God in a Box?

I want to challenge you a little bit today. Do you have God in a box of your own making? Do you perhaps believe in a God who only exists in you imagination?

I don't mean to imply that God is not real. To the contrary, I believe God is more real and more evident than any other thing in all of existence. But I think that there is a great deal of misinformation about God floating around our culture. This is certainly nothing new. Almost since God revealed Himself to His creation, people have misunderstood Him. I also don't want you to think that I somehow have all of the answers about God. I don't. Not at all. But I do strive to understand Him as He has chosen to reveal Himself to mankind--through His word--the Bible. And I have no doubts that there are some things we can and should be certain about regarding God. I say that so you don't mistake me for someone who claims that everything about God is unknowable. I think that is hogwash.

So, in order to challenge you, I'm going to share some Bible verses that have the potential to confuse you or trouble you. If you find yourself confused or troubled, then good. I want you to seek the answers. For that reason, I'm not going to share with you how I have reconciled these verses with who God is. If you really want to know, leave me a comment and I'll get back to you. But really, what I want is to inspire you to seek that answer for yourself. I think the best way to accomplish that is to read the Bible. So here goes!

1 Samuel 6:19

"Then He struck the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD. He struck fifty thousand and seventy men of the people, and the people lamented because the LORD had struck the people with great slaughter."

Just as a reference, you should realize that the people God had struck with a great slaughter in this verse are not foreigners or strangers. They are His chosen people, Israel.

1 Samuel 2:25

"Nevertheless they did not heed the voice of their father, because the LORD desired to kill them."

In this verse, one of God's priests has admonished his two sons. They were also priests, and they had been committing all kinds of atrocities in the LORD's temple. But as you can see, their father's warnings fell on deaf ears.

1 Samuel 16:14

"But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a distressing spirit from the LORD troubled him."

Saul was the first anointed king over Israel. Because he did not obey God, the above verse took place. Another extremely interesting verse that deals with God sending and them removing His Spirit can be found in Numbers 24:2. I'll leave that verse to those of you who want to look it up for yourselves.

1 Samuel 15:3

"Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.

Did God just command Israel to kill woman, children, infants and nursing babies? Yes, He did.

Judges 9:22

"After Abimelech had reigned over Israel three years, God sent a spirit of ill will between Abimelech and the men of Shechem."

Abimelech was one of Gideon's sons (born to his concubine.) He slaughtered all 70 of his own brothers and controlled Israel through force.

And if those verses are not enough to challenge you, try this. Look up Deuteronomy 28: 52-57. It is horrifying almost beyond belief. It details some of the curses that will come upon Israel if they refuse to obey the commands of the LORD.

Now, can you reconcile these verses with your idea of who God is? If you see God as a lovable teddy bear in the sky, I think you will have a hard time digesting all of this. If you see God as some kind of cosmic self-help guru, you will be equally confused. If you see Him as a bleeding heart that just really wishes that folks would do the right thing, you are still missing Him.

God is holy. And God is good. The problem is not with God. It is our understanding of what it means to be holy, and what it means to be good.

Psalm 145:8

"The LORD is gracious and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy."