Harsh talk

[michelle]

I'm not usually one who has issues with some of the more harsh passages in the OT. Generally speaking, I've always kind of taken the OT as that's how it was and the NT is how it is. That's a very simplified statement about my thinking of it, but that's neither her nor there.

However, I did stumble on a passage that was like a sock in the stomach. I couldn't believe this was something God would say.
Deuteronomy 28:63 "And as the LORD took delight in doing you good and multiplying you, so the LORD will take delight in bringing ruin upon you and destroying you. And you shall be plucked off the land that you are entering to take possession of it." OUCH!

[Josh]

Ezekiel 18: 31-32

I31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!

So, the early Church fathers had a litte educational game where they would take two apparently disparate passages (like the one you cite above and this one) and use that as an opportunity to explore a paradox.

It's good to sit with the tension between these two texts for a while before rushing off to a verdict.

This one is difficult, and should not be portrayed as an opportunity to jump through some hoops to get out of the uncomfortability it produces.

That said, I found a great article by John Piper on this very issue. I'm not sure I could state a better reply, so here goes:

www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/1987/577_The_Pleasure_of_God_in_All_That_He_Does/

Reply here with comments- let me know what you think of the article.