Disconnected
“I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine and with pestilence,” declares the LORD, “until I have destroyed it by his hand.” Jeremiah 27:8 NASB
By his hand – God uses people outside the fellowship to bring about correction, chastisement and punishment for the faithful. That’s right, God uses pagan, nonbelievers to accomplish His will for His people. Jeremiah, speaking on God’s behalf, makes it abundantly clear that Nebuchadnezzar is an instrument of judgment in the hands of the Lord. The world inside and outside the community of the faithful is connected. And God is active in all of it. If for even a second you thought that God is somehow removed from the vast majority who do not follow His way, think again (and tremble). There is nothing in the world that isn’t being used by God to accomplish His will. Even those who raise golden statutes to themselves and claim that they are divine are still folded into His purposes. Even when they bring catastrophe.
“This moral order does not function in any mechanistic, precise, or inevitable way; it is not a tight causal weave. And so it may be that the wicked will prosper (Jer 12:1), at least for a time, and the innocent will suffer for unknown reasons (Job) or get caught up in the effects of the sins of others, as we have noted. Ecclesiastes 9:11 even introduces an element of chance or randomness in relating human deeds to their effects: ‘time and chance happen to them all.’”[1]
In my book, God, Time and the Limits of Omniscience, I call this “voluntary chaos.” It is the idea that a deliberately created world of freely choosing agents requires that God be subject to the choices of others, including wicked choices. In one sense, the cosmos is out of control, that is, it is subject to continuous alteration since the choices we make effect every other element of what happens next. God allows this randomness because it is absolutely necessary for freedom of choice. Without it, no created being would do other than what God directed and, consequently, no being would be able to love voluntarily. But this has incredibly disruptive implications.
In this verse, God claims that the pagan king has accomplished God’s purposes by his hand (beyadow). That is to say, what Nebuchadnezzar did was what God intended him to do even though it included destruction, suffering, death and captivity. In this sense, the evil acts of the king are still within the parameters of free choice and God has determined to operate within those parameters. He allows a certain amount of chaos and unpredictability in order to accommodate the possibility that men will decide to honor Him. This means that the universe is in some sense unplanned. It does not exist completed in the mind of God, simply unfolding according to His desires. The universe isn’t what God wanted. It is what God got as a result of allowing other beings to make real choices. This flies in the face of the usual description of the attributes of God, but if we consider those attributes carefully we discover that they describe a God who is removed from real life, who is wholly transcendent and whose knowledge makes real choice impossible.
Instead of the God of the philosophers, the Bible portrays a God of life, completely involved in the interwoven complexities of living—and in the inevitable unpredictability of choosing. In this way, the God of the Bible is involved in redeeming the entire creation because everything is affected by choices. Redemption is not confined to humanity. It is a cosmic process. And in the process, God experiences sorrow, lament, weeping, wailing, grief, pain, anguish, heartache, regret and anger. God is personal, emotional and communal. The necessary randomness of the world has as much effect on God as it does on us.
Where does this leave us? Are we simply bits of flesh and blood thrown about by the cosmic forces of chaos? The Bible answers in this way: “God can be trusted, even in the midst of chaos, because He too longs for redemption.” “The future is finally shaped by the forgiveness that can come only in and through the suffering of God and the servant ([Isaiah] 43:24-25; 53:1-2).”[2]
“ . . .only when the natural order has been healed will human salvation be fully realized.”[3]
So we wait. We wait and we choose. We choose to believe what God says. We choose to see His hand somehow revealed in the ongoing story of history. We choose to align our lives with His commandments because we trust Him. And we wait. We do not know how it all fits together. Perhaps the essential randomness of choice means that it can never finally be fit all together. But this does not prevent us from trusting Him. It only makes it more complicated.
Topical Index: choice, randomness, redemption, by his hand, beyadow, Jeremiah 27:8
[1] Terrence Fretheim, God and the World in the Old Testament, p. 165.
[2] Ibid., p. 187.
[3] Ibid., p. 194.
One of the lessons (TORAH) from the first scroll of the Scriptures (Gen 1:1-2:4a):
And there was chaos, and there was order, Yom Echad…. And there was chaos and there was order, a second day.
Without choices being allowed the Universe would be in perfect synchronized TORAH.
The chaos resulting from (our) choices is allowed to demonstrate the perfect order of TORAH.
Lovingkindness protects us from the consequences of our anti-Torah (anti-Messiah) choices.
Hello Skip and others,
I want to thank you for the last two word studies and made notes on your examination of the word “paqqad” and as a grandparent experience the randomness of choice not only in my life but in the lives of my adult children and others significant to me. Trusting that G-d has redemption in mind should outweigh our present perceptions of the chaos we might be noting, causing, or even enduring. We often think it’s the prophet who wakes the people, but in my experience it has been the one(s) outside the fellowship. I welcome gentle correction as it is G-d “overseeing” the day-to-day of humanity, each/all of us.. Praise G-d that His Word is truly active!
David Russell
I agree, Skip — “the universe is in some sense unplanned” (maybe in some colossal sense.) That certainly goes against standard Christian doctrine. I believe that Torah is the mind of God, but how well or how poorly Torah is implemented in this world is a reflection of human choices. Doesn’t that have some implications for prayer as well? How many times have I asked God to change someone’s behavior, to change the direction of their life? Implicit in that request is that He alter their choices; but if I recognize that “freely choosing agents” are at the root of God’s will, it seems dangerously close to blasphemy for me to ask him to “re-direct” the will of another. Isn’t that asking God to go against who He is if I ask him to take away the choice of another, i.e. change the will and (supernaturally) the direction of that person? These are huge implications for how I pray for this world; for this nation; for our leaders; for my family and friends. I struggle with this when asked to pray for wayward children, spouses (or voters.) I can no longer join in corporate prayer in most Christian circles — without waiting for lightening to strike. 🙂
Perhaps that is the reason the Shema is one of only two prayers specifically commanded in Torah. Read it in its entirety. It doesn’t go against freely choosing, and it speaks God’s will. I can’t think of any prayer more appropriate in virtually all circumstances.
Hi Suzanne,
I just read your post from 8/31 and wanted to respond. Not sure you’ll ever read it, (as it’s 9/2 today,) but, I wanted to say I was kind of sad when I read that you are uncomfortable asking God to change, or assist in bringing about change, in people’s lives and circumstances.
Yes, Skip said in the 4th paragraph above that “He (God) allows a certain amount of chaos and unpredictability in order to accommodate the possibility that men will decide to honor him.” But, he did say “a certain amount.” Yes, it’s easy to observe that God uses people outside of the body of believers to bring about correction, but it’s also clear all through Scripture that he invites us to communicate with Him through prayer. He listens to us and He often answers our requests according to our desires. People are healed, women conceive, wars are won or lost, nations saved…often because of people’s prayers. In fact, wee are commanded to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. I think prayer is a gift God has given us…it’s a partnership with Him in bringing about change in this broken world. What other god invites his people into that kind of relationship. I hope you won’t give up on praying for the wayward children, spouses, voters. Or, the sick and suffering. Blessings. :-)))
Skip out of curiosity… Other than through the word of Jeremiah how did God speak to and guide this pagan king who was also referred to as God s servant… Is there other records available or are we only guided by Jeremiah s records…
Connected
~ having made peace through the blood of His cross.. ~
~ And, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself ~ (Colossians 1.20)
Yes, it does make sense now.. for we now live “A.D.,” after the death, burial and resurrection of the Messiah who has purchased us (redeemed us) with His own blood, we now have peace with God and be reconciled (this is how sinful men and a thrice-holy God may be “reconciled”), by and because of the atoning, life-giving, life-imparting blood of Calvary’s Lamb. ~ “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission for sins,” according to Levitical law. “This is the new covenant in My blood” were the words of the Son of God (and God the Son) to His disciples, and to “whosoever will.” ~ God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us ~
Friend, Calvary’s cross was not without purpose. ~ This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief ~
What does it say? “The Word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved.…
We are ambassadors of the Messiah; in effect, God is making His appeal through us. What we do is appeal on behalf of the Messiah, “Be reconciled to God! May this be our heart-felt prayer as well — Yeshua, [risen and victorious] Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Somehow God the Creator got into the web of life, through the decisions and choices mankind made, through the free will He has given us, BUT, He is banking on a community of believers who WILL be stable and firm trusting in His ways, that would set creation free!
So then more than ever, in the midst of great chaos, we must keep trusting and walking according to His Torah ways, as He waits patiently with chesed that we WILL choose wisely, desiring, seeking after Him.
It is a challenge, with blessings of victory He will give us! Amein!