A Picture of God’s Character in Judgment
By: Lori Asher, Wichita, KS
In my recent years of reading through the Bible, an interesting text has jumped out at me and become one of my favorite passages to dwell upon. In 2 Chronicles chapter 12, King Rehoboam is under invasion by King Shishak of Egypt. A prophet named Shemaiah is sent to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah to let them know that this is a judgment from the Lord. In verse 5, Shemaiah tells them, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You have abandoned me; therefore, I have abandoned you to Shishak.’”
Fortunately, the king and the leaders humble themselves at this news and turn back to the Lord. When the Lord sees this, He relents from allowing them to be destroyed by the Egyptians. In 2 Chronicles 12:7-8, the Lord sends this message with Shemaiah: “They have humbled themselves; I will not destroy them but will grant them a little deliverance. My wrath will not be poured out on Jerusalem through Shishak. However, they will become his servants so that they may recognize the difference between serving Me and serving the kingdoms of other lands.”
While the original purpose of the Lord’s judgment was to hand over a nation who had already turned its back on Him, the purpose of granting only a “little deliverance” was to help them realize that serving the Lord was a significantly better option than serving other nations. So often, we believe the Lord’s judgment to be harsh because we view it in light of someone trying to control us for their own purposes. I believe that we regularly confuse the Lord’s judgments on His creation with the ancient Greek gods’ petty reactions to humans who they at best, viewed as entertaining, and at worst as nuisances. The ancient Greek gods like Zeus and Athena were known to be capricious, jealous, and unpredictable in their treatment of human beings.
The Lord, on the other hand, as He tells Moses in Exodus 34:6-7, “is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth, maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion and sin. But He will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.” The Lord says that He is slow to anger, but that is not the same as never being angry!
The Lord who designed us knows better than anyone, including ourselves, the purpose for which we were designed. He knows that if we will live according to His statutes, we will thrive and love and experience deep abiding joy and peace. He also knows what happens when we lose sight of Him and His ways.
So often, even the “judgment” itself, rather than an active implementation of punishment, is actually a release of humans to have their own way rather than God’s way. In fact, one of the darkest books in our Bible, Judges, is best known for its saying that “In those days…everyone did whatever seemed right to him.” If you don’t already know how that turned out for the people of that time, I challenge you to read the book of Judges for yourself and find out. Human beings, if left to their own ideas of what makes for “the good life,” will mess it up every time.
Paul also writes about judgment this way in the book of Romans chapter 1. In Romans 1:18, Paul talks about “God’s wrath being revealed against godless and unrighteous people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.” He continues in verse 21 of the same chapter, “For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened.” Paul then goes on to use the language that God “delivered them over” in verses 24, 26 and 28. They were delivered over to the desires of their hearts, disgraceful passions and finally, in verse 28, to a corrupt mind. As a result, they are “full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice.” A society described primarily by these vices surely cannot be a healthy, thriving society. All of this is the outcome of choosing not to acknowledge God’s wisdom in our lives.
The book of Proverbs is entirely dedicated to the juxtaposition of God’s wisdom and man’s. It also predicts the inevitable outcome of either chosen path. Proverbs 1:29-31 says, “Because they hated knowledge, didn’t choose to fear the Lord, were not interested in My counsel, and rejected all My correction, they will eat the fruit of their way and be glutted with their own schemes.” The rest of the book of Proverbs goes on to give verse upon verse of practical advice on how to structure our lives according to God’s rule and avoid the path of folly.
Of course, in my own life, I have made many poor choices and walked down many a destructive path. In God’s overwhelming grace, He has not allowed me to be destroyed by such choices but granted me a “little deliverance” so as to recognize the better way. In Matthew 11:28-29, Christ calls all who are weary and burdened to Him and promises them rest: “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” This is not a promise for a life with no problems, but it is a life free of the tyranny and imprisonment of sin.