What do you mean by God cursing the rod to make it destructive?
I've got to think about this; your observation is astute. What I'm trying to do is have the staff that God made for salvation become cursed to lead to others damnation. Could this coincide with your view of it being destructive or judgment?
I can see a problem in the staff damning someone to pure evil before they die because of the paradox between free will and predestination making it a matter of perspective (God vs. Man) that one can be damned before they die. In other words, it seems that until our last breath, we have the option of choosing to believe, whereas, from God's eternal perspective, He knows who will believe and who won't. Therefore, would it be ok for this staff to essentially deliver people's souls to Satan before they die? They are choosing to look into the dark staff with the desire to become absent of any good. Is God creating evil by cursing a staff He made for good to become a tool for judgment? In your view, is this a tool for judgment? I get the feeling, the way I'm wording it, you don't think so. (I'm still working this out, and your observations are invaluable, so thanks for working through this with me.) Are you saying that by God cursing this staff to be something that "makes" them evil, He is creating evil?
Let me try to find a parallel from Scripture:
Rom. 7:5, 10-13: For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death...And the commandment, which [was] to [bring] life, I found to [bring] death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed [me]. Therefore the law [is] holy, and the commandment holy and just and good. Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful.
My idea does not perfectly allegorize this passage, but I think with some work it
might. Allegories are not meant to be perfect, as long as they don't contradict in vital areas of emphasis. I need to think about this some more, but here goes my first try: When Elkuund drove the first white staff into his righteous younger brother, Lu, the "law" aroused sinful passions that bore fruit ultimately in death.
V.5 - In my story, Lu is the law, and when Elkuund's sinful action penetrated his heart, sinful passions were aroused in Elkuund's heart that would overcome him and lead to death. (i.e. Lu's example of righteousness=God's example of righteousness in the Law (it's more of a command than an example really, but Jesus fulfilled those commands (except the 1st) by example through obedience, and so did Lu (though he's not God)))
V.10 - In my story, Lu's obedience was to bring life, while Elkuund's disobedience brought death. V. 11 - Elkuund saw Lu's obedience and submission and did the complete opposite, posing as a friend, and then killed him. V. 13 - Did the white staff (what is good) become death to Lu? (did the perfect staff that God created for Elkuund kill Lu - certainly not) but Elkuund's actions produced death so that when Elkuund's act was compared to Lu's, it was seen as exceedingly sinful.
Have I lost my train of thought? I think v. 5 illustrates my intention, that Lu's perfect example produced death in Elkuund's deceitful act because without Lu's perfect example, Elkuund's act would not have been as bad (weighty theological debate to ensue about dispensationalism and judgment before the Law, but aside from that...
) and as a result Elkuund was cursed to carry with him a staff that produced death (spiritual and physical, though God is the only one who can kill the body and the soul, so...does that still work?).
whew. sorry for the unpolished nature of my free-thinking exercise. it has been helpful for me (as opposed to taking a few days to rewrite it until it's perfect), so thanks for reading!
