Time After Time

But the Lord God of their ancestors sent word against them by the hand of his messengers, sending them time and time again, for He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. But they kept ridiculing God's messengers, despising His words, and scoffing at His prophets, until the Lord's wrath was so stirred up against His people that there was no remedy.- 2 Chronicles 36:15-16 (emphasis mine)

Don't you wish that sometimes you could just see God's expression physically, or know what He is thinking? I envision God giving the human author the words to say here and almost letting out a sigh. I imagine you could see the love in His eyes, but feel the hurt of His own creation rejecting Him - time and time again. Yet, God did not give us just one chance to listen to Him. The character of His compassion in God is full of grace and mercy. God sent His prophets to warn His people time and time again, yet they rejected time and time again. This is what brought the Hebrew people's destruction and slavery in Babylon - rejecting God's law and choosing disobedience. It was not that God just wanted to destroy something like a kid with a magnifying glass burning ants, it is that His compassion was rejected leading Him to then exercise His wrath. In these two verses alone we see the balance of God's compassion and His wrath. He gives us a chance to repent and choose obedience, but if we do not, then His wrath must be exercised.

This begs the question I must ask myself: am I rejecting God's time and time again? Will I listen? I know I don't want God's wrath, that's for sure! It's that easy - avoid wrath by choosing obedience. Simple, yes. Simple to actually do, not so much.

I also love the last part of this passage: there was no remedy. The people could not escape His wrath. We could not escape God's eternal wrath either unless one thing could take place: Jesus Christ, the Son of God, comes and takes God's wrath for us and takes our place on the cross. Jesus Christ is the remedy. Do you have the remedy? As we lead up to this time of year, meditate on the idea that Jesus is the remedy for God's wrath. Thank Him. Love Him. Obey Him. Trust Him. Here is the chorus to the song "Remedy" by the David Crowder Band:

He is the one
Who has saved us
He is the one
Who embraced us
He is the one who has come
And is coming again
He’s the remedy