Hope That Clears Land

The Lord who made the sea flee and the mountains tremble is not weak before the proud. He brought Israel out of bondage, he allotted them an inheritance, and he also judged Babylon when her violence was full. The same hand is at work in the apostle’s teaching: through our Lord Jesus Christ we have peace with God, yet this peace does not make men soft. It teaches them to endure tribulation, to persevere, and to live as those who have truly crossed out of Egypt.

Manasseh complained that his portion was too small, yet the answer was not indulgence but labor: go up, clear the forest, drive out what remains. So it is with those justified by faith. Grace is not a couch for idleness, but strength for obedience. Origen says, “Thus if we too are a numerous people and the Lord blesses us, we hear from Jesus, ‘You are a numerous people; go up into the forest, and clear and prepare a place for yourself in the land. Purge the Perizzites and Rephaites.’ Therefore, we must cast out the Perizzites.” The war now is against sins that still lodge in us: pride, loose speech, greed, bitterness, impurity.

Therefore let no one boast in Babylon’s way, as if power or wealth could stand. The Creator who shook Jordan can also empty a kingdom. But those who are in Christ need not despair in affliction, for suffering borne faithfully is turned toward hope. Cyprian writes, “...hope makes not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given unto us. Romans 5:2-5...” Let us then live as liberated people: fearing God, resisting sin, and accepting hardship without murmuring.