Grace Penetrates Where Law Fails

Name your son Jezreel, for in a little while I will bring the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu and put an end to the Kingdom of the house of Israel. On that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel. Hosea 1:4,5

Jehu was a great commander who God chose to be king and his first role was to anhilate the house of Ahab at Jezreel. However his family went on the be just as corrupt as the people he slaughtered and what he sowed, he reaped.

I find the violence of the Old Testament horrible and am so glad Jesus came with the dispensation of grace. No one was able to do right, and no one still cannot without the power of His grace.

Tonight I went to see the movie Unbroken. It was about men caught by the Japanese and taken to prisoner of war camps in Japan. The brutality was severe, yet the story revolved around endurance and forgiveness. The main perpetrator was a young Japanese soldier who spoke English but who delighted in brutality. The hero Loui was a former Olympic champion and he refused to be broken. The final act of brutality, before the end of the war, was to make Loui pick up a railway sleeper and hold it above his head. If he dropped it he was to be shot. He didn't and in a final act of defiance he held the sleeper above his head and looked straight at the commander. This broke the commander but rather than admit his own failure he took it out on Loui. Even though Loui went back to Japan to mend his relationship wi the Japanese the young commander nick named The Bird refused to see him.

What has that got to do with the text. I'm glad you asked. The movie revolved around grace. Forgiveness is grace. We receive this grace from our saviour and are to give it to others.

Jehu was a commander who killed a lot of people. Under Old Testament law he destroyed the wicked and then had to live righteously but failed and was judged, he and his whole family.

I am so glad we do not have to kill whole tribes or nations under grace. Grace penetrates where we cannot go. Yet today there are many cultures that still try to apply law and kill millions needlessly. If they only knew and understood grace. Amen! How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!

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