"The Tender Compassion of Our God"-Conclusion of When Jehovah Showed Compassion to a Nation

Jehovah's compassion did not stop there.  When settled in the Promised Land, Israel repeatedly lapsed into unfaithfulness and suffered as a result.  But then the people would come to their senses and call out to Jehovah.  Again and again he delivered them.  Why? "Because he felt compassion for his people." -2 Chronicles 36:15; Judges 2:11-16. 

Consider what happened in the days of Jephthah.  Since the Israelites had turned to serving false gods, Jehovah allowed them to be oppressed by the Ammonites for 1 8 years.  Finally, the Israelites repented.  The Bible tells us:  "They began to remove the foreign gods from their midst and to serve Jehovah, so that his soul became impatient because of the trouble of Israel." (Judges 10:6-16) Once his people manifested genuine repentance, Jehovah could not longer bear to see them suffer.  So the God of tender compassion empowered Jephthah to deliver the Israelites out of the hands of their enemies. -Judges 11:30-33. 

What do Jehovah's dealings with the nation of Israel teach us about tender compassion?  For one thing, we see that it is more than just a sympathetic awareness  of the adversities that people experience.  Recall the example of a mother whose compassion moves her to respond to the crying of her baby. Similarly, Jehovah is not deaf to the outcries of the people.  His tender compassion moves him to relieve their suffering.  In addition, the way Jehovah dealt with the Israelites teaches us that compassion is by no means a weakness, for his tender quality moved him to take strong, decisive action in behalf of his people.  But does Jehovah show compassion only to his servants as a group?  

Next time: "The Tender Compassion of Our God"-Jehovah's Compassion for Individuals

From the book: Draw Close to Jehovah