Compassion without Compromise - Day 58 Month 2-27 Week 9 Day 2
Exodus 33-34:9 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2033-34%3A9&version=NASB1995
Psalm 48 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2048&version=NASB1995
Isaiah 43:14-28 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2043%3A14-28&version=NASB1995
Mark 6:33-56 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%206%3A33-56&version=NASB1995
The Israelites were very fortunate that Moses was leading them. Moses was so close to God that his conversations with God were described as speaking “face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend.” We know that statement is not literal because Moses later asks to see God’s glory and God says “you cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” Moses did get to see God’s glory from behind, though.
Moses went back to “I AM” on Israel’s behalf on several occasions. God relented from destroying Israel because of Moses.
A powerful quote in our reading today from God speaking to Moses about Himself is: “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished…”
The part of the quote “He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished” is hard to understand considering it immediately follows Him talking about His lovingkindness and forgiveness.
Sylvia and I read a portion from a book, read a bit of the Bible, and pray every evening before we go to sleep. We’ve read the Bible and prayed together since we got married but reading a book is something new in the last year and a half. Usually it is a book about faith relating to how our faith works out in this era when there seems to be a broad variation of perspectives of who God expects us to be. The book we are reading right now is called The Reason for God, Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Timothy Keller.
Tim Keller was the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City. He’s a well recognized author and theologian described by some as today’s culturally relevant equivalent of C.S.Lewis. It’s very deep and almost too deep to read at night. In the second half of the book, Tim responds to a list of the most frequently voiced doubts skeptics brought to his church about God and Jesus. One question is about forgiveness: Why did Jesus need to die? Couldn’t God just simply forgive? Tim clearly explains how when we forgive someone, the actual cost of that forgiveness is taken on ourselves. He quotes Bonhoeffer, a Christian pastor and writer from the early 20th century, a person who stood up to Hitler toward the end of the second world war and died for it. Bonhoeffer says, “everyone who forgives someone bears the other’s sins.” An example might be in a car accident where someone hits and breaks the gate into someone's property. The person technically responsible to pay is the one who did the damage. The property owner can pursue damages from the person who did the damage or could choose to forgive the person and pay for the repair themselves. Either way, the gate needs to be fixed.
All this to say, if the penalty for sin (not being right with God) is death (Genesis 2:17), and it is, then God forgiving us means He had to bear our sins which He did - through Jesus' death!
That’s a lot to take in today! If I have now left you totally confused, why not get a copy of the book, kindle version, or audiobook, The Reason for God; Belief in the Age of Scepticism. It answers lots of doubts (perhaps some you are currently experiencing)…but it’s deep. I’ll throw in a link at the bottom if you are interested.
Have a great day!
Steve
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Amazon link for all variations of “The Reason for God; Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Timothy Keller”
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