The church must be like Israel in that we must display a level of holiness and justice towards that bears witness to the goodness and glory of God.  We must speak and live in such a way that we showcase the perfectly obedient One. If you don’t get that, and you’re on the political right, then nothing less than full alignment with Old Testament sexual prohibitions in Australia will satisfy you.  If you don’t get that and you’re on the political left, then nothing less than full alignment with Old Testament justice demands in Australia will satisfy you.

“Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.”  Haggai 1:10-11

Have you ever “done an Izzy?”  Have you ever taken an Old Testament passage and tried to squeeze it into your modern day political or social agenda?

Please hear me when I say it, “Don’t do an Izzy!”  The Bible won’t allow you to do that. You might allow you to do that, but the Bible won’t.

God’s words in Haggai chapter one above, makes it clear that there is a correlation between the sin of the nation and natural consequences such as drought.  The behaviour and attitude of the Jewish people towards God’s temple, their failure to honour him, have resulted in devastating drought and loss of income.

Haggai 1 makes a direct link between the actions of the people and the actions of God. “You do this,” says God, “And I will do that.” It’s  quid pro quo .  Cos that’s how God works in the Old Testament, right?  Yet when we translate that correlation directly to us today?  Well, that’s what I call “doing an Izzy”.

This way of reading the Old Testament it makes perfect sense for rugby star Israel Folau to give a sermon at church linking the devastating Australian bushfires with legislation on same sex marriage and abortion. 

Now I firmly believe that both of those activities go against God’s express plan for human flourishing.  They are sinful. I make no bones about it.

And following Izzy’s logic God has therefore done a “Haggai” number on Australia. Like Israel in the Old Testament Australia too has failed to keep God’s commands and is being cursed for it.  It’s an open and shut case isn’t it?

Except, of course, it’s not.  It’s a complete misreading of the Bible.  I say “of course”, but I’m not sure many Christians use or understand the Old Testament any better than Israel Folau.

In fact I’m sure there were hundreds of pastors “doing an Izzy” yesterday.  Hundreds of sermons preached in Australia yesterday that used the Old Testament as poorly, if not as brutally and publicly as Izzy did.

And given the law of averages there was probably at least one well received sermon from this very chapter in Haggai, as a pastor called on his congregation to dig deep for a building program.  Should your church have a building program? Absolutely. Should it use the prophesy of Haggai to promote it? Absolutely not.

Apart from the fact that it’s an insult to Australians suffering from bushfires, not to mention the gay couple living down your street, “doing an Izzy” insults God’s intentions for the Bible.

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