[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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Thanks for joining us this week.
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We are looking
today at lesson number 6--
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this is a fantastic subject--
"God's Love of Justice."
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This is part of the
larger theme that we're studying
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this quarter, and that is
the God of love and justice.
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We're gonna see these two
ideas come together today.
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Let's begin with prayer.
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Father, we ask that You
will bless us, once again,
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as we study Your Word.
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Help us to
understand how You love justice
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and how that is a
part of Your character.
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We ask Your blessing on
our time together today,
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and we thank You,
in Jesus' name, amen.
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Well, we're grateful to have,
once again, with us this week
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the author of this quarter's
"Sabbath School" lesson;
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that is John Peckham.
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He is an associate
editor at the "Adventist Review"
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and also a research professor
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at the Theological
Seminary at Andrews University.
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John, thanks for being with us.
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>>John Peckham:
Thank you for having me.
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>>Eric: So, this
week we're looking at
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"God's Love of Justice."
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The Ancient Near-Eastern
deities had some characteristics
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that kind of contrast
with the God of the Bible.
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How are they different and
how might somebody's perspective
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of God, that is, the
God, be influenced by maybe
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some things that
they've experienced,
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or are familiar with, with
these Ancient Near-Eastern gods?
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>>John: Yeah, the
Ancient Near-Eastern gods are
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in some ways akin to, like,
a supervillain in a comic book,
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they have
superhuman characteristics,
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they have superhuman
strengths and powers,
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and yet they also
have superhuman defects
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and foibles and sins.
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So, if you look at
the kinds of things
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that humans struggle with--
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selfishness, anger, violence,
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all kinds of
horrible character defects--
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but they tend to be magnified in
these Ancient Near-Eastern gods.
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And one of the things
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that the Ancient Near-Eastern
systems of sacrifices
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was intended to do
was to placate these gods,
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to keep them happy
with the people, and maybe,
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if you gave them
enough offerings,
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then they would treat you well,
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they wouldn't bring
destruction on you or some kind
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of a calamity, but one of the
big problems for them is these
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Ancient Near-Eastern gods,
they're actually very fickle;
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they're unreliable.
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You don't know what
will please them one day
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and make them
angry the next day.
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You could do everything
seemingly right, and they're
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still angry, or in some
cases they just didn't know what
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these crazy gods might
want; they couldn't be trusted.
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And so, if you think of living
like a person in those days,
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that you're just walking
on eggshells every day about
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how you could be in right
relationship with these gods
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that you think are
controlling everything
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that's happening around you.
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The God of the
Bible is the opposite,
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He's perfect in every
way, He's perfect in character,
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He's a God of love
but also a God of justice,
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and He tells His people
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exactly what He
expects of them in His law.
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And in His law, He tells
them what He expects of them,
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not for His sake but
for their sake, because
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what He asks of them is
actually what is good for them;
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it's actually what brings
flourishing to their life.
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And so this is why you have the
psalmists over and over again
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say things like,
"Oh, how I love Your law,"
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because this was a
great blessing to them,
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that you have a God
who Himself is consistent
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and constant, His
character never changes,
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and He also
clearly lays out precisely
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what He expects of
people and how things will go
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well for them, again, not
for His own sake but because
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He's always looking for
the flourishing of His people.
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>>Eric: So, God is looking out
for His people, He's constant,
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He's dependable, He's loving,
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but we've also got
this idea of justice.
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So, how do we get this
God of love and God of justice
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together in a way
that makes sense to us?
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Because maybe we have a
difficult--many of us have
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a difficult time finding out
how those two sync beautifully.
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How can we reconcile that?
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>>John: Yeah, in
Scripture, these concepts
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that sometimes seem to
us like they're far apart,
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they're actually
very closely intertwined.
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According to Scripture,
you cannot have true love
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without justice, the kind of
love that will allow injustice
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and evil and
suffering to continue forever,
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that's not love at all.
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And so, love and justice go
together, love without justice
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isn't really loving, and justice
without love could be harsh
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or could be exacting, it
also wouldn't be the same,
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but for God, these
two things go together.
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And we see in Scripture that
it's not just that God is love,
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He is, He's love, and it's
not just that God is a just God,
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but these are actually part
and parcel of His character,
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and God Himself loves justice.
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So, there's a number of passages
that just teach this explicitly
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that I want us to see.
One is in Psalm 33, verse 5.
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>>Eric: "He loves
righteousness and justice;
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the earth is full of
the goodness of the Lord."
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>>John: So, you
notice in that text,
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it's just an object of His love,
His righteousness and justice,
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and "the earth is full of
the goodness of the Lord."
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So, you see how
these concepts go together;
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they are inextricably linked.
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We could also read Isaiah 61,
verse 8, and I will read that.
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God Himself is speaking
here, He says, "For I, the Lord,
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"love justice; I hate
robbery for burnt offering;
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"I will direct
their work in truth,
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and will make with them
an everlasting covenant."
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So what does God hate?
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Robbery--or any kind of
injustice, any kind of evil,
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again, because it always harms
at least one of His children,
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but He loves, He loves justice.
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And so, it's not just that
God is love on the one hand
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and He's just on the other
hand, these things go together,
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in fact, they're the
foundation of His government,
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and this is what the
psalmist teaches in Psalm 89.
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>>Eric: In Psalm 89 and
verse number 14, it says,
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"Righteousness and justice are
the foundation of Your throne;
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mercy and truth
go before Your face."
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>>John: And you see how
these concepts fit together,
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you have
righteousness and justice,
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the foundation of His throne,
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and, in fact, as we'll talk
about later in this quarter,
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this is at the center of what
we call "the cosmic conflict"
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or "the great controversy,"
that there are questions raised:
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Is God really
righteous? Is He really just?
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And actually His very government
is built on this concept.
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But juxtaposed with that,
in parallel is mercy and truth,
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or lovingkindness and
faithfulness is another way
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of translating those
terms; they're very commonly
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put together in
the Old Testament,
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faithfulness and lovingkindness
or mercy and truth.
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And these are also central
to God's government and central
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to God's very character
because the way that He governs,
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the way that He
acts in the world
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is just always an
expression of His love,
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which is always just,
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and His
righteousness is always loving,
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these two things cannot be
separated in God's character.
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And when we think of
them as separated, we actually
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have an impoverished concept
of both at work in our minds.
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>>Eric: Speaking of things
that go together when it comes
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to God, I want to
delve for a moment or two
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into the ideas of
faithfulness and righteousness.
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How do faithfulness and
righteousness work together?
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Let's look at a couple
of different passages here.
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Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy,
chapter 32 and verse number 4.
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In Deuteronomy 32, verse
4, it says, "He is the Rock,
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"His work is perfect;
for all His ways are justice,
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"a God of truth
and without injustice;
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righteous and upright is He."
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>>John: If you look at that
verse, I don't know how else you
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could say more strongly
that God is perfectly righteous
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and just all the time.
There's no evil in Him, right?
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It just stated
directly, "His work is perfect."
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All His ways--not some of His
ways--all His ways are justice.
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He's a God of truth,
and He's without injustice.
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So, if we miss it the first
time, right, that all His ways
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are just, He's without
any injustice, and then
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He's righteous, He's upright,
again, it's like using all
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of the language
you could use to say
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God is only and always
righteous all the time,
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and this is the
consistent witness of Scripture
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all throughout the Psalms,
we could read psalm after psalm
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after psalm here, but we'll
just mention a couple here.
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In Psalm 92:15,
Psalm 92:15, it says,
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"To declare that
the Lord is upright;
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He is my rock, and there
is no unrighteousness in Him."
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And this is one of many passages
that describes that God is only
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and always fully just, fully
righteous, always faithful.
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And what I often express to
my students is that humans will
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often let you down, but God
never will because His character
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is unchanging, He is always
righteous and always faithful,
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and He's always trying
to do good for everyone.
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And this is what
we see in Psalm 145.
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>>Eric: In Psalm 145, verse
9, it says, "The Lord is good
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to all, and His tender
mercies are over all His works."
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>>John: Sometimes people get
the idea that God is partial,
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that He's good to
some and not others.
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As we'll see, have an
opportunity to see later on
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in future lessons, we'll
wrestle with these ideas:
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What about the injustice
in the world? Where is God?
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What is He doing? This is
known as "the problem of evil,"
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and we'll be exploring
this a lot in later lessons.
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But for now, we see that God is
not just blessing some people,
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in fact, all the blessings come
from God, who gives His love
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to everyone, the sun shines
on everyone because of Him,
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His mercy is over all
people, and He has love
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for every single human in
every single part of the world.
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And so when evil things
are happening or injustice,
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this is the opposite of what
God wants, and this is because,
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as we'll see later, we
live in enemy territory.
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There's a great conflict
going on, but on God's side,
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God is only
just; He's only loving;
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He only wants
what is best for us.
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And I think here, again,
an analogy is kind of helpful
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because sometimes
people look at the world
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and they think, "Well, if God
really has mercy on everyone,
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"if He's really
loving toward everyone,
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"why does it seem like
the outcomes are so different?
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"Some people look very
blessed, and some people
00:10:58.75\00:11:01.29
"look like they're not blessed,
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or the world just
kind of looks like a mess."
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And if you were to imagine
somebody who may be a painter
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who paints a beautiful picture,
just a perfect work of art,
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like, if you were to
look at it, you would say,
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"This couldn't be improved upon.
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This is just artwork at
its best, perfectly crafted."
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But then, let's say, you
come to it on another day,
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and you find that it looks like
a completely different painting,
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like, there's paint in all the
wrong places; it's just a mess,
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looks like somebody threw paint
on it here, threw paint on it
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there, ripped the canvas a bit;
all kinds of things took place.
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Now, if you look at the first
canvas, it's gonna be real easy
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to say, "Oh, this is the work
of a master artist," but if you
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look at the second painting, and
you think that only one person
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was involved, one
agent, you're going to think,
00:11:49.84\00:11:53.01
"This is a real
terrible artist; they don't know
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what they're doing," or
"This is really horrible."
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But if you realize that somebody
came behind that original artist
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and vandalized their
painting intentionally,
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if you have that
additional information,
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you see there's so much
more to the story, everything
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that the original painter put
into that was perfect, was good,
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and it's actually
messed up by other ingredients.
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And this is the consistent
teaching of Scripture,
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everything, all of God's
gifts are good and loving,
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and His mercy are over
all of His works, but there,
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as we'll see in later lessons,
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there's an enemy who has
come in to disrupt God's plans,
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and that's why we see both
of these things in our world.
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>>Eric: So, we're, as you said,
we're going to be unpacking
00:12:31.31\00:12:32.95
that as we
continue going through.
00:12:32.98\00:12:34.95
Now, this week we're looking
at "God's Love of Justice."
00:12:34.98\00:12:37.62
In addition to the quarterly
that we're going through
00:12:37.65\00:12:40.32
right now, the lesson study,
there's also a companion book.
00:12:40.36\00:12:43.09
Share with us a little
bit about that companion book
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and why someone
who is interested
00:12:45.16\00:12:47.03
in this week's subject might
be interested in that book.
00:12:47.10\00:12:49.53
>>John: Yeah, so, in
that companion volume,
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I get an opportunity to go
into more depth talking about
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God's righteousness, God's
justice, God's faithfulness,
00:12:54.30\00:12:57.74
how the Bible portrays
these concepts as central
00:12:57.77\00:13:01.08
to God's character, and
also what they should mean
00:13:01.11\00:13:03.58
for us in the way that we
should live with one another.
00:13:03.61\00:13:07.15
>>Eric: So, if that
sounds like something that you
00:13:07.18\00:13:09.05
might be interested in,
and I hope that you would be,
00:13:09.08\00:13:11.39
you can pick that book
up at ItIsWritten.shop,
00:13:11.42\00:13:15.86
again, ItIsWritten.shop.
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Look for the companion book
00:13:17.83\00:13:19.36
to this quarter's
"Sabbath School" lesson.
00:13:19.39\00:13:21.23
We're going to be back in just
00:13:21.26\00:13:22.56
a couple of moments
00:13:22.60\00:13:24.43
as we continue taking a
look at "God's Love of Justice."
00:13:24.47\00:13:27.77
We'll be right back.
00:13:27.80\00:13:29.34
[uplifting music]
00:13:29.37\00:13:31.37
>>John Bradshaw: You
know that at It Is Written,
00:13:33.78\00:13:35.74
we are serious about the
study of the Word of God,
00:13:35.78\00:13:38.85
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00:13:38.88\00:13:42.88
Well, I want to
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that you can dig
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and here it is:
ItIsWritten.study.
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Go online to ItIsWritten.study,
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and you can access the It
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It's going to be good for you,
and it's the sort of thing that
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you will want to tell somebody
else about so that they can
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dig deeper into the
Word of God and come to know
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the things of
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00:14:15.45\00:14:18.19
As you get into
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online Bible study guides,
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So, don't forget:
ItIsWritten.study,
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ItIsWritten.study.
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[uplifting music]
00:14:33.54\00:14:37.84
>>Eric: Welcome
back to "Sabbath School,"
00:14:37.87\00:14:39.17
brought to you by It Is Written.
00:14:39.21\00:14:41.08
We are looking
at lesson number 6,
00:14:41.11\00:14:42.94
"God's Love of Justice."
00:14:42.98\00:14:46.48
John, I want to
delve into this idea
00:14:46.51\00:14:49.48
of God's changeless character,
00:14:49.52\00:14:51.62
especially in the
books of Malachi and James.
00:14:51.65\00:14:55.12
How does His
changeless character help us
00:14:55.16\00:14:58.36
to understand the concepts
of divine justice and mercy?
00:14:58.39\00:15:04.00
>>John: Yeah, this
idea of the constancy
00:15:04.03\00:15:06.23
of God's character is central.
00:15:06.27\00:15:07.94
Like, people are up and down,
they can be all over the place,
00:15:07.97\00:15:11.94
one day they might be for you,
another day they're against you,
00:15:11.97\00:15:14.58
they might make a promise
and not keep their promises,
00:15:14.61\00:15:17.05
but the God of the Bible
is different; He is always
00:15:17.08\00:15:19.88
constant in character;
He never lets us down.
00:15:19.91\00:15:23.42
Now, these passages
we're going to look at,
00:15:23.45\00:15:25.72
they're actually
sometimes misunderstood
00:15:25.75\00:15:27.92
in other theological systems,
00:15:27.96\00:15:29.52
where sometimes Malachi
3:6, that we're about to see,
00:15:29.56\00:15:32.96
is used to describe God as
being unchangeable in a way
00:15:32.99\00:15:36.77
that He can't even enter into
back-and-forth relationships,
00:15:36.80\00:15:39.37
like He can't be
affected by us at all.
00:15:39.40\00:15:41.80
But we'll see, even from
the passage itself, that this
00:15:41.84\00:15:44.44
is talking about a different
kind of changelessness,
00:15:44.47\00:15:47.38
in Malachi, chapter
3, beginning in verse 6.
00:15:47.41\00:15:49.71
>>Eric: "For I am the
Lord, I do not change;
00:15:49.74\00:15:52.15
therefore you are not
consumed, O sons of Jacob."
00:15:52.18\00:15:55.95
>>John: So, often, people
who are trying to make this idea
00:15:55.98\00:16:00.32
that God cannot change at all--
and by that they mean He can't
00:16:00.36\00:16:04.26
even enter into relationships
or do new things--they just read
00:16:04.29\00:16:07.60
the first part: "I the Lord
do not change." And they say,
00:16:07.66\00:16:09.76
"There it is. He doesn't
change in any way whatsoever."
00:16:09.80\00:16:12.97
But when you keep
reading the passage,
00:16:13.00\00:16:14.47
we can see that it's
already in the context of--what?
00:16:14.50\00:16:17.11
In the context of relationship.
00:16:17.14\00:16:19.57
Because it doesn't just
say, "I the Lord do not change,"
00:16:19.61\00:16:22.91
but, "Therefore you are
not consumed, O sons of Jacob."
00:16:22.94\00:16:27.38
And the idea here is that it's
precisely because His character
00:16:27.42\00:16:31.62
doesn't change that His
people are still preserved.
00:16:31.65\00:16:35.49
In the background of the book of
Malachi, there's this question
00:16:35.52\00:16:38.63
that the people are
asking of God, like,
00:16:38.66\00:16:41.10
"What have You done for us?"
00:16:41.13\00:16:42.76
Like, God says, "I have
loved you," and they say,
00:16:42.80\00:16:45.60
"How have You loved us?"
00:16:45.63\00:16:47.34
And He says, "What do you
mean, 'How have I loved you?'"
00:16:47.37\00:16:49.50
And there's this juxtaposition
between Jacob and Esau,
00:16:49.54\00:16:52.84
and really it's talking
about the nation of Israel
00:16:52.87\00:16:55.81
that's descended from
Jacob, and the nation of Edom
00:16:55.84\00:16:58.15
that was descended
from Esau, and even though
00:16:58.18\00:17:00.48
they were brothers, only one of
those two nations still exists,
00:17:00.52\00:17:05.29
only one of them
is still in place.
00:17:05.32\00:17:07.82
And God uses this as an example
to show how He has loved them,
00:17:07.86\00:17:11.36
how He has been
compassionate toward them,
00:17:11.39\00:17:13.36
because without God's special
provision, special protection,
00:17:13.40\00:17:16.56
they also no longer
would exist as a nation.
00:17:16.60\00:17:19.33
And so, here in Malachi 3,
again, they should be cut off,
00:17:19.37\00:17:24.61
but because God is unchanging in
His character, because He always
00:17:24.64\00:17:28.08
keeps His promises, He
bears long with this people
00:17:28.11\00:17:32.21
and He still maintains
His relationship with them.
00:17:32.25\00:17:36.28
And we see also in the very next
verse that this unchangeability
00:17:36.32\00:17:39.85
is an unchangeability
of His character, and it's
00:17:39.89\00:17:42.39
unchangeability of character
in the context of relationship.
00:17:42.42\00:17:45.09
Because in the very next
verse, in verse 7, God says,
00:17:45.13\00:17:47.40
"Return to me, and
I will return to you."
00:17:47.40\00:17:50.17
So, He's always
changeless, right?
00:17:50.20\00:17:53.17
Elsewhere in the
Old Testament, God says,
00:17:53.20\00:17:55.27
"I haven't forsaken
you. You have forsaken me."
00:17:55.30\00:17:58.41
And so He invites His people,
"If you'll just turn to me,
00:17:58.44\00:18:00.94
"I'm here; I only
want your best already.
00:18:00.98\00:18:03.18
Return to me, and I
will return to you."
00:18:03.21\00:18:05.31
And so, it's this constancy
in relationship; you can always
00:18:05.35\00:18:07.95
rely on Him; He always keeps
His promises; He never fails.
00:18:07.98\00:18:11.45
>>Eric: There's
also another passage over
00:18:11.49\00:18:12.95
in the book of James; I'm
going to look at that one.
00:18:12.99\00:18:14.96
James, chapter 1 in verse
17, says, "Every good gift
00:18:14.99\00:18:18.73
"and every perfect gift
is from above, and comes down
00:18:18.76\00:18:21.70
"from the Father of lights,
with whom there is no variation
00:18:21.73\00:18:25.47
or shadow of turning."
00:18:25.50\00:18:27.64
So, here again we see this
unchangeable character of God.
00:18:27.67\00:18:31.31
>>John: Yeah, here
again it's about the constancy
00:18:31.34\00:18:33.27
of His character, it's the same
kind of idea when Jesus says,
00:18:33.31\00:18:37.38
He says, which of you,
if you're a good parent,
00:18:37.41\00:18:40.18
if your child asks for a good
gift, you give them a scorpion,
00:18:40.22\00:18:44.02
or something like this, right?
00:18:44.05\00:18:45.49
And He says, "If you then,
being evil, know how to give
00:18:45.52\00:18:47.69
"good gifts to your children,
how much more will the Father
00:18:47.72\00:18:50.53
give the Holy Spirit
to those who ask Him!"
00:18:50.56\00:18:52.93
And the whole idea is
that God is a giver of gifts,
00:18:52.96\00:18:55.33
He's a giver of only good gifts,
and every blessing actually
00:18:55.36\00:18:58.87
comes from Him
because He is unchanging,
00:18:58.90\00:19:01.84
He only and always
gives blessings for His people
00:19:01.87\00:19:05.24
all the time; all
good comes from Him.
00:19:05.27\00:19:08.18
And even when in
cases we've seen, like,
00:19:08.21\00:19:10.51
He brings discipline,
it's also for good in the end.
00:19:10.55\00:19:14.85
>>Eric: So, let's dip
into something else here.
00:19:14.88\00:19:17.39
We have this biblical depiction
of God as relenting or repenting
00:19:17.42\00:19:24.26
in response to human actions.
00:19:24.29\00:19:26.70
So, here's a God who's
unchangeable, in theory,
00:19:26.73\00:19:29.76
and yet He's
repenting and relenting.
00:19:29.80\00:19:31.93
If He's repenting and relenting,
how is He unchangeable?
00:19:31.97\00:19:36.30
How does this all fit together?
00:19:36.34\00:19:37.94
>>John: Yeah, there's a couple
of passages here that will set
00:19:37.97\00:19:40.61
the stage in one direction;
then we're going to look
00:19:40.64\00:19:42.34
at some others and say, "How
do these kind of fit together?"
00:19:42.38\00:19:44.85
So I'm going to
share Numbers 23:19,
00:19:44.88\00:19:47.18
and then I'll invite
you to read 1 Samuel 15:11.
00:19:47.22\00:19:50.45
So, Numbers
23:19 puts it this way.
00:19:50.49\00:19:52.59
"God is not a man,
that He should lie,
00:19:52.62\00:19:55.02
"nor a son of man,
that He should repent.
00:19:55.06\00:19:57.39
"Has He said, and will...not do?
00:19:57.43\00:19:59.63
Or has He spoken, and
will He not make it good?"
00:19:59.66\00:20:02.46
Now, read one way, you could
read that text to mean that God
00:20:02.50\00:20:05.80
doesn't repent or relent
at all, and in isolation,
00:20:05.83\00:20:09.47
you could read it that
way, but one good rule of thumb
00:20:09.50\00:20:12.31
is not to read text
in isolation, right?
00:20:12.34\00:20:14.31
The question is not
just what makes sense
00:20:14.34\00:20:16.31
of the passage by itself,
but what reading is consistent
00:20:16.34\00:20:19.08
with the rest of Scripture.
00:20:19.11\00:20:20.48
And so we'll see, in the
context of other passages,
00:20:20.52\00:20:23.32
that God is said to relent
or repent with the same term.
00:20:23.35\00:20:26.32
So what is the idea here?
00:20:26.35\00:20:28.02
In this passage, it's, again,
that constancy of character.
00:20:28.06\00:20:31.16
First of all, "God is not
a man, that He should lie,
00:20:31.19\00:20:34.10
nor a son of man,
that He should repent."
00:20:34.13\00:20:35.56
That means He never
lies, and He doesn't repent
00:20:35.60\00:20:37.57
the way that humans do,
and if He made a promise,
00:20:37.60\00:20:40.77
He will always keep it.
We'll come back to that.
00:20:40.80\00:20:43.10
But I want to
read, want us to read
00:20:43.14\00:20:45.24
1 Samuel 15, verse 11, as well.
00:20:45.27\00:20:47.51
>>Eric: "'I greatly regret
that I have set up Saul as king,
00:20:47.54\00:20:50.71
"'for he has turned
back from following me,
00:20:50.75\00:20:53.28
"and has not
performed my commandments.'
00:20:53.31\00:20:55.95
"And it grieved Samuel,
00:20:55.98\00:20:57.72
and he cried out to
the Lord all night."
00:20:57.75\00:21:00.06
>>John: Okay, so I want us to
notice something that might not
00:21:00.09\00:21:02.56
be immediately obvious on the
surface of the English language.
00:21:02.59\00:21:05.89
This phrase, "I greatly regret,"
it's from the exact same
00:21:05.93\00:21:10.93
Hebrew term that we just
read about in Numbers 23,
00:21:10.97\00:21:14.24
it's the Hebrew
verb is "nacham," okay?
00:21:14.27\00:21:16.40
And it can mean to "repent"
or "relent"; it can mean
00:21:16.44\00:21:19.01
to "become sorrowful"; it
can mean to "change direction."
00:21:19.04\00:21:22.24
And in this case, God is
expressing His sorrow over
00:21:22.28\00:21:25.58
what Saul's kingship had become,
and He says, "I regret this,"
00:21:25.61\00:21:31.29
because of what has happened,
00:21:31.32\00:21:32.62
which is not what He
actually wants to take place.
00:21:32.65\00:21:36.12
Saul has gone
completely off the rails,
00:21:36.16\00:21:38.79
he has become a
wicked king in ways
00:21:38.83\00:21:41.90
that is affecting the nation,
and so He's sorrowful over this.
00:21:41.93\00:21:45.60
And so, we see on one
hand, "God is not a man,
00:21:45.63\00:21:47.60
that He should repent,"
and yet we have texts like this
00:21:47.64\00:21:49.80
in 1 Samuel 15 where
He actually does repent.
00:21:49.84\00:21:53.14
Is this a contradiction?
00:21:53.17\00:21:55.48
Well, I don't believe
the Bible contradicts itself,
00:21:55.51\00:21:57.68
and we can see in 1 Samuel 15
itself that obviously the author
00:21:57.71\00:22:01.58
of 1 Samuel also didn't
think this was a contradiction
00:22:01.62\00:22:04.39
because if you drop down
to verse 29 of 1 Samuel 15,
00:22:04.42\00:22:08.56
you'll see right
in the same chapter--
00:22:08.59\00:22:11.59
we just read verse 11,
about God's sorrow over Saul,
00:22:11.63\00:22:15.63
and then he says
in verse 29, it says,
00:22:15.66\00:22:18.07
"Also the Strength of
Israel will not lie nor relent.
00:22:18.10\00:22:22.84
For He is not a man,
that He should relent."
00:22:22.87\00:22:26.07
And this is almost
the same thing we saw
00:22:26.11\00:22:28.51
in Numbers already,
right? This is a statement
00:22:28.54\00:22:30.51
of God's constancy of character,
00:22:30.55\00:22:32.41
that if He says something,
He's going to follow through.
00:22:32.45\00:22:34.42
This is in relation to what
God has decreed as a judgment.
00:22:34.45\00:22:37.39
And if you drop down
just a few more verses,
00:22:37.42\00:22:39.72
in 1 Samuel 15, verse
35, it says this: "And Samuel
00:22:39.75\00:22:42.79
"went no more to see Saul
until the day of his death.
00:22:42.82\00:22:45.06
"Nevertheless
Samuel mourned for Saul,
00:22:45.09\00:22:47.46
and the Lord regretted that He
had made Saul king over Israel."
00:22:47.50\00:22:51.10
So, three times
in the same chapter,
00:22:51.13\00:22:53.13
you have the same
language of relenting, "nacham."
00:22:53.17\00:22:56.47
The first and the last time
is God's "nacham," or His sorrow
00:22:56.50\00:23:00.14
or His regret, over what
Saul's kingship has become,
00:23:00.18\00:23:03.04
and in between those,
you have the same statement,
00:23:03.08\00:23:05.48
"I'm not a man,
that I should repent."
00:23:05.51\00:23:07.92
And so it should be
obvious already that there is
00:23:07.95\00:23:10.92
a way in which God can relent
or repent that is appropriate
00:23:10.95\00:23:14.46
to Him, which is not
the way that humans do.
00:23:14.49\00:23:17.49
First of all, God
never repents of wrongdoing
00:23:17.53\00:23:19.66
because He never
does anything wrong.
00:23:19.69\00:23:21.30
When we use the language
of repentance, we're typically
00:23:21.33\00:23:24.20
thinking of repenting
from sin, but God never sins,
00:23:24.23\00:23:27.40
so this is never going
to be appropriate to Him,
00:23:27.44\00:23:29.30
but he does change
His course of action.
00:23:29.34\00:23:31.64
He can be sorrowful
over wrongs that are done.
00:23:31.67\00:23:34.74
And so--and He will relent
in response to human repentance.
00:23:34.78\00:23:39.15
We see that in many places; I'll
just mention a couple of them.
00:23:39.18\00:23:41.88
In Exodus, chapter 32,
going back to this golden calf
00:23:41.92\00:23:45.32
rebellion, you have God going
to Moses, and He says to Moses,
00:23:45.35\00:23:49.82
"Let me alone, that I
can consume this people
00:23:49.86\00:23:52.49
and then create another nation."
00:23:52.53\00:23:54.76
Now, clearly from the context,
God has no intention of actually
00:23:54.83\00:23:59.47
destroying this people;
this is not what He wants.
00:23:59.50\00:24:02.07
He's actually going to Moses
because He's trying to elicit
00:24:02.10\00:24:04.94
intercession from Moses to give
Him some moral or legal grounds
00:24:04.97\00:24:08.58
to intervene and rescue them and
save them without being unjust.
00:24:08.61\00:24:12.58
And you can see that, like,
there's no point for Him to say,
00:24:12.61\00:24:14.68
"Leave me alone." Moses
couldn't do anything to Him;
00:24:14.72\00:24:16.69
he couldn't stop Him.
00:24:16.72\00:24:18.02
And Moses does intervene,
and he pleads, and in verse 14,
00:24:18.05\00:24:21.36
it says, "The Lord
relented from the [disaster]"
00:24:21.39\00:24:24.36
that He had said He
would bring--same Hebrew term.
00:24:24.39\00:24:26.96
Then in Jeremiah
18, verses 7 through 10,
00:24:27.00\00:24:29.93
you have this same term again.
00:24:29.96\00:24:33.57
God says, "The instant I
speak concerning a nation
00:24:33.60\00:24:36.07
"and concerning a kingdom,
to pluck up, to pull down,
00:24:36.10\00:24:39.57
"and to destroy it, if
that nation against whom
00:24:39.61\00:24:42.44
"I have spoken
turns from its evil,
00:24:42.48\00:24:44.15
"I will relent of the disaster
that I thought to bring upon it.
00:24:44.18\00:24:47.62
"And the instant I
speak concerning a nation
00:24:47.65\00:24:49.95
"and concerning a kingdom,
to build and to plant it,
00:24:49.98\00:24:52.12
"if it does evil in my sight
00:24:52.15\00:24:54.02
"so that it does not
obey my voice, then I will
00:24:54.06\00:24:56.59
relent concerning the good with
which I said I would benefit"--
00:24:56.62\00:25:00.96
so you can see, in both cases,
if a nation turns and does evil,
00:25:00.96\00:25:05.97
then God's course will
change accordingly, right?
00:25:06.00\00:25:08.14
This is actually flowing
from His unchanging character.
00:25:08.17\00:25:10.84
The same thing, if somebody,
a nation who's doing evil
00:25:10.87\00:25:13.17
repents, then God will relent
and turn towards restoring them
00:25:13.21\00:25:18.15
and blessing them. And this kind
of relenting actually just flows
00:25:18.18\00:25:21.82
from God's character
of goodness and justice.
00:25:21.85\00:25:24.55
>>Eric: So, we don't
have a lot of time left,
00:25:24.59\00:25:26.72
but I do want to
touch on something.
00:25:26.76\00:25:28.39
Over in the book of Matthew,
00:25:28.42\00:25:29.99
Matthew, chapter 5, verses
43 through 48, let me read this
00:25:30.03\00:25:34.56
through very quickly and give
you a chance to respond to it.
00:25:34.56\00:25:36.77
Verse 43, Jesus says, "You
have heard that it was said,
00:25:36.80\00:25:39.53
"'You shall love your
neighbor and hate your enemy.'
00:25:39.57\00:25:41.67
"But I say to
you, love your enemies,
00:25:41.70\00:25:43.44
"bless those who curse you,
do good to those who hate you,
00:25:43.47\00:25:46.37
"and pray for those
who spitefully use you
00:25:46.41\00:25:48.51
"and persecute you,
00:25:48.54\00:25:50.01
"that you may be sons
of your Father in heaven;
00:25:50.05\00:25:52.68
"for He makes [the] sun rise
on the evil and on the good,
00:25:52.71\00:25:56.35
"and sends [the] rain on
the just and on the unjust.
00:25:56.38\00:25:59.05
"For if you love those who love
you, what reward [do you have]?
00:25:59.09\00:26:02.49
"Do not even the tax
collectors do the same?
00:26:02.52\00:26:04.69
"And if you greet
your brethren only,
00:26:04.73\00:26:06.90
"what do you do
more than others?
00:26:06.93\00:26:08.83
"Do not even the
tax collectors do so?
00:26:08.86\00:26:10.87
"Therefore you shall be perfect,
00:26:10.90\00:26:12.87
just as your Father
in heaven is perfect."
00:26:12.90\00:26:16.27
So, when we look at this text,
00:26:16.30\00:26:18.91
what does God's perfect
love look like in practice?
00:26:18.94\00:26:22.58
>>John: Yeah, this
is a wonderful example
00:26:22.61\00:26:24.88
of God's perfect love.
00:26:24.91\00:26:26.55
And the very last statement,
"You shall be perfect,
00:26:26.58\00:26:28.62
even as your Father in heaven
is perfect," many people ask,
00:26:28.65\00:26:31.02
"What does
perfection look like?"
00:26:31.05\00:26:32.89
And in the passage,
it's being perfect in love.
00:26:32.92\00:26:35.29
Another
translation for the Greek term
00:26:35.32\00:26:36.96
"perfect,"
"teleios," is "complete," right?
00:26:36.99\00:26:39.69
And here we have God
being complete in love.
00:26:39.73\00:26:42.06
We tend to love those who love
us, we tend to love those who
00:26:42.10\00:26:45.07
are in some kind of relationship
already, but God says,
00:26:45.10\00:26:47.57
"No, no, no, my love goes
beyond that; it's complete love
00:26:47.60\00:26:50.74
"because it's love also
even for those who hate me,
00:26:50.77\00:26:53.54
even for enemies."
This is called enemy love,
00:26:53.58\00:26:56.08
and so it's not just this love
00:26:56.11\00:26:58.41
inside relationship already,
it's love even for those
00:26:58.45\00:27:01.88
who hate, it's complete,
it's perfect, and it's this kind
00:27:01.92\00:27:04.89
of perfection
that God calls us to,
00:27:04.92\00:27:06.92
to be ambassadors of
His love to everyone.
00:27:06.96\00:27:09.39
>>Eric: You can imagine how
much better the world would be
00:27:09.42\00:27:11.59
if we all embraced this
idea. >>John: Yeah, amen, amen.
00:27:11.63\00:27:15.10
>>Eric: Well, we
trust that today has been
00:27:15.13\00:27:16.36
a blessing to you, helping you
to understand the relationship
00:27:16.40\00:27:19.63
between a God of
love and a God of justice.
00:27:19.67\00:27:22.64
He is, of course, both, a God
of love and a God of justice,
00:27:22.67\00:27:26.98
and today He's given us a clear
insight into His character.
00:27:27.01\00:27:30.98
We look forward to
seeing you again next week
00:27:31.01\00:27:32.85
as we continue our study
of a God of love and justice.
00:27:32.88\00:27:38.09
We are only
about halfway through,
00:27:38.12\00:27:40.09
we still have a good ways to go,
00:27:40.12\00:27:41.89
and we look forward to
seeing you again next week here
00:27:41.92\00:27:44.36
on "Sabbath School,"
brought to you by It Is Written.
00:27:44.39\00:27:47.03
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