"God of... justice"

    This description of God is found only two times in the Bible, both in the Old Testament: Isaiah 30:18 and Malachi 2:17. In some translations of these texts ‘judgement’ is written in place of ‘justice.’ Let’s take a look at each of these references to see how the description is used and what we can learn from it.

“Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him.” (Isaiah 30:18 NKJV)

    In the context of this Isaiah passage we see Israel putting their trust in the Egyptian leader to help them, the same nation that had brutally oppressed their people for 400 years before the exodus (Exodus 1-15). The nation of Israel rebelled against Him so much so that God referred to them as “lying children, children who will not hear the law of the LORD” (Isaiah 30:9).  They told their seers and prophets to not speak the hard truth but to speak smooth words – even deceitful words (consider 2 Timothy 4:3-4) – in the hopes that God would simply go away and leave them be. They preferred foreign oppression to following God’s word and way; they had become so much like the people around them that they were increasingly irked by God’s wholesome commands, boundaries, and standards.

    God did give them over to foreign oppression – Assyrian captivity – and yet even then, the LORD was already telling them that He longed to be gracious to them and be merciful to them and that those who also longed for Him would be blessed (Isaiah 30:18).

 “You have wearied the LORD with your words; yet you say, “In what way have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, or “Where is the God of justice?”” (Malachi 2:17 NKJV)

    Here in Malachi, the last prophecy before the 400 years of silence, we find the people of God acting like they were anything but. They have gone after pagan gods and when they, out of obligation, perform their duties before God (sacrifices) they do so half-heartedly at best (see Malachi 1:6-14). Their corruption has permeated even the priests – the ones who were to know and guide the people in God’s law (Malachi 2:7-9) – even they did not regard the holiness of God (consider Leviticus 10:3).

    The people had grown so cavalier and calloused that they disregarded God’s judgement of right and wrong (Isaiah 5:20-21) and declared that everyone is okay in God’s sight because where is God to tell them otherwise? Because a lightning bolt did not strike them for any misstep or wrongdoing they began to grow lax not only about their own service toward God but about God’s standards and rules as a whole, maybe even thinking, ‘the so-called “evil people” around us are not punished, so they must be fine in God’s eyes; what’s the harm of being with them or like them?’

    God’s justice is pure and right. He always ‘rose early’ (well beforehand, Jeremiah 7: 13; 32:33) to tell people that there would be consequences for rejecting Him and there would be reward for diligently seeking Him (Hebrews 11:6). God wants all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4), for all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). He longs to be gracious to all people, but only those who turn to Him and long for Him will find blessing, that is why He is longsuffering and patient, hoping more will open their eyes, grope for Him, and find Him (Acts 17:26-27).

    God’s justice does not change: If you do what He says, you will be rewarded; if you do not do what He says, there will be consequences (Matthew 7:21-23). He has provided all that we need to know to be pleasing to Him (Ephesians 5:8-10, 15-17, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Romans 10:17), to become His child (Galatians 3:26-28), and to walk as Jesus walked (1 Peter 2:21-24, 1 John 2:3-6).

    God is the God of justice. His judgement stands. Don’t think that because God patiently waits for the lost to repent that He is absent – the time He grants us is salvation – it’s an opportunity for all to turn, learn, and submit to Him! He wants to you to cling to Him, waiting for Him in all circumstances, longing for the day that you can see Him face to face (1 John 3:1-3, 2 Peter 3:11-13), because He wants to gracious to you! Be assured of His promises, be wholly aware of His justice and judgement, and be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless (2 Peter 3:14-15)!

You can do it! And so can I!!

Thankful for God's Unchanging Truth

    With it being a new month, I would like to begin a new series: Thankfulness. We have so much to be thankful for! Over the next few weeks, if the Lord wills, we will look at passages that express thankfulness and take a closer look at all the things we need to appreciate and give thanks for! 

    If you are reading this, God has already blessed you with a new day, sufficient health, eyesight, ability to use your hands, a mind able to function and understand!! God is SO good!! To Him be the glory forever and ever!!

"Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises!

For God is the King of all the earth; Sing praises with understanding."

(Psalm 47:6-7 NKJV)

    Thinking about this new topic made me consider my family history - relatives who changed our family for the better because of their choice to seek God and follow His truth! Today I am thankful to God for the people in my family history who, when they found God’s truth, embraced it as truth, and chose to follow Him the rest of their days.

Let me begin at the beginning…

    Around the age of 17, my Grampa (Victor) Sullivan was desperate for shelter/work (it was the 1920’s) and he became a hired farm hand for his Aunt Lizzy (Elizabeth (Eller) Brown) and Uncle George Eller. He was given room and board and was firmly informed by Aunt Lizzy that “You’re going to church with me on Sunday.”

    So Victor went with Aunt Lizzy to church services each Sunday and heard God’s truth, straight from the Bible. Later, Victor obeyed the gospel by being baptized into Christ and began his walk as a Christian.

    Grampa married a beautiful Anglican girl, Mary McDonough. They eventually studied the Bible together with Art & Lillian Corbett (my husband’s grandparents!) and my Gramma discovered God’s truth in the Bible and was baptized into Christ. Together they worshipped with the church in Jordan (when they met in a building that stood where Snure Cemetery is now), and helped build the current meeting place on Hwy 8.

    The church grew to well over 150 members in Jordan and the elders at the time decided to see if other congregations could be started around Ontario. So they placed ads in newspapers offering free Bible Correspondence Courses (Bible studies via mail), to places like Haliburton, Bancroft, South River, and Wellandport.

    An ad was placed in a Dunnville newspaper (to find people near Wellandport), a paper which my Great Aunt Pearl Nicholls read. My Great Aunt answered the ad and shared the course with her husband Glenn and her sister-in-law (my grandmother) Marjorie (Nicholls) Gare.

    My grandmother was a Free Methodist and had been married to a well known Free Methodist preacher until his death. When she studied the Bible, she realized that it was God’s Word, and she desired to do what she read there, and she was baptized.

    My Grandmother Gare worshipped with the church in Wellandport (when they met in the rented Oddfellows Hall) until her passing a few years later.

    My mother and father met each other while worshipping with the church in Wellandport. And the rest, they say, is history! smile emoticon

    The same truth that convinced my Grampa’s Aunt Lizzy, was the same truth that convinced him and my Gramma Sullivan, it was the same truth that convinced my Grandmother Gare (and my Great Aunt Pearl & Great Uncle Glenn Nicholls AND my Great Aunt Sis & Great Uncle Allen Nicholls), it was the same truth that convinced my Dad and my Mom, it was the same truth that convinced me (and my siblings), and my husband (and his siblings), and it’s the same truth that convinced both our daughters that they needed to obey God’s Word by being baptized into Christ!

“...the word of the LORD endures forever.” 

(Isaiah 40:7-8, 1 Peter 1:24-25 NKJV)

    I am thankful for my Great Aunt Lizzy and my Great Aunt Pearl! I thank God for them, as well as the elders at Jordan who wanted to spread God’s word province-wide… I’m thankful for gospel preachers like John Whitfield, Norman Midgette, Hubert Showalter, and John Witt, who preached God’s truth and studied with many people, showing them God’s way, straight from the Bible!

    Thank you Heavenly Father for Your enduring Word!!

“I thought about my ways, and turned my feet to Your testimonies.

I made haste, and did not delay to keep Your commandments.”

(Psalm 119:59-60 NKJV)

    What is your family history? Are you from a long line, a short line, or are you the one who changed your family for the better by being the first to obey the gospel? No matter which it may be take time to appreciate those who helped you learn the Truth so you could obey the gospel; thank God for them and thank Him, also, for His unchanging, powerful Word!!

You can do it! So can I!!