GOD IS MERCIFUL (2 OF 4)
Scripture: Lamentations 3:1-33
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God Is Merciful (2 of 4)
Series: God Is
Jonathan McLeod
Lamentations 3:1-33
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness (Lam. 3:22-23).
THE GOD OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
There are some parts of the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, where God might appear to be severe and unloving. In his book The God Delusion, atheist Richard Dawkins writes,
The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vin-dictive bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanti-cidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capri-ciously malevolent bully.
Is Dawkins correct? Is the God of the Old Testament a merciless monster?
[Read Lamentations 3:1-33.]
A BOOK OF SADNESS
Lamentations is not one of the most popular books of the Bible. A ''lamentation'' is ''an expression of great sorrow or deep sadness.'' The author of Lamentations mourns over the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 587 B.C. The reason for the destruction of Jerusalem was the people's sin: ''the Lord has afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions'' (1:5).
A book like Lamentations gives extra credibility to the Bible. The Bible is not a book of propa-ganda. If it was, it wouldn't include Lamentations-a book that might cause some people to question God's love. ''The Bible leans against our tendency to construct a god after our own image. We cannot approach the delicatessen of God's person like we approach a buffet-taking a heaping of this and a dollop of that, while passing over what we deem unpalatable.''
RICH IN MERCY
Lamentations frequently mentions the anger of God, but God is not a merciless monster. For example, 3:1 says, ''I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath.'' Many people don't ...
Series: God Is
Jonathan McLeod
Lamentations 3:1-33
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness (Lam. 3:22-23).
THE GOD OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
There are some parts of the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, where God might appear to be severe and unloving. In his book The God Delusion, atheist Richard Dawkins writes,
The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vin-dictive bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanti-cidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capri-ciously malevolent bully.
Is Dawkins correct? Is the God of the Old Testament a merciless monster?
[Read Lamentations 3:1-33.]
A BOOK OF SADNESS
Lamentations is not one of the most popular books of the Bible. A ''lamentation'' is ''an expression of great sorrow or deep sadness.'' The author of Lamentations mourns over the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 587 B.C. The reason for the destruction of Jerusalem was the people's sin: ''the Lord has afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions'' (1:5).
A book like Lamentations gives extra credibility to the Bible. The Bible is not a book of propa-ganda. If it was, it wouldn't include Lamentations-a book that might cause some people to question God's love. ''The Bible leans against our tendency to construct a god after our own image. We cannot approach the delicatessen of God's person like we approach a buffet-taking a heaping of this and a dollop of that, while passing over what we deem unpalatable.''
RICH IN MERCY
Lamentations frequently mentions the anger of God, but God is not a merciless monster. For example, 3:1 says, ''I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath.'' Many people don't ...
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