Does God REALLY do THAT???

A brief summary of a few events in 2^nd Kings 1-6

Elijah (prophet of the LORD):

Receives a direct message (by angel) from God • Gives a death decree from the LORD (which is fulfilled) •Kills 102 (by my calculations) men with “fire from heaven” • Parts the Jordan river, with a rolled up cloak • Is taken to heaven (while he is still alive) on a fiery chariot (horses and all)…in a whirlwind

Elisha (Elijah’s successor):

Parts the Jordan (with Elijah’s cloak) •Purifies a poisonous stream, and some poisonous stew - with a little salt and flour • Curses a group of boys, in the name of the LORD, which results in a bear mauling 42 of them • Serves as a conduit of God’s “voice” which proclaims He will fill the land with water – without wind or rain (and then actually does it) • Instructs a woman to fill every vessel in town with oil from one small jar • Declares a woman will conceive, then later brings her dead son (the result of her conception) back to life by praying to the LORD • Cures a man (who is very uncooperative) of leprosy…then inflicts another man (along with his descendants, FOREVER) with the very same leprosy •Causes an iron axe head to float on water • Prays – and the eyes of his servant are opened to see a heavenly army (More fiery chariots & horses) • Then completely blinds the enemy army…

Once I catch my breath - I’m left with a few questions, like…Does God REALLY do THAT??

Did He do it back then but doesn’t do it anymore? Are these stories fairy tales and fables to get children (and adults) to behave? Is this for real?

What if it is?

Does God really come close enough to speak to (and through) us? Close enough to send angels, heal the sick and feed the hungry? Close enough to rescue the widow & orphan, perform miracles, give signs and protect the innocent? Close enough to… punish the wicked…give life… take life … raise the dead?

Maybe, underneath all the analysis, contemplation, and debate concerning the bible – there’s only one real question.

How close are you God? – really?

Ordinary People (Part 2)

So, Naomi is lost in grief and hopelessness and Ruth does something ... unexpected.

Maybe it is rooted in her own best interest, maybe her family is no family she wants to go home to. Maybe it's pride, who wants to go home a widow with no children to show for a 10 year marriage? Maybe over the years she has formed such a strong love for Naomi that she is willing to risk her own future, rather than suffer the loss of the relationship. Maybe it was truly selfless. This young girl, who is not even a Hebrew and doesn't know the God of Israel, recognizes Naomi's need, and sacrifices her own security to walk alongside her.

So Naomi returned together with Ruth the Moabite... Ruth 1:22

Things get rather interesting after that. Naomi sets about instructing Ruth on - what COULD be interpreted as - seducing a husband. But, as I am drawn in and caught up by this story; my heart beats with the kind of longing and hope that only the greatest of love stories inspire. Twilight, Titanic, or more to my taste, Wuthering Heights, and Gone With The Wind. The kind of love stories that whisper to the deepest part of us - that we are not alone. That...

God sets the lonely in families... Psalms 68:6

Something else that is very interesting, that may not jump out at you right away, is that unlike most of the Old Testament, YAHWEH never shows up at all. No burning bushes or parting waters. No lions dens, talking donkeys or whale rides. No floods, fires, pillars of salt, grand victories, or smiting of the wicked. The Book of Ruth is all about humans... being very...

Human.

A young woman, struggling with her own loss and insecurity, finds a way to stand by an old woman, who is in desperate need. A lonely and broken widow, finds a way through her own sorrow and grief, to impart wisdom, and help secure a future for a young girl, who is a stranger in a strange land. A powerful man who, instead of taking and abusing, chooses to walk in righteousness. A man who stands tall to defend, protect, and take up the battle of the widow and the orphan.

..."Wait my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest, but will settle the matter today." Ruth 3:18

Then suddenly, this brief, seemingly insignificant, 3000 year old snap shot of a few obscure characters, draws to a close. As swiftly as the sand of the ancient middle eastern desert, slipping through our fingers:

So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When they came together, the LORD made her conceive, and she bore a son. then the women said to Naomi, "Blessed be the LORD, who has not left this day without next-of-kin; and may His name be renowned in Israel! Ruth 4:13-14

And I am struck with the utter plainness, of a few ordinary people, who found themselves swept into the very center - of God's Extraordinary story.

Maybe Naomi was right after all.

Now these are the descendants of Perez: Perez became the father of Hezron, Hezron of Ram, Ram o fAmminadab, Amminadab of Nahshon, Nahshon of Salmon, Salmon of Boaz, Boaz of Obed, Obed of Jesse, and Jesse of David.
Ruth 4:18-21

Ordinary People (Part 1)

In the book of Ruth there is a famine which causes Naomi, along with her husband and two sons, to leave their home and go to a foreign land. This land was...strange. A strange land, filled with strange people, who worshiped strange gods, and had a rather sketchy history with Israel. Over the course of time, Naomi's husband and both sons die and she is left alone here.

A devastating, terrifying situation for a woman at this point in history.

Naomi's only hope is to return to her own land and family. According to custom, her widowed daughters-in-law should return to their families in (desperate) hope of finding new husbands. One daughter-in-law chooses to stay with Naomi and journey to Bethlehem. Here, much of the focus in this story shifts to Ruth, but I'd like to stay with Naomi for a bit...

This is what Naomi has to say about the fate that has befallen her:

Even if I thought there was hope for me...(Ruth 1:12) It has been far more bitter for me than it has for you, because YAHWEH has turned against me. (1:13) Call me no longer Naomi (pleasant), call me Mara (bitter), for the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me. I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty; why call me Naomi when Yahweh has dealt harshly with me, and the Almighty has brought calamity on me? (1:20-21)

God and Pain.

There's an odd thing about today's Christian and pain - we're really uncomfortable "blaming" God. We want to divorce God from pain. We spend a lot of time analyzing where God is when it hurts, or why bad things happen to good people. But in the end, ultimate blame is attributed to sin, or Satan or a fallen world...

Naomi knew nothing of this.

In Naomi's time - and long, long before Naomi's time - all ancient people believed that "gods" were responsible for everything. There was no such thing as an atheist, or an agnostic, or a distant god. The question was never IF there was a god, or WOULD a god intervene - there was only one question; WHICH god.

Maybe this concept is difficult for us because we have much more knowledge of the workings of the universe. Or maybe it's because we are so self-sufficient and self-reliant. Maybe we dismiss the world view of the ancients as incomplete because this kind of thinking brings God very...very...

near.

Naomi lived out of a belief system that said:
Yahweh, the One True God, All Powerful, All Present, Creator of heaven, earth and all of the universe, has WILLED and DESIGNED my life to be a journey of hunger, pain, loss, fear, insecurity and instability.

What if she is right?

Oh...THAT IS funny! (i think)

Jonah 1:17 & 2:10
But the LORD provided a large fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights...Then the LORD spoke to the fish, and it spewed Jonah out upon the dry land.

There are many different ways to respond to "incidents" like this in the the bible:

1. The 100% Literal approach - The Bible says it, I believe it, end of discussion!
2. The philosophical approach - This may be a metaphorical illustration of death or death to self...
3. The analytical approach - Do you realize that a Sumerian mythological text views the underworld as being a three-day journey from the land of the living?
4. The intellectual approach - It has been proven that it is possible for a human to survive inside of a whale, the whale may not even have swallowed him, I saw it on discovery channel!
5. The ostrich approach - I don't get it. I'm going to brush past this part as quickly as possible and try to get to the "real" point of the scripture.

Maybe our methods of reading the scripture say a lot more about who we are, than who God is.

When I read this passage about Jonah and the BIG FISH... I laugh... out loud! I can't help but ask; God....Whats up with THAT??? (seriously, is this a joke?)

God's given us this incredible rich history of Him and His love for us, close to a couple of thousand years of documented relationship between Him and humans. He's given us The Bible - His Word to us, everything we need... to KNOW Him. We're supposed to read it. Then He puts in stuff like people living inside of big fish for 3 days.

If You want us to KNOW You, why do You throw in stuff that You KNOW we don't get?!!

As I laugh, I sense that God is laughing with me.

Yeah, I don't get it.

There is so much about God that I will never get. I will try every approach I know to pin Him down, hem Him in, conform Him to MY ideas,...and He will always be bigger, and beyond and more than I can comprehend or imagine.

Yeah, I don't get it ... isn't that great! :)