Tag: Mercy

Morning Musing: Exodus 22:22-24

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“You must not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them, they will no doubt cry to me, and I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will burn, and I will kill you with the sword; then your wives will be widows and your children fatherless.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

How any society treats its most vulnerable members is a reflection of that society’s moral fiber. The Nazi regime, for instance, rounded up their weakest members and systematically eliminated them. Darwin was right that nature tends to operate on the law of the survival of the fittest. The strongest survive and thrive while the weakest get eaten. People and animals, however, are not the same. We are made in God’s image, and are called to reflect that in our interactions with one another. When it came to the question of how Israel was to treat some of their weakest and most vulnerable members, God was pretty clear on what He expected. Let’s explore what He says here and what it might mean for us.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 9:1-4

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“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go in to Pharaoh and say to him: This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. But if you refuse to let them go and keep holding them, then the Lord’s hand will bring a severe plague against your livestock in the field – the horses, donkeys, camels, herds, and flocks. But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing of all that the Israelites own will die.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I’ve recently gotten to see one of Jesus’ parables played out right in front of me. In the parable of the wheat and the tares, a man plants a field but then an enemy comes at night and sows a bunch of weeds in the field. The man’s response to his servants’ inquiry about whether he wants them to try to pull the weeds is to tell them to let them all grow up together, and he’ll sort them out at the harvest time. He doesn’t want to risk damaging any of the wheat. A field of wheat near my house was growing with lots of big patches of weeds. The farmer just left them there until the harvest. The idea, of course, is that God lets evil exist alongside righteousness until the end at which point He’ll sort and separate. God is patient with evil. But when it gets bad enough, God can be surgical in dealing with it. He demonstrates this ability here in the fifth plague. This one is a bit more uncomfortable than the ones before it, but it’s not quite as bad as it sounds. Let’s talk about what’s going on here.

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Morning Musing: Psalms 103:8-10

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“The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love. He will not always accuse us or be angry forever. He has not dealt with us as our sins deserve or repaid us according to our iniquities.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One last reflection from camp today, and this one will be short because we are hitting the road early. We have talked this week about having a pure heart that reflects God’s holiness, a humble heart that willingly acknowledges who God is, a trusting heart that is willing to seek God’s kingdom ahead of our own, and today we are talking about a willing heart that is ready to live in obedience to God’s command. This morning, though, I want to reflect for a few moments on yesterday’s topic: a merciful heart. Let’s go beyond the surface.

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Digging in Deeper: Amos 7:1-6

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“The Lord God showed me this: He was forming a swarm of locusts at the time the spring crop first began to sprout – after the cutting of the king’s hay. When the locusts finished eating the vegetation of the land, I said, ‘Lord God, please forgive! How will Jacob survive since he is so small?’ The Lord relented concerning this. ‘It will not happen,’ he said. The Lord God showed me this: The Lord God was calling for a judgment by fire. It consumed the great deep and devoured the land. Then I said, ‘Lord God, please stop! How will Jacob survive since he is so small?’ The Lord relented concerning this. ‘This will not happen either,’ said the Lord God.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

What is the point of prayer? And just what can prayer accomplish? And what does our prayers’ being answered say about God? All of these are questions raised in this deceptively challenging passage. This morning, let’s think together about what it means that God “relented” in punishing Israel here and what that means for us.

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Morning Musing: Isaiah 61:1-3

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“The Spirit of the Lord God is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of our God’s vengeance; to comfort all who mourn, to provide for those who mourn in Zion; to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, festive oil instead of mourning, and splendid clothes instead of despair. And they will be called righteous trees, planted by the Lord to glorify him.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Who did Jesus come to save? I know the “right” answer to that question is everyone. But let’s actually think about it for a minute. Who did Jesus come to save? Here’s an answer that’s just as correct but isn’t in terms we usually use. Jesus came to save people who are in need of saving. Now, if that seems tautologous, it is, but that doesn’t make it any less important to understand. In this prophecy from Isaiah that Jesus claimed for Himself, we get a better sense of just what this means.

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