Sorry, you need to enable JavaScript to visit this website.
Article Image Alt Text

A Closer Walk

"Who is a God like Thee, Who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in unchanging love. He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, Thou wilt cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea," Micah 7:18-19 NASB. The Old Testament Prophet Micah spoke to both the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah, all of whom considered themselves Israelites. But his message was primarily directed at the southern Kingdom of Judah. The Lord God wanted Micah and his people to know what kind of God He was.

As students of this historical book, we get to look into how our God wanted to be known by His chosen people, the Israelites. Micah's observations of God are vivid, and beautiful. "Who is a God like Thee...?" Indeed, who is a God like our God? There is none. As the prophet Isaiah relates, "I am the Lord, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God," Isaiah 45:5 NASB. Who is a god like our God?
Our God pardons iniquity, or sin. What a wonderful concept, and promise. Our iniquity, our sin, God will pardon. We simply have to ask. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness," 1 John 1:9 NASB. Our God not only will forgive our sins, but in His grace and mercy He will go beyond that and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Amazing!
He does not retain His anger forever. Hallelujah! Why does He not retain His anger? Because He delights in His unchanging love. God loves us. Each and every one of us. So much so that He sent His Only Begotten to take our place on the cross, and to pay the penalty for our sins. He does not hold onto His anger. Good for us! We wouldn't be able to stand before God's anger; no person could. Instead, we stand under the blessing of His unchanging love. What a wonderful thought. Even if He might be temporarily angry with us today or tomorrow, He will have compassion on us. He will tread our iniquities under foot. He will not retain His anger forever. But He will have compassion on us.
He will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. We now know, although the Prophet Micah couldn't have, that the oceans are miles, plural, deep in places. Seems like a good place for our sins to be cast into. That means they are far, far away from us, and won't trouble us anymore. In addition, not only are they far removed from us, but we can't go retrieve them either. They are gone, gone, gone! Pretty remarkable piece of work there. Agreed?
"Who is a God like Thee, Who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious act...He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in unchanging love. He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes Thou wilt cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea." Praise the Lord!

 

Concordia Blade-Empire

510 Washington St.
Concordia, KS 66901