesis does fail to mention the first time God called Abraham, which is rather interesting.)
The other two possibilities are even more intriguing. One is that God visits Abraham only a handful of times in his long lifetime. The other is that God was constantly trying to visit, but Abraham failed to notice.
How often do we fail to notice when God is speaking to us? Preoccupied with the daily stresses of life, we miss the God-moments and the God-blessings because we are not looking for God.
Just a thought.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
A God Who Feels Pain
If you have been keeping track, you may notice that Genesis introduces God to us. One begins to understand the nature of God as they consider His actions. First we notice God’s power. That God for some reason or another desires, or desired, to create. Moreover, God created everything with a purpose. Man, specifically, was created with both a purpose and a blessing. When the created things act against the intended purpose, curses follow. Even the curses, however, are merciful compared to what curses God could make. Thus far, God has not utterly wiped out creation.
When we arrive at man’s condition in Genesis 6 it is described as without hope. Every inclination of the thoughts of man’s heart tends toward evil at all times. This is a powerful indictment and yet, the Genesis writer writes that God was grieved and His heart was filled with pain.
This all powerful God, who out of chaos and barrenness can create with simply a spoken word feels grief and pain. God feels grief and pain. What causes God to feel grief and pain? The evil bent of man’s heart. That man’s heart is inclined toward evil and not toward God. That man has fallen short of his purpose. These things grieve the heart of God.
God regretted making man. What sort of God feels regret?
And yet, just as God declares He is going to destroy mankind, the writer of Genesis interjects, “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.”
How does man find favor in the eyes of God? The writer continues. Noah was righteous and blameless among the people of his time. Echoing the epitaph of Enoch, we read that Now walked with God.
God feels pain over those bent towards evil, yet is pleased with those who walk with Him. Noah was a comfort to God. When Lamech named Noah, which sounds in Hebrew like the word “comfort,” he stated that Noah will comfort us in “our labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the LORD has cursed.” Note that Lamech failed to mention that the ground was cursed because of man, and how this may allude to the evil heart’s of man – that they blame God for what they caused. But also note the irony – Noah did not bring comfort to the men of his age, but comfort to God and to the men to come.
God feels pain, grief, and as we learn pleasure. God created man in His own image and the writer of Genesis is implying here that our own emotions are part of that image.
When we arrive at man’s condition in Genesis 6 it is described as without hope. Every inclination of the thoughts of man’s heart tends toward evil at all times. This is a powerful indictment and yet, the Genesis writer writes that God was grieved and His heart was filled with pain.
This all powerful God, who out of chaos and barrenness can create with simply a spoken word feels grief and pain. God feels grief and pain. What causes God to feel grief and pain? The evil bent of man’s heart. That man’s heart is inclined toward evil and not toward God. That man has fallen short of his purpose. These things grieve the heart of God.
God regretted making man. What sort of God feels regret?
And yet, just as God declares He is going to destroy mankind, the writer of Genesis interjects, “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.”
How does man find favor in the eyes of God? The writer continues. Noah was righteous and blameless among the people of his time. Echoing the epitaph of Enoch, we read that Now walked with God.
God feels pain over those bent towards evil, yet is pleased with those who walk with Him. Noah was a comfort to God. When Lamech named Noah, which sounds in Hebrew like the word “comfort,” he stated that Noah will comfort us in “our labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the LORD has cursed.” Note that Lamech failed to mention that the ground was cursed because of man, and how this may allude to the evil heart’s of man – that they blame God for what they caused. But also note the irony – Noah did not bring comfort to the men of his age, but comfort to God and to the men to come.
God feels pain, grief, and as we learn pleasure. God created man in His own image and the writer of Genesis is implying here that our own emotions are part of that image.
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