Wednesday, December 11, 2024

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On God, and Managing Our Risks

By Art Hall

Consider this Spout Off:
I had a conversation with someone and this individual insisted on using God’s name in vain with no consideration for his maker. I warned this person, whom I just could not get through to, that God will punish him. He texted me and capitalized all the letters in God’s name while using it in vain, after telling him God will punish him. Then he decided to be arrogant and texted ‘Amen’ in capital letters. Two days later his intestines burst and he is now wearing a colostomy bag. If you use God’s name in vain, be prepared for his wrath.    
So, is it possible that the author of this Spout Off is correct in attributing the burst intestines to using God’s name in vain? There is an interesting account in the Book of Daniel in the Bible which perhaps caused the author to believe so: Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had a dream which he asked the prophet, Daniel, to interpret. With much hesitation, Daniel gave him the meaning — If the king did not stop his sinful behavior, he would lose his mind, and survive by eating grass for seven years. He did not stop, and was punished, just as Daniel told him he would be.  
Also, most of us are familiar with the expression, “I can now see the writing on the wall.” That expression came from what happened next. The king who followed Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, desecrated some items taken from the Jewish temple. A disembodied hand appeared out of nowhere, and wrote on the king’s palace wall. It so spooked Belshazzar that “his hip joints went slack, and his knees began knocking together.” His face became pale.
This king also called on Daniel to interpret “the written on the wall.” — “The High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar a great kingdom  …  He developed a big head and a hard spirit. Then God knocked him off his high horse and stripped him of his fame. He was thrown out of human company, lost his mind, and lived like a wild animal. He ate grass like an ox … until he learned his lesson….You are his son and have known all this, yet you’re as arrogant as he ever was. … You had the sacred chalices from his Temple brought into your drunken party … You used the sacred chalices to toast your gods …. But you treat with contempt the living God who holds your entire life from birth to death in his hand.” Belshazzar died that night. (Bible source: The Message)
But how do these Biblical accounts apply to the man with the burst intestines? Did this happen because of his affront? We all know people who exercise no restraint yet never seem to pay any price, and others who live exemplary lives but suffer greatly. Is it possible that the author was correct in predicting what God would do? Not likely; he’s probably not a prophet and no human knows the mind of God. But could God do it? Absolutely. He made the universe; he can do anything he wants. But the Bible tells us that he is loving and very patient, like a parent who doesn’t write off his child. 
Evidence does not exclusively disprove the existence of God. So my question of the person using God’s name in vain would be: Why do it? While God probably did not do this to you, we will all pay the ultimate price if we go to our deathbed with that attitude.
Art Hall
From the Bible:   The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Proverbs 9:10

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