mercy

A missed opportunity

The ambassadors of the princes of Babylon came to see Hezekiah king of Judah for a specific reason. They wanted “to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land” (2 Chronicles 32:31). A wonder is a divine act or a special display of divine power” (4159). In Hezekiah’s case, it was the healing of a sickness that would eventually cause his death. In other words, Hezekiah had a terminal illness and God cured him of it. The men that came to visit heard of Hezekiah’s illness and recovery and brought an offering as an act of worship.

The visit from the ambassadors of Babylon, was an opportunity for Hezekiah to share his faith with them. Their awareness of Hezekiah’s healing and their act of worship demonstrated their belief that Hezekiah’s God was real and could do things that no other god was capable of. In this situation, it says of Hezekiah in 2 Chronicles 32:31 “God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.” God had shown Hezekiah mercy by responding when he prayed, “I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight” (2 Kings 20:3). Hezekiah’s claim of having a perfect heart meant that he had been totally obedient to God’s word (8003).

God’s testing of Hezekiah’s heart was intended to show whether he believed God’s mercy was responsible for all the prosperity of his kingdom or whether Hezekiah believed he had earned everything God had given him through his good behavior. When 2 Chronicles 32:31 said, God left Hezekiah, it was saying that God let him handle the situation on his own (5800). God didn’t tell Hezekiah what to do. When the men from Babylon came to visit, “Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and showed them all the house of his precious things” (2 Kings 20:13). The Hebrew word translated hearkened, shama means that he gave the men his undivided attention (8085). Hezekiah was listening to what the men had to say, following their directions, rather than the other way around.

A clue to Hezekiah’s motivation is found in 2 Chronicles 32:25. It says, “But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up.” Seeing all of Hezekiah’s riches was not the purpose of the visit from the men from Babylon. They came because they had heard about the miracle God had done for him. Instead of taking them on a tour of his grand palace, Hezekiah should have been inviting the men to convert to Judaism.

Hezekiah didn’t understand that these men were not on his side. They were idolaters that needed to know how they could be saved. Hezekiah made it seem as if everything he had could be shared with the men from Babylon, but that wasn’t true. Only God’s people were under his protection and could share in the wealth of his kingdom. Because Hezekiah didn’t honor God and testify to his mercy toward his people, the men went away thinking God’s riches consisted only of silver and gold and it was theirs for the taking.

Time of death

Around the time when Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked Judah, king Hezekiah contracted a life-threatening disease. Hezekiah’s sickness may have been the result of spiritual circumstances connected with his removal of the high places and images used in idolatry (2 Kings 18:4). Isaiah the prophet came to Hezekiah, “and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live” (Isaiah 32:1).

Hezekiah’s response to Isaiah’s declaration indicated that Hezekiah was a man of faith. He believed that prayer could change the outcome of his situation. It says in Isaiah 38:2-3, “Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, and said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.”

Hezekiah poured out his heart to the LORD in a very real and personal way. He didn’t ask the LORD for anything, Hezekiah merely wanted the LORD to know how he felt about the news he had just received. At the time Hezekiah was told he was going to die, he was about 37 or 38 years old, the prime of life for a man living in that time period.

Hezekiah’s prayer received a response, but the LORD didn’t speak to him directly. “Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying, Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years” (Isaiah 38;4-5). The specification of Hezekiah’s time of death meant that he was receiving a divinely appointed extension to his life span, an unusual blessing from the LORD.

It is likely that by changing the time of Hezekiah’s death, God allowed Hezekiah’s life to change the course of history. A connection was made between the extension of Hezekiah’s life and the deliverance of Jerusalem out of the hand of the king of Assyria (Isaiah 38:5-6). After Hezekiah recovered, he received a visit from the king of Babylon (Isaiah 39:1) to whom he revealed all his kingdom’s treasures (Isaiah 39:4). As a result of this mistake, It says in Isaiah 39:5-6:

Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD of hosts: Behold, the days will come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD.

Whose side are you on?

The prophet Jonah’s ministry to the city of Nineveh made it clear that God’s mercy was not limited to the Israelites (Jonah 3:10). Even though the book of Jonah seems to end without an answer to the question, was the Ninevites repentance sincere? Isaiah’s prophecy about God’s eventual destruction of the Assyrian empire indicates its capital, Nineveh only received a temporary reprieve and would one day experience God’s judgment for their wicked behavior along with the rest of the world.

Describing God’s overthrow of Assyria, Isaiah declared, “The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand: that I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders” (Isaiah 14:24-25). As Sennacherib king of Assyria approached Jerusalem and threatened its destruction, it must have seemed to king Hezekiah that God had changed his mind and would allow Assyria to continue its conquest of the world.

After hearing of Sennacherib’s threat, Hezekiah sent Eliakim, Shebna, “and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blashphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring them forth” (Isaiah 37:2-3). King Hezekiah knew that Sennacherib was right about his ability to defeat Jerusalem. It was only a matter of time before he would break down the city walls and take the people into captivity.

Isaiah assured Hezekiah that God would not allow Sennacherib to carry out his threat, but Hezekiah’s confidence was shaken when he received a second message from Sennacherib’s servant Rabshakeh.

Let not thy God, in whom thou trustiest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria…And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD. (Isaiah 37:10,14)

Hezekiah’s action of spreading or displaying the letter before the LORD was similar to presenting evidence. Hezekiah was making a case that Sennacherib had accused God of lying. In Hezekiah’s opinion, Sennacherib had gone too far and God needed to do something about it. As a result of Hezekiah’s prayer, God did more than just stop the Assyrians from attacking Jerusalem. It says in Isaiah 37:36, “Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses”.

The power of the grave

In the book of Hosea, God used the analogy of a marriage to depict his relationship with the nation of Israel so that his people would understand he wanted a personal relationship with them. The prophet Hosea was chosen to model that relationship and was told to marry an adultress because Israel had been unfaithful to God and did not deserve his mercy. The only way Hosea could model God’s love effectively was to forgive his wife and redeem her from a life of prostitution.

The story of Hosea’s wife was meant to portray God’s redemption of his people, but it also showed his people that God’s love was not dependent on their behavior. In spite of their wickedness, God intended to fulfill his promise to king David that he would establish David’s throne for ever (1 Chronicles 17:12). In order to do that, God had to not only forgive his people, but provide a way for them to live eternally. Through Hosea, the LORD declared, “I will ransom them from the power of the grave: I will redeem them from death” (Hosea 13:14).

As when Hosea bought his wife Gomer for fifteen pieces of silver and a homer and a half of barley (Hosea 3:3), God planned to ransom his people. The Hebrew word translated ransom, padah indicates that some intervening or substitutionary action effects a release from an undesirable condition…When God is the subject of padah, the word emphasizes His complete, sovereign freedom to liberate human beings” (6299). Rather than taking away his children’s freedom to choose sin, God intended to take away Satan’s ability to punish them for it.

The power of the grave was the power of Satan to separate someone from the love of God. Sin was the key that enabled Satan to lock a person in the prison called hell, or the grave. Satan was given the key to hell when Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:5-6), but God told them he would one day take that power away (Genesis 3:15). The message God communicated through Hosea was that the day of their redemption was about to arrive.

Although Christ’s birth, death, and resurrection was still hundreds of years away when Hosea spoke to Israel, the events were relatively close compared to the thousands of years that had transpired since Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden. As if Hosea had a clear picture of the process of salvation, he stated, “O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously” (Hosea 14:1-2).

Unfaithful

The prophet Hosea was given the difficult task of modeling for everyone around him the relationship between God and Israel. Hosea’s choice of a mate was symbolic of God choosing the nation of Israel to be his people. Because Israel had been unfaithful to him, God told Hosea, “Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredoms, departing from the LORD” (Hosea 1:2).

The harsh picture drawn of the Israelites was meant to be a sort of shock treatment to get them to realize how God felt about their idolatry. Not only did God want them to know how disgusted he was with their behavior, but he also wanted them to know that in spite of their unfaithfulness, he still loved them and wanted them to come back to him. The names of Hosea’s children were used to convey a message of detachment and punishment for their inappropriate behavior. Beginning with Jezreel, God’s awareness of his children’s sin was made public so that his intentional rejection would not be mistaken for a lack of love on his part.

God had a right to be angry because he had gone to such great lengths to deliver his people from their sins, and yet, they made no effort to follow his commandments. In fact, the Israelites openly worshipped other deities and gave them the credit for their success. The seriousness of their transgression was reflected in the name of Hosea’s third child. “Then said God, Call his name Lo-ammi: for you are not my people, and I will not be your God” (Hosea 1:9).

In spite of Israel’s lack of interest in having a relationship with the LORD, God did not want to permanently cut them off. His intention was to show them that their idol worship was pointless. In order to bring them to their senses, God allowed Israel to reap what it had sown, ruin, and destruction. Speaking of Hosea’s unfaithful wife Gomer, the LORD said, “Therefore behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths. And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now” (Hosea 2:6-7).

More than wanting to punish Israel for its unfaithfulness, God wanted to restore the relationship that existed between him and his people when they first entered the Promised Land. God was capable of forgiving them, but he would not allow his people to worship other gods. The end result that God expected was sincere devotion to him and him alone. He said, “And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God” (Hosea 2:23).

Escape clause

The punishment Amos predicted was a complete destruction of the nation of Israel. He said, “Hear ye this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of Israel. The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise” (Amos 5:1). A lamentation is a chant or wail that occurs at a funeral. Amos was speaking as if the judgment had already been decided and there was no chance of escaping it, but God intended to preserve a remnant of the nation.

According to Amos, ten percent of the people would survive (Amos 5:3). What this meant was that at an individual level there was a type of escape clause in God’s punishment that enabled an Israelite to remain alive even though the nation of Israel would not longer exist. Amos stated, “For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, seek ye me, and ye shall live” (Amos 5:4).

The Hebrew word translated house, bayith (bah´ – yith) refers to a family or a household. It can also designate a “fixed, established structure made from some kind of material” (1004) such as a home. Similar to when the Israelites celebrated the Passover in Egypt and were exempted from the plague that killed all the first born males, each household that sought God’s mercy would be kept alive.

One of the things that Amos made clear was that the punishment of Israel’s sin was coming directly from God. Amos declared, “Therefore the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus; wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, alas! alas! And they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skillful of lamentation to wailing. And in all vineyard shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the LORD” (Amos 5:16-17).

A significant problem that existed in Israel was false worship. By that I mean worship that had nothing to do with having a relationship with God. The goal of worship was supposed to be communication with God. In particular, prayer was meant to be a two-way conversation. Instead of asking God what he wanted them to do, the people of Israel were making sacrifices so that God would do what they wanted him to.

Pagan worship, in which deities had to be appeased in order to gain their favor, had infiltrated the Israelite culture. Much like the heathen that lived around them, the Israelites expected their God to do certain things because they made sacrifices to him. The LORD warned his people, “Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meal offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts” (Amos 5:22). In order to be saved, God’s people would have to seek his direction through prayer.

Mercy

Jonah’s reaction to the transformation of the people of Nineveh shows a disregard for the purpose of his visit. Jonah knew that God wanted the Ninevites to repent and turn from their wicked ways, and yet, when they did, “it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry” (Jonah 4:1). Jonah was not interested in seeing a change, he wanted revenge.

In spite of his successful mission, Jonah was distraught. It is clear from his prayer that Jonah wanted a different outcome. Jonah prayed, “Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live” (Jonah 4:3). What Jonah meant was that he thought the outcome was unfair. God was only supposed to care about the Israelites because they were his chosen people.

At the core of Jonah’s complaint, was a belief that the Israelites should be treated different than everyone else. Jonah did not want God to forgive the people of Nineveh. As Jonah was demonstrating, the Israelites had become proud and were taking advantage of their relationship with the LORD. God wanted Jonah to realize that his mercy was not exclusive, anyone could repent and be saved.

Jonah was convinced that the Ninevites repentance was not genuine. It says in Jonah 4:5, “Jonah went out of the city, and there made himself a booth, and sat under it in the shade till he might see what would become of the city.” Jonah expected that on day 41, the day after the people were to be overthrown, everything would go back to normal. Jonah thought as soon as the people had escaped God’s judgment, they would return to their evil ways.

The booth Jonah made for himself was a temporary shelter or hut constructed by weaving together tree branches or the leaves of a plant (5521). Jonah’s attempt to make himself comfortable while he waited made it seem as if the destruction of Nineveh was a spectator sport that Jonah was meant to enjoy. In spite of his calloused attitude, God indulged Jonah by causing a plant to grow over him that provided additional shade. Unfortunately, the plant was eaten by a worm the next day.

In a final attempt to bring Jonah to his senses, God demonstrated his sovereign control over Jonah’s circumstances by sending a hot east wind to drive him away, but Jonah would not relent. Jonah was determined to prove God wrong and could not accept that the people of Nineveh were worthy of God’s compassion. What Jonah didn’t understand was that God’s mercy was not a part of his covenant with Israel. Rather, it was a part of God’s covenant with Noah that applied to the whole world (Genesis 9:15-17).

A second chance

After Jonah was swallowed by a giant fish, he realized he could not escape his calling and would continue to suffer until he submitted to God’s will. Jonah described his experience inside the fish as being in the belly of hell (Jonah 2:2). Jonah was fully conscious and aware of what the fish was doing. For three days and three nights, Jonah’s life was miraculously sustained like a child inside his mother’s womb.

At first, Jonah may have thought he would die inside the fish. It wasn’t until the third day of his torture that he cried out to the LORD. The best explanation for why Jonah waited so long to pray was his refusal to accept that God was still in control of his circumstances, even while he was inside the fish at the bottom of the sea.

Jonah’s change of heart is recorded in Jonah 2:8. “They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving.” Jonah’s reference to observing lying vanities indicates he may have been involved in idol worship at the time he was called to Nineveh. If so, his resistance to go could be attributed to an affection for the gods of the Ninevites.

Jonah’s message to the people of Nineveh included a deadline for their repentance (Jonah 3:4). The Hebrew word Jonah used to describe what was about to happen was haphak. “In its simplest meaning, hapak expresses the turning from one side to another…The meaning of ‘transformation’ or ‘change’ is vividly illustrated in the story of Saul’s encounter with the Spirit of God” (2015). In response, it says in Jonah 3:5, “So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.”

The overwhelming response to Jonah’s message shows that the people were affected by the word of God. Even the king of Nineveh, acted accordingly. “For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes” (Jonah 3:6). For the king of Nineveh to humble himself in such a way, he must have been converted or transformed by the Spirit of God.

A sign that the king was truly a changed man was his attitude toward God. The king spoke of God’s mercy as if he knew the LORD personally (Jonah 3;9). As a result of the change that took place, it says in Jonah 3:10, “And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil that he said he would do unto them; and he did it not.

Mercy

Psalm 83 may have been written at the time when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah. If so, it is likely an extension of the prayer recorded in 2 Chronicles 6 – 12 in which Jehoshaphat asks for the LORD’s help when a great multitude came against Jeshoshaphat to battle (2 Chronicles 20:1). The author of Psalm 83 states that God’s enemies “have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones” (Psalms 83:3).

The psalmist speaks as if God is unaware of what is going on, but really  his prayer is an acknowledgement  of the situation rather than a declaration of the facts. Jehoshaphat had received a visit from Jehu the son of Hanani the seer after he returned from fighting in Ramoth-gilead with king Ahab. Jehu said to king Jehoshaphat, “Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD” (2 Chronicles 19:2).

Jehoshaphat may have assumed the attack against Judah was his punishment for helping Ahab and that he would be defeated because God’s wrath was upon him. Instead of accepting defeat, “Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah” (2 Chronicles 20:3). Jehoshaphat showed reverence to the LORD and put himself in a position of receiving God’s mercy rather than judgment.

Jehoshaphat’s justification for receiving God’s mercy was “that men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, Art the most High over all the earth” (Psalm 83:18). If God’s people were destroyed, God’s reputation would be damaged. Even though Jehoshaphat deserved to be punished for fighting in Ramoth-gilead with Ahab, he wasn’t because his enemies were God’s enemies also.

God’s message of deliverance was delivered by a Levite of the sons of Asaph. He told Jehoshaphat, “Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of the great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s (2 Chronicles 20:15). Jehoshaphat was miraculously delivered. After all of his enemies were dead, “when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stript off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much” (2 Chronicles 20:25).

Mercy

God’s mercy can be described as an intentional effort to do something that will benefit us. Most of the time, mercy is displayed when it is least expected. God is the only person adequately equipped to perform acts of mercy because in order for something to be merciful it must change a person’s life. The best example of this is Jesus’ substitutionary death on the cross. Jesus had the power to overcome death, the ability to grant eternal life, and a willingness to be crucified. No other man could do what he did.

In some ways, mercy can be understood as the ultimate act of love and yet, it is not really a single act, but the culmination of many acts over a period of time. I think of mercy as being like a marriage proposal that comes after a long courtship that included many acts of kindness in order to win my heart.

The phrase “for his mercy endureth for ever” is repeated 26 times in Psalm 136. Each time it is a response to a statement about God. It might be strange to think that God wants us to love him and has gone to great lengths to win our love, but that is exactly what Jesus’ death on the cross demonstrates. It was not a weak, wimpy expression of love, but a divine proposal to spend eternity with the master of the universe.