25. Reticent God?

‘WHY?’ QUESTIONS No.25

Psa 74:11 Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand? Take it from the folds of your garment and destroy them!

The mystery of evil, as it is sometimes put, seems to be always with us. Why is there evil? Why does God seem to tolerate evil men? We have in fact touched on these questions already but here it comes again. It is good to be able to be able to examine different aspects of the problem. We said yesterday that this psalm was probably written in the Exile and yesterday’s meditation was about the apparent rejection aspects of the Exile. But there was another side to it. Yes, Israel had been apathetic towards God, and yes they had worshipped idols and yes they had done wrong in respect of God, but there is another issue festering in the heart of the psalmist: what about these violent people who have taken us away? Aren’t they just as bad as us, if not worse, and aren’t they God’s enemies, so why doesn’t He deal with them?

This is quite possibly how the self-justifying Jews might have felt. We all like to justify ourselves after we have failed, and one of the ways we do it is by comparison: well I’m not as bad as them! Nebuchadnezzar had come with his great army and wiped Israel clean. It had not been a pretty sight. There is nothing glamorous about war and this war had been particularly unpleasant. This was a mighty marauding force that had just come and taken the people, killing and pillaging no doubt, wiping away any resistance and taking all the people, with the except of a tiny minority, into exile in Babylon where they would be assimilated. The Star Trek Borg cry of “Resistance is futile!” certainly applied to them. Bit by bit Nebuchadnezzar cleared them away. Neither he nor his men were nice. So why doesn’t God deal with them?

Whenever there is a long-term war between peoples, where a dictator oppresses others, the question arises. Indeed it wasn’t only a matter of their violence that would have upset the Jews: “How long will the enemy mock you, O God? Will the foe revile your name forever?” Yes, there is the derision that such violent people show towards God and towards His people. “So where is this God of yours?” is a common question from such people. Years before in Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib’s army had come against Jerusalem and derided the people: “Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the LORD when he says, `The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” (Isa 36:15). The commander also went on, “Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, `The LORD will deliver us.’ Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria ? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand?” (Isa 36:18-20) In other words he was saying, what do I care about the gods of the nations I come against. I’m much greater than them. Sennacherib had yet to learn about the Lord. This was His word to Hezekiah: “I am going to put a spirit in him so that when he hears a certain report, he will return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.” (Isa 37:7). That happened!

So there are times when the Lord clearly does act, they might have thought when they looked back over their history, so why doesn’t he act now? Well of course the answer, when we read Daniel, is that the Lord had other ways to deal with Nebuchadnezzar and by the end of that Nebuchadnezzar was to declare, “It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me. How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; his dominion endures from generation to generation.” (Dan 4:2,3).

Our problem when we come across such violent people is that we want them destroyed: destroy them! But sometimes God wants them redeemed – and He’s not in a rush: “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Pet 3:8). There is in fact, no one who is beyond God’s ability to transform them. Of course they have to have a heart to surrender to Him first, but once they have done that, there is no one too bad for God to change. Nebuchadnezzar was a most proud man, but he was redeemed and humbled by God. Naaman was a similar violent man who God blessed (see 2 Kings 5).

So when we see those in authority around us, sometimes violent men, can our cry be, “Lord save them, but if you see they are those who have set their hearts totally against you, then for the sake of your people, remove them.” Yet even in that we may have to be patient, for there are those who will not turn to the Lord who He yet uses as instruments of judgment or of chastising. Discipline is part of our loving heavenly Father’s activities, and sometimes He does it through people – unpleasant people, people who will one day be forever excluded from His presence, but for now He uses them. The best thing we can do is seek to ensure we do nothing that incurs God’s loving discipline. We need to ensure we do all we can with His help to walk in righteousness and love, and then simply trust in our Father. When we come across the violent enemy of the Lord, do what Jesus told us to do: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.” (Mt 5:44,45)