Makinig sa weekly broadcast ng Kaliwanagan every Tuesday at Thursday sa Tanglaw sa Landas ng Buhay sa 702 DZAS sa oras ng 7PM
It is not easy para sa isang true believer to read about passages sa Bible that show God’s vengeful wrath. I’m speaking from experience and the many Christians na nakausap ko concerning this. Kaya naman si Zane ng isang committed na Christian at isa ring university professor, told me about how to work his mind around the idea of a loving God and his wrath in judgment.
When we talk about wrath here hindi ito yung rage ng isang addict na nag aamok. Divine wrath, paliwanag ni David Van Groningen sa Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, “God's anger and wrath must always be seen in relation to his maintaining and defending his attributes of love and holiness, as well as his righteousness and justice.”* So hindi po siya tulad ng rage or wrath na nakikita natin sa mga lango sa droga.
As promised last episode, the very difficult verse we will talk about today is this --
Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’” (1 Sam 15:2-3)Sa Old Testament po, ang translation natin ng wrath o sa Tagalog ay “matinding poot” ay galing sa anim ng Hebrew words, Sa New Testament po, ang divine wrath ay na-reference po more than twenty times. Sabi ni Groningen,
These terms are to be considered anthropopathic expressions; human terms, however, cannot give the full meaning of the infinite and sovereign God's emotional experiences. As his love is infinitely incomprehensible, so are his displeasure, hate, anger, wrath, and vengeance. There is good reason indeed for the writer to the Hebrews to warn sinful people that it "is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" ( Heb 10:31 ).†Writing about this may constant stress sa akin. Agonizing talaga. Hirap kasi I have a finiteness and sinfulness that not only limit my rationality but also, secondly, lower my view of how God sees sin and, thirdly, (as fellow Christians would understand) dealing by grace in the heart the vexing of "the accuser of the brethren." Paumanhin po sa confession na yan, balik na lang tayo sa topic natin.
Hindi nagkukulang ang buong Bible sa pagpapakita na ang Diyos ay mayroong ganitong attribute. The simple truth of Scripture is this: God is not only a God of love but He is also a God of wrath.
Ang approach na gagamitin natin dito ay dalawa to answer the question raised in the passage, given na settled na tayo sa idea ng wrath ng Diyos. If you want to read mga pertinent verses that show the wrath of God, puntahan lamang po ninyo ang article na ito na ipo post ko sa FB page natin, Kaliwanagan Kay Kristo. Ang interpretive model ni Copan sa mga verses na ganito ay “war-rhetoric” at kay Clay Jones naman ay “capital judgment” o parusang kamatayan sa lubha ng kanilang kasalanan.
Si Copan ang interpretation niya dito ay isa itong linggwahe ng isang tila baga heneral ng isang army na nag oorder na lumusob ng may bagsik sa enemy territory. Standard na practice ito noon at ngayon. Ang exaggeration o hyperbole ay common sa mga panitikan nung ancient near east when the nations describe their encounters with the enemy. Sa kaso ng mga Amalekites na isang Canaanite city, kailangan nating maunawaan na si Haring Saul ang inuutusan dito. You have to understand dito na nung pumasok sila Joshua sa Canaan para lipulin lahat ng lupain ayon sa utos ng Diyos that was around 1400BC. Si Saul lived around 1000BC. So may more than 400 years na na overdue ang pag displace nila ng Amalekites. Mabangis kasi ang mga taong eto kaya mahirap itumba. Isa pa, to explain ang necessary na energy sa kanilang paglusob, ang mga Amalekits ay may history talaga ng alitan sa Israel. If you want to read of the summary of this historical conflict, I refer you sa footnote neto sa article the GotQuestions.org na “Who were the Amalekites?”
Kung naaalala ninyo sa previous episode common din sa atin ngayon ang gumamit ng hyperbole or exaggeration sa mga encounters natin sa kaaway. Sa basketball na lang nangyayari yan: “Pulbusin ang kaaway.” “Pisatin ang kalaban.”
Case in fact si Haman sa Book of Esther na descendant ng mga Amalekites. Dun nga sa example na lang ni Haman, ang intention talaga niya ay parang Hitler na mag wipe out ng mga Jews.
Para naman kay Clay Jones at ang kanyang capital punishment interpretive model, this verse shows the full measure of God’s anger to the Amalekites.
So yan po ang ilan sa mga reasons why there is an urgency to invade the Amalekites. The point ni Copan is linguistic at naka focus sa pag rouse ng Israeli army towards indignation and to smite the Amalekites. Kailangan daw nating maunawaan ang literary context dito upang ma appreciate natin ang long overdue na danger at evil na hatid ng Amalekites.
Next episode naman po idi-discuss ko yung interpretive model naman ni Clay Jones na tatawagin nating capital judgment at magbibigay tayo ng paliwanag doon why even the children and the animals would have to receive capital judgment. So mas mahirap po siyang talakayan pero pagsumikapan natin.
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* Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, sv "The Wrath of God"; accessed at https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionaries/bakers-evangelical-dictionary/wrath-of-god.html
† Ibid.
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