Originally posted: 6/08/2020

The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place; (36:15).

The book of Chronicles closes with the nation of Judah plummeting into the demise of their own doing.

but they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, until there was no remedy, (36:16).

And I stand amazed as I consider His endless deterrents sent that His people might be spared from the wrath of His judgment; His countless messengers with His repeated warnings. Yet, His people responded, as He knew they would, by continually mocking His messengers, despising His Word, and scoffing at His prophets. Still, unbelievably, He had Continuous Compassion on His people and on His dwelling place.

Why? Why didn’t He just stop pursuing them? The answer lies in the descriptive title of the One Who “sent word to them again and again by His messengers.”  He is called, “The Lord, the God of their fathers,” (36:15). In His Covenant with their fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Lord had committed to be their God, forever.

Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him,
“I am God Almighty;
Walk before Me, and be blameless.
² I will establish My covenant between Me and you,
And I will multiply you exceedingly.”
³ Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,
⁴ “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you,
And you will be the father of a multitude of nations.
⁵ No longer shall your name be called Abram,
But your name shall be Abraham;
For I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.
⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you.⁷ I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you,” (Genesis 17:1-6).

…God said, “…Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him,” (Genesis 17:19).

He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. ¹³ And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. ¹⁴ Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. ¹⁵ Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” ¹⁶ Then Jacob awoke from his sleep… (Genesis 28:12-16).

Although there were stipulations for God’s people to uphold in order to enjoy unencumbered fellowship with Him, regardless of their inclinations towards rebellion, God would forever be “The Lord, the God of their fathers,” faithful to His Covenant. Oh, His Continuous Compassion in His Covenant.

Consider His Continuous Compassion in His Covenant

Continuous: “Without break, cessation, or interruption; constant; continual; incessant; never-ending, ongoing; unbroken; unceasing; unending, everlasting.”

The Lord appeared to him from afar, saying,
“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness, (Jeremiah 31:3).

Thankfully, oh so thankfully, His Covenant is not dependent on man. It is His everlasting love that both initiates and sustains; it is His lovingkindness that has drawn us to His Continuous Compassion.

And His Continuous Compassion in His Covenant is Completed in Christ alone.

• His Continuous Compassion in His Covenant Confirms His Word.
  • Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia—in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah… (36:22).
    • Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. ³² For He will be handed over to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon, ³³ and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again,” (Luke 18:31-35).

• His Continuous Compassion in His Covenant Coaxes the Heart of Man.
  • …the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying… (36:22).
    • For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. ¹⁵ For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” ¹⁶ The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, (Romans 8:14-16).

• His Continuous Compassion in His Covenant Consigns the kingdoms of earth.
  • “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah… (36:23).
    • Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever,” (Revelation 11:15).

• His Continuous Compassion in His Covenant Calls His people to Himself.
  • Whoever there is among you of all His people, may the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up!” (36:23).
    • All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out, (John 6:27).

• His Continuous Compassion in His Covenant Consecrates those who would answer His Call and Cancels the Certificate of our debt.
  • by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, (Hebrews 10:20 NKJV).
    • having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross, (Colossians 2:14).

Let that word sink in… Continuous… unceasing, never-ending, without interruption, everlasting… even when…

Oh, His Continuous Compassion in His Covenant… even when…

• …even when we Complain against Him and Challenge His Authority.
  • The people spoke against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food,” (Numbers 21:5).

• …even when we Chase and Choose the gods of this world,
  • Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they played the harlot after other gods and bowed themselves down to them, (Judges 2:17).

• …even when we Collude with evildoers and Cast Him away.
  • Alas, sinful nation,
    People weighed down with iniquity,
    Offspring of evildoers,
    Sons who act corruptly!
    They have abandoned the Lord,
    They have despised the Holy One of Israel,
    They have turned away from Him, (Isaiah 1:4).

• …even when we Close our hearts and Corrupt His Commandments.
  • And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips,
    But their heart is far away from Me.
    ⁷ ‘But in vain do they worship Me,
    Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’
    ⁸ Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men,” (Mark 7:6-8).

• …even when we Condone the lies and Compromise His Truth.
  • For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen, (Romans 1:25).

• …even when we Circumvent the knowledge of right and Construct our own ways.
  • Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin, (James 4:17).

How do we respond to His Continuous Compassion in His Covenant?

To begin with, His Continuous Compassion in His Covenant will Change people. If we claim to know Him, but we are okay with ignoring His repeated warnings, if our hearts are not yearning to be Changed, perhaps we need to take some time to reflect on our relationship with Holy God. His Compassion is Continuous, but He is Holy and to be feared.

As we seriously Consider this truth of His Continuous Compassion in His Covenant, let us seek Him in prayer, asking that we would be Continuously Changed.

• Change us oh, Lord, that we would Confess our sin and be Cleansed.
  • If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, (1 John 1:9).

• Change us oh, Lord, that we would Consecrate our whole lives unto You.
  • Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship, (Romans 12:1).

• Change us oh, Lord, that we would Cooperate with the work of Your Holy Spirit.
  • But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh, (Galatians 5:16).

• Change us oh, Lord, that we would Crucify the sinful desires of the flesh.
  • Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires, (Galatians 5:24).

• Change us oh, Lord, that we would Cultivate our love for You above all else.
  •  that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God, (Ephesians 3:16-17).

• Change us oh, Lord, that we would Count You alone worthy of our worship and praise.
  • And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying,¹¹ “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created,” (Revelation 4:9-11).

• Change us oh, Lord, that in all things we would be Conformed to the image of Your Son.
  • And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. ²⁹ For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; ³⁰ and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified, (Romans 8).

• Change us oh, Lord, that others would see You, our Crucified Savior, lifted up in our lives and be drawn to know You through Your Continuous Compassion in Your Covenant.
  • “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” ³³ But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die, (John 12:32-33).

• And Change us oh, Lord, that we may always be Confident, that because of Your Continuous Compassion in Your Covenant, You, and You alone will Complete the good work You have begun in us until that glorious day when we see You face to face.
  • being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ, (Philippians 1:6).

Let’s Grow Together!