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Death watchFriday, December 28, 2007
Matthew 2:13-18 Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt. He stayed there until the death of Herod, so that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled: "Out of Egypt I called my son."
When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious. He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi. Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet: "A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more."
Left in the wake of all this blood lay mothers full of despair turning to bitterness and fathers angry, ready to kill somebody. Reading this story reminds me of R.C. Sproul's warning: when reading the Bible, I often have to decide whether God is right or I'm right. Because there are plenty of times when I'm not going to agree with what he allows to happen. Laying in bed this morning thinking about the story, one thing came to me that draws me up and out of the confusion of this awful moment in Bethlehem. If any Bible story helps me see that for God, life is an eternal experience and not one merely lived on earth, this is it. I have no experience with eternity; I can only listen to God's words and watch what he does. "I love you," He says. Then all these awful things happen to those he loves. Death comes too soon, too ugly. And still he says, "I love you." Either his words are empty, or there is something far more wonderful on the other side of death than anything I'll ever experience here. Teach us your ways, O Lord. You are trustworthy and true. You do not abandon or forsake us. Your love lasts forever. |
Nero fiddled while Rome burned. What was God doing while these little kids were getting killed? Why did he let Herod live and these babies die? I would have tickled a heart attack in Herod or something. He had syphilis. His lifestyle was immoral and spirit-less. He was a king behaving badly. He would die in a few years anyway. How could God have done something like this? What was he thinking?