God of Mercy, God of Justice

“And now I pray, let the power of my Lord be great, just as You have spoken, saying, ‘The Lord is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation. Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray, according to the greatness of Your mercy, just as You have forgiven this people from Egypt until now.’ Then the Lord said, ‘I have pardoned, according to your word; but truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord—‘ “ (Numbers 14:17-21, NKJV) [Read Nummbers 14:11-25].

Rebellion and rejection were common practices of the Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness. They murmured time and time against their leader, Moses, and Aaron and his sons, their priests. They said, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness!...Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” (Numbers 14:2b, 3b). They even wanted to select another leader and return to Egypt. The spies sent to evaluate the situation in Canaan, except for Caleb and Joshua who were confident they could take the land, returned with a negative report. Because of their lack of faith, the people were punished to wander in the wilderness for forty years. And of those twenty years old and above, the adults who had come out of Egypt in great numbers, only Caleb and Joshua would enter the Promised Land after the forty years of wilderness wanderings. Moses interceded for the people, but knew that because of their unbelief and rebellion, God would indeed punish them and they would meet death in the wilderness.

“Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in. But your little ones, whom you said would be victims, I will bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised.” (Numbers 14:30-31). Just as the wilderness years were filled with rebellion, indecision and trial for the Israelites, God, who is a God of mercy and justice and whose glory fills all the earth—to all peoples, not just the Chosen—was still in charge. As we view the world situation today, we often murmur and complain, as did the Israelites. We can learn a valuable lesson from Moses, who, though often vilified by his people, did not fail to intercede for them before God. We, too, have been given the privilege of being watchmen and intercessors. As we pray for ourselves and our nation, we stand between God and man to seek His mercy and justice. May we be faithful, as was Moses, in the important role of intercessor.

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom He hath chosen for His own inheritance…Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in Thee.” (Psalm 33:12, 22, KJV).

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Wednesday, November 10, 2010