Today's reading in Psalm 132:11-18 culminated in a revelation for me that has been building as I read through Amos over the past week. (And I must admit that I didn't read everyday - but I did catch up and read the whole thing today - does that count for anything?)
This revelation stems from a conversation that I had with a friend a while back. This friend commented that in the Old Testament people followed God because they were scared of Him. In the New Testament - and on into our present time - we follow God because He loves us. He stated that the God of the Old Testament was a God of wrath and vengeance, but the God of the New Testament was a God of love.
Well, reading through the book of Amos, you could definitely see that. But I must point out - that the book of Amos is written as a warning. How many of us that are parents ever give our kids warnings - probably way more than they deserve - and that is in fact what God did - over and over and over again. Countless chances to change their behavior. In fact generations and generations of chances.
The warnings started when David was King and that is what we see in our reading of Psalms today. God said - IF YOUR SONS KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS - they will sit on the throne of Israel forever.
Well Solomon, the first son of David to sit on the throne of Israel blew that by the end of his life - just goes to show you what too many wives will get ya :)
Anyway, my point is that the what we see in the Old Testament that demonstrates the wrath of God is simply a consequence of disobedience. They brought it upon themselves and we continue to do the same thing today.
The good news is that as we read through Amos and the rest of the OT, we can see over and over again the promise of God that if we change our attitudes and our behavior, we may once again find ourselves in the good graces of God.
The other thing that I feel compelled to point out in toady's reading is that God states that what He wants is for Zion (Jerusalem) to be His resting place and for the sons of David to sit forever on the throne. Well that didn't happen, obviously, hmmmm...... I will just let you ponder that one for a while.
I'm Moving
12 years ago
1 comment:
Does your friend not recognize that both John the Baptist and Jesus predicted the destruction of Jerusalem in AD70? That wasn't exactly a walk in the park.
We also have to keep in mind that the OT unfolds over a looong stretch of time. It's not like God was judging all the time. He let them go for decades and centuries before finally dropping the hammer on them.
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