A Responsible Hierarchy
“Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass unless the Lord has commanded it?” Lamentations 3:37 NASB
Command – This Hebrew word (tsiva) has an important place in our thinking about God. Here it is found in a book that most of us don’t know very well. Lamentations is made up of five poems. They are laments about the destruction of Solomon’s Temple. These poems were read every year at a specific time as a national day of mourning. It is about suffering on a national scale. It speaks eloquently of God’s interaction in history.
The word here is not the same word for “commandment” although they are related. Here the word means “an instruction or an order from one who rules.” Today we need to look at the entire sense of this verse. It is a rhetorical question. That means it is a question that implies an expected answer. Here the answer that is expected is: “There is no one who makes anything happen unless God orders it to happen.” The reason that this implication is important in the Jewish national day of mourning is that it reassures the believers that the destruction of the temple occurred only because God allowed it to occur and only to serve His purposes. It was not accident, tragedy, fate or the will of evil people. God stood behind everything.
Maybe we need a national day of mourning to remind us that God stands behind everything now. So often we feel that bad things are out of control. Terrorism, catastrophes, genocide and all kinds of individual and corporate disasters seem to challenge our faith in God’s care. But here is the reminder. God stands behind it all. Nothing happens unless He says so. We can mourn, grieve and lament. God hears us. But life is not out of control. We are not left helpless.
Many of us have gone through great tragedies. God wants us to know that He is still the One giving the final orders. Nobody and nothing can get to us without His involvement. That doesn’t mean our lives are protected from bad things. Obviously not. It means that no matter what happens, God is there. Are you living a lament? Do you see God there? If not, maybe you need to take a deeper look. The Man behind history always leaves clues.
There is one other implication of the word sawa that needs to be articulated. Sawa only works within an assumed hierarchy of responsibility. Commands are passes from one person to another with the expectation that they will be followed. God is in charge, no doubt, but the execution of His will depends in part on the acceptance of the hierarchy of order. And we are not at the top of the chain of command. In fact, the more people refuse to acknowledge the natural order of things (God’s design), the more God’s will is not accomplished as He planned it. That doesn’t mean His will can’t be done. It just means that it won’t be done with the cooperation He intended. Tsava means following according to design.
Topical Index: authority, hierarchy, command, tsava, Lamentations 3:37
In light of recent events in Aurora, CO and the 9th of Av that is approaching this weekend, I find this article most compelling. It seems easier for folks to search and find someone or something to lay the blame on. We need a label, so it would seem. A label like: “he’s crazy”; “he’s mentally unstable”; “he’s demon possessed”; or “someone made him feel bad about himself”. Those and others seem to help us all feel better about ourselves. In placing a label on it we exempt ourselves from responsibility as a community. I heard one religious leader on Fox News say that with more insight these events could be totally prevented. Insight? Really? How does one get insight, when you approach investigation with foregone conclusions; when you presume that the Creator is a myth, or His instructions are not relevant?
The truth is, when I understand the universal “hierarchy of order” – that there is a “chain of command” – then I have to come to grips with the reality I am not at the top; no where near. God is the God of order. His order is the order. My chaos can never trump God’s order; yet His order can affect my chaos – and it should. Trust is predicated upon personal choice. Trust issues are not “trust issues”, they are choice issues. Do I voluntarily choose that God’s ways are my ways, that His people are my people, and that His call is my call? Until I choose to return, to acknowledge Him in all my ways, to submit to His LORDship; the chaos in my life will continue to beg for a label.
What about free choice? What if a person chooses to commit a crime?
Free choice? There really is no such thing. All choices come with a price; and consequences. I can choose to walk in God’s ways or not. After that, what choices really remain. Did the man in Colorado choose – voluntarily – to kill, to destroy? By all apparent information, yes. Does the community of Aurora, the state of Colorado, and the citizens of this nation bear any responsibility? Not, for the event; but perhaps for the larger issue. Yes, I believe there is a larger issue. When Daniel prayed to God he sought forgiveness for his sins and the sins of his people. Daniel stood in solidarity with Israel and her idolatry, even though he himself had never bowed a knee to strange gods. Why did he do that? You and I live in an independent thinking culture. Everything is defined by what the individual does or what the state does. We lost a true sense of community a long time ago. We no longer stand as one in our victories or our defeats. When there is a win, there is usually someone from another party ready to spin that it was not really a win. And, when tragedy stricks one of our towns, yes we grieve together for a time; but standing together as Daniel did and confessing our national sins does not happen. Why? I believe, at least in part, it is because we still see ourselves becoming better than we are. We – not God – is viewed as being in control, and when something happens and things become chaotic, we have to distance ourselves from it so we can maintain the illusion. That’s where the use of labels becomes handy. Society’s self-portrait is a picture of a people that is evolving; and as such there is no place in the frame for identifying with each other’s sins.
The (absolute) Sovereignty of God. He is. God reigns and God rules. This is His world, He made it- He runs it, He rules it. ~ The earth is the LORD’s. ~ The very hairs on every head are numbered. Why? Because our God is the God of the macro and the micro. He is LORD of all. All this “stuff” we endure from our media is nothing new- it has been happening since Adam was kicked out of the garden. Sin happens. Oh, but when Mrs. Smith bakes an apple pie for Billy- who knows about it? (except of course, Billy!) Apple pies don’t sell newspapers, mayhem does. So let’s magnify the macabre. NOT. Turn off the radio. Turn off the box of lies and listen. Listen to Him. Listen (and enjoy) the sounds of silence. Be still, (unplug) and know that I am God. How can we possible hear the God-whispers with the constant blare of noise surrounding us by day and by night. Get in the car and what’s the first thing we do? Crank up the radio to an acceptable volume and bring on the noise- bring on the funk. – Have we become addicted to noise? Have you noticed (is it coincidence?) “peace and quiet” are two words that tend to travel together?
Oh, yes! – There is an hierarchy of order. God is large and He is in chargeand Jesus (who is the) Christ is LORD! I wonder sometimes what small percentage of people even know what “lord” means. God is very much in control and is not (as some would imagine Him to be) an “absentee Landlord.” He is Immanuel, and “God is with us,” and God is for us! His words? “I will never leave you, nor forsake you”- They still apply today! -He ever loves and cares for His own.
“The (absolute) Sovereignty of God.”
Hi Carl,
For me that is the most interesting and important point
Not being a professional philosopher myself, I tend to think of Melville’s “Bartleby the Scrivener”
The implication of the story is that even though God has (absolute) Sovereignty
On an ethical level, man is absolutely free and therefore absolutely responsible for his choices
For example, in Bartleby, we see even the wimpiest sort of scrivener can say no to his boss
In Moby Dick, we see Captain Ahab, with his monomaniacal focus, say no to God
With all sorts of tragic consequences
yes Michael, the debate between the absolute Sovereignty of God or the free will of man is no debate at all. The answer is yes. We are (all) totally free in the choices we make, but we are not free from the consequences of our own choosing. Best of all we are free to “repent!”- that is to change our mind concerning God (He is good) and about our free choice to follow Him (imitate Him) and to walk in humility, meekness (teachability)- and obedience to His instructions. We are totally free to say “Yes” to Him, the best choice I ever made and the consequences continue even unto this day!- and.. (but wait!- there’s more… lol) – the best is yet to come!