2 Chronicles 28 Devotional

Mercy From an Unlikely Army

“Then the men who were designated by name arose, took charge of the captives, and provided from the plunder clothing for the naked. They clothed them, gave them sandals and food and drink, anointed their wounds, and put all the feeble on donkeys. So they brought them to Jericho, the City of Palms, to their brothers. Then they returned to Samaria.”2 Chronicles 28:15 (BSB)

Ahaz makes images of the Baals and sacrifices his sons in the fire (28:1-4). The LORD hands Judah over to Aram and Israel, and in one day Israel's army kills a hundred twenty thousand men of Judah, and takes two hundred thousand captives (28:5-8).

Then a prophet named Oded meets the returning army at Samaria. The LORD was angry with Judah, he tells them, but they have killed in a fury far beyond their commission. They have sins of their own before the LORD, and they must send the captives back (28:9-11). Israel's leaders agree. The captives are clothed and given sandals, food, and drink. Their wounds are anointed, the weak are set on donkeys, and they are brought to Jericho, to their own people (28:15). Jesus later told of a Samaritan who bandaged a stranger's wounds with oil and carried him on his animal (Luke 10:33-34). Even in a season of judgment, God moved hearts toward compassion. You may be the unlikely person through whom he shows mercy today.

To think about: Who might God be inviting you to show unexpected mercy to, even someone on the other side of a conflict?