Without Mercy

Mercy

Wednesday 11/20/19

Series: Thru the Bible

Message – Without Mercy

Without Mercy

Ok, I know the title is anything but inviting but this is actually more about mercy than it is about a lack of it. Granted, the passage in our first chapter tonight speaks of God hardening the hearts of kings in the land of Canaan that He might show them no mercy and kill them all – but there is MUCH more to the story and it is one of patience, goodness, kindness and forbearance.

MANY Christians have been faced with antagonism from the world by questioning the goodness of a God Who is supposed to be all about love and yet he orders the mass genocide of nearly an entire continent. In truth, many ask this question with sincerity. Inwardly they probably think something like this – “You’re own book says God is Love, is merciful and wants no one to perish. It also says He never changes, yet in that same book your God is portrayed as both a loving, merciful God and a mass killer. How can you believe anything that book says when it so blatantly contradicts itself?”

To which I say…“Hey, good question! Now let me ask you one. Is it really a question or a judgement upon our beliefs? If it is genuinely a question, then make yourself comfortable because I’ll show you how our “book” supplies the answer… if you have ears to hear.”

Joshua 11:1-23, 

“(1) And it came to pass, when Jabin king of Hazor heard these things, that he sent to Jobab king of Madon, to the king of Shimron, to the king of Achshaph,  (2) and to the kings who were from the north, in the mountains, in the plain south of Chinneroth, in the lowland, and in the heights of Dor on the west, (3)  to the Canaanites in the east and in the west, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite in the mountains, and the Hivite below Hermon in the land of Mizpah.  (4) So they went out, they and all their armies with them, as many people as the sand that is on the seashore in multitude, with very many horses and chariots. (5) And when all these kings had met together, they came and camped together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.  (6) But the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid because of them, for tomorrow about this time I will deliver all of them slain before Israel. You shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.” (7) So Joshua and all the people of war with him came against them suddenly by the waters of Merom, and they attacked them.  (8) And the LORD delivered them into the hand of Israel, who defeated them and chased them to Greater Sidon, to the Brook Misrephoth, and to the Valley of Mizpah eastward; they attacked them until they left none of them remaining. (9) So Joshua did to them as the LORD had told him: he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.  (10) Joshua turned back at that time and took Hazor, and struck its king with the sword; for Hazor was formerly the head of all those kingdoms. (11) And they struck all the people who were in it with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them. There was none left breathing. Then he burned Hazor with fire. (12) So all the cities of those kings, and all their kings, Joshua took and struck with the edge of the sword. He utterly destroyed them, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded.  (13) But as for the cities that stood on their mounds, Israel burned none of them, except Hazor only, which Joshua burned. (14) And all the spoil of these cities and the livestock, the children of Israel took as booty for themselves; but they struck every man with the edge of the sword until they had destroyed them, and they left none breathing.  

(15)  As the LORD had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the LORD had commanded Moses.  

(16)  Thus Joshua took all this land: the mountain country, all the South, all the land of Goshen, the lowland, and the Jordan plain—the mountains of Israel and its lowlands,  (17) from Mount Halak and the ascent to Seir, even as far as Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings, and struck them down and killed them.  (18) Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. (19) There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. All the others they took in battle.  

(20)  For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that He might utterly destroy them, and that they might receive no mercy, but that He might destroy them, as the LORD had commanded Moses.” 

Why? 

Turn with me to Acts 28:26-28, 

“(23) After arranging a day with him, many came to him at his lodging. From dawn to dusk he expounded and witnessed about the kingdom of God. He persuaded them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets.  (24) Some were persuaded by what he said, but others did not believe. (25) Disagreeing among themselves, they began to leave after Paul made one statement: “The Holy Spirit correctly spoke through the prophet Isaiah to your forefathers (26) when He said, Go to this people and say: ‘You will listen and listen, yet never understand; and you will look and look, yet never perceive. (27)  For this people’s heart has grown callous, their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and be converted–and I would heal them.’ (28) Therefore, let it be known to you that this saving work of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen!”

Matt. 13:10-17, “(10) Then the disciples came up and asked Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”  (11) He answered them, “Because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given for you to know, but it has not been given to them. (12)  For whoever has, more will be given to him, and he will have more than enough. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. (13)  For this reason I speak to them in parables, because looking they do not see, and hearing they do not listen or understand. (14) Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says: You will listen and listen, yet never understand; and you will look and look, yet never perceive. (15)  For this people’s heart has grown callous; their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn back–and I would cure them. (16) “But your eyes are blessed because they do see, and your ears because they do hear! (17)  For I assure you: Many prophets and righteous people longed to see the things you see yet didn’t see them; to hear the things you hear yet didn’t hear them.”

What did these Jews have in common with those Canaanites the Lord had destroyed?

  • They had seen and seen and yet not observed.
  • They had heard and heard and yet had not listened.

In other words, time and proper conditions for repentance had been given for a very long time and these people remained unrepentant. God’s Spirit will not always strive with man.

  • The pre-flood world had 1666 years before the flood. 
  • These people had close to it thousand years before Israel conquered  their land.
  • Israel had the promised land (on and off) for nearly 1500 years before they rejected the gospel and their Messiah and their true and spiritual inheritance was taken from them and given to the Gentiles. 
    • ” hardening in part has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in…” Rom. 11:25

Gen. 10:1-20, “(1) These are the family records of Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. They also had sons after the deluge.  ….(7) Cush’s sons: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. And Raamah’s sons: Sheba and Dedan. (8) Cush fathered Nimrod, who was the first powerful man on earth.  (9) He was a powerful hunter in the sight of the LORD. That is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a powerful hunter in the sight of the LORD.” (10) His kingdom started with Babylon, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.  (11) From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-ir, Calah, (12) and Resen, between Nineveh and the great city Calah. (13) Egypt fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, (14) Pathrusim, Casluhim (the Philistines came from them), and Caphtorim.  (15) Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn, and the Hittites,  (16)  the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites,  (17) the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites,  (18) the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterwards the Canaanite clans scattered.  (19)  The Canaanite border went from Sidon going toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and going toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.  (20)  These are Ham’s sons, by their clans, according to their languages, in their own lands and their nations.”

Timelines for Biblical accounts differ by as much as 400 years, so pinpointing anything precisely has it’s difficulties. Nevertheless, we know that the kingdoms established in Canaan had been there between 500 – 1000 years before God gave the land to Israel. That is a LOT of time to repent.

I often refer to the first chapter of Romans for various reasons because it answers SO many of the difficult questions which arise in scripture and this one is no different. So let’s allow it to shed some light on our passage here.

Rom. 1:16-32, “(16) For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.  (17) For in it God’s righteousness is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith. (18) For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth,  (19) since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. (20) From the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse.  (21)  For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened.  (22) Claiming to be wise, they became fools (23) and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.  (24) Therefore God delivered them over in the cravings of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. (25) They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served something created instead of the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.  (26) This is why God delivered them over to degrading passions. For even their females exchanged natural sexual intercourse for what is unnatural.  (27) The males in the same way also left natural sexual intercourse with females and were inflamed in their lust for one another. Males committed shameless acts with males and received in their own persons the appropriate penalty for their perversion.  (28) And because they did not think it worthwhile to have God in their knowledge, God delivered them over to a worthless mind to do what is morally wrong. (29) They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, disputes, deceit, and malice. They are gossips,  (30) slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, (31) undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful. (32) Although they know full well God’s just sentence–that those who practice such things deserve to die–they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them.”

So FAR from God simply acting upon what we would call “whim”, this conquest was long overdue and God’s patience had endured for many generations with these people. Their descendants had known positively that God exists. They knew the history of the human race and had chosen to ignore it. This should come as no surprise – we are witnessing it in our day. Consider the large numbers of people who are ignoring and denying the history of the holocaust which is more recent for us and far better documented than ANYTHING the inhabitants of Canaan had – and they do this NOT due to any weight of evidence that runs contrary but out of convenience. They are WILLFUL in their ignorance – just like 2 Peter says.

2Peter 3:1-13, “(1) Dear friends, this is now the second letter I’ve written you; in both, I awaken your pure understanding with a reminder,  (2) so that you can remember the words previously spoken by the holy prophets, and the commandment of our Lord and Savior given through your apostles.  (3) First, be aware of this: scoffers will come in the last days to scoff, following their own lusts, (4) saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they have been since the beginning of creation.”  (5) They willfully ignore this: long ago the heavens and the earth existed out of water and through water by the word of God. (6) Through these the world of that time perished when it was flooded by water. (7) But by the same word the present heavens and earth are held in store for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.  (8) Dear friends, don’t let this one thing escape you: with the Lord one day is like 1,000 years, and 1,000 years like one day. (9) The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. (10) But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief; on that day the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, the elements will burn and be dissolved, and the earth and the works on it will be disclosed.  (11) Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, it is clear what sort of people you should be in holy conduct and godliness (12) as you wait for and earnestly desire the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be on fire and be dissolved, and the elements will melt with the heat. (13) But based on His promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness will dwell.”

People love to play the victim but God knows and weighs the hearts and He alone is Judge!

“(21)  And at that time Joshua came and cut off the Anakim (Giants – Deut. 2:10-11) from the mountains: from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, from all the mountains of Judah, and from all the mountains of Israel; Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities.  (22) None of the Anakim were left in the land of the children of Israel; they remained only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod. (23) So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD had said to Moses; and Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. Then the land rested from war.”

So when we see passages like this where God clearly and unambiguously declares, that He hardened their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that He might utterly destroy them, and that they might receive no mercy, but that He might destroy them He does so with good and valid reason and not until AFTER He has shown MUCH mercy & patience.

God’s desire for man IS redemption and reconciliation. God gave man freedom to choose, but to choose separation from God is to choose separation from all that is life and goodness. Life and goodness DO NOT exist independent of God, so the sentence of death and misery is one that is not so much chosen or dictated by God for man, but is the only choice remaining if one rejects God.

It cannot be said that mercy is so much a core character of God since sin should not exist. Since it does however, mercy was born out of the love God has for His creation which has rejected Him. The Bible has removed the questions one has about who gets mercy and who does not through MANY examples and statements.

For example, James tells us that the one who shows mercy will receive mercy when judged, but those who show no mercy with die without any mercy.

Then you have the general goodness and kindness and love of God which offers by default, mercy to all – up to a point. God Owns a type of responsibility for His creation. He shoulders the liability of having created it, so mercy makes sense if one knows the character of God. This having been said, mercy is not something that is OWED, it is given…it is offered, though often through pride it is summarily rejected.

Before God’s creation, His first and only real obligation is to show respect, deference, honor and love to the other members of the Godhead and this is to a large degree where and why we have judgment. God tells us in Genesis that His Spirit will not always strive with man. The word strive, means to contend with in order to bring to justice – to attempt to justify. If man continually spurs God’s pursuit and drawing, He MUST act in respect and honor to the Spirit and Son upon Whom man is spitting in his rebellion and hatefulness. In the end, to continue to show mercy past a certain point (which differs for each man based upon the inner conditions and intentions of each heart) would be to turn mercy for man into neglect to honor God. At this point, justice will supersede mercy.  It really is that simple! This is why God has from the beginning invited man and encourage him to fear the Lord. If man would honor God the way God the Father honors, the Spirit and the Son – mercy would be all any man every knew! It is the beginning of knowledge, understanding, wisdom and safety.

But, man in his pride follows the same coarse as the devil in attempting to be their own master and owner and will therefore, share his fate unless they repent in response to God’s goodness, mercy and forbearance.

Rom. 3:21-31,  “(21) But now, apart from the law, God’s righteousness has been revealed–attested by the Law and the Prophets  (22) –that is, God’s righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ, to all who believe, since there is no distinction.  (23) For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (24) They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.  (25) God presented Him as a propitiation through faith in His blood, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His restraint God passed over the sins previously committed.  (26) He presented Him to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be righteous and declare righteous the one who has faith in Jesus. (27) Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By one of works? No, on the contrary, by a law of faith.  (28) For we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from works of law. (29) Or is God for Jews only? Is He not also for Gentiles? Yes, for Gentiles too, (30) since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. (31) Do we then cancel the law through faith? Absolutely not! On the contrary, we uphold the law.”

You see God IN HIS RESTRAINT had passed over many of the sins previously committed.

One other key is found in the statement God gave to Abraham in Genesis 15. He tells him that Israel will stay in Egypt that Egypt might amass wealth which He will in turn GIVE to Israel upon their departure. Also, He was not yet willing to judge Canaan for the sake of the Amorites. God, in His mercy and restraint was going to give the Amorites another 400 years to repent, though He knew they would not.

Gen. 15:13-16, “(13) Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know this for certain: Your offspring will be strangers in a land that does not belong to them; they will be enslaved and oppressed 400 years.  (14) However, I will judge the nation they serve, and afterwards they will go out with many possessions. (15) But you will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.  (16) In the fourth generation they will return here (the promised land), for the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”

All my enemies…

Joshua 12:1-24, 

“(1) The Israelites struck down the following kings of the land and took possession of their land beyond the Jordan to the east and from the Arnon Valley to Mount Hermon, including all the Arabah eastward:  (2) Sihon king of the Amorites lived in Heshbon. He ruled over the territory from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along the middle of the valley, and half of Gilead up to the Jabbok River (the border of the Ammonites),  (3) the Arabah east of the Sea of Chinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea), eastward through Beth-jeshimoth and southward below the slopes of Pisgah. (4) Og king of Bashan, of the remnant of the Rephaim, lived in Ashtaroth and Edrei.  (5) He ruled over Mount Hermon, Salecah, all Bashan up to the Geshurite and Maacathite border, and half of Gilead to the border of Sihon, king of Heshbon. (6) Moses the LORD’s servant and the Israelites struck them down. And Moses the LORD’s servant gave their land as an inheritance to the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh.  (7) Joshua and the Israelites struck down the following kings of the land beyond the Jordan to the west, from Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, which ascends toward Seir (Joshua gave their land as an inheritance to the tribes of Israel according to their allotments: (8) the hill country, the Judean foothills, the plain, the slopes, the desert, and the Negev of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites):  (9) the king of Jericho one the king of Ai, which is next to Bethel one (10) the king of Jerusalem one the king of Hebron one (11) the king of Jarmuth one the king of Lachish one (12) the king of Eglon one the king of Gezer one (13) the king of Debir one the king of Geder one (14) the king of Hormah one the king of Arad one (15) the king of Libnah one the king of Adullam one (16) the king of Makkedah one the king of Bethel one (17) the king of Tappuah one the king of Hepher one  (18) the king of Aphek one the king of Lasharon one (19) the king of Madon one the king of Hazor one (20) the king of Shimron-meron one the king of Achshaph one (21) the king of Taanach one the king of Megiddo one (22) the king of Kedesh one the king of Jokneam in Carmel one (23) the king of Dor in Naphoth-dor onethe king of Goiim in Gilgal one (24) the king of Tirzah one the total number of all kings: 31”

Blessings! 

I hope this message will bless you richly…not because I taught it, but because it reveals Christ. He alone is our blessing and if in any way – whether big or small, 100% accurate or even just partially so – I have revealed our great God and Savior to you in a relationally knowable way, then this was time well spent on both our parts.

We at Living Grace Fellowship encourage you to place your trust in Jesus Christ, deliberately choosing Him and bowing the knee to Him as your Master and Lord, so as to come to realize Him as your Savior.

You have a special place in God’s family & kingdom. The fact that you exist… that you are His creation, says you were in His heart, you are His delight!

If you do not know Him, please reach out to us. Give us a call at the number located on every page of this website or use our ‘Contact Us‘ page. We would be deeply honored, if you gave us the privilege of introducing you to the Lord. Neither money nor attendance at our church will EVER be mentioned.

If you HAVE been spiritually fed by this ministry and WANT to give, we truly appreciate that and you may do so here, but please understand that all the outreaches of this ministry are FREE for you and anyone to enjoy at no cost.

Blessings!

Hi my name is Mark and though I am opposed to titles, I am currently the only Pastor (shepherd/elder) serving our assembly right now.

I have been Pastoring in one capacity or another for nearly 30 years now, though never quite like I am today.

Early in 2009 the Lord revealed to me that the way we had structured our assembly (church) was not scriptural in that it was out of sync with what Paul modeled for us in the New Testament. In truth, I (like many pastors I am sure) never even gave this fundamental issue of church structure the first thought. I had always assumed that church structure was largely the same everywhere and had been so from the beginning. While I knew Paul had some very stringent things to say about the local assembly of believers, the point of our gatherings together and who may or may not lead, I never even considered studying these issues but assumed we were all pretty much doing it right...safety in numbers right?! Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong!

So needless to say, my discovery that we had been doing it wrong for nearly two decades was a bit of a shock to me! Now, this "revelation" did not come about all at once but over the course of a few weeks. We were a traditional single pastor led congregation. It was a top-bottom model of ministry which is in part biblical, but not in the form of a monarchy.

The needed change did not come into focus until following 9 very intense months of study and discussions with those who were leaders in our church at the time.

We now understand and believe that the Bible teaches co-leadership with equal authority in each local assembly. Having multiple shepherds with God's heart and equal authority protects both Shepherds and sheep. Equal accountability keeps authority and doctrine in check. Multiple shepherds also provide teaching with various styles and giftings with leadership skills which are both different and complementary.

For a while we had two co-pastors (elders) (myself and one other man) who led the church with equal authority, but different giftings. We both taught in our own ways and styles, and our leadership skills were quite different, but complimentary. We were in complete submission to each other and worked side-by-side in the labor of shepherding the flock.

Our other Pastor has since moved on to other ministry which has left us with just myself. While we currently only have one Pastor/Elder, it is our desire that God, in His faithfulness and timing, may bring us more as we grow in maturity and even in numbers.

As to my home, I have been married since 1995 to my wonderful wife Terissa Woodson who is my closest friend and most trusted ally.

As far as my education goes, I grew up in a Christian home, but questioned everything I was ever taught.

I graduated from Bible college in 1990 and continued to question everything I was ever taught (I do not mention my college in order to avoid being labeled).

Perhaps my greatest preparation for ministry has been life and ministry itself. To quote an author I have come to enjoy namely Fredrick Buechner in his writing entitled, Now and Then, "If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that He speaks to us largely through what happens to us...if we keep our hearts open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear Him, He is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, His word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling." ~ Fredrick Buechner

Well that is about all there is of interest to tell you about me.

I hope our ministry here is a blessing to you and your family. I also hope that it is only a supplement to a local church where you are committed to other believers in a community of grace.

~God Bless!