What Happens When God Reaches the End of His Patience?
Our modern sensibilities go against thinking that God kills people. But if we take the Bible seriously, it's hard to avoid (see Acts 5:1–11). We have to suppose they "needed killin'," as harsh as that sounds. But can we ever know today what God is doing or how God is involved (if at all) in a natural disaster? I don't think so. But we shouldn't make flat-out claims such as "God didn't have anything to do with that" or "My God wouldn't do something like that." How can we know that? We can be sure that God does not cause people to sin, but we can't be sure that God does not himself occasionally reach the end of his patience and send a hurricane or an earthquake.
—Roger E. Olson, Questions to All Your Answers: The Journey from Folk Religion to Examined Faith
Any comments or testimonies today?
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posted by Keith Finnegan @ 8:33 AM.
Oct. 29th,2007 Daily Inspiration. I want to know if it is an acceptable practice to refer to God as Him or He without a capitol letter at the beginning? I want you to know that for me, it is disrespectful. An oppinion from a Bro. in Christ.
It's certainly not intended to be disrespectful. It's a matter of editorial style.
I enjoyed getting the daily snippets of "words of wisdome" but this one kind makes me think you are heading down the wrong path of thinking. God sending out an earthquake or hurricane because he "ran out of patience?" This is God - his patience is unlimited!
God cannot reach the end of his patients. I do believe that God may be involved in natural disasters and such but his plan is beyond my understanding, however he does not and cannot reach the end of his patients, for that would be contradictory to his character.
"Chris said...This is God - his patience is unlimited!"
Is it? I would question that statement. I think God ability to be patient is unlimted, but He does as times put limits on His patience. In the Old Testament, during David's time, how many of His people were touched by the Angel of Death, before Aaron interceeded with coals from the altar? Time and again, we see, like the snippet from the book highlights, God involved with the death of a person.
In the New Testament, church members dropping dead for lying and "stealing" from God, by holding back.
And then, there is a day, when judgement will happen, and no longer will the sin of the world be tolerated, the time to repent will end.
SO God's ability to be patient of course his unlimited, but his choice to be patient He does limit.
As for natural disasters, and His actions...the whole world is held together and operates by His will. So it is not like He is caught by surprize by a natural disaster, or oops!....couldn't prevent it right?
We do not understand things, how He understands things. We see the end of life often as being the biggest tradgedy, when there is eternal life beyond. He also knows, by foreknowledge, who WILL respond to His call and who will choose to decline His tug.
He is God, and we are not. Like Job says, Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.
Our faith walk is a blend of mystery and security. Secure in who God is and a mystery, often, on how He works and why. That is where the faith comes in. He is strong and He is loving, and no plan of His can be thwarted. To rest in who He is.
I don't think God necessarily "sends" a hurricane or earthquake or some other disaster upon people, but I do think He "allows" such things to happen when He loses his patience with us. However, I also believe that He gives us plenty of opportunity to redeem ourselves before He gets to that point. I think He lets a lot of stuff slide so that we hopefully recognize it ourselves and say, "Hey, I didn't get in trouble for that sin; I should thank God and stop doing it from now on."
To further my comment above, I also think that bad things don't always happen because we've sinned. I believe that God allows bad things to happen to good people sometimes, because the "good" person just had to be a part of the bad event in order for a sinner to learn a lesson. In those instances, I think God feels the "good" person is strong enough to withstand this part in His plan. Kind of like an auto accident between two people---perhaps God's plan was to have a sinner learn a lesson from the accident, but, unfortunately, a person who did nothing to deserve the accident had to be involved. All part of God's plan to work together for all.
honestly, it sounds a bit contradictory to say that God doesn't "send" natural disasters, but that when it loses His patience, he "allows" them. So, how is that different from sending?
This one is a hard statement to swallow. In the Old Testament God DID wipe nations out and had His Godly people helping him. God has a different "mind" than we have and for whatever reason we have the disasters, God will work it
out for good for those who love and obey him and someday we will see the big picture, but to say He has limited ANYTHING, I cant agree.
Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed
Ge 19:1 The two angels k arrived at Sodom l in the evening, and Lot m was sitting in the gateway of the city. n When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. o
Ge 19:2 “My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet p and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.” “No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.” q
Ge 19:3 But he insisted r so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. s He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, t and they ate. u
Ge 19:4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom v —both young and old—surrounded the house.
Ge 19:5 They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.” w
Ge 19:6 Lot went outside to meet them x and shut the door behind him
Ge 19:7 and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing.
Ge 19:8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.” y
Ge 19:9 “Get out of our way,” they replied. And they said, “This fellow came here as an alien, z and now he wants to play the judge! a We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.
Ge 19:10 But the men b inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door.
Ge 19:11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness c so that they could not find the door.
Ge 19:12 The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? d Get them out of here,
Ge 19:13 because we e are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the LORD against its people is so great f that he has sent us to destroy it.” g
Ge 19:14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry 90 his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the LORD is about to destroy the city! h ” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking. i
Ge 19:15 With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away j when the city is punished. k ”
Ge 19:16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters l and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them. m
Ge 19:17 As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! n Don’t look back, o and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! p Flee to the mountains q or you will be swept away!”
Ge 19:18 But Lot said to them, “No, my lords, 91 please!
Ge 19:19 Your 92 servant has found favor in your 93 eyes, r and you 94 have shown great kindness s to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains; t this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die.
Ge 19:20 Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.”
Ge 19:21 He said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request u too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of.
Ge 19:22 But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town was called Zoar. 95 v )
Ge 19:23 By the time Lot reached Zoar, w the sun had risen over the land.
Ge 19:24 Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur x on Sodom and Gomorrah y —from the LORD out of the heavens. z
Ge 19:25 Thus he overthrew those cities a and the entire plain, b including all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. c
Ge 19:26 But Lot’s wife looked back, d and she became a pillar of salt. e
Ge 19:27 Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the LORD. f
Ge 19:28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace. g
Ge 19:29 So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, h he remembered i Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe j that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived. k _
The Holy Bible, New International Version. Pradis CD-ROM:Lk 1:51.
Lk 1:51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; i he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. j
The Fall of Jericho
Jos 5:13 Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man n standing in front of him with a drawn sword o in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”
Jos 5:14 “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown p to the ground q in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord 12 have for his servant?”
Jos 5:15 The commander of the LORD'S army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” r And Joshua did so.
Jos 6:1 Now Jericho s was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.
Jos 6:2 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered t Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.
Jos 6:3 March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days.
Jos 6:4 Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns u in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. v
Jos 6:5 When you hear them sound a long blast w on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; x then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in.”
Jos 6:6 So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant of the LORD and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it.” y
Jos 6:7 And he ordered the people, “Advance z ! March around the city, with the armed guard going ahead of the ark a of the LORD.”
Jos 6:8 When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets before the LORD went forward, blowing their trumpets, and the ark of the LORD'S covenant followed them.
Jos 6:9 The armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard b followed the ark. All this time the trumpets were sounding.
Jos 6:10 But Joshua had commanded the people, “Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout! c ”
Jos 6:11 So he had the ark of the LORD carried around the city, circling it once. Then the people returned to camp and spent the night there.
Jos 6:12 Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up the ark of the LORD.
Jos 6:13 The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward, marching before the ark of the LORD and blowing the trumpets. The armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard followed the ark of the LORD, while the trumpets kept sounding.
Jos 6:14 So on the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days.
Jos 6:15 On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. d
Jos 6:16 The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the people, “Shout! For the LORD has given you the city! e
Jos 6:17 The city and all that is in it are to be devoted 13 f to the LORD. Only Rahab the prostitute 14 g and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid h the spies we sent.
Jos 6:18 But keep away from the devoted things, i so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction j and bring trouble k on it.
Jos 6:19 All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron l are sacred to the LORD and must go into his treasury.”
Jos 6:20 When the trumpets sounded, m the people shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, n the wall collapsed; so every man charged straight in, and they took the city. o
Jos 6:21 They devoted p the city to the LORD and destroyed q with the sword every living thing in it—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.
Jos 6:22 Joshua said to the two men r who had spied out s the land, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring her out and all who belong to her, in accordance with your oath to her. t ”
Jos 6:23 So the young men who had done the spying went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. u They brought out her entire family and put them in a place outside the camp of Israel.
Jos 6:24 Then they burned the whole city v and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron w into the treasury of the LORD'S house. x
Jos 6:25 But Joshua spared y Rahab the prostitute, z with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho a —and she lives among the Israelites to this day.
Jos 6:26 At that time Joshua pronounced this solemn oath: b “Cursed c before the LORD is the man who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho: “At the cost of his firstborn son will he lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest will he set up its gates.” d
Jos 6:27 So the LORD was with Joshua, e and his fame spread f throughout the land. _
New King James
Psalm 9
Prayer and Thanksgiving for the Lord's Righteous Judgments
To the Chief Musician. To The Tune of "Death of the Son." a Psalm of David.
1 I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart;
I will tell of all Your marvelous works.
2 I will be glad and rejoice in You;
I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.
3 When my enemies turn back,
They shall fall and perish at Your presence.
4 For You have maintained my right and my cause;
You sat on the throne judging in righteousness.
5 You have rebuked the nations,
You have destroyed the wicked;
You have blotted out their name forever and ever.
6 O enemy, destructions are finished forever!
And you have destroyed cities;
Even their memory has perished.
7 But the Lord shall endure forever;
He has prepared His throne for judgment.
8 He shall judge the world in righteousness,
And He shall administer judgment for the peoples in uprightness.
9 The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed,
A refuge in times of trouble.
10 And those who know Your name will put their trust in You;
For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.
11 Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion!
Declare His deeds among the people.
12 When He avenges blood, He remembers them;
He does not forget the cry of the humble.
13 Have mercy on me, O Lord!
Consider my trouble from those who hate me,
You who lift me up from the gates of death,
14 That I may tell of all Your praise
In the gates of the daughter of Zion.
I will rejoice in Your salvation.
15 The nations have sunk down in the pit which they made;
In the net which they hid, their own foot is caught.
16 The Lord is known by the judgment He executes;
The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands.
Meditation. special rtab Selah
17 The wicked shall be turned into hell,
And all the nations that forget God.
18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten;
The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever.
19 Arise, O Lord,
Do not let man prevail;
Let the nations be judged in Your sight.
20 Put them in fear, O Lord,
That the nations may know themselves to be but men. special rtab Selah
Psalm 96 New King James
A Song of Praise to God Coming in Judgment
1 Oh, sing to the Lord a new song!
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.
3 Declare His glory among the nations,
His wonders among all peoples.
4 For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised;
He is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
But the Lord made the heavens.
6 Honor and majesty are before Him;
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
7 Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
Give to the Lord glory and strength.
8 Give to the Lord the glory due His name;
Bring an offering, and come into His courts.
9 Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!
Tremble before Him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, "The Lord reigns;
The world also is firmly established,
It shall not be moved;
He shall judge the peoples righteously."
11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
Let the sea roar, and all its fullness;
12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it.
Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the Lord.
13 For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth.
He shall judge the world with righteousness,
And the peoples with His truth.
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