The Goodness and Severity of God

The Bible presents a picture of God as a God of holiness, justice and love

As you read the Bible, you gain a more complete picture of who God is

God’s commands to the Israelites to exterminate the Canaanites are troubling

You want to understand how this puzzle fits with what you know of God

Dig deeply into the ways of God to understand Him better

God expects human beings to know and act upon His laws of justice 1

God has revealed His laws of justice to mankind 1

1 He revealed it in the Ten Commandments

1 He revealed it after the flood

1 He revealed it to the hearts of men

When a society carries out God’s judgments on its own wicked, God’s justice is satisfied 1

1 Executing judgment is the purpose of government

1 When Israel carried out justice, God didn’t have to.

1 When the church executed judgment, Jesus was pleased.

When a society refuses to execute justice for its members, it abandons its purpose for existing 1

1 When the nations abandoned justice, they were ripe for God’s judgment

1 When Israel failed to execute judgment, God did

1 Jesus will execute judgment if a church will not

God destroyed the Canaanite nations because they had abandoned justice 2

The Canaanites were guilty of gross immorality 2

2 They were guilty of incest and adultery

2 They were guilty of homosexuality and bestiality

2 They were guilty of killing their children in worship to their gods

God’s judgment was intended to cleanse the land of that injustice 2

2 God told Abraham what would happen

2 The slaughter of the Canaanites was God’s way of cleansing the land Leviticus 18:24–25 - ‘Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you. 25 For the land is defiled; therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants.

2 The judgment also served the purpose of preventing the spread of injustice Deuteronomy 7:2–4 - and when the L ORD your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. 3 You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, 4 for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the L ORD would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly.

When the Israelites abandoned justice, the same thing happened to them 2

2 God warned what would happen Leviticus 20:22–23 - “You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out. 23 And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them.

2 Israel became as wicked as those nations they had driven out Psalm 106:34–40 - They did not destroy the peoples, as the L ORD commanded them, 35 but they mixed with the nations and learned to do as they did. 36 They served their idols, which became a snare to them. 37 They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons; 38 they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood. 39 Thus they became unclean by their acts, and played the whore in their deeds. 40 Then the anger of the L ORD was kindled against his people, and he abhorred his heritage;

2 Finally, God executed His judgment on Israel

God promises to bring about perfect justice 3

We must understand the different types of judgments that occur 3

3 There is a difference between individual and national judgment

3 There is a difference between temporal and final judgment

3 God will execute perfect justice in the final judgment

God holds the power of life and death and exercises it to accomplish His highest purposes 3

3 God’s wants to bring the immortal souls of human beings into eternal fellowship with Him

3 When a nation only produces eternally lost souls, God may well take action

3 We should consider what He must think of our nation

In eternity, God will punish every disobedience, and restore every loss 3

3 The punishment of the unjust teaches us how bad sin is

3 The reward of the righteous shows us how wonderful God is Revelation 21:3–4 - And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

3 God’s timeline for making all things right is eternity

Dig deeply into the ways of God to understand Him better

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