He is a forgiving God
As I read through 1 Kings 21 and Jeremiah 48 I was impressed with how forgiving God is. In 1 Kings 18 Ahab had coveted Naboth's vineyard and pouted because Naboth would not trade or sell his vineyard. So Jezebel had Naboth murdered and then told Ahab to go claim the vineyard. The Lord sent Elijah to Ahab to tell him of the disasters that would come upon him and his descendants because of the evil he had committed. There never was a man like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord. Verse 25. But when Ahab heard the pronouncements he humbled himself and went around meekly. Because of this the Lord told Elijah, "Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day but I will bring it on his house in the days of his son."
How different God is from us!! The evil Ahab committed was monumental, more than any other man, but because Ahab humbled himself, God relented on the judgment he was going to send and spared Ahab from experiencing it.
Jeremiah 48 is a pronouncement against Moab because of their vileness. The Lord gave Jeremiah a message of what would happen to this nation. But at the very end of the chapter the Lord says, "Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab in days to come." Verse 47. What a forgiving God!!! In judgment he shows mercy.
The scripture shows us over and over how forgiving God is. In Leviticus 26 the Lord tells the Israelites of the blessings he will send if they are obedient, but he also outlines the punishment for disobedience. Then he says, "But if they will confess their sins and the sins of their fathers........I will remember the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of Egypt." Verses 40-45. There are always consequences for sin, but if we confess and turn from sin the Lord is always there to forgive and restore.
Psalm 32:5 "Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the Lord' and you forgave the guilt of my sin." Not only does the Lord forgive when we confess he takes away the guilt of our sin so we can stand before him whole. Psalm 130.4, If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness."
Micha 7:19, You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea Jeremiah 31:34 says he will remember our sins no more. Isaiah 38:17, "You have put all my sins behind your back." "You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ. He forgave all your sins." Col. 2:13 NLB. There is such a vast weight of evidence that God is a forgiving God. He cannot tolerate sin but when we humble ourselves, confess and turn from our sinful ways he forgives and we stand before him just as if we had never sinned.
Not only does he forgive us but h calls upon us to forgive one another. "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you." Ephesians 4:32. "Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." Colossians 3:13. Nehemiah 9:17 sums it all up for me. "But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love." I don't think Ahab continued to live in God's forgiveness because of his evil ways, and I don't know what Moab did with their forgiveness. We have a choice; to confess and receive God's forgiveness every day, stay in tune with his still small voice that pricks our hearts and convicts of wrong thoughts, wrong attitudes, and wrong choices and walk in his forgiveness and exercise that forgiveness towards those around us. He is a forgiving God. Let's take on that attribute and become a forgiving people.
Tomorrows Bible Reading - 1 Kings 22, Jeremiah 49, 1 Corinthians 8-9
God is good all the time
Naomi Brinkman
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