Tuesday, September 12, 2017

September 12

Isaiah 10:1-11:16; 2 Corinthians 12:11-21; Psalm 56:1-13; Proverbs 23:6-8

At church on Sunday, our pastor put up a slide showing a refugee camp in Jordan. Some tens of thousands of people are living in this camp, having been displaced from their homes and their families. The country from which these people are fleeing is ruled by an oppressive and violent dictator and they are fleeing for their lives. They live in tents. They live in a foreign land. They live without much hope for the future. 

As I sat there looking at the slide, I thought, "This is why I am glad we serve a just God." Some people have a hard time with God's justice and judgment. Not me. I am inclined towards those traits myself (for good or bad), and I am actually really thankful we serve and live under a God of justice and judgment.

"Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people... What will you do on the day of reckoning?...To whom will you run for help?....Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives or fall among the slain" (Is. 10:1-4).

Your day is coming, the Lord says. Don't think you can get away with all this evil and injustice and not have some recompense. 

Everyone would agree that this side of God's justice is good. Everyone wants the bad guys to get some payback. And they will. But what about the subtler side of God's justice? What about the side that painfully disciplines us when we too walk astray? Are we glad for that? What about the natural disasters and huge atrocities happening to many nations today, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, etc.? Are those harder to attribute to God's justice? Is that harder to accept?

But God is committed to wiping out evil in this world. And for that, I am glad. I want a just God. If you still doubt, keep reading.

Isaiah goes on to tell about how this justice is carried out and the positive side about what we can anticipate after judgment. Chapter 11 contains such a beautiful picture of who Jesus Christ is and what he will do. Jesus is the perfect and righteous judge, full of wisdom, understanding, and power. What an amazing picture of peace and tranquility he will create, portrayed in verses 6-8. After perfect and complete judgment, "the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea" (Is. 11:9).

When I hear about all the atrocities and crimes carried out by evil men (and women), I remind myself of these promises. We have hope. The whole earth has a beautiful future. We serve a good and just God.


- Mary Matthias


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