MERCY MISUNDERSTOOD 

EZEKIEL 12:1-2, 21-28 

          Ezekiel is a prophet sent to the Children of Israel.  Here we can see that God describes the Children of Israel as a rebellious nation.  Now they are not called rebellious because they sin in ignorance.  God says here that they have eyes to see and see not and that they have ears to hear and hear not.  In other words God had shown them both through visions and prophesies his displeasure with Israel, yet Israel refused to repent.  Now if you will in your leisure read verses 3-20 you will find that God again warns Israel of the coming Babylonian captivity.  Israel’s response to God’s warning is depicted in verse 22.  The people said “you keep telling us this over and over and nothing happens”.  The people had become so accustomed to and so apathetic about the warnings of God through the prophets that they made a saying about the warnings.  The people said “the days are prolonged and every vision fails.”  Israel considered at delay in the fulfillment of the vision as a failed vision.  Peter in the New Testament faced this same line of thinking.  In 2 Peter 3:9 we find Peter saying “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” The people thought that because Christ had not returned as promised that he was not coming.  They thought the promise had failed.  I believe that if we were to survey millions of Americans today about the rapture of the Church and the coming end times, they would display the same apathy seen in these verses.  They don’t believe that if is ever really going to happen.  This leads me to a topic this morning of “MERCY MISUNDERSTOOD.”

          In God’s dealings with Israel the Bible gives us many examples of how they took God’s mercy for granted.

NEHEMIAH 9:28-31

          The scripture says that many times did God deliver Israel and then they would turn right around and do evil in the sight of God again.  God would speak to them by the prophets, but they were stiff-necked, hard hearted and proud.  But because of God’s mercy he continued to endure them, waiting on them to really commit to serving him.  He tried various methods even giving them into the hand of their enemies.  He never gave up on them, but they continued to take his mercy for granted and this eventually led to their Babylonian captivity.  They continued to be rebellious and it led to their destruction.  Proverbs 29:1 says “He, that being often reproved and hardens his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.”  When we are wrong and God shows us mercy but we being rebellious, stubborn, proud and hardhearted, refusing to repent of our wrongdoing and turn to God, we are asking for destruction.  When we are outside of the will of God it is only his mercy that is keeping up, for our enemy wants to destroy us and He looks for any opportunity to do so.  We must learn to be thankful for the mercy of God and certainly we should not take it for granted.

          Mercy is defined as compassion for the miserable.  You see we don’t see ourselves as miserable and thus it is sometimes hard for us to recognize the mercy of God.  So often God shows us mercy without us ever even knowing it.

GENESIS 20:6

          When Abraham lied to Abimelech saying that Sarah was his sister, God showed mercy to Abimelech in not allowing him to touch Sarah.  Sleeping with Sarah God says would have been a sin against God, even if Abimelech was deceived into doing so.  God would have had to punish Abimelech’s sin and so he showed Abimelech mercy by revealing to him that Sarah and Abraham were married.  I think that we would be amazed at the mercy of God on our behalf when we have taken it upon ourselves to stray outside of his will for us. 

          Not only do we not always recognize the mercy of God we oftentimes misunderstand it.

ECCLESIATES 8:11

          Many times in our wickedness we don’t recognize God’s mercy.  We misunderstand it.  We think that because God did not punish us, all is well.  We see a lack of punishment as getting away with what we have done.  We are not getting away with it.  God is not deceived nor is He please.  He is however, merciful.  His lack of immediate punishment is not a condoning of our sin, but rather mercy for our miserable souls. 

MATTHEW 24:45-51

          Even some who call themselves Christians do not live with an urgency associated with living holy in expectation of the return of Christ.  Many see His delay as an opportunity to continue to sin.  When we misunderstand God’s mercy we will fall in the trap of being passive or apathetic about sin in our lives.  We think that we have time to get right.  But it is only God’s mercy that allows us that time and the fact that he does not punish us right away or rapture the Church immediately leaving some behind who think themselves to be saved, is a testimony of God’s mercy.  We know when we are giving 100% to God and we know when we are half stepping with Him.  He told the Laodicean Church in Revelation 3:16, “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.”   It is only the mercy of God that keeps God many times from spitting us out like lukewarm coffee.

I know that Ephesians 2:4 says, than “God is rich in mercy”, but He will not always show mercy. 

PSALMS 103:8-17

          God will not continue to just correct and rebuke us.  Nor will he forever keep His anger in check.  Verses 11, 13, and 17 say that mercy continues for those who fear God.  When we fear God or reverence Him, we will make every effort to obey him, to submit to His will for us and to follow as he leads us.  When we do so He will have mercy on us recognizing that we are human.  But when we are rebellious, seeking to do our own thing and run our own lives as we see fit, we have no promise of mercy.  Mercy is extended when we are struggling to do our best.

ZECHARIAH 3:1-4

          Zechariah’s vision shows us how we receive God’s mercy. Joshua the high priest was guilty of standing to perform his priestly duties improperly dressed, but He was doing the best that He could do.  Where Satan wanted him condemned, God showed him mercy.  Joshua could not fix his own problem.  He could do nothing more than he was already doing.  Likewise, when we are really committed to God and doing the best that we can do, then when we fall short we can do nothing but rely on the mercy of God.  We must rely on God to remove our filthy clothes (sins), and then provides us with new, clean, rich garments (the righteousness and holiness of God).  When we are truly repentant for our sins, God shows us mercy.  Proverbs 28:13 says, “He that covers his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy.”  But pride can stand in the way of us receiving mercy.  It is not that God can not give it when we are prideful, but rather that we will fail to seek it.

LUKE 18:11-14

          The Pharisee did not go to the temple to pray to God but to announce to all within earshot how good he was. He took pride in his accomplishments, in who he was and thus forgot that he was in need of God’s mercy.  The tax collector went recognizing his sin and begging for mercy. Self-righteousness is dangerous. It leads to pride, causes a person to despise others, and prevents him or her from learning anything from God. The tax collector’s prayer should be our prayer because we all need God’s mercy every day.  Don’t let pride in your achievements cut you off from God.

TITUS 3:5

          God’s mercy is valuable to us.  We should not take mercy for granted now should we attempt to abuse it.  We live in the mercy of God, but we should make ever effort not to stretch God’s mercy beyond that which is absolutely needed.  God had mercy on our pitiful souls and sent Jesus to die for our sins; thus providing us with salvation.   We must understand the value of mercy and not take it for granted.

          Let’s not be like Israel, rebellious, and stiff-necked, abusing the mercy of God to the point of destruction.  Let us rather value the mercy of God and understand that by it we are saved.

For the unsaved:

HEBREWS 2:3