The God Of Love And Vengeance: A Warning To Our Generation

By Anatoly Brodsky, MD

Many great books have been written about God over the years that teach us about His nature. Others have written inspirational books to motivate us to strive for a closer personal relationship with our Creator. Despite having unprecedented access to scripture, as well as the great books which have already been written, the church of today has developed a skewed understanding of God. Many have come to regard God as an Old Man somewhere in the heavens whose primary desire is for His creation to live in comfort and happiness without regard to our sinful state. In many corners, the church has become a social club where like-minded people get together to be entertained. In other corners of Christianity, the focus is on financial prosperity. The real biblical teaching of who God is, what He expects of His creation, and the methods He uses to transform His people into His image does not sell many books, nor does it fill the half-empty churches of our time.

The purpose of my books is to present to the readers the God of the Bible. He is the God of love, but He is also the God of justice. He is a God of grace, but He is also a God of vengeance. He is a God of mercy, but He is also the consuming fire. Christianity is not a new religion; it is a story of the fulfillment of promises made to the Jewish people. The God of the new covenant is also the God of the Mosaic covenant. My desire is to remind the church that she belongs to a jealous God who will fight for her and do what is necessary to present her to Himself as a chaste bride, without spot and blemish and one who is separated from this world.

Relying on the imagery and symbolism of the entire Bible, I reveal (to the best of my understanding) God’s plan for the church as described in the book of Revelation. My desire is that this book will serve to sound an alarm for the church to awake from its slumber and to prepare her for spiritual warfare.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Sep 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9781638146391

Book preview

Chapter 1

Is There a God?

Many people are born into this world and leave it without ever pondering the issues we will be covering in this book. They take for granted the belief system (or lack of one) into which they were born. They believe those things which their grandparents and parents believed and handed down to them, accepting them without question and without deviation. In some religions, to do so would be met with severe opposition—to the point of being ostracized from the community or to be killed for the sake of restoring honor.

Every person must, at some point in their life, take the time to ask the questions of what they believe and why. Sometimes these questions come up during times of self-reflection and soul-searching. At other times, these questions are thrust upon them unexpectedly, and they face what is frequently referred to as a crisis of faith. Having gone through such a time in my own life, I can tell you that one’s faith will not be the same after going through the crisis: one’s faith will either be stronger and more profound, or it will be shattered. If a person’s faith makes it through the crisis, the faith will no longer be the faith of their parents, but it will be their own personal and profound faith. If their faith is shattered, this may seem like the end of the world, but it is not. Instead, a shattered faith allows for a new start—a personal search for truth and meaning in life.

As a person starts wrestling with these questions of faith, the following questions may arise in their minds. Do I believe in a God? If so, who is God and what is His nature? Is God benevolent or malevolent? Does He care about me? Am I able to have a personal relationship with Him? What are God’s expectations for me? Do I owe anything to this God? The good news for those who start down this road of faith, God promises the following: ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

The first question then is of the very existence of God. Are we just specks of insignificance floating aimlessly through the cold darkness of nearly infinite space? Are we the products of random infinite events? Or is there a designer who orders these events? I will say from the start, there is no scientific method or instrument which can either prove the existence or nonexistence of God. This question falls into the realms of philosophy and religion, not science.

What science does do is uncover the systems and processes built into the universe. Those of us who studied science have a much deeper appreciation for the created universe; we cannot but stand in awe of the complexity, magnitude, beauty, and order of what we see. We are told by experts that our own Milky Way galaxy is over fifty-two thousand light years in diameter (speed of light 186, 282 miles per second, it takes 5.5 hours for light from the sun to reach Pluto). The observable universe is made up of over one hundred billion galaxies. The movements of planets, suns, and even galaxies are ordered and predictable. Looking at life on our planet from the macroscopic to the microscopic leaves us no less stupefied and amazed. The order and the balance of chemistry, physiology, and anatomy of the human body is no less complex than what we see by studying the heavens.

The question of whether everything we observe came to be through blind chance and random events or by design is one of faith. Many books have been written on the subject of faith. All I will say right now is that faith is very precious and rare, more precious than silver or gold. It is so precious that the Creator Himself searches for it among His creation. Although it is very rare and very precious, a person only needs a small amount, the size of a mustard seed.

Chapter 2

How Can We Learn About God?

Once we have reached a decision for ourselves that there must be Creator who brought everything into being, what’s next? The Creator who brought forth such intelligent beings as ourselves must also be intelligent. It would be foolish to imagine a Creator who lacks consciousness or intelligence but yet creates creatures who possess these qualities. If our Creator is conscious and intelligent (at a level exponentially greater than ours), it seems reasonable to assume that He would want to have a relationship with His creation.

When we look through human history, in search of a time when the Creator may have initiated a relationship with humanity, what we find is humanity worshiping rocks, trees, celestial bodies, and other created objects. These primitive attempts to connect with a deity frequently culminated with the unthinkable practice of human sacrifice. It is interesting to note that nearly without exception, every human society sought out a deity to worship. It is like humanity possesses a void, something that it lacks, something it is searching to fill by worshiping various deities. That something is the relationship that humanity had with its Creator but lost. St. Augustine of Hippo once wrote, You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.

Having lost the relationship with its Creator (what is frequently referred to as the fallen state), humanity finds itself in a position in which it is incapable of finding and reconnecting with the Creator. The only solution for humanity’s condition is to be found and to be reconnected. The Creator must search out and find His creation. The Creator must provide the means by which creation can be reconnected to Him. Then, and only then, will that void in every human heart be filled.

In its fallen state, separated from the source of life, humanity walked in darkness and was not capable of finding the way home. And then, into the darkness, the light of the knowledge of the Creator begins to shine. In a precise time and place, the Creator illuminates the mind of a particular person through whose life the world will be filled with His knowledge and through whose bloodline, fallen creation will be reconnected with the Creator.

That person is Abram (אברם, later to be known as Abraham אברהם). Ancient writings describe the events of his life. Abram grew up in a city called Ur, near the Euphrates river approximately three hundred kilometers from Baghdad some 3,800 years ago. In his book, The Science of God, Gerald Schroeder, PhD (an MIT physicist and a Jewish scholar), describes the following account from the life of Abram:

Legend tells us that Abraham’s father was an idol maker. But young Abraham had doubts that a stone figure made by a human could actually be a god. There must be something greater. First Abraham thought the stars must be the deities. Then the Moon rose, shining brighter than any star, and it seemed the Moon must be the ruler. But with the sunrise, the Moon lost its splendor. And soon the Sun also set. At this point, the legends tell us, Abraham realized that there must be a supreme ruler, a Creator of the heavens and Earth who is not limited by the transience of material things. Abraham had discovered God.

In the Levant most people napped during the afternoon heat. The next afternoon, while Terah, Abraham’s father, slept, Abraham smashed all except the largest of the idols in his father’s workshop. He then placed a hammer at the base of the remaining idol. When his father awoke, he was appalled, but Abraham explained that the big idol in a fit of jealousy had smashed all the others. There was the hammer right next to it as proof. Don’t be a fool, was his father’s reply. These are merely carved stones. If they are only stone, father, countered Abraham, then why do you worship them? (The Science of God, p. 136)

Whether this story of Abram searching and discovering his Creator has any historical truth or not, the legend beautifully describes our own search.

The Genesis account is silent on the early years of Abram’s life. By the time we read about Abram, he is a mature man, advanced in years, and has learned to hear the voice of God over the course of his life.

Now the Lord had said to Abram:

Go out of your country, from your kindred, and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. (Genesis 12:1–3)

God finds in Abram that precious quality He so earnestly seeks among His creation, namely faith. The faith of this man will ultimately determine the fate of all humanity. From this one man, God will raise up a great nation, the Jewish people, through whom the knowledge of God will flow.

To affirm the promise God made to Abram, God entered into a covenant with him. It may not seem significant to us in our modern age, but by doing so, God revealed to humanity something about Himself which was not known (or more correctly, had been forgotten). Through this event, the Maker of the universe bound Himself to Abram, and Abram is bound to God. In essence, God set parameters for Himself under which He was required to operate with respect to Abram. These events are recorded in Genesis 15.

A covenant is similar to a legal agreement we enter into (such as when we purchase a house or a new car), but it is much more. It is a legal, irrevocable arrangement between two parties. The covenant defines the benefits and responsibilities of both parties. It also describes what happens when one of the parties breaks the covenant. In the ancient world, when parties entered into a covenant, there was usually an exchange of personal belongings (serving as an external sign that the parties were in a covenant). Once the stipulations of the covenant were clear to both sides, then the covenant was ratified by sacrificing an animal, in essence saying, If I break this covenant, may my fate be the same as this animal’s. The ancient people in Abram’s time were well acquainted with covenants. Many of the people of the Middle East were bound by such covenants. Weaker tribes tried to enter into covenants with more powerful tribes, thereby providing for a defense against more formidable enemies. An enemy tribe would not attack once they learned that a tribe was in a covenant with a more powerful one; an attack on the weaker tribe was considered an attack on the more powerful tribe.

By entering into a covenant with Abram, God promised to Abram that He will be his defense. All the blessings of God will be Abram’s. Everything which Abram possessed, God had a claim on also. In return, Abram and his descendants will be God’s chosen people through whom God will reconnect with His creation. After the covenant was ratified, Abram’s name was changed to Abraham, and an external sign of the covenant was given to Abraham and his posterity. The sign of the covenant, into which Abraham and his descendants entered (now referred to as the Abrahamic covenant), was circumcision. Every male child among you shall be circumcised…it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you (Gen. 17:10–11).

Once we understand the significance of the covenant of Abraham with God, the story of Abraham’s attempt to sacrifice his son Isaac makes sense. Human sacrifice is an abomination to God, and yet He instructs Abraham to give to Him what he treasures the most in this world—his son Isaac, who was begotten in Abraham’s old age (Genesis 22). The covenant into which he entered allowed God to ask and required Abraham to grant this. When Abraham did not hold back his beloved son, God was satisfied—the covenant was in force, and it was strong. The strength of the covenant had to be tested; the salvation of the human race depended on it.

Interestingly, the promises made to Abraham did not come to pass in his lifetime. Despite this, Abraham never doubted the promises which were made. This unwavering faith was why he was chosen. Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness (Gen. 15:6).

Centuries later, Abraham’s descendants (the Israelites) found themselves as slaves in Egypt. In their oppression and abuse, they cried out to the God of Abraham to remember His covenant. In response, He sent a redeemer to free them from bondage. The story of the redemption of the Israelites from Egypt was another one of faith. Deliverance came through the birth of a child who was named Moses. It was through Moses that God struck Egypt with the ten plagues. When Egypt’s pride and might were completely spent, the Israelites threw off their chains, left the land of their oppression, and began their journey for the promised land.

On their road to the land promised to Abraham’s descendants, they arrived at Mt. Sinai, which marked a pivotal moment in the history of the people. As the leader of the Israelites, Moses was summoned onto the mountain where he met with God. It was there, over the course of forty days, that the unknowable Creator of the universe made Himself known to His creation through His commandments. God not only revealed Himself to His creation, He also entered into a new covenant, the covenant of Moses, with the descendants of Abraham. From this point on, Abraham’s descendants became known as the Jewish people. It is important to note that even though the Jewish people entered into a new covenant with God, the Abrahamic covenant remained in force.

Just imagine for a moment, the Jewish people were surrounded by a world of darkness and lawlessness, a might makes right mentality, disregard for human life, disregard for nature, as well as rampant disease. On their trek to the promised land, they received a system of laws that bestowed value to life, elevated justice over might, instructed respect for nature, provided a system of public