August 27, 2024
Mercy -- Part 2
2 Chronicles 28:9-11
08/27/2024
9 But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name
was Oded, and he went out to meet the army that
came to Samaria and said to them, ``Behold,
because the LORD, the God of your fathers, was
angry with Judah, he gave them into your hand, but
you have killed them in a rage that has reached up
to heaven.
10 And now you intend to subjugate the people of
Judah and Jerusalem, male and female, as your
slaves. Have you not sins of your own against the
LORD your God?
11 Now hear me, and send back the captives from your
relatives whom you have taken, for the fierce
wrath of the LORD is upon you.'' (ESV)
Our text this week is about mercy, the love and compassion
shown to another even when the one showing mercy has power to
cause harm. Two hundred thousand captives were brought from the
southern kingdom of Judah to Samaria as spoils of war.
But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was
Oded, and he went out to meet the army that came to
Samaria and said to them, ``Behold, because the LORD,
the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, he gave
them into your hand, but you have killed them in a rage
that has reached up to heaven. And now you intend to
subjugate the people of Judah and Jerusalem, male and
female, as your slaves. Have you not sins of your own
against the LORD your God? Now hear me, and send back
the captives from your relatives whom you have taken,
for the fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you.''
God allowed the northern kingdom to defeat Judah as a way of
showing Judah their sin of idolatry. Yet the ten tribes of the
northern kingdom were overly ruthless and violent in their
treatment of the captives.
The prophet Oded called the victorious army to repent of
their sin, to acknowledge that they, too, had rebelled against
God and deserved the same fate as the captives.
As we seek revenge, as we seek advantage over others, do we
stop to realize that we also have sinned against God and deserve
His wrath? If so, will we not show mercy because He first showed
us mercy? This is the argument given by Oded.
May our Lord grant us faith to acknowledge our sin and to
forgive those who have sinned against us. Amen.