To tell the truth: I heaved a sigh of relief as I read the texts appointed for today. Following what seemed to be an endless string of texts that promised havoc and destruction for everyone, Zechariah's words take on an entirely different character, "Therefore, says the LORD, I have returned to Jerusalem with compassion; my house shall be built in it, says the LORD of hosts, and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. Proclaim further: Thus says the LORD of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity; the LORD will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem." (For a timeline with descriptions of the exile and the rebuilding of the temple, check out http://www.enterthebible.org/periods.aspx?m=3777).
I recognize these words: "But the LORD sits enthroned forever. He has established his throne for judgment. He judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with equity. THe LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you... he does not forget the cry of the afflicted," (Psalm 9:7-10, 12b). Last week, we read of the afflictions promised by God. Today, we read of God being the One who offers reprieve from afflictions.
How, then, do we view God as trustworthy? How do we explain the shift from wrath and destruction to promise and hope? What of the judgment promised? There are not hard-and-fast answers for these questions. It gives me pause as I hear words such as, "God never changes," for it seems God is deeply affected by God's creatures, becoming infuriated at their behaviors, threatening and bringing punishment (i.e. exile), and then offering forgivness despite all indications to the contrary. The truth of the matter is this narrative is difficult to tie together with a red string, to find a cohesive statement of how the life of faith works. A God unaffected by creatures would hardly care if they received death and destruction. It seems this is not the God of whom we read in the Bible. God is our refuge, and the one from whom we seek refuge. God is our strength, yet whose power could destroy us.
"Do you imagine, whoever you are, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience?" God binds Godself to his judgment. In judging others, we bind not only them, but ourselves as well. It is a weight that we kid ourselves if we believe we are able to bear it. God, in the place of judgment, has given kindness, forbearance, and patience. It does not make sense, and perhaps this is the point. We wait for the other shoe to drop, only to realize there isn't another shoe.
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