Sermon Tone Analysis

COMPASSION 11

JEHOVAH GOD IS SLOW TO ANGER

(cmpas11.doc)

*860: PROPITIATION*

 

        Don Richardson tells in his book, /Lords of the Earth,/ that the elders of a heathen tribe heartlessly hurled a little girl into a rushing River.

She had innocently wandered into the "holy place" of Kembu, a spirit whose wrath was evident from the unrelenting rains.

There was only one solution--sacrifice the child to regain his favor.

Most people's understanding of God's anger and compassion are about as superstitious as those of this heathen tribe.

Their understanding of God's anger and compassion is not based upon How He reveals Himself in His Word, but upon conjecture, hearsay, misperception and secular experiences.

I thank God that He has chosen to reveal His compassionate nature and personality in the Word of God.

This is study eleven in our series on the biblical doctrine of compassion.

We are presently studying the magnificent compassion of God.

Ten messages ago we embarked on a long expedition through the uses of various Hebrew and Greek words translated "compassion," "compassions," and  "compassionate."

We have surveyed all the Scriptures where the most commonly used Hebrew word /racham/ (raw-kham'), 7355, is translated "compassion," "compassions," or "compassionate."

We now have also surveyed all the Scriptures where the second most commonly used Hebrew word, /racham/ (rakh'-am), 7356, is translated "compassion," "compassions," and "compassionate."

After reviewing all of these Scriptures, I formulated three principles from my observation:

 

*Principle #1:*  Jehovah God, as to His nature, is love.

He consistently demonstrates His love by being compassionate; and

 

*Principle #2:*  Jehovah God, as to His nature, is love.

He consistently demonstrates His love by being compassionate.

But God does have self-imposed limits and boundaries and hence, His compassion can run out.

These limits and boundaries have to do with sin in all its forms.

This running out of His compassion seems to be temporal, with respect to Israel, and not eternal.

He sets conditions for restoration to His temporal compassion, but seems to state that in the final analysis His immanent lovingkindness and transitive compassion will be eternally bestowed upon Israel.

*Principle #3:*  Jehovah God, as to His nature is love, He demonstrates His love by consistently being compassionate.

In certain instances His compassion is depicted as a Motherly feeling towards His children.

\\ /(We are now ready to move on to the next Hebrew word.)/

The next Hebrew word is/ rachuwm/ (rakh-oom'), 7349.

This is the third most frequently used word translated "compassion, compassions or compassionate."

The literal meaning of this Hebrew word is basically its translation:  compassionate.

"compassionate; -always of God" /(The New Brown-Driver-Briggs-Gesenius Hebrew-Aramaic Lexicon)/.

The word /rachum/ (rakh-oom'), 7349, comes from the primary Hebrew word (raw-kham'), 7355, which literally means to fondle, love or be compassionate.

This brings us back to:

 

*Principle #1:*  Jehovah God, as to His nature, is love.

He consistently demonstrates His love by being compassionate.

/(As we look at how each of these principles concerning God's compassion is represented in the Scripture, we have been making specific observations in each individual passage of Scripture.

Although these observations will, in many cases, include an observation, an interpretation and an application, for the sake of brevity we have been calling these statements "observations".

We have been numbering them with a double number.

The first number indicates the principle that is being applied and the second number indicates the particular observation with respect to that principle.

Let's survey the Scriptures where the Hebrew word rachuwm (rakh-oom',) 7349, is translated "compassionate."

This occurs eleven times in the following Scriptures:/)

 

Exodus 34:6, "Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The Lord, the Lord God, *compassionate* and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth."

*Observation 1.19:*  Way back in our very first observation, Observation 1:1, in our first study in this tremendous series, we observed that Jehovah God, as to His nature is compassionate and gracious.

In this particular passage of Scripture, we get additional adjectival phrases /(descriptive phrasing which act as an adjective)/ describing the nature of His compassion and grace.

The first adjectival phrase is "slow to anger."

Once again, we have already observed a great deal about God's anger and its relationship to His compassion, including the fact that His anger inhibits and prohibits His compassion.

But now God reveals to us that He is "slow to anger."

The fact that He is slow to anger means that He is much more likely to demonstrate His compassion then He is His anger.

The fact that He is slow to anger can be stated in one word, which is also another characteristic of God's nature:  "long-suffering."

We do not have time to study this particular attribute of God.

Let it suffice to say here that:  "By virtue of His compassion, God is long-suffering!"

Praise God!

I believe, from my personal observation of hundreds, if not thousands of Christians, plus my own life, that God slow to anger; i.e.

He is much more likely to demonstrate His compassion than His anger; hence, He is long-suffering.

When we have sinned and we are repentant, we can expect Him to be compassionate rather than angry.

We must admit that God does get angry!

We must admit that God's anger can inhibit and prohibit His compassion.

We must admit that those who refuse to accept God's dispensational revelation of Himself will experience His ultimate and final anger:  The lake of fire and brimstone.

But God is much more inclined, predisposed, likely to demonstrate His compassion than He is His anger.

He has done and He continues to do everything, short of taking away our free moral agency, to place us in a position to receive His temporal and eternal lovingkindness and compassion.

By the way, He also commands us to be long-suffering.

Ephesians 4:1-2, "I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing *forbearance* to one another in love."

To forbear is to patiently put up with or to be longsuffering.

If you are longsuffering, you are slow to anger.

We should be slow to anger with our mates, our children, our parents, our brothers and sisters, and especially our spiritual family.

When they come to us repentantly about an offense, they should expect to get compassion, not anger.

It should take a loooong time to make us angry.

Why?

Because we can relate to the pain that our fellow human beings are suffering!!!

        Being slow to anger does not mean that you will never get angry.

*1745: HOLY ANGER*

          

        Aristotle made this wise observation: "Anybody can become angry--that is easy; but to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way--that is not easy!"

\\         In the next adjectival phrase, God reveals Himself as "abounding in lovingkindness and truth."

If this is thought about deeply, it will appear to be a paradox, an antinomy, a description of God that is beyond our earthly, finite comprehension.

It may be beyond our glorified comprehension?

We will not know that until we are glorified.

Lovingkindness and truth are opposites to us.

They are like night and day, darkness and light, love and hate.

Lovingkindness is kind; truth is severe.

It seems that there is no way for them to meet, but they meet in the person of Jesus Christ.

The Psalmist wrote in

 

Psalm 85:10, "Lovingkindness and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other."

Where did this happen?

Where did this take place?

John gives us a hint in

 

John 1:14, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we behold His glory, the glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."

Grace, or lovingkindness and truth is embodied in one Person, Jesus Christ.

And grace and truth were demonstrated at one place:  at Calvary.

At Calvary Jesus demonstrated grace and truth.

Because of truth and righteousness He had to die.

Because of lovingkindness and grace He was willing and able to die for the sins of the world.

So, at Calvary Jesus demonstrated both grace and truth!!!

 

/(Let's move on to the next Scripture.)/

Deuteronomy 4:31, "For the Lord your God is a *compassionate* God; He will not fail you nor destroy you nor forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them."

*Observation 1.4, 1.12:*

This has been often repeated and we have covered it thoroughly.

But let's at least list the benefits of God's compassion in this Scripture, which are:

 

1.

He will not fail Israel;

2.      He will not finally destroy Israel;

3.

He will not forget His covenant with Israel.