Behold the Goodness of God in His Severity

Behold the Goodness of God in His Severity Romans 11: 22 • The Bible says, “Behold then the goodness and the severity of God” (Rom. 11: 22). • There are definitely these two sides of God.

• He is a God of love and mercy, but He is also a God of righteousness and justice. • It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Heb. 10: 31), and our God is a consuming fire (Heb. 12: 29). • Nevertheless, even in the wrath of God, His goodness and compassion can be seen.

Statement of fact: • Ezra 9: 13 - “Seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such a remnant. ” • This statement is in a prayer of Ezra when he found out how the Israelites had intermarried with the people of the land. • It was an acknowledgment of the mercy of God even in His wrath.

• Nehemiah 9: 31 - “Nevertheless in thy manifold mercies thou didst not make a full end of them, nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God. ” • This statement was part of a prayer made at the time of the dedication of the walls of Jerusalem. • It had to do with the exile in Babylon, that God did not wipe out His people. • It, too, is an acknowledgment of God’s mercy.

• Psalm 78: 38 - “But He, being merciful, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned He his anger away, and did no stir up all His wrath. ” • This passage refers to multiple times in God’s dealings with Israel when He did not destroy Israel but forgave them.

• Psalm 103: 10 - “He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us after our iniquities. ” • “Jehovah is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness. He will not always chide; neither will He keep His anger for ever” (103: 8 -9). • This Psalm is well entitled: “Praise for Jehovah’s Mercies. ” • Among the many mercies named is this supreme quality of God.

God’s own promise: • Isaiah 48: 9 - “For my name’s sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. ” • In a passage containing a severe rebuke of His people (48: 1 -11), God says that for His own name’s sake He will defer and not cut them off. • For His divine purposes, though Israel (including Judah) deserved complete rejection, God would not at this time make a full end of them.

• Hosea 11: 9 – “I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim. ” • God announced in Amos that though He had put off the chastisement of Israel many times (Amos 7: 4 -6). • Nevertheless, He had measured them by the plumb-line of His own righteousness, and had determined that He “will not again pass by them any more” (7: 8).

• The idea in Hosea is that although the northern kingdom was to be obliterated from the land, they would not be brought to a complete end. • God says that in the future “they shall walk after Jehovah” (11: 10). One day God would call, and His children would come out of Egypt and out of Assyria (11: 11). • The blessings that await Israel will be in connection, not with a physical restoration to the land of Israel, but with the coming of the Messiah.

Prayer: • Psalm 6: 1 - “O Jehovah, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. ” • Prayer of the Psalmist for mercy in the time of trouble. • This entire prayer is a prayer for God’s mercy instead of His anger.

• The Psalmist is in anguish and deep trouble. • But after telling of his troubles, the Psalmist warns those who work iniquity to depart from him (Matt. 7: 23). They can trouble him no more. Why? • Because the Lord has heard his prayer (6: 8 -10).

• Psalm 38: 1 - “O Jehovah, rebuke me not in thy wrath; neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. ” • Prayer of a man who has done wrong, and he knows it. • Verse after verse is filled with the most vivid acknowledgments of his sins.

• Therefore when his enemies use his vulnerabilities at this time to attack him, he is like a deaf man who does not even hear them, like someone who is mute, he does not open his mouth to defend himself (38: 13 -14). • His concentration is on his God: “Forsake me not, O Jehovah” (38: 21).

• Hab. 3: 2 - In wrath remember mercy. • After Habakkuk learns that God is going to chastise Judah with Babylon, he prays this prayer (3: 1 -15). • He has seen through testimony and the eyes of faith the might and power of God in judgment and in His other great acts. • Knowing the awesome power of God, he cries, “In wrath remember mercy. ”

• The wrath of God. • Not a manifestation of His emotions. • It is a manifestation of His righteous nature. • His wrath is judicial. When He pronounces judgment, it is not because He does not like you; it is because He does not like what you have done.

• His wrath is measured and controlled. He is never carried away to do more than He had meant to do. • Even as God used weapons such as the Assyrians, though it was in their plans “to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few, ” (Isa. 10: 7), this was not God’s plan. • He would not permit the Assyrians to do more than He wanted them to do in disciplining His people.

Conclusion: • This lesson is not designed to lessen our dread of the wrath of God, but to help us to be grateful that we deal with a gracious God. • It is designed to help us understand that we can sustain a relationship with God, and we can go to heaven, because we deal with a God who is full of mercy.