God's justice based on Psalm 69
Today God is mainly created in two misleading images.
Image 1 - an aged gray-haired grandfather who, in the name of love, will accept anyone into heaven, including even the greatest unrepentant sinner.
Image 2 - a tyrant who observes human suffering and does nothing about it.
Both the first and second views are false.
The correct image - a loving Caregiver who will accept into heaven even the greatest sinner, if he sincerely repents for his sins, opens his heart to God. Caring for us, but not always as we would like.
Psalm 69 is believed to be the voice of Jesus while suffering on the cross, written many years earlier by David. Here we read of the immense suffering endured by our Savior. Jesus took our sins upon Himself so much that He accepted them as His own, speaking as if He had committed them (e.g. weset 5 "O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee. ") . For us it may seem normal, because after all we are scarred by sins, but God is the Most Holy, there was never any sin in Him before, and only the acceptance of our sins caused them to be poured out on Him. How would you feel if you drank boiling water? Jesus felt even worse, His mind accepted something (sin) that was never in Him.
For those who still cannot realize this, let me give another example. The torturer did a lot of evil throughout his life: he murdered, raped, burned people alive, skinned them, cut off their hands and left them to die, abused anyone he considered an enemy. At one point in his life, he lost his hands and was left at the mercy of others. This changed his attitude to people, to himself, and he realized how wrong he had been. He repented of his sins, begged God for forgiveness and received it. Jesus took his sins upon himself. How would you feel if you had all of this man's transgressions in your head, felt the earlier sins, saw the evil he had done, and decided that you were the one who had committed them?
Let us now turn to Psalm 69 and verses 21-28.
(21) They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
Compare with Mt. 27:34.48, Mk. 15:23.36, Lk. 23:36 Jn. 19:29 These words clearly point to Jesus at the crucifixion.
(22) Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.
Could Jesus, while on the cross, have prayed to God with the words contained in verses 22-28? After all, as we read in Luke 23.34 he said "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." Forgiveness of sins is for anyone who desires it, and only they will be forgiven. Many Jews as well as Romans believed in Jesus as God after the crucifixion. There are many verses in the Bible about what will happen to the ungodly, for them there will be no place in the new life, they will be destroyed forever.
Jesus asked on the cross for forgiveness because the just punishment for all these people would be death. In His love, He still had hope, faith that among them there would be some who would repent. God, when He saw that His Son had been murdered, could have immediately destroyed the entire planet along with the evil that dwelt on it. He did not do so, showed mercy and continues to do so until the measure of the transgressions of this world is filled. Verses 22-28 are addressed to those who will die an eternal death anyway.
(23) Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake.
Israel as a nation rejected Jesus. The Messiah for whom they had waited so many years and studied for hours about his coming. Because they rejected the truth about God, God shielded the light of truth from them. To this day, most Jews do not believe in Jesus as God. The shaky loins can be attributed to the dispersion of the Jewish people throughout the world.
Justice is not incompatible with love
(24) Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them.
Sad words that sometimes came true. It is not God who murders the Jews, but evil people or even entire nations. The "indignation" and "wrathful anger" is another way of saying that God did not intervene to save them, leaving them at the disfavor of the one they themselves chose, namely Satan and his demons. After the death of Jesus, the people of Israel did not improve morally, they were still internally corrupt.
The temple was destroyed by the Romans, and the inhabitants were slaughtered and taken captive. The same thing had happened to them many years earlier during the Babylonian invasion. The Jews, as the chosen people, had God's guarantee that if they did not stray from the right path, they would prosper forever. They failed to keep their word, causing their fortunes to worsen, and when they converted again, God delivered them again. The Jews were repeatedly persecuted and forcibly expelled from many countries, culminating in World War 2. Today's Israel is surrounded by enemies who are just waiting to kill them, but each of them has the opportunity to go to the Savior. God is available to all, but as a nation Israel is blind to Jesus.
Destruction of Jerusalem
(25) Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents.
These words came true during Titus' invasion of Jerusalem. For nearly 1,900 years, Jews were not allowed to live freely in the area. The repopulation of Jerusalem by Jews is perhaps a sign of the imminent return of Jesus. We know from history that the land of Israel was partially inhabited by Jews, but as a nation they had no land of their own, and on that land they were often persecuted. Observing what is happening in present-day Israel, the wars with their neighbors, it can be said that even today they do not live freely.
(26) For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded.
Persecution of Jesus and his followers. Faith in the Savior during this period involved persecution, imprisonment and death, e.g. the stoning of Stephen - Acts 7.59 "And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."
(27) Add iniquity unto their iniquity: and let them not come into thy righteousness.
Other translations use the word "your salvation" instead of the word "righteousness" making it easier to understand the text. We can divide God's righteousness into two consequences: life and no-life.
The righteousness life - Jesus considers it right to bestow on us the grace of salvation. He took our sin upon Himself, suffered for us, and in His eyes it is just to receive converts to Himself, otherwise His death would be in vain. It would be unjust if God suffered for us and could not accept us.
The righteousness no life - those who did not choose God do not have access to the grace of salvation, this was their conscious choice, and this is also just. Choosing God is not just saying words or going to church, but our heart, what we follow in life.
(28) Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.
The end of the godless is only one - no life, or eternal death. Jesus will not save those who will not surrender their hearts to Him. Heaven as well as the reborn earth must be a pure place so that evil never returns.
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