Opus 2011-214, Christian Cliches: Why Me, Lord?, Part I

I was recently working through I Kings because the church we were visiting for a few weeks was featuring a sermon series based in that book.  When I do this I read, record my thoughts and responses and create my own personal commentary on the book.  Over the years I have built up quite a few files.  I love word processors.  I hope I am never so poor that I can’t afford a working computer.

I was reading in Chapter 8 of I Kings and I realized I was reading a list of reasons for calamity.  At first I thought it started in verse 33,

(1 Kings 8:33 KJV)  When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and shall turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house:

As I followed the reasoning down to verse 40, I found quite a list of problems that individuals and nations face in our world.  Verse 33 dealt with defeat in war.  Verse 35 mentioned drought.  Verse 37 had quite a list:

(1 Kings 8:37 KJV)  If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpiller; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be;

I looked at the list again and realized in actually began in verse 31 where it talks about sinning against your neighbor.

We see a pattern:  Sin, calamity, repentance, restoration.

I remember studying Israel in Sunday School.  One of the patterns we saw was exactly this.  God would move in a mighty way.  The people would rejoice.  Life would be good.  They would become complacent and turn their backs on God.  Tragedy would occur.  They would repent.  God would move in a mighty way....  The pattern was so clear I always wondered why they could not see it.

The pattern is there in our modern world too.  Wars, famine, neighbor turning on neighbor.  We read about it or hear about it every day.  What is the cause?  Why can’t we see it?

To be continued...

homo unius libri