God On Trial!

General James Green, Oct. 3, 2011

Rom. 11:34 Amp: “For who has known the mind of the Lord and who has understood His thoughts, or who has [ever] been His counselor?”

WHEN EVIL MEN PUT GOD ON TRIAL, as they are so doing in this evil and perverse generation, they must deal with His inscrutable wisdom: “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unfathomable (inscrutable, unsearchable) are His judgments (His decisions)! And how untraceable (mysterious, undiscoverable) are His ways (His methods, His paths)!” (v.33). God's wisdom in doing what He does exceeds the puny wisdom of mere men.

     “For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been His Counselor?”—Isa. 40:13; The quotations in v. 35 taken from Job 35:7 and 41:11).

     Let’s set the record straight, those of you who have put God on trial: God's BEING IS THE GROUND OF OUR LIFE! He is the creator, we, the created. He IS the source, the sustainer, and the end of all that exists: from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. How can anyone hope to comprehend Him who holds us and all things in His hand? (vv. 35, 36).

The Accusation

EVIL MEN AND WOMEN ARE ACCUSING GOD of being CRUEL, UNJUST, UNLOVING, especially the God of the O.T. Of course they are judging Him by humanistic understandings. When God can’t solve, every problem or meet every objection that men demand, they naturally (like “natural” in 1 Cor. 2:14, 15:46) accuse God. I’ve been there and done that already! (I speak of my personal trying of my faith, not of His being or character, like “Why did God kill all those people in the O.T. times?”, etc.)

     We cannot propound a philosophy of history, if history has no meaning. But if we believe there is a God, and I certainly do, and that absolute power / authority / and infinite love are among His attributes, the discussion can proceed. Why did God either kill His enemies personally or have others do it? This really unnerves peace-niks. It has, at times, bothered me also.

     Again and again these questions of cruelty, injustice, killing etc. come up. Sometimes we must remain silent because we just don’t know why—and yet silence is not quite the right reaction, because we believe that the inscrutable mysteries are taken up into something yet greater and more comprehensive: the eternal purpose of the most High God!

     Yet we do find some answers in God’s Word, maybe not what we like, but nevertheless plausible.

     Since God is wisdom, power, and love, then we can expect, with hope, the answers in which we are so inextricably questioning.

     After 40 years of studying His Word I have no problem admitting that I don’t know all there is to know about WHY? His Ways run out beyond the limits of our human minds. Being a Christian does not make us all knowing. We can begin with what we know of God—thru His Word and personal experience—even though we must admit the partial and fragmentary nature of our limited knowledge.

God Is Cruel!

I’VE HEARD THIS ALL MY LIFE, from both believers and unbelievers. Both camps have long viewed God's people—the Israelites—as cruel / hateful / murderous etc. because they were commanded to DESTROY—even women, children, and animals—pagan nations in Canaan.

     We know that God used humans to destroy other humans (God at other times used natural means), but why? Well, we might ask this today in light of the war on terrorism. Some of the very same accusers back the U.S. war on terrorism. If the U.S. Gov. says that certain men are evil and need to be destroyed, who really argues? Some do, but a whole lot do not. The U.S. Politicians and military tell us that Islam (at least some parts of it) is oppressive, murderous, anti-West, anti-democracy blah, blah, blah, and the terrorists need to be destroyed, we find no problem with that. Well, God has declared certain peoples to be destroyed in ancient times for some reasons, yet His reasons were not for political ends.

     And what if a crazed right-winger killed 10 homosexuals, why this would cause one-hell-of-a stink here in America. The liberal media, the bleeding heart “Christians” (who are oh, so liberal), the law makers / enforcers etc. would call for the DEATH penalty. These same liberals / God-haters / Christian bashers, mind you, have put God on trial for the very thing they either would do or have done.

     “Justice” they say! Yes, justice. Isn’t God allowed to carry out justice? And we can count on His justice stemming from righteousness and holiness, unlike unrighteous man.

Deuteronomy 7:1-2

OUR CRITICS THROW UP Deuteronomy 7:1-2—“When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them.”

     Utterly destroy them! Well, Americans have no problem carrying out such orders, do they? You sit back and watch all the blood-letting, all in the name of “freedom” democracy”, “war on terrorism” etc., watching cruelty / murder on a huge scale, yet you find it ok because America says “those guys are the bad guys”. Trust me, militant Islam is evil, cruel, murderous, but I’m making a point here—do you catch it?

Remember the Holocaust

FROM THE JEWS’ SIDE we are forever reminded of their plight: Hitler was demonized, is still being demonized. Have we ever considered that God used him to punish the Jews AGAIN? I know I hit a national / racial nerve, but Biblical history proves this out: Israel was smitten time and time again because of her SINS against her God. When Israel was used by God to smite pagan nations, all rejoice (except those smitten). Why do we think it unjust, cruel, even barbarous, for God to smite those whom He deems need to be punished (when it refers to Israel)?

Hrm

THE HEBREW WORD “HRM” MEANS “DEVOTE” as a holocaust to Yahweh in Deuteronomy 7:2 (e.g., “utterly destroy”). This word is from the vocabulary of “Holy War” (like “jihad” in Islam). (For the old law on this subject, see 20:10-18.)

     Still, what were those 7 pagan nations doing that deserved a holocaust? Polytheism, dear ones!—THE SAME SIN THAT ABOUNDS IN DEAR OL’ “CHRISTIAN” AMERICA!

God Is Intolerant!

WHY, YES, HE IS! At least our critics got this right. I’ll remind our readers that we have the very same God today as in ancient times, only God works thru His son Jesus for the redemption / salvation / reconciliation of all souls—BUT He still executes judgments upon both the unbelievers and believers when necessary.

     Grant you, the almost unbelievably HARSH and UNLOVING practice we find in the O.T. is but an extreme application of the principle of “herem”.

     We find in Deut. 2:30 where God hardened the spirit of Sihon king of Heshbon…, making his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him unto the Israelites. We find the same thing in the case of Pharaoh. In case you think God causes men to sin, He does not. He only works with men / women whose hearts are already evil.

     My point is “herem” is used in v. 34: “And we (Israel) took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain.” Such an ordeal is not easily acceptable or understood to our modern minds. Yet the spirit of this story is reflected again and again in the O.T.

     In other books in the O.T. we find a personalized evil force at work.

     In the case of Sihon, he was the only potential enemy to whom the Israelites themselves had offered peace. The case of other enemies therefore required no theological or other explanation: they were enemies and nothing else.

     There was among Semitic peoples a terrible but deeply religious notion of “herem”. Scholars point out that this was the ban placed upon all objects owned by an enemy. An object that was “herem” was forbidden not because it was holy, i.e., devoted to one’s own deity, but because, belonging to the enemy deity, it must be rooted out. To war itself religion thus gave a strange (queer!) sanctification.

     Things haven’t changed much, have they? God knows all the whats-whens-whys-wheres-whos-etc., but mere men do not. God has divine purposes / reasons why He acts and causes others to act (at His promptings).

     Back to the U.S. war on terrorism—IN the NAME of God—America has declared it so. Well, I can see God's hand in all this; 1) He is punishing the Islamics for all the bloodshed they have spilled against defenseless Christians all too often. (Some being our African Christian friends!); 2) He is punishing America for her hypocrisy / pride / rebellion / backslidings / etc. / etc. (The drain on the economy is devastating.)

     America’s ideophrenia and skewed policies are killing this nation. The overweening government officials are liars and murderers. They, like their current prez (and ex-prezes) lie to the American people knowingly, repeatedly, too often extravagantly in an effort to JUSTIFY their pathologically, flagitiously, misotheistly foreign policies and national policies. To hear them tell it, al Qaeda is the devil, America is God's Country.

     America’s diplomats are mostly liars, deceivers…working to bring about a One World Order, not democracy. We’re talking about POWER, not freedom for any peoples.

Consider

WHEN GOD HAD PAGAN NATIONS DESTROYED, it was for good reasons. Actually, God waits centuries before He brings judgments. Genesis 15:13-16 reminds us that He is longsuffering with peoples. He is not greedy or wicked-hearted.

     We must remind ourselves that God is Creator. He is ruler—He has rules and goes by rules and lays down rules for men and expects men to abide by His rules.

     When men commit murder they often get the death penalty. Few argue with that—it seems just. But these same ones will contend with God's justice. Why do we find it hard when the Bible speaks of morbid zeal to destroy an enemy, with God's sanction? Where is the outcry at all the hundreds of thousands (even a million plus!) who have been SLAIN unrighteously by this unrighteous nation?

     Even if man has moved away “herem” itself, the idea underlying it is still all too familiar. Those who study war say that the concept besets the mind of every nation which is at war, that God, or the gods, must surely be on that nation’s side.

     America believes that God is on our side, even though she has just about OUTLAWED Him in every sphere here! The Muslims believes God or Allah is on their side against the “Great Satan”, even though they disbelieve in Jesus Christ as God's Son, who intervenes in history for His Father, along with the Holy Spirit.

Israel Favored

DEUTERONOMY 7 PLACES ISRAEL OVER THE 7 PAGAN NATIONS. Why her favored status? Well, for starters, let us look at those nations’ profile. Turning to Lev. 18, where we find God's Holiness Code for conduct, vv. 24-30 gives us what we’re looking for “Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you: And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants. Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you: (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;) That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you. For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people. Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God.”

     Those nations were full of ABOMINATIONS, ESPECIALLY SEX ONES. Hello, “Christian” America. Do you think God is forever going to overlook this? Homosexuality was one of those ABOMINATIONS! Now America has a Prez who exalts this filthy and vile SIN nationally. Even to the point of disregarding God's created order of marriage (write for our 10 Gay Way booklets for proof that God still abhors unlawful sex-sins).

     Even the “land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants” (v. 25). The land grew sick because of all the vile things those nations did upon her!

Therefore…

IT IS NOT MORALLY WRONG for a Holy, lawgiving, sin-hating God to PUNISH those who willfully, flagrantly, and unrepentantly go against His law.

     “But those nations were devoid of God's laws, how could He punish them for being ignorant?” you cry. Dear ones, they were not ignorant. They were rebellious. All one has to do is read Romans 1:18-32.

     Let me single out vv. 18-22 for you “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.” Ah, now we see that those nations were not only guilty of the sins mentioned in Leviticus 18, but were also guilty of repressing, hindering, and making God's Truth inoperative. Verse 19 tells us that “For that which is known about God is evident to them and made plain in their inner consciousness, because God (Himself) has shown it to them.” Do your own study of Romans one, see if people are all that ignorant. God does not just punish people for the hell of it, but for the truth of it.

Destroy Cultic Installations

We find this all through the history of man. Idolatry and sex-sins were and still are common sins that God abhors. He even had pagan nations to punish His very own people when they resorted to paganism.

     The lure of “other gods” is a very powerful force—then and now. Look at the modern Church, sin abounds on every hand. Polytheism abounds! The Bible prohibits His people to intermarry with non-believers, e.g., Deut. 7:3, O.T.; 2 Cor. 6:14, N.T. Yet, then and now, God's people still disobey this command.

Exodus 20:3

“THOU SHALT HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME.”

2 Cor. 6:14 echoes Ex. 20:3. There is a perpetual conflict (war!) throughout history—the war between light / darkness, peace / war, love / hate etc.

     Let it be said and believed right here and now, the righteousness of Biblical law was designed by God to put the pagan world under conviction, (see Deut. 4:5-8). So, when we grow fat and full, lazy and crazy, easy and sleazy, world evangelism slows down to a crawl. God's will has been and still is “go ye into ALL the world and make disciples (of the pagans)”—Matt. 28:19-20.

     God awaits Christians to abandon their mixed theology: the theology of religious pluralism = polytheism. Let’s face an embarrassment; the world is converting the “Christians.” They, the worldlings, control almost every realm in societies.

     Christianity was carried to the shores of the soon-to-be-United States by English Puritans etc. Christians failed to maintain a loving / growing relationship with Christ, became infatuated with Enlightenment rationalism (Scottish Enlightenment—thru the right ring of the Eng. Engl.). Hence the WAR! “Christian and Enlightenment world views,” as one historian puts it “…though resting upon very different presuppositions, combined to furnish principles that guided the development of the American Political system…American society has continued to blend or amalgamate Judeo-Christian and Enlightenment principles to the present day…”

     So, dear ones, America NEVER was purely “Christian”. It is even less so today.

     All this “Political Correctness” bull has become the nails that seal the coffin in which the corpse of America lies.

     As the “Christian” Church here in America grows weaker and weaker, the ideological synthesis continues to make and mold her political consciousness, and, I might add, the Church too is following the political pied pipers.

     It is utterly astonishing how politics affects the Church. The state tells us: “We must go to war!” The “Christian” Church (for most part) says, “God is with us!”

     Some argue: “Neither general principles nor specific NT laws teach that Christ expects nations to be formally committed to Him. The NT does not even imply that God will work in special ways through individual nations, as with OT Israel”. So, the war is on over “to go to war or not to go to war”.

     Personally, I must admit with the fact that there is no nation or race of people God favors—only individuals who please God. I know we’ve been brain-washed into believing that America is the New Israel. Sorry, the New Israel is made up of born-again individuals drawn from many nations. There really is NO pure Christian nation. Some call this verbal legerdemain.

     I used to believe otherwise—“God and Country” stuff. Pray tell me how God can use and honor a country like America when it’s built upon religious pluralism / polytheism? We can’t have the state as “our god” and at the same time have “God as our God”. We must be loyal to one or the other, if not we place ourselves into the position of being schizophrenic.

     Some believe, as I once did, that the OT was a discarded first draft, the NT is the “real deal”…judicially binding upon all individuals, churches, institutions, families etc.

     While the Bible does not expressly prohibit an explicitly Christian covenantal relationship, it does prohibit, as 2 Cor. 6:14 tells us, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers…” Tell me, do you really believe that all political people are believers? If so, I pity you! We hardly find them in churches!!

     Trust me, I know most folks in America would rather live under Socialism / Communism, even Islam, than live under a pure theocracy. Even Romans 13 fails the religious test today—they purposely AVOID (when possible) the authority of God's revealed law; today, they bless the homosexuals (and others) and practically curse the Bible believers.

     We, who call ourselves “Christian”, would love to see politicians / bureaucrats, even ministers, fear and obey God's Word—to let His laws guide them. But this has never been the case altogether. I’m all for a NT covenanted nation. I wish there was one. But we can’t go on with stars in our eyes that America is such a nation. Never was, never will be. “Other gods” are in the way. Who has the right to destroy them without destroying the millions who love and worship them? America is not ancient Israel.

     Americans, for most part, live comfortably, far above many other nation (but this is eroding away)…because the U.S. is able to obtain other countries’ precious and irreplaceable resources at cut-rate prices, under threat of sanctions, or even invasion!

     If America was ever to AWAKE from its delusional nighty-night, see the actual bullying, cruelty, theft, murder that she tries so hard to keep secret, no one would believe that God is on our side. We can’t live under the shadows of those souls gone before us, we must face the truth as it is; America goes on consuming / wasting / deceiving, even making criminals out of her masses. The military men (and WOMEN!) are required to be murderers for the sake of keeping America FREE! Free? Hell! We are being ENSLAVED by the satanically inspired officials that (mis)direct America.

Israel Bound

THAT IS, SHE WAS BOUND to a high moral code. Yet, at times, she too was seduced by those false shepherds/ prophets who held easier attitudes toward God's Way—will—work. Being constricted within the ONE NARROW WAY, Israel was kept. Once she ventured out on the broad way, she lost out with her God. Wake up people!

Intolerance Necessary

I FOR ONE BELIEVE THAT INTOLERANCE is necessary—at times. In the early Christian community, the writers had to stand in opposition to the world and its standards. The NT instructs us NOT TO EMBRACE pagan practices or institutions. The Ekklesia was an imperium in imperio. It stood apart from the state (Rome, and also religious Judaism in many cases). The apologists pilloried heathen practices. As early as Paul, marriages between believers and non-believers were warned against. Homosexuality was warned against. Heterosexual sins were warned against.

     For the Ekklesia to be true to God and true to itself, it must in many areas keep this attitude of refusal to compromise. Intolerance was “Biblically Correct.”

Going Into ALL The World

THE LAST COMMAND / COMMISSION OF JESUS, the founder of this new Cult of the Living God, is found in Matt. 28:19, 20. God warned ancient Israel about the “pagan way”, now, the New Israel, must also be warned, which the epistles so profoundly do.

     As we “go into ALL the world” for Christ, we too must take heed of “other gods”. But there is a fast growing movement called Emergent Church, that says, “To HELL with all those warning Scriptures, we can and we will be inclusive”. So, pagan faiths are embraced, tolerated, even esteemed just as good, if not better, than Biblical Christianity. This movement has been going on for decades now, but now it has a name: Emergent Church = The WAY FORWARD! HA! It is apostate, recreant, iconoclastic, misotheist, androgynous, oxymoronic, agitproppy, skewed, overweening and insular, detached and isolated from God's true body of Christ.

     This satanic movement will search for any common ground there may be with other faiths. About this striving for a so-called “One World Faith”, take heed, there can be NO easy tolerance such as might result in an amorphous syncretism. We’re not to be part of nor support any social / religious / political structure which ENSLAVES man or crushes the blood-bought freedom “wherewith Christ hath made us free”, (Gal. 5:1). All this “liberty in the Lord” BULL is just that—DUNG!!

Revolution

THE SOLUTION TO THIS POLLUTION IS BLOODY REVOLUTION! “...the blood of Jesus cleanses us from ALL sins.”  We are bound to PROTEST against any and all falseness calling itself “Christian” (which the Emergent Church calls itself).

     To be effective in this cultural war, Biblical Christianity must maintain its spiritual heritage un-compromised and untarnished.

     Just as God told ancient Israel: “Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them” (Deut. 7:11), so we are also bound to do so.

     “Herem” was a given sanction by God to Israel, so we NT Israelites have His sanction to “fight the good fight of faith”, 1 Tim. 6:12—but, unlike ancient Israel, our weapons are not carnal, but spiritual (see Eph. 6).

Mercy!

LET ME END WITH THE GOOD NEWS: the whole tenor of Scripture teaches that the LORD God delights in mercy more than murder. Second Peter tells us that God “is long suffering to us-ward, NOT WILLING that any should perish, but that ALL should come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9). So, if God gets fed up with men’s rebellion, He has every right to punish.

Sad but True

Today's political and religious leaders refuse (with a few exceptions) to recognize, even admit their errors / sins—they do not personify Biblical values, in fact, they too often repudiate them.

     God wants ALL men to be saved (1 Tim. 2:4) and walk upright.

     You see, it is because of God's great love and compassion for the world that He punishes. Some punishments can be remedial, not destructive.

     “Evil communications CORRUPT good manners,” Paul writes (1 Cor. 15:33). The road to the comprehensive PEACE of God begins with the transformation of a covenant-keeping people. Personal regeneration must precede comprehensive social reconstruction. We can’t build upon a weak foundation; the process of spiritual renewal should be the Biblical Christian’s model for institutional renewal. Don’t expect America to get better while she refuses to take God's medicine—repentance: a realization of SIN and its disastrous consequences is in order, Americans.

     All the things befalling America is the direct result of not doing the above. Help is only a prayer away. Amen.

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[Study material has been adapted from its original sources.]