“Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?” (KJV Matthew 26:21-22)
When Jesus announces to his disciples that one of them will do something terrible, the disciples’ immediate response is introspective. Each questions himself and asks if he is the culprit. This reaction stands in contrast to that of a hypocrite whose immediate reaction to a direful warning is that it surely applies to someone else. But these faithful disciples each internalize the warning and use it to self inspect his own tendencies, thoughts and behaviors.
The scriptures are full of direful warnings. It doesn’t take much searching to find something awful that applies to… someone. What is my reaction to such direful warnings? Do I self inspect and humbly ask, “Is it I”? Or do I hear of terrible warnings and respond by immediately thinking that it surely must apply to someone else, or at least that someone else is a much better match or is more wicked than I am?
If that is the approach, what are the chances that a warning is ever going to reach a person for which it is intended? If such a person does read the warning, will the person ever recognize that the warning is for them? If they take the step to see that it is possible that it may apply to them, how often will a person heed the warning and act appropriately? If a direful warning applies to me, will I recognize it? Will I respond appropriately to such a warning?
If warnings of scripture really do apply to real people, to whom does it apply? Are harsh warnings in scripture intended for people who don’t read scriptures? Are there warnings there for the people who do? How much of scripture is intended for an audience it will rarely have? How much is intended for the audience it does have? Are there harsh warnings that apply to the audience it has?
Are the writings of Moses primarily intended for people other than the Israelites? Who is the primary audience for the harsh warnings he delivered? Is the focus of Moses’ teachings intended for people other than the Israelites? Did the Israelites have enough problems of their own that all the effort to correct them would be well spent? Did their scriptures primarily aim to correct the errors of other people or their own? Could other people also benefit from understanding the errors and corrections given to the Jews?
Did the Jews as a whole take appropriate heed to the warnings of God given to them? Were there individuals who took seriously these warnings? Does that same scenario play out today?
Rather than looking for some “out”, or reason why a warning may not apply to me, or would be better for someone more wicked than myself, wouldn’t it be better to inspect if there is any way that a warning might apply to me? If there is any way it might apply to me, shouldn’t I try to heed the warning and take the remedy? Wouldn’t it be better to take note of each warning and humbly ask, “Lord, is it I?”