Moses is cynical about the future of the nation and their ability
to be faithful to the Lord. He says that
later, but not much later, only a couple of generations, they will forget and
forsake the Lord and make images and idols for themselves. When they do, they will be removed from the
Land and will be scattered among the nations.
Is it prophetic to say such things about the people you have led for
forty years and just after they entered the covenant, forty days later in fact,
they made idols for themselves? Moses,
however, knows something about this covenant-making God, covenants with Him are
everlasting. When they seek Him with
their whole heart, they will find Him, the same thing promised in 2 Chronicles
7.14 and in 1 Kings 8.
Why does Jesus tell the parable of the Prodigal Son? It is because we are like the people to whom
Moses addressed his remarks in the first lesson, the kind of people who go
astray, who get bored and seek after other adventures and pleasures, who are,
in a word, fickle. We have a problem
with faithfulness both to one another and to Him. We undervalue what He offers and we find
allure elsewhere. What He promises is
that when we come back, He runs to meet us, His love has never diminished in
spite of what we have done to Him in rejecting Him. There is plenteous redemption but it demands
that we turn around and go back and acknowledge our sin against Him. The future of the relationship isn’t with the
son who has plans for the future, "Treat me as one of your hired
servants.” The father never allows him
to say these words. When we sin against
another we don't get to determine the future of the relationship, they do, and
the father shows what true forgiveness looks like in immediately restoring him
as son.
Scholars talk of another, third letter to the Corinthians
that explains what Paul means here by causing them pain and not wanting to
visit until they had corrected what was wrong.
Could it be 1 Corinthians 5 when he is incredulous at their tolerance
for sexual sin among them? It seems
likely here that this is the episode he has in mind, as there is one who has
repented and Paul encourages them now to deal gently with the prodigal who has
returned to the fold. One of the
hallmarks of the community should be that we enforce standards but are willing to
restore those who repent. Discipline is
a biblical thing but the goal we have in mind should never be retribution but
repentance and restoration.
No comments:
Post a Comment