2 Corinthians 5:11-21

“Therefore, because we know the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade people, but we are well known to God, and I hope we are well known to your consciences too. We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to be proud of us, so that you may be able to answer those who take pride in outward appearance and not in what is in the heart. For if we are out of our minds, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, since we have concluded this, that Christ died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised. So then from now on we acknowledge no one from an outward human point of view. Even though we have known Christ from such a human point of view, now we do not know him in that way any longer. So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away – look, what is new has come! And all these things are from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and who has given us the ministry of reconciliation. In other words, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting people’s trespasses against them, and he has given us the message of reconciliation. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His plea through us. We plead with you on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God!” God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God.”

— ‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭5‬:‭11‬-‭21‬‬

 Fear of the Lord stems from v. 10 where all stand before judgment seat of Christ. Present tenses in v. 10-11 are “conative,” therefore the translation of “trying.”

V 12-13 make sense in context of 2 Corinthians as whole. Opponents have infiltrated Corinthian church and have turned the church against Paul. Attack his ministry and apostleship and message. He doesn’t care about himself or defending who he is. He doesn’t attack the opponents until ch 10-13. He can simply defend the message. He shows his own weakness as a sign of power.

V 14. Love of Christ could be his love for Christ or Christ’s love for him, but in light of talking about Jesus’ death in next phrase, it’s probably Jesus’ love for him. Christ died “for” all. The preposition is used for substitution in at least one soteriological passage, so this is not just advantage or benefit. However, substitution or representation makes most sense in the grander narrative of Israel. He is the representative of the nation, doing what they never could.

“All” is tricky here. All has to have the same referent in each case, so is it just believers or all humans? Is it all humans, while “those living” is spiritual life/ believers? Those who live cannot be humans and “all” be humans, too. “All” could be humans and “those who live” could be believers with spiritual life. “All died” could be physical death. Or “death” could be death to sin and the world through identification with Christ (if the “all” is simply believers). No conclusions here yet.

Old things have passed. This speaks to the new age breaking into the present. Not technically that believer is a new creature, but behold, new creation! It’s just an exclamation that the new age has come quickly. It’s overlap of the old and new. 

The purpose of Christ’s life and ministry was reconciliation. Paul’s mission was to explain this and to offer reconciliation. God was reconciling the world to himself. World could be entire creation or the humans. Of course, Romans will talk about all creation groaning for redemption. Here, we have personal pronouns so humans may be in view. 

Not sure who Paul is addressing with this plea. No explicit mention of unbelievers in the Corinthian church. Could be the opponents, but there’s no “you” in the sentence, and he’s not asking them to accept him but God. Could be any audience in general.

Through Christ, God forgives trespasses. Sin was taken care of through Christ. Lots of theories as to why that is and we need to take a deep dive into the story of the gospels and OT to understand it. 

V 21 is probably a causative verb. Jesus is not just a sinner or sin bearer. Often used Exod 29, Lev 4, 5 as sin offering, but Paul does not use this word for sin offering. We would probably expect a more “sacrificial” verb for offerings. Probably more like sin personified. 

“Righteousness of God” is debated. Either we not possess God’s righteousness or share in it, we do what He now expects, we have a righteous standing, or something like we participate in His covenant faithfulness in sharing that message of reconciliation to the world (more New Perspective.) This seeks to flow with the other phrases of reconciliation in the passage.

Nahum 1:1-8

“The oracle against Nineveh; the book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite: The Lord is a zealous and avenging God; the Lord is avenging and very angry. The Lord takes vengeance against his foes; he sustains his rage against his enemies. The Lord is slow to anger but great in power; the Lord will certainly not allow the wicked to go unpunished. He marches out in the whirlwind and the raging storm; dark storm clouds billow like dust under his feet. He shouts a battle cry against the seaand makes it dry up; he makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither; the blossom of Lebanon withers. The mountains tremble before him, the hills convulse; the earth is laid waste before him, the world and all its inhabitants are laid waste. No one can withstand his indignation! No one can resist his fierce anger! His wrath is poured out like volcanic fire, boulders are broken up as he approaches. The Lord is good – indeed, he is a fortress in time of distress, and he protects those who seek refuge in him. But with an overwhelming flood he will make a complete end of Nineveh; he will drive his enemies into darkness.”

— ‭‭Nahum‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬-‭8‬‬ 

Nahum and Jonah are the two books that deal with Nineveh. So much of the interpretation of these two books concerns dating. Which one was written first affects our understanding. Most conservative scholars will place Jonah around the lifetime of the prophet (assuming he wrote it). There are good arguments against this, as in not many prophets write their books in the third person. The sequence is then that Jonah went to preach repentance, it “worked,” but not for long. Nahum comes along and announces judgment that is coming regardless of their response. 

If Nahum is first, then scholars put Jonah as written more in the exile period. Nahum announced the fall and destruction of Nineveh, and the Jonah comes later to use the Assyrians as an example of just how great God’s love/compassion is. To a people in exile, wondering about all these foreign oppressors, the author uses their worst historical enemy (and somewhat recent) to let them know that God has forgiveness for even the worst.

Zealous: Also jealous. This is a very human trait, and the NET lists all the ways it’s used. Not often is it in a good context. They describe God as protective of His people and in judging their enemies. 

This type of anger/ wrath is odd to identify, and not typically something we see in descriptions of God. Especially for v. 7 to be focus verse of the day. How can these two things coexist, and not in a salvation conversation. I would think it does go back to His covenant with Israel and His protection of them. He can be angry against those who oppose them. This whole scene though is using human attributes and war imagery to describe a deity. This is very common in ancient near eastern writings. This may be more about how Israel is perceiving their God in relation to those of other nations as opposed to inherent, natural qualities of YHWH.

God is marching and walking on the storm clouds. He is Lord over creation, and this certainly has the imagery of other gods, too. There were storm gods, war gods, etc. These descriptions of YHWH find a home when compared to other civilizations and their gods.

Lots of phrases about his wrath, indignation, and fury against the enemies. Attacking Israel was attacking their god. So yeah, if I wanted protection, I would turn to YHWH. He knows how to lead and help His people. All those who oppose Him will be on the losing end.

Romans 5:6-11

 “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. (For rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person perhaps someone might possibly dare to die.) But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, because we have now been declared righteous by his blood, we will be saved through him from God’s wrath. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, since we have been reconciled, will we be saved by his life? Not only this, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation.”

— ‭‭Romans‬ ‭5‬:‭6‬-‭11‬‬

The NET has the hypotheticals in v 7 as parenthetical. A “although it’s possible in some cases” idea. Schreiner distinguishes between “good” and “righteous” in that “good” means a benefactor. Someone who financially supports someone else or gives amazing gifts to a city. This was part of the culture.

This is a key passage when people discuss “ordinary” vs. “extraordinary” righteousness. This may seem like too deep of a debate/conversation and we should just let Paul say what he wants. But if in ch 1-3 the point was that no one’s righteous, how can someone possibly die for a righteous person? Either we redefine terms between chapters or we’ve missed Paul’s point in earlier chapters. NPP redefines righteousness through everything as being a member of God’s covenant community. 

In either way the build up is to v . 8. God commends love to us. This is one of the only times that God and love are used in the present tense. It’s usually past “God loved.” But here we see that the primary demonstration of God’s continuous, unfailing love is still the cross. Even this passage shows some tension, since the point is God’s love, while Paul also mentions being rescued from wrath. Atonement theories try to reconcile these two, and it’s not an easy discussion. Wrath cannot be the same as the pagan deities, ready to blast everyone who offends them. This is emotional, spontaneous anger and does not describe God.

His is a response to sin. And terms like satisfaction need to be understood in that light, not trying to appease an angry deity with all sorts of rituals. Some would say God’s wrath is not retributive, but restorative. The purpose is not only to judge, annihilate, and punish. The goal is to bring all things back into order under his reign.

Paul’s argument in this passage is from greater to lesser. “Much more then.” If God can love us to the point of Jesus dying for sins, his love can surely rescue us from future judgment. He can save us to the end. Reconciliation is a strong metaphor (doesn’t mean it isn’t reality).

By life: Could be resurrection, but Paul brings this back up in 8:31-39 and this could refer to Jesus’ current intercession ministry.

2 Thessalonians 3:1-5

Prayer for Strength

“Finally, pray for us, brothers and sisters, that the Lord’s message may spread quickly and be honored as in fact it was among you, and that we may be delivered from perverse and evil people. For not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. And we are confident about you in the Lord that you are both doing – and will do – what we are commanding. Now may the Lord direct your hearts toward the love of God and the endurance of Christ.”

— ‭‭2 Thessalonians‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬-‭5‬‬

 2 Thessalonians is one of the most dispute Pauline letters for authorship (outside the Pastorals). 

After 1 Thessalonians’ heavy emphasis on Jesus’ return, the church (and some false teachers) got the wrong idea that it was going to happen, like, tomorrow. They stopped working, sitting on rooftops, waiting for Jesus. They spread rumors about various leaders and spread fear. 2 Thessalonians brings some clarity about these false teachers and some more information about preceding signs of Jesus’ appearing. (Glad this isn’t chapter 2, yet. That’s difficult.)

Paul here asks for prayer in his mission, because he is still trying to spread the gospel. Shocker: not everyone wants to hear it. Paul is still being persecuted, obviously not in Roman jail/ house arrest, yet. Not all have faith. We would hesitate to call people evil/perverse. Always good to remember our own faults, too (of course). Also good to remember people are not enemy. But yes, humanity has a problem with evil. Society has a problem with perverseness. Gospel is only hope.

But God is faithful…seems to be a recurring theme throughout Scripture. He offers strength and protection from the evil one. I know this is probably a substantive adjective. Definitely better not to translate as “evil.” (Same in the Lord’s Prayer—not “deliver us from evil” but “the evil one”) Verses like this keep our eyes on the true enemy. 

Paul loves this church and encourages them in what they are doing and will do. Yes, they have needed some correction, but they are serving well. If hearts gaze at the love of God and the faithfulness of Christ, we may be filled with the same. Those phrases are perhaps examples of “plenary genitives,” where the actions of God/Jesus motivate us to imitate the same. (It’s debated grammatically if it could just be the love God shows or only the love we show. Perhaps best to see both.)

John 3:16-21

“For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him. The one who believes in him is not condemned. The one who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. Now this is the basis for judging: that the light has come into the world and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil deeds hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed. But the one who practices the truth comes to the light, so that it may be plainly evident that his deeds have been done in God.”

— ‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬-‭21‬‬ 

There’s debate over where Jesus stops talking and John or the author begins explaining. I think v 16 is as good a guess as any but Jesus could go all the way through v 21. Or v 18…now this is the basis. Most of these verses certainly sound like something Jesus would say, but I’m sure scholars would nitpick exact wording here and there.

“In this way” is a huge translation issue in the verse, and this is correct. Versions that have “so loved” confuse people that this is about magnitude or quantity of love. God wasn’t filled with so much emotion that He had no choice…at least that’s not what John 3:16 is saying. It says God loved the world in this way: He gave His son. Similar to Romans 5:8. God demonstrates His love in that Christ died for us.

One and only.  Begotten is also mistranslation based on misunderstanding of Greek words and spelling. One and only is better but since believers are also children, I prefer the emphasis on Jesus as unique son. One of a kind. 

So that is purpose or result. Everyone who believes. Not the time for a predestination debate, and it wouldn’t really matter. Even in the most strict Calvinist belief system belief is necessary. So this is still true. Everyone who believes will gain life. (See more about the phrases that John equates with “believing” in my paper on John 6, 13, 15. Belief is definitely not a one time thing for John.)

Debate over the word perish. Annihilationists do have good arguments. I’m just not there, and I can’t base a belief system on what a word might mean. I would need to do more synchronic word studies for it and then look at how it’s used contextually. 

The real emphasis here is the good not the bad. Believers gain life and won’t perish. They won’t be condemned. It’s as if the assumption is these are what’s to be expected as standard. But believers are exempt and gain something else entirely.

World is also an odd word for John. The world should be saved. I can’t buy universalism either. Is this only the people on the earth or this more of the cosmos than we give John credit for? Maybe not since his other uses focus on people, and the chapter talks about belief, but the relationship between Jesus death being “for” all/the world and at the same time “applied” to believers has always been fuzzy to me.

What makes this more difficult is John’s apparent two uses of “world” even in this passage. God loved the world. But then the light came to the “world,” but “people” did not receive it. So world is not people here, just like “his own places” is not “his own people” in John 1:12. We have to be very careful and nuanced as we work through John because he loves double meanings, and he loves to use pronouns/adjectives where a noun would be helpful.

And since most people love to debate predestination and limited atonement and stuff like that (I’ve grown away from such passions), perhaps the best conclusion (if there is such a thing) is to take the author for what he says. So John emphasizes believing and personal choice throughout his gospel. People stand condemned (here) because they are not believing Jesus is God. But absolutely, once you dig into John, you find verses like “No one comes to the Father unless the Spirit draws him.” This is why I find no thrill in the debates anymore. Sovereignty wins the day for me, but people must still believe. Does that make it absolutely free will? Sure.

John consistently says the only criteria for judgment or life is belief in Jesus as son of God. Even his epistles will echo statements like this.

Good and evil deeds also sound like 1 John 3 or even 3 John where John is talking about supporting traveling teachers. I don’t think that example applies here but it’s similar language. The weird thing is that all we see in Jesus’ ministry is “sinners” coming to Jesus. I thought they hated the light. They got exposed time and time again.

John is known for that phrase “practicing good” and “practicing evil” from 1 John 3. Once confronted with truth, we have the choice to repent/confess and turn to “light” or we can continue to practice evil and hide. I’m guessing John’s themes are that those sinners in the gospels came to Jesus because they sought true healing.

But it’s deeper than that, perhaps because for John (again) he’s usually focused on one of two things: loving one another, or as we have already see in this passage, confessing Jesus as God. And both of these things lead to seeking “holiness.”

So doing good is probably related to understanding the truth about Jesus first. Then we can live in the community He has called us to.

Malachi 2:17-3:6

“You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” Because you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the Lord’s opinion, and he delights in them,” or “Where is the God of justice?””

‭‭ ““I am about to send my messenger, who will clear the way before me. Indeed, the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly coming,” says the Lord who rules over all. Who can endure the day of his coming? Who can keep standing when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap. He will act like a refiner and purifier of silver and will cleanse the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will offer the Lord a proper offering. The offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in former times and years past. “I will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who practice divination, those who commit adultery, those who break promises, and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, who refuse to help the immigrant and in this way show they do not fear me,” says the Lord who rules over all. “Since, I, the Lord, do not go back on my promises, you, sons of Jacob, have not perished.”

‭‭-Malachi 2:17-3:6

Do you ever get tired of people? (I know, silly question). Why or how often? Ok, so obviously tired is more of a synonym for angry or annoyed.

Here’s a question: Do you ever think God thinks the same way for any reason? Does God get tired of people? Now let’s just say, if I were God, and I sent a flood of water, I don’t think I could make that rainbow promise. “I may just have to wipe you all out again if this gets too crazy. Don’t be stupid.” But really, does God look at us as a society and just get tired of handling us?

There may be a couple places in the Bible where you may be able to see something like that going on, but there’s hundreds of places where you can point to His mercy and patience offering forgiveness or waiting for people to repent before He judges them. 

Malachi 2 is one of those places where we see a balance of these ideas (keep in mind throughout this that God is talking to Israel post-exile, and the Old Covenant is still in place.) Of course, this would be figurative language, but it carries a huge lesson for us, one that we need to hear regularly. 

17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”

This is not saying that Israel is labeling sins and bad things as good things, or that their sense of morality is changed, although if you read the previous passage and sections of Haggai and Zechariah, you would find that to be true. The phrase, “in the sight of the Lord” lets us know that Israel is claiming that those who do evil are seen as “good” to God or “ok” or even “pleasing” to God. 

This is confirmed in the follow up question, “Where is the God of justice?” There’s all these evil people running around, and they look like they’re doing just fine. Meanwhile, we the people of God have economic problems, political problems, social problems, we have more orphans and widows and poor people among us than others. We have fewer freedoms than others. We have less money and land than others. Flip over to Chapter 3, v. 14-15 really quickly. Here’s what they’re saying. “It is a vain thing to serve God…”. We might as well turn evil, because it works out better for them in the end. 

And this line of reasoning goes even one step further if you’re Israel. Not only have you now accused your God of blessing and prospering and accepting the sinner’s lifestyle. Not only have you attacked His character by doubting His attributes of justice and righteousness. But you have looked at your current situation, as dreary as it may be (now remember I’m talking Israel, here, not us, yet), and claimed yourself to be completely innocent, placing full blame on God as breaking His promises. They thought that they deserved blessings from God, so when they received rebuke and punishment, they complained of injustice, ignoring their sin and placing blame elsewhere. 

And so, yes, it “wearied” the Lord. It made Him tired. Now, it was not in a physical sense or an emotional sense as a result of running a marathon or dealing with stress of a crazy life or tragic situation. This word obviously can mean those things, but that’s not the sense here. It implies prolonged, unpleasant activity that is about to stop. It means that God’s patience and endurance of their rebellion is about to end. Their desire for justice is about to happen. They are finally going to receive what they wanted, and they may not like it.

3 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

Be careful what you wish for. You may want justice in this world, but God always begins discipline of His children, first. And in this passage, we see it even begins with the leadership, which makes sense, since early sections of Malachi 2 hammer them pretty good. There are four predictions in these first six verses, all of which can be summarized as a messenger comes to announce the arrival of the Lord. And when the Lord comes, He comes to judge and purify the priests and then the people.

Now look at v. 2 again. This is so common an idea when God shows up in these judgment theophanies. Theophany means an appearance of God. The obvious answer to who can stand before the Lord is … Uh, no one. No one who has been complaining about all the bad people having a blessed life and all the good people being punished can withstand judgment because when God shows up in perfect justice and righteousness, guess what, Israel? You are not innocent. Even in Malachi, we see that they were leaving their wives, offering cheap sacrifices. Well, look at v. 5.

5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts. 

Seems to me that whatever Israel’s complaints may have been, or whatever their situation was, and whatever judgment they receive when God does show up is warranted. This is an example of a people that throughout their entire history had a covenant with God that said obey me and I will bless you, and disobey me, and I will punish you. When they violated that covenant, God simply acted appropriately. Actually, you know what? God was unjust, in that He waited years and years to send them into exile. And here He continues to show them mercy and patience. 

I want to go back to the previous verses, though. The end of 2-4. Because God is tired of their false accusations. Their audacity of thinking He’s unjust and their guiltless. Because His patience is running out, justice is going to come. He is going to come and punish them, but to what end? Just purge them? Wipe them out like a miniature flood and start over? No, it’s going to be painful, but he’s going to be like a goldsmith, melting the gold and scraping the dross off. Then remelting it and scraping some more off. Then fuller’s soap—what’s that? It’s basically doing your laundry. Scrubbing with soap to get all their dirt off. Again, to what end? So that they can bring their offerings to the Lord again. And the offerings will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old. That’s what it’s all about, glorifying and honoring the one true God. He’s a very jealous God, but He’s not unjust or unrighteous or the cosmic bully we want to make Him out to be. V. 6 says so.

6 “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.

It’s true, Israel. I’m coming in judgment. And it’s going to stink. Starting from the top down, leaders and priests to the people, no one can stand when I come. No one can rightfully accuse me of being unjust. No one is innocent, and all must repent and turn toward righteousness. There will be punishment and judgment to endure. 

BUT!!! Unlike you who looks at a covenant made either a couple days ago and starts worshipping a golden calf or a couple thousand years ago and still can’t worship me properly, and unlike you who forgets the promises you make either to your spouse or your God or your neighbor, I am Yahweh, and I do not forget my promises. That’s the meaning of “I do not change.” 

I know what I said. I meant it. And I keep it. Therefore, you, are not consumed. You will not perish. This judgment will be intense. It will not be pleasant. You may even doubt me more, but you will not die, even though you probably deserve it. I will not wipe you out and start over. I will harness my anger, because I am faithful to my promises. I am faithful to my people. 

Did you notice how He defines the people, though? Children or sons of Jacob. Where have we seen Jacob before in Malachi? All the way at the beginning. Where God said, I loved Jacob and hated Esau. And what was the point of that lesson or the point of God saying that to Israel so early in the book?

The reason Israel was so flippant or negligent in their worship was that they doubted God’s love for them. But God uses their history of being one of two twins, with no merit of their own, to show His immense love and devotion to their nation. 

And that has been an incredible theme throughout the entire book so far. Until you realize how much God truly does love you, you will not be able to offer Him your best worship. Until you realize how much God loves you, you will not be able to serve the Lord in ministry. Until you understand that God loves you even during the difficulties you face, you will always question His faithfulness and whether those who do evil really have a better life. 

God loves you. The Almighty Holy Just, Faithful God loves you. Period. Do you believe me?

Most of you probably do. Others may have some thoughts a lot like Israel. I know He does, but He must love those drug dealers, or con men, or scheming lawyers (not the good ones haha), or the real jerks and bullies of the world a lot more. I mean, I have a lot more problems than they do.

Maybe so. But there are enough examples in the Bible to show me that asking God a question is ok. But making Him angry to where He shows up is terrifying. And making Him weary with questioning His faithfulness and justice is not something I want to do. 

And I have learned that not every situation is a direct result of sin in my life. I am not always being punished, but I am not completely innocent, either. 

Here’s what I know. This world is a horrible place of suffering, pain, evil, and I’m strictly talking because of the decisions of people, not natural disasters or diseases (that’s a separate post). I am also capable of making some very stupid mistakes. Therefore, the situation I find myself in is a result of all these daily decisions of people working together. In the middle of it all, God loves me and is orchestrating His plan for me. Somehow that includes making me holy and equipping me to lead others toward Jesus. By the way, that’s His plan for all of you, too. And He is going to be faithful to protect me from the evil one, be with me, help me, strengthen me, discipline me when I get side-tracked, forgive me, all the way from point A to point B (Christlikeness and glorification on new earth).

So do wealthy and prosperous pagans upset me? Yea. I get jealous. Does it confuse my theology? No, because God loves me, and perhaps just as important God is faithful—to what He said He would do. 

If I ever start getting too jealous or too upset with God, if I think I deserve more than my friends or even family members because they make worse decisions than I do, if I can’t get over the fact of how much God has forced me to endure—I have to go back and reflect on His love. 

Malachi 1:1-14

“What follows is divine revelation. The word of the Lord came to Israel through Malachi: “I have shown love to you,” says the Lord, but you say, “How have you shown love to us?” “Esau was Jacob’s brother,” the Lord explains, “yet I chose Jacob and rejected Esau. I turned Esau’s mountains into a deserted wasteland and gave his territory to the wild jackals.” Edom says, “Though we are devastated, we will once again build the ruined places.” So the Lord who rules over all responds, “They indeed may build, but I will overthrow. They will be known as the land of evil, the people with whom the Lord is permanently displeased. Your eyes will see it, and then you will say, ‘May the Lord be magnified even beyond the border of Israel!’” “A son naturally honors his father and a slave respects his master. If I am your father, where is my honor? If I am your master, where is my respect? The Lord who rules over all asks you this, you priests who make light of my name! But you reply, ‘How have we made light of your name?’ You are offering improper sacrifices on my altar, yet you ask, ‘How have we offended you?’ By treating the table of the Lord as if it is of no importance! For when you offer blind animals as a sacrifice, is that not wrong? And when you offer the lame and sick, is that not wrong as well? Indeed, try offering them to your governor! Will he be pleased with you or show you favor?” asks the Lord who rules over all. But now plead for God’s favor that he might be gracious to us. “With this kind of offering in your hands, how can he be pleased with you?” asks the Lord who rules over all. “I wish that one of you would close the temple doors, so that you no longer would light useless fires on my altar. I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord who rules over all, “and I will no longer accept an offering from you. For from the east to the west my name will be great among the nations. Incense and pure offerings will be offered in my name everywhere, for my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord who rules over all. “But you are profaning it by saying that the table of the Lord is common and its offerings despicable. You also say, ‘How tiresome it is.’ You turn up your nose at it,” says the Lord who rules over all, “and instead bring what is stolen, lame, or sick. You bring these things for an offering! Should I accept this from you?” asks the Lord. “There will be harsh condemnation for the hypocrite who has a valuable male animal in his flock but vows and sacrifices something inferior to the Lord. For I am a great king,” says the Lord who rules over all, “and my name is awesome among the nations.””

‭‭Malachi‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬-‭14‬ ‭ 

Have you ever experienced a situation that just made the room stop in silence and made everyone ask, What just happened? Maybe there’s a room full of people (classroom, auditorium, restaurant), and you may or may not notice someone is abnormally quiet. Their mood may change throughout the course of the event.

Someone happens to say just the wrong thing. And the person explodes. That happened to be the worst day ever for whatever reason, and they go off about who knows what. (And they could have very valid reasons). But now everybody’s a jerk, can’t do anything right, and should just leave them alone. 

Then there’s an awkward silence after the individual storms out and glances back and forth that say, “What just happened?”

This also happens on a city or national level. Every city that has a massive shooting is forced to take a step back and sacrifice their differences with each other for a while and just stand in shock for a second. 

9/11 was the shock of my generation to many Americans. And though the military was forced to react quickly, the reaction of the populace was “Woah. What was that? And why did it happen? Because that can’t happen again. What just happened? We need to do whatever we can to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

And we know that real tragedies can lead people either toward a dependency on God or harden them to accepting God, because after all how could a loving God allow something so catastrophic? We see that back then, and we see it now every day. The problem of evil and suffering is always going to be a hang up for a lot of people, and I don’t blame them. 

But what about those who belong to God? What about those called by His name and are in a relationship with Him? That relationship clearly does not mean we escape hardship. We are still going to have “What just happened?” events that don’t make sense. 

Yet, in between those times I wonder, how is our worship to our God? When you right now think of the majesty and glory of God, and the quality of worship He receives from you, do the two correlate very well? Or does your worship of God, through your singing, through your service, through your fellowship, through your prayer reflect a skewed view of God, a higher view of yourself than deserved, and are you offering God second or third best?

Israel had the same problem, and we see this in the book of Malachi. He teaches two main truths about God that will free us from this mindset that God is only worth halfhearted worship.

First, Israel had a huge, “What just happened?” moment. We call it the exile. Sure, they disobeyed the law for years and worshiped false gods, but they were in a covenant relationship with the one true God. What was there to fear? Well, the covenant for one thing, which said if you disobey, I’ll send you into exile. So after hundred of years of mercy, God was faithful to His Word, and He allowed them to be captured, and cities destroyed, and the temple leveled. Horrible circumstances for God’s people. But how could this happen? Wouldn’t God’s name be blasphemed? Doesn’t matter. Israel needed to be disciplined. So 70ish years later and in three stages, they were able to return. The temple was rebuilt, but it wasn’t nearly as beautiful. The walls around Jerusalem were rebuilt. So they were back and functioning, but things were nearly as good as before. And the collective mindset is sideways glances back and forth, “What was that? Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

And so Israel was certain to try to follow the rules this time, but their confidence in God’s love was not as strong. And when you focus on doing the right things without loving God and knowing that He loves you, you’re going to start messing up. 

Let’s gain some encouragement from Malachi 1.

Read vv. 1-5. 

See, the first thing God reminds them of is His love for them, but they don’t believe Him. 

Did you see that in v. 2? “How have you loved us?” And God answers with a history lesson way back in Genesis with the two sons of Isaac: Jacob and Esau. One son turned into the nation of Israel. The other son became the nation of Edom. And God says, I chose you, Israel, to love, and make a covenant with and give my law and protect. Edom, I have destroyed. They were wicked, and I punished them, and even though they tried to rebuild, they will never be prosperous. And even though they came from the same father, I chose to love you. You didn’t do anything to earn my blessing. And here you are, after these hundreds of years of my faithfulness to you as a people, and asking, “How do we know that you love us?”

And because they don’t believe Him, their service to Him is affected. Then why are they even serving Him? Obligation? Fear? Tradition? All of which are not bad in their own right, but if there is no proper foundation of love in a relationship, it is no relationship. 

A healthy fear of who He is as the Almighty able to squash me at any moment— so I better straighten up— mindset is good, but I better be comfortable in resting in the fact that He loves me, and I love Him. OR what? My service to Him is going to be second rate at best. My worship, my prayers, my evangelism, my study of His word is going to be flippant if I do it, and it’s going to be half-hearted. And that’s how Israel struggled, too.

Themes in vv. 6-14:

Despising God’s name (v. 6, 12)-How? Offering polluted food upon the altar. 

So because they glad to be back home and have a temple, they are living the normal life of a Jew again. But they’re still recovering from the exile. They don’t fully believe that God is on their side or that He is worthy of the highest praise. And so their worship is sort of blah. God says you are despising my name. What are they doing?

Offering polluted offerings (blind, sick animals; v. 8, 13, 14)

I have this nice fat, healthy lamb, but you know, is God really worth that anymore? I have to sacrifice because it’s required or else He might punish me, so I’ll give Him something, but I can’t give the mean ol’ boss my favorite, or the best, or the fattest. 

God says two things in response: I’m going to go backwards. Second, He says,

God’s name great/ feared among the nations (v. 11, 14): This is speaking of something future from Malachi’s perspective. Since Israel was still not treating God with the obedience and respect and love that He deserved, they would be set aside, and the gospel would be sent out to the Gentiles. Now, that was always the plan, even back in Genesis 12. God told Abraham that He would be a blessing to all the nations. Israel’s rebellion would not thwart that plan, and God’s point here is that His majesty and His kingship is so great, that the nations will worship Him, and they will fear Him despite Israel’s failures. 

But, first, His number one advice is until then …

Just shut the doors of the temple (v. 10). Stop fooling around. I don’t want your sacrifices, if this is what I get. If you seriously can’t see all that I’ve done for you, and you doubt my love; if you seriously don’t see my as the majestic King that I am; and if the best you can offer is a sick lamb, then just shut the whole thing down. I’ll wait until my name is feared and praised among the Gentiles.

Flip on over to 2 Chronicles 28. We actually hear of the temple activities being shut down before Israel went into exile. But it wasn’t anything like this. This is a king of Israel who made a terrible decision. READ vv. 1-4. Jump down to vv. 22-25. So we have Ahaz here at one of Israel’s lowest points before Hezekiah comes on the scene, one of Israel’s high points, actually shutting down the temple in order to elevate the idol worship and set up altars to the foreign gods. We saw him already completely paganized with offering his own children. This is a wicked dude, and now in Malachi, God says, Israel, your half-hearted, lame lambs your trying to sacrifice to me, just keep it. Shut the doors, because it’s meaningless to me. It’s about as valuable as Ahaz setting up idols. 

I don’t want you serving and praising me simply out of tradition or obligation. I want you to know that I love you. And I want you to love me. And I want you to know that I am your King, and that I have been faithful to you for hundreds—at this point, almost a thousand— years. I’m committed to you as a people because I love you, and until you recognize that, and until you love me and are going to enter into a healthy, respectful, honoring, committed, yet heart-filled relationship with Me, then forget it. 

And the parallel with modern Christianity isn’t too hard to see here. Why do you pray or not pray? Why do you read your Bible or not? Why do you serve others? I’ve asked this before, but when you come to church, what is your attitude; what is your focus? Where is your heart? When you approach Jesus and this Christianity mindset, and when you think of God, what are you offering to Him, your best or second or third rate service? Because He doesn’t want that. He doesn’t deserve that. He’d rather you don’t give Him anything than give Him a lame or sick lamb. Just don’t sing if you’re going to be thinking about lunch or going back to sleep or other things you have to get done the whole time. 

Just don’t serve if you’re going to be looking to get paid or use it as blackmail or use it to look better than someone else who didn’t do anything. You know these are just a couple ways that demonstrate that we are going through motions because we know it’s right, but our relationship with God is off kilter. 

But when we recognize how committed, faithful, and loving He is (1) and how majestic, Sovereign, and worthy He is as our King (2), we will recognize a heart change within ourselves and a willingness to offer Him our best. Then we can be part of that Gentile number who praises and fears and glorifies His name, as the God who loves His children, provides for them, cares for them, and is so worthy of our true and free worship.

The Problem of God and Evil/Suffering

 Note: As I have said elsewhere, I am no philosopher. When it comes to origins of thoughts or ideas, or cause/effect arguments, even logical fallacies, I am no expert. And this topic certainly cannot be covered in a meager blog post. Volumes of books already exist, and we haven’t scratched the surface. It’s obviously highly debatable, but hopefully something below will help.

Much of the philosophy side is adapted from the videos on my Resources Page from William Lane Craig. I don’t agree with Dr. Craig on all things, and I honestly don’t understand much of what he says. But these videos at least offer a starting point to the discussion.

            The reality is that whether you’re a skeptic or been a believer for many, many years, many people will continue to struggle with this issue of evil, pain, and suffering and God. We say, How can this happen? A middle schooler’s going to wonder, How can people bully me and get away with it? How can my mom have this disease? We hear of the latest shooting and think, How can all these people get killed? How can this hurricane ruin so many people’s lives? The problem of evil and suffering devastates so many people’s view of God, and if you ever talk to somebody about Jesus these days, it’s bound to come up. 

            When somebody argues against God with the problem of evil and suffering, their logic is usually something like this:

1.      God and evil cannot co-exist.

2.      Evil surrounds us.

3.      Therefore, God cannot exist.

This seems pretty sound at first glance, right? Well, this would be correct, if each of the first two steps were completely accurate. The only one that needs tweaking is the first one.

Let’s rephrase it in two parallel sentences to see where the skeptic needs to be challenged.

1.      An all-powerful, all loving God exists.

2.      Suffering exists.  

The atheist is going to say that these statements describe contradictory realities. Is this true? Are these contradictory statements of reality? No, not really. I am married. I am single. Those are contradictory. So the problem in their logic is with some unstated, underlying assumptions that are being made. Here’s the first one.

            If God were all-powerful, He could create any world He wants.

This is true, but what if God’s infinite wisdom prefers a world that allows for free-will? Then He is not the only one making the choices. Even though He is in control and sovereign over what happens, He does not force people to choose what is right or good. And therefore, God did create the world that He wanted, but that does not necessarily mean that His power is responsible for the pain we see today.

            If God were truly loving, He would want to stop evil from happening.

Again, this falsely puts us inside the mind of God. How can we possibly know what He wants? And how can we possibly know what is best? We simply have no idea as limited, finite human beings how an isolated incident can have a sort of ripple effect throughout history. The intended effect may not emerge with the result God intended for centuries and maybe on the other side of the world. And since we cannot know all the possibilities or even probabilities, we are in no place to judge the goodness or character of God.

This assumption is really sort of selfish. It pictures our existence as one big house, and God is our owner, and we are His pets. And His mission is to make our life enjoyable and happy and pleasant. But His goal, in fact, according to Christian doctrine is not our happiness; it’s that people would know Him and enjoy Him for all of eternity. Of course, that does not mean that everything bad that happens is a punishment for sin or a call for people to turn to God.

And we see small examples of pain’s being used for good every day. Have you ever gone to the dentist for a cavity? Did you ever have a bone reset or a shoulder put back in place? It was painful, right? But that pain was used for a much better purpose. That’s an overly simple illustration and not intended to relate to any or all of your life experiences.

Now, what would happen in the mind of the atheist if the problem of evil and suffering vanished? What would happen if all that existed were good things and God? Would they turn to Him then? No? How come? Because their pride has led them to take credit for their good life. And their pain has hardened their heart against Him instead of becoming dependent upon Him.

Go read Romans 1 some time. This is exactly what happens all throughout history. Pride ruins mankind, not pain and evil and suffering.

Does the Bible offer any answers on the purpose of pain and suffering, tribulation and trial? Sure, it does. Here are just a few passages on God’s Use of Suffering:

            James 1:2, 12; Count it joy when you meet trials, for the testing of faith produces steadfastness or endurance. It continues to say that you will be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

            2 Corinthians 12:7; Paul’s thorn in the flesh was given to him for what reason? To keep him from becoming conceited.

            Romans 8:28-30; All things work together for the good of the believer, which is growth toward Christlikeness and ultimately glorification.

            2 Cor 1:3-4; We are comforted in affliction, so that we can comfort those who are in any affliction.

           We know these passages. We may even have them highlighted in our Bibles or on our Bible apps. We know that God in His wisdom sees what’s best, but for some reason it’s still so difficult to accept a situation when we face it. It’s still so difficult to have faith. 1 Peter 5:6 commands that we “Humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God.” Contextually, it means during the trial, you accept the situation and stop trying to escape it. It means instead to fall on your knees in prayer. It means to pull a Job in chapter 40 and simply put your hand on your mouth and stop talking back. There are things we simply don’t understand.

        God’s wisdom always knows better than we do.

            And we know that. And you know, to some extent, so does the world. We can be armored with something very similar to what I’ve just covered with you. Answering their objections. We have abundance evidence for the reliability of the Scriptures, the existence of God, the resurrection of Jesus. And sometimes we enter these conversations with them, and we think, How can they not see? What’s wrong with my presentation? I’m never trying again. No, nothing’s wrong with you. First, Satan has blinded them.

            But you know, I have been a Christian for over 20 years now, and I’ve been to school for what seems like much longer than that. I’ve been in church longer than that, I know. So sure, I may be able to argue for Christianity. I may be able to defend my faith and the existence of God and the resurrection of Jesus. 

9 out of 10 people don’t have a problem with God or Christianity because of logical problems, or Christianity just sounds silly. We have evidence. When we enter conversations, we absolutely need to be prepared with evidence and be able to reason with people. But I’ve heard it over and over and over.

If you’ll just listen and let them talk past their first ten minutes of “logic and reasons,” which they probably got from the internet somewhere or the History channel’s latest special, there’s a story. 

There’s the emotional problem of pain and suffering. 

There’s a shooting. There’s the pandemic. There’s a famine or drought around the world. There’s sex-trafficking or maybe something more personal: a death in the family or a bad diagnosis, sometimes from 20 or 30 years ago. Guess what? They’re absolutely right.

They’re hurt, and no amount of logic and 10 reasons why Jesus rose from the dead is going to persuade them, though they need to hear that. Save that for later.

1.      First step: Listen to them.                  

2.      Second step: Give them a hug and cry with them.

3.      Third step: Try to relate with them with a story of your own.

4.      Fourth step: Point them to God’s true character. See, God is good and loving. And He is not some distant angry God hurling pain onto His minions for no reason. He entered our world of suffering. He was willing to face death and even hell for our sake! Why? So that we—the one’s who caused all this mess to begin with—could escape and overcome this evil world and enjoy Him, the greatest good and ultimate fulfillment forever. So this puts the problem of evil in a whole new light, because in a world with just evil and suffering and no God, we have no hope. But God is the only answer to the problem.

5.      Fifth step: Maybe they’ll reach a place to talk about Jesus. He is the source of that hope. The incarnation, ministry, death, and resurrection shows Immanuel in the most absolute sense. 

Let the light shine: Matthew 5:14-16

Jesus says, All of you, disciples, are the light. Actually, you are a city of light—on a hill. Weary travelers can look off in the distance and know where to go. They can know where their destination is. They can know where to rest. On a dark night, out in the country, a city on a hilltop would shine super bright. This is the equivalent of rounding a bend on today’s road and seeing a skyline lit up with all the lights. 

Why? Why should we shine? The purpose statements are given in v. 16.

(1) So they may see your good works and do what?

(2) Glorify your Father in heaven.

 

Okay, so I shine my light, and people see it, and God gets glory, but did you catch that? What is my light? I am supposed to “Let my light shine,” which is what people see. What do people see in that first purpose statement? My good works. My good works should be on full display. How are you doing there? Poor? Mediocre? Good? Excellent? Are you a 20-watt bulb or a 100? Are you looking for opportunities to serve others, to be obedient, to live a pure life?

Here’s the connection that I want to make. Because when you display a life of good works in the middle of a world of hurt and pain and suffering, you may just give someone an opportunity to glorify God.

When you say, “Hey, I know you’re probably bitter right now. I understand. Your dad just got diagnosed with this. Or your best friend just completely left you out in the cold. Or you wrestle with anxiety, but can I do anything for you? Can I help you with anything? Because when I was angry and when I was suffering, my God helped me. And He came and served me in my deepest need, and so I feel like I can share some of His compassion towards you.”

And when you actually mean that, and you become the hands and feet of Jesus, they may just go, “Wow, I am still angry, but I’m just willing enough to give God a chance. Could He really be that good?”

“Yea. Yea, He is. Let me show you how we can praise Him, even if we don’t understand Him.”

By letting our light shine through good works, we may be able to soften the emotional problem with God and the existence of suffering.