Had I not feared the provocation by the enemy,I forget who it was that originally penned "There, but for the grace of God, go I." Whoever it was, I've used that old saw enough in my time, either spoken or mentally, to have probably robbed it of some of its meaning. However that works, this verse brings another aspect of our being spared to light. An aspect we probably don't consider frequently enough.
That their adversaries would misjudge,
That they would say, "Our hand is triumphant,
And the Lord has not done all this." '
Humans are generally not known for thinking in monotheistic terms, when it comes down to it. From the times of the primitives, man has always worshiped something or other as supernatural, and given that something credit when things go their way. If you beat the other guy, you give praise to your god, and go on and on about how he has been proven superior to the other guy's god. However, they don't think about the other guy's god having decided that they had screwed up, and needed to be taught a lesson. After all, why would your god give you over to the other guy's god, instead of using his own direct power to straighten you out?
Instead of "but for the grace of God," this verse shows it as "but for the foresight of God." Rather than his being gracious, he's applying his knowledge of human nature. If God had destroyed the Israelites, who would have been left to worship Him? The other side wouldn't have decided that God was supreme if they defeated His people. Instead, they would say that He had been weak, unable to even save His people from them. So this restraint on God's part is a method of...well, not self-preservation, but maybe self-worship preservation. If He got rid of everyone who failed Him, using others as His tools, there would be no one left for Him to consider worth saving before long.
No comments:
Post a Comment