Chapter 2

It’s quite common today to run events where people can get to know the God of the Bible under the guise of a trial, in which God is called to answer for his alleged “crimes”. In these events, God is invariably exonerated (given that these are usually run by churches, that may well not be terribly surprising); but it is usually God who is facing the charges. God is in the dock, and witnesses are brought against Him.

More seriously, Christians very often struggle with the image of a judgemental God, a God who brings down judgement, punishment and disaster. We often ask if this is fair; if God actually has the right to judge in the way that He does.

Now, I am not going to speak against such things, because they are a necessary and healthy part of the process of understanding God. I even suggest that God probably approves very strongly of his people doing such things, especially if it allows us the chance to share the claims of Jesus Christ with people who are yet to know Him.

That said, we seldom consider the other side of the coin, and tonight that is what we are seeing.

Chapter 2 begins with the usual start for a chapter of prophecy – “The word of the Lord came to me . .” It would appear that the Word of the Lord would have also said “Thou shalt get comfy, and make sure that thou hast a pencil, for I have much I would discuss with thee for thee to pass on to my People Israel,” because this is a fairly generous chapter in its length.

As I often do, I implore you, dear reader, to not just read my analysis here, but to read this passage for yourself. Frankly I could write a dozen commentary articles on this chapter alone, and still have room for more. So take me up on this! And if you’re reading it on the blog, I want you to comment on anything you discover that is different from what I have written!

In verses 1-3 God describes how things were at the start (presumably in the times of the Patriarchs and the Exodus). The metaphor God uses is that of newlyweds, loyal and excited about their love.

Then in verses 4-19, God describes the problem – drifting away from God, the leaders and priests turning to one particular suitor, namely the ancient Canaanite lightning-god, Baal; and in verse 9 He serves notice that Judah is up on a charge – several counts of Neglect Loving God and Serve false Deity.

One objection that people often have to God’s judgement is when God says that he will hold a sinner’s children and grandchildren responsible for a person’s crimes. What is often missing is an understanding that each generation has the ability to turn! If the grandchildren’s generation repent of sin, then the curse is broken and the relationship with God restored. But here we see that the children and grandchildren did not repent. If anything, their responses range from apathy to even more flagrant activity.

In The Message, verses 20-28 are described under the heading “addicted to alien gods”. And indeed the language Petersen uses in paraphrasing these verses is very much related to the image of addiction. I like this way of looking at it. It helps you to see things from God’s perspective.

But God is far from finished. He then describes the way that the people of Judah have rejected His teaching and discipline, and that His worship has been lost to generations of His people.

Finally, verses 33 – 37 try to impress on the people the seriousness with which God regards their misbehaviour.

Well, we have a pretty catalogue of woe here. But before we simply get depressed and forget about it, how may we apply these verses?

It comes down to this – often we ask why God is so hard on sin. Can’t He go easy on a particular person, a specific sin? Must God be so ferocious?

When we do this we forget that God’s side of the situation is also relevant.

You see, sin is repulsive to God. Not merely unpleasant or distasteful, REPULSIVE. With hostile intent. Think about the most disgusting thing you can imagine (for me, oddly, it would be bananas; even worse would be rotting bananas, but the fresh ones are bad enough as far as I am concerned. Go figure). Now, with that thing in mind, recognise that the stench of sin (so to speak) is for God so utterly revolting that He needs the people of Judah to sacrifice to him – to [metaphorically] create a smell so strong that it drowns out the pervasive odour of sin.

Ultimately, it is going to take Christ’s own sacrifice to completely remove this stench and to create a way for us to relate to God directly.

Do we get the picture? Our sins are the worst thing God can imagine!

This puts our “charges” before God in a radically different light. It’s like a convicted murderer daring to jump out of the dock and saying to the judge “Hey, while we’re here, I don’t think much of the Speeding law.” We’re not in a position to make demands of God at all! We are convicted before our creator of crimes against Him that are too unspeakable to name, and we deserve great punishment. We deserve it for the choices of our forefathers that we chose not to repudiate[1] as well as for our own crimes.

This puts a different complexion on the matter. When we sin, we need to repent, and soon. Keeping short records with God, that’s the ticket.

[1] Just so everyone understands this – if there is known sin in your family, and you are able to understand the problem, then it’s a good idea to ask God’s forgiveness. But remember that the main complaint God has about generational sin is that someone winds up making the same choice.