447 God Is Compassionate (Sean Finnegan)

Power and kindness rarely go together. I don't know about you, but I'm so thankful the most powerful being in the universe is also exceedingly compassionate! In fact, when he revealed himself to Moses, compassion was the first attribute he declared about himself. We see the outworking of God's compassion in the laws he provided Israel in the Torah, especially the provisions he made for those who were vulnerable or suffering. These serve as examples for how we should think about those in difficult life circumstances. Scripture calls us to imitate our Father as dear children. Let's be a compassionate people who genuinely feel for those in dire straits and who seek to do our part to alleviate their suffering.

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—— Notes ——

Exodus 34:6-7 Compassion/mercy is the first of God’s attributes that He listed out when He revealed His glory to Moses.

Exodus 22:21-27 God cares about the sojourners, widows, and orphans. He hears their prayers and takes up their cause because He is compassionate.

Deuteronomy 24:10-22 God wanted His people never to forget that they were once slaves in Egypt. The benefit of that corporate memory was that they would have compassion on others in need like the poor, the sojourner, the orphan, and the widow.

Deuteronomy 25:5-10 God installed an automatic system to ensure that widows would have the chance to get remarried quickly.

Deuteronomy 26:12-13 The people’s tithes went to provide for the Levites, sojourners, orphans, and widows. It was important to God that His people not forget these categories of people.

Psalm 68:4-5 4 Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts; his name is the LORD; exult before him! 5 Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.

Zechariah 7:9-14 Sadly, God’s people did not act in compassion to the vulnerable members of their society. They took advantage of the weak and closed their ears to hear their cry. Other than idolatry, their lack of compassion was the chief reason God exiled them from their land.

Luke 6:30-36 Our Lord taught us that we too should be merciful just as God is. We too should be generous to the poor and kind to the undeserving.

—— Links ——

• Check out these other episodes related to compassion
• For outro comments, see Looking for the Historical Jesus between Evangelical and Liberal Scholarship
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• Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here.