Something that has recently occurred to me is how people interpret scripture is influenced largely by how they imagine God's voice - specifically, His tone - when He speaks.
The Bible talks a lot about how loving and patient and kind God is, but I'll confess that, in the back of my mind, I had trouble squaring that with how He always talked to people - angry, irritated, yelling, scolding, berating. But it occurred to me: is that actually what He's doing, or is that just how I'm imagining His voice?
Example: in the book of Joshua, they've just suffered their first defeat because someone stole something they weren't supposed to and broken the covenant God made with them. And, to be fair in this part, it says that God is angry. Joshua falls on his face before God and starts wailing, asking why God led them out there if He's just going to let their enemies destroy them.
"The Lord responded to Joshua, 'Get up! Why are you falling on your face? Israel has sinned: they have violated the covenant I have commanded for them. They have taken something that was to be destroyed, stolen it and hidden it among their possessions. I will no longer be with the people until they remove what was set apart for destruction from their midst.
"'Get up! Ritually consecrate the people and tell them this: 'What was set apart for destruction is in your midst, O Israel! You will not be able to stand against your enemies until you remove what was set apart for destruction.''"
How did you hear that in your head? When God says "Get up! Why are you falling on your face?" is He yelling at Joshua like a drill instructor, or is He someone speaking calmly to let Joshua know he's overreacting? When God is telling them that He won't be with them as long as they're in breach of covenant, is He yelling and being petulant, or is He calmly laying out what happened and what they need to do to remedy the situation?
When God says "What have you done?" after He confronts Adam and Eve for eating the fruit, are you hearing the voice of an angry parent who just caught their kid stealing cookies from the cookie jar, or of a shocked and horrified parent who just found that their kid got into the medicine cabinet and downed a whole bottle of pills?
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