The God of Liars, Cowards, & Deceivers

I’m halfway through my reading of Genesis and one thing is clear: God sure knows how to pick ’em.

Genesis often refers to God as “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” This was the patriarch that God chose to build a nation through – a nation He would use to bless all other nations. But these guys hardly seem deserving. You might as well say, “The God of Liars, Cowards, & Deceivers.”

A quick rundown: Abraham was impatient and literally laughed in God’s face. He also was in the habit of tricking other men into believing his wife was his sister so that if they wanted her, they wouldn’t kill him (real chivalrous…). Isaac was passive and let his wife and kids push him around constantly. His conflict-avoidance tendencies led to much family drama. And Jacob was a straight up scoundrel who was constantly deceiving others to get his way.

(“Hungry? I’ll make ya some stew!“)

The fact that God used these 3 clowns to bring about His plans gives me great comfort, because I’m certainly no better than them. In fact, there is one quality in them that I greatly admire and want to cultivate in myself: They continued to follow God, even when they messed up. God kept pursuing them, and they kept pursuing God. Abraham kept believing God’s promises. Isaac kept praising God. Jacob kept wrestling with God. In their brokenness, they still allowed God to use them… And God did!

Christian Bale made waves and caused some frowns in the Christian community a few weeks ago when he gave his opinion on Moses. “I think the man was likely schizophrenic and was one of the most barbaric individuals that I ever read about in my life,” he said.

Was Moses a barbaric schizophrenic? I don’t know.

If he was, then it gives me hope. If God used a barbaric schizophrenic to save a nation, then what will he do with me?