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Seeking a Theology of Refuge
by Abraham Kattil, Bachelor of Divinity Fourth Year
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From the early story of “a wan-
dering Aramean” in Genesis, to the Bride’s cry of “Come, Lord Jesus” in Revelation, is found the recurring theme of God’s people seeking refuge in their daily lives yesterday and today.
Refuge, as an existential need and as a theological theme, comes to the fore only in the light of impending, ever-looming terror . Terror can be understood as an act or a situation that incites apprehension or fear . Refuge as a concept is sensible only when terror acts as an instigator to drive people into seeking asylum or shel- ter in a place that can protect from the formidable forces moving against them . Thus, terror as a reality is indispensable for a theology of refuge .
Terror, as a prerequisite to refuge, can be understood in two ways, which then determines the depth and meaning of refuge as well as existence . The first view is from the common notion that terror, or anything apparently harmful, comes from the enemy (devil), and is thus evil in nature . This understanding paints terror as an uninvited, unexpect- ed deviation from the original plan and pre-determined way of God, and that the enemy is a provocateur, and sustain- er of terror . In other words, terror is an unpleasant blot on the canvas of God’s “good” plan . Terror thus, is a contradic- tion to a believer who is created, sus- tained, and ruled by the sovereign God .
Here, the question of “how can I sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?” Emerges, where terror is an anomaly or
a strange reality in the world of God . In this domain, the meaning of refuge is limited to escaping from terror by running to God and surviving by His help, as long as the terror lasts . This is the dialectical theology of refuge . Ter- ror here, is a contradicting evil which is apart from the sovereign God . Con- sequently, if evil is taken away, then a ‘refuge in God’ becomes a dispensable idea because ‘terror’ as a predicate of evil, and ‘insecure fear’ as its natural re- sponse no longer exists . This explana- tion is a truncated view of refuge .
The second view about refuge and terror, is quite the opposite from the first one . Here, in order to understand terror, one moves away from terror per se with an investigative vantage point and begins with the sovereignty of God . God is sovereign, which means He is all-powerful and all-knowing; hence nothing happens apart from his permitted will and all-encompassing knowledge . Even in the account of Job, a righteous man who witnessed terrors from the devil, was viewed as an ex- pression of God’s permitted action .
Moreover, in addition to His sover- eignty, God is an all-loving God . Bibli- cal language has often equated terror with judgment from this all-loving God . However, a canonical perspective of the overall narrative would help us realize that judgment was never intended for damnation but correction . This view, offers a wider, more luminous vision, where terror is not the contradicting evil we see it as, but rather the oppor- tunity for the edifying love of God to conform us to His image . Refuge then, is not ‘escaping from’ and ‘surviving’, but surrendering to God and thriving