God for a Day
In the early 2000’s, a movie came out exploring this idea. The movie titled Bruce Almighty stars Jim Carrey as a man given God’s power for a week. I can’t recommend the movie, but the story is somewhat honest. At first, Carrey’s character uses his on-loan powers for selfish purposes. One particular divine “duty” the title character is assigned is the answering of prayers. He decides to answer all prayers with an automatic “yes” just so he can avoid the work. When the pressure of divinity grows too great, Bruce realizes he needs and wants God to be God.
Let me make this clear – we aren’t, we can’t be, and, contrary to certain religions, we never will be God (gods, goddesses, or one of the gods). This is purely an imaginative exercise, but for the sake of an illustration – what if you were God? What if I was God? Holiness would be out the window! Like Bruce, I would use this borrowed power for selfish purposes. Oh, and lots of smiting! Anyone who has ever offended me, lied about me, stole from me, or hurt me…smitten! As a matter of fact, anyone who does evil also smitten! Oh wait, I just smote (is that correct grammar?) the whole world. I wouldn’t be a god who is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6). My rigid personality would probably lead to judgment all the time!
Maybe you’d be a more loving god? You are naturally softer and nicer than me. You’d forgive everybody for everything because you’re just a super nice, gracious deity. No judgment – just love! I suppose you’d be viewed as kind and benevolent. But what happens to the victims when you forgive all the villains? Are they just supposed to get over their abuse? You would inadvertently create a world with zero justice – no consequences for any evil or wrong. What about just eliminating the concept of evil altogether? Oh wait, we just by default abolished good as well. With this train of thought we find ourselves in an untenable, philosophical quandary.
Maybe you’d be a god who was more human, more in the moment. Eventually, that would lead to the human default of being moody, inconsistent, and unpredictable. You might paint beautiful sunrises and sunsets one day and the next bury Miami in a snowstorm. “Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” What would divine power do?
We need God to be God. And thankfully, God is not a man.
I will not execute my burning anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath. Hosea 11:9
We are not God and God is not like us. God’s ways are not our ways. Our vantage point leaves us stuck in the present, moving minute by minute into the future, completely unable to change the past or control what’s coming. On the other hand, God controls the future. And although He doesn’t change the past, He can fix it. Or to use an important word from the Bible – He redeems it.
Joseph and the Redeemer
Included in the Old Testament book of Genesis is one of the more dramatic and puzzling stories in the Bible. The storyline centers around Joseph, the favorite son of the patriarch Jacob (later named Israel). The mix of Jacob’s favoritism, Joseph’s immaturity, and the brother’s jealousy was a powder keg. Joseph’s brothers grew to hate him so much that they collectively decided to murder him. This wasn’t isolated sibling rivalry. Just the sight of this young man infuriated them. One day as Joseph approached them, instead of murder, they changed their minds and decided to sell him into slavery. In some ways, this fate could be viewed as worse than death. Psalm 105:18 says that Joseph’s “feet were hurt with fetters; his neck was put in a collar of iron.” Little did they know that their treachery was all part of God’s plan. The brothers returned home to their father with a fabricated story about Joseph being killed by a wild beast. Joseph was now a slave far from his father and his home. The journey took him to Egypt, prison, and eventually by God’s providence Joseph became second in charge of all of Egypt. It’s a miraculous turn of events. (For the full story read Genesis chapters 37, 39-50 – a one paragraph summary does not do justice to this saga.)
As the years go by, Joseph’s brothers are forced by a famine to come to Egypt for food. Who do they encounter? Joseph! He’s in charge of the sale and distribution of food. It’s a phenomenal setup for the best revenge story ever! But God’s ways had become Joseph’s ways. He does not ignore or excuse their sin against him. Look what he says:
I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life…And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. Genesis 45:4-5, 7-8
Later in the story, as the family had been reunited and saved from starvation, together they mourned the death of their father Jacob. This caused great anxiety and fear in Joseph’s brothers. They assumed because Jacob was gone, Joseph’s revenge would now be unleashed. Read Joseph’s startling words:
Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. Genesis 50:19-20
In the account of Joseph, God’s complete control and glory is on display. However, God’s way of accomplishing this beautiful, compelling, transformative, and joyous journey was long, methodical, and, at times, unclear. Eventually, Joseph recognized that God was the author of the whole story. God was the hero, not Joseph. God got the glory, not Joseph. And God got the glory in His way. Every confusing twist and turn had been divinely designed. Humanly-speaking, Joseph’s story seems like a perfect set up for revenge. Divinely speaking, Joseph’s story is an awesome example of redemption. It is one of many illustrations that highlight a really important part of God’s character. God’s ways are the ways of the Great Redeemer.
In the Old Testament, a redeemer was a person of important cultural significance. When a relative was murdered, it was up to the nearest relative to seek retribution. This person was called a redeemer. When a man died, his closest single relative would marry the widow. This was called redeeming. A redeemer was one who would buy back property that a relative sold in distress. He would redeem what had been lost. A redeemer had the noble task of avenging, delivering, ransoming, and restoring. Job, the suffering servant of God, in great faith proclaimed, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth” (Job 19:25).
God is the Redeemer. He restores what has been broken. He finds what has been lost. He gives justice to the abused. He ransoms the captives. He buys back what has been stolen. He removes the shame of the grieving, lonely widow. In Joseph, God redeemed his suffering to bring salvation.