Jonah 3:17 When God saw that they had put a stop to their evil ways, he had mercy on them and didn’t carry out the destruction he had threatened. I think this is the essential message of the Gospels, here in the Old Testament. People repent and God has mercy. God doesn’t want to punish people. He just wants us to realize that our way is wrong and follow His way which is better. He wants to show mercy. It’s like with my children. I want them to be obedient and I want to be merciful because I really don’t like having to discipline them. I know it’s necessary because if they don’t obey, they could get hurt. And on that note, Mr. G is up and about….
Jonah 1:19 The sailors were awestruck by the LORD’s great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him. I’d have been pretty awestruck, too. Imagine! There are 10-20 foot waves crashing around your not-so-huge boat. You’ve thrown everything you can into the boiling, churning water in a desperate attempt to stay afloat. The rain is whipping around like nails, hammering the deck in a thunderous applause. The deck rears up, throwing people and the few objects left from one side to the other, threatening to knock everyone into the deadly sea. The sky is black, and the water is blacker. All hope seems lost. But then, a crazy guy who can sleep through a storm this bad, admits to angering a God you’ve never heard about and offers to be thrown overboard. And the minute his feet leave the deck on his way into the water, instantly the sea is calm, the driving wind and rain become a gentle breeze, the clouds vanish and the sun shines down. Yeah, I’d be awestruck! Even though Jonah disobeyed God and brought a great storm on these guys, there was some good that came from it. No, Jonah didn’t really learn a great lesson because when God didn’t destroy Ninevah he was very upset (You should watch the Veggie Tales version – Jonah and the Big Fish – to get a great illustration of this point). But these sailors, who had just thrown their livelihoods overboard, became servants of the Most High God. Our disobedience affects other people. Jonah’s probably cost the sailors tons of money. But it doesn’t have to be all bad. God used Jonah’s sin to show His power, punishment, and mercy to the sailors who might never have heard of Him otherwise. I’m not advocating sinning just so God can use it for good. I’d imagine that far more good comes from our obedience; but since we are constantly fighting our fleshly, natural natures, sin is inevitable (remember that verse… all have sinned – Rom 3:23….yeah, that would be me and you and everybody on earth). It’s a bit reassuring to know that God can bring good from our stubbornness and selfishness and pride.
Ezekial 18:21-23 But if the wicked people turn away from all their sins and begin to obey my laws and do what is just and right, they will surely live and not die. All their past sins will be forgotten and they will live because of the righteous things they have done. Do you think, asks the Sovereign Lord, that I like to see wicked people die? Of course not! I only want them to turn from their wicked ways and live. This is the very crux of Christianity. Jesus came that we might LIVE! He doesn’t want to see His children die, but as a just God He can’t ignore it. However, if those children turn away from their wicked ways and obey God, then all the things they’ve done in the past will be wiped out and forgotten (not just forgiven). It’s a good thing that God loves us so much! I love that He has wiped out and forgotten my past. He wants us to live. He’s gone to great lengths to ensure that we can live. Why do you think He gave Israel so many chances to turn and get it right? Yes, He’s just, but He loves His children. It’s like when my children do something they shouldn’t (like using the table as a springboard to jump onto the couch). My inclination is to warn them, warn them, warn them, and finally I have to punish them. I don’t like seeing them upset, but if they don’t heed my warning and directly disobey, that’s bad, too, because they could get hurt. I think God’s like that with us. He gives lots of warning, but eventually He has to punish us (usually to keep us from hurting ourselves or others, and to remind us that what we’re doing is wrong). However, like I said, if my little ones stop trying to be superman off the table and onto the couch, then we move on. I don’t add up the different things they do wrong or punish them for something they did a while ago after they do something else. It doesn’t add up. They turned from what they were doing and obeyed. I forget about what they did and we move on together. Yeah God!
Psalm 103:12 He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. At church on Sunday we watched Perry Noble speak on God is Here. It was awesome! He is hilarious! Among the points that he made was one that’s stuck with me this week. With the new school year starting, it seems I am constantly reminded of the mistakes and failures of last year. It’s like a shadow that never leaves. It’s not totally visible, but it’s also subtly there shading everything I do and every conversation I have. Very frustrating. As humans, we tend to think that whenever something we’ve done in the past that Jesus has forgiven is recalled to our brain, it must be that God is reminding us of our sins. But this isn’t true. Perry Noble has a great illustration: his little girl had a really stinky diaper (and as a mom of two boys under two-years I can certainly relate to that!). He got her and changed her diaper, and when he was finished he didn’t shove it in her face and say, “See! Look at how disgusting this is! How could you do this? You’re so revolting!” No, he cleaned up her mess and threw it away so she wouldn’t have to deal with it ever again. That’s how God is. He cleans up our mess and throws it away (as far as east is from the west – which, by the way, is eternally distant) so we don’t ever have to deal with it again. He doesn’t shove it in our face every-so-often to remind us of what we’ve done. As our heavenly Father, He loves us. So where do those reminders come from? Well, unlike our loving but holy God, our memories are long and Satan’s memory is even longer. After his tail got kicked by Jesus on the cross he’s made it his goal to mess with God’s children as much as possible. And he loves to remind us of all the ways we’ve failed and how we’re not good enough and how we should just give up now because we’ll never get it right and … But, if we spend any time at all getting to know Jesus, we know that these are true. Wait, what?! Yes. I said true. But, it’s like the lie that’s partly true so it’s more believable. Sure, we’ve failed, but Jesus paid for our sins and washed them away – He has the victory. Sure, we’re not good enough, but again, that’s why Jesus died for us – so that by His blood we might be saved and reconciled and made holy before God. Sure, we’re never going to get it right, but Jesus says that we’re not supposed to do things on our own and to ask for His help and power to do things (and we’ll still mess it up even then, but He still loves us). So, yeah, those things are true, but they’re only the beginning. The end is victory, and that’s what Satan would like for us to forget. Remind yourself and remind him, then put the thoughts out of your mind, thanking Jesus for his grace and mercy. And move forward!
Jeremiah 12: 15-16 But afterwards I will return and have compassion on all of them. I will bring them home to their own lands again, each nation to its own inheritance. And if these nations quickly learn the ways of my people, … then they will be given a place among my people. I never knew that God would eventually forgive and restore all the nations, even those that He used to bring destruction on Israel! He promises that after destroying the nations around Israel (and Israel, too) he will eventually restore them to their own lands. And, if they acknowledge God they will be part of His people. It’s a good thing to remember. We may not be part of the original Israel, and we may have been broken and crushed, but God promises to restore all the nations and give us a place with His people. When we become part of God’s family, through trusting Jesus with our lives, that promise is fulfilled. It’s pretty cool that God didn’t decide to crush the nations and leave them that way. Despite all they had done, he promised to have compassion on them and eventually restore them, too. Our God is forgiving, compassionate, and eternally loving.
Job 42: 19When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes. In fact, the Lord gave him twice as much as before! When he prayed for his friends his fortunes were restored. I think that’s kind of interesting. God told the friends that Job would pray for them and that God would accept his prayer and not punish them for their bad advice. So Job’s prayer was for forgiveness and mercy. Perhaps in praying for forgiveness for them and mercy, and not vengeance for their response to his plight, Job learned more about God and gave Him glory. And until Job was able to do this, showing forgiveness instead of vengeance, God held off restoring Him. This begs the question, does God wait to restore our fortunes until we learn forgiveness and mercy? Until we are obedient even in the difficult things? It would make sense.