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When God Is Against Me · Pastor John Piper's answers

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  Speaker 1: John Piper calls it the most horrific book in the
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  Speaker 1: Old Testament. And even the bleakest and the most horrible
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  Speaker 1: book in the entire Bible. And we find ourselves reading
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  Speaker 1: it now. The book of Lamentations, it's not easy reading.
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  Speaker 1: It's not fun reading. It's necessary reading from what is
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  Speaker 1: traditionally believed to be the prophet Jeremiah. If you are
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  Speaker 1: reading the Navigator's Bible reading plan with us this weekend,
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  Speaker 1: we read chapter three together, our focus today. where Jeremiah
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  Speaker 1: claims that God is hunting him down like a predator,
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  Speaker 1: like an angry bear or a hungry lion. These are
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  Speaker 1: tough words on a terrifying topic today on Ask Pastor John,
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  Speaker 1: when God is against me. We get there from Kim's question.
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  Speaker 1: Kim lives in Reno, Nevada, and here is her email.
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  Speaker 1: Pastor John, hello, and thank you for taking my question today.
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  Speaker 1: I find the book of Lamentations to be haunting, and
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  Speaker 1: especially chapter 3. There, God is depicted as a ferocious
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  Speaker 1: enemy against Jeremiah, his own prophet. In Lamentations 3, verses 1-11,
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  Speaker 1: the prophet portrays God's wrath towards himself through a terrifying
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  Speaker 1: and escalating sequence of metaphors that cannot shake. He goes
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  Speaker 1: from casting him as a harsh shepherd who has broken
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  Speaker 1: bones and filleted his skin. In verses 1-6... to what
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  Speaker 1: seems to be an oppressive jailer, inflicting suffering and control
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  Speaker 1: in verses 7 to 9. Then verses 10 and 11
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  Speaker 1: intensify all the metaphors by casting God as a bear
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  Speaker 1: laying in wait and a lion in hiding, waiting to
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  Speaker 1: violently attack this afflicted man who has been reduced to
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  Speaker 1: utter helplessness, only to be metaphorically shot with an arrow
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  Speaker 1: to the kidneys. Verses 12 and 13. This is not
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  Speaker 1: a description of eternal judgment. This is a believer and
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  Speaker 1: a prophet. who sees God as his enemy. Is there
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  Speaker 1: any place for feeling God's opposition like this when we
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  Speaker 1: feel utterly cast down and forsaken in life?
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  Speaker 2: The short answer is yes. But to make sure we
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  Speaker 2: understand what we mean by yes, we need to clarify
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  Speaker 2: what is meant by saying a believer sees God as
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  Speaker 2: his enemy. What does it mean when we say as God?
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  Speaker 2: our enemy. Is God our enemy when he is acting
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  Speaker 2: as our enemy? Is the believer misrepresenting God if the
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  Speaker 2: believer says to him, oh God, you are acting as
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  Speaker 2: my enemy. You are treating me as your enemy. Now,
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  Speaker 2: whether that is true, whether that's misrepresenting God, hangs on
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  Speaker 2: the meaning of as. asks, is there a place for
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  Speaker 2: the Christian to see God as our enemy, the way
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  Speaker 2: Jeremiah does in the first part of Lamentations? And I
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  Speaker 2: want to come at my answer to this in a surprising,
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  Speaker 2: indirect way. I was working on Romans 11 for Look
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  Speaker 2: at the Book a few days ago, and came to
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  Speaker 2: verses 28 and 29, which say, As regards the gospel,
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  Speaker 2: Israel is an enemy for your sake, you Gentiles. But
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  Speaker 2: as regards election, they are loved for the sake of
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  Speaker 2: their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God
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  Speaker 2: are irrevocable. Which I take to mean that the covenant
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  Speaker 2: that God made with Israel in the Old Testament is
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  Speaker 2: still valid today, 2026. and that God will lift the
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  Speaker 2: hardening and the blindness that lies upon Israel, and one
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  Speaker 2: day there will be a great turning to Jesus among
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  Speaker 2: the nation of Israel. and they will embrace their Messiah.
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  Speaker 2: They'll become part of the redeemed people of God, the church,
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  Speaker 2: and with all the people of God in Christ, they
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  Speaker 2: will inherit the earth, including the land to which they
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  Speaker 2: were given by God. It was given to them. There's
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  Speaker 2: one way of salvation through faith in Messiah Jesus. There's
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  Speaker 2: one people of God. There's one hope of everlasting life.
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  Speaker 2: There's one inheritance of the new heaven and the new earth,
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  Speaker 2: Jew and Gentile together in one body in Christ. And
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  Speaker 2: the reason that is relevant for Kim's question is that
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  Speaker 2: Israel in the Old Testament is portrayed as coming under
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  Speaker 2: God's judgment again and again and again like an enemy.
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  Speaker 2: God had every right to throw his people away because
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  Speaker 2: of their covenant-breaking sinfulness. But what do we find? Listen
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  Speaker 2: to this amazing statement in Jeremiah 31, 20. Is Ephraim,
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  Speaker 2: that's another word for Israel. Is Israel my dear son?
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  Speaker 2: Is he my darling child? For as often as I
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  Speaker 2: speak against him, I do remember him still. Think of
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  Speaker 2: the implications of that phrase. As often as I speak
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  Speaker 2: against him. That's amazing. That's a way of saying, my
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  Speaker 2: covenant with you is irrevocable.
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  Speaker 1: I have loved you.
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  Speaker 2: With an everlasting love. Therefore, I have continued my faithfulness
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  Speaker 2: to you, Jeremiah 31.3. There have been and there will
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  Speaker 2: be terrible judgments against Israel. But listen to Ezekiel 16.59.
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  Speaker 2: Thus says the Lord, I will deal with you, talking
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  Speaker 2: to Israel, I will deal with you as you have done,
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  Speaker 2: you have despised the oath in breaking the covenant. So
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  Speaker 2: he's going to turn this back onto their heads and
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  Speaker 2: deal with them the way they have despised and dealt
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  Speaker 2: with him. And then he adds, yet. I will remember
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  Speaker 2: my covenant with you, and I will establish for you
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  Speaker 2: an everlasting covenant. Now, how in the world can God
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  Speaker 2: say that? How can the covenant be irrevocable when God
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  Speaker 2: will not dwell with a covenant-breaking people? And the answer is,
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  Speaker 2: God himself will see to it that they cease to
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  Speaker 2: be a covenant-breaking people. He will banish ungodliness from Jacob
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  Speaker 2: and Here's Deuteronomy 30, verse 6. The Lord your God
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  Speaker 2: will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring
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  Speaker 2: so that you will love the Lord your God. Or
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  Speaker 2: Jeremiah 24, 6. I will give them a heart to
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  Speaker 2: know me. I will give them a heart to know
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  Speaker 2: me that I am the Lord and they shall be
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  Speaker 2: my people and I will be their God for they
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  Speaker 2: shall return to me. with their whole heart. The point
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  Speaker 2: is this. When you step back and look at the
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  Speaker 2: entire history of God's dealings with Israel for 4,000 years,
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  Speaker 2: from Abraham until today, the story is one of gracious
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  Speaker 2: covenant-making initiated by God, covenant-breaking from Israel, judgment from God,
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  Speaker 2: repentance from Israel, mercy from God, covenant still in force,
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  Speaker 2: Then again, covenant breaking, judgment from God, repentance, mercy from God,
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  Speaker 2: covenant still in force over and over again. And God says,
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  Speaker 2: I will have the last word in this, and it
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  Speaker 2: will be a triumphant, sovereign, soul-converting grace for the nation
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  Speaker 2: of Israel. Now, back to our question. What does it
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  Speaker 2: mean when the people of God see God as their enemy?
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  Speaker 2: God has looked like an enemy to Israel dozens and
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  Speaker 2: dozens of times in history, and he has looked like
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  Speaker 2: our enemy, our Christian enemy. He's looked like my enemy
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  Speaker 2: because of things I've been through, right? Was he my enemy?
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  Speaker 2: Is he my enemy? In Lamentations 2, verse 4, Jeremiah says,
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  Speaker 2: the Lord has bent his bow at us like an enemy.
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  Speaker 2: And that's exactly what the Hebrew says as well, the
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  Speaker 2: conjunction ki. In Lamentations 2.5, he says, the Lord has
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  Speaker 2: become like an enemy. He has swallowed up Israel. So
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  Speaker 2: what should we say? Does the Lord ever become the
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  Speaker 2: enemy of his people, or does he not? And I
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  Speaker 2: think the answer of lamentations is, if by enemy you
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  Speaker 2: mean one who is implacably devoted to your destruction so
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  Speaker 2: that you fall and never rise again, God does not
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  Speaker 2: deal with his people that way. There is no condemnation
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  Speaker 2: for those who are in Christ Jesus. God is for
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  Speaker 2: us in Christ and not against us. And so it
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  Speaker 2: was for every promise-believing Israelite before the cross. But if
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  Speaker 2: you mean that God can deal with you so painfully
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  Speaker 2: that it certainly feels like he's your enemy, then the
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  Speaker 2: answer is yes, he is your enemy. in that temporary,
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  Speaker 2: redemptive way, but not ultimately your enemy. Better to say
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  Speaker 2: with Lamentations 2, he's like an enemy. That's the way
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  Speaker 2: we read it in chapter 3, verse 26 and 32.
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  Speaker 2: It says, it is good that one should wait quietly
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  Speaker 2: for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for
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  Speaker 2: a man to bear the yoke of his youth. Let
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  Speaker 2: him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him.
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  Speaker 2: Let him put his mouth in the dust. There may
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  Speaker 2: yet be hope. Let him give his cheek to the
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  Speaker 2: one who strikes. Let him be filled with insults, for
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  Speaker 2: the Lord will not cast off forever. For though he
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  Speaker 2: cause grief, sure looks like an enemy, he will have
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  Speaker 2: compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love. So
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  Speaker 2: let us be careful how we think and feel and
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  Speaker 2: speak about God in our painful trials. God deals with
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  Speaker 2: his children in many bitter providences, and he often looks
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  Speaker 2: on the surface like our enemy. But in Christ, he
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  Speaker 2: is never our enemy.
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  Speaker 1: Never.
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  Speaker 2: In all our adversities, God himself governs and conquers. He
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  Speaker 2: is the one who loved us and will never forsake us.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, there's no need to rush past these texts in
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  Speaker 1: chapter 3. There's no need to skip over Lamentations in
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  Speaker 1: our Bible reading. There are arrows shot, and those arrows
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  Speaker 1: turn out to be redemptive arrows. God deals with his
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  Speaker 1: children in many bitter providences, and he often looks on
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  Speaker 1: the surface like our enemy. But in Christ, he is
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  Speaker 1: never our enemy. Never. Amen. That's a great way to
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  Speaker 1: end in a precious assurance when feelings lead us to
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  Speaker 1: other conclusions. Thank you, Pastor John, for this episode, and
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  Speaker 1: thank you for the very, very good question, Kim. Keep
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  Speaker 1: those questions coming. If you have a sharp question for
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  Speaker 1: Pastor John from something you read in the Bible you
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  Speaker 1: can't figure out, Find the link to email us and
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  Speaker 1: find our complete episode archive as well at the same
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  Speaker 1: place at askpastorjohn.com. Well, Lamentations reminds us of the pain
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  Speaker 1: of life. And for many in society, the cure to
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  Speaker 1: the pains of life is to seek comfort in self-fulfillment.
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  Speaker 1: But is self-fulfillment a category we should even use? It's
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  Speaker 1: a great question to ask a Christian hedonist, and we
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  Speaker 1: will take it up next time. Happiness myths to avoid.
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  Speaker 1: That's next. I'm Tony Reinke. See you on Monday.