What is God up to? What you fear deep down or what you long for? ... By Kai Mester

Reading time: 4 minutes

The most misunderstood personality in the universe is its creator. Out of love he created, out of love he follows people, out of love he saves. But man keeps looking at him through his own glasses of selfishness. If he believes in him at all, he often suspects that God, with his omnipotence and omniscience, must somehow be an egoist.

With this understanding, emotionally, the first three commandments of Exodus 2:20,2-7 read something like this:

The first three commandments as a threat

What I want to tell you: I am the LORD your God. I brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of bondage. So please don't have any other gods next to me. Because I don't tolerate that.
You shall not make yourself a graven image, or any likeness of any kind... Do not worship them or serve them! Otherwise you will feel me, the LORD your God, as a jealous God, who visits the sins of the fathers to the third and fourth generation on the children of those who hate me. For I show my grace only to the many thousands who love me and keep my commandments.
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain. For let it be said to you: The LORD will punish anyone who takes his name in vain.

But if we read the first three commandments through the glasses that Jesus gave us because he wants to heal our blindness and open our eyes, then the commandments sound very different:

The first three commandments as counsel and promise

I am the Lord your God. I created you, I know you, I mean well by you. I brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of bondage, was and am your only gateway to freedom. So don't let other gods fool you! At best, they pretend you are free, but only put chains on you again.
If you love me, you will make no image or any likeness for yourself. For they are dead and powerless. Do not give them your attention and devotion! Because only I, your God, love you passionately and even go after the great-grandchildren of those who have turned away from me. I woo their hearts and offer to take their guilt on me and to save them from their sins. But those who love me and keep my commandments will feel my love for thousands of generations because they have opened up to it.
If you love me, you will not do evil in the name of the LORD your God, you will not pervert his name, you will not sully his reputation, you will not falsely present his character. Don't do this; for the LORD cannot excuse, expiate, justify, purify anyone who misuses his name because he separates from the stream of life and thereby becomes ill and dies - physically, mentally and spiritually.

Is this paraphrase too daring for you? Then look at the parallel passages to the following word roots used in the main text:

jealous קנא

Solomon wrote: »For love is strong as death and passion [jealousy] irresistible as the grave.« (Song of Solomon 8,6:XNUMX) Yes, God is passionately jealous for us, does not want to abandon us to sin and death. But he doesn't force himself on us. If we resist him long enough, unfortunately, our self-chosen fate will eventually overtake us.

haunt chief

Moses said, "And the Lord took hold of Sarah [visited her]... and Sarah conceived." (Genesis 1:21,1) How positive that is! God then revealed himself to Moses on Sinai with the following character description: “LORD, LORD; God, merciful and gracious and long-suffering and of great mercy and faithfulness, who preserves grace in thousands and forgives/takes/bears guilt, trespass and sin... and visits the trespasses of the fathers upon the children and children's children to the third and fourth generation.« (Exodus 2:34,6-7) God does not leave us, he follows us to bless us. Only persistent resistance to it can finally bring us down.

leave unpunished Clear

David prayed to God, "Forgive me [cleanse me from/leave unpunished] the hidden sins." (Psalm 19,13:XNUMX) It is God's desire to take our guilt upon Himself, to set us free. How tragic when we do the very thing that binds his hands: sin against the Holy Spirit. This is what the third commandment speaks of. How important that we recognize God's true nature so that we can have absolute trust in him. Then he can download to our mental hard drive all the apps he has developed in his heart.

Jesus, our glasses

We are allowed to read the whole Bible through Jesus glasses. For whoever sees him sees the Father (John 12,45:14,9; XNUMX:XNUMX). Who understands how the father thinks and feels in his heart. God's Word is written in such a way that the Holy Spirit can open our eyes as we read it. Then we see the gentle God who loves his enemies, who would rather be wronged than harm any of his creatures. We also see the God who is able to transform into glory and victory all suffering caused by himself and others. The god who allows suffering because he respects the free will of his creatures, but suffers from it more than they do. The god to fall in love with.