Psalm 78

Haven't blogged in a long time!  Here's my reflection on what I read this morning.

"God's anger rose against them; he put to death the sturdiest among them, cutting down the young men of Israel. In spite of all this, they kept on sinning; in spite of his wonders, they did not believe.  So he ended their days in futility and their years in terror.  Whenever God slew them, they would seek him; they eagerly turned to him again.  They remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer.  But then they would flatter him with their mouths, lying to him with their tongues; their hearts were not loyal to him, they were not faithful to his covenant.  Yet he was merciful; he forgave their iniquities and did not destroy them.  Time after time he restrained his anger and did not stir up his full wrath.  He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return."  (Psalm 78:31-39).

The idea of God killing people so that they would turn to him is not very palatable.  On the face of it, seems more tyrannical than loving.  However, I think it's a bit like how they make natural gas smell like rotten eggs.  It smells terrible and is really unpleasant.  But given that the stuff will kill you, it would actually be more cruel to allow the gas to remain odorless.  The bad smell is a life-giving warning sign.

From an eternal perspective, I believe this holds true too.  If it really is true that when people die, they go to heaven or hell, then we would expect a loving God to use whatever means necessary, pleasant or unpleasant, to lead people to heaven.

On the other hand, more straightforwardly, sin deserves punishment.  I gotta go right now so I can't elaborate about this too much right now.  But while some may disagree with this in principle, in practice we would all agree.  Aiy, gotta go.