Exodus 15:19
There is an oft repeated notion that our Heavenly Father never punishes or curses anyone; instead he may just withhold his bounteous blessings from those not prepared to receive. Opening the scriptures anywhere and reading the next ten pages would disabuse us of this notion that God would never actively punish us, yet as I heard the hearty, triumphant song Moses and Israel sang after crossing the Red Sea, I considered verse 19:
For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the Lord brought again the waters of the sea upon them; but the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea.
The standard thing to expect driving forth on horse or foot into the midst of the sea would be to drown. The highly unusual thing was that Israel did not drown. Pharaoh mistakenly thought the miracle given Moses should be given him as well.
jorgen
April 6, 2022
“There is an oft repeated notion that our Heavenly Father never punishes or curses anyone; instead he may just withhold his bounteous blessings from those not prepared to receive.”
It comes from Marcionism. But Marcionism also said there are two gods and that by not saving someone he was leaving them to the evil god that would indeed punish them and cruelly punish them. Trying to shoehorn Marcion into a monotheistic framework just creates libertinism (…Also there ceases to be anything/one to be saved from.)
Zen
April 6, 2022
This is abundantly clear in my next Isaiah commentary, because that is the major theme of the next section.
Which is interesting, because it is talking about the near future.
May you live in interesting times!
G.
April 7, 2022
JM,
This same chapter struck me too.