God’s holy nature and character mean that He simultaneously has attributes that we might struggle to wrap our mind around at the same time. He is love and He provides mercy and grace. In addition, He is righteous and maintains justice, and His wrath is real. All of these attributes are part of His character at the same time (even if certain aspects are demonstrated more or less at certain times, as required in His wisdom).
Trying to understand God simultaneously having all of these characteristics may be difficult for us, and I think that we often tend to resolve this by only focusing on one group or the other. For instance, maybe we think of some qualities of God as “nice”, and other qualities as “harsh”.
While I don’t think that our finite minds can fully process all that God is, when we only think about one aspect of God or another, to the exclusion of the larger picture that He has given us of Himself, we end up with an unnecessarily incomplete understanding of Him. For instance, some people think of God as a kindly grandpa or a cosmic “Santa Claus”, while others think of Him as a hostile opponent who looks for any opportunity to strike down those who make a mistake. Of course, neither of these descriptions is complete, and as a result, neither is accurate. As David Faust says in the Lookout, “…it’s not our job to tell God who he is. He tells us who he is.”
Consider a couple of verses from the first chapter of the book of Nahum:
The LORD is a jealous and avenging God;
the LORD takes vengeance and is filled with wrath.
The LORD takes vengeance on his foes
and vents his wrath against his enemies.
The LORD is slow to anger but great in power;
the LORD will not leave the guilty unpunished.
His way is in the whirlwind and the storm,
and clouds are the dust of his feet.
Nahum 1:2-3 NIV
In these verses, notice that God’s exercising of justice is not arbitrary, selfish, or capricious (like human anger can sometimes be). For instance, God’s jealousy isn’t because He’s arrogant or insecure, but rather because He loves us and knows that any life serving other gods is inferior. After all, we’re created to glorify Him, and His jealousy when we do something other than our purpose is warranted (especially when our alternatives are harmful to us and to others). A commentary [Ham & Hahlen, p.53] refers to God’s “rightful demand for exclusive loyalty from the people in the context of covenant.”
Other lines here talk about God taking vengeance. God would not need to avenge or deliver vengeance if people, groups, and nations did not rebel against Him or do evil things that need to be avenged. Similarly, God is apparently punishing the guilty, who – by definition – deserve it.
Even with these descriptions of God’s justice, I think that the first line of verse 3 is a great summary of how God is also merciful while also administering justice: God is “slow to anger” (so He’s not flying off the handle when someone messes up, as I have done before), but He is also “great in power” (so those who continue to resist and reject Him should not expect a lukewarm or ineffective response).
I like how the Lookout put things:
“Making a rule and enforcing it are not the same. And it’s hard to bring justice without the power to enforce rules. God does not have that problem. He can make the rules and has the power to enforce those rules”
This brings to mind the authority of a good referee – not the kind that makes a bad call, but a perfect referee who calls things exactly right every time. The referee can call out and even remove an offending player from the game, or ban a player who is cheating. In return, other players who were suffering from abuse or dishonest play can finally be returned to a level playing field, where they can enjoy playing the game again. God makes the rules and He enforces the rules, and in light of His gracious offer of salvation, those who continue to reject this offer should expect the consequences of breaking the rules.
Let’s remember the Lookout’s point this week, both in keeping God’s rules ourselves (out of gratitude and respect), and in sharing with others the joy and freedom of following God in the first place. God is a lot to understand, but that shouldn’t keep us from trying to appreciate what He has revealed about Himself to us.
From Sunday School lesson prepared for August 6, 2023
References:
- The Lookout, August 6, 2023, © 2023 Christian Standard Media.
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – Minor Prophets Volume 2, by Clay Ham and Mark Hahlen. © 2006 College Press Publishing Co.
Those Who Sin Differently 