Bücher von Arthur Michael Gray

Our post-modern world has changed little from the time of the prophet Isaiah.Threatened by war, disease, famine, and financial ruin, modern man finds himself driven to place his reliance upon the knowledge of men, finding a sense of assurance in material wealth, modern medicine, and technology, rather than God.In the eighth century BCE, Israel was also threatened by war, disease, famine, and financial ruin, and they too sought out some guarantee of survival. Like modern man, they placed their reliance upon the knowledge of men finding assurance in the occult arts rather than God. Yet Isaiah was a revolutionary. He had experienced God in all his holiness. The prophet had come to know God as the Sovereign God of the universe, who, when compared to the limited potency of magic and divination, was the potent living God. Seeing his people walking in the dark ways of man, Isaiah viewed it as his task to demonstrate the ineff?ectiveness of occult practices. Isaiah was compelled to cry out to his people: Come! Let us walk in the light of the Lord! The prophet was imploring his people to reject the occult and to place their complete reliance upon God alone or face disaster.

"The process of lament is a spiritual bridge that allows each of us to encounter God in all of his fullness: holy, approachable, sentient, compassionate, and responsive to our suffering. In response to our cries for help God hears and provides a bi-level solution, one at the existential level, and one at the level of destiny."This book demonstrates that the laments of Abraham, Job, and Isaiah epitomize a faithful and spiritually healthy response to human suffering. Each lament represents the voice of an affected individual calling upon God to hear and act. Lamentation exemplifies the lamenter's faith that God will hear and respond with favorable action. One of the most significant functions of God's response to our lament is to demonstrate that he alone controls all of creation. And yet, God reveals himself to be even more than the living Sovereign God who controls the universe and all things within it. He is revealed as the sentient merciful God who seeks to establish and guide the lives of each one of us. For this reason, lament is fundamental to sustaining and deepening our relationship with God.