JMH part 3

Micah 6:8 tells us that we, you and I, are to DO justice, not seek justice. We must keep in mind that vengeance is the Lord’s, and not ours. He tells us to leave the spirit of vengeance alone. I wonder if that’s because we are not perfect like He is. We would enjoy taking our revenge far too much and thus lose sight of its real purpose. The Lord does not require me to do anything but to live in a way that reveals what a just life is like. Justice is the revelation of right and wrong. 
 

While Israel is in bondage, under the thumb of the Babylonians, God instructs them, “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease” Jeremiah 6:5-6.
 

When we are under judgment, the best thing we can do is to live out our Christianity in the presence of the enemy. Do what is right. Show them the blessings that come from righteous living. Do you think God was telling them to live justly just so they could rub it in the face of their enemy, and show them how blessed they were? Never! God always has greater vision and plans than mere man possibly can even conceive of. 

It is almost as though God brought them to Babylon for the Babylonians’ sake. It’s like God saying, “Now that you are in the enemy’s camp, build houses, settle down, grow gardens, let your kids get married and increase, so that the Babylonians will be drawn to the blessings of the Lord you are experiencing. What do I require of you? do justice, live justly even in the presence of your enemy.”

MERCY

What else does God require of us? To love mercy! Along with justice, Israel was to provide mercy. Both justice and mercy are foundational to God’s character. God expected His people to show love to their fellow man, even though their “fellow man,” in this case, was their enemy. Jeremiah 29:7 “Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” 
 

It’s interesting to note that this verse, in its original setting, refers to Babylon. Many believe that modern day Baghdad in Iraq is the resurrection of the Biblical city of Babylon. Technically, Babylon was located 50 miles south of today’s Baghdad. But regardless of all that, one of the seats of terrorism today is in Iraq, so in one sense Baghdad/Babylon is the city that has caused us a lot of our troubles. Could you, would you, honestly pray for its prosperity?

Praying for its prosperity is another way of asking God to have mercy on it. In Matthew 5:7 Jesus says, “Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy.” God says that we get what we give. If you give mercy you get mercy, but if you don’t give mercy you don’t receive mercy.

The reality is this: if you pray for the city (in which you live) to prosper – and it does prosper – then you’ll receive prosperity also. But if it doesn’t prosper, (from your lack of prayer/mercy), then you won’t prosper, either.

Continued tomorrow