Part (II) Mercy triumphs over judgement): New vs. Old Testament prophetic ministry

A former Bishop of the city of Amsterdam, a city which has long been a strong contender for the sin capital of the world, is reported to have said that if God does not judge Amsterdam, then He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah. He certainly rained down Judgement on Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24), and in fact the nations too. This was according to His promise of blessings for obedience, and cures for disobedience (Deuteronomy 30:19). So why has God not judged Amsterdam? The short answer, is that before Christ, God dealt with mankind under the Old Covenant, under the Law. But since Jesus came, we are no longer under Law, but under Grace. And as I said last day, under the New Covenant, judgement is put off until the last day in order to give time for the unrepentant to turn in repentance and be saved (2 Peter 3:9).

At some level, moral outrage is out of fashion in this post-Christian era. But moral outrage cannot be so easily denied. In fact, there seems to be as much moral outrage from unbelievers (admittedly over different issues), as there is from those who are marked by hypocritical self-righteousness. Part of this, is that being made in God’s image, we are moral agents, and our moral outrage can reflect God's own moral outrage. What I am saying, is that our strong sense of justice is God given. We rightly believe Hitler should be judged, and we are offended and appalled by genocide, rape, child abuse and the like. And we have the sense that something should be done. In fact there is coming a day, the day of Judgement, when every wrong will be put right and justice will prevail.

But there is another side of God’s nature that resides, or is at least meant to reside, in us. I am of course talking about His mercy. This however, is much easier to suppress. I know this first hand, because as I have been wrestling with these posts, I find my own sense of moral outrage that “something should be done,” is often accompanied by strong emotion. And these strong emotions do not easily subside even as I meditate on what the Scripture is saying about these things. And that is why I believe, we need the equally strong teaching from the context of this morning’ verse. It is “Judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy” (James 2:13). We need to let this sink in, and we need to let it permeate all that we think and do, and especially in the way that we give and receive the prophetic word.

Father, it is obvious to me that the Pharisee is alive and well and living both on the left and on the right, in the conservative and in the liberal, in my brothers and my sisters, and in me! It is not that long ago that You convicted me of judging those who judge, “Those blankety blank judgemental people!” I need to extend mercy to others Father, because I need mercy for me! I need Your help Lord, and I choose to humble myself before You this morning, and ask You to help me to see others the way You see them, to see the treasure not the trash. And I ask You Lord to give me prophetic words to draw out the treasure, and in this way to draw others to Yourself in Jesus Name Amen