Mar 26 - "A Cycle Broken"

"They know no limits in deeds of wickedness; they do not judge with justice; the cause of the orphan to make it prosper, and they do not defend the rights of the needy. Shall I not punish them for these things, says the Lord, and shall I not bring retribution on a nation such as this?" --- Jeremiah 5:20-31

"For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by His blood, effective through faith. --- Romans 3:19-31

In my bible study at church on Sunday mornings, we have spent the past couple of months strolling from Genesis, through Joshua and Judges, then onto 1 Kings. One of the things each of us in the group has noted is the continual process the people of Israel went through during this time in history. God would deliver them from some great challenge or give them all they asked for, but after a seemingly short amount of time, they would stray. Often, they would start worshiping other Gods, or perpetrate sinful acts in great abundance with an apparent complete loss of memory related to the great deeds God had done or gifts He had given to them. No one seemed to be able to "stick with God"; not even great men of the Bible like David and Solomon, with whom God directly interacted, were immune from this pattern.

While observing this endless cycle of disregard for God's miracles, we say to each other, "How could they do this? They saw God's miracles directly...even spoke with God at times...and they still wandered away?!?" Yet, we see it again and again through the historical portions of the Old Testament. God delivers...we accept His gifts...we forget...we go astray...we return to Him...the cycle continues.

In Jeremiah, God seems to have reached His final breaking point. He promised after the Flood, never to destroy the world and all of humanity again. In order to get their attention this time, He decides to put them into captivity, taking them away from their Promised Land for a generation. Maybe this time His Chosen People will finally realize that He has control and can take things away permanently if they do not follow His laws and recognize the beauty, peace and wonder associated with a belief in the one true God. But, of course...even after Jeremiah's prophecy and the pain of Lamentations, the next book in the Old Testament, the cycle continues.

How is this cycle finally broken? God, as a part of His plan from the beginning of time, now takes a different approach. Can you see the contrast between the two scripture readings from the Daily Office today? In Jeremiah, He says, our sins will be punished. In the other, from Paul's letter to the Romans, His perfect grace and mercy is shown in the gift of His Son. We are forgiven. Yes...we all are still sinners and can never be perfect, but our debt is paid in full. How fortunate are we to be living on this side of Christ's redemptive sacrifice!

I used to think that the process God went through over time was that He finally figured out how to get through to us. The vengeful God and disciplinarian of the Old Testament "matured" into the loving Father of the New Testament. Just as I have become a wiser father over time, God did the same. But, that is not really the case. God's Plan for all of us for all of time was known by Him before the beginning of creation. He knows every step and choice we will make. The roller coaster process the ancient Israelites went through...sin, punishment, redemption...again and again served a divine purpose to show us that there are various ways for this relationship to work. Had Christ come at the beginning of time, we would not be able to fully appreciate the power of being forgiven...for everything...forever.

So, rejoice in the fact that we don't have to "learn the hard way", as those who lived before Jesus came into the world. Be thankful that the cycle was broken by a perfect sacrifice, of Christ crucified, dying and rising again in order that we will live forever.