Deterrent

Does God punish us, or do we do it to ourselves?

For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen, because their speech and their deeds are against the Lord, defying his glorious presence. The look on their faces bears witness against them; they proclaim their sin like Sodom, they do not hide it. Woe to them! For they have brought evil on themselves. Tell the innocent how fortunate they are, for they shall eat the fruit of their labors. Woe to the guilty! How unfortunate they are, for what their hands have done shall be done to them. My people-- children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, your leaders mislead you, and confuse the course of your paths. The Lord rises to argue his case; he stands to judge the peoples. The Lord enters into judgment with the elders and princes of his people: It is you who have devoured the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses. What do you mean by crushing my people, by grinding the face of the poor? says the Lord God of hosts. - Isa. 3:8-15

Isaiah says we bring it on ourselves.

Our deeds, our actions, cause us the pain we suffer. And we suffer alone because we remove ourselves from God when we do this.

When we blame God for the pain we suffer, we push God away, leaving us alone in our suffering.

That's the time when we need God most, and we push Him away. Does that make sense? 

Now, the way Isaiah tells it, you could think that God is taking vengeance on us for our sins, but is He really doing that? 

Listen to what He is saying. You are crushing His people. So, you deserve what befalls you.

We call it fate or karma when someone who does evil is punished with evil. We may even call it justice. This is what we expect. An eye for an eye, just punishment.

But that hasn't worked, has it?

How many bodies do we need to bring home broken or killed before we realize how senseless this approach is? 

We need a strong military to protect us. We can agree to that, but wouldn't it be better if they never have to fight?

When we believed that God punished us for our evil, that didn't stop us from doing evil. So, why do we believe anything can be an effective deterrent to war or crime or evil?

More to come...