The Story of All Things
Still, God showed mercy.
God revealed himself not through a book of propositions but through a story—an epic, wild and beautiful and intricate. This piece, excerpted and adapted from a paper I wrote for an Old Testament class a few years ago, traces the narrative of God’s work in the world in poetic prose, using repetitive phrases to draw theological connections between the well-worn stories. I drew significant inspiration from Christopher J. H. Wright’s The Mission of God and Michael W. Goheen’s A Light to the Nations.
This week, we enter into the high point of that narrative in the church calendar. It felt like the right time to share this piece. Have a blessed Holy Week, friends. If you can make it to an Easter Vigil service on Saturday night, I recommend going—it’s my favorite service of the whole year, in large part because it retells the whole story.
Speaking of Holy Week—last Friday, I went to a gorgeous stage production of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, a book I’ve read many times. But during the performance, for the first time, I realized why it’s Susan and Lucy who accompany Aslan to the Stone Table.
It’s because Jesus’ female disciples remained at the cross and first witnessed the resurrection. Susan and Lucy stand in the tradition of Mary Magdalene, Salome, the other Mary, Joanna, and Mary of Nazareth.
And now, for the story of the Bible … and the story of all things.
Before the beginning, there was only Yahweh. Then, Yahweh began everything. Yahweh created the world and all that is in it—earth and stars, the fruit of the vine and the birds of the air, wheat and fish and olives and pygmy hippopotamuses.
From the dust of the earth and the breath of life, Yahweh formed humankind in Yahweh’s own image and likeness, to live in peace and reign as regents. Yet, the people chose sin over shalom, bringing death upon their own heads and darkness and disorder upon the world, forgetting the God of the garden. The voices of blood cried out from the cursed ground until Yahweh cleansed the earth in the floodwaters of baptism, restoring it anew, washing away the stain of violence.
Still, Yahweh showed mercy. Yahweh brought Noah and his wife, and his sons and their wives, alive through the deluge. As the waters receded, Yahweh pledged to never again destroy the earth by flood. He bid humankind to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth with persons in Yahweh’s own image and likeness, to live in peace and reign as regents. Yet, the people chose sin over shalom, walking in the ways of kings, conceiving exploitation and violence among themselves, bearing the fruit of empire and injustice upon the world, forgetting the God of the flood. The voices of the oppressed cried out from among the bricks of Babylon until Yahweh confused the tongues of humankind, scattering the nations over the face of all the earth.
Still, Yahweh showed mercy. Yahweh enacted a covenant with Abram, decreeing that his descendants would become a great nation and inherit the land, outnumbering the stars of the sky. These sons and daughters would be the people of Yahweh, and through them the nations of the earth would be blessed. “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you,” Yahweh said to Abram (Genesis 12:1 NRSVUE). And Abram obeyed. Yet, as the inexorable years bore Abram and Sarai to old age and the candle of promise flickered, Abram and Sarai chose sin over shalom, exploiting and abusing their Egyptian slave, Hagar. The voice of Hagar cried out in the desert until Yahweh saw Hagar, and Hagar saw that Yahweh saw her.
Still, Yahweh showed mercy. Yahweh drew near to Abram and Sarai and renamed them Abraham and Sarah—the father and mother of a nation from whom all other nations would be blessed, whose children would do what is right and just. And in the fullness of time, Sarah birthed Isaac, the father of Israel. Yet, the sons of Israel chose sin over shalom, selling their brother into slavery and suffering in Egypt and unleashing slavery and suffering upon their own descendants. The voices of the exploited and abused cried out from among the bricks of Egypt until Yahweh heard their groaning.
And Yahweh showed mercy. Yahweh sent Moses, born of Abraham’s descendants and raised within the household of Pharaoh, to defy the king who set himself up as a god. With signs and wonders, Yahweh showed himself greater than the gods of Egypt and led the children of Israel through the paths of the sea to the shores of salvation. At the holy mountain, Yahweh covenanted with the people he had saved, decreeing that they would be his treasured possession, a kingdom of priests, a holy nation, if only they obeyed and kept his covenant. By holding fast to Yahweh’s law, this people—now a nation—would do what is right and just, as Yahweh had said to Abraham long ago. And Yahweh would dwell with them as their God and faithfully lead them into the land promised to their ancestors. Yet the people chose sin over shalom, forgetting the God of the covenant, fashioning for themselves a golden idol. The voices of the singers cried out in the camp until the judgment of Yahweh fell upon them in sword and plague.
Still, Yahweh showed mercy. In time, Yahweh dwelt among them and blessed them and brought them into the land of milk and honey. Yet the people chose sin over shalom, forgetting the God who brought them out of slavery in Egypt, giving themselves to other gods and adopting the customs of other peoples, offering themselves into the hands of other nations. The voices of the people cried out from among the idols until Yahweh heard their groaning.
And Yahweh showed mercy. One by one, Yahweh sent judges, born of Abraham’s descendants, to drive back the kings who set themselves up as sons of the gods. Yet the people chose sin over shalom again and again and again, forgetting the God of justice and righteousness, doing what was right in their own eyes, embracing idols and exploitation and ever-darkening deeds of violence. The voices of wounded women cried out from the land until Yahweh heard their weeping.
And Yahweh showed mercy. Yahweh sent Samuel, prophet and priest, to do what is right and just. Samuel called the people to return to Yahweh with all their hearts, to worship Yahweh alone, to serve Yahweh as their king. Yet the sons of Samuel chose sin over shalom, forgetting the God of their father, exploiting and abusing the people by accepting bribes to do injustice. The voices of the people cried out for a king even as Yahweh warned them of the ways of human kings.
Still, Yahweh showed mercy. Yahweh sent David, a poet and shepherd, a man after Yahweh’s own heart, to scatter the enemies of Israel and shepherd the people. Yahweh declared that David’s kingdom will be unending, that his heir will sit on Israel’s throne forever. But in time, David chose sin over shalom, forgetting the God of his youth, seizing a beautiful woman to satisfy his untamed lust. And then, to cover his crime, he abandoned her husband to bleed out on the field of battle. The tears of Bathsheba and the blood of her husband cried out from the ground until Yahweh lifted his protection from the house of David, letting the sins and intrigues of the princes destroy the peace of David’s reign.
Still, Yahweh showed mercy. Bathsheba’s son sat upon the throne and built a temple for Yahweh, and the cloud of Yahweh’s presence filled it. At the rumors of Solomon’s divine wisdom, a foreign queen visited the land, praising Yahweh’s justice and righteousness and eternal love for Israel. But in time, Solomon chose sin over shalom, forgetting the God of David, walking in the ways of human kings, acquiring innumerable instruments of warfare, exploiting the bodies of a thousand women, and giving himself to other gods. The voices of the faithless cried out in worship to Chemosh and Molech until Yahweh tore the kingdom in two pieces.
Still, Yahweh showed mercy. At the urging of a servant girl, a foreign commander sought healing from a prophet of Yahweh and declared that “there is no God in all the earth except in Israel” (2 Kings 5:15). The songs of the people called the nations to acknowledge Yahweh’s glory, and the prophets saw visions and dreamed dreams. The word of Yahweh came to the prophet Isaiah, that “the mountain of [Yahweh’s] house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills, and all nations shall stream to it” (Isaiah 2:2). And Yahweh declared that he will renew heaven and earth: “I am coming to gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and shall see my glory. … They will proclaim my glory among the nations” (Isaiah 66:18-22). Yet, the children of Israel chose sin over shalom, forgetting the God of the promise, embracing the worship of idols and the exploitation of the poor again and again and again. The voices of the powerless cried out from the promised land until Yahweh said, “Enough.” The armies of Assyria and Babylon scattered the children of Israel, conquered their lands, and threw down Yahweh’s temple.
Still, Yahweh showed mercy. In exile, the people cried out in repentance. They centered their lives on the practice of Yahweh’s Law and represented Yahweh to pagan rulers, until the kings of Babylon and Persia gave glory to Yahweh. Then Yahweh, in his faithfulness, moved Cyrus the Great to deliver the children of Israel back from exile, into the land promised to Abraham, that they might rebuild their city and temple. Yet, the troubles of the people had not reached their end. A succession of empires demanded their loyalty. Yahweh’s presence did not fill this new temple like a cloud, as it had in the days of Solomon. Still, the people clung fast to Yahweh’s promises, anticipating a glorious restoration when Yahweh would throw down their enemies and exalt Israel as a light to the nations, when all the earth would stream to the holy mountain in awe. The voices of the hopeful cried out in expectation until Yahweh heard their hunger and thirst for righteousness.
And Yahweh showed mercy. Yahweh’s spirit overshadowed a daughter of Sarah. In the fullness of time, she birthed Jesus, God-with-us, who was there before the beginning. Jesus, a descendant of David’s royal line, invited Jew and Gentile alike to live in peace in the cruciform Kingdom of God. He did what is right and just, keeping the covenant and yet bearing the covenant’s curse, representing Yahweh to humankind and humankind to Yahweh, redeeming the children of Adam and Eve. And after Jesus defeated death and ascended into heaven, Yahweh’s own spirit came upon the church in fire at Pentecost, the divine presence once again filling Jerusalem, reversing the curse of exile. They spoke in the tongues of the once-scattered nations, reversing the curse of Babel. The Gentiles to whom they preached, through the fire of Pentecost and the floodwaters of baptism, were grafted into the covenant people of Yahweh, to be his treasured possession, a kingdom of priests, a holy nation, in a reversal of the curse of sin itself.
Yet, the people of Yahweh still so often choose sin over shalom, walking in the way of violence and exploitation rather than the way of the cross. Still, Yahweh will show mercy, executing a final judgment on violence and abuse and exploitation, even on death itself. He will renew the world and all that is in it—earth and stars, the fruit of the vine and the birds of the air, wheat and fish and olives and pygmy hippopotamuses. And Yahweh will resurrect his people, flesh and bone and sinew made imperishable, to live in peace and reign as regents. They will stream to the city of God, to the tree of life that will heal the nations. There, the people of Yahweh will choose shalom over sin, doing what is right and just, embracing life and light in Yahweh’s glorious Kingdom, in the land of milk and honey where Yahweh makes all things new.
If you missed it …
Stop Saying Roman Slavery Wasn't That Bad
Today, I’d like to give some context for the Bible and slavery by talking about what first-century Roman slavery—in the time of Jesus and Paul—actually looked like. I am absolutely begging you not to repeat the common talking point that “it wasn’t that bad.”
Still, Yahweh showed mercy. What a God what a God.
I gotta say, I’m 8 months pregnant. And this picture perfectly encapsulates how I feel everyday.