God is Good

Gentle Reader,
(Deut. 11:1-32) describes what God expects from 'His' people and what happens when they obey or disobey. Inthis passage He gives the people a choice of blessing or curses.

(Rev. 16:5)"... You are Just in these judgments,,," sing the angels as the earth feels the wrath of God; rivers and sea die from the bowls of wrath poured out on land and sea.

The altar responds, (Rev. 16:7)"... yes, Lord God Almighty, true and Just are your judgments."

We have just seen (Rev. 14) the harvest of the earth- God's wrath is trampling the 'grapes' of the earth with blood flowing out "rising as high as the horses' bridles" for a distance of 1,600 stadia(football fields). That's a lot of blood!

Wait a minute, where is God's love? Where is is 'goodness' of God? Where is the kindness of God?

" Oh land, land, land," cries the prophet, Hear the word of the Lord".(Jer. 22:28) Then he goes on to say that the wrath of the Lord will follow the evildoer, even though the evildoer is one of God's chosen. The prophet is warning the people to repent or go into Babylonian captivity. Also, Isaiah preached often to them the folly of following their own ways and ignoring God. He told them that there would be consequences. If we look at history we see that the Jews, as a people, have been hunted and hounded, stricken with one hardship after another, throughout.

(1 Pet. 4:17) "For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the Gospel of God?"

Part of the Seder or Passover feast traditionally is a serving of horseradish sauce and one of an apple/nut dish. The former represents the bitterness associated with correction(or Justice) of God's people and the latter is reminiscent of the sweetness of God. The sweet dish is eaten up but often the bitter one is only tasted. We speak of God's goodness, but we don't really understand what' good' is. Ecc.7:1-5 says that the day of death is better than the day of birth, sorrow better than laughter, and so on. This is not the ravings of a meloncholy or depressed person. It is truth. When we die, we go to heaven, what better place is there to be? When we are born we are beginning a life that will be filled with hardship and despair, not just happiness, sunshine and birthday parties. Ps. 34:19: " A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all". This is sweetness. Job 5:16: "Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Lord. ( This is also sweetness.) For He wounds, but He also binds up; He injures, but His hands also heal."

Ah, but you say this is Old Testament, Now all God wants to do is bless and bless, we're under the blood, He wants us to be prosperous and healthy, to have an abundant life. But Jesus said, (Jn16:33) "In this world you will have trouble, but take heart I have overcome the world."(Rom. 2"9) "There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile" (Jn. 15:2) "He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, so that it will be even more fruitful". This means if we don't obey we will have trouble, and if we do obey we will be pruned. This too is sweetness. But pruning isn't fun, although it is necessary for growth. So God cuts away at the parts of us that don't look like Jesus. We shall be made blameless for the day of His coming, because God is Just He is removing the impurities from His people!

Lord, I want to be like Jesus, help me to stop complaining when you do a work in me that hurts or seems unpleasant, Show me how to be obedient so that I will please you. In Jesus' name. Amen