Mercy, Judgement, and Grace

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Text:  Joel 2:18-27

Joel 2:25

I will restore^[c] to you the years
    that the swarming locust has eaten,
the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,
    my great army, which I sent among you.

(ESV)

Mercy is one not receiving what they deserve, judgment is one receiving what they deserve, and grace is one receiving what they do not deserve.  The essence of the Gospel is a path moving one from judgment due to sin to mercy and grace (John 3:16-18; Romans 8:1).  The nation of Israel has sinned and received a measure of God’s judgment from destructive locusts.  However, as Joel 2:18 reminds us, God has jealousy for the land and pity on his people.  The Hebrew word for jealousy in this text is qanah meaning jealousy, envy, and one who is very zealous.  God directs His jealousy at the land and not the people indicating a desire to restore the land.  God directs pity or chamal towards the people indicating God having continued passion for the people despite their sin.  Judah received a measure of God’s judgment with the attack of locusts with God telling of the coming day of the Lord bringing judgment without measure.  However, God shows grace by sending grain, wine, and oil to replace what the locusts have destroyed.  God also shows grace by removing the northerner or threat of invasion far from them (Joel 2:19-20).  These are all symbols pointing to the ultimate demonstration of God’s mercy and grace on the cross.

As a further illustration of the magnitude of God’s mercy and grace let us imagine each of us standing accused of some capital crime.  We know we are guilty and committed the crime (Romans 3:23) and appear before the judge awaiting our sentencing.  As expected, the penalty for our crime is death (Romans 6:23) but after the pronouncement of our sentence, the judge does not bang the gavel and dismiss court but continues to speak.  The judge tells us he is prepared to have mercy on us and brings his only adult son out from his chambers.  His offer is hard to believe but this judge has never lied before and gives us no reason to believe he will begin now so we listen intently to his offer.  The unbelievable offer is that the judge’s son will take our death penalty, even though he is not guilty, and that the judge will adopt us into his family (Romans 5:8; John 1:12).  The judge then goes on to demonstrate his grace by informing us that the act of taking our death penalty has already occurred and that all we need to do is accept it (Romans 10:9-10).  The most amazing truth about this illustration is that it is true and available to anyone. 

I want to encourage those reading this to take a moment to honestly reflect on their lives.  We have all sinned (Romans 3:23) and are under a death sentence from God, our judge, for these sins (Romans 6:23).  We now stand before the judge with a choice, do we leave the courtroom having rejected the judge’s offer of mercy and grace and suffer the judgment we deserve or do we take the judge up on his offer and receive a full pardon.  The choice is obvious, we should accept the pardon.  For those reading this that have never done so, I want to invite you to accept God’s full pardon by praying with me now.

Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans 3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans 6:23).  I ask you to forgive me of my sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1 John 1:9).  I believe you died, spent three days in the grave, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord of my life.

Those that just praying have experienced God’s mercy and grace and have rescue from God’s judgment for their sin.  You also have adoption into the family of God and can call God your Father.  As with any family relationship, you should spend time with your new family and learn from your father.  We learn from our heavenly father through studying the Bible, the word of God.  We should also spend time with other adopted sons and daughters of God which occurs when we come together at church or in a Bible study.  Just as God had pity on Israel, restoring what the locust had eaten, God has had pity on us by taking our judgment upon himself (Romans 5:8), providing forgiveness for our sins and adoption into the family of God (John 1:12).  May God bless all reading this post.