(The Lord God said) "Yet the house of Israel says, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' O house of Israel, are My ways not just? Is it not your ways that are not just?"[Ezekiel 18:29]
"God is unfair."
According to the Ezekiel passage above, this is not the first time -- nor are we the first generation -- which has said the Lord is unfair. Even so, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed as I hear people say God is responsible for famine, wars, prejudice, pestilence, drought, hatred, persecution, family problems, illnesses, etc., etc., etc. Indeed, just about anything which has gone wrong in this world is being laid at God's feet.
Now there are a number of ways believers can respond to the charge of God's unfairness.
First, we can admit that the Lord has the power to be fair and rectify all the world's sinful shortcomings. This He could do by erasing the old (and us) and beginning from scratch. That He does not do so is a credit to His grace, mercy and long-suffering, or the Lord could take charge of each and every one of us. When we were disposed to doing something wrong, He could give us a great, big electric shock, or a heart attack, or a stroke, or some other nasty kind of punishment. Yes, God could make us into robots and program every aspect of our lives.
Yes, we can respond to this charge of unfairness many ways.
I think the best way is simply to admit, yes, God is unfair. Does that surprise you? I hope not, because it's true.
If you doubt me, go to Golgotha and watch as the Roman execution squad pounded nails into the hands and feet of His innocent Son. It was unfair to punish His sinless Son that way.
Yes, go to Calvary.
That day, when Jesus was nailed to the cross, He was carrying our sins. He had done nothing wrong. Indeed, Jesus had kept every law perfectly. The greatest accusation which could be made against the Savior was that He healed the sick on the Sabbath. Of course, that hardly counted since such an action was a violation of the Pharisees' laws, not the Lord's.
No, Jesus had kept the Commandments and loved people who hated Him. It was an extraordinarily divine act of caring. And for His concern He was railroaded to the cross by the very people whom He had come to save.
Look through the annals of history and you will never see anything more unjust then what happened in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago. Even one of the men crucified with the Savior was compelled to confess the tragedy which happened to Jesus, the One who had "done nothing wrong" (see Luke 23:41).
So is God unjust? Yes, He was -- once and only once, and we can get on our knees and give thanks that He was. Because of that injustice, well, how did Isaiah say it, "He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5).
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, I give thanks for the commitment You made to save us. Send Your Holy Spirit so the world may recognize Jesus' sacrifice and Your love. In His Name. Amen.
In Christ I remain His servant and yours,
Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour®
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Through the Bible in a Year
Today Read:
1 Samuel 7:1 So the men of Kiryat-Ye‘arim came and brought back the ark of Adonai. They took it to the home of Avinadav on the hill and appointed his son El‘azar to guard the ark of Adonai. 2 From the day that the ark arrived in Kiryat-Ye‘arim a long time elapsed, twenty years; and all the people of Isra’el yearned for Adonai.
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St. Louis, Missouri 63141 United States
1-800-876-9880
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_____________________________
"God is unfair."
According to the Ezekiel passage above, this is not the first time -- nor are we the first generation -- which has said the Lord is unfair. Even so, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed as I hear people say God is responsible for famine, wars, prejudice, pestilence, drought, hatred, persecution, family problems, illnesses, etc., etc., etc. Indeed, just about anything which has gone wrong in this world is being laid at God's feet.
Now there are a number of ways believers can respond to the charge of God's unfairness.
First, we can admit that the Lord has the power to be fair and rectify all the world's sinful shortcomings. This He could do by erasing the old (and us) and beginning from scratch. That He does not do so is a credit to His grace, mercy and long-suffering, or the Lord could take charge of each and every one of us. When we were disposed to doing something wrong, He could give us a great, big electric shock, or a heart attack, or a stroke, or some other nasty kind of punishment. Yes, God could make us into robots and program every aspect of our lives.
Yes, we can respond to this charge of unfairness many ways.
I think the best way is simply to admit, yes, God is unfair. Does that surprise you? I hope not, because it's true.
If you doubt me, go to Golgotha and watch as the Roman execution squad pounded nails into the hands and feet of His innocent Son. It was unfair to punish His sinless Son that way.
Yes, go to Calvary.
That day, when Jesus was nailed to the cross, He was carrying our sins. He had done nothing wrong. Indeed, Jesus had kept every law perfectly. The greatest accusation which could be made against the Savior was that He healed the sick on the Sabbath. Of course, that hardly counted since such an action was a violation of the Pharisees' laws, not the Lord's.
No, Jesus had kept the Commandments and loved people who hated Him. It was an extraordinarily divine act of caring. And for His concern He was railroaded to the cross by the very people whom He had come to save.
Look through the annals of history and you will never see anything more unjust then what happened in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago. Even one of the men crucified with the Savior was compelled to confess the tragedy which happened to Jesus, the One who had "done nothing wrong" (see Luke 23:41).
So is God unjust? Yes, He was -- once and only once, and we can get on our knees and give thanks that He was. Because of that injustice, well, how did Isaiah say it, "He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5).
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, I give thanks for the commitment You made to save us. Send Your Holy Spirit so the world may recognize Jesus' sacrifice and Your love. In His Name. Amen.
Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour®
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Through the Bible in a Year
Today Read:
1 Samuel 7:1 So the men of Kiryat-Ye‘arim came and brought back the ark of Adonai. They took it to the home of Avinadav on the hill and appointed his son El‘azar to guard the ark of Adonai. 2 From the day that the ark arrived in Kiryat-Ye‘arim a long time elapsed, twenty years; and all the people of Isra’el yearned for Adonai.
3 Sh’mu’el addressed all the people of Isra’el; he said: “If you are returning to Adonai with all your heart, then be done with the foreign gods and ‘ashtarot that you have with you, and direct your hearts to Adonai. If you will serve only him, he will rescue you from the power of the P’lishtim.” 4 So the people of Isra’el banished the ba‘alim and the ‘ashtarot and served only Adonai.
5 Sh’mu’el said, “Gather all Isra’el to Mitzpah, and I will pray for you to Adonai.” 6 So they gathered together at Mitzpah, drew water and poured it out before Adonai, fasted that day, and said there, “We have sinned against Adonai.” Sh’mu’el began serving as judge over the people of Isra’el at Mitzpah.
7 When the P’lishtim heard that the people of Isra’el had gathered together at Mitzpah, the leaders of the P’lishtim marched up against Isra’el; and when the people of Isra’el heard about this, they were afraid of the P’lishtim. 8 The people of Isra’el said to Sh’mu’el, “Don’t stop crying out to Adonai our God for us, to save us from the power of the P’lishtim.” 9 Sh’mu’el took a baby lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to Adonai. Then Sh’mu’el cried to Adonai for Isra’el, and Adonai answered him. 10 As Sh’mu’el was presenting the burnt offering, the P’lishtim advanced to attack Isra’el. But this time, Adonai thundered violently over the P’lishtim, throwing them into such confusion that they were struck down before Isra’el. 11 The men of Isra’el went out from Mitzpah, pursuing the P’lishtim and attacking them all the way to Beit-Kar.
12 Sh’mu’el took a stone, placed it between Mitzpah and Shen, and gave it the name Even-‘Ezer [stone of help], explaining, “Adonai has helped us until now.” 13 Thus the P’lishtim were humbled, so that they no longer entered Isra’el’s territory; and the hand of Adonai was against the P’lishtim as long as Sh’mu’el lived. 14 The cities between ‘Ekron and Gat which the P’lishtim had captured from Isra’el were restored to Isra’el, and Isra’el rescued all this territory from the power of the P’lishtim. There was also peace between Isra’el and the Emori.
15 Sh’mu’el continued in office as judge of Isra’el as long as he lived. 16 Year by year he would travel in a circuit that included Beit-El, Gilgal and Mitzpah; and in all these places he served as judge over Isra’el. 17 Then he would return to Ramah, because that’s where his home was, and he would judge Isra’el there too. He also built an altar there to Adonai.
8:1 When Sh’mu’el grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over Isra’el. 2 His firstborn was named Yo’el, while his second son was named Aviyah; they were judges in Be’er-Sheva. 3 However, his sons did not follow his way of life; they turned off it to pursue riches, so that they would take bribes to distort justice. 4 All the leaders of Isra’el gathered themselves together, approached Sh’mu’el in Ramah 5 and said to him, “Look, you have grown old, and your sons are not following your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6 Sh’mu’el was not pleased to hear them say, “Give us a king to judge us”; so he prayed to Adonai. 7 Adonai said to Sh’mu’el, “Listen to the people, to everything they say to you; for it is not you they are rejecting; they are rejecting me; they don’t want me to be king over them. 8 They are doing to you exactly what they have been doing to me, from the day I brought them out of Egypt until today, by abandoning me and serving other gods. 9 So do what they say, but give them a sober warning, telling them what kinds of rulings their king will make.”
10 Sh’mu’el reported everything Adonai had said to the people asking him for a king. 11 He said, “Here is the kind of rulings your king will make: he will draft your sons and assign them to take care of his chariots, be his horsemen and be bodyguards running ahead of his chariots. 12 He will appoint them to serve him as officers in charge of a thousand or of fifty, plowing his fields, gathering his harvest, and making his weapons and the equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters and have them be perfume-makers, cooks and bakers. 14 He will expropriate your fields, vineyards and olive groves — the very best of them! — and hand them over to his servants. 15 He will take the ten-percent tax of your crops and vineyards and give it to his officers and servants. 16 He will take your male and female servants, your best young men and your donkeys, and make them work for him. 17 He will take the ten-percent tax of your flocks, and you will become his servants. 18 When that happens, you will cry out on account of your king, whom you yourselves chose. But when that happens, Adonai will not answer you!”
19 However, the people refused to listen to what Sh’mu’el told them, and they said, “No! We want a king over us, 20 so that we can be like all the nations, with our king to judge us, lead us and fight our battles.” 21 Sh’mu’el heard everything the people said and repeated them for Adonai to hear. 22 Adonai said to Sh’mu’el, “Do what they ask, and set up a king for them.” So Sh’mu’el told the men of Isra’el, “Each of you, return to his city.”
9:1 There was a man from Binyamin named Kish the son of Avi’el, the son of Tz’ror, the son of B’khorat, the son of Afiach, the son of a man from Binyamin. He was a man of substance and brave as well. 2 He had a son named Sha’ul who was young and good-looking; among the people of Isra’el there was no one better-looking than he; he stood head and shoulders taller than anyone else in Isra’el.
3 Once the donkeys belonging to Kish Sha’ul’s father got lost. Kish said to his son Sha’ul, “Please take one of the servants with you, go out, and look for the donkeys.” 4 He went through the hills of Efrayim and the territory of Shalishah, but they didn’t find them. Then they went through the territory of Sha‘alim, but they weren’t there. They went through the territory of Binyamin but didn’t find them there either. 5 On reaching the territory of Tzuf, Sha’ul said to his servant with him, “Come, let’s go back; otherwise my father will stop thinking about the donkeys and start worrying about us.” 6 His servant replied, “Here now, there’s a man of God in this city, a man who is highly respected, and everything he says proves true. Let’s go to him; maybe he can tell us something about where we should go.” 7 “But look,” Sha’ul said to his servant, “if we go to the man, what can we bring him? We’ve used up all the bread in our packs, and there’s nothing for us to give the man of God — what do we have left?” 8 The servant replied again to Sha’ul: “See, I have here in my hand a silver quarter-shekel [one-tenth of an ounce]. I will give it to the man of God to tell us which way to go.” 9 (In Isra’el, back in the old days, when someone went to consult God, he would say, “Come, let’s go to the seer”; because a person now called a prophet used to be called a seer.) 10 “Well said,” Sha’ul answered his servant. “Come on, let’s go.”
So they went to the city where the man of God was. 11 Ascending the slope to the town they found girls going out to draw water and asked them, “Is the seer here?” 12 The girls answered them, “He’s here, he’s right ahead of you. Hurry now, he just came into the city today, because the people are sacrificing today at the high place. 13 Find him as soon as you enter the city, before he goes up to the high place to eat; because the people won’t eat until he comes and blesses the sacrifice. Afterwards, the ones invited will eat. So go on up, because this is when you will find him.”
14 They went up to the city; and as they entered the city, there was Sh’mu’el coming out toward them to go up to the high place. 15 The day before Sha’ul arrived, Adonai had given Sh’mu’el a revelation: 16 “Tomorrow at about this time I will send you a man from the territory of Binyamin. You are to anoint him prince over my people Isra’el. He will save my people from the power of the P’lishtim, because I have seen my people’s situation, and their cry of distress has come to me.” 17 When Sh’mu’el saw Sha’ul, Adonai said to him, “Here is the man I told you about, the one who is going to govern my people.”
18 Sha’ul approached Sh’mu’el in the gateway and said, “Please tell me where the seer’s house is.” 19 Sh’mu’el answered Sha’ul, “I’m the seer. Go up ahead of me to the high place, because you are going to dine with me today. In the morning, I will let you leave; and I will tell you everything that is on your heart. 20 As for your donkeys that got lost three days ago, don’t worry about them; they’ve been found. Now, who is it that all Isra’el wants? Isn’t it you, and all your father’s household?” 21 Sha’ul replied, “I’m only a man from Binyamin, the smallest tribe in Isra’el; and my family is the least important of all the families in the tribe of Binyamin! Why are you saying such a thing to me?”
22 Sh’mu’el took Sha’ul and his servant, brought them into the room and had them sit in the place reserved for the most important of the invited guests, who numbered about thirty persons. 23 Sh’mu’el instructed the cook, “Serve the portion I gave you and told you to set aside.” 24 The cook took the thigh and the adjoining meat and served it to Sha’ul. Sh’mu’el said, “Here, this is what remains! Put it in front of you and eat — it was kept especially for you until the right time; because I said, ‘I have invited the people.’” So Sha’ul dined with Sh’mu’el that day. 25 On coming down from the high place to the city, he spoke with Sha’ul on the roof.
26 They got up early. About daybreak, Sh’mu’el called out to Sha’ul on the roof, “Get up, so I can send you on your way.” Sha’ul got up, and both of them — he and Sh’mu’el — went out. 27 As they were going down, at the edge of the city, Sh’mu’el said to Sha’ul, “Tell the servant to go on ahead”; so the servant went on. “But you, stand still now, because I want you to hear what God has said.”
Luke 18:24 Yeshua looked at him and said, “How hard it is for people with wealth to enter the Kingdom of God! 25 It’s easier for a camel to pass through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God!” 26 Those who heard this asked, “Then who can be saved?” 27 He said, “What is impossible humanly is possible with God.”
28 Kefa said, “Look, we have left our homes and followed you.” 29 Yeshua answered them, “Yes! I tell you that everyone who has left house, wife, brothers, parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30 will receive many times as much in the ‘olam hazeh, and in the ‘olam haba eternal life.”
31 Then, taking the Twelve, Yeshua said to them, “We are now going up to Yerushalayim, where everything written through the prophets about the Son of Man will come true. 32 For he will be handed over to the Goyim and be ridiculed, insulted and spat upon. 33 Then, after they have beaten him, they will kill him. But on the third day he will rise.” 34 However, they understood none of this; its meaning had been hidden from them, and they had no idea what he was talking about.
35 As Yeshua approached Yericho, a blind man was sitting by the road, begging. 36 When he heard the crowd going past, he asked what it was all about; 37 and they told him, “Yeshua from Natzeret is passing by.” 38 He called out, “Yeshua! Son of David! Have pity on me!” 39 Those in front scolded him in order to get him to shut up, but he shouted all the louder, “Son of David! Have pity on me!” 40 Yeshua stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he had come, Yeshua asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said, “Lord, let me be able to see.” 42 Yeshua said to him, “See again! your trust has healed you!” 43 Instantly he received his sight and began following him, glorifying God; and when all the people saw it, they too praised God.
The Lutheran Hour660 Mason Ridge Center Drive
St. Louis, Missouri 63141 United States
1-800-876-9880
www.lhm.org
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