And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.
I take it that the period when God “was but a little displeased” was during the seventy years of Jewish captivity in Babylon. I take it also that God’s sore displeasure against the heathen was at the end of that captivity. Some major changes took place during this period.
Nebuchadnezzar passed away and Belshazzar replaced him. Some suggest that there may have even been a king between them and that Belshazzar was the grandson, not the son, of Nebuchadnezzar. The Medo-Persian empire defeated Babylon, so an entirely different nation took over control of the Babylonian captivity of the Jews. Darius ruled part of the time. At least one wicked event during the captivity happened when Haman conspired to have the Jews, as a whole people group, exterminated. The situation was resolved when, under the supervising hand of God, Esther, who was the Queen, informed King Ahasuerus, and he reversed the order of the extermination, giving the Jews authority to defeat those who had plotted against them.
Cyrus ruled later. It was he whom God ordained to write a decree allowing the Jews to return to the Promised Land and rebuild their Temple.
By way of application, I note that God has degrees of displeasure. It is possible for God to “wink at” some times of our iniquity. His mercy will move Him to withhold the rod of judgment. This should never be taken to mean that God is not aware, that God does not know, that God is unconcerned, or that God is perhaps pleased with our actions. It simply means that God’s mercy has given us time to repent, to turn from our sin. His mercy has provided an opportunity for us to hear again the preaching of the Word of God, to read again of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. God’s mercy gave the people of Noah’s day one hundred twenty years to repent. God’s mercy gave Sodom and Gomorrah the witness (though flawed) of Lot, the prayers of Abraham, and the ministry of the angels. God’s mercy moved Jonah to Nineveh. God’s mercy brought Jesus to give His life for our sins. God’s mercy has not yet poured His wrath upon the unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. But God’s mercy should not be mistaken for God’s pleasure.
- As there was in the days of Noah,
- As there was in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah,
- As there was for the Canaanites,
- As there was for Babylon,
- As there was for Nineveh,
There will come a day when the cup of heathen iniquity will be filled. God’s displeasure will be sore, and the judgment of God will be sure. 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9 (KJV)
Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;
And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
#GodsJudgment #DivineMercy #FaithAndRepentance #GodsTiming #SovereignLord
The Degrees of God's Displeasure: God's Hand in Israel's Restoration
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