The Relenting and Unrelenting God

Transcript

Well, Brunson's character can be a hard thing to define.

Not only is it something defined off a compilation of ambiguous moral qualities, things like being courageous, being patient, being kind, and long -suffering, but character is often only revealed over time and circumstance, and can be perceived in many different ways by the many people who observe us in this life. How you see something, the angle in which you've observed an event transpire, can impart vastly different assessments about a person's character. It's for that reason, brothers and sisters, we can know people a very long time in this life yet still not truly know them. To add to this challenge, people by nature are often frustratingly complex.

We know individual in this call can be reduced to a single thing, we're layered as individuals and as people. That's how God created us, and brothers and sisters, I put to you, that's in many ways a reflection of God himself. God who has many different things at many different times to many different people in the records of scripture this evening, brothers and sisters. And though we're going to narrow our focus to just two traits, what we have before us remains quite the Tasporn Sisters, because these are traits of his character that can be enormously challenging. They're challenging because in many ways they're presented to us as these contrasts, things that on face value represent a paradox. These are traits that encompass the love and the mercy and the long-suffering, the boundless grace of our God, juxtaposed to qualities that might scare us, qualities of judgment and of perseverance and of vengeance and the relentlessness of God, brothers and sisters. And these are traits that, while challenging, well on the surface, they're also quite simple. Because in many ways what we'll consider is nothing new nor a secret we dig hard to find. It's simple, brothers and sisters, because these are things that God desires we know about him, that speak plainly and purposefully to us from the records of scripture. These are character traits, brothers and sisters, of enormous breadth and scope. Things that when understood will not only give you an encompassed perspective on the character of God, who he is, why he works in your life the way he is, but it is the basis upon which the entire hope presented to us and built on the records of scripture have been extended to mankind. And the subject we're going to consider this evening, the title we can use to guide our look at the unrelenting and the relenting character of our God. And these are characteristics, brothers and sisters, that as I say them, we might think to places where they are ascribed to God quite extensively throughout scripture. They're quite broad to discuss. So for the sake of time, what I want us to do is just hone our thoughts to three main points of consideration. The first is simply framing our thoughts to come. Here we're going to look at how these aspects of God's character display themselves throughout our Bibles. Here we're going to look at where God is characterized as unrelenting or relenting, what scenarios they manifest in, what does that imply to us about who he is as a God. Our second point will be to then ask, what do we make of these things? How do we reconcile the contrast? Here we'll see how God works in our lives. We're going to consider the conditional nature of his judgments. Here we'll consider the practical ramifications, brothers and sisters. These have broad sweeping effects, how we see this character of God on the character that we manifest to the world around us. But ultimately, brothers and sisters, I want to start with the fact that God is to end in reflection of a bigger picture. We're going to end in description of our God found in the writings of Moses. We will end in reflection of what it means to worship a God who relents in our lives. And in so doing, we will, of course, consider the Lord Jesus Christ, the sacrifice he made, the King he will be, and the hope of new life secured through what he's accomplished. And so with that, we'll jump right in. And we'll start by first considering this unrelenting character of our God. Come with me to Ezekiel chapter 24. And you know, it's no secret, brothers and sisters, that at certain times throughout the records of scripture, God is described in very unyielding terms, isn't it? You know, our minds might go to references like 1 Samuel 15. We might think to Numbers 23, And those are bold declarations, brothers and sisters. When we think of them, they're not just declarations, but we know all too well that there are certainly times where God takes decisive actions. Times where judgments were made and subsequently executed in a very unrelenting manner. In Ezekiel 24, we see one such example of his character and action, don't we? So here, brothers and sisters, we're introduced to a people in the culmination of their obstinance towards God. This is a people who walk contrary to his ways. They reject the appeals of generations of prophets, of people who burn the word of God, rather than hear it in their time of need. And brothers and sisters, at the writing of this chapter, they're seeing the culmination of these actions come to fruition. The judgments of God have come to bear. They look beyond the walls of Jerusalem. They see the armies of Babylon surround them. And it's in this moment, verse 14. What does it say? This is my judgment, says God. This is what I told you would come. It shall not pass. I will not go back. I will not spare. I shall not relent. I shall not relent, says God. And brothers and sisters, in that moment, well, we know that to be true, don't we? What was stated would come to pass. And what we see here in this chapter, brothers and sisters, is this character of God in action, this unrelenting character. He unequivocally stated his judgments were final. They would not be turned. I am not a man, says God. That I relent. And of course, as we reflect, brothers and sisters, on this particular judgment of God, this time in Israel's history, we know all too well that this is an aspect of his character, not only highlighted in Ezekiel 24. It's one echoed all throughout the word of God, brothers and sisters. We see this characterization of God in Jeremiah. Jeremiah, who was a contemporary, of course, of Ezekiel, he writes of the same impending judgments of which Ezekiel saw, makes a similar declaration. Jeremiah 4, verse 28, he says, The earth will mourn the day of judgment. The heavens will be darkened for this. I have spoken, says God, this I purposed. I will not relent. I will not turn back. He says it again, Jeremiah 15, 6. He says, I'm weary of relenting, says God. I will not spare my judgments. And of course, brothers and sisters, this characterization of our God that we're reading here, that's one that extends far beyond the writings of Ezekiel and Jeremiah. And the judgments of Israel and Judah, we see this character of God in the accounts of Amos. Amos, who in chapter 1, we see writes of the declaration of God's judgments spoken in the context of holding the world to account for their transgressions. It reads, the Lord roars from Zion. He utters his voice from Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord, verse 3, for the transgression of Damascus. I will not relent my punishment. Verse 4, thus says the Lord for the transgressions of Gaza. I will not relent. Verse 9, against Tyre, I shall not relent the punishment. Verse 11, against Edom, I shall not relent. Verse 13, against Amon, I shall not relent. Chapter 2, against Moab, I shall not relent. Verse 4, against Judah, I shall not relent the punishment for Israel because they sell the righteous for silver because they reject the law of God. I shall not relent. And in many ways, brothers and sisters, what has been witnessed to us in these verses is this character of our God that I think brothers and sisters were perhaps a little familiar with. This is the God that David in Psalm 91 would characterize as a God of vengeance. One who would declare in Deuteronomy 32, vengeance is mine, says the Lord. One who holds guilt to account, who does not suffer an injustice. One who, once his judgments are made for good or bad, will not deviate or turn till they are fulfilled. And it's worth noting, brothers and sisters, that this is in the context of both good and bad, this element of God's character. This is not all in the context of punitive punishments. God would actually say to David, I will not relent the promises I've made you. So there's an element of the faithfulness of God bound in this unrelenting aspect of his character. And honestly, brothers and sisters, that's what he wants to see in us, to be unrelenting in our covenants, to be unrelenting in our convictions and commitment to his word. But you know, brothers and sisters, it's perhaps common that as we read our Bibles, I think sometimes we weigh this aspect of who God is as more significant than others. After all, this character of God, it presents itself in the most remarkable, significant of moments. We think to the, to the destructions that came upon Judah. We think to the awful conquest of Assyria, the diaspora of the Jews. We think to the destructions of Sodom and Gomorrah that scarred that land in this very day. And you know, I think in seeing these things, brothers and sisters, we perhaps walk away with a fearful assessment of our God's character. But as is true of people, brothers and sisters, God is more layered than that, isn't he? Come with me to Jeremiah chapter 26. Because in Jeremiah, I suggest we see something fascinating, brothers and sisters. You see, in the very same place in history, as Ezekiel just prophesied in the very same book by the mouth of the very same prophet that himself characterized the judgments of God as unrelenting. What is he saying in verse 13? Now therefore mend your ways, repair your deeds, obey the voice of the Lord your God, and the Lord will relent, he says. He'll change, says Jeremiah. In other words, those things, brothers and sisters, that we read before, those judgments he pronounced that were once certain that would unequivocally come to pass by the mouth of the same prophet were no longer so. God would change the judgments that were seemingly unchangeable. What a fascinating, contrasting paradox of character being presented, brothers and sisters. And we see this same paradox, these seemingly conflicting traits of God, we see that all throughout our Bibles, brothers and sisters. We see them in Amos 7. Amos, again, that same prophet who we read, opens his book with a long list of God's unrelenting judgments upon the world. What does he say in chapter 7? Upon seeing the visions of that destruction prophesied, upon hearing them, Amos says, Oh Lord, please forgive us. How can Israel stand? We are so small. And what does it say? It says the Lord relented and said it shall not be done. Again, verse 4, God shows him judgments of fire that brought his judgments to this earth, that devoured the depths. And he says, Oh God, please seize. How can man stand? And what does it say? And the Lord relented and said it shall not be done. And when we think of that, brothers and sisters, just as we see witness to this unrelenting God throughout our Bibles, well, how often do we see the image of the relenting God in scripture? We see him in Sodom and Gomorrah. Judgments were made, but willing to relent if just 10 righteous were in that city. When 10 could not be found, what does he do? He sends his angels for a lot, and not only a lot, but his entire family. We see him in 2 Samuel 24. Judgment is pronounced for the transgressions of David, but he relents at his prayer from striking Jerusalem. We see it in Exodus 32. In the face of Israel's transgressions in the Sinai, judgment declared, but at the words of Moses, he relented from disaster he spoke. And we see it in the words of Joel, brothers and sisters, who in prophesying of a time still to come and characterizing the day of our Lord's return, a day of judgment. What does he say of that day? He says, the earth will quake, the heavens tremble, the sun, the moon, the clouds darken, the voice of God will be spoken before his army and executed in power. Yet even then, even in the last moment of judgment to come to this world, what does it say in verse 12? But return to me, says the Lord, for I am gracious, I am merciful, I am slow in my anger as I have always been, I've been abounding in love, and I relent over disaster. What a beautiful picture of our God, brothers and sisters. I think this is the God of love that John must have been inspired to write of in his books, but everything we've considered really culminates in a single, relevant, consequential question, brothers and sisters, and that's simply, what do we make of these things? What do we make of what are these two very different characterizing the day of our Lord's return? What are the characterizations of our God? This picture of a God unyielding in his condemnations, one who will faithfully hold to his judgments when spoken, contrast to a God who time and again yields to grace, yields to mercy, yields to love and compassion. In many ways, it's this picture of an unrelenting God who's always relenting. Well, I think there's much we could say, brothers and sisters, on these contrasts in the character of God. We could ask, is this truly a contradiction? And I think hopefully by the end of our time tonight, we'll address that. But we should perhaps first note that, you know, if you're anything like me, you might be inclined to ask yourself, which version of God is more right?

Is God all-relenting or is he unrelenting? You know, I think that's a fascinating thing, brothers and sisters, that we're drawn to frame our God in this way, to try and draw a box around who he is. We're for comfort, but I suggest far more often personality. We subtly elevate one of these traits over the other, believing him to be a God of fire and brimstone, like the sons of Zebedee or the Old Testament God, or maybe he's a New Testament God. Maybe he's all-relenting. You know, I think, brothers and sisters, in many ways, that's a reflection of our society. That's a reflection of the world we live in, one that lets us, encourages us to live in echo chambers that reinforce the way we see life around us, one that makes it a struggle to believe two things can be true at once. One that makes us well-practiced at admitting things that don't fit with our narrative of how we see the world, that for convenience sake labels things as either right or wrong, good or evil, just or unjust. But the reality is, brothers and sisters, the simple message being shouted to us from Scripture is that God is both of these things, isn't he? He's telling us that plainly from his word, he is a God of compassion, certainly, but he will be true to his word. He is a God who believes in a moral order. He is faithful in upholding correction when there is wrong. And it's so important we reconcile that, brothers and sisters, because how we perceive these traits, how we internalize them, that has direct effect on the character of God you show to the world around you, doesn't it? How many people in the narrative of Scripture, brothers and sisters, show the truth in that? We think to Elijah, who in the earliest years of his time in Israel believed in that God of fire and brimstone, believed in only the whirlwind of God that could correct people by consuming the prophets with fire. We think to Jonah, who came to despise one aspect of God's character. We think to Judas, who, because he could not see the relenting of God, lost his life. If we elevate the unrelenting God, brothers and sisters, the God of unyielding judgment, well, then far more often than not, our judgments will be unyielding, won't they? If we elevate the unrelenting God, maybe we live scrupulous lives with the appearance of righteousness. Maybe we've done things on the exterior. We've checked the boxes of faith, but maybe inside we have a faith built on fear. Maybe inside we come to believe the grace of God can't extend to us when we make mistakes. So, in effect, we're reluctant to extend that grace to others when they do wrong. Maybe we find we live our lives in the truth as the man who buries his talent for fear of the master's cruelty, thinking, I'm never going to live up to what's expected of me, so I bury him away. I don't take risks to go preach the word of God to people. I'm too scared, and the inverse is true, brothers and sisters. If we hold to the all-relenting God, maybe we lose our convictions. Perhaps we start sinning that grace may abound in our lives and develop concepts of God that justify our sins. Perhaps we find the things God truly cares about, maybe they aren't valued in our hearts anymore as they once were in our lives. I don't know about you, brothers and sisters, but I've been both of those things. We might also ask ourselves if both these aspects of God are right, what elicits the unrelenting or the relenting? How, in other words, is God going to show himself to me in my life? Well, come with me to Jeremiah 18, brothers and sisters. Because you see, here in Jeremiah, in this book where we have so much noted to us about these contrasting elements to the character of God, I guess we start to develop an answer to that question. How is God going to show himself to you? And we see this in this chapter, this declaration, God makes on how he judges the nations. And what does he say in verse 7 of chapter 18? He says, If at any time I declare myself concerning a nation, then I would pluck it up or destroy it. But that nation turns from evil, I will relent of the disaster I intended. If I declare I will do good and plant and build a nation, yet they do evil in my sight, if they do the contrary, then I will relent of the good I intended to do it. And in other words, what we see here, brothers and sisters, is that the judgments of God, rather than being contradictory, rather than being unreconcilable, they're conditional, aren't they? Conditional on our actions. If you do good to me, says God, I will do good to you. And don't we see that same sentiment, brothers and sisters, this blueprint all throughout our Bibles? We see this in Leviticus 26. A foundational chapter of how God declared he would work for man from the beginning. What does he say? If you walk contrary to me, I will be contrary to you.

If you amend your ways, if you acknowledge iniquity and humble your hearts, then I will remember my covenants. These are the statutes, the rules, the laws, says Moses, that the Lord may between himself and Israel. David, brothers and sisters, David saw the same thing in his God. And how he worked with man, he writes to the blameless, you've shown yourself blameless, to the pure, you have been pure, to the wicked, you show yourself shrewd. And all of that draws, brothers and sisters, to a simple fundamental truth of how God will work in our lives, how he is committed to judging us from the beginning, from the days of the garden. And that's that it was always going to be done according to our ways. God will present himself in our lives, brothers and sisters, as we need him to be to us. And I don't know about you, but that's frankly quite a terrifying thing to think about. That I'm judged according to my ways, because if you're anything like me, you look in the mirror, and at the end of most every day, I don't see a person whose ways have warranted much compassion and grace. I don't see somebody whose actions have warranted much mercy and sympathy, and I'm not alone in that, brothers and sisters. In fact, in Romans 3, we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. All should be convicted guilty by the record of our actions. But, brothers and sisters, there is more nuance to the judgments of God than this, and we see this in Hosea 11. This account in which we have a clear insight into the mind, the judgments, and the characters of our God. And we see this detail to us in verse 8. It reads, my people have been bent on turning away from me. In other words, it's the heart of man. We have all fallen short. We all, brothers and sisters, have things in us that are bent on turning away from God. Yet what does he say? How can I give you up? How can I hand you over, Israel? My heart recoils within me. My compassions grow warm and tender. I will not execute my anger. I will not destroy you. For what does he say? Because I am God. And not a man. I am God and not a man. And in that one statement, brothers and sisters, is not only a picture of our God who's inclined above all things to sympathy and compassion. Not only a God who will do everything in his power to bring people to salvation, a God whose compassion moved him to hear the prayers of faithful, to answer the cries of deliverance from Egypt, the God that Jonah knew at Nineveh and accused as being gracious and boundless in mercy. But it underscores one fundamental comforting, frankly, understanding of God's judgments. And that's simply that the mind of God is not the mind of a man. The mind of God is not one that weighs judgments as we do on the records or the actions of things external, of which we'd all be convicted guilty, brothers and sisters, of which our whole society defines guilt with retribution rather than restoration in mind. Rather, the relenting of God is granted on one thing and one thing alone. We see it in the words of Hezekiah in 2 Chronicles 29 as he says, It is in my heart to make a covenant with God that he would relent for me. You see, what Hezekiah rightly knew about his God, brothers and sisters, is a fundamental truth of what God looks for in all of us. And that's the relenting of God, the grace afforded us in this life. It comes from one place and one place alone. And that's what we show God in our hearts. Don't we see that all throughout our Bibles, brothers and sisters? Don't we see that in how God selects a king upon which he'd build his promises? Don't we see that in how God describes the searching nature of His Word, a reflection ultimately of His mind and character that divides our hearts like a sword? Don't we see it in the words of David who knew intimately what God required for the forgiveness of sin, sacrifice, and burnt offerings? You do not desire, Lord, but it's a broken and contrite heart. If that's the heart, you can genuinely show your God, brothers and sisters, time and again in your life when you've made mistakes? Then know one thing, and that's that the relenting God will afford you in your life will be boundless.

We see a testament to that all throughout our Bibles. We see it in Nineveh, in which where a city of people whose extent and capacity for violence would be astonishing to us, whose brutality marked them as distinct even amongst historically brutal people. Yet at the warnings of Jonah that raised their voice, they say, let everyone turn from his way that God may relent. And what does it say when God saw it? He relented. Despite the wickedness they had done, despite the evil they would continue to do, the genuineness in their heart is sufficient for His grace. We see it in Ahab, Ahab who commits genocide against the priesthood. Ahab who wages war against the laws of God. Ahab who takes the life of Naboth, a righteous man who dies in the image of Christ. Ahab who is then convicted by God to see his throne taken from him. Any one of us sisters would have applauded and said, yes, that is justice as the mind of man could ever apply that word. Yet what does Ahab do? It's as he weeps. He rents his clothes, he puts on sackcloth, and how does God respond? Look how he's humbled himself before me. I won't bring calamity in his day. And in these words, brothers and sisters, is a picture of our God

that the apostle Peter saw. Not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to the salvation He's providing. This is the extent, brothers and sisters, to which God is willing to relent in our lives. That is the extent and the bar to which we are to show grace to others in our lives, even in the extremities of our sin. Should we cast ourselves as purposely or as far from the presence of God as possible, even there, His love will find you.

Come with me to Exodus 34, brothers and sisters, and we're going to draw ourselves to a close. You see, in our time, we've considered a few things, haven't we? We've reflected on both these contrasts of the character of God and discussed that despite their apparent paradox, God is truly both these things. A God that will stand for righteousness and is unrelenting in the face of prosecuting wrong, but whose open hand of grace is for the good of God is forever extended to those who reflect His character. In our time this morning, we consider the importance of perception, how we perceive these aspects of our God and the impact that has on our faith and behavior. We also consider the conditional nature of God's judgments, how He deals with us according to our ways. But ultimately, the judgments of God, they're founded on our heart, brothers and sisters, beyond the superficial thoughts of man. But now,

we'll close in what this practically means.

And in Exodus 34, we see a summary of everything discussed this morning. In this chapter, we see a people who have just transgressed their God, a people Aaron describes whose hearts were set only on evil. And in this chapter, we see a people who have just transgressed their God. In this chapter, God issues a judgment of destruction. In this chapter, we see Moses mediator between God and man approaches God in humility to relent His judgments. And what does it say? The Lord relents. And it's in the quiet aftermath, brothers and sisters, of this powerful moment, the display of the mercy of God when no mercy was deserved.

That Moses asked one thing, and we see it. He says, Lord, if I find favor in your sight, show me who you are.

And in that intimate moment, for the first time in all of scripture, brothers and sisters, God will describe Himself in His own words to mankind. And what does the Lord say, brothers and sisters? How does God reveal Himself? We see in verse 6, then the Lord passed before Moses and said, I am a God gracious and merciful, slow to my anger, abounding in steadfast love, and in faithfulness, keeping love to the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquities and the transgressions of sin. But by no means will I clear the guilty. By no means will I forget justice to those who should be afforded justice in this life. And I will visit the iniquity of that and the consequences of those decisions on the children and the children's children to the third and fourth generation. And in that description, brothers and sisters, as the all-encompassed view of our God that we're

character traits of God were considering, in it is the image of the relenting God of Micah 7, who pardons iniquity and passes over transgression, who delights in mercy and casts our sins to the depths of the sea. In it is the God of David, who as far as east is from west, will cast our sins from us. In these words is the unrelenting God of Isaiah 61, for I, the Lord, love justice as God. And I hate wrong and robbery, and in my faithfulness I will reward the righteous. It's the God of Matthew who Christ describes as one who hears the cries of his chosen and will not put them off forever, but will keep his covenants faithfully and afford justice to the afflicted. And I don't think we'd have it any other way, brothers and sisters. A God who will hold guilt to account in this world, those who have prayed for thousands of years on the innocent, who've used the cursed nature of this worth for self-gain. This is who God declares he will be to them, though merciful to the thousandth. By no means will I clear the wicked. And because this is who our God is, brothers and sisters, we have a hope. We see these two elements of his character all the way in the beginning, in Genesis 3, don't we? God declared, if you eat of that tree, you will surely die. And from that moment, that has been an unrelenting law of nature that has governed our world ever since. But what did he do, brothers and sisters? In his compassion and love, he relented, didn't he? He relented in the form of salvation to come, relented in the seed of a woman, relented in the form of a child who'd be the manifestation of these parts of God's character who through his sacrifice would bring life where there was only death. He relented in the promise of a king who would rule this world from the same conviction and character as father, one called both the lion and the lamb. One who would be compassionate, one who would be loving and merciful to judge with the mercy with which Joseph judged his brothers, but from Zion will enforce a law of righteousness to govern this world. Brothers and sisters, let's end in an image of that salvation to come. Let's end in an image of what is secured through the sacrifice and the relenting mercy of our Lord. And we see it in Daniel chapter 10. In the third year of Cyrus, said Daniel, I saw a vision. I lifted up my eyes and I saw a man, a man clothed in linen with a belt of gold and a skin of bronze. His face was like lightning. His eyes were torches and his voice was the sound of multitudes. And what he saw in that moment, brothers and sisters, is a depiction of Christ. An image that the son of man, an image of the son of man that centuries later, John would write of in Revelation. And Daniel says that upon seeing this vision, in that moment, I was suddenly alone. I felt no strength in me, he says. My appearance that was once radiant was now fearfully changed. I retained no strength and I fell with my face to the ground. And, brothers and sisters, in that moment, he feels the path that all flesh leads. Death. God, in his righteous judgments, what he decreed long ago would be the fate of man. But then what happens, brothers and sisters? Then, says Daniel, I heard the sound of his words. I heard them as if I was in a deep sleep with my face to the ground. And behold, a hand touched me and set me on my hands and knees. And he said, oh, Daniel, man greatly loved. Understand when I speak to you and stand for I have been sent for you. And when he spoke, I stood trembling. But he said to me, fear not, Daniel, for from the first day you set your heart to understand and you humbled yourself before God. Your words were heard and I have come because of your words. In that imagery, brothers and sisters, is a vision and experience of resurrection to come. In that imagery are the words that all the faithful, all the loved ones, all those who have fallen asleep in their convictions of faith will rise to hear. In that, brothers and sisters, is what it truly means to worship a God who relents.