Originally posted October 8, 2012.

You must not wear clothing made of wool and linen woven together. – Deuteronomy 22:11 (NLT)

Spiritually Fashionable
The Bible is full of commands, statements, and references that seem to make absolutely no sense. Especially to us today, as we are technologically, agriculturally, geologically, temporally, culturally, politically, religiously, and linguistically (and probably a few more ally-ishes I can’t think of) greatly removed from the Old Testament days. So it’s really no surprise that a verse like Deuteronomy 22:11 (also Leviticus 19:19) would seem so odd. Just why is wearing wool and linen together such a no-no? Is God against fashionable creativity?

Certainly not, but the purpose for this command does seem arbitrary to the casual mind at a passing glance. The Bible doesn’t offer any explanation. What, if any, relevance does it have for us today? (And why did it matter to the Israelites back then?) After all, this is the Old Testament we’re talking about. Didn’t we do away with all those odd (and to some, even barbaric) traditions?

Stop! … Funnel Time
(Yeah, my headers can get really odd.) I think it would be prudent to do a “little” overview before diving into the details about this fashion conundrum. It’s important to make sure everyone is in on the basic foundation the Law is set upon.

But, because of the grand scope of themes and subjects that the Bible addresses, it’s no easy task (certainly not in my mind) to summarize what the Bible is all about. Is it about love? Is it about God? Salvation? Being good? Is it about Heaven and Hell? We could ask an endless number of questions, and the short answer would almost always be yes. Just how do we narrow it down, though?

Perhaps the best summary answer is that the Bible is about our relationship with God, and how Jesus came to die on the Cross to buy our pardon from the consequences of our sins so that our relationship with the Father in Heaven could be restored.Skipping past all the explanation, that leads us into a little thing called “sanctification”.

I’d Like a Cup of Muddy Water…But Hold the Mud
Sanctification is one of those weird Christianese words that can confuse many people – even Christians – unless its definition is clearly explained. I’ve been a Christian since I was five and it wasn’t until within the last several years did I finally come to a clear understanding of it, myself. It’s just not one of those words that are common amongst most people’s daily vocabulary.

I’ll give you the short of the long of it, though (I’m nice like that, no?). To sanctify, or to be sanctified, basically means to “(be) set apart (from)”.

Let’s say you have a bag of M&M’s and you have the strange habit of separating the colors from one another (admit it! You did this as a kid). You are, in effect, “sanctifying” them. Nooo, you’re not making them holy candies and God won’t strike you down for eating them. You’re setting apart the greens from the reds from the blues…and so on. You are keeping them from mixing from one another. (Trivia: Since 1941, there have been a total of eight standard colors in an M&M’s bag, not including holiday novelties. Presently, there are seven in use.)

A brown M&M would look silly amongst the greens because the standard for that group is that the candy shell must be green. You couldn’t pick up the brown M&M from the greens and say, “Here’s a green M&M!” That’s why God’s Laws were so important. God wanted His people to be easily recognizable as those who reflected God’s image and character, distinct from the other nations who were disobeying God. People looking from the outside in could say, “Yes, those definitely are God’s people,” or “Those people are living exactly as their religious texts say what their God is like.”

#17 – One Thief is Two Thieves: How Many Thieves Accepted Christ? << Previous | MASTER LIST

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Originally posted July 7, 2012.

YOU LOOK FAMILIAR
If you’re just coming into my series on Biblical Contradictions from my Master List post, you might have noticed that this is item #45, but it’s actually only my third post so far. I decided to tackle the matter about Judas’ death next for a couple of reasons: 1) The answer is really easy to get to, and 2) it’s a rather well-known topic amongst critics (apparently). It’s also generally known among Christians that Judas died shortly after having betrayed Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. So familiarity seemed like a good reason.

As you may know, I’m working on answering the 46 proposed contradictions referenced in this YouTube video (with a few more of my own to be added). The Bible is many things – a deep reference to God’s character, a history book, a moral foundation, a book of prophesies, encouragement, admonishment, a scientific reference, and most importantly, the source of hope for the human race: the promise of God’s Salvation through Jesus Christ. The amazing thing is that it is a multi-faceted book that is woven together very tightly.

Tightly woven or not, making sense of His written Word is no easy task in many cases; and the cases that are simple don’t always seem to make much sense when compared one to another. That’s what I’m attempting to do in this series – to offer answers and clarification so you can make a better-informed decision about the credibility of the Bible and what it has to say about you and God.

THE IDIOT’S GUIDE TO DYING TWICE
So, what’s the deal with Judas’ death? Well, the question is concerning how the Bible depicts how he actually died. Was it from a suicidal hanging or a long plummet to the ground? With rare exception, everyone only dies once (only two people in history never died). So how could Judas, of all people, die twice? This is definitely a matter that appears to contradict logic and basic biological fact.

Now, let’s examine the evidence.

And the first part of an investigation is to understand the context the evidence is found in. Always examine the surrounding context (if you’re not familiar with my writing, I’m huge on context). For there is something far more important than simply addressing the supposed contradiction…more important than discussing how Judas died: the why. Thus, I’ll be combining the hermeneutical and more personal Biblical study approaches. I’ll explain towards the end how this culminates to an important point.

MY NIGHT-VISION GOGGLES ARE BROKEN
Before Judas’ death is mentioned, we see that many of the Jewish priests were plotting to murder Jesus [1]. This isn’t the first time any conspiracy against Jesus was attempted, but things really began to take root now. After a woman named Mary (there sure are a lot of Marys in the Bible) anoints Jesus’ feet with expensive oil perfume, Judas secretly goes off to the priests, unaware of their own plot:

Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray Him.
(Matthew 26:14-16 ESV)

This is a subtle point in the story, but it’s important to recognize. Judas was the guy in charge of the group’s finances. He carried the money bag around (as we see in John 12:6). Despite the three years of walking around with Jesus and seeing all the awesome things He did, Judas was still more concerned about himself. Jesus already knew how Judas’ betrayal would play a part as the event unfolded – He even foretold it [2]. So the evening when Jesus identified who would betray Him, He tells Judas to go do what he had planned to do and to do it quickly (much to the confusion of the other Disciples), and off Judas went to gather up a mob and wait for the chance to betray and arrest Jesus.

Fast-forward through that night and we find Jesus and the Disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane. After praying through blood, sweat, and tears (literally)…

[...] Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the Man; seize Him.” And he came up to Jesus at once and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” And he kissed Him. Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you came to do.” Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him [3].

Stop and think for a moment. Imagine you are Judas. Imagine the plot you helped to plan. Imagine for a moment that you are a pawn in the priests’ scheme against Jesus (Luke 14:11), but you don’t yet realize just how deep you are in it. Up to this point, your heart is still filled with Satan’s influence [4] and are blinded to the pending consequences of your actions.

Fast-forward some more, as a number of things have happened. After meeting with the high priests, Jesus was finally condemned to die.

Then when Judas, [Jesus'] betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders (Matthew 27:3, ESV).

COMING TO GRIPS WITH REALITY or WHEN REALITY COMES TO GRIPS WITH YOU
I imagine that it was this moment that Judas suddenly realized scope of his sins; how they had done far more than Judas envisioned. That Judas changed his mind once it was revealed that the priests’ plot was to kill Jesus must have been like a knife to the heart, realizing that he was responsible for putting an innocent man – and he knew that Jesus was innocent – through an unjust trial that resulted in Jesus’ fate soon-to-come.

Personally, I do not yet know just what motivated Judas (short of speculation) to plot to betray Jesus in the first place, but it seems very clear that this was not what he had in mind and grief would be an understatement to describe why Judas did what he would do next.

Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself.
(Matthew 27:3-5, ESV)

FOR ONE LOW PRICE OF $19.99, YOU GET NOT ONE DEATH, BUT TWO! ACT NOW!
The book of Acts starts out with the Disciples discussing who should replace Judas’ place as the 12^th Disciple. A side-note is given regarding the matter of Judas’ death.

Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out (Acts 1:18, ESV).

There are a few things I want to point out here.

1. Acts 1:18 only describes that Judas’ body fell and broke open…disgustingly. It does not say that’s how he died.

2. Given the insight we have on what led up to Judas’ suicide, in my opinion, Judas’ grief was deep enough that he saw fit to take his life – he essentially passed sentence on himself. This seems to me that the preparation needed to hang himself was a sign of him personally accepting his guilt rather than (for example) simply flinging himself off a cliff or other high place out of despair.

3. Acts 1:19 – just one verse later – describes the place where Judas died as a field. Trees most likely occupy fields, which sets up the location and keeps in line with the description of Judas’ death in Matthew 27, thereby adding credibility to the non-contradiction of the matter of how Judas died.

What I’m attempting to illustrate here is the reality of the guilt Judas must have faced as a result of his betrayal and the actions he took per the Bible’s description, thus giving credibility to the Matthew 27 account of his hanging as the sole method of his death.

Where the proposed contradiction is concerned, we only need to look at just a few details to show the contradiction just isn’t so, however: 1) what each verse actually says, 2) the natural way of the body in decomposition, and/or the rope or branch breaking under Judas’ body’s weight, 3) what it would take for his body to burst open so violently.

INVOLUNTARY CADAVER
Let’s glance at Acts 1:19 really quick, for it clarifies something that happened right after Judas threw back the 30 silver coins. After describing that Judas’ body fell from a great height and burst open, it is added, “And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.”

Earlier, in Matthew 27, we read:

But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money.” So they took counsel and bought with them the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers. Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.”

Judas’ betrayal resulted in the priests using the blood money to buy the very field Judas hanged himself in. It was a field of blood because of the nature of the money used to buy it and because of how his body fell and burst open. This offers a distinction between the two accounts surrounding Judas’ death – one was his actual death (hanging), the other was the immediate aftermath (body splat).

Acts 1 makes an assumption of logic: one doesn’t need to be hanging very high off the ground to commit suicide by hanging; just be high enough that the feet don’t touch the ground. And falling from a small height won’t cause his body to burst open. It’s certainly possible that death can occur from a great height, clearly, but all that Acts asserts is that Judas happened to be high enough off the ground that, when his body did fall (when gravity had its way), it was enough for the impact between his body and the ground to be rather…revealing.

Thus, there isn’t a contradiction, but a very rational way for both accounts related to a singular event to co-exist harmoniously. Unfortunately, all this does is to prove the Biblical account of how he died…it doesn’t resolve the horrible way he chose to respond to his terrible mistake. Especially in light of the forgiveness He heard Christ offer to everyone. The same forgiveness he would have been given if he had only asked of it.

FOOTNOTES
[1] Matthew 26:3-5, Mark 14:1-2, Luke 22:1-2, & John 12:9-11
[2] Matthew 26:20-25, Mark 14:17-21, John 13:21-30
[3] Matthew 26:47-50, see also John 18:1-9 & 12
[4] Luke 22:3 & John 13:27

ADDITIONAL LINKS on Judas’ death
Got Questions?
C.A.R.M.

#6 – An Evil Good God: Did God Create Or Use Evil? << Previous | MASTER LIST | Next >> #8 – Damascus Road: Who Heard the Voice On the Road?

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Originally written March 28, 2011 on my account, NaitoOfNarnia.Xanga.com.
Minor edits made from original post.

This post is written in reply to a YouTube video suggested to me as a challenge regarding proposed internal Biblical contradictions. I begin this series at the beginning…literally…in Genesis 1 and 2. (Nevermind that this is item #7.)

CONTEXT, CONTEXT, CONTEXT
Contradictions in the Bible have been proposed and argued for years on end. Indeed, the original languages the Scriptures were written in still pose many questions for the best of the most honest of experts, even with the latest discoveries in the last 50-100 years. However, many critics (“many” in terms of my experience, at least) tend to harass Biblical claims not because there are actual contradictions (they would have you think otherwise), but due to a misunderstanding of the context of each of the supposed contradicting passages.

The Bible, though, is not a straight-through law book. And its stories often refer to the same events and people in different ways. The Bible is, in fact, a book of books (and letters, to be precise). They were written by different people to different people, at different times, and with different topics or themes to highlight. To read it as a law book, where each law is built off of or a compliment or exception to one another, would be a mistake. When reading – and understanding – the Bible in its entirety, several factors must be taken into consideration:

• time and setting
• the author
• the original recipients of the Scriptures
• the writing style (i.e.: poetic, literal)
• the theme of or purpose for the writings
• the culture(s) being represented in the writings

 …and others.

THE LAMB AND THE LAMB OF GOD
For example, in Old Testament times, the basic practice for atonement of sins was to sacrifice a goat or lamb (or other appropriate animal that God called for). In God’s eyes, the shedding of blood was enough to meet the demands of the punishment of sin: death is the ultimate consequence. Through this, those who had sinned, who deserved to die, were spared…but at a cost: the life of an innocent. In the New Testament, we hardly hear about the sacrifice of animals, particularly after Jesus’ sacrifice. Contradiction?

No.

There are two reasons for this, in particular. First, we’re dealing with two different covenants (or promises) that God made with His people, the Israelites, and later the entire world. The Old Testament sacrificial system that God had employed was only ever meant to be temporary. For reasons best covered in another article, this system was never going to be enough to completely deal with the sin issue in human nature. Through this system, the people were covered from God’s wrath, but they could not actually be fully redeemed personally. They were still bound by their sinful nature. Jesus was the ignition for the second covenant that God made with His people – nay, the whole world. Jesus’ sacrifice was meant to be the ultimate sacrifice. It would be through Him that the old sacrificial system would not only be unnecessary, but fulfilled. In other words, Jesus met the demands in full that were required for the punishment of sin that the old sacrificial system could never meet. (Again, that topic would have to be covered in detail at another time.)

Second, if we go back to Genesis 3:15, we see that God intended all along for Jesus to be the ultimate sacrifice. God foretells of Eve’s offspring crushing the head of the serpent that Satan is often depicted to as (of course, in this case, Satan actually appeared as a serpent). God never says when exactly this “offspring” would come to be. It isn’t until many millennia later when God finally reveals to Mary (one of Eve’s many offspring generations after the fact) that the “offspring” He spoke of was going to be born through her. So, there is no contradiction here. God only said that it would happen – He never said when. It was simply a matter of time between one sacrificial system and the other, more complete one. Further God is sovereign and has every right to establish the system He deemed worthy until His appointed time for Christ.

GENERALLY SPECIFIC
With that basic understanding, let’s get to the meat (mmm, meat…BBQ…yum) of the article.

Some critics have cited a contradiction about the Bible’s claims of the origins of the universe as noted in Genesis 1 and 2, saying there are two testimonies about how God made the world. At a glance (and I emphasize glance) it’s not surprising some think this. However, this is just not so.

Genesis 1:1-2:3 is actually an overview of what God did during the Creation event. Genesis 1:1 supports this thought when it states that, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (italics mine). There’s a sense of non-specifics from the get-go. Now, with a close look at Genesis 1, verses 3, 6, 9, 14, 20, 24, and 26, we see God initiating each phase of His creation plan. Each one starts out saying, “God said, ‘Let [this happen]…’” and it happened as He said. But none of the Scriptures in Genesis go into detail. We never know precisely how these parts of Creation responded after God commanded them into existence – whether it was through evolution or if they just appeared at the blink of an eye or if God manifested His works some other way after speaking the creative commands, I don’t know that we’ll ever really know. (While it’s beside the point and also for another time, I will say that the idea of evolution is grossly discouraged in light of God’s personal attention to the creation of Adam and Eve. Clearly, this shows that, in Biblical terms, we did not evolve from other species.) In its essence, Genesis 1:1-2:3 cannot be seen as anything other than a general account of what God did.

READ THE FINE PRINT
It’s always those details you need to look out for.

Genesis 2:4b-6 says:

When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, neither wild plants nor grains were growing on the earth. For the Lord God had not yet sent rain to water the earth, and there were no people to cultivate the soil. Instead, springs came up from the ground and watered all the land (NLT).

That isn’t a separate creation, but a highly filtered summary of Genesis 1!

First, it starts out saying, “When…”

Then it says, “…and there were no people to cultivate the soil.”

…yet. At this point, Moses just summed up everything he said prior in Genesis 1:1-25.

Moses is stating when or at this point in time the following details took place in light of the afore-mentioned information. He’s getting specific here, not trying to rewrite a rough draft to a good fantasy. Genesis 2:3 closed out the summary of Creation with “And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when He rested from all His work of creation” (NLT). Then, the next section goes on with the details that occurred right at the point in time. That point in time being after God had made the heavens and the earth and the animals (Genesis 1:20-25, 2:19) and just before Genesis 1:26 where he creates Adam. After Moses highlights the outline, he goes back and covers in detail what God did during Genesis 1:26-29.

So now we can see clearly the difference and how there is a difference.

YOU NEED TO TAKE IT PERSONALLY
It’s important to note that how God created the universe is important. That’s part of why God felt it necessary to include it in His written word. He knew that we ought to and would find value in our origins. But how God created everything (in detail) wasn’t the main point. No, while God is what it’s all about, He most desired a relationship with us. That may sound cliché today, but it’s still so very true. I’ll explain why.

Immediately in Genesis 2:7, it says, “…God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life [or the Holy Spirit] into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person” (NLT). But if we go back to Genesis 1:26-27, we see that the Scriptures only say that God created man in His own image; there are no details.

In the summary account, no other parts of Creation have God’s personal “image” imbued into them. They simply are spoken into existence. But God got personal when He created human beings, and this is show in two ways. First, in Genesis 1, it says that God sought to create us in His own image. Then, in Genesis 2, we see that this creative act wasn’t another speaking matter. No, God formed us from the dust and sent His Holy Spirit into us to give us life.

What God is doing is building up to a very amazing climax in the story right from the very first two chapters of His written word for us! What God is saying is, “I’m what it’s all about; you and everything I made is for Me. But I want you to share in the joy that I receive from My creation!” That’s why we don’t have two creation accounts, but a God who loves us so much that He wanted us to know who He had in mind when He got everything set up. And it’s only in Genesis 1:26 that God says anything personal in relation to His creation during the creation process:

“Then God said, ‘Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us…’” (NLT).

Even in the summary account of Creation, God goes on for a full seven verses in how He made us and what He wanted us to do and what He had given to us already before we were even formed! None of the other parts of the Creation account get that much attention. Then God goes in and explains in detail what He did when He created Adam and Eve in chapter 2. Talk about getting personal!

CLEARING UP LOOSE ENDS
For the unconvinced, I’m sure someone will point out Genesis 2:18-19 as a contradiction in the order of the Creation account. The Scripture reads:

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” So the Lord God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one (NLT).

As far as the narrative goes in Genesis 2, this sounds like a different creation account. Again, at a glance, I wouldn’t blame anyone for thinking that. In the English translation, it does appear that way. Remember, though, that one of the things we must keep in mind when interpreting Scripture is the writing style of the author and the cultural mindset of the day. Even today, it is not unheard of for someone telling a story to explain something, then go back and “rehash” some previous details.

We already saw in Genesis 1 the order in which God created everything. We know that animals came before man. We also know that Genesis 2 is not a separate creation account in light of verse 4b when it states, “When…”, but rather a detailing of part of the summary.

How are we to take Genesis 2:19 then? Look at it this way. The verse reads, “So the LORD God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man…” The verse does not read that God created the animals after He created man. Moses is implying that it is presently understood that after God created the animals, He created man because he already explained the Creation order. The verse does read that God created the animals and then brought them to Adam…but only after he was created.

Look at it this way, “The LORD God created the animals [and brought them to Adam after he had been formed from the dust] in order to see what Adam would name them.” If you ask me, Moses is trying to avoid a bit of redundancy. Truly, Moses is just bypassing some irrelevant details here.

WRAPPING IT UP
Here’s how we can compare the two chapters in regards to the overall Creation account.

Genesis 1 gives us a structure for the entire Creation order. In my NLT Bible, it gives this diagram:

CONDITION	ORDER	CONTENT
FORMLESS	CHAOS	EMPTY
DAY 1	HEAVENS	DAY 4
(Gen 1:3-5)		(Gen 1:14-19)
Light, Dark		Sun, Moon, Stars
DAY 2	WATER & SKY	DAY 5
(Gen 1:6-8)		(Gen 1:20-23)
Water, Sky		Birds, Fish
DAY 3	EARTH	DAY 6
(Gen 1:9-13)		(Gen 1:24-31)
Sea, Land		Animals, Humans
FORMED	COSMOS	FILLED
DAY 7 (2:2-3) Rest

Genesis 2 gives us a personal account of what God did as He initiated His relationship with Adam, Eve, and the whole human race.

In contrast, the two chapters can be view in this way:

GENESIS 1	GENESIS 2
Chronological Order	Topical Order
Outline	Details
Creating Animals	Naming Animals
Impersonal *	Personal *
From “The Big Book of Bible Difficulties” by NL Geisler & T Howe, pg 35. *denotes my addition

In the end, there is no contradiction, but rather two different focuses of attention. It’s easy to see how misunderstandings can occur, though, since the way people wrote back in Biblical days do not always mesh with today’s writing styles and line of thinking. However, It would be a mistake to impose our understandings upon a text written with a completely different style than we are used to. It can be difficult to approach such matters with a “clear bias”, but it must be done if we’re to get a proper view of what the authors of the Bible intended to say.

MASTER LIST | NEXT >> #2 – God and Temptation: Do The Two Really Go Together?

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Originally posted June 30, 2012.

IN THE BEGINNING…
A while ago, I was presented with a YouTube video that, among many other things, suggested God’s anger is temporary…no, wait, lasts forever. The video was, admittedly, a very humorous presentation about what the Bible says about a wide variety of things and the supposed contradictions on the same topics. The video was made to be a game show with stick men and was well scripted in style, if not in accuracy of the content is referenced.

A question was given about how long God stays angry at us when we sin. It doesn’t take much to discover that God truly hates sin, but is He always angry, like Zeus with his lightning bolts always at ready, or does His anger eventually subside?

The two portions of Scripture that were pitted against each other were Micah 7:18 and Jeremiah 17:4. Both books are from the Old Testament and are from the “Prophets” category; meaning that the writings deal with periods of judgment over the people of Israel for their unrelenting sinful lives. Typically, as can be especially seen in Jeremiah, God does not always act immediately, but gives people time to repent, or to stop their evil ways and follow God wholeheartedly. One thing is clear in both accounts, God is not happy at the moment.

IF YAHWEH ATTENDED ANGER-ANON
Micah 7:18 (and 19-20 for added context) reads like this:

“Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because He delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as You have sworn to our fathers from the days of old” (ESV).

And then we have Jeremiah 17:4:

The wonderful possession I have reserved for you will slip from your hands. I will tell your enemies to take you as captives to a foreign land. For my anger blazes like a fire that will burn forever” (NLT).

To be fair, the ESV translation says, “…for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.” It sounds like a contradiction between translations, even, doesn’t it? To be sure, the question doesn’t come to an easy answer in light of such evidence.

If examined alone, the case seems closed against God while exploring the verses highlighted. As with any good investigation, though, we really have to study these in a fuller context. That is, what is the bigger picture found in the passages that each verse is found in?

A HISTORY OF HISTORY
Micah 7:18 is at the very end of the book, and most of the entire account is regarding the promised consequences regarding Israel’s sin. However, it ends with the assurance that there will be a time when Israel will experience a time of renewal as a nation and the past will be completely forgiven. In Jeremiah 17:4, it is at a point where God is expressing His deep anger. That’s not the whole story, though.

Countless times through Jeremiah, God calls to His people through the prophet, the book’s namesake, to repent, and if they do, His grace will abound and the past sins, as terrible as they were, will be forgiven. Even in His fierce anger, God speaks to Jeremiah:

The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the guard: “Thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it—the Lord is his name: Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah that were torn down to make a defense against the siege mounds and against the sword: They are coming in to fight against the Chaldeans and to fill them with the dead bodies of men whom I shall strike down in my anger and my wrath, for I have hidden my face from this city because of all their evil.

It’s very clear that God is upset, but wait, that’s not the whole story!

Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security. I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and rebuild them as they were at first. I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. And this city shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them. They shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it.” – Jeremiah 33:1-9 (ESV)

The bold parts I highlight because I wanted to show that even while God dealt with His people for their sins, He also would not abandon them to the aftermath of the destruction that invading countries would inflict. He would heal them both as a nation and as peoples. This doesn’t sound like a God whose anger lasts forever, now does it?

“DO YOU HEAR THE WORDS THAT ARE COMING OUT OF MY MOUTH?!”
Indeed, when speaking through the prophets, God would often use language that, while literal in essence, was not always as literal in speech. This can get confusing in terms of contrasting different translations (as I illustrated earlier), but doing such comparisons can often shed light on the actual meaning, too.

For hear we see from Micah 7 and Jeremiah 33 that God’s anger isn’t actually everlasting, but simply intense. The NLT translation best highlights that when it reads, “…my anger blazes like a fire that will burn forever.” In this, God’s anger is given a description of how intense it is – not an actual length of time. After all, any fire that is not fed more fuel will eventually consume all its resources and die out. The fuel of God’s anger are people who sin endlessly, who refuse to follow God with their hearts in all they do.

JUST A MOMENT
Since I brought it up, how do we reconcile the ESV translation? Well, consider how God is quoted as saying that in his anger is “a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.” A fire burns best when proper kindling is set. For the non-outdoors people, kindling is smaller wood pieces or other burnable items that light easily to build a fire with. It doesn’t take much to get such a fire going, but it’ll steadily build with more kindling, and eventually larger sticks and logs that only intensify the fire’s ability to burn…”endlessly”.

It’s rather just a different way to describe the nature of God’s anger, not its length. Later in 1 Peter 5:10, we see further support of God’s assurance of grace – not everlasting anger, “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” (The context of 1 Peter 5 has to do with a believer’s struggles to remain strong in Christ while others attack unjustly, but the message of God’s grace in light of trials and suffering still applies: God’s grace triumphs (James 2:13).)

Suffice to say that if God’s anger was everlasting, then even Jesus’ death on the Cross to spare us from Hell and to restore a right relationship with the Father would have been pointless. It’s actually not a stretch to say that God’s anger is proportionate to our sins. Keep in mind, however, that the Father in Heaven is slow to anger (Numbers 14:18, Nahum 1:3, Psalm 103:8 & 145:8), which is made clear by the fact that in Jeremiah many decades past before He finally allowed events to take place so that Israel’s invaders could finally overtake the nation when God’s people refused to obey Him.

God is compassionate, gracious, and never stops loving us, even in His anger. He remembers His promises to bless us. As you read through more of the Bible, you see how God deals firmly with His people and is never soft regarding His expectations, but like a parent to his toddler (or teenager!), the Lord is understanding. It is through that understanding that we are truly just children who have not yet matured that God exercises His grace and mercy, withholding is punishment until it cannot be held back any longer, lest we truly destroy ourselves. God’s anger is not rooted in disappointment, but in a desire to help us grow and discover His love, His goodness, and His blessings…and much more. God cannot help us to see these things if His anger lasted for all time.