Angry at God

 Jonah thought he had reason to be angry with God. The Assyrians were a cruel nation who raided the Northern Israelites and eventually exiled them from their homeland. The British museum houses some Assyrian art which includes appalling images of savagery.

Jonah did not appreciate the mercy the Almighty showed these sadistic brutes. His own people had been at the receiving end of their inhumanity. He would have loved to see them get their just desert. And why did the Lord berate the Israelites and threaten to punish them? In his opinion their sins were of a much less serious nature.

The elder brother in Jesus' parable of the prodigal son had much the same attitude. His father forgave the squanderer without any preconditions. His irresponsible self-indulgent brother was accepted as if he had never done anything wrong.

Another parable of Jesus conveys a similar message. In Matthew 20:1-16 he likened the Kingdom of Heaven to a landowner who hired workers at different times of the day. At the end of the day he paid them all the same wage, beginning with those who had worked the shortest period. This caused those who had worked through the heat of the day to grumble. It clashed with their sense if fairness.

There are many people today who would like to impose onto the rest of humanity what they regard as fair. But the landowner in the parable had the right to do with his money as he pleased. He did not renege on his agreements with any of the workers. In the same way God has the right to be merciful to whomsoever he pleases. Some people live recklessly and without regard for others for most of their lives. Then, later in life, they have their sins forgiven and even become mouthpieces for God.

The author of Psalm 73:3 said "I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked". Job lived a most exemplary life but experienced extreme intense suffering. But after God had spoken to him out of the storm Job said: "I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer" (Job 40:2-5).

Those of us who have been forgiven for all the wrongs we have ever done, and who appreciate what it cost our Creator to save us, will not grumble when the worst of sinners get saved.

God and the empires

The first mention in the Bible of a socialistic state is Egypt. The mastermind behind it was Joseph (Genesis 47:13-26). But after the godly Joseph had died there came Pharaohs who were corrupted by the power they had over the people. When they became absolutely corrupted by their absolute power, they enslaved the Israelites (Exodus 1:8-11). God dealt with them by bringing plagues until they freed the Hebrews (Exodus 5:1-12:51).

The Israelites ruled themselves for a few centuries but eventually became more wicked and ungodly than the nations around them (Ezekiel 5:6). God was not going to have his name associated with the pagan religious practices which were instituted by Solomon (1 Kings 11:4-6) and reached their extreme during the reign of Manasseh (2 Kings 21:11). These customs included child sacrifices and prostitution. The Jews first became vassals of Egypt (2 Kings 23:33) and then Babylon. But when they acted treacherously against Nebuchadnezzar he destroyed the illustrious temple Solomon had built and deported the people.

The godly Israelites in Babylon rose to power, like Joseph in Egypt, and exercised considerable influence over the affairs of the empire. Among them were Daniel and his three friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. When the Babylonians were conquered by the Persians Daniel remained in office. Other Jews who became prominent in the Persian empire include Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther and Mordecai. God did not abandon his people in captivity but made even their enemies to treat them kindly (Psalm 106:45-46) and allow them to go back to their land and rebuild the temple (Ezra 6:14).

Of course the devil was not sleeping during this time. In the land of Israel he had inspired Jezebel to kill God’s prophets (1 Kings 18:4). In Babylonia satan caused Daniel to be thrown to the lions and his friends to be cast into an oven. When Esther was queen of Persia she was able to avert the massacre of all the Jews.

After Alexander conquered the Persians, many Jews took on Greek as their first language. This was still the case during and after the lifetime of Jesus (Acts 6:1). There was a concerted effort by Alexander’s successors in Syria to “Hellenise” the world. The Old Testament was translated into Greek and was no doubt read by Greek intellectuals. (Even before this time Plato may have learned from Moses: https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/blog/did-plato-get-his-ideas-bible/.)

Before the era of the Maccabees the Seleucid empire in Damascus imposed Greek culture and religion on the Jews. The faithful Jews revolted and managed to throw off the yoke of the oppressor Antiochus IV. For a brief period the Israelites could rule themselves again and worship in the temple which had been rebuilt during the time of Ezra a few centuries earlier. But they had constant power struggles among themselves. Their infighting gave the Romans, who had in the meantime replaced the Seleucids in Syria, the opportunity to occupy and rule them.

Soon after that a Jew was born who influenced and is still influencing all empires. We should have no fear that God has absconded. He invaded the Roman empire which caused them to adopt Christianity as the official religion of the state. He is still caring for the faithful followers of Jesus. He also watches over the Israelis and the Jews who constitute the remnant of his ancient people and he will not renege on his covenant with Abraham.