If we believe that the God of the Old Testament is a vengeful, wrath-filled God meting out condemnation and offering no love or compassion, then we should pay closer attention to passages like this one from Ezekiel. Yes, God has expectations of the people, but no, God does not delight in smiting or otherwise dispensing with them when they fail. “Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord God, and not rather that they should turn from their ways and live?… For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, says the Lord God. Turn, then, and live” (Ezekiel 18:23, 32). These verses, set side by side, are reminiscent of the cliché, “This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you.” Only in the case of God it is far from cliché. Judgment, punishment of the wicked; these are not the things God wishes for.
Then why would God threaten death to the wicked? Mostly, I think, because it is true. Evil is, in and of itself, a kind of death, a willing separation from God. When we choose to go against God’s will we have stepped away from the life that is possible, the joyful life of hope and promise. “You will die,” is as much a threat from God as it is a warning which God offers the people, like a guardrail on a dangerous stretch of road. Ultimately God is the one willing to die for our transgressions, allowing us to move beyond the limitations of sin and death and to embrace life as an eternal reality. God does not kill for sport or out of spite. Indeed, the God of whom we read in both the Old and New Testaments yearns for us to know life abundantly. Anything less is a tragedy to God.
Prayer: Help us, O God, to live in the light of truth and righteousness, that we may know life the way you intend it. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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