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Justice or Mercy

Justice or Mercy

That’s not Fair.

Our society has redefined God.

Not that God has changed, but society has made God into an idol. We, as a whole, have made a god that rewards good and punishes the naughty. A god that wants us to be happy and who is distant and not involved in our daily lives but on occasion. We have made a Santa Clause god.

We have forgotten God's holiness. We have confused mercy and justice.

When we compare King Saul and King David, we see that King Saul had no interest in the things of God. King David couldn't wait to bring the Ark of the covenant home, yet King Saul had ignored it for 42 years.

We shouldn't think it is any different after all. Those who have no interest in obeying God tend to ignore God and have no interest in the things of God.

That sounds pretty familiar to us. When we are disobedient, we tend to ignore God and try to pretend as though He isn't there as if by ignoring Him, we are protected from His justice. Friends, just because we pretend God isn't there doesn't take Him off His throne.

Looking at David, he wasn't perfect, but his heart was to seek the Lord. We are called to do the same, and the good news is we don't have to be perfect.

Looking at 2 Samuel 6

We see the story of David bringing home the Ark. Remember, the Ark had sat in the house of Abinadab for 42 years. David placed the Ark on a cart and had Abinidad's sons come with him as they brought the Ark to Jerusalem. On the way, the Ark almost falls, and Uzzah, Abinidad's son, who grew up around the Ark, was killed when he touched it.

This offends us because Uzzah seemed as if he was trying to do the right thing. As David seemed to be doing the right thing as well but tragedy struck anyway.

Most people just don't think that it is fair for this to happen.

What was his error- trying to help? NO

Actually, there were a bunch of errors

First -According to Numbers 4:5–15, the Ark could be handled only by Kohathites, who were descended from Levi. We have no confirmation that Uzzah was a Kohathite.

Second, the Ark had to be covered with goatskin since even to look upon the Ark carried the punishment of death.

Third, the Ark was to be carried by Kohathites using wooden poles provided with the Ark and not carried on a cart

And fourth, Numbers 4:15 warns that those carrying the ark "must not touch the holy things, lest they die."

Uzzah may have believed he was doing the right thing by touching the Ark so that it did not fall. But, he disobeyed God's command and paid the penalty.

The wages of sin is (death)

God usually does not respond to human sin by instantaneous death.

Just because God does not always apply the death penalty immediately when we break his law does not mean that God was wrong in doing what he did to Uzzah.

R. C. Sproul professor.Told a story about his students

He assigned a paper with a due date. ¼ of his students didn't turn it. They gave a lot of excuses, so he showed mercy and extended the date. He was praised as a great teacher

2nd paper- the same thing happened, and Sproul warned that this would be the last time an extension would be given, and he was praised as a great teacher

3re paper – He made good on his threat and gave all those that were late an F. He says What was amazing was their reaction. That's not fair!

Was it fair? Yes, it was. It was fair. In fact, it would have been fair for Sproul to fail them all the first time.

He showed mercy- they began to take his mercy for granted

Sproul states: "It is the confusion between justice and mercy that makes us shrink in horror when we read the story of Uzzah.

When God's justice falls, we are offended because we think God owes us perpetual mercy."

We should not confuse mercy with God's justice. Sin will bring death, whether instantaneous or later.

One side note here about Uzzah, they say that familiarity breeds contempt. Uzzah, having grown up around the Ark, the place where God's presence resided, had grown so accustomed to being around the holiness that he took it for granted.

We should never become so familiar with the things of God that we end up ignoring God.

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