Our God Is Just

Well, good afternoon to everyone. Looks like it's right at 12 o'clock, so I can say good afternoon. That always sounds a little better to me than saying good morning. Someone was kidding me. They said they got you up early today. And yes, they did. It's normal. I'm in the afternoon. But anyway, good afternoon to all. Good morning or good afternoon to those who are watching on the webcast. Hope you're having a good Sabbath. And I do want to say I don't see where she went, but I wanted to thank Teresa for that special music.

It's very difficult to sing a cappella. At least, it's difficult for most of us. That was very pretty. Thank you very much.

Well, brethren, sometimes when people get together, when Christians get together, especially on the Sabbath, we tend to discuss the law, various points of the law, various applications of the law, perhaps, you know, which are more important than others. And of course, Christ answered that question. He told us which is the most important matter or point of the law, which is the greatest commandment. He has also asked other questions at various times, and he talked about the law in various ways. And one of the things he did was tell us which are the weightier matters of the law. Let's turn to Matthew 23, verse 23, and we'll see that one of the things that Jesus Christ said about the law, Matthew 23 is a chapter where Christ upbraids the Pharisees. They were the religious elite or part of the religious elite at that time. They were the ones that went to the temple, that wore their special garments. Very, very religious people, at least they were considered so by those around. But Matthew 23, starting in verse 23, again, Christ upbraids them where he says, Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. So even though they looked good, even though they went to the temple, even though they did certain rituals, their heart was not really close to God at all. Their heart was far from God. It says, Woe to you hypocrites. It says, For you pay tithe of mint, anise, and cummin. Again, little herbs. You might only have one or two plants in your garden. You don't need a lot of herbs. And then they were taking these little seeds and being very meticulous in their obedience and application of the law. But he says that you tithe these little things and neglect the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith. He said, These you ought to have done without leaving the other undone. And then just going on, he says, Blind guides who strain at a gnat and swallow a camel. That's really a very humorous picture, if you think about it. And William Barkley has a nice section in his commentary about this where he said, The Pharisees were very meticulous as they would strain wine or water or other drink through a gauze just to make sure that they wouldn't get a little gnat. But really, both a gnat and a camel are both unclean animals. So while they're straining at the gnat, there's this whole camel that they're just swallowing hook, line, and sinker, so to speak. It paints a, I'm sure it was a more humorous application, a more humorous story at that particular time. We might say today that, well, you know, rather than staying close to the trunk of the tree, we're out on the twigs, we're out on the branches. But in any case, Christ talked about the weightier matters of the law. He talked about justice, mercy, and faith.

And today I'm going to talk about one of those weightier matters of the law, and that I'm going to talk about justice or being just. Our God and our Father is a wonderful and a loving and a holy God. He's very kind, very gracious, very merciful. And He also is just. He does things justfully. He does things with justice.

He applies the same standard fairly for all, no matter who. And actually, when you think about it, you can't really have mercy without having justice or being just. But God is just. Our Father is just. And He also wants us to behave as He is, also to be just. Just think, one of the reasons we go to the Feast of Tabernacles is to do what?

One of the reasons we go to the Feast of Tabernacles is to learn to fear the Lord our God, always. To walk before Him, and again, to do what is right in His sight. Our God is a merciful and loving God, but we don't ever want to take God's mercy for granted. We don't want to take His kindness for granted or casually. God is just. There are penalties, and He wants us to be just as well.

So today, brethren, I'm going to talk about being just to see how our God is just, and also to encourage us to emulate our Father and to also be just. Just starting off with a couple of definitions.

The word just from dictionary.com, it's an adjective. It's guided by truth, reason, justice, or fairness. Boy, fairness, there's a word that really rings within our minds. We always say, well, something's not fair. Look at this, look at that. And quite often we're right. Things aren't fair, not in this world today. Justice has to do with fairness. It's done or being made, continuing with the definition, according to principle. It's something that's equitable. Looking at the word justice from the World English Dictionary, the online World English Dictionary, so there's the quality of factor being just, which doesn't tell us that much, because it used the word just.

But then it talks about ethics. Again, the principle of fairness. Fairness. That like cases should be treated in a like manner. It's to treat or judge fairly. Let's turn back to Leviticus 24th chapter. Leviticus 24th chapter. And we'll see how God deals with people. This obviously is dealing with Israel, but by extension in dealing with all people. Our God is a just God, and He's a God of fairness. He is just. He treats everybody fair and alike. God is not a respecter of persons. Now, sometimes teenagers or even younger, they have a very, very keen sense of what is fair and what is right and what is equitable.

And they can see a statement. They can read something in the Bible or elsewhere and say, well, the person's doing that. They're good examples. Or they're not doing that. And sometimes, you know, when you see someone who's not behaving as they should, as they're supposed to, as Christians, a person can wonder. They can get disillusioned. They can certainly get disappointed. But as we tend to get on in life, as we get older, we realize that, well, we realize more the lesson that's in the book of Ecclesiastes. That the race is not always to the swift or the battle to the strong.

There are other factors that tend to come into play. Sometimes time and chance does occur. But basically, whether time and chance does occur, whether people are rewarded or not because of being fair or unfair or being treated fairly or unfairly, God is just, and he treats everybody fairly. Leviticus 24, starting in verse 21, says, It says, So as you shall have the same law, one law, for the stranger and for one from your own country, for I am the eternal your God.

They have one law, one law, one standard for everybody, those who are of Israel, those who are not of Israel. It's one law, it's fair for all. Some nations have a caste system, and I'm sure we all can think of at least one nation that has that, where depending on how a person is born into this caste system, who your parents are, depends on how you're treated. You know, what you do, what you can, let's say, get away with, so to speak.

In our country, we don't really have a caste system, per se, but we do have various types of, I don't want to use the term caste, but to say stratus or strata of society. Basically, it boils down to money or power or fame, but we do have various, you know, I say stratus.

Think about in politics, and I'm not going to name one party or another, or independence or any, but let's say that there's someone of party A who has an indiscretion. Party B, you know, just raises a big fuhrer, saying, look what that person did! How can they stay in Congress, or how can they, you know, be a governor, how can they, you know, take whatever office? They need to be terminated and fired and got rid of. However, someone in their own party happens to do the same thing.

And well, that's not so bad. The person's really a good person. He kind of slipped up here a little bit, but you know, let's don't talk about this a little bit. And I could not just to pick on politicians, there's the sports heroes, so to speak. Quite often, they think they should receive special treatment, and as a matter of fact, most of them, many of them often do.

They receive special treatment from the time they're able to throw a ball, or run, or jump, all the way through school, all the way into professional sports. They do receive special treatments. I could go on, there's rock stars. There's movie stars that think, well, they're better than other people.

You know, fame brings special privileges. Well, not as far as God is concerned, those special privileges don't exist. Again, people who are rich think that having more money makes them a better person. That's particularly true in the United States, it's not necessarily true in other parts of the world. I think of a person a while back that went to the Feast of Tabernacles in Great Britain, and this person had money.

You know, he wasn't the average church person, or I'll say she wasn't the average church person, had a great deal of money. You know, not being super rich, but certainly very, very, very, very, very well off. Well, anyway, she went to the Feast in the United Kingdom, and it's not that she's a snob or anything, she's really a very nice lady, but she was surprised that she was treated just like anyone else.

And in the United Kingdom, they don't really care how much money you have. You either are royalty, or a knight, or a certain, whatever the Stratus Society is over there, or you're a commoner. You may be a rich commoner, but you're a commoner. Money doesn't cut it over there. Here in this country, they say we tend to be money-oriented, and again, some people who are rich think, well, we can do things differently.

We have special privileges. It doesn't work that way with God. I'm not going to turn there with an Exodus 12.49, where God gave instructions about the Passover. Again, He talks about a stranger that comes among you who is circumcised. He's treated like a native born. One law, one standard for all. But I will turn to Deuteronomy 16. God is not forgiving special treatment to anybody. Deuteronomy 16. And we'll start reading in verse 18. Deuteronomy 16. Again, as I mentioned, as far as the Passover, God treated everyone alike. Likewise, as far as we're concerned, just because we're in the church doesn't mean that we have, quote-unquote, special privileges.

There is one standard that God has for all, and He applies this standard very fairly. Deuteronomy 16, starting in verse 18, it says, "...you shall appoint judges and officers in all your gates, which the Lord your God gives you, according to your tribes. They shall judge the people with just judgment." Again, fairly, properly applying standards. You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality.

In other words, someone doesn't get away with something just because who they are or who they think they are or what their station in life is. You shall not show partiality. Nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eye of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. You shall follow what is altogether just, again, fair, right, that you may live and inherit the land which the Lord your God is giving to you. So here again, we see that God is just. He wants just judges. And by extension, He wants us to be judges just as well. Again, I'm not going to turn there, but in Titus 1.8, in looking over the qualifications for an elder, one of the qualifications is that the person is just. And that really shouldn't surprise us. I mean, what would you expect of an elder? Do you want someone who is open to flattery or open to bribes or open to whatever it might be? No, of course not. God wants elders who are just. He wants people who are just. Likewise, thinking back with sports figures, I can remember the time when I was called up for a physical for a selective service, and being part of the process of being drafted. For those of you who haven't done it, and the draft hasn't been around for years and years, obviously this was several years ago. You spend a whole day getting tested for this, that, and the other thing. Eyes, ears, nose, throat, strength, whatever. And at the end of the day, you sit down with someone who I presume was a military doctor, and he goes over your records and either pronounces you fit or not. Turns out, the person in front of me, and I was in Phoenix, Arizona at the time. That's where my draft board was. I was living out in Arizona. At the time, the fellow right in front of me, and I didn't really realize this, but he was a football player from Arizona State University. But I did, shortly I realized that, after he sat down, the doctor is going over with him, saying, Well, you know, you had a pretty good season last year, didn't you? And I said, Yeah. And he said, Yeah, I didn't. He did. I had a good season, too, but in a different way. I was being called into the church at that time, which made life interesting. That's another story. So anyway, he sits down and looks at the fellow's records and said, You had a good season last year, didn't you? And he said, Yeah. So I'll tell you what, we'll give you a deferment and you can play for another year. And just because he played football, and of course you can imagine, I was next in line, and he looked, and he said, Ah, grade A! Which grade A is a pretty low standard, but it's still...

Grade A is grade A. It's better. I thought they only counted eyes. But in any case, they were looking for a lot of manpower at that time. Turn over to the book of James. The book of James will start reading in verse 2. Again, this is good, basic Christianity. James, chapter 2, starting in verse 1. This is talking about how we need to treat each other. It says, You can stand over there, or you can sit by my footstool. Have not shown partiality among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts. And obviously, the answer is yes. Now, obviously again, brethren, I'm not saying that we're not closer to some people than we're closer to others. We have friends, we have certain ones that we spend more time with.

But we don't want to exclude any. And certainly, we don't want to treat others in a way that we wouldn't treat our friends. We need to treat everybody fairly and correctly and properly. It says, Listen, my beloved brethren, continuing on in verse 5. Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which He promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? Do they not, blasting that noble name by which you are called? If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, and of course that's what we all want to do, you should love your neighbor as yourself. You do well. But if you show partiality, in other words, treating people differently, you commit a sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. Now, quite often, let's say, you know, if a rich person does come in the room, well, there they are. You know, they treat well, or they could be treated well, put it that way. Because people tend to flatter those who are rich, those with power, those with fame. You know, they like to be around them, and maybe they'll get some kind of benefit from that. Again, those with power, it can be done. But we should be on guard to make sure that we do not do that, that we don't flatter, that we don't treat some, you know, in a special way and others in a disrespectful way. So again, brethren, our God is not partial. He judges fairly. He treats people fairly, and He expects His judges and others to treat people fairly. And as I've mentioned, God is not a respecter of persons. Turn to Ezekiel 18. Ezekiel 18. And we'll just take a look at this again, I think, a familiar passage to many of us here. Ezekiel 18. And we'll see how God does treat people, how He treats all people.

Ezekiel 18. And I'm going to start in verse 20.

Ezekiel 18 and verse 20. And again, one standard. The soul who sins shall die.

In Romans it says, the wages of sin is death.

It doesn't mean that, you know, some people can sin and get away with it. Nobody gets away with it. There is one standard for all. The soul who sins shall die.

The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. In other words, everybody earns something. And I'm not talking about earning eternal life. I'm talking about you either earn a reward for doing rightly, correctly, justly, or you earn a penalty, sin, for doing that which is not just.

It says in verse 21, If a wicked man turns from all of his sins which he has committed, and keeps all my statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live.

And he shall not die. Verse 22, None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him, because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live.

And then he says, Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die, says the Lord God, and not that he should turn from his ways and live? And again, that's what God wants for everybody. He wants repentance. He wants people with hearts turned to him, looking to him and following him wholeheartedly. So here we talk about a wicked person who repents and does righteousness. But then here's the opposite side of the quote, and he says, But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, maybe he's been in church for a long time, for a long, long time.

But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits sin, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live?

Again, one standard. All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed. Because of them, he shall die. Verse 25, continuing on, it says, Yet you say, the way of the Lord is not fair. Here now, O host of Israel, is it not my way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair? So here again I talked about in the beginning, everyone has a different standard of what is fairness.

Sometimes it depends on your perspective, and it would be good for us to have the perspective that God has, because God has the definition of fairness. He acts in a fair way. Verse 26, when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies. And when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does which is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive. Because he considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he has committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. Then in verse 29, it says, Yet the house of Israel says, The way of the Lord is not fair.

It's not fair, it's not right. Look how long this person has been in church. And someone has only been in church a few months. Doesn't seem fair. Well, again, we need to have our eyes adjusted, so to speak, to see more as God speaks. Yet the house of Israel said, The way of the Lord is not fair, O house of Israel.

Is not my ways which are fair, and your ways which are not fair? And this is, Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel. Every one, according to his ways, says the eternal God. And he says, Repent and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. Cast away from you all transgressions.

And of course, that not only applies to the house of Israel, it applies to us sitting here in this room, and applies to all of God's people through all time. Cast away from you the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? Again, he says, I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies, says the Lord God.

Therefore turn and live. God is about fairness, real fairness. He is about justice, and he judges fairly. Turn to the book of Nahum. The book of Nahum. This is a book in the Bible that talks about the justice and judgment of God. There are other places where this is also mentioned, but this is a book that talks about the justice and judgment of God.

It's Nahum. Again, Jonah Micah Nahum. It's an interesting book. It's not very long. It was written to Nineveh. It was written to Nineveh when Nineveh was out on off, say, at its peak, but certainly it was the dominant nation in the Middle East. It was a very dominant and very brutal nation and empire. Starting in Nahum 1 and in verse 1, it says, the burden against Nineveh. And then it talks, the author introduces himself. Nineveh, at the time, as I mentioned, was the dominant nation in the Middle East and that area of the world. And again, this book was written against Nineveh. Now, you can imagine, and I don't really know what analogy today, like let's say we send someone from Cincinnati here as a prophet to Qaddafi and tell him that you're an evil person, you need to repent.

Or think of another despot. I don't know if I should mention names or not. But in any case, think of another despot, a prophet. Maybe Mr. Antion's new job here, since he's getting rid of us. That'd be a real trial. In any case, you know, and here's Nahum writing a letter to this big bully nation on the block saying, you know, your days are numbered.

God is going to destroy you. Twice in this book, God says, and this is Nahum quoting God, where he says, I am against you. And those would be terrible words for anyone to hear. Just think of it when God says, I am against you.

When that happens, a person like that has a very, very serious problem. Now, according to the book, The Twelve Minor Prophets by George L. Robinson, in the section on Nahum, he goes on to describe that, and I've seen this in other commentaries as well. I'm just referring to this one. He says, the Syrian was not only the dominant nation, they were exceedingly violent, cruel, and barbaric. They just were, again, the bullies on the block, no one was going to stop them. No one was going to tell them what to do. They were going to do whatever they wanted, and they did.

It is said, according to the Annals of Assyria, that the space filled for corpses. They didn't have enough place to pile up the dead people that they were killing. They built pyramids of human heads. And I don't know if I should say this or not, but that may be the beginning of the original head count. They built pyramids for human heads. They covered columns, they decorated columns, with the skins of their enemies. They were ferocious, atrocious, and, as I mentioned, barbaric. One of their kings, Azir Benipal, he feasted in a garden with his queen, while the head of a conquered king hung above them in a tree.

These were barbaric people, so the fact that... Well, the fact is hard for us to imagine. We sit here, you know, comfortable and, I would say, warm, actually cool, which is good on a nice, warm day. If you look into what Assyria has done, again, they were the bully on the block. They had a powerful army. They were unstoppable, and they knew it. They marched, they conquered, they killed, they pillaged. Well, continuing on in the message in Nahum to Assyria, Nahum 1 and verse 2, it says, God is jealous and the Lord avenges, because partly one of the nations that Assyria trampled under foot was Israel, and now they were threatening Jerusalem, they were threatening Judah.

It says, the Lord avenges and is furious. And he's got a bone to pick, so to speak, with the nation of Assyria. The Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries. He reserves wrath for his enemies. And then a key scripture in this book, it says, the Lord is slow to anger. He's patient. He's merciful, he's kind. But there comes a time when time is up. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and he will not at all acquit the wicked. It's the same law, the same penalty for all, whether it's for Israel, whether it's for Assyria.

And then continuing on in verse 1, it talks about God's powers. And by the way, the book of Nahum is written as a poem. It's a series of eight distinct poems. And so the language is very, very colorful and very descriptive. It says, the Lord has his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebukes the sea and makes it dry.

And continuing on for a few verses, it talks about God's power, his majesty, and what he does. But I want us now to hold our finger in the book of Nahum and turn back to Isaiah 10 chapter. Isaiah 10 chapter, and we'll see why God is upset, or well, yeah, we'll see why God is upset with the nation of Assyria.

It's Isaiah 10, and we'll start reading in verse 5. And this obviously is the message from Isaiah. Similar subject, Isaiah 10, starting in verse 5, he says, Woe to Assyria the rod of my anger, and the staff in whose hand is my indignation. God actually used Assyria to punish Israel. As we heard in the first message, Israel was blessed greatly.

Their vine, rather than growing strong and dedicated to God, got weak. They veered off the true course. They went their own way. They began pursuing other gods. They pursued all sorts of things. Obeying God, why do we need to do that when we can do something else? So they got off track. And what it's saying here is God used Assyria as the rod of his anger as punishment for Israel. And again, as I mentioned, also that rod was bearing down on Judah, although Assyria never conquered Judah.

Continuing, well, verse 5, Woe to Assyria the rod of my anger, and the staff in whose hand is my indignation. I will send against him an ungodly nation, against the people of my wrath. I will give him charge to seize the spoil and to take the prey, and to tread them down like myrrh in the streets. So again, it says, Yet he does not mean so. In other words, he's just a mean bully. He doesn't realize that God is using him, I'll say, as a nation, to punish Israel.

He doesn't really realize that. That's just what he does. He goes out and beats up people. He says, Yet he does not mean so, nor does his heart think so, but in his heart is to destroy, to cut off not a few nations. For he said, Are not my princes altogether kings?

Our princes are better than the kings of all these nations who are all around. It's not Kalno, like Karkamesh. It's not Hamath and various cities. And he says, It's not Samaria like Damascus.

In other words, I conquered all these cities. Is your city better than any of these? As my hand has found, the kingdoms of idols, whose carved images excel those of Jerusalem and Samaria. In other words, I've taken some really good-looking gods, quote-unquote, out of temples, and much better than the gods that were in Jerusalem.

At least, that's what he thought. Very dangerous thoughts, obviously. And he says, As I have done to Samaria and her idols, shall I not also do Jerusalem? I'm going to come and get Jerusalem, just like I got Israel. So therefore it shall come to pass, when the Lord has performed all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, that he will say, I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart. And certainly their heart was arrogant. The arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his mighty hosts.

We'll read on a couple more verses. For he said, By strength of my hand I have done it. In other words, look what I did. By my wisdom I am prudent, and I have removed the boundaries of people and robbed their treasures and put down their inhabitants like a valiant man. My hand, in other words, Assyria is really bragging.

And in one sense, who is going to stop them from bragging other than God? There was no nation that could stand before them at that time. My hand is found like a nest, the riches of the people, as one gathers eggs that are left. I have gathered all the earth, and again, whatever they could see they took. And there was no one who moved his wing, nor even with his mouth a peep. Verse 15, it says, Shall the axe boast itself against him who chops with it? In other words, that's a tool in God's hand, but the tool was boasting. Or shall the saw exalt itself against him who saws with it?

As if a rod could wield itself against those who lift up, or if a staff could lift up as if it would? Obviously, the answer to all that is no. So again, God used Assyria to punish Israel. But then, Assyria, they got a big head themselves. They got very arrogant, as it says, and they were punished as well. Turn back to Nahum. I mentioned to hold your finger there.

I hope you did. Nahum, still in Chapter 1, will read verses 4-6. As I mentioned, this is poetic, but it also illustrates the power of God. Verse 4, it says, He rebukes to see and makes it dry, Drives up all the rivers, Bayshaun and Carmel wither, and the flower of Lebanon wilt.

The mountains quake before Him, the hills melt, and the earth heaves at His presence. Yes, the world and all who dwell in it, who can stand before His indignation, And who can endure the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and again, as it said before, God said, He is furious, And the rocks are thrown down before Him. Turn ahead to Nahum the third chapter. So here we see God is just.

God is the judge, and He is the one who is going to punish. We saw from Isaiah why Assyria is going to be punished. The tool became greater than the toolmaker in their own eyes. Nahum 3, starting in verse 1, it says, Woe to the bloody city. Now, this is to Nineveh, this is to the capital of Assyria. Woe to the bloody city. It is full of lies and robbery. Its victim never departs. It was a terrible place to live. It was the survival of the fittest.

And if you weren't fit, well, you had a problem back then. Dropping down into verse 4, it says, Because of the multitude of harlotries of the seductive harlot. And you would think of this, we read this, we also read about a harlot that's going to come in the book of Revelation. But I'll get to that a little later. It says, Because of the multitude of harlotries of the seductive harlot, the mistress of sorceries who sells nations through her harlotries, and families through her sorceries. Now, as they bought and sold people. Behold, I am against you. And this is one of the places where God says that.

Behold, I am against you, says the Lord of Hosts. I will lift up your skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness and the kingdoms your shame. I will cast abominable filth on you and make you viable, vile, and make you a spectacle. And it shall come to pass that all who look upon you will flee and say, Nineveh is laid waste. Who will bemoan her? Where shall I seek comforters for you? And actually, that did happen.

That Nineveh was so completely destroyed when it was destroyed by the Babylonians. That, I don't know the period of time, I'll say within a hundred years and maybe much shorter than that, those passing by the area could not tell that there was a great city there. Could not tell that it was the capital of an empire. It was gone. It was completely obliterated. Now, the sight of it has been found today by archaeologists, but it was gone.

It was totally obliterated. As I mentioned, Nahum is an interesting book. It talks about God being the judge. And he's a just judge. He judges all. He judged Israel. When Israel went astray, he used Assyria. And then Assyria went astray. And God punished them as well. God has one law, one standard. He did as it said, God did as it said, avenge Israel. But it wasn't so much for avenging Israel that he punished them.

He punished them because it was the right thing to do. They were sinning. They were breaking the law. They were doing all sorts of abominable things. And they needed to be stopped. God is a just God, and he stepped in, and he did take action. So it talks about justice. It talks about God being the judge. And then it talks about the judgment on Nineveh. Now say, by extension, the judgment for all sinners, all who go contrary to God and God's ways. Well, I talked about God avenging Israel a little bit.

What about avenging or taking revenge? What about avengers? Well, before talking about that, I'll take a quick look at a definition from dictionary.com. To avenge is inflicting punishment as an act of retribution... Say it, yeah, retribution. That's a better word. Justice, thank you. Or as a vindication of property. In other words, it's a judge or a third party acting on someone else's behalf who's been wronged.

They've suffered a loss. Someone steps in. Not the person themselves, but someone else steps in. And they are avenged. In this case, God avenged Israel by taking it out on Assyria. As opposed to revenge. Or vengeance implies inflicting pain or harm to retaliate. You did this to me. I'm going to do that to you. And of course, where does that stop? It goes on and on and on.

So revenge is retaliating. Obviously, I think we all know this is how arguments start. This is how wars start. This is how a variety of things start, where, again, one person feels they're wronged, whether they are or not. Maybe they feel, quote-unquote, disrespected. So then they do something. And then it goes back and forth and back and forth and can escalate and get out of hand very, very quickly.

This can occur between nations. It can also occur between individuals. It can occur between drivers. I know we all have heard the expression road rage. Hopefully we've never been involved with that, but, you know, someone cuts me off. Well, they can't do that. And so, you know, you take off after them. I don't know what to expect to do or what a person expects to do in a situation like that. But it's a real situation.

Road rage is real. We're not in Texas now, and I understand even in California, but I've heard that people carry guns in their cars there. Strictly for that reason. So, again, we're not there now, and hopefully we won't get there, or that won't come here.

But in any case, revenge is not a good thing. Let's turn to Romans the 12th chapter. Romans the 12th chapter, and we'll see what God tells us to do. And when I say it's not a good thing, that's really very much of an understatement. What does God want us to do? Romans the 12th chapter, and I'll start reading in verse 14. Romans 12 and in verse 14, some instructions from the Apostle Paul.

It says, bless those who persecute you. Someone cuts you off, or someone persecutes us, someone treats us poorly, someone disrespects us, quote-unquote, in some way. Bless those who persecute you. Bless, and do not curse, in other words, don't revile back. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind, one towards another.

Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with a humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. And that's a problem of humanity. We tend to think, well, we know we're the source of many, many answers. We have good opinions. Verse 17, repay no one evil for evil.

I'll read that again. Repay no one evil for evil. Sometimes people think Christianity is an easy activity. Christianity is very, very difficult. In fact, this obviously is not something that we would do of and by ourselves. It takes God's Spirit working within us. Because it's not the natural thing to repay, not to repay evil for evil. Again, our nature says we need to retaliate. God says don't do that.

Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. In other words, not be a troublemaker, but live peaceably. Go the extra mile if you need to. Beloved, and then it says do not avenge yourselves. Do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place for wrath. For it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.

Therefore, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. And again, this is not our natural motor behavior. We normally don't do this. We normally do not even want to do this. But God says this is something that we need to do. If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in doing so, you will heap coals of fire on his head.

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Quite an interesting passage to help get to that point. Turn back in Romans 12. We'll read a couple more verses. Verse 3. Verse 3, it says, Now if we have a proper opinion and perspective for ourselves, we won't get so bent out of shape if we feel, quote-unquote, disrespected. Not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to. And then dropping down into verse 9, it says, Let love be without hypocrisy.

And we should have love for all. Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. And we should have love for all. Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. And taking vengeance is evil. And it says, Cling to what is good. So these are instructions from the Apostle Paul.

Others of the apostles also give us various instructions. I'll just quote 1 Thessalonians 5, 15. 1 Thessalonians 5, 15. It says, Again, similar to what we just read here by the Apostle Paul. It says, Turn back to Matthew 5, and we'll read the words of Jesus Christ.

Again, words I think familiar to all of us. It's always good to rehearse these. Matthew 5, and we'll start reading in verse 43. We'll read verses 43 to 45. It's part of the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 5, starting in verse 43, where Christ says, In other words, it would be good children of God. In 1 Peter 3, it talks about not only treating others well, but as far as retaliating in word. Let's say, you know, that's... Forget what the expression is called now, where someone gives you a smart remark, you fire one right back at them.

Again, it's the natural thing to do. I know it's happened ever since I was in school. It happens at work. It happens all the time. Well, that's not the thing we should be doing. Of course, a lot of times it's quote-unquote, ingest or in fun. But sometimes things, again, that happen in fun can get out of hand.

So again, we need to not avenge ourselves or not take revenge. We need to trust God. God is aware of our situation. He knows if we've really been wronged. He also knows if action needs to be taken, and He knows the right action to take. He's in charge.

He watches over us. He fights for us when necessary. He will take care of us. We need to have faith and go forward with Him. I mentioned also, when I talked about Nahum, or excuse me, when I talked about Nineveh as far as being a fallen harlot, obviously the Book of Nahum is prophetic.

It was prophetic for that time. Nahum was still a powerful nation. Nineveh was still a powerful capital of a nation when Nahum first spoke. Obviously Assyria is going to rise again, and there's going to be a tool in God's hand. And again, they will be taken out of the way. They will come to an end. There's also a bigger evil kingdom that all of God's people are aware of. That's the kingdom of Satan and of his demons. This is an evil kingdom, and if you read about Assyria, and you realize how evil and barbaric and atrocious and ferocious they were, who inspires them, who works with them, and who's even more atrocious and wants to do more harm to God's people?

That is the kingdom. Well, that kingdom also is going to come to an end. Our God is a just God. That kingdom will end and will be eliminated and stopped. It'll be terminated for a period of a thousand years, and then for a short time, and then we terminate it beyond that forever. The kingdom of God will be set up on the earth. The old kingdom, the old king, has to be removed before the new king and the new kingdom is installed. At that time, all people, everywhere, will know their God. They will know that he's kind, and that he's merciful, and that he's gentle, and that he's a wonderful Heavenly Father.

And they also will know that he is just. Sinners will be dealt with at that time, just the way they're dealt with today, and will be judged accordingly. So again, brethren, our God is fair and just, but he does punish for sin. He is just. He is serious about his plan and serious about, I'll say, his business. Turn back to Ezekiel 33. Ezekiel 33. We'll read verses 10 and 11. We've read something similar before, but I want to read this a third time. It talks about how God views the punishment for sin. Ezekiel 33, verses 10 and 11. And we read back in Ezekiel 18, verses 23 and 32, that God does not take pleasure in the sufferings of people, and the penalties, or in the death of the sinners.

God does not take pleasure in that at all. And again here in Ezekiel 33, starting in verse 10, he says, Therefore you, O Son of Man, say to the house of Israel, say to his church, Thus you shall say, If our transgression and our sin lie upon us, and we pine away in them, how can we live? Because of our sins, we are just burdened down. Verse 11, Say to them, As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked.

This is not what God is about. God is about saving people. He is about saving as many as he can. Of course, as we understand, in a time sequence and in order. But God is fair. The people of Assyria that were punished at that time, they're going to come up again. They're going to have a chance. They are one chance for salvation. God is fair, and he's just for all.

God says, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way. He wants people to repent, to turn them with their whole hearts, to turn from his way and live. Then he says, turn, turn and turn from your evil ways, for why should you die, O house of Israel? God is just. If people turn, they will be forgiven. And of course, it's not just like the sin is forgotten, although that's getting into a different subject here. The reason why the sin is not accounted for is because a price was paid.

Jesus Christ died for our sins. It's not as if, again, people get away with something. There was a tremendous price paid. Again, the wages of sin is death. Turn ahead to Micah 6, Micah 6, read verses 6 to 8. Micah 6 verses 6 to 8. We'll see something else. What does God really require of his people? What does he want from us? What does he want us to do? How does he want us to behave? I think we all know the answer, but it's said very nicely and succinctly here.

Micah 6, starting in verse 6, it says, With what shall I come before the Lord, and by myself before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings? Bring a lot of money. Deposit a great offering, or send in a great offering. Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams? A tremendous offering. Ten thousand rivers of oil.

Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression? Something very valuable. The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul. And then in verse 8, it's the answer to the question, it says, He has shown you, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly. To do what is just. To be like God. To be just. To be fair. To treat people properly. To love mercy. And to walk humbly with your God. So again, brethren, God wants us to be like him.

He wants us to be good children. To learn to be like him. And as it says here, to do justly. To love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God.