February 23, 2024

Passage Read: 2 Kings 24 - 1 Chronicles 2
Meditation Verse: 2 Kings 24:4

Thought

The Lord would not forgive the wickedness of Manasseh, though Manasseh himself repented late in life and was apparently forgiven, the people of Israel had pushed the Lord too far too many times. He was done. He would not forgive their sin, so after Josiah, there would be no honorable king. The people would be left in their sin and destroyed for it. There comes a point in many people's lives when God determines that He will not forgive, and they have no hope, no matter how long they live after that. They are condemned; it's only a matter of time until the Lord takes their life and begins their eternal torment. The same is true for peoples and nations, but a people can be overthrown and yet survive and rebuild. A later generation can find favor. Likewise, a man may be condemned, but his son can find favor if he repents and doesn't follow in the sin of his father.

Application

The Lord can be provoked so severely, so many times, that He comes to the point of being unwilling to forgive. At that point, the person or nation is doomed. I can't know when that point is in the life of another, though it may be the reason behind Jesus's instruction to His disciples to kick the dust of any town or people who rejects them from their feet as a testimony against those people. That people may yet only be warned, but the disciples are free to move on to another town or village without concern for the people who rejected them. There is an urgency to get the Gospel to as many people as possible, rather than linger over people who have refused it, in hope that one day with enough time and effort, they might be won to Christ. That idea is not from Scripture; even a godly wife or husband has no guarantee of winning his or her spouse to Christ by their righteousness. I don't want to resist the Lord or rebel against Him and provoke Him to reject me, but I have to be aware that there may be many around me, even those I try to share Christ with that will never be forgiven. I can move on with a clear conscience, and trust that God will do whatever is right with that person.