In law, when a person commits an offence, he is arrested, prosecuted in a court of law and punished if found guilty. In England, there is the concept of the Crown’s prerogative of mercy.
This happens when an offender, who had been convicted of a crime, receives a pardon for the offence committed and walks away a free man.
The question is: How does God’s prerogative of mercy operate?
In John 8:1-11, the Bible says:
‘Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.
And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.
And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,
They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?
This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.
So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.’
The people said to Jesus: Moses commanded judgment in the law, nothing but instant judgment. The consequence of adultery under Mosaic law was instant execution, public execution.
Leviticus 20:10 prescribes this punishment.
‘And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.’
The Scribes and Pharisees had expected Jesus to sanction the woman’s public execution, but the Son of God refused to sanction her execution.
Why? Was it because the woman did not sin? The Bible says that she was caught in the act, so that means the offence was committed.
But we see here a demonstration of God’s mercy over judgment.
In the Old Testament, the book of Zechariah demonstrates this truth.
In Zechariah 3: 1-7, the Bible says:
‘And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.
And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.
And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.
And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord stood by.
And the angel of the Lord protested unto Joshua, saying,
Thus saith the Lord of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by.’
Joshua the High Priest was before the Lord, as a minister of the Lord. But satan was there to resist him. The word ‘resist’ means to oppose. People of God, the enemy has always opposed, and will always oppose, anyone who chooses to be on the Lord’s side. It does not matter how anointed the person is or what office the person occupies. The Bible describes him in Revelation 12:10 as the ‘accuser of the brethren.’ Accusation is part of the devil’s job description.
Let’s examine the verses of Zechariah chapter 3 closely.
In Zechariah 3:2, the Bible says:
‘And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?’
The same scripture was used in Jude 1:9:
‘Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.’
When we find ourselves in a situation where the enemy is contending with us, let us not forget to use the words of the Lord: ‘The Lord rebuke thee…’
Why would the Lord choose mercy over judgment?
Because we are chosen of him. Jesus in John 15:16 said: Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. It is not the other way around. There is at work in our lives the ‘election of grace.’
Hear what God said about Paul the Apostle: ‘He is a chosen vessel unto me.’ (Acts 9:15)
Why would the Lord choose to have mercy?
Because we are like brands plucked out of fire? What is a brand? A burning piece of wood!
When left in the fire, that brand is utterly consumed. But the Lord said concerning you and I… that we, his people, are like ‘brands plucked out of fire.’
It shows how valuable before the Lord our souls are… to be plucked out of fire. He will not allow us to be consumed. Our translation from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light is comparable to being ‘plucked out of fire.’ None of us shall be consumed in fire in the name of Jesus!
In Zechariah 3:3, the Word declares:
‘Now, Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and stood before the angel. Joshua was clothed with filthy garments even though he was a High Priest.’
Is there any man who does not have a filthy garment in his or her life? The Bible says in Isaiah 64:6 ‘that even our righteousness is but like filthy rags before the Lord.’
Let no man deceive you, we are all ‘work in progress.’ Where will this work culminate?
The answer is found in Ephesians 4:13
‘Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.’
Only Jesus, the Son of God, is described as the ‘perfect man.’
In Zechariah 3:4, it is written:
‘And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.’
The Bible did not say that Joshua asked the Lord for mercy or forgiveness. The Lord used his royal prerogative to forgive Joshua.
He said: ‘Take away the filthy garment.’ Filthy garments are symbolic of sin. The Lord said unto Joshua: ‘I have caused thy iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of clothing.’
The Bible declares in Psalm 32:2:
‘Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity… the man whose sins are covered.’
The blessing of forgiveness shall be our portion in the name of Jesus!
In Zechariah 3:5, the Word says:
‘And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord stood by.’
His sins were forgiven because God chose to exercise his prerogative of mercy. But it went beyond that: God decided to clothe him with a garment of righteousness.
Jesus said to the woman taken in the very act: ‘neither do I condemn thee’.
The Bible says: There is now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)
As long as we abide in the Lord, we shall neither be condemned nor consumed.
In Zechariah 3:5, the Bible says:
‘Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So, they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord stood by.’
What is the significance of mitre? Let’s look at the book of Exodus 28:36-39.
‘And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, Holiness To The Lord.
And thou shalt put it on a blue lace, that it may be upon the mitre; upon the forefront of the mitre it shall be.
And it shall be upon Aaron’s forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord.’
The mitre was a symbol of holiness and priestly office.
Joshua the High Priest was not only forgiven, but he was also restored in honour.
Now listen to the admonition from the Lord to Joshua the High Priest:
‘Thus saith the Lord of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by.’
Walk in my ways and keep my charge.
This is similar to what Jesus said to the adulterous woman that was brought before him: ‘Go and sin no more.’
God is a God of judgment, but he is also merciful. When he appeared to Moses in Exodus 34:6-7, he described himself according to his attributes.
‘And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.’
This illustrates the dual nature of the God we serve. A God of Judgment, but also a God of Mercy.
In what ways have we been instructed today?
1) The prerogative of mercy lies in the hands of God. He said in Romans 9:15:
‘For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.’
Jesus amplified this when he said in Matthew 9:13…
‘But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance’
May we continue to be partakers of God’s mercy in the name of Jesus.
2) God is also a God of judgment. We must learn not to abuse the grace of God upon our lives. If we are to continue to enjoy this mercy that cometh from above, then we must avoid putting forth our hands unto iniquity.
Paul the Apostle said in Romans 6:1-2,
‘What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?’
3) The ways of God are not the ways of man. God has his ways and his wisdom deep and manifold. Jesus could have sanctioned the execution of the woman taken in adultery, but mercy prevailed. God could also have pronounced judgement on Joshua the Priest, but he chose to show mercy. God’s ways are not the ways of man.
The Bible in Luke 9:51-56 records a dramatic episode:
‘And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,
And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him.
And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem.
And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?
But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.
For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.’
Judgement destroys, but mercy saves. That is the word of the Lord for us today. Lift up your voices and bless the name of the Lord.
Now, let’s look at scriptures to demonstrate how God’s mercy can be applied in all situations. Every situation!
David, the King of Israel and servant of God, knew one or two things about the mercy of God.
In Psalm 136, the phrase ‘for his mercy endureth forever’ appeared in every verse of that chapter.
David attributed the mighty acts of God to the his mercy that endureth forever: the signs and wonders; the creation of the heavens and earth; deliverance from Egyptian captivity; the overthrow of Pharaoh; the dividing asunder of the Red Sea; the neutralisation Sihon, the King of the Amorites and Og the king of Bashan; granting Israel an inheritance and settling them in the land of Canaan… all these he attributed to the mercies of God that ‘endureth forever.’
We see further in the book of Lamentations 3:22-23,
‘It is of the Lord‘s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.’
We see from the scripture above that the mercies of God are new every morning.
If the mercies of God are new every morning, it is wise to tap into this attribute of God’s mercy every morning when we pray.
Each dawning day gives mankind hope in fresh mercies and compassion from God. We need a constant supply of His mercies and compassion so that we are not consumed, and God has promised to send them without fail.
We shall not be consumed in the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
No matter how ‘bad’ the past day was, God’s people can look to the new morning with faith, optimism and hope.
It is, therefore, not a surprise that the children of Israel would always be referred to the mercies of God.
In 2 Chronicles 5:13-14, at the dedication of the temple built by Solomon, the Bible says:
‘It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord;
So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God.’
When the Lord was praised for his goodness and mercy, his glory came down.
It follows that when we want to fellowship with the Lord and bring down his presence, we appeal to his attributes of mercy and goodness.
Again, in 2 Chronicles 20, three nations came up against Judah: the children of Moab, the children of Ammon, and the children of Mount Seir.
Jehoshaphat feared, but he set himself to seek the face of the Lord.
He proclaimed a fast and gathered the people together to pray that God would deliver them from the hands of their enemies.
The Bible says in 2 Chronicles 21-22:
‘And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord; for his mercy endureth for ever.
And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.’
They were delivered from the hands of their enemies when they appealed to the mercy and goodness of God.
It means that we, too, can appeal to the mercy and goodness of God, and he will deliver us from the oppression of the enemy. God does not resist our heartfelt cry for mercy.
We shall explore further to show that God’s mercy operates in dimensions we cannot imagine.
In Mark 6:32 -42, the Word declares:
‘And they departed into a desert place by ship privately.
And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them, and came together unto him.
And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.
And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed:
Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat.
He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?
He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes.
And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass.
And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.
And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all.
And they did all eat, and were filled.’
What do we learn?
The Bible says that Jesus was moved with compassion towards the multitudes (v34). The operative word here is ‘compassion.’
And when his disciples pressed him to send them away, he refused to do so… because of his compassion for the multitudes.
This is explained better in Matthew 15:32.
‘Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.’’
We have seen from the book of Lamentations that the mercy of God and his compassion go together. They are like identical twins. Mercy and compassion are synonymous with each other and can be used interchangeably.
The mercy of God and his goodness can produce a miracle of supply in our lives. If, therefore, we need an abundance of provision, we must appeal to the mercy of God.
The mercy of God was in operation when Jesus raised to life the only son of the widow of Nain in Luke 7:11-5. Here, the Bible says:
‘And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people.
‘Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her.
‘And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not.
And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.
And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother.’
God’s mercy was in operation when Jesus raised the dead man. If it happened in the earthly ministry of Jesus, it means we can appeal to the mercies of God to raise the dead.
Indeed, the steadfast love of my Lord never ceaseth; his mercies never come to an end.
Lift up your hands and give him glory!
