Grains of Sand

Pixabay Everyone, well, probably almost everyone, complains about having to work too hard. That is, in part, one of the consequences of sin according to those first few verses of the Bible. The curse that was placed on Adam because of the rebellion of the first family against their Creator includes the note: “ By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return ” (Genesis 3:19). In Eden the first family had everything provided for them. All they had to do was to take care of what God so generously gave them. But what God gave wasn’t enough for them and the rest, as they say, is history. But the more ominous part of the verse follows. Hard work will be man’s portion until he dies and returns to the dust from which he came. Psalm 104 echoes this statement: “ These all look to you to give them their food at the proper time. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open ...

It's one of those conundrums of Scripture, a contradiction where there shouldn't be one, a crack in God's armour, a flaw in his character. Isn't he the one who is infinite in love, mercy and patience? That being true, then how can the Scriptures say: " …and the Lord was not willing to forgive " —2 Kings 24:4, NIV? I can't remember how many times people have reacted to those early verses in Exodus where the Scriptures tell us that the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart so that he would not repent and allow Israel to leave Egypt. No one likes that idea and there is always push back when it comes to entertaining the notion that God might not be infinite in mercy or patience, a situation which, for some, calls into question whether or not he is infinite in love. In the passage in 2 Kings, Josiah has died. He had been warned, as had Hezekiah, that Jerusalem was going to be overrun and Judah devastated, her people taken into captivity in Babylon. Sparing ...