Justice and Grace (Jeremiah 50:41-51:23)
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah+50%3A41-51%3A23&version=NIV
What jumped out at me in today’s selection was Jeremiah 51:5. “For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken by their God, the Lord Almighty, though their land is full of guilt before the Holy One of Israel.”
Jeremiah is prophesying the destruction of Babylon by the Medes. It is time for judgment and justice to be brought to bear upon the Babylonians for their idolatry, but even more so, for their destruction and subjugation of Isaiah and Judah. But Jeremiah points out that God is not doing this because Israel and Judah deserve it. On the contrary, they are still full of the guilt which brought about their destruction by Babylon in the first place.
Our God is a God of justice. In a world with so much injustice, this is good news. So often it seems that the corrupt, the immoral, the oppressive, and the evil get away with their actions. Where is the justice?
Regarding this, a few things come to my mind this morning:
The perfect justice of God will be fully realized when Christ appears in glory. Those who seem to “get away with it” in this life are still accountable to God and will appear before Him.
That includes us. That includes me.
I too have not received the judgment in this life that I deserve. I have “gotten away with it” countless times, for numerous sins, acts of selfishness, and thoughts which are really nothing more than self-idolatry.
But the same grace that Jeremiah depicts in 51:5 is for me, and for all who belong to Christ. Despite our guilt, we have not been forsaken. The judgment we deserve has been taken from us by Christ, borne fully by Him, gladly forgiven by Him. The day of Judgment for those who have received this grace will be a day of rejoicing – not because we are vindicated in our moral superiority (which we don’t have), but because for us God’s judgment and grace have perfectly come together on the cross, the empty tomb and the judgment throne.
So I am praying for justice in the world today, for God to thwart the activities of evildoers, and bring them to justice. But I am also praying for the blessing of faith to trust in God’s justice, while I live under His grace.
What is the Word leading you to pray about today?
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