Passage
What, then, will we say?
Is unrighteousness with God? Let
it not be so! For He says to Moses, “I
will show mercy to those whom I should show mercy and I will have compassion
upon those whom I should have compassion.”
Consequently, then, it is neither the one who desires nor the one who
attempts but it is God who shows mercy.
For scripture says to Pharaoh that “Into this I raised you up: how I
should demonstrate my power in you and how my name should be extensively
proclaimed into all the earth.”
Consequently, then, He has mercy upon whom He desires and He makes
obstinate whom He desires.
Thoughts for Today
First Thought:
This passage begins a very difficult set of verses, and
there is one particular objection that rises up at the end of this passage that
I will intentionally leave for exploration in the next two days. So don’t worry if it seems like I’ve ignored
the obvious objection. I’m simply
waiting. However, we’ll start with the
idea of unrighteousness and God.
Yesterday Paul taught that God told Rebecca that Jacob would be loved
and Esau would be hated before they were even born, before they ever had a
chance to do anything. To our human
mind, this seems ridiculous and unfair and unrighteous! However, remember that God knows all, sees
all, and exists outside of time. For
God, yesterday is today and both of those are tomorrow. For God, there is no “before they ever had a
chance to do anything.” For God, Esau’s
rebellion was already done and Jacob’s relationship was already a reality. Much of God’s so-called unfairness is because
we are caught up in time and can only see the future as though it hasn’t
already happened. Since it isn’t a
reality to us, we see it as not being a reality to God. Therefore, we call God unfair.
Have you ever called God unfair because you didn’t
truthfully know the end of the story?
Why are we quick to judge God and other people before we really know how
everything is going to take place? What
does this say about humanity and our limited capacity to see the scope of
reality?
Second Thought:
God gives a promise to Moses that is not always handled
appropriately in English translations.
Paul uses the subjunctive when talking about His mercy and compassion. God says, “I will have mercy upon whom I should
have mercy” and “I will have compassion upon those whom I should have
compassion.” God knows who needs
mercy. God knows who needs compassion. And by default, God knows whose rebellion
implies that they are not interested in mercy and compassion. God already knows these things. It is up to us to trust God and remember that
He already knows these things.
Do you believe that God truly knows upon whom He should have
mercy and be compassionate? Do you ever
question God’s mercy and compassion or think that He has gotten it wrong? Why?
Third Thought:
Furthermore, this tells us that we should trust in God to
deliver the mercy and compassion as it is needed. We can desire it. We can attempt it. But only true mercy and compassion can come
from God to those who truly deserve it.
Think about it. How many times
have you seen an instigator get away free of charge while the retaliator gets
punished? How many times have you seen
the recipient of mercy and compassion turn around and use it to their advantage
rather than being merciful on their own?
These things happen because we try to get it right and act out of our
own sense of mercy and compassion without trusting it to God. We need to remember that only God can get it
truly right. Only God knows who truly
needs it and who can truly use it.
When have you messed up in giving out mercy and
compassion? When have you seen other
people take advantage of someone else’s attempt to be merciful? How does this speak as to why we need to turn
to God and rely upon Him?
Passage for Tomorrow: Romans 9:19-24
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