Like Admah and Zeboiim? Or the Mercy of God?

"Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." (Matthew 5:7)

This post is written in response to a wonderful post by Paul Louis Metzger entitled, “Blessed are the merciful”—not those who look out for number 1. Much of what he said in that post, I too have said over the years. I love it when someone agrees with me… and hopefully, the feeling is mutual.

Dr. Metzger writes, “All too often, we look at God as easily provoked and lacking in mercy. We even think that the God of the Old Testament presents himself in this way.” I have to confess that this is one of my personal hot-button topics. At times I have actually gotten myself in trouble by passionately defending the mercy of YHWH in the Old Testament. I am encouraged to see that Dr. Metzger and Karl Kutz are kindred spirits in this pursuit. The more convinced we are of the merciful nature of God, and of our own need for that mercy, the more likely we are to be merciful to others.

I was also delighted to see Karl Kutz appealing to Hosea 11:8-9 as an example of God’s mercy as this has been a favorite passage of mine for years—a clear revelation of the Father-heart of God!

Wasteland near the Dead Sea
Photo: Greg Dueker

How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
    How can I hand you over, O Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
    How can I treat you like Zeboiim?
My heart recoils within me;
    my compassion grows warm and tender.
I will not execute my burning anger;
    I will not again destroy Ephraim;
for I am God and not a man,
    the Holy One in your midst,
    and I will not come in wrath.

This is one of the most passionate cries of God in all of the Old Testament. It takes an obscure reference to a devastated and desolate place and changes it into an amazing revelation of the merciful disposition of our Heavenly Father.

Pardon me, but your Mercy is showing!
God’s message to Israel through Hosea was one of great love and great judgment upon their persistent wickedness. Yet, even in righteous judgment, he does not bring the utter destruction that befell Admah and Zeboiim. Perhaps you are asking what, or who, are they.

Sodom & Gomorrah,
by John Martin, 1852

To put it in modern terms, Admah and Zeboiim were part of the Sodom-Gomorrah Metroplex (“cities of the valley”) that was destroyed in Genesis 19:23-29. Interestingly, part of the covenant curse for disobedience was to be made like Admah & Zeboiim as an example for all to see (Deut. 29:23). While there would come discipline and even exile from the land, the Lord was not willing to consign them to hellfire. He showed mercy—a mercy that came at great cost to him, even death on the cross. We see Jesus confer this value of mercy to his disciples here in the beatitudes.

            "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." (Matthew 5:7)

This characteristic begins the set of beatitudes that are the external manifestation of internal attitudes. We can tie this verse to verse three, for if we are not poor in spirit then we will not be merciful to others. True disciples are merciful because they realize full well that they have received great mercy from God.

Perhaps it is helpful for us to look at mercy in light of four descriptive qualities:

Mercy as forgiveness that remembers something...

Dr. Metzger writes, “Those who come to terms with their spiritual state of extreme poverty (Matthew 5:3) and who mourn their spiritual condition (Matthew 5:4) are slow to pass judgment on others.” While he used the classic illustration of mercy from Les Miserable in his post I am also reminded of the mythic illustration from Tolkien’s Fellowship of the Ring, where Frodo and Gandalf are discussing the creature Gollum.

Frodo: It's a pity Bilbo didn't kill him when he had the chance.

Gandalf: Pity? It was pity that stayed Bilbo's hand. Many that live deserve death. Some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them, Frodo? Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. Even the very wise cannot see all ends. My heart tells me that Gollum has some part to play yet, for good or ill before this is over. The pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many. (You can view the scene here.)

That mercy shown to an utterly undeserving creature did indeed lead to Frodo’s own liberation from bondage to the ring of power. We, like Gollum, deserved death but God deals in mercy if we will have it.

Mercy as compassion that does something...

Jesus’ story that we call the “Good Samaritan” in Luke 10:25-37 answers the lawyer’s question, “Who was a neighbor?” The lawyer has to admit that the one who was a neighbor was, “The one who showed him mercy.” (v.37) Merciful people actively extend (1) forgiveness towards sinners; and (2) compassion towards the needy.  However the Kingdom characteristic of mercy goes beyond simply doing merciful things, it means actually having a merciful disposition. 

Mercy as a disposition of gratitude...

Because I have been forgiven, because God has shown great mercy to me, then my paying that mercy forward is an act of gratitude. If my default disposition is gratitude then I will be slow to anger and quick to show mercy—not patronizing sinners as one who is above temptation and error, but as one who is poor in spirit and knows only too well my own dependence on the mercy of God.

Mercy as a cycle of appropriate response...

True disciples of Christ see needs and are committed to meeting them.  Merciful people live lives of service that follow the example left by our Lord Jesus Christ.  Merciful people are wise and actually benefit from being merciful.  This beatitude restates Psalm 18:24,

     "With the merciful             you show yourself merciful;
       with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;
       with the purified             you show yourself pure;

and with the crooked            you make yourself seem tortuous (shrewd).
                                      For you save a humble people,

          but the haughty eyes you bring down. (Psalm 18:24-27)

While mercy doesn’t seem to be the appropriate response to offense and injustice, which we receive at the hands of imperfect people, it is appropriate when we are responding to the mercy we have received from the Lord in forgiving our sins against him more than to the spectrum of the sins of others against us.

Those who have truly mourned their own sins, being poor in spirit will extend to others the mercy that they are so keenly aware that they have received. And the reality of such a practice is that God says that we are blessed…and will receive mercy ourselves. It is a two-way street. We have to extend the mercy we have received to experience the “even more” mercy that we need.

I will close with this perceptive quote,

“Suppose God tried to reward an unmerciful man with mercy. It simply couldn’t be done—not because God would withhold the gift, but because the hardened human heart would not receive it.”[1]

May our hearts like saints and disciples of old, be open to the Spirit’s traffic in the mercy of God! Hear our prayer!

Kyrie eleison     (Lord, have mercy)

Christe eleison  (Christ, have mercy)

Kyrie eleison     (Lord, have mercy)

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[1] Peter Kreeft, Back To Virtue (p. 115). Ignatius Press. Kindle Edition.