In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer. v8
As I was reading this passage just before going out for lunch today, my attention was drawn to the sharp contrast between the past and the future of the afflicted people of Israel. They had been chastised by the hand of the LORD and, as a nation, they were likened to a barren woman "who did not bear", while God was likened to the husband who had forsaken her for a short time.
For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God. For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. v6,7Firstly in verse 7, the small moment of Israel being forsaken constrasts distinctly against the great mercies by which the people were to be gathered by the Lord again. It tells me that, the same merciful Lord continues to gather His people to him today. If we have displeased Him, the smallness of being momentarily forsaken cannot be compared with the greatness of being gathered back to Him again.
Secondly in verse 8, and as a parallel image to verse 7 above, there is a distinct contrast between God hiding His face from Israel "for a moment" and the "everlasting" kindness with which He will show mercy.
Thus, the act of God forsaking his people is incomparable to the act of His reconciling them together with Him, while the hiding of His face cannot compare with the showing of His mercy.
We can put our trust in the everlasting mercies of God. The God who had sworn to Noah in ancient times that the earth will never again be overwhelmed with a great flood is also the same God who has sworn again here:
. . . so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee. v9, 10Dear Christian, let us draw near to God. His wrath is for a moment. His mercies are forever.
