God of Destruction

I have done a fair amount of art in my day, a good amount of creative work. I have worked on several construction projects, was a graphic designer, a wood carver, and much more over the years. I have made many things that were very good...and a few things that were absolute garbage (but my heart was in the right place). 

So I understand what it is when something you have made comes to ruin. When it doesn't work. When it starts to break. When it was kind of junky in the first place. When it isn't wanted. 

I have torn up, disposed of, even destroyed some of the things I have made when the initial euphoria wore off and I realized there was some kind of fundamental flaw with it, something I wasn't quite proud of.

And every time I have, I have resolved to redo it. To make it better. To make up for what wasn't good. Because I create in order to put good into the world. (Due to time or budget constraints or due to seasons that have simply passed, I have not been able to make good on all of my flubs, but I've wanted to.)

And I get this from God, my Creator, who also made me to create. 

When we read the Bible, we see a repeating cycle of God's creation and re-creation. Moments when He aims to do something good, but because of our free will, it doesn't turn out so good all the time. So He decides that it's time to tear something down and start over again, rebuild it in a new way. Try something different. Make a fresh start. 

Most famously, of course, there is the image of God as a potter, who is able to lump the whole thing back together and start over when it's not working out the way He imagined. 

In Jeremiah, when the prophet is talking about the exile and sending Israel into Babylon, he gives a message where God says plainly that He's going to tear down what He's built. He's going to destroy it. 

But don't worry - He's saving part of it, too. (45:4)

And that's God's prerogative as a Creator. As the Creator. He has the option to look at what He's created, to determine that it's not doing what He wanted it to do, that it's not as good as He intended it to be, and He can destroy it or trouble it or shake it and start again. Try a different way. Take a new approach. 

Sometimes, that new approach is exile...and return. 

But here's what's important: it's the Creator who has the right to destroy. Nobody else. Destroying someone else's act of creation is the behavior of a bully. Period. 

But God can destroy whatever He wants. He made it, and it's His. 

And He can recreate it as He sees fit. He can save the parts of it that are working. He can have a remnant ready to rebuild from. 

And that's just what He does.