The way back to God is still open
In the ancient days God became very angry with mankind, because mankind became very corrupt.
God “looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.”
Then in Divine judgment he swept the earth clean with a flood of great waters. But even in His wrath He remembered mercy:
A restoring-day came after the flood, and in that day God was pleased to enter into a covenant with the human race, and make solemn pledge to them and promise that never again should “all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, nor should there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.”
Isaiah saw a parallel to this in the Divine dealings with the idolatrous kingdom of Israel. It had become so utterly corrupt that ordinary forms of chastisement would not suffice anymore; overwhelming judgments were demanded. (Isaiah 54).
▪︎ How is it with us?
▪︎ Are we still doing what God wants us to do?
▪︎ Did corruption also overflow our country?
▪︎ Is our government also defying God?
▪︎ Is our nation also screaming for God’s judgment?
The Divine wrath in those days found expression in the destruction of the nation, and the bitterness of the captivity in Babylon.
▪︎ Are many of us these days not also in Babylon?
▪︎ And isn’t the Bible calling us to “come out of her”?
God’s mercy limited His judgment;
A restoring-time came, and brought with it new covenant assurances and promises: “My loving-kindness from thee shall not remove, neither shall the covenant of my peace totter, saith He that hath compassion on thee,”
In this we are to see exhibited in history – earlier and later – the methods of Divine dealing which may apply also to us.
Our sins will arouse God’s indignation
Scriptures show us over and again that God will always respond.
▪︎ He responds to our prayers
▪︎ But He also responds to our sinful actions.
In this we too may see the fatherly relationship of God toward us.
We must not merely think that our wrong-doing is disturbing the Divine order God wants to be present in our lives, or that it is disturbing the order of what a king or judge would want, but most of all it is disturbing the relationship that God wants to have with us, as a Father with His children.
▪︎ Sin always hurts our personal relationship with God.
▪︎ Sin is disobedience to the Father,
▪︎ Sin is an insult to your creator,
▪︎ Sin is unfaithfulness.
God feels it in a similar way as fathers feel the wrong-doing of their children.
Divine wrath can still produce extreme judgments
▪︎ Judgments as are represented in the Flood or in the Captivity in Babylon.
▪︎ Judgments as are suggested by the stern necessity fathers sometimes know; they may shut the door against hardened prodigal sons.
In spiritual life there may be times when God will “cover Himself with a cloud, that hides Him from us”
Divine mercy always waits to put a limit on the judgment.
▪︎ That “mercy” of God makes even the worst judgments to be corrections.
▪︎ And that “mercy” watches for the moment when the correcting work is done, and restorings can be granted.
Restoration with abundance of comfort
When God restores us, after people returned to Him, He does so with an abundance of comfort and assurance to dispel the remembrance of the time of the judgment.
Remember the love, compassion, and warm parental feeling of the father of the prodigal son when he came back home.
About Author
