WHO WOULDN'T HUG JESUS, the compassionate healer?
On the other hand, there's God.
In the Jewish Bible, which Christians usually call the Old Testament or sometimes the First Testament, writers most often refer to him as LORD—over 7,000 times. That title comes from God's answer when Moses asked for his name. God simply said, "I AM WHO I AM" (Exodus 3:14).
Who but Sam would hug I AM?
From the introduction of God's name to his deportation of the Jewish nation near the end of the Jewish Bible, what's to hug?
I've been paraphrasing the Bible book of Jeremiah. He's the prophet who watched invaders light up Jerusalem and burn it into a scorched pile of rocks and human bones.
God, according to Jeremiah, not only said he sent the invaders. God said he was fighting on their side.
"I’m in this battle, too, furious and fighting against you. Wrath is what you deserve, and I’m letting you have it. I will kill the people and the animals living inside Jerusalem. Disease will kill many of them. So will starvation and swords of the enemy" (Jeremiah 21:5-7).
Often writing in the poetry of song lyrics, like many other prophets, Jeremiah describes the coming horror of God's punishment.
"Well, I’m the LORD And here I come to punish you Just as you deserve. I’m going to light you up And burn you down" (Jeremiah 21:14).
Uncomfortable with God
I'm not comfortable quoting God saying stuff like that. And there's a lot of that to quote in the Old Testament.
Even Jeremiah was uncomfortable with it. Jeremiah let Holy God have it a time or two. He didn't like the job God gave him.
"LORD, you suckered me. Now I’m the sucker. You kidnapped me. Now you have me. I’m the butt of jokes all day long. Everyone’s laughing at me. You make me deliver bad news. It’s always about violence and death. People hate me for that. They’re always insulting me" (Jeremiah 20:7-8).
Yet in the end, Jeremiah like other prophets felt compelled to warn the Israelite people about what was coming if they continued to break the contract they had with God. They had promised to obey him, reject idols, pursue justice, and treat the most vulnerable people with compassion. Those people were immigrants, orphans, and widows (Jeremiah 22:3).
But even some of Judah's kings sacrificed their own sons to idols. And they ran their world much like many nations do today. Money was master. Fear was its weapon. Life was rich for the wealthy and wretched for the poor.
Through the prophets, God warned his people to stop living like that or he would erase their nation. They didn't. So he did. In 586 BC Babylonian invaders from what is now Iraq burned Jerusalem to the ground.
Did God really do all this killing?
Christians deal with the wrathful, jealous, violent God of the Old Testament in various ways.
- "Well, he warned them."
- "He forgave them when they finally got serious about following his laws."
- "The words we read are the prophets, not God's."
- "God didn't do the bad stuff. He saw it coming. There's a difference."
Some say God gave prophets the general idea to convey, and the prophets presented it as best they could. Much like many preachers do today. They'll take a Bible idea and try to apply it to the lives of the people listening.
Did they get God wrong?
Some Christians wonder if some people writing or editing the Jewish Bible presumed God did violent stuff to punish people because God was in charge and he would never do anything wrong. So, the obvious conclusion would be that people suffering tragedy deserved it. In that case, as the argument goes, maybe God got blamed for doing and saying things he didn't do or say.
That upsets Christians who say the Bible is 100% God-written. But most widely respected Bible scholars would say those people don't understand the history of the Bibles they hold in their hands. Today's Bibles, like most in the past 2,000 years or more, are copies of copies of translations upon translation. I think most scholars would agree that the Bible contains God-sent messages delivered at the tip of a human tongue.
Jesus: If you see me, you’ve seen the Father
For me, Jesus is the end of the matter. Phiip once told Jesus, "All we need is to see the Father. Show him to us" (John 14:8). Jesus said,
“Have I spent all this time with you, Philip, and you still don’t know me? If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father. How can you ask me, ‘Let us see the Father’? Don’t you believe that I’m in the Father and the Father is in me? I’m not telling you this on my own authority. The Father inside me is doing this. He’s doing the talking. Believe me when I tell you that I am inside the Father and the Father is inside me. If you can’t believe it based on what I’m telling you, at least believe it because of the miracles you’ve seen me do" (John 14:9-11).
Jesus puts it in a single, mysterious sentence:
"The Father and I are one and the same” (John 10:30).
I have no idea what all of that means. But I do get the point that if we want to know what God is like, look at Jesus.
That's a God you'd want to hug. And somehow, beyond all human reason, it seems, that's the God Jesus presented as the true LORD of all time.
So, I've got a lot of "I don't know" in my faith when it comes to theological matters about God, the Trinity, and the Holy Spirit. But I understand what Jesus says about living on earth as citizens of God's kingdom. I understand honesty, justice, and helping the people around us at greatest risk. More than 3,000 years after Moses, the people most in need of our help remain the immigrants, orphans, and widows.
I might not fully understand God, but I get the message and try to live it, failing, repenting, and trying again. It's a climb to heaven, I've realized.
Update on Maizey the dog with lymphoma
For those who read "Wednesday to come," our 6-year-old black lab Maizey, last week had her first chemotherapy treatment. It's for lymphoma, almost always lethal to dogs.
We're trying to give her another mostly joyful year or two. She's doing okay. A few "accidents" around the house, something I have never seen of her. Those accidents are unsettling to her. You can see it in her face and posture. But we're her pack and there's nothing but love here. It's especially easy to love when you've got a deadline. Heartbreakingly easy.
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Check out what I did at 2 a.m.
I interviewed AI about why people voted for Donald Trump. During the conversation, AI said the USA no longer functions as a democracy. That was a surprise. You can read the conversation at Interview with AI about USA.
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