Isaiah 10:5-7, 13-16 / Matthew 11:25-27
The gospels portray Jesus as loving and merciful. He is compassionate and He heals the sick and cares for the poor and the outcasts.
He may have some harsh words for the elders, the scribes and the Pharisees, but He did not call down fire from heaven to destroy those who are against Him or against God.
On the hand, the Old Testament portrays God as a God who punishes His people for their unfaithfulness, though He is also portrayed as slow to anger and rich in mercy.
The 1st reading recounts how God "commissioned" Assyria against His people who had provoked Him by their unfaithfulness.
God allowed Assyria to pillage and plunder freely and to stamp on His people freely so that they would learn their lesson.
Yet when Assyria got out of hand and became like the axe that wants to claim more credit than the man who wields it or the saw that wants to claim more strength than the man who handles it, God's justice and mercy arose to stop Assyria and to protect His people.
Though we are God's people, we have to admit that there are times when we also get out of hand and sin against God. In order to wake us up and make us learn our lesson, God may also let our enemies get the better of us.
But let us also know that when our enemies get out of hand and think they can do whatever they like, then God's justice and mercy will also arise to save us from our enemies, and God will also forgive us when we repent for He is merciful and compassionate.
So the Bible has revealed to us who God truly is, that He will punish us but it will be for our good. And that He is also loving and merciful and compassionate, as how Jesus has shown us.
So let us walk in the ways of the Lord and be faithful to Him, and turn to Him in repentance when we sin, so that we can avoid the punishment due to sin and continue to experience the tender love and mercy of our God.