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Numbers 21 – Praying through the Bible #50 – A Prayer that Causes Doubt
Atheists love this prayer: “If You will deliver this people into our hands, we will completely their destroy their cities” (Nm 21.2). Yahweh listens, the Canaanites are defeated and Israel frees those previously taken captive (21,3). On a human level, this appears more than a rescue mission, it reeks of revenge. Atheists love scriptures where God preaches annihilation of civilizations (Deut. 7.1-2; 20.16-18). Is this our God?
One common element in almost every war is the belief God is on their side. In September, 1862, the Union troops are defeated by the superior generals of the Rebel army, Jackson and Lee. After the defeat at Manassas, the President somberly writes what has become known as “Meditation on the Divine Will:”
“The will of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be, wrong. God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time. In the present civil war it is quite possible that God’s purpose is something different from the purpose of either party–and yet the human instrumentalities, working just as they do, are of the best adaptation to effect his purpose. I am almost ready to say this is probably true–that God wills this contest, and wills that it shall not end yet. By his mere quiet power, on the minds of the now contestants, He could have either saved or destroyed the Union without a human contest. Yet the contest began. And having begun He could give the final victory to either side any day. Yet the contest proceeds.”
Who is God? To interpret the Bible, we must first interpret God. Even prayers are founded upon how we understand God. Such sounds esoteric and impractical, but it is the only way some scriptures can be received with confidence; and the only path to serenity when dealing with suffering and pain. Or else, we find ourselves thinking we are smarter, holier, and wiser than God. “God is love” (1 Jn 4.8,16) is the most common and comfortable explanation of the Divine and the Divine Will. But love without justice is blind and selfish. To exclude one divine attribute is to unbalance all the divine attributes. In speaking of Canaan, earlier God said, “the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure” (Gn 15.16). Only omniscience knows when enough time has passed, when enough patience has been suffered, when enough sin has corrupted a people incapable of repenting, even when a child’s only hope is an escape by death. When we have questions – and we will and should – we have two choices: To doubt ourselves or to doubt God. If we start to doubt God, then look to the cross. The ultimate answer to the problem of evil is the atoning death and ultimate victory over death of Jesus where God shows both love and justice, balanced only as a true God can.
Prayer Challenge: Pray to God using doubt to find answers, not to make excuses. Pray for wisdom, understanding, and above all, acceptance that God is God, and we are not.
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