The Real Meaning of Life

Greetings. Broken record here. Sorry, don’t mean to repeat the same stuff over and over, but I do feel it is worth mentioning. Plus, if you’re a new reader, it’ll help you know where I come from.

And honestly, I don’t mean to run all of the Christians off. I know my views and perspectives or not traditional, unconventional, even controversial. But until someone else makes it make sense to me, I can’t feel any other way.

Since we’re studying in chronological order, we now skip back to the Book of Psalms where apparently the scholars and theologians determined those psalms fit in with these times of Isaiah and King Hezekiah. They are very similar to other psalms, doing what they’re supposed to do, praise God. But in Psalm 46, there is a passage that makes no sense to me, and it’s things like this that make me question our Bible.

Before you close the tab and go somewhere else, let me reiterate that I don’t think the Bible is fiction, I just think we have to take certain things into consideration. The authors of the Bible were mortal men, with the thoughts, emotions, perceptions, and reactions of man. All of those things affect how someone thinks and writes. Here’s the verse in question.

Verses 8 and 9: “Come, see the works of the LORD, who brings devastation upon the earth. He makes wars to cease throughout the earth; He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; He burns the shields in the fire.”

Isn’t this contradictory. First, it is proclaimed that the Lord brings devastation upon the earth, I assume insinuating that he punishes the wicked through natural disasters and plagues. Then in the very next verse, it says he stops war and destroys weapons. So which is it, does He want to devastate the earth, or save it?

Again, I’m not doubting the motives of the author, but if I said something like this in a court of law, I’m sure the jury would raise an eyebrow.

I think we have a tendency, or at least I used to, to read the Bible as if the author, in this case the Sons of Korah (who was a Levite who was a musician in the church) was sitting at a table across from God recording exactly what He said and giving a first hand account of His actions. But that is not the case. Only a few people actually saw God, and only a few more that had actually heard the voice of God; and even fewer had had a conversation with Him.

Abraham saw Jesus when Jesus was on His way to Sodom and Gommorah; Jesus even sat and ate a meal with Abraham. And speaking of Sodom and Gommorah, I may have to rehash that story a bit, but something there made me raise an eyebrow as well.

Of course Adam and Eve talked with God as did Moses. Noah heard the voice of God as well as other prophets like Samuel, Isaiah, and Jeremiah. And Joshua saw Jesus, aka Michael the Archangel, when He approached the camp and Joshua asked Him if He was friend or foe.

But other than that, no one until the time Jesus came to this earth to teach us did anyone besides Abraham actually sit and talk with Jesus to give a first hand account.

What I’m saying is, the authors of the Bible, with a few exceptions, were just like us. Yes, we have knowledge of God and Jesus from reading the Bible and from being dragged to church. Yes, we’ve seen signs and wonders and miracles so that most (it’s getting fewer) believe in God. Most of us have prayed, and even perhaps some of us feel we’ve heard the voice of God. But do we have a great personal insight into the character of God other than what the authors of the Bible are telling us? Are we supposed to believe on one hand that God “devastates” the earth, and on the other hand (which is the very next verse), He destroys weapons to achieve peace? If He wanted to devastate the earth, would He enjoy watching wars and fighting, even setting down with a bowl of popcorn to enjoy the show?

This is why when I read the Bible, I always try to interpret the Bible or seek an alternate answer that puts my God in a good perspective. My God is love. My God created us and we are His children, and He loves us more than our earthly fathers could ever love us. He does not want to devastate the earth or kill the wicked, and I don’t care who wrote which book of the Bible!

First, words can have multiple meanings, especially when you’re trying to translate a from a language and writing that is thousands of years old. The likelihood that the meaning of some of the text, during the translation, got lost. As an example, my father always greeted people with “How do you do?” I never gave it much thought until I was older when I begin to think, “How do you do? What the heck does that mean? How do you do what?” Then one day I was watching an old 40’s black and white movie, and one of the lines was “How do you do?” It was apparently a common greeting in the days of my father’s younger years. But without hearing it in the movie, do you think I had enough knowledge to explain what “How do you do?” meant?

The same can hold true for those that translated the Bible.

Then many, like the Sons of Korah, probably were writing songs about God based on what they had been told. They didn’t have a Bible back then, only the Pentateuch, and most knowledge of God was passed down verbally. Korah was probably only writing what someone else had described about God.

Here is what I think about most everything. When something bad happens, God get blamed. But bad things happen when we separate ourselves from God and away from His love and protection. When we distance ourself from God and go it alone in this cruel world, we’re gonna see more bad than good. And who do you think is planting the seed in everyone’s mind that it’s God’s fault? The Great Liar himself. He lied about God in the Garden and he’s still lying about God today. “God is going to reign fire down on the wicked”. “Uzzah made God man when he touched the ark of the covenant which was against the rules and God killed him!” “God sent a flood to kill all of the wicked.” (It says so in the Bible!). Sorry, I know I’m different, but I don’t believe a word of it.

I believe God designed the perfect world, let me stress the word “perfect” where He would live with us, just like He walked in the Garden with Adam and Eve. But sin changed all of that. Sin distanced ourselves from God. God no longer lives with us. Yes, He still watched out over us, He hears our prayers, He works miracles from heaven, but He is no longer on this earth with us. Sin altered that “perfect” balance that God created. And the bad things that happen is a natural consequence of sin. The closer we are to God, the closer we are to His world and His protection.

So when I read a passage in the Bible that talks about something bad that God did, I don’t accuse he author of being a liar, I simply believe there is a reasonable alternative to the meaning of the story.

That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

Have a blessed day.