"The LORD is righteous.… Every morning He brings His justice to light; He never fails, hut the unjust knows no shame" (Zeph. 3:5).
When you talk about God executing judgment upon people, listeners usually respond with unbelief or defiance. They rail against God’s judgment because they do not understand His holiness. This is the case especially with God’s acts of judgment in the Old Testament. People will often consider God unjust because they are not reading these accounts with an understanding of His holiness.
Several accounts in Scripture are misunderstood because God appears unjust. One is Leviticus 10:1–7 when God killed Nadad and Abihu because they offered unauthorized fire at the altar. Aaron complained to Moses that God seemed unfair in killing his sons so hastily. Moses responded that God must be treated as holy, which means He demands perfection. When that standard is not met, He has every right to pronounce judgment.
Another account in which God is regarded as unfair is in 2 Samuel 6 when Uzzah is struck down for touching the ark of the covenant. God had commanded that no one touch the ark. Uzzah was fully aware of this command, but when the ark began to slip, Uzzah steadied the ark to keep it from falling into the dirt. Uzzah arrogantly assumed that his sinful, unclean hands were less polluted than simple dirt.
While many might say that the mean, angry God of the Old Testament has been replaced by the gentle, kind Jesus of the New, this view does not square with Scripture. God does not change. He is the same yesterday as He is today. If Christ is God, and He is, then He is the same in the revelation of both His justice and His mercy. God’s mercy and His justice are never at odds. He shows abundant grace to us in order to give us time to repent. We should never take His mercy for granted, and we should never demand that He be merciful, claiming that He has been unjust when, in fact, He has been just.
A holy God is just and merciful. Mercy is free and given voluntarily. If God were to deal with all of us according to justice, each of us would perish instantly. In the circumstances above, God chose to show His justice based on His holiness. Those of us who continue to live, even though we sin daily, live according to His mercy—something that is freely given by His grace.
How would you answer the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Do you expect God to be merciful or to pronounce judgment as we deserve? How would you counsel someone who is suffering the consequences of their sin? What hope would you offer them? Thank God for the hope He has given in Christ Jesus our Lord.