Sodom

Day 6: God lives by a different standard

December 22, 2018 — 1 Comment

Genesis 19-21; Psalm 6

The men of Sodom tried to gang rape the angels. Lot offers his virgin daughters instead. Lot’s daughters rape their dad. God destroys a city. Abraham and his wife Sarah are technically siblings. Sarah tells her husband to abandon his son and servant. Abraham abandons his son.

The Old Testament is certainly not trying to make people look good. God destroys a city? That doesn’t make him look that good either, does it? It’s hard reading the Bible. People use the Sodom story to be against homosexuality. No, God is against gangbanging and rape, not homosexuality here.

What have I learned about God? I cannot measure his ways with my human understanding.

What have I learned about humans? We suck often.

What have I learned about me? I’m over this part of the story and just want to get to the good parts.

Day 5: The Bible annoys me

December 21, 2018 — Leave a comment

Genesis 16-18, Psalm 5

Can we apply Abraham’s pleading with God to spare Sodom to Jesus’ pleading with God to spare us? He is the righteous one so can that mean we are all spared from destruction?

Reading Psalms and the constant righteous vs evil feels very us versus them. Well I guess that also assumes we are the righteous and “they” are evil. Who is the righteous? Who actually follows the law of God? What is the law of God — to love God and to love others? Who’s God?

The more I read the Scriptures the more annoyed I am by the people God has chosen to be used, the more questions I have and the more I need to keep reminding myself God is good and we suck and yet he uses us.

And I also see the pitfalls of reading Scripture out of context. Every passage is a bit of God’s big story of redemption and love. Every ick points to God’s big grace. If I didn’t have Jesus, which is the biggest example of God’s love, I would be longing and irritated forever.