WHO DUG THE CHASM?
Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you so that he does not hear. Isa. 59:2, R.S.V.
The position of Jonathon Edwards on the subject of hell and salvation is useful as an object lesson in what not to believe. For example, he believed,
"The God that holds you over the pit of Hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect, over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked; His wrath towards you burns like fire; He looks upon you as worthy of nothing else but to be cast into the fire; He is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in His sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in His eyes than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours."
Though hidden behind gentler language, these same emotions of abhorrence of sinners are ascribed to God by many Christians today. Often they will quote today's text to support themselves. They explain Isaiah as meaning that God "digs a chasm" to keep from being contaminated by sinners, that they must stop sinning before God will condescend to listen to them. They fail to see that Isaiah was taunting a group of people for their arrogant hypocrisy. They were making bold claims to be religious (Isa. 58:1-3), yet were engaged in all manner of oppression and strife. Isaiah affirms that God knows better than to take seriously their double-talk.
Edwards and other "gentler spirits" of the same persuasion are forgetting that the chasm between God and man was of man's choosing, not God's. His children walked away from Him and then as a result got into doing sinful things. God did not catch them doing sinful things and then in disgust walk away from them.
Who would wish to come back into the presence of such a God as Edwards saw? Though Edwards might argue that God would mellow considerably once His people start behaving, to be in the presence of One who is even capable of such explosive anger brings no comfort.
Tragically, Edwards missed the point of Jesus' life. He who touched lepers, who ate supper with prostitutes, who announced forgiveness to men who were pounding nails into His wrists, and who said, "I have come to show you the Father"--He had a better way of dealing with sinners. He decided to love them into wholeness. And--praise God--it works!
Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you so that he does not hear. Isa. 59:2, R.S.V.
The position of Jonathon Edwards on the subject of hell and salvation is useful as an object lesson in what not to believe. For example, he believed,
"The God that holds you over the pit of Hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect, over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked; His wrath towards you burns like fire; He looks upon you as worthy of nothing else but to be cast into the fire; He is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in His sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in His eyes than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours."
Though hidden behind gentler language, these same emotions of abhorrence of sinners are ascribed to God by many Christians today. Often they will quote today's text to support themselves. They explain Isaiah as meaning that God "digs a chasm" to keep from being contaminated by sinners, that they must stop sinning before God will condescend to listen to them. They fail to see that Isaiah was taunting a group of people for their arrogant hypocrisy. They were making bold claims to be religious (Isa. 58:1-3), yet were engaged in all manner of oppression and strife. Isaiah affirms that God knows better than to take seriously their double-talk.
Edwards and other "gentler spirits" of the same persuasion are forgetting that the chasm between God and man was of man's choosing, not God's. His children walked away from Him and then as a result got into doing sinful things. God did not catch them doing sinful things and then in disgust walk away from them.
Who would wish to come back into the presence of such a God as Edwards saw? Though Edwards might argue that God would mellow considerably once His people start behaving, to be in the presence of One who is even capable of such explosive anger brings no comfort.
Tragically, Edwards missed the point of Jesus' life. He who touched lepers, who ate supper with prostitutes, who announced forgiveness to men who were pounding nails into His wrists, and who said, "I have come to show you the Father"--He had a better way of dealing with sinners. He decided to love them into wholeness. And--praise God--it works!
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