JUSTICE AND MERCY
Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father, help me to notice and be thankful for your many good gifts that surround and inhabit me, that are mine to enjoy. Help me to use them for your glory.
Read ISAIAH 34
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Judgment Against the Nations
34 Come near, you nations, and listen;
pay attention, you peoples!
Let the earth hear, and all that is in it,
the world, and all that comes out of it!
2 The Lord is angry with all nations;
his wrath is on all their armies.
He will totally destroy[a] them,
he will give them over to slaughter.
3 Their slain will be thrown out,
their dead bodies will stink;
the mountains will be soaked with their blood.
4 All the stars in the sky will be dissolved
and the heavens rolled up like a scroll;
all the starry host will fall
like withered leaves from the vine,
like shriveled figs from the fig tree.
5 My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens;
see, it descends in judgment on Edom,
the people I have totally destroyed.
6 The sword of the Lord is bathed in blood,
it is covered with fat—
the blood of lambs and goats,
fat from the kidneys of rams.
For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah
and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
7 And the wild oxen will fall with them,
the bull calves and the great bulls.
Their land will be drenched with blood,
and the dust will be soaked with fat.
8 For the Lord has a day of vengeance,
a year of retribution, to uphold Zion’s cause.
9 Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch,
her dust into burning sulfur;
her land will become blazing pitch!
10 It will not be quenched night or day;
its smoke will rise forever.
From generation to generation it will lie desolate;
no one will ever pass through it again.
11 The desert owl[b] and screech owl[c] will possess it;
the great owl[d] and the raven will nest there.
God will stretch out over Edom
the measuring line of chaos
and the plumb line of desolation.
12 Her nobles will have nothing there to be called a kingdom,
all her princes will vanish away.
13 Thorns will overrun her citadels,
nettles and brambles her strongholds.
She will become a haunt for jackals,
a home for owls.
14 Desert creatures will meet with hyenas,
and wild goats will bleat to each other;
there the night creatures will also lie down
and find for themselves places of rest.
15 The owl will nest there and lay eggs,
she will hatch them, and care for her young
under the shadow of her wings;
there also the falcons will gather,
each with its mate.
16 Look in the scroll of the Lord and read:
None of these will be missing,
not one will lack her mate.
For it is his mouth that has given the order,
and his Spirit will gather them together.
17 He allots their portions;
his hand distributes them by measure.
They will possess it forever
and dwell there from generation to generation.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 34:2 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them; also in verse 5.
- Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.
- Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.
- Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
For you, what are the most convincing proofs for God? How would you explain this to someone who doesn’t believe?
In his book, The God Delusion, renowned atheist Richard Dawkins wrote, ‘The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character of all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak … bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser … capriciously malevolent bully.’ Let’s overlook his reference to fiction, but we must acknowledge that our reading today would seem to support Dawkins’ criticism. Or does it? Is God really an unjust bully?
To answer that, there are a couple of things we need to understand about this chapter. First, although in previous chapters Isaiah has prophesied against specific nations, here he is giving a message of universal judgment; Edom (v. 5) is symbolic of all the nations that reject God. Second, the NIV footnote reminds us that the phrase ‘totally destroy’ (vv. 2, 5) comes from a Hebrew word that means ‘the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often totally destroying them.’ Putting the two ideas together, Isaiah is saying that someday God will decisively and completely eradicate all evil, as in what John prophesied in the New Testament.1
That’s where Dawkins has missed the point. No one wants to live in a world where there is no justice, where there is no consequence for choosing good or evil. In the end, God punishes evildoers. That’s part of the good news, but the full picture of God is that he ‘is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.’2 Thank God that he combines justice and mercy, which he most clearly expressed on the cross.
Apply
Jot down the names of people you know who don’t believe in God. Ask God to give you opportunities to be part of his work in their lives.
Closing prayer
Thank you, Father, for those who faithfully prayed for me—that I would come to faith in Jesus. Help me to be unwavering in my prayers for those I know who have not yet believed in him.
1 Rev 19:11–21 2 Ps 103:8–10
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