[uplifting music]
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[uplifting music]
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>>Eric Flickinger:
Welcome to "Sabbath School,"
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brought to you by It Is Written.
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Glad that you
could join us today.
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We are taking a look
at God's love and justice,
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and today we're looking
at lesson number 5 of 13.
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We are trying to understand
the wrath of divine love.
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How can you have a God of
love with the wrath of God?
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We're gonna bring
those two ideas together here
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and hopefully find an answer.
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Let's begin with prayer.
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Father, we ask that You will
bless us as we look once again
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at Your Word, at the attributes
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of Your character,
at who You truly are.
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We ask that as we do so,
You would reveal Yourself to us.
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We thank You, in
Jesus' name, amen.
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We're happy to have
with us, once again,
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the author of this quarter's
"Sabbath School" lesson,
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John Peckham. He
is an associate editor
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of the "Adventist Review,"
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and he is also serving
as a research professor
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at the Theological
Seminary at Andrews University.
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John, thanks for
being with us once again.
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>>John Peckham: My pleasure.
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>>Eric: All right,
"The Wrath of Divine Love,"
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we have this idea that
God is love, but we also have
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the wrath of God, and we're
trying to reconcile these ideas.
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Where do we get started
in pulling this together?
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>>John: Yeah, so I wanna
start with an illustration
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to kind of spark
our intuitions, right?
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So, if we were to
imagine a young child,
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let's say it's your daughter
or your son or some young child
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that you love, and
they're playing on a playground,
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and then all of a
sudden, out of nowhere comes
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an adult man who
knocks them off the swing set
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and begins
kicking and punching them.
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Would you be angry?
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Of course you
would be angry, right?
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And we call that
righteous indignation.
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Now, how you respond after that
may or may not be appropriate,
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but righteous
indignation is the proper
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and appropriate
response of love against evil.
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And the reason why the God
of the Bible gets angry at times
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and becomes wrathful at
times is because God's anger
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is always directed at evil
or sin, and sin always hurts
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at least one of God's children,
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even when it is
merely self-inflicted.
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And so, it is
actually the response of love.
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Righteous indignation is
the appropriate and righteous
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response of love against evil.
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And when God
disciplines His people,
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He disciplines them for good,
for a blessing that He intends,
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and we can see that
actually in Deuteronomy,.
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>>Eric: So, let's look
at Deuteronomy, chapter 8.
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In Deuteronomy, chapter 8,
starting in verse number 5,
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we're going to
look at verses 5 and 16.
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Verse 5 says, "You
should know in your heart
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"that as a man chastens his son,
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so the Lord your
God chastens you."
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And then down in verse
16 it says, "Who fed you in
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"the wilderness with manna,
which your fathers did not know,
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"that He might humble you
and that He might test you,
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to do you good in the end."
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>>John: Yeah, so God's
discipline is always intended
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for the good of His people.
This is redemptive discipline.
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We find this
commonly throughout Scripture.
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>>Eric: All right, so this
is not just God being wrathful,
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vengeful, there's a
redemptive quality to it, and
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righteous indignation, I think,
is a good way to describe that.
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Let's talk a little bit about
this cycle of rebellion and
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deliverance that we see over and
over again in the Old Testament.
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And I mean, if we
want to be honest about it,
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we probably see it in
our own lives as well,
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so it's not something
that is just relegated
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to Old Testament times.
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So, explain the
dynamics between human actions
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and divine responses.
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>>John: Yeah, so you have this
pattern that develops throughout
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the biblical stories where God's
people rebel, they fall away
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from Him, and they reject
God, God withdraws because
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that's the appropriate response
when they push Him away.
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He withdraws, then
often they get into trouble,
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maybe the
surrounding nations around them
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are persecuting them,
and they cry out to God,
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and God responds, and He
comes and He rescues them,
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and then sadly they fall,
often worse than the last time.
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And this continues in a
cycle, often a downward spiral
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where God keeps trying
to work with the people,
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and over and over
again this cycle continues.
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One of the reasons
it's important to see this--
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and I would
encourage anyone viewing this:
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Sometime sit down and read
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Psalm, chapter
78 and Nehemiah 9,
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and you'll see this
cycle kind of summarized
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in a couple of
different places in Scripture.
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But many people when they
read the Bible or they read
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just parts of the Bible
or maybe they only hear about
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the God of the Bible,
they think that the so-called
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God of the Old
Testament is this God of wrath
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who's perpetually
wrathful; He's always angry;
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He's always executing judgment.
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In fact, we'll see the
wrath of the Old Testament God
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is the same as the
wrath of the New Testament.
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It's divine love,
it's the same God,
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but also God is not wrathful or
executing judgment all the time.
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If you read these
stories chronologically,
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there's often a very
long time period between
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the actual instances
of judgment that appear
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in the text; if you
read them chronologically,
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God bears long with His people,
He rescues them over and over
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and over again, and
when judgment finally comes,
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God has offered a
way of escape, a warning,
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and it only comes when
there's finally no other remedy.
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It's a last resort, and
we see that, for instance,
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in 2 Chronicles 36,
which talks about the situation
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just before the
destruction of Jerusalem.
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>>Eric: So, God is
constantly trying to help,
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trying to guide,
trying to direct.
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Second Chronicles, chapter
36, verse number 16 says this:
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"But they mocked the messengers
of God, despised His words,
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"and scoffed at His prophets,
until the wrath of the Lord
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arose against His people,
till there was no remedy."
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>>John: "Until there was no
remedy," that language, right?
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They had pushed
God away so far that
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there was no other alternate
route available to Him.
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But you see consistently,
when judgment finally comes,
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sometimes it's an act of
judgment, sometimes it's God
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withdrawing--in this case, God
withdraws His protection, and
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the nation of Babylon comes
in and destroys Jerusalem, which
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God was preventing previously,
but that doesn't take place
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until God provides a
warning, a way of escape,
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and it's a last
resort, and it's not something
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that God ever wants.
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>>Eric: And so, these
are individuals who have--
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God's not
arbitrarily doing this;
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He's not vengefully doing this.
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He's saying, "Okay, I've
tried, I've tried, I've tried.
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"I'm gonna let
something happen, and maybe,
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hopefully, this will get you
headed in the right direction."
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>>John: Yes.
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>>Eric: Another Old
Testament story that probably
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bears a little bit of looking
at is the story of Jonah.
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Now, Jonah had some character
flaws--I guess that's one way
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that we could say it--and
he didn't react to God's mercy
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in the way that maybe we might
hope he would have or a way
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that we might hope we would.
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Help us understand
what's going on here.
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>>John: Yeah, in the
story of Jonah, Jonah is kind of
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a reluctant prophet,
and some people have pointed
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to the story of Jonah and
said this is really a message
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for God's people who maybe
aren't doing what we should do
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to reach people with
God's love and God's compassion.
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So, God calls
him to go to Nineveh,
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he doesn't want
to go to Nineveh.
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Nineveh, a city of Assyria,
he doesn't like the Assyrians
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because of what they had done
to God's people in the past,
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and he doesn't want them to be
saved, he doesn't want to preach
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this message, so he
goes the opposite direction.
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God, through miraculous
means, turns him around,
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and he ends up and
goes and preaches to Nineveh
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that, 40 days,
Nineveh will be destroyed.
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And even with
that simple message--
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without even, at least, recorded
in the text, a call for them
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to turn around and maybe
be spared--they recognize--
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like, the king of
Babylon is like, "Wait,
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maybe if we
repent, this won't happen."
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And so, they repent, and
God responds with compassion
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and grace, which is part of
His nature and His character,
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and you would think,
like, if you're going to preach
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an evangelistic series or
you're going to preach to a city
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and the whole city repents,
your reaction would be what?
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>>Eric: It would
be, "Hallelujah!"
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>>John: This is fantastic, but
that is not Jonah's reaction.
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We see Jonah's
reaction in Jonah, chapter 4,
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which is the opposite
reaction, a shocking reaction.
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>>Eric: So, let's look at that;
that's in Jonah, chapter 4.
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We're going to look
at verses 1 through 4.
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"But it
displeased Jonah exceedingly,
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"and he became angry.
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"So he prayed to the
Lord, and said, 'Ah, Lord,
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"'was not this what I said
when I was still in my country?
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"'Therefore I fled
previously to Tarshish;
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"'for I know that You are
a gracious and merciful God,
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"'slow to anger and
abundant in lovingkindness,
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"'One who
relents from doing harm.
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"'Therefore now, O Lord,
please take my life from me,
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"for it is better for
me to die than to live!'
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Then the Lord said, 'Is it
right for you to be angry?'"
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>>John: Yeah. What
an amazing response.
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Jonah is not pleased with
the results of these efforts,
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that this whole
city has been spared,
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he is angry, and he
actually chastises God
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for being too
compassionate and too gracious.
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He says, "God, I knew you
were going to do this because
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I know this is Your character
of compassion and grace."
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And you see the juxtaposition
between a God who is just--
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His very nature is compassion
and grace, and that's why Jonah
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didn't want to go, he
knew He was going to do this,
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and Jonah's reaction, which
is he doesn't want these people
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to be saved, he doesn't
want them to be forgiven,
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and sometimes we
can fall this way, too.
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We can think, "Oh, those people
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"maybe aren't worth the trouble
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or they aren't
worth the effort."
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Hopefully that's not
the way we think of anyone
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because everyone is a precious
child for whom Christ has died.
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And it's just an amazing
reaction that Jonah gives that
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not only shows us some
things about Jonah, and maybe
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about ourselves, but also shows
that God is so compassionate
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and gracious that Jonah thought
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He was too
compassionate and gracious.
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>>Eric: And this, you
know, smack in the heart
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of the Old Testament, and again,
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we've got this
idea, or we hear--
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maybe that's the
better way of saying it--
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we hear that God
is this wrathful,
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vengeful God of anger and
hate in the Old Testament,
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and Jonah is saying,
"I knew this, I knew this,
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and everybody else
should have known it, too."
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>>John: And these are Assyrians.
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These are Assyrians; these
are the enemies of God's people
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who had destroyed
the northern kingdom.
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I mean, they've ravaged
them, and these are the people
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that God goes and saves.
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And so, you can
see how an Israelite
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might have difficulty
with that, but this just shows
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how extravagant
God's compassion is.
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>>Eric: And we're probably not
going to go into great detail
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here, but this
people group was not known
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for treating their
enemies with kindness.
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>>John: Not at all.
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>>Eric: You do just a
brief search and you'll find
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some of the stuff that they
did to their enemies, and it'll
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make your stomach churn,
but God even forgave them.
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So, we're looking here
at the wrath of divine love.
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We're dipping into
it in the quarterly,
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but we're not
delving into it as deeply
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as perhaps we could
or have the ability to.
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Share with us a little
bit about that companion book
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and what someone might
get from this week's lesson
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if they picked up
the companion book.
00:11:34.12\00:11:35.99
>>John: Yeah, so in
the companion book I can
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go more deeply into the nature
of divine anger, specifically
00:11:38.29\00:11:42.03
in the companion book I lay out
four myths about divine wrath,
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common myths like
the Old Testament God
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and the New
Testament God are different,
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that love and wrath are
incompatible, et cetera,
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and I break those down,
and I show how the Bible paints
00:11:52.51\00:11:54.94
a different
picture of God's wrath
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and how it relates to
God's love and how it shows
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just a deeper picture of
the character of our great God.
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>>Eric: So, if you
are interested in that,
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and I would hope that you are,
00:12:04.92\00:12:06.89
make sure that you
pick up that companion book.
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It's easy to find.
00:12:09.39\00:12:10.69
Just go to itiswritten.shop.
00:12:10.73\00:12:13.36
Again, itiswritten.shop
00:12:13.40\00:12:15.60
and look for the companion book
00:12:15.63\00:12:17.27
to this quarter's
"Sabbath School" lesson.
00:12:17.30\00:12:19.90
We are really looking
at a significant subject
00:12:19.93\00:12:22.54
during this quarter.
00:12:22.57\00:12:24.44
Throughout this quarter, we're
looking at how we can understand
00:12:24.47\00:12:27.64
a God of love and a God
of justice in the same Being.
00:12:27.68\00:12:33.35
Because a lot of times we have
difficulty kind of reconciling
00:12:33.38\00:12:36.52
those ideas, but the Bible
does a beautiful job on it,
00:12:36.55\00:12:40.59
and throughout this quarter
00:12:40.62\00:12:42.42
we are delving into it
to get a better picture,
00:12:42.46\00:12:44.69
a deeper picture, a
deeper understanding
00:12:44.73\00:12:46.53
of what that God of
love and justice looks like.
00:12:46.56\00:12:50.27
Now, we're on lesson
number five right now.
00:12:50.30\00:12:53.27
If you happen to have missed
any of the previous lessons,
00:12:53.30\00:12:56.20
you can go back
and watch them again;
00:12:56.24\00:12:58.87
they are archived in
several different places.
00:12:58.91\00:13:01.24
You will find them
on the It Is Written
00:13:01.28\00:13:03.55
YouTube channel, and
you will also find them
00:13:03.58\00:13:05.75
on itiswritten.tv.
00:13:05.78\00:13:08.55
So, itiswritten.tv
00:13:08.58\00:13:10.55
or the It Is
Written YouTube channel,
00:13:10.59\00:13:12.75
you can go back and
look at previous lessons,
00:13:12.79\00:13:15.36
and please do share with others.
00:13:15.39\00:13:18.03
If you are
appreciating this lesson,
00:13:18.06\00:13:20.26
if you're getting something out
of it and you think that others
00:13:20.30\00:13:23.16
would as well, please make
sure to let them know about it.
00:13:23.20\00:13:26.67
So, just because an episode
happens to have already aired
00:13:26.70\00:13:29.67
doesn't mean that
it is gone forever.
00:13:29.70\00:13:32.04
We're going to
continue our look now
00:13:32.07\00:13:34.48
at "The Wrath of Divine Love"
00:13:34.51\00:13:37.15
in just a moment
when we come back.
00:13:37.18\00:13:39.11
We'll be right back
with more "Sabbath School"
00:13:39.15\00:13:41.98
from It Is Written.
00:13:42.02\00:13:43.99
[uplifting music]
00:13:44.02\00:13:46.02
>>John Bradshaw: There's
something I want to tell you
00:13:47.69\00:13:49.16
about that is so important;
it's My Place With Jesus,
00:13:49.19\00:13:53.83
It Is Written's
ministry to children.
00:13:53.86\00:13:57.17
Take the children you care
about to myplacewithjesus.com.
00:13:57.20\00:14:02.17
At My Place With
Jesus, you'll find so much
00:14:02.20\00:14:05.01
that will bless your
children or grandchildren
00:14:05.04\00:14:07.68
or great-grandchildren
or the children at church.
00:14:07.71\00:14:11.51
There are the My Place With
Jesus Bible Guides, 21 studies
00:14:11.55\00:14:16.52
that will take the children you
care about into the Word of God.
00:14:16.55\00:14:20.56
They'll learn the important
things, especially the love
00:14:20.59\00:14:24.23
of God and the
sacrifice Jesus made for them.
00:14:24.26\00:14:28.00
As well, take your children
to Journey Through the Bible.
00:14:28.03\00:14:31.27
It's there at
myplacewithjesus.com.
00:14:31.30\00:14:33.60
It's a special Bible reading
program that will get children
00:14:33.64\00:14:37.61
into the habit of
reading their Bible daily
00:14:37.64\00:14:40.14
and connecting
with God regularly.
00:14:40.18\00:14:42.14
So, don't forget:
myplacewithjesus.com
00:14:42.18\00:14:45.25
from It Is Written.
00:14:45.28\00:14:46.61
[uplifting music]
00:14:47.62\00:14:52.59
>>Eric: Welcome
back to "Sabbath School,"
00:14:52.62\00:14:54.06
brought to you by It Is Written.
00:14:54.09\00:14:56.06
We are taking a look
at lesson number five
00:14:56.09\00:14:58.26
of our study on the love
of God and the justice of God.
00:14:58.29\00:15:03.57
We're continuing our look
into the wrath of divine love.
00:15:03.60\00:15:07.57
John, there's an interesting
story in the New Testament
00:15:07.60\00:15:10.64
involving Jesus, and He's there
in the temple and experiencing
00:15:10.67\00:15:16.98
something we might
call righteous indignation.
00:15:17.01\00:15:20.08
This story is recounted--
nothing in the Bible is there
00:15:20.12\00:15:23.32
just because; there's a lesson
for us to learn from this story.
00:15:23.35\00:15:26.89
Walk us through this story.
00:15:26.92\00:15:28.72
>>John: Yeah, this story
shows us a number of things
00:15:28.76\00:15:31.96
about the
righteous indignation of God.
00:15:31.99\00:15:34.46
First of all, many
people think that a God of love
00:15:34.50\00:15:40.14
should not get angry in
the first place, and they say
00:15:40.17\00:15:43.61
the God of the Old
Testament is different
00:15:43.64\00:15:46.11
from the God of
the New Testament.
00:15:46.14\00:15:47.64
"The God of the Old
Testament gets angry."
00:15:47.68\00:15:49.24
Perhaps you've heard this:
"The God of the Old Testament
00:15:49.28\00:15:51.25
is a God of wrath."
00:15:51.28\00:15:52.75
But actually when you
look at the New Testament,
00:15:52.78\00:15:54.15
you see that Jesus also gets
angry, but He gets angry only
00:15:54.18\00:15:59.35
with the appropriate response
of righteous indignation.
00:15:59.39\00:16:03.43
And we see that--we
can see that in Matthew 21,
00:16:03.46\00:16:05.86
Matthew 21,
verses 12 through 13.
00:16:05.89\00:16:09.06
>>Eric: "Then Jesus
went into the temple of God
00:16:09.10\00:16:11.20
"and drove out all those who
bought and sold in the temple,
00:16:11.23\00:16:14.60
"and overturned the
tables of the money changers
00:16:14.64\00:16:17.21
"and the seats of
those who sold doves.
00:16:17.24\00:16:19.47
"And He said to
them, 'It is written,
00:16:19.51\00:16:21.81
"'My house shall be
called a house of prayer,'
00:16:21.84\00:16:24.35
but you have made
it a 'den of thieves.'"
00:16:24.38\00:16:27.48
>>John: So, it's
important to recognize here
00:16:27.52\00:16:30.52
what is making Christ so angry.
00:16:30.55\00:16:33.25
Obviously they're misusing
God's house for financial gain,
00:16:33.29\00:16:36.86
but even more
than that is going on.
00:16:36.89\00:16:39.03
There's a reason why
He says, "You have made
00:16:39.06\00:16:40.70
my Father's house
a den of thieves."
00:16:40.73\00:16:42.93
Because you have people
that are coming to the temple
00:16:42.96\00:16:44.97
to reconcile their
relationship with God.
00:16:45.00\00:16:47.87
They're bringing
offerings as part of the system
00:16:47.90\00:16:49.84
that is supposed to
make atonement for their sins
00:16:49.87\00:16:52.27
and reconcile them to God.
00:16:52.31\00:16:55.31
And so, they
come with an offering,
00:16:55.34\00:16:57.08
and the offering
needs to be unblemished.
00:16:57.11\00:16:59.81
So, it wasn't uncommon where
those who were at the temple,
00:16:59.85\00:17:03.65
they would find a
blemish in the offering,
00:17:03.69\00:17:06.02
even if there
wasn't really one there,
00:17:06.05\00:17:09.29
and then you have to buy a
new offering at the temple.
00:17:09.32\00:17:12.63
But, oh, wait, you can't
use your regular money here,
00:17:12.66\00:17:15.60
you have to use temple money, so
you have to exchange your coins
00:17:15.63\00:17:19.03
for temple money, and there's
just a small exchange rate.
00:17:19.07\00:17:22.67
So, you can see what
was happening at this time,
00:17:22.70\00:17:25.31
where God's house was being
used in a way that was actually
00:17:25.34\00:17:28.18
taking advantage of people,
widows and orphans and the poor.
00:17:28.21\00:17:31.41
They're coming to have their
relationship with God restored,
00:17:31.45\00:17:34.28
and they're being misused
and swindled by the very ones
00:17:34.32\00:17:38.45
that should be the conduit
of their relationship with God.
00:17:38.49\00:17:41.76
And so, Jesus is
angry about this.
00:17:41.79\00:17:43.56
This is righteous indignation.
00:17:43.59\00:17:45.26
This is why He
turns over the tables,
00:17:45.29\00:17:46.93
and He's
rightfully angry, again,
00:17:46.96\00:17:48.63
because this is
harming His people.
00:17:48.66\00:17:51.33
And as I said before,
God gets angry at evil
00:17:51.37\00:17:54.14
because evil always harms
at least one of God's children.
00:17:54.17\00:17:57.61
It's the appropriate response of
love against evil and injustice.
00:17:57.64\00:18:01.14
And Jesus
displays the same reaction
00:18:01.18\00:18:03.48
that you find of the
so-called Old Testament God
00:18:03.51\00:18:05.81
because Jesus
just is the same God.
00:18:05.85\00:18:09.32
This is why He could
say, "If you have seen me,
00:18:09.35\00:18:10.99
you have seen the Father."
00:18:11.02\00:18:12.49
>>Eric: So, He has a reason,
a purpose, an appropriate
00:18:12.52\00:18:15.96
reason for this righteous
indignation that He experiences.
00:18:15.99\00:18:19.39
Now, what about God--
00:18:19.43\00:18:22.60
how does the idea that God
does not afflict willingly and
00:18:22.63\00:18:26.10
that His judgment or His anger
is always in response to harm--
00:18:26.13\00:18:29.84
how does that help us understand
His character a little bit more?
00:18:29.87\00:18:33.54
>>John: Yeah, I want to
look directly at Lamentations 3
00:18:33.58\00:18:36.51
and see the wording
that God Himself uses there.
00:18:36.54\00:18:39.31
Actually, in Lamentations
3, verses 31 through 33,
00:18:39.35\00:18:43.32
if you look through
the chapter, you'll see
00:18:43.35\00:18:45.89
this is just about 10 verses
after the section, which is
00:18:45.92\00:18:49.06
where we get the song
"Great Is Thy Faithfulness,"
00:18:49.09\00:18:51.13
and it's just right
there in Lamentations 3:
00:18:51.16\00:18:53.29
"Great is Thy faithfulness."
00:18:53.33\00:18:54.60
And then we come to verses
31 through 33, and it says,
00:18:54.63\00:18:58.87
"For the Lord will
not cast off forever.
00:18:58.90\00:19:03.47
"Though He causes grief,
yet He will show compassion
00:19:03.51\00:19:06.54
"according to the
multitude of His mercies.
00:19:06.57\00:19:09.44
"For He does not
afflict willingly,
00:19:09.48\00:19:11.95
nor grieve the children of men."
00:19:11.98\00:19:15.78
So, in this passage we
see that God does sometimes
00:19:15.82\00:19:20.32
bring judgment,
again, only after warning,
00:19:20.36\00:19:23.43
only after there's an
opportunity for response,
00:19:23.46\00:19:26.16
only as a last
resort, and often as a matter
00:19:26.19\00:19:28.46
of redemptive discipline
to do good in the end.
00:19:28.50\00:19:30.83
But even when He does
bring judgment, it says,
00:19:30.87\00:19:33.34
"He does not afflict willingly."
00:19:33.37\00:19:36.47
And literally the
Hebrew construction there
00:19:36.50\00:19:38.74
that's translated "willingly,"
it can literally be translated
00:19:38.77\00:19:41.38
"from His heart." He does
not afflict from His heart.
00:19:41.41\00:19:45.11
He doesn't want
to bring judgment.
00:19:45.15\00:19:46.75
He doesn't want to discipline.
00:19:46.78\00:19:48.82
Just like any good
parent that has to discipline
00:19:48.85\00:19:50.95
their children, this is
not the desire of His heart,
00:19:50.99\00:19:53.42
it's not
something that He enjoys,
00:19:53.46\00:19:54.26
and it's unlike
sometimes in human relationships
00:19:55.26\00:19:57.89
where we overreact, His
is always a reaction of love,
00:19:57.93\00:20:01.60
but it's for the
good of the relationship.
00:20:01.63\00:20:04.97
It's for the good of the people.
00:20:05.00\00:20:07.37
And sometimes it's the
last resort that God uses
00:20:07.40\00:20:09.87
to keep the people from
going over a cliff, if you will.
00:20:09.90\00:20:14.38
Like, if you think
of an illustration,
00:20:14.41\00:20:16.64
imagine that you
saw a young child,
00:20:16.68\00:20:18.85
or maybe it's your own
child, and they're running
00:20:18.88\00:20:21.85
toward a cliff, but
they don't know it, right?
00:20:21.88\00:20:23.92
You're playing at the
park, there's a precipice
00:20:23.95\00:20:26.15
they could fall over, and
they're just running gleefully,
00:20:26.19\00:20:28.32
they don't know it's there, and
they're getting too close to it,
00:20:28.36\00:20:31.53
that shouting and expecting them
to stop is not going to work,
00:20:31.56\00:20:35.46
so your only chance to keep
them from falling over the cliff
00:20:35.50\00:20:38.90
is to run as fast as you can and
tackle them so that the friction
00:20:38.93\00:20:43.04
will stop both of your
momentum and they will be saved.
00:20:43.07\00:20:45.41
Of course, the problem is
they're unfortunately probably
00:20:45.44\00:20:48.24
going to be hurt by you tackling
them, but will you do it?
00:20:48.28\00:20:51.11
>>Eric: Absolutely.
00:20:51.15\00:20:52.45
>>John: You will do it because
it's the only way to save them.
00:20:52.48\00:20:55.45
And sometimes some
of the instances of
00:20:55.48\00:20:57.62
divine discipline in the Bible,
they are like that, right?
00:20:57.65\00:21:00.96
God is trying to get
their attention in a way
00:21:00.99\00:21:02.46
that keeps them from going
over the cliff, as it were.
00:21:02.49\00:21:05.56
It's really
redemptive mercy and compassion.
00:21:05.59\00:21:07.36
>>Eric: So again,
we're seeing this same thing.
00:21:07.40\00:21:09.33
It's redemptive in
nature. God tries other things.
00:21:09.36\00:21:13.00
He doesn't want
to go this route,
00:21:13.03\00:21:14.67
but in love He does end up going
this route from time to time.
00:21:14.70\00:21:19.54
The Bible also describes
God as being slow to anger.
00:21:19.57\00:21:23.78
That's part of His nature.
00:21:23.81\00:21:25.48
He doesn't leap that direction
instantly; He's slow to anger.
00:21:25.51\00:21:30.29
What about us?
00:21:30.32\00:21:32.09
How does that--how
should that impact us
00:21:32.12\00:21:34.09
as we interact with others?
00:21:34.12\00:21:37.29
Sometimes just the thought
of having to interact with
00:21:37.33\00:21:41.10
somebody else kind of gets
our-- we tense up, and we just--
00:21:41.13\00:21:44.73
we know there's going to
be conflict and so forth.
00:21:44.77\00:21:47.77
How should knowing that God is
slow to anger impact our lives?
00:21:47.80\00:21:52.57
>>John: Yeah, often many of
us, we're quick to anger, right?
00:21:52.61\00:21:55.74
We have no
problem with indignation.
00:21:55.78\00:21:58.41
Sometimes we have
trouble with the righteous part,
00:21:58.45\00:22:00.58
or sometimes we have
self-righteous indignation,
00:22:00.62\00:22:03.59
which isn't
really righteous at all.
00:22:03.62\00:22:06.92
And I think what
we learn from this is,
00:22:06.96\00:22:09.16
whereas our default
mode is often to be offended
00:22:09.19\00:22:12.06
or to respond in anger or to
look for justice for ourselves,
00:22:12.09\00:22:14.83
God's default mode is compassion
00:22:14.86\00:22:17.67
and how to bring justice
for others, how to bring--
00:22:17.70\00:22:20.90
in order to restore relationship
or restore the good.
00:22:20.94\00:22:23.47
And here I think this is
just the modus operandi of God.
00:22:23.51\00:22:26.98
This is what we find
about God's character.
00:22:27.01\00:22:29.21
In fact, the major passage
that describes God's character
00:22:29.24\00:22:32.28
in the Old Testament is
Exodus 34, verses 6 through 7.
00:22:32.31\00:22:35.95
This is actually what Jonah
was almost quoting earlier when
00:22:35.98\00:22:39.95
he was chastising God for being
too compassionate and gracious.
00:22:39.99\00:22:42.29
He was pointing to this text,
00:22:42.32\00:22:43.66
and I want us to
just see it together,
00:22:43.69\00:22:44.89
Exodus 34, verses 6 through 7.
00:22:44.93\00:22:47.00
>>Eric: "And the Lord passed
before him and proclaimed,
00:22:47.03\00:22:49.16
"'The Lord, the Lord
God, merciful and gracious,
00:22:49.20\00:22:52.10
"'longsuffering, and
abounding in goodness and truth,
00:22:52.13\00:22:55.44
"'keeping mercy for thousands,
00:22:55.47\00:22:57.47
"'forgiving iniquity
and transgression and sin,
00:22:57.51\00:23:00.44
"'by no means
clearing the guilty,
00:23:00.48\00:23:02.81
"'visiting the iniquity of
the fathers upon the children
00:23:02.84\00:23:05.61
"'and the children's children
00:23:05.65\00:23:07.18
to the third and...
fourth generation.'"
00:23:07.22\00:23:09.68
>>John: First, I want
us to see in this text that
00:23:09.72\00:23:11.02
God's compassion and
His grace and His mercy
00:23:11.05\00:23:13.02
is juxtaposed with
His justice, right?
00:23:13.05\00:23:15.16
So, He doesn't
bestow compassion and grace
00:23:15.19\00:23:16.93
in a way that actually
undermines justice in the end.
00:23:16.96\00:23:20.90
He will not forgive
iniquity and transgression,
00:23:20.93\00:23:23.93
except through a way of justice,
but He does provide forgiveness.
00:23:23.97\00:23:27.27
He does provide a way forward.
00:23:27.30\00:23:29.54
And some people stumble
over that last part of the text
00:23:29.57\00:23:32.44
that talks about
visiting iniquity
00:23:32.47\00:23:33.94
to the third and
the fourth generation.
00:23:33.98\00:23:36.18
There I think we
need to recognize
00:23:36.21\00:23:38.45
that often the consequences
of sin are going to fall
00:23:38.48\00:23:41.45
on multiple generations.
00:23:41.48\00:23:42.95
If you have a father or a mother
who falls, it's going to affect
00:23:42.98\00:23:45.49
their children, and if their
grandchildren are still alive,
00:23:45.52\00:23:49.06
it's going to have those
generational consequences there.
00:23:49.09\00:23:51.59
But actually in the
passage, that's juxtaposed
00:23:51.63\00:23:54.10
with where it says He
shows mercy or lovingkindness.
00:23:54.10\00:23:57.00
It's an extremely
rich word there, "hesed,"
00:23:57.03\00:24:00.44
which some commentators say it's
so rich it cannot be translated
00:24:00.47\00:24:04.94
except by a whole paragraph
because it's this covenant love
00:24:04.97\00:24:08.24
and mercy, and it also
has the idea of justice in it.
00:24:08.28\00:24:11.08
But it says He
shows lovingkindness
00:24:11.11\00:24:13.38
or mercy to thousands, and
actually that should probably
00:24:13.42\00:24:16.52
be translated that He
shows this lovingkindness
00:24:16.55\00:24:18.95
and mercy to the
"thousandth" generation.
00:24:18.99\00:24:20.92
So, you have the consequences of
sin that fall maybe to the third
00:24:20.96\00:24:23.76
and the fourth generation, but
His mercy, His lovingkindness
00:24:23.79\00:24:26.43
far exceeds that, exponentially,
to the thousandth generation.
00:24:26.46\00:24:30.23
Then if you look at that
language of being slow to anger,
00:24:30.27\00:24:33.44
there is a
beautiful metaphor here.
00:24:33.47\00:24:36.47
Literally the language, "slow to
anger," the literal Hebrew term
00:24:36.50\00:24:42.48
that is translated,
that means "long of nose,"
00:24:42.51\00:24:45.11
[laughing] "long of nose."
00:24:45.15\00:24:46.95
Now, if you think of "long
of nose"--maybe some people
00:24:46.98\00:24:49.28
think of Pinocchio; it
has nothing to do with that.
00:24:49.32\00:24:51.69
It's not that; it's a
different kind of idea.
00:24:51.72\00:24:55.56
So, when you begin--and this
is common in Hebrew language
00:24:55.59\00:24:58.96
where you have abstract concepts
are built on concrete things.
00:24:58.99\00:25:04.50
And actually the
word for "nos" in Hebrew
00:25:04.53\00:25:07.40
is the same as the
word for "anger." Why?
00:25:07.44\00:25:09.77
Because when you get angry,
your nose might become hot,
00:25:09.80\00:25:13.78
or maybe it will turn
red when you get angry.
00:25:13.81\00:25:16.44
And so, the idea of
God being "long of nose"
00:25:16.48\00:25:18.85
is that it takes a very long
time for His nose to get hot,
00:25:18.88\00:25:23.28
for His nose to
become angry, to become red
00:25:23.32\00:25:28.42
because it takes Him a
long time to become angry.
00:25:28.46\00:25:31.43
Whereas we are quick to
anger, He is slow to anger,
00:25:31.46\00:25:35.13
and this is
wonderful news for us.
00:25:35.16\00:25:37.03
In fact, 2 Peter 3:9,
one of my favorite texts,
00:25:37.07\00:25:41.20
it just says God is
longsuffering toward us, right?
00:25:41.24\00:25:45.11
It's not that God is slow
to bring about His promises,
00:25:45.14\00:25:47.64
but He is
longsuffering toward us,
00:25:47.68\00:25:49.44
not willing that
any should perish.
00:25:49.48\00:25:52.11
And it's because He's so
longsuffering that He does
00:25:52.15\00:25:54.12
everything He can to make a
way to save as many as possible.
00:25:54.15\00:25:57.45
>>Eric: If somebody's watching
this program and they've heard
00:25:57.49\00:26:00.42
that God is an angry,
vengeful, hurtful God,
00:26:00.46\00:26:05.73
we've seen some evidence
here that that's not the case.
00:26:05.76\00:26:08.16
What would you tell
them to encourage them
00:26:08.20\00:26:10.83
that God is patient,
that He is longsuffering,
00:26:10.87\00:26:15.40
and that He wants the best?
>>John: I would say two things.
00:26:15.44\00:26:18.07
I would say, first of all, if
you look at everything that God
00:26:18.11\00:26:20.94
is doing, throughout the
biblical stories you will see
00:26:20.98\00:26:24.08
that He is bearing long
withHis people all the time.
00:26:24.11\00:26:27.25
His mercy is much deeper and
wider than most of us realize.
00:26:27.28\00:26:30.89
That shouldn't be an
excuse for us to test the limits
00:26:30.92\00:26:34.49
and see how close to the
side of the cliff can I get
00:26:34.52\00:26:36.73
without falling over?
00:26:36.76\00:26:38.43
But God, actually, His
mercy throughout Scripture
00:26:38.46\00:26:41.73
is far beyond any
reasonable expectations,
00:26:41.76\00:26:46.13
so much so that Jonah's reaction
isn't all that uncommon.
00:26:46.17\00:26:49.94
Often the question that people
raise in the Old Testament
00:26:49.97\00:26:53.41
is not, "God, why
did You bring judgment?"
00:26:53.44\00:26:56.24
But, "God, why
haven't You brought judgment
00:26:56.28\00:26:58.41
more quickly or sooner?"
00:26:58.45\00:27:00.22
And it's because He
is so longsuffering.
00:27:00.25\00:27:02.62
And so, we can trust the God
who wants what is best for us
00:27:02.65\00:27:06.55
and the God who's
willing to come and identify
00:27:06.59\00:27:08.72
with us in Christ
and suffer with us.
00:27:08.76\00:27:10.43
>>Eric: That gives us a
beautiful picture of God,
00:27:10.46\00:27:12.93
and I think one that we're going
to be continuing to unravel
00:27:12.96\00:27:15.03
as we go through the remainder
of this quarter's lesson.
00:27:15.06\00:27:18.03
We're glad that you are
joining us on this journey.
00:27:18.07\00:27:20.60
It's an exciting journey.
It's a journey that helps us
00:27:20.64\00:27:22.94
to understand more
clearly the character of God.
00:27:22.97\00:27:26.98
He brought us into
existence in order to love us,
00:27:27.01\00:27:30.61
to have someone to love,
and for us to return that love.
00:27:30.65\00:27:33.52
It is reciprocal, it goes
both ways, and we're seeing that
00:27:33.55\00:27:37.12
when He does become
angry, it's not a misplaced--
00:27:37.15\00:27:41.79
it's an appropriately-leveled
anger that is redemptive
00:27:41.82\00:27:45.93
in nature, and God
wants His people to be saved.
00:27:45.96\00:27:50.40
We're going to continue learning
more about Him as we continue
00:27:50.43\00:27:52.87
looking at God's
love and judgment here
00:27:52.90\00:27:55.80
on "Sabbath School,"
brought to you by It Is Written.
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