Exhortation, June 12

Jehoram the son of Ahab is a whiner. He musters his army to fight against rebellious Moab, forges an alliance with Jehoshaphat of Judah and the king of Edom, and then marches South to attack Moab. When they get into the wilderness, they run short of water. As soon as he faces an obstacle to his plan, Jehoram crumples, and complains: "Yahweh has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab."

Jehoram's complaint expresses a kind of faith. He's a Calvinist of sorts, who recognizes that good and bad things both happen because God wills them to happen. But this sort of Calvinism is not real faith; it is not the faith of Calvin or of the Scriptures. Faith is not simply believing that God is sovereign. Even devils believe that, and tremble. A true believer believes not only in God's will,

but in God's good will. Faith is the confidence that God does all He does for our good. Scripture does not teach a naked sovereignty. Scripture teaches that God is sovereign, triumphant, infinite, omnipotent Good. Scripture teaches that God is sovereign, triumphant, infinite, omnipotent Love.

As it happens, Jehoram turns out to be something of a prophet. Moab ultimately defeats the three kings, as Jehoram predicts. Does this mean that Jehoram is right after all? Does this mean that God is untrustworthy, that He will indeed betray us in things of deepest consequence? No. Faith like Jehoram’s might seem honoring to God, because it acknowledges God’s sovereign control. But it is ultimately an insult to God, because it denies God’s goodness. And those who insult God do not prosper. Anyone who "believes" in the way Jehoram "believes" will get just what he expects – defeat and cursing.

Faith is opposed to sight precisely because God’s good intentions for us are not always obvious. How can God will good for us if He brings trials into our live - sickness, incorrigible children, strains in marriage, a dead-end career. True faith holds to God’s good promises against appearances in confident hope, hope that the Triune God who is an eternal communion of love and joy orchestrates all that He does for the good of those who are called.

posted by Peter J. Leithart on Wednesday, June 15, 2005 at 07:44 AM

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