Good And Mad!

The LORD is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works (Ps 145:9)

We can all wax poetic on the good things the Lord has done for us, can’t we? And, of course, there are countless examples of Him being good in scripture.

I love that the Hebrew states in several places that He “fashions lovingkindness” in the earth. These normally read “shows” kindness in English bibles, but the Hebrew is “fashion”, the same word used to say He fashioned the sun and the moon.

But I’m thinking of another aspect of the goodness of God right now. He is good even when He is upset. I’m taking a little liberty with the text of Ezekiel 36, but here is an accurate paraphrase of what He said to His people: “I am very upset with you! First, you were so bad I had to throw you out of the land. Then you went and blasphemed My name among the nations!” Oh boy, He is so upset with them, they better get ready, because He is about to deal with them!

And how will He do this? What does He declare He’s going to do? He will gather them back home; He will cleanse them from all their filthiness; and He’ll put a new heart and new spirit in them! Then they will be careful to obey Him. That’ll show them!

But He’s so upset, the things I’ve mentioned were just Him warming up. He continues: “Then you will live in the promised land, and I will be your God. I will make you very fruitful and prosperous. When I’m done with you, the nations will say, ‘their God has made the land of His people like the garden of Eden’.

I love that passage of scripture! This is an example of God propitiating Himself. We have succeeded in insulting Him. He is rightly enraged by our conduct. His response? HE pays the price. HE scrubs away the spiritual grime. And He does such a thorough job of it, every vestige of His wrath is satisfied. Therefore, He works those things to be expected from a mighty God, even One Who is pleased.

Where else do we see our God “good and mad”? Well, Jacob was quite upset with his sons, Levi and Simeon. After their sister Dinah was raped by a young man, those two plotted revenge, murdering dozens of men in the rapist’s town. They then pillaged all the town’s goods. Jacob was furious with them, fearing the surrounding villages would rise up against him and his family. These sordid events unfolded in Gen 34.

Later, when Jacob prophesied the word of the Lord over his many sons in Gen 49, he denounced Simeon and Levi, declaring they would be split up and scattered in Israel. We certainly see this with the tribe of Levi who received no plot as an inheritance in the promised land but were scattered throughout Israel… as priests. Yes, Levi is the tribe God chose to care for His house and offer the sacrifices that would reconcile a holy God to His people. Therefore, it can be said of the tribe of Levi, that they were especially blessed, and that blessing was a means of fulfilling a father’s curse!

Yet, where else do we see our God “good and mad”? Think of Eli and how he failed God, choosing his sons over his heavenly Father. God sent a prophet to denounce Eli and his conduct. And His fitting punishment was a curse upon Eli’s seed, the seed he chose over God. Though God shall be good to Israel, Eli’s offspring shall suffer, marked by tears and by removal from the priesthood. All of this is detailed in the second half of 1 Samuel 2.

And we see the fulfillment unfold, as Solomon removes Eli’s descendant from the priesthood. The new king removed Abiathar as high priest, exiling him to house arrest in his hometown of Anathoth “in order to fulfill the word of Yahweh, which He had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh” (1 Kg 2:26-27).

Why do I mention this? “The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin” (Jer 1:1). God took Jeremiah, a priest of the line of Eli, and made him a prophet instead. And what nickname has been given to this descendant of Eli? The Weeping Prophet.

So, we see the judgment upon the sons of Eli fulfilled by God making one of them a great prophet, through whom He declared the New Covenant, in Jeremiah chapter 31. Was Jeremiah taken from priestly duties? Yes. Did he suffer? Certainly. Did he weep? Yes. Did he also have regular open communication with the Living God? Also, yes!

God’s “punishment” on Jeremiah made him a great blessing to the people of God, even beyond his days upon earth. It was Jeremiah that comforted Daniel, when he read of the 70 years of captivity and knew they had been fulfilled. And Jeremiah still speaks comforting words to us! His ministry is proof of the good news he declared: “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end!” (Lam 3:22)

Take heart, beloved. God is good – thoroughly good, purifyingly good. Keep short accounts with Him, for He is quick to forgive. He has made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor 5:21). Any curse against us has fallen on Christ Jesus instead, as it is written, “Cursed is every man who hangs on a tree” (Gal 3:13). But don’t worry about Him. Yes, the wrath of God has fallen hardest on Jesus. His Father chose to be good and mad at Him! But the result of all that is blessing beyond reckoning. He who was beaten beyond recognition now has it said of Him, “You are fairer than the sons of men. Grace is poured upon Your lips; Therefore, God has blessed You forever” (Ps 45:2)