45:7 I form the light and create
darkness,
I make peace and create calamity;
I, the Lord, do all these things.’
There are a lot of people who
read the Bible that don't know how and this verse is a classic example of how
that plays out. Probably the singular biggest mistake is the literal reading of
the text. Here a literal reading says God does all things good and bad. In fact
some English translations say God creates evil. I mean that's what the text
says right?
There is a growing movement
currently among the literal readers that says the earth is flat. They compile
verses that speak of an unshakeable earth set on pillars and feel they have an
airtight case. They of course omit the verse that says God hung the earth on
nothing but that isn't their biggest mistake. It is their refusal to look
beyond the words to what God was trying to convey.
For example the Word says that
Jesus is bread. He's the bread that came down from heaven. Is He? Literally? He
is also the Word. Is He a Loaf of Bread that spells Emmanuel? He's also a gate,
a shepherd, a way, a light, and living water among many more. We typically
don't trip over these because we know it's symbolism. Why do we understand that
in one place and not in others? Why do we demand that one verse be rigidly
literal while others not?
How can God be the creator of
calamity if other parts of the Bible say differently? Skeptics jump on this and
say "see the Bible is nonsense" but that's ok because the Bible
admits within its own pages that to those who don't believe it is foolishness.
But for those of us who do
believe what does this verse mean?
Think about it: Light and
darkness. Light is a thing. Darkness is not a thing. You can have a light. You
can't have a darkness. Darkness is simply the inevitable result of removing the
light. We turn lights on and off. We don't turn dark on and off. Darkness just
happens when all light sources are removed from a space.
The same is true for hot and
cold. You can generate heat. Cold is just the absence of heat.
So in what sense does God create
darkness? He removes the light. In what way does He create calamity? He removes
peace. You see He is the Light and He is the Prince of Peace and when He
withdraws Himself darkness and calamity are the inevitable result.
Flat earth? Nope. All God was
saying is that the earth He created for us can't be altered by us. It's solid.
It's not going away. It has "foundations". The "pillars"
can't be shaken and yet it all hangs on seemingly nothing. Who but God could
create a ball constantly in motion that is at the same time immoveable and
hangs on nothing?
Judah was at peace. They were
living in the Light. All of that is about to change. We should pay attention
because our peaceful land is soon to walk the same path.
See what I did there? ;)
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