Who Is God? Pt 11

Now see that I, even I, am He,
And there is no God besides Me;
I kill and I make alive;
I wound and I heal;
Nor is there any who can deliver from My hand.
   -- Deuteronomy 32:39

In the Oxford dictionary the first definition for nice is: pleasant, agreeable, or satisfactory. And this is often what many expect of God and they may become angry at Him when their expectation is not met, such as with the death of a loved one. In the song of Moses, we read about God in a way that I have not addressed just yet in this little series: the God who kills. The first thing we note in our verse for today about the killing is that in the same line there is a conjunction whose function is to combine - "...and I make alive." Which reminds us of what Jesus said to us in John 10:17-18, where He told us of His laying down of His life and taking it up again. The first application of the line seems to be upon Himself. The next is in His killing of someone else - enemies of Israel, flagrant lawbreakers, or even a person we may know personally. That is where the cries of unfairness, injustice and "how could a loving God do this?" come into play. I guess that God is just not nice according to our standards. However, one suggestion for us is to avoid the claims of unfairness or injustices against our Lord and ask something like, "I know You have taken my loved one from beside me, dear Lord, but what have You done with your beloved?" You see, we also believe that killing is the Lord opening a door for us to be with Him, and eternity is the biggest part of being made alive in Christ!

Yes, God kills... and we are eagerly awaiting our turn to be with Him!

Bucky