Love and wrath
Can a loving God be a God of wrath? Can love punish? As parents we know that we have to punish sometimes, even though we hate doing so. Sometimes we have to let a beloved son or daughter go their own way and take the consequences. 'If I never loved I never would have cried.' But when God punishes or lets evil happen, it is all too easy to cry 'Foul!'
In Exodus 34:6-7 God reveals himself to Moses as a God of tremendous love and a God who punishes. (A similar passage occurs in the ten commandments.) The description of his love is very strong: he is compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands (or even to thousands of generations), and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. What could be better than that? But then comes the next part: 'Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.' How unfair is that? We don't mind the guilty being punished; but why the children and their descendants? Surely that is wrong! And so we forget all the first part because we stumble at the second. At least, that is my tendency.
I need to keep reminding myself to give due weight to the whole of Scripture, and not to let the difficult bits overshadow those I understand. These verses are a case in point. In the 'nice' first part God tells us that he is a forgiving God. Only then does he talk about punishing the guilty. And when he talks about punishing the children, I need to remember Ezekiel's diatribe against those who wanted children to be punished for their fathers' sins - his message from God was that if a sinner repented they would be forgiven, whatever their father had done or not done. But if that is the case, how should I understand the last verse of the Exodus passage?
Two principles may apply here. The first is that of connectedness: no-one is an island, each persons actions have consequences not only for themselves but also for those around them. If a person leaves Britain and becomes a citizen of France any children born there will automatically be French, not British, whether they like it or not. Likewise if we are citizens of God's kingdom and choose to emigrate, our actions will have consequences for our family - they will be brought up outside the kingdom of God. We cannot turn to God and say, 'I am the one who sinned, my family should not suffer.' We are connected. But, according to these verses, after a few generations my family will not be suffering for my sin, only for their own - unless they repent. Which brings me to the second principle.
The second principle is that of forgiveness. No-one who turns to God will be turned away, however seriously their parents or grandparents sinned. And those who do turn to God and sin need not feel they've blown it: God is 'slow to anger', and gives us every chance to come back and be forgiven. It is only if we refuse to repent that we can expect the full force of God's justice.
God will never do anything unfair - except in mercy and love. He longs to forgive, if only we accept his forgiveness and return to him. Yet forgiveness is always costly. God can only forgive because he has already paid the cost; love and justice have met on the cross. He does indeed abound in love and faithfulness.
In Exodus 34:6-7 God reveals himself to Moses as a God of tremendous love and a God who punishes. (A similar passage occurs in the ten commandments.) The description of his love is very strong: he is compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands (or even to thousands of generations), and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. What could be better than that? But then comes the next part: 'Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.' How unfair is that? We don't mind the guilty being punished; but why the children and their descendants? Surely that is wrong! And so we forget all the first part because we stumble at the second. At least, that is my tendency.
I need to keep reminding myself to give due weight to the whole of Scripture, and not to let the difficult bits overshadow those I understand. These verses are a case in point. In the 'nice' first part God tells us that he is a forgiving God. Only then does he talk about punishing the guilty. And when he talks about punishing the children, I need to remember Ezekiel's diatribe against those who wanted children to be punished for their fathers' sins - his message from God was that if a sinner repented they would be forgiven, whatever their father had done or not done. But if that is the case, how should I understand the last verse of the Exodus passage?
Two principles may apply here. The first is that of connectedness: no-one is an island, each persons actions have consequences not only for themselves but also for those around them. If a person leaves Britain and becomes a citizen of France any children born there will automatically be French, not British, whether they like it or not. Likewise if we are citizens of God's kingdom and choose to emigrate, our actions will have consequences for our family - they will be brought up outside the kingdom of God. We cannot turn to God and say, 'I am the one who sinned, my family should not suffer.' We are connected. But, according to these verses, after a few generations my family will not be suffering for my sin, only for their own - unless they repent. Which brings me to the second principle.
The second principle is that of forgiveness. No-one who turns to God will be turned away, however seriously their parents or grandparents sinned. And those who do turn to God and sin need not feel they've blown it: God is 'slow to anger', and gives us every chance to come back and be forgiven. It is only if we refuse to repent that we can expect the full force of God's justice.
God will never do anything unfair - except in mercy and love. He longs to forgive, if only we accept his forgiveness and return to him. Yet forgiveness is always costly. God can only forgive because he has already paid the cost; love and justice have met on the cross. He does indeed abound in love and faithfulness.
posted by Tim @ 15:27
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