Though in the minds of some, there is no difference between God commanding the ground to swallow people up and God commanding the Israelites to kill everyone in a particular city, others see a huge difference between the two. After all, though storms are lifeless and soulless, when God commands people to carry out His judgment He is commanding humans to take the life of other humans thereby involving them in His questionable actions.<\/p>\n
Many critics of Christianity think that if God wants to be violent toward humanity, He should do the dirty work Himself. The fact that He asks Israel to be His \u201cHit Man\u201d only makes the situation worse in the eyes of some.<\/p>\n
The exact same approach can be used when thinking about Israel.<\/p>\n
Over and over in the Gospels, we see hints, allusions, and clear statements to the truth that Jesus is the fulfillment of Israel. Jesus is true Israel. In Jesus, all the hopes, expectations, desires, dreams, and goals of all the people of Israel come into focus and come to fruition. Jesus lives as Israel was always supposed to live.<\/p>\n
Though most scholars and Bible teachers agree that Jesus is the fulfillment of all the Messianic hopes and promises, and some may even agree that fulfilled and completed Israel herself, few seem to recognize that just as Jesus shows us how to understand what God is like, so also, Jesus shows us how to understand what Israel was supposed to be.<\/p>\n
There was, of course, never any real chance of Israel looking, acting, or becoming fully like Jesus Christ, because Israel consisted entirely of sinful human beings, whereas Jesus Christ was sinless, but the point is that just as Jesus reveals God the Father to us, so also, Jesus reveals Israel.<\/p>\n
If we want to understand what God wanted Israel to be and do, we would do best to begin by looking at the life of Jesus, and then reading all Old Testament history in light of Him. To understand Israel\u2019s place in the world, we must read Jesus back onto Israel; not the other way around.<\/p>\n
Jesus frames Israel, not vice versa. Jesus reveals Israel to us by showing us what God wanted, what God intended, and how Israel was supposed to function within this world.<\/p>\nHow can a God who says \"Love your enemies\" (Matthew 5:44) be the same God who instructs His people in the Old Testament to kill their enemies?<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n
These are the sorts of questions we discuss and (try to) answer in my online discipleship group. Members of the group can also take ALL of my online courses (Valued at over $1000) at no charge. \r\n\r\nLearn more here: Join the RedeemingGod.com Discipleship Group<\/a>\r\n\r\nI can't wait to hear what you have to say, and how we can help you better understand God and learn to live like Him in this world!\n
Jesus reveals Israel to us by showing us what God wanted, what God intended, and how Israel was supposed to function within this world. If we want to understand what God wanted Israel to be and do, we would do best to begin by looking at the life of Jesus, and then reading all Old Testament history in light of Him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18003,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1213],"class_list":{"0":"post-18000","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"tag-when-god-pled-guilty","8":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\n