The Collision of Compassion and Justice: Lovingkindness

     Compassion and Justice work hand-in-hand to create a powerful depth to God's love that none other can match; and, with the two, the faithfulness of God becomes amplified in a way that transcends all other dimensions of love that any part of creation can attempt to muster up. That connection, between His love and His faithfulness, should always remain glued together. The very reason He remains faithful comes from His covenant love. Of course, His character is faithfulness, but to separate love and faithfulness would limit Him to earthly bounds. He loves because He is faithful; He is faithful because He loves. And, thus, His compassion and justice collide to form His lovingkindness, a type of love that combines agape sacrifice with covenant faithfulness.

    
     The opening dialogue of Daniel 9 begins with Daniel explaining that he "observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years," and the verse immediately following shows Daniel's response to this understanding: "So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed..." (Daniel 9:2-4a NASB). What a wellspring of God's lovingkindness, beloved brethren! I think this deserves some unpacking, however. I encourage you to put forth the effort to follow in God's Word as we look at this. I also implore you to comment below if anything is contrary to truth.

    
     According to 2Chronicles 36:11-21, Zedekiah led the people towards evil in the sight of the LORD. Jeremiah had already prophesied that God would destroy Jerusalem and that the people who surrendered to the Chaldeans would live (Jeremiah 21:1-10); however, Zedekiah refused to humble himself before these words of the LORD and chose to rebel against King Nebuchadnezzar. Iniquity increased, amongst the leaders and the priests as much as the people, and they defiled the LORD's house that He himself had consecrated. "And the LORD God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place" (2Chronicles 36:15).

     This compassion carries significant weight to it. God sent warning after warning with His messengers and even went to the extreme of sending them early, with enough time to repent. What great love does this demonstrate! "But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, till there was no remedy" (2Chronicles 36:16). And here, in the verse immediately following, comes the justice.

    
     Before continuing, we should explore the aspect of justice as a means of love. Justice involves destruction, and it is this character of God that many have difficulty overcoming. Many ask how a God of love could justify the destruction found in the Old Testament. The truth of the matter is that Christ came to destroy as much as He came to heal and fulfill.

     A true follower of Christ will indeed seek to please Him. Within this, believers should constantly ask God to search their hearts and weed out any evil within them. We should continually seek to cleanse ourselves from all iniquity. The blood of Christ truly covers all sins; however, we, as children of God, should seek to become more like Him. When we make such requests, we are actually asking God to destroy things—the evil and sin within us. We leap into His compassionate arms and ask for justice so that we may love and live for Him more and more. He knows every fiber of our being and accepts us with compassion, but cleanses us with justice.

     This demonstrates lovingkindness, that mixture of agape sacrifice and covenant faithfulness, that while we were yet sinners, Jesus died for the ungodly, the wretched, and the low, whom we all once were when we were of the kingdom of darkness. And in His lovingkindness, He sacrificed all He had and took on the entire wrath of God on our behalf. We will never know the full wrath of God because Christ took it all for us! And He destroyed death, sin, the grave, and the enemy. Through His compassion and justice, He has made a way for us. And by His death, He has cut a covenant with us, according to His promise. Therefore, within the combination of compassion and justice, Jesus Christ becomes for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—and demonstrates His lovingkindness.

    
     Therefore, going back to the beginnings of Daniel 9 and the context found in 2Chronicles 36, we see both God's compassion and God's justice demonstrated. This correlates with Daniel 9:2 because the justice that God speaks of in 2Chronicles 36 is the same seventy years prophesied by Jeremiah that Daniel says he understood and observed. 2Chronicles 36:20-21 expounds on this in saying, "And those who escaped from the sword he (the king of the Chaldeans) carried away to Babylon, where they became servants to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years."

     At surface level, verse 20-21 seems only to clarify that Daniel 9 and 2Chronicles 36 indeed correlate, but the question remains: what truth did Daniel come to realize that brought him to the point of confession and repentance? Daniel does not specifically elaborate on what he understood and observed; nevertheless, truths of God's character found in these passages should bring us to the same place that Daniel found himself—repentance.

    
     Verse 21 of 2Chronicles 36, in particular, shines light on deeper aspects of God's character of lovingkindness. In context, God had already set up the seventy-year oppression if Israel did not turn from their wickedness. Important to note, nevertheless, comes in God's other intention for those seventy years. "...to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years" (2Chronicles 36:21). God also intended the seventy years for a gift of Sabbath to the land!

     Many know that God ordained the seventh day, the Sabbath day, as a day of rest. Exodus 23:10-11, however, takes this to an even deeper level through the seventh year Sabbath of the land. "Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce, but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow..." (Exodus 23:10-11a). God even goes on from the instruction to reveal the whys: "...that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave, the beasts of the field may eat" (Exodus 23:11b).

     This Sabbath of the land required large amounts of obedience and faith. The produce of the land supplied every bit of the food for the people. To not cultivate and grow produce meant that no income whatsoever existed. It also would humble the wealthy by spreading equality amongst Israel. And, probably highest of all, it called for a cultivation of the grounds within the self to weed out iniquity.

     The fact of God's faithfulness in this command to a Sabbath of the land comes in Leviticus 25:18-22, which explains that if they observe this command, they will dwell in the land in safety, the land will yield its fruit, and there will always be enough. And, as for the income and food for the seventh year Sabbath of the land, God states, "I will command My blessing on you in the sixth year, and it will bring forth produce enough for three years" (Leviticus 25:21). This promise extends for three years because it takes an entire year to have produce for the next. Therefore, they would not only need produce for the seventh year, but also for the eighth and even the ninth.

     Abundance such as this meant that some carelessness might go into the gathering of the fields. According to God's instruction, any forgotten sheaf should be left for the fatherless, the widow, and the stranger (Deuteronomy 24:19-22). This abundance added onto the corners of the field, which God also instructed to be left for the poor and stranger (Leviticus 19:9-10). This means that obedience to God in the Sabbath of the land and the leaving of the abundance brought equality to all of Israel.
     On top of that, the land had time to rest and replenish its resources. In the same way, the hearts spent the entire year leaning upon God's provision. Thus, a cultivation of the hearts commenced instead of the cultivation of the land. This year would then give breakthrough for a walk of obedience, faith, and righteousness for the six years to come.

     With this entire context, God's gift of the seventy years of Sabbath to the land meant that, although the children of Israel would spend seventy years in captivity, God, all the while, was in the process of working redemption and reconciliation. The land would have finally received the Sabbaths that the children of Israel had neglected; therefore, God then would be able to abundantly bless Israel through their renewed obedience after the time of the captivity had ended. He prepared a way for forgiveness. Compassion worked hand-in-hand with Justice to display a depth of God's love that none other could/can even compete with. God brilliantly painted His lovingkindness in His Fatherly correction of Israel—with compassion and justice.

     And Daniel ecstatically gets it! Well, maybe with less outward enthusiasm, but his spirit, nevertheless, rejoiced for the healing to come. With such a beautiful display of the character of God's lovingkindness, Daniel exhibits the only true response:

So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed and said, "Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, we have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly and rebelled, even turning aside from Your commandments and ordinances. Moreover, we have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, our fathers and all the people of the land. Righteousness belongs to You, O Lord, but to us open shame, as it is this day--to the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against You. Open shame belongs to us, O Lord, to our kings, our princes and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him...for we are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Your great compassion."

-Daniel 9:3-9, 18b

    
     Beloved brethren, our God deals in great measure with compassion, but justice cannot be separated from this attribute of God's love. True understanding of God's lovingkindness brings us to our knees in repentance and cries out for both compassion and justice. Righteousness belongs to the Lord. Our own merits, systems, or paths cannot justify us. The LORD has/is sending "warnings to [us] by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He [has] compassion on His people and on His dwelling place" (2Chronicles 36:15). People get ready...Jesus is coming. And even so, come Lord Jesus, COME!

But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?

-Romans 2:2-4

Born of the Omnipotent Father

     The magnificence of the Father abounds evermore in the revelation of Him as Omnipotent. A certain peace resides in the assurance of His strength, yet a peculiar fear strikes up in the same Sanctuary of rest. Not a fear in the sense of cowardice, but an awestruck fear, as in the sense of reverence. Such reverence, however, has an inclination to find rest on all fronts. In the not-so-secret display of this omnipotent characteristic of the Father and Creator God, to the ones who seek and find, true peace and renewed strength from God's unending supply empower us to overcome every weakness, fatigue, fear, and darkness that might buffet a child born of God.

     Born of God...what a glorious term to dwell on and in. For from it we have the ability to call the Almighty God and One True Omnipotent Abba Father. Not just Father, but Abba Father. Dad, Papa, or Daddy God denotes the definition of Abba Father. And this same God who formed the oceans by the placement of the lands, who told the waters where to stop along the shore, and who created, suspended, and named every star, calling them each by their pet-name, takes us in our filthy rags and trades our rags for garments of praise, righteousness, and royalty by admitting us into His family and calling us by our pet-names! The family of God! Born of God...allow God to cultivate that phrase within you. What beauty does this phrase bring!
     But a certain weight comes attached to admittance into the family of God. The only weight, however, is not really a weight, but more of an abandonment to self and the norms of the world for an exchange to live a life in the natural way of creation--glorifying God! The natural way! It should come naturally to live a life for the glory of God. The norm of the world speaks otherwise, nevertheless, and causes resistance to the desire to follow after the omnipotent Father (see Romans 1).
     Meditate on this concept, beloved. The Creator God, who longs for us to call Him Abba Father, embedded within us the capacity, desire, and longing for His glory and the knowledge of Him. First, our spirits give us the capacity to contain God's glory without simply exploding. God created us as spirits who have souls and take up residence within a body. This designates the three-fold nature of man: body, soul, and spirit. From this design of man, God reveals His glory to all of creation. Second, desire and longing to know and be known by the God of Glory lives within us all. Many deny these desires, but a natural inclination to question existence, purpose, and life itself has left many in life-long debates of the character and/or existence of God. And because of the fingerprints of Himself and His character that God has left upon creation, no man, not one, is left with a valid excuse (Romans 1:18-23).
     And when the symphony plays all together, we see the beauty of the Father as Omnipotent within His longing for us to call Him Abba Father: although high above every principality and power, the LORD of Hosts created us with the capacity and craving to call Him "Daddy," and He Himself calls us by our very pet-name! Because of this reality, one truly born of God does not live a life of habitual sin because the Father's seed dwells within that man (1 John 3:9). The natural way of life commences, thus the unnatural perversion of sin has no place. A stumble, stutter-step, or trip-up of sin does not apply here, it is the habitual lifestyle of sin that a true child of God, who is born of God, cannot partake of. They literally cannot live in such sin. It would be unnatural and perverted. Therefore, Christ's sacrifice, which put death in its grave, allowed for us to become born of God and become dead to sin but alive in Him. All from the beauty of God's control through His omnipotence and perfect providence.

     It only makes sense that God would have all the power (omnipotent). He created all things, how could He not have all of the power? Anything that may go against God, He created. Not only that, but He knew when He created that being that they would one day rebel and become an enemy. It would be like playing chess with someone who could literally read minds. No matter what move you made, they would see the bigger picture because they not only know how you would/will move, but also how other moves will make you move. They could manipulate the field for any desired ending. This very trait of God gives Him unending power.
     Born of Him, this omnipotent God, He defends us with His omnipotence. He has made covenant with us, and therefore has committed Himself to defending us, but the real test comes when all seems dark. When the enemy approaches and strikes all around, and when it appears that God has forgotten us in our paths or not given the justice we feel we deserve, that is when the real test comes.
     A humorous atmosphere resides in the place where we, as children of the Creator, say things such as, "You don't even know, God" or "Why did You make things this way." When we do not know the who, what, when, where, or whys, doubt usually finds no trouble gaining strongholds over us. I often go so far as to making my own way or rushing things prematurely instead of waiting on God and following His guidance despite the lack of a visible path or clear direction.
     Such dangerous grounds to tread on, beloved! Spend time chewing on Isaiah 50 and focusing in on Isaiah 50:10-11 and the danger associated with kindling our own fire to see through times of darkness will become reality to you. Yet, God gives us a picture of following Him, as a blind man might, during these seasons that seem dark and unknown. Here, Abba Father reaches His hand for ours and beckons us to trust Him for the next move. He sees the larger picture; He knows the chess opponent's every thought; He created everything. If God is for us, what then can come against us?
     Yet we find ourselves in these places of fatigue, unrest, and weariness, and we question God. Why ever so? How could I know? Everything He is and has done for us surely should incline us to trust in His omnipotence. And rightly so, we have no reason to doubt Him! He created all things and dwells far above all things as LORD of Hosts and LORD of All. By simply blowing, man withers as grass beneath His breath. He knows our past, present, and future and remains the Everlasting God through it all. He watched us grow from the unnatural, perverted ways of living for this world and the ruler of this world to the natural and pure living for His Kingdom and the Creator of this world, Himself!
     The greatness of His omnipotence resides in this: God created us for intimacy with Him, fills us with power from Him, defends us with the knowledge of Him, and renews us with strength from Him. He remains faithful from everlasting to everlasting. He never grows weary, never loses strength, and never deteriorates. Even those who live in the peak of their lives and have energy vibrant for vigorous living will utterly fall and stumble badly, but He, He never loses strength, and those who wait for, lean on, and trust in Him will also gain new strength. The unnatural leads to death, but the natural leads to life and even life to the fullest. Praise be to God, the Omnipotent!

Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD, and the justice due me escapes the notice of my God"? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait on the LORD will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.

-Isaiah 40:27-31

"O LORD, You have searched me and known me"

     Oh what beauty does God's omniscience carry! He not only created all things, He knows all things with a supernatural intimacy. His character is a wellspring of abundant life, and the complexities of which go beyond our understanding. Sure, we can talk about Him and even understand His ways to a certain accuracy and to a certain point, but to plunge into the depths of the knowledge of God goes far beyond the time we have in this world. "For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known" (1Corinthians 13:12). A knowledge such as the depths of God are too high, we cannot attain to it.
     And the beauty of God's omniscience? Although we only see Him through a mirror dimly lit, He sees us and knows us far better than we know ourselves! The cries of our hearts, He hears! The pangs of our passion, He feels! The zeal and love that going before the throne brings, He authors! And, O what beauty resides in that place before the throne! Yet, we do not even know the beginnings of such beauty.

     The interesting thing about this Character of His omniscience resides in the cultivation of our lives. Although He knows every word that will come from our mouths before we even think it, He still beckons us to build that relationship with Him. He knows what we will pray, at what time, and where, yet He still exclaims, "Cry out!", and longs for us to go to Him with our whole hearts. O how He paints His love for us on the canvas of our hearts through His fellowship! Although He knows, He listens. And for us to doubt that fact would then mean that we ourselves have doubted the character of God. For He is the Father that continually leads us and loves us. Circumstances of darkness cannot alter the blunt fact that He will never leave His children. How can such a Father, who came also in the Son and took on our sins while we yet were even born, abandon His children? He Himself has comforted us: "Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you" (Isaiah 49:15).
     This omniscience, that He knows every bit of us, means that He knows when we will wander from the path and when we will fall short as His child. Yet even in the Isaiah passage, He takes the most sincere and unforgettable type of love that we can picture (e.g. the mother with her nursing child) and says that even that love will forget, but He will not and cannot forget. His love never fails. "See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are continually before Me" (Isaiah 49:16). Although He knows us, He inscribes us on His palms! He knows us like the palm of His hand because we are on the palm of His hand!
    
     O, woe is me, for I am unclean! You know everything about me, Father, for You formed me. You know my failures of today, and tomorrow, yet You still choose to cover me in Your blood, forgiving me, and to lead me in Your paths, ravishing my heart all along the way. Please flavor this food, Spirit, in such a way that we may allow you to ravish our hearts by it and that we fall deeper and deeper still in love with You as we fall deeper and deeper still into the wellspring of the knowledge of who You are.

     What other way can we respond to the throne of God? "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts" (Isaiah's response to the beauty before the throne in Isaiah 6:5). But praise be to the Omniscient, the God of Covenant, who replies by touching us with a coal from the altar, cleansing us from our own destruction, purging us of our sin.
     "Here am I! Send me" (Isaiah 6:8). And why would we not say this? God knows every move we make and loves us all the same; therefore, if we are seeking God's face and leaning upon His will and bosom, what can come against us? If He stands, as our Covenant, ready to defend and protect us from all sides, who can stand against the God who knows all, sees all, and created all? O, the depths of the character of God and the gorgeous aspect of His omniscience!

O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my though afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O LORD, You know it altogether. You have hedged me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, "Surely the darkness shall fall on me," even the night shall be light about me; indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You. For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still with You....Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

-Psalm 139:1-18, 23-24