God & Compromise

Compromises God made in Scripture

1. Abraham the Auctioneer
   Then the men rose up from there, and looked down toward Sodom; and Abraham was walking with them to send them off. The LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed? "For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him." And the LORD said, "The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave. "I will go down now, and see if they have done entirely according to its outcry, which has come to Me; and if not, I will know." Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before the LORD. Abraham came near and said, "Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? "Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? "Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?" So the LORD said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place on their account." And Abraham replied, "Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am but dust and ashes. "Suppose the fifty righteous are lacking five, will You destroy the whole city because of five?" And He said, "I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there." He spoke to Him yet again and said, "Suppose forty are found there?" And He said, "I will not do it on account of the forty." Then he said, "Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak; suppose thirty are found there?" And He said, "I will not do it if I find thirty there." And he said, "Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord; suppose twenty are found there?" And He said, "I will not destroy it on account of the twenty." Then he said, "Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once; suppose ten are found there?" And He said, "I will not destroy it on account of the ten." As soon as He had finished speaking to Abraham the LORD departed, and Abraham returned to his place. - Genesis 18:16-33

   1. Though Abraham seems to be bartering with God, we don’t actually see any indication of what God intends to do in this scenario until Abraham brings up the idea of God destroying the city.

      1. Option 1: we’re missing part of the conversation and we’re only getting the highlights.

      2. Option 2: Abraham is – knowingly or unknowingly – establishing the parameters of how God is going to deal with Sodom.

      3. Option 3: what seems like “bartering” is actually just God answering questions about what Abraham is assuming God will do.

   2. Regardless, we have to recognize that it’s important to God to include Abraham in the discussion and that – this is the crazy bit – Abraham is at the very least an important part of the conversation regarding what will happen in the earth.

      1. Thus it came about, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot lived. - Genesis 19:29

         • Whichever option, the writer of Genesis indicates that the rescue of Lot was in some way caused by the interaction God had with Abraham.

2. Moses’ People or the LORD’s?
   Then the LORD spoke to Moses, "Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. "They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and have sacrificed to it and said, 'This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!'" The LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. "Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation." Then Moses entreated the LORD his God, and said, "O LORD, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? "Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, 'With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth'? Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people. "Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, 'I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'" So the LORD changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people. - Exodus 32:7-14

   1. Did God change His mind?

      1. If God didn’t really change His mind, then the text here is not merely misinterpreting but is completely false.

         • Option 1 – this reflects an ANE lens being applied to the LORD and reflects the author’s misunderstanding and misrepresentation of God due to their own cultural bias

         • Option 2 – the Scriptures don’t mean what we think they mean and this must clearly mean something else… which, when applied to a simple, factual statement like this one, could mean anything.

      2. If the text is literal, then the LORD changes His mind because of His interaction with Moshe

         • Option 1 – straightforward reading – God is so deeply hurt by His continued rejection by the Israelites that He is genuinely and vulnerably sharing His heart with Moses and is indicating a genuine desire to avoid such pain by starting over anew with Moses. He also knows that Moses doesn’t want to be alone and will be able to talk God out of it, so God asks Moses not to intercede.

         • Option 2 – veiled honesty – God is giving a genuine, but partial, revelation of His heart in order to test, empower, and prepare Moses.

           • Test – does Moses know God well enough to know that this isn’t entirely in keeping with His character?

             • Passed – Moses brings up the covenental love of God.

           • Empower – God risks the destruction of the rest of the nation of Israel by indicating His willingness to destroy them if Moses does not intercede.

             • We don’t know what would have happened if Moses didn’t intercede, but God still would have had means to fulfill His covenant if only Moses remained as the faithful remnant.

           • Prepare – God knows the temper that Moses has and is anticipating the reaction that Moses will have when he sees the wanton rebellion of the people and is pushing Moses to face that deeply valid hurt in the place of prayer and intercession instead of violent action by inciting intercession.

             • This doesn’t entirely work. Moses is so overcome with rage when he sees what the people have done that he destroys the stone tablets and commands the Levites – who were at least somewhat in protest to the golden calf – to kill over 3,000 of the worst offenders.

3. The Hezekiah Fifteen
   In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, "Thus says the LORD, 'Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.'" Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, saying, "Remember now, O LORD, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight." And Hezekiah wept bitterly. Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "Return and say to Hezekiah the leader of My people, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of your father David, "I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD. "I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for My own sake and for My servant David's sake."'" - 2 Kings 20:1-6

   1. Not framed as a deal, but a certainty – “You shall die and not live”.

      1. To be clear, this is a Hebrew idiom with “die and not live” meaning something like, “there’s no recovering from this”.

   2. Hezekiah’s invokes the “remembering nature” of God.

      1. Remember – to call to mind and act on behalf of another.

   3. God indicates that because of Hezekiah’s prayer & tears, God will, “add fifteen years to your life”.

      1. This prayer is preserved in Isaiah 38.

      2. God is doing some really important math here.

      3. יספ – to increase, to add, to do again

         • in this context, it seems that at the beginning of the story Hezekiah has only days to live at most – with a guarantee from God that he will not recover – and then, after his prayer and tears, the days allotted to him are extended by 15 years.

   4. God also indicates that He will spare Jerusalem from the King of Assyria, “for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake”.

      1. While this seems to be tied into Hezekiah’s recovery, God indicates that the reason’s for the “political interference” He is engaging in concerns His own reputation and His covenant with David, not necessarily to Hezekiah’s prayers and tears.

         • Interestingly enough, Hezekiah’s godly rule seems to protect Jerusalem for a generation, but Hezekiah’s pride ends up inciting an even worse foe: Babylon.

         • In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill; and he prayed to the LORD, and the LORD spoke to him and gave him a sign. But Hezekiah gave no return for the benefit he received, because his heart was proud; therefore wrath came on him and on Judah and Jerusalem. - 2 Chronicles 32:24-25