2 Kings 24:3-4 Surely these things happened to Judah according to the Lord’s command, in order to remove them from his presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all he had done, 4 including the shedding of innocent blood. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord was not willing to forgive.
God was not willing to forgive because of the shedding of innocent blood. This immediately makes me think of another situation, where God responded in exactly the opposite way. Do you know which one?
When God’s son Jesus died, there was shedding of innocent blood. However, God did not respond with the exile of the Jewish people or with an unwillingness to forgive. Instead, because of the shedding of His own son’s innocent blood, He included the Gentiles and He forgave the whole world their sins, if they would accept Jesus’ sacrifice.
The shedding of innocent blood in the Old Testament lead to God’s wrath. The shedding of innocent blood in the New Testament lead to God’s mercy – while his wrath landed on his own son.
The shedding of innocent blood in the Old Testament brought people further from God.
The shedding of innocent blood in the New Testement brought people closer.
God is a good God. He is willing to go to great lengths to forgive us our sins, even when that means shedding his own innocent blood.
Let’s praise and thank God for His grace!