StevenBourque.com

For my Genesis to Ruth class in seminary, we were asked to write some words on how God has been speaking to us. My one word would be “humbled.” One of the ways God continually speaks to me, and this course is making me rethink, is about the complexity of his character and my limited understanding. Particularly having just read through Joshua, how is God just when he commands the death of children (ie. Achan and his children stoned to death)??? I understand that the people God is dealing with such as Egyptians and the Canaanites have stored up God’s wrath and he is dealing justly. I wonder if God let the children live then they’d be worse off because they’d be orphaned and perhaps he just would rather take them to heaven. I also see that God is a covenant keeping God who shows steadfast love to those who love him and keep his commands. There are great consequences for disobedience and great blessings for faithfulness. Whenever I come to places of misunderstanding like this, I can either choose to get depressed or angry or I can resign myself to humility and let God be God even when I do not understand all of the complexities of his character. Along these lines, God has been using the course to deepen my appreciation for looking deeply into Scripture. There is much complexity in how each individual passage is written, which is made more intricate as these passages are woven together. On top of that, seeing how each book builds on the others and reveals more of God’s glory and power amazes even more. And this is just the first few books of the Bible! Read the rest of this entry »