2 Chronicles 15
1The Spirit of God came on Azariah son of Oded. 2 He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you...”
Deuteronomy 31
1 Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel: 2 “...6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Hebrews 13 also quotes that verse from Deuteronomy (for a new testament ref.).
Not sure what to make of this seeming contradiction. But I feel like these sorts of problem verses typically get ignored and swept under the rug by Christians. I'm just thinking, really? Does nobody read this stuff and have problems with it? Where's the discussion? Why does there appear to be discord in the message here?
Thought this was worth mentioning just because the whole "he will never leave you nor forsake you" thing is so oft quoted in Christian circles. It's one of those things I'd come to hear so much that I took it for granted and didn't even know where in the Bible it came from.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it all depends on the context. One reference was Moses getting ready to pass on the torch to Joshua and the other was once the Israelites had gotten into the promised land. Maybe God added that little caveat because the Chosen People were so rebellious. Maybe for us that means that initially God promises to be with us, but as we get more mature in our walk with Him, he expects more from us and so raises the ante. I don't know. Maybe other people don't have a problem with it because they already have it all figured out.
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