Unmerited and underserved He loves us still!

Even in our failings God  loves and protects us. 

He is always in control and the world is subject to Him alone. It is only in His mercy and grace, in the Body and blood of Jesus Christ, that we are offered salvation.

Unmerited and underserved He loves us still!

Yet we often struggle as we try to take control, guess God's plan, or assume we're more knowledgeable than we are. Instead, let's remember that God knows His creation deeply and intimately. While humankind is woefully inept at understanding the entire natural world, God is an all-powerful and all-knowing Creator. And if He cares so much for the animals of this world, how much more He must care for us (Matthew 6:25-34)! First5

God has a peculiar passion for the forgotten. Have you noticed? See his hand on the skin of the leper? See the face of the prostitute cupped in Jesus’s hands? See him with his arm around little Zacchaeus? God wants us to get the message: what society puts out, God puts in. What the world writes off, God picks up. Why did he pick you? He wanted to. After all, you are his. And he made you. No matter how long you’ve waited or how much time you’ve wasted, you are his. And he has a place for you. Max Lucado

Ezekiel 39:1-8

39 “And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal; 2 and I will turn you around and lead you on, bringing you up from the far north, and bring you against the mountains of Israel. 3 Then I will knock the bow out of your left hand, and cause the arrows to fall out of your right hand. 4 You shall fall upon the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you; I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. 5 You shall fall on the open field; for I have spoken,” says the Lord God. 6 “And I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in security in the coastlands. Then they shall know that I am the Lord. 7 So I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel, and I will not let them profane My holy name anymore. Then the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel. 8 Surely it is coming, and it shall be done,” says the Lord God. “This is the day of which I have spoken. The New King James Version

Yahweh alone defeats Gog; Israel is not involved until the battle is over.

The day about which I have spoken is an allusion to the Day of Yahweh, a motif in prophetic literature about a future day of judgment against Israel and all nations.

The oracle of the distant future ends with an affirmation of the hope promised for the immediate future. Yahweh gathers the exiles and restores the community in Judah. The imagery recalls the depiction of salvation and renewal. Faithlife Study Bible

This pictures God fighting for His people. The rout will be total; there will be no place for the enemies of God to flee for safety. 

There is a significant emphasis on God’s purpose in demonstrating the central truth that He is the Lord. God’s battle with Gog will demonstrate His sovereignty and majesty in His universe. The NKJV Study Bible

The Lord will make the most careless and hardened transgressors know his holy name, either by his righteous anger, or by the riches of his mercy and grace. The weapons formed against Zion shall not prosper. Though this prophecy is to be fulfilled in the latter days, it is certain. From the language used, it seems that the army of Gog will be destroyed by miracle. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

Psalm 76:3 

There He broke the arrows of the bow,

The shield and sword of battle. Selah

Ezekiel 38:3 

and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal.

Ezekiel 38:4 I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords.

Ezekiel 39:17 

“And as for you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD, 

‘Speak to every sort of bird and to every beast of the field:

“Assemble yourselves and come;

Gather together from all sides to My sacrificial meal

Which I am sacrificing for you,

A great sacrificial meal on the mountains of Israel,

That you may eat flesh and drink blood.