A while back, I read somewhere--not sure where--about how God is the ultimate gambler. Not just the ultimate gambler, the ultimate BAD gambler. He bets on us when, chances and history tells Him, we're more likely to lose.
There's Biblical evidence for this. Consider Job 1&2. I'll let you read it for yourself, but here's the summation. God and Satan have a bet that if Satan curses Job and makes his life miserable, that Job will turn away from God. God readily agrees to this. The rest of Job is Job, in his suffering, calling out to God asking him why he was doing this and God responding.
I'll be honest. I've never really liked Job. It was my least favorite book of the Bible. It seemed to show a very callous side of God. It put to mind a puppeteer or a chess-master, moving and manipulating His pawns about the board. The idea of God wagering on us, especially against the vindictiveness of Satan, seemed horrible to me.
But lately, I think I'm beginning to understand Job a little more. God doesn't just bet on Job, He bets on all of us. Against all odds, our crazy in love God continually insists on believing in us and loving us. It makes absolutely no logical sense. How many times has God said to us, 'I'm counting on you,' and we've let Him down? How many times has God pulled through for us compared to when we have pulled through for him?
But I suppose God loads the odds for as Scripture says, 'If He is with us, who can stand against us?' If we call on God as our protector, as our Savior, there is no losing.
WARNING: Blatant Christian themes and thoughts and meditations, up ahead!
My friends Regan, Avlbane, and I have a habit of occasionally being badasses. By this, I mean we will sit in one of our cars, belting out Disney (or Dreamworks, as the case may be) songs at the top of our lungs and then proceeding to analyze them far beyond what the creators of such songs intended. It's what we do.
As we're doing so, I noticed something truly epic about this particular song. Have a listen.
If you don't hear the inherent the awesomeness of this song, get off this blog.
But as we're singing this at the top of our lungs, I noticed something incredibly chilling and epic about the lyrics. The lyrics of this song can parallel not only Moses and Ramses, but God and Lucifer. I think of it as a conversation between God, Michael the Archangel, and Lucifer. Let's have a look-see.
Thus saith the Lord, Since you refuse to free my people, All through the land of Egypt, I send the pestilence and plague into your house, into your bed, into your streams, into your streets, Into your drink, into your bread, upon your cattle, on your sheep, upon your oxen in your field, Into your dreams, into your sleep, Until you break, until you yield, I send the swarm, I send the horde, THUS SAITH THE LORD.
I'll let the awesomeness sink in. These plagues make me think of the upcoming battle between God and Satan--God using all the horrors and powers of earth He's created to destroy Satan's armies. Think of the full might of God. Tornadoes, volcanoes, locusts, blizzards, hurricanes, lightning storms, thunder storms, wildfires, lions, tigers, wolves, oceans, mountains, and deserts. All of these in tandem, determined to destroy the enemy.
Next lines!
Moses: Once I called you brother, once I thought the chance to make you laugh, was all I ever wanted.
God: I send the thunder from the sky I send the fire raining down!
Moses: And even now, I wish that God had chose another, serving as your foe on his behalf, was the last thing that I wanted.
Lucifer wasn't always Satan. He wasn't always the devil. Once upon a time, he was one of God's most glorious angels, the morning star. How hard it must've been for God to see his beloved turn from him and actively seek to destroy His creations. How sad Michael, the Archangel, must've been to fight against his brother.
God: I send a hail of burning ice on every field on every town.
Moses: This was my home, all this pain and devastation, how it tortures me inside. All the innocent who suffer, from your stubbornness and pride!
I don't think God necessarily likes sending His full wrath upon Satan. After all, Lucifer was beloved once too. But God isn't going to let this fallen, prideful, angel hurt His children.
God: I send the locusts on a wind such as the world has never seen, on every leaf on every stalk, until there's nothing left of green. I send my scourge, I send my sword, thus saith the Lord.
Moses: You who I called brother, why must you call down another blow? Let my people go!
God: I send my scourge, I send my sword!
Thus saith the Lord!
This is a battle that's been going on for millennia, in a place where there is no time. When the Prince of Lies took over our earth, God snarled. "Let my people go!" Or He will storm your camp, Satan. He will raid and take back all the prisoners of this war.
Now let's look at Satan's point of view.
Rameses: You who I called brother, how could you have come to hate me so? Is this what you wanted? Then let my heart be hardened! And never mind how high the cost may go! This will still be so! I will never let your people go!
Lucifer isn't some villain dancing on a table squealing, "I'm evil! I'm evil!" He legitimately thinks he's right. He doesn't understand why God is fighting him so hard. How could you have come to hate me so? Lucifer has always saw himself as better than humans, higher above them. Which causes his pride to become more intense and his stubbornness to be even harder. He doesn't care about the cost anymore. He is never going to release this world.
Lucky for us, God is never going to stop fighting for us either. Even better, He's already won. He won the day a carpenter's son was born in a stable. Because there is nothing, nothing, God wouldn't do to get us back. His love is that intense.
