Judgement as the mercy of God (Part 2)
I will do my best to articulate what is on my heart this early morning:
"and the Lord God of their fathers sent WARNINGS to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had COMPASSION on His people and on His dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, till there was no remedy. Therefore He brought against them the king of the Chaldeans..." 2 Chronicles 36:15-17
I am standing this morning in the prayer room reading the scripture and seeing yet another story in the Bible that shows his Judgement as mercy on His people. It feels severe... it feels harsh... it sounds cruel. But it is His mercy again. The people of Israel had just come out of a time of favour with the Lord as King Josiah had restored the Law to the land and they were as a nation and a people following the Lord in all they did... as long as the leadership of the nation mandated it. It's interesting to me that as soon as Josiah died, the people quickly moved from the ways of the Lord. It was only 22 1/2 years later that Babylon over took them completely and the house and city of the Lord was burned to the ground.
But then comes verse 21 "... to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill 70 years." I won't even try to expound on what that really means, but it was a time of rest for the land from the evil and "abominations" that Israel had inflicted on it. The choices that Israel made in following other gods, in following the gods of other lands, they defiled the very ground they walked on... so in God's mercy he gave the LAND rest... for seventy years.
And then the compassion of God is shown to His people again in the proclamation made by Cyrus at the end of 2 Chronicles: "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is among you of all His people? May the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up!"
So after 70 years, the call goes out to what? To be free from captivity? Yes, but more than that... to return to the Lord and to the house of His dwelling, which to me says, return to Me, your God and your salvation. Again, the 70 years was not on the whole to punish the people, it was to draw them again to himself.
I am awed, humbled, and fascinated by this kind of MERCY! And it draws me closer to His heart, and closer to a place of trusting ALL his judgements.
So what does that mean for me today? I'm not exactly sure other than again recognising that not all calamity and hardship is of the "evil one". God first moves out of a place of compassion and brings warning and invitation to draw near to his heart again, and it is when I ignore those warnings, or despise his word, or even scoff at the messangers that HE brings greater judgements to bring me back to His heart... to get my attention. He is after all a jealous God who longs for me...and will not ignore my wanderings. HMMMM...
"and the Lord God of their fathers sent WARNINGS to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had COMPASSION on His people and on His dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, till there was no remedy. Therefore He brought against them the king of the Chaldeans..." 2 Chronicles 36:15-17
I am standing this morning in the prayer room reading the scripture and seeing yet another story in the Bible that shows his Judgement as mercy on His people. It feels severe... it feels harsh... it sounds cruel. But it is His mercy again. The people of Israel had just come out of a time of favour with the Lord as King Josiah had restored the Law to the land and they were as a nation and a people following the Lord in all they did... as long as the leadership of the nation mandated it. It's interesting to me that as soon as Josiah died, the people quickly moved from the ways of the Lord. It was only 22 1/2 years later that Babylon over took them completely and the house and city of the Lord was burned to the ground.
But then comes verse 21 "... to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill 70 years." I won't even try to expound on what that really means, but it was a time of rest for the land from the evil and "abominations" that Israel had inflicted on it. The choices that Israel made in following other gods, in following the gods of other lands, they defiled the very ground they walked on... so in God's mercy he gave the LAND rest... for seventy years.
And then the compassion of God is shown to His people again in the proclamation made by Cyrus at the end of 2 Chronicles: "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is among you of all His people? May the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up!"
So after 70 years, the call goes out to what? To be free from captivity? Yes, but more than that... to return to the Lord and to the house of His dwelling, which to me says, return to Me, your God and your salvation. Again, the 70 years was not on the whole to punish the people, it was to draw them again to himself.
I am awed, humbled, and fascinated by this kind of MERCY! And it draws me closer to His heart, and closer to a place of trusting ALL his judgements.
So what does that mean for me today? I'm not exactly sure other than again recognising that not all calamity and hardship is of the "evil one". God first moves out of a place of compassion and brings warning and invitation to draw near to his heart again, and it is when I ignore those warnings, or despise his word, or even scoff at the messangers that HE brings greater judgements to bring me back to His heart... to get my attention. He is after all a jealous God who longs for me...and will not ignore my wanderings. HMMMM...
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