TEXT FOR REFLECTION
8 The men of Israel took captive 200,000 of their relatives, women, sons, and daughters. They also took much spoil from them and brought the spoil to Samaria. 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.” V 8-11
REFLECTION
When King Ahaz was king over Judah, he led his nation into grossly abominable acts of idolatry. He offered sacrifices and made offerings on every hill and mound and under every tree. Can you imagine what that looks like? There are several spots in Singapore where trees become sacred places. Various offerings are made around the trees. Gods and demons are worshipped in these places. Persons walking around these trees often feel a sense of oppression. Thankfully such places are uncommon in Singapore. Imagine having these shrines under every tree! Virtually the whole land, and not just temples, becomes a place of worship for idols. And in some of these places of worship, humans were being sacrificed. King Ahaz' sin was made worse because Judah was God's chosen land, and Ahaz had turned it into a place of worship for other gods and of vile practices.
So God allowed the kings of Syria and Israel to defeat King Ahaz. The king of Israel struck Judah very hard, and in one day killed 120,000 soldiers from Judah and took captive 200,000 of their relatives and family members.
Despite Judah's sin, God could not bear to see Israel's cruelty towards their brother nation. God sent a prophet, Oded, to convey His message to the king of Israel. In God's message He said that while He had allowed Israel to defeat Judah, Israel had approached the task with a rage that went much further than their mandate. Israel had also approached the task without regard to their own sinfulness. God then directed Israel to return their captives back to their land, lest God's wrath be upon Israel.
This historic event tells us that even in meting out justice, God tempers justice with mercy. Judah had sinned grievously and God had allowed Judah's enemies to inflict punishment upon them. Even so, God expected Israel as God's instrument of punishment to inflict pain in the fear of the Lord, conscious of their own sin. The people of Israel had assumed that when God allowed them to defeat Judah, God was giving them carte blanch permission to unleash their rage against their historic enemy and subjugate Judah completely. And this attitude displeased God.
RELATE
Even long before the coming of Christ and His sacrifice of Himself on the cross, we see a surprising yet consistent part of God --- that God has a soft heart. Judah had absolutely gone to the dogs. In many ways, they had exceeded the neighbouring nations in idolatry and sin. They had covered the entire land with idol worship. There was not a spot that God could even call His own. Judah deserved to be completely destroyed. Yet God had great compassion on the people of Judah and refused to allow Israel to hurt them more than was necessary.
There are times when we are required by circumstances to mete out justice against someone who has hurt us. For example, we may sue another person for damages, or go to war with another nation. Or physically restrain another person from hurting us further. In God's eyes, these may be acts that God permits. But there are limits to how hard we hit back.
Our Lord Jesus Christ shows us a better way: to turn the other cheek when struck by our enemy, to offer our coat in addition when we are unjustly sued for our shirt. These are ideals, the gold standard. But these ideals are often hard to attain. Most of us fail when we find ourselves hurt by others. It is very difficult to 'offer the other cheek'. To be able to do so can only be an act of God's grace.
However, even if we are unable to 'offer the other cheek', a bottom line standard is required: that even in meting out vengeance or justice, or self-defence, we must not do so with rage. And we can only do so with an awareness that we too are sinners. We are always on the one side a victim, and on the other an offender. And in meting out vengeance, we need to remember that the measure that we give to the person who offends us, may be the measure that we will receive from the one whom we have offended. And in all of this, to bear in mind that the one who offends, no matter how grievous the offence, is a person still loved by our heavenly Father.
REST
Father, even though we cannot fully forgive our enemies as Christ has taught us to, help us to temper our vengeance with the awareness of our own sinfulness and need for mercy. Help us not to do anything in rage, but in measured ways, and always in the fear of You. I pray this in the precious Name of Your Son Jesus Christ, who gave Himself in exchange for our forgiveness, Amen.
Chiu Ming Li
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