Tuesday, April 25, 2023

 

Tuesday, April 25, 2023


Psalm 135

Exodus 19:16-20:17

John 9:13-23


Observance: ANZAC Day


I the LORD your God am a jealous God.


I think we have all met those types of people who are really good at telling stories. People who seem to have had a life of adventure, and are always ready with a tall tale to tell, the type that really gets a group conversation going. If we are a member of the unlucky masses who do not have this talent, there is the temptation to, when telling our own story, to insert more than a little hyperbole, perhaps in a nervous attempt to entertain our listeners. The fish was this big; we were travelling this fast; he had drunk that much.


The writers of the Old Testament were much better at recounting past events. Firstly, because the stories they tell are the stories of God, and so there is no need to exaggerate when talking about what the Creator of the universe has been getting up to. But there were, at times, certain things that needed emphasis – so how does one go about one-upping a fact about God?


When God gave Moses the commandments on the mountain, one of the points He wanted to get across to him (and us) is how much we are loved. When God looks at His chosen and redeemed people, His heart flames with desire, and God wants us to know this. That is why God chose this specific turn of phrase about how sins are kept for a few generations, but love extends out to the thousandth generation. God isn’t giving specific details on generational sin, just listen to Jesus’ words when the question is raised at the start of John chapter 9.


So if God is telling us the story of His love for us, and He uses a turn of phrase to emphasise the enormity of it, it cannot be hyperbole. He is not embellishing the story for dramatic effect, because God can only speak the truth. He really does love us that much.



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