“I Can’t Serve a God Who …” (Part 3)
by Micky Galloway
We recently began a series of articles that examines false positions that would render God as a biased, unreliable, fallible, limited being. If any of these be true, these positions would paint a picture of a God that I could not serve. Yet, Paul expressed confidence in God when he wrote in II Timothy 1:12, “For which cause I suffer also these things: yet I am not ashamed; for I know him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have committed unto him against that day.” There is no basis for doubting God. Chris explained why he could not serve a god, “Who couldn’t reveal an enduring will and who couldn’t anticipate the needs of mankind in future …” Last week I stated that, “I cannot serve a god who could not or would not make His will known in such a way as to be universally understood.”
In this article I would like to examine the position that declares that God is “partial and biased so that it doesn’t matter what I do and don’t do.” I could not serve a god who is so prejudiced!
Some believe that God was and is so biased regarding the nation of Israel that He unfairly blessed them and punished other nations. Please consider that in the redemptive scheme for a Savior to come into the world, God made promises to Abraham. He promised, “Get thee out of thy country … unto the land that I will show thee. And I will make of thee a great nation … And I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse. And in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3). These were necessary that the Christ should come into the world to provide forgiveness for sins. This became the theme of the prophets and was fulfilled as recorded by Luke in Acts 2 and 3. Moses “… and all the prophets from Samuel and them that followed after, as many as have spoken, they also told of these days. Ye are the sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying unto Abraham, and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Unto you first God, having raised up his Servant, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities” (Acts 3:22-26).
Why Was Israel Blessed? Israel was blessed because God made a promise to Abraham that through him would come the Savior by which “all the families of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3). Four hundred and thirty years later, after the nation of Israel came into existence (cf. Genesis 15:13-16; Galatians 3:16-17), God reminded them, “For thou art a holy people unto Jehovah thy God: Jehovah thy God hath chosen thee to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth. Jehovah did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all peoples: but because Jehovah loveth you, and because he would keep the oath which he sware unto your fathers, hath Jehovah brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 7:6-8). They would do well to remember who they were and why!
Why Did God Destroy The Nations Who Lived In The Land Of Canaan? “When Jehovah thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and shall cast out many nations before thee, the Hittite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, seven nations greater and mightier than thou” (Deuteronomy 7:1). Was it because God was prejudiced or did those nations have a choice? The command to destroy them totally has often been thought of as unethical for a loving God. However, remember who they were. First, they were exceedingly wicked. “Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thy heart, dost thou go in to possess their land; but for the wickedness of these nations Jehovah thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may establish the word which Jehovah sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob” (Deuteronomy 9:5). Studies of their religion, literature, and archeological remains reveal that they were the most morally depraved culture on the earth at that time. Had they repented, God would have spared them as He spared the Ninevites who repented at the preaching of Jonah (Jonah 3:5-10). Likewise, He would have spared Sodom and Gomorrah if there had been as few as ten righteous souls (Genesis 18:33). Yet repentance seemed to be out of the question for these people. Secondly, the Canaanites constituted a moral cancer for the Israelites. They would most certainly introduce idolatry and immorality which would spread rapidly among the Israelites and bring about the destruction of God’s own people (READ: Deuteronomy 20:17-18; Numbers 33:55-56; Joshua 23:12-13).
Why Was Israel Punished? Was it because God was unjust or did Israel have a choice? Before they conquered the land, Moses warned Israel, “As the nations that Jehovah maketh to perish before you, so shall ye perish; because ye would not hearken unto the voice of Jehovah your God” (Deuteronomy 8:20). Even as Joshua had led them into the land, he warned them, “That as all the good things are come upon you of which Jehovah your God spake unto you, so will Jehovah bring upon you all the evil things, until he have destroyed you from off this good land which Jehovah your God hath given you. When ye transgress the covenant of Jehovah your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods, and bow down yourselves to them; then will the anger of Jehovah be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto you” (Joshua 23:15-16). Yet after Joshua died, “there arose another generation after them, that knew not Jehovah, nor yet the work which he had wrought for Israel. And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and served the Baalim; and they forsook Jehovah, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the peoples that were round about them, and bowed themselves down unto them: and they provoked Jehovah to anger” (Judges 2:10-12). When they repented, God would provide them a deliverer (Judge) to lead them against their oppressors. They went through this cycle of rebellion 15 times in just over 300 years. By the end of the book of Judges we read, “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).
Punishment During The Period Of The Kings. Did they have a choice about how they lived and directed the people? Read Deuteronomy 17:14-20 and note the commands of God concerning kings. King Saul was rejected because of his rebellion (I Samuel 15:26-28). Though forgiven for his adultery, King David suffered many consequences for his sin (II Samuel 12:9-14). Because of King Solomon’s poor choices, the kingdom was taken away from him and divided during the reign of his son Rehoboam (I Kings 11:9-13). For about 200 years, the divided kingdom continued. Out of the total of 39 kings in the two kingdoms, 13 were murdered by their own people, 2 were killed in battle, and 5 were taken prisoner by enemy kings. Though there were a few good kings in the southern kingdom, there was not one good king in the northern kingdom. They either worshiped Jeroboam’s golden calves, Baal, Asherah, or Molech. The ruling family in Israel changed 9 times. One would murder the existing king and declare himself king. For 200 years, God patiently sent prophets to warn them of their destruction, but the prophets were ignored. However, the day of God’s judgment did come. Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom fell (722 BC - II Kings 17). Jerusalem, the capital of the southern kingdom fell (586 BC - Jeremiah 6:22-23; 25:8-11; Read Lamentations).
The book of Ezekiel speaks of God’s judgment upon His people as well as other nations. Blessings and curses from God were not based on God’s prejudice any more than our salvation is based on God’s prejudice, as some falsely declare. We do have a choice! “Know ye not, that to whom ye present yourselves (as) servants unto obedience, his servants ye are whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But thanks be to God, that, whereas ye were servants of sin, ye became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching whereunto ye were delivered; and being made free from sin, ye became servants of righteousness” (Romans 6:16-18). What is your choice?