I find no pleasure in chapters about judgment. No matter who is being judged by God, God's judgment is a frightful situation. Chapters like this are a constant and stark reminder that God judges everyone. Whether this side of eternity or at the gate to eternity, every person will be judged. Our words, thoughts, deeds, intensions, everything will be open for the Lord to see and He will judge to see if in any way we broke the law. Minor transgression or major it doesn't matter. Once the law is broken, we are lawbreakers deserving punishment and the wrath of God.
This is a frightening realization. And whenever I read about God judging some person or nation, I realize that I, too, will stand before God.
I have broken the law more times than I even know and certainly more than I could count or list. My hearing before God would not be pretty, except for the gift of Jesus, my Lord, carrying my sins on His body as He hung on the cross. Moab had no one to ransom them…frightful. As Jonathan Edwards reminded his parish, it is a frightful thing… sinners in the hands of an angry God.
Sitting here today, reading about Moab's fate, I am eternally grateful for:
· The Father's love that sent Jesus,
· Jesus dying for sinners and His invitation to believe and be forgiven, and
· The Holy Spirit who opened my eyes and heart to the truth of God's redemption through Jesus…
Jesus is the only reason I fear not God's judgment. And I say this not in a cocky way, but completely humbled by God's love and grace for me…
If you are reading this I hope you know the love of God through Jesus Christ, God's one and only Son.
Lord God, Father in heaven, thank You for Jesus and the riches of grace found in confessing Him as Savior and Lord. Thank You, Holy One, for taking the truth of Jesus and applying it to my heart. For wooing and calling me home to Jesus. I pray in the matchless name of my God, Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit. Amen.
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