Yet To Be Titled

Unlike Richard, I could not come up with a defining moment when my question as to whether God cared or not came from. I searched all weekend to see if that was my case and today I'm confident that it is not. Yet I have asked the questions Richard asked. My answer has been that it must not be God's time or God's plan and many times, I must have missed God. My resolution to the questions seem to be the pat answers that did nothing for Richard. Those options are not always satisfying for me but they have sufficed. I do believe God cares and yet wonder why on so many issues so many times. Was the picture not clear? Did I not understand? Maybe more study or a different formula would have produced different results. Perhaps more faith?

CHAPTER 4 - WHAT IF

Richard said, "If only God solved those three problems, then faith would flourish like flowers in springtime. Wouldn't it?" If I only knew the will of God? If only He would speak to me? If only it was more clear? If only I knew Greek and Hebrew? If only.....

Philip shares how he was studying Exodus and it jumped out to him that the book of Exodus describes the very world Richard wanted. It showed God stepping into human history almost daily. God was fair and spoke so that everyone could hear Him. AND, He made Himself visible! Yet if God has the power to act fairly, speak audibly and appear visible, why, then, does He seem so reluctant to intervene today?

The book then takes each question separately and looks at what the world might look like if God did intervene.

Question 1 - IS GOD FAIR?

Why doesn't He consistently punish evil people and reward good people? Why do awful things happen to people good and bad, with no discernible pattern?

Philip describes a world designed so that we experience a mild jolt pain with every sin and trickle of pleasure with every act of virtue. Imagine that every errant doctrine attracts a lightening bolt, while every reputation of the Apostles' Creed stimulates our brains to produce an endorphin of pleasure. The Old testament records a "behavior modification" experiment almost that blatant: God's covenant with the Israel people with strict, legislated fairness.

Obedience - Prosperous cities and rural areas

Disobedience - Violence, crime and poverty everywhere

Obedience No sterility among men, women, or livestock

Disobedience - Infertility among people and livestock

Obedience - Assured success in farming

Disobedience - Crop failure, locusts and worms

Obedience - Dependable weather conditions

Disobedience - Scorching heat, drought, blight and mildew

Obedience - Guaranteed military victories

Disobedience - Domination by other nations

If they were obedient, Moses said, God would set them "high above all the nations on the earth" The Israelites were promised protection from virtually every kind of human misery and DISAPPOINTMENT. On the other hand, if they disobeyed they would become "a thing of horror and an object of scorn and ridicule to all nations where the Lord will drive you... Joshua and Judges tell the stories of the Israelites. Fifty years later the Israelites were in an utter state of anarchy. Absolute clarity and they fell far short. The Old testament serves as an object lesson demonstrating that we are incapable of fulfilling a covenant with God no matter how clear it is. Did a clear word from God increase the likelihood of obedience? Apparently not. Would a clear word from God today increase the likelihood of Love or faith? Apparently not!