upgraded on August 9, 2008
Every "sin is lawlessness" (1 John 3:4), and an abomination unto God. The simple decision to eat the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was the first and most impacting sin of mankind. Following that sin, Jesus in His complete mercy left the splendor of heaven to come to a stable, live a perfect life in a cruel world, and die on a cross to restore our relationship to God. His mercy endures forever. No person has ever committed so heinous a sin that the mercy of Jesus would not pursue them. There is no record in the Bible of any man attempting to turn to Jesus who was unable to. Jesus gives many parables in the Holy Word of God emphasizing how much He wants to forgive and allow a person to return to God.
Matthew 18:12-14 (NIV) "What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.
Luke 15:11-24 (NIV) Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them. 13 "Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. 17 "When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' 20 So he got up and went to his father. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. 21 "The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' 22 "But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.
Luke 15:7 (NIV) I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
Luke 15:10 (NIV) In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
The blessed Lord will certainly forgive any human in the same measure that He directs Peter to forgive his brother in Matthew 18:21-22.
Matthew 18:21-22 (NIV) Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" 22 Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
Jesus Christ goes to great lengths in His Holy Word to reveal the infinity of His forgiveness. Jesus' infinite mercy is being specifically emphasized in Judeo-Christian Organized Religion today, but there is little effort to reveal a balance of God's other characteristics. Jesus' mercy is an issue that does not confront or offend people, keeps people feeling good, attending church, and contributing money to Judeo-Christian Organized Religion.
There is, however, a potential tragedy that must be addressed. False prophets have always been used by the devil to lull people to sleep and damnation. Jesus' mercy is often misstated by false prophets in order to provide people with a vehicle to deceive themselves about the sin in their lives. When the Spirit of God speaks to a person, and that person says "no," a callousness is built up that makes it increasingly difficult to hear the call of the Spirit of God. If a person continues to rebel against the calling of the Spirit of God, that person builds a wall, brick by brick, until they have completely shut the Spirit of God out. At that point, there will be no desire for the indwelling of the Spirit of God, because that person will not be able to hear His call. These unfortunate people play with fire until they sear their conscience.
1 Timothy 4:2 (NIV) Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.
There is another potential tragedy that must also be warned about.
Genesis 6:3a (KJV) And the Lord said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man,
In addition to being a God of mercy, God is also a God of perfect Justice. The history of Pharaoh gives us an example of God's Justice. In Moses' initial interaction with Pharaoh, Pharaoh did not know God, and Pharaoh did not know about God. Pharaoh was completely ignorant of God. After Pharaoh became aware of God, Pharaoh did not comply with God's law; he defied God's law and came under a curse. Pharaoh was cursed because after he became aware of God, he purposely hardened his own rebellious heart. At that point in time, Pharaoh deserved destruction. God would have been justified in destroying Pharaoh from the first moment that Pharaoh had knowledge of, and rebelled against God. God exercised patience and destroyed Pharaoh at a later time in accordance with God's perfect order. God had for-knowledge of how Pharaoh would react, but Pharaoh determined initially how he would react. By contrast, Moses was raised in the same household with the same training as Pharaoh, yet Moses chose to obey God.
Romans 9:16-24 (NIV) It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. 19 One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?" 20 But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?'" 21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use? 22 What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath--prepared for destruction? 23 What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory--24 even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?
patience n. 1. the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain without complaint, loss of temper, or anger. 2. an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay. 3. quiet, steady perseverance; even-tempered care; diligence. 4. ChieflyBrit. SOLITAIRE (def. 1). - Webster's Dictionary
God had foreknowledge of Pharaoh before Moses ever interacted with Pharaoh. Pharaoh did not know God, but Pharaoh had a free will at that point in time.
Exodus 3:19-20 (NIV) But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.
Pharaoh initially testified that he did not know God. He was acting in ignorance of God.
Exodus 5:2 (NIV) Pharaoh said, "Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go."
Pharaoh then began to gain knowledge of God. At that time, he began acting in rebellion against God.
Exodus 7:7-14 (NIV) Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh. 8 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 9 "When Pharaoh says to you, 'Perform a miracle,' then say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,' and it will become a snake." 10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. 11 Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: 12 Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Yet Pharaoh's heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said. 14 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Pharaoh's heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go.
As Pharaoh gained knowledge of God and of His power, Pharaoh was no longer acting in ignorance of God. Pharaoh still had a free will at that point in time.
Exodus 8:8 (NIV) Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Pray to the LORD to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the LORD."
Exodus 8:13-15 (NIV) And the LORD did what Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the courtyards and in the fields. 14 They were piled into heaps, and the land reeked of them. 15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said.
Pharaoh's magicians reinforced his knowledge of God, when they testified to him about God.
Exodus 8:16-19 (NIV) Then the LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the ground,' and throughout the land of Egypt the dust will become gnats." 17 They did this, and when Aaron stretched out his hand with the staff and struck the dust of the ground, gnats came upon men and animals. All the dust throughout the land of Egypt became gnats. 18 But when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not. And the gnats were on men and animals. 19 The magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God." But Pharaoh's heart was hard and he would not listen, just as the LORD had said.
Pharaoh continued to harden his own heart in rebellion against God.
Exodus 8:29-32 (NIV) Moses answered, "As soon as I leave you, I will pray to the LORD, and tomorrow the flies will leave Pharaoh and his officials and his people. Only be sure that Pharaoh does not act deceitfully again by not letting the people go to offer sacrifices to the LORD." 30 Then Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD, 31 and the LORD did what Moses asked: The flies left Pharaoh and his officials and his people; not a fly remained. 32 But this time also Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not let the people go.
Exodus 9:5-7 (NIV) The LORD set a time and said, "Tomorrow the LORD will do this in the land." 6 And the next day the LORD did it: All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one animal belonging to the Israelites died. 7 Pharaoh sent men to investigate and found that not even one of the animals of the Israelites had died. Yet his heart was unyielding and he would not let the people go.
The justification that Jesus used in requesting forgiveness for those that crucified Him was that they did not know what they were doing:
Luke 23:34a (NIV) Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
After a person is "saved," or "justified," but before they are filled with the Holy Spirit of God, their sin nature will surface and they will sin:
1 John 2:1 (NIV) My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
After a person is filled with the Holy Spirit of God, they "know" God in the Biblical sense and are then no longer acting in ignorance of God"
Hebrews 6:4-6 (NIV) It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6 if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
Hebrews 10:26-27 (NIV) If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.
At a point in time, in accordance with Isaiah 63:9-10, 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12, and Proverbs 1:20-33, God in His perfect cause and effect order hardened Pharaoh's heart.
Isaiah 63:9-10 (NIV) In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he turned and became their enemy and he himself fought against them.
2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 (NIV) The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
Proverbs 1:20-33 (NIV) Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech: "How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you. But since you rejected me when I called and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand, since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke, I in turn will laugh at your disaster; I will mock when calamity overtakes you--when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you. "Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me. Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the LORD, since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm."
At that point, Pharaoh no longer had a free will. At that point, because of his own deeds, Pharaoh was worthy of and had been judged and sentenced to destruction. God was now waiting patiently for God's own timing in the carrying out of that sentence of destruction. Pharaoh was doomed!
Exodus 9:10-12 (NIV) So they took soot from a furnace and stood before Pharaoh. Moses tossed it into the air, and festering boils broke out on men and animals. 11 The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils that were on them and on all the Egyptians. 12 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said to Moses.
Exodus 9:13-17 (NIV) Then the LORD said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning, confront Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me, 14 or this time I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. 15 For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. 16 But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. 17 You still set yourself against my people and will not let them go.
Exodus 9:34-35 (NIV) When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again: He and his officials hardened their hearts. 35 So Pharaoh's heart was hard and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the LORD had said through Moses.
Exodus 10:1-2 (NIV) Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these miraculous signs of mine among them 2 that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the LORD."
At that point, Pharaoh not only recognized God, but that he had sinned against God.
Exodus 10:16-20 (NIV) Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you. 17 Now forgive my sin once more and pray to the LORD your God to take this deadly plague away from me." 18 Moses then left Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD. 19 And the LORD changed the wind to a very strong west wind, which caught up the locusts and carried them into the Red Sea. Not a locust was left anywhere in Egypt. 20 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let the Israelites go.
At that point, when Pharaoh wanted to do good, God still hardened his heart. God had become his enemy.
Exodus 10:24-27 (NIV) Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, "Go, worship the LORD. Even your women and children may go with you; only leave your flocks and herds behind." 25 But Moses said, "You must allow us to have sacrifices and burnt offerings to present to the LORD our God. 26 Our livestock too must go with us; not a hoof is to be left behind. We have to use some of them in worshiping the LORD our God, and until we get there we will not know what we are to use to worship the LORD." 27 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he was not willing to let them go.
Exodus 11:9-10 (NIV) The LORD had said to Moses, "Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you--so that my wonders may be multiplied in Egypt." 10 Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let the Israelites go out of his country.
Exodus 14:1-8 (NIV) Then the LORD said to Moses, 2 "Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon. 3 Pharaoh will think, 'The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.' 4 And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD." So the Israelites did this. 5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, "What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!" 6 So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him. 7 He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. 8 The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly.
Exodus 14:15-17 (NIV) Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. 16 Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. 17 I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen.
Exodus 14:23-25 (NIV) The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. 24 During the last watch of the night the LORD looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. 25 He made the wheels of their chariots come off so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, "Let's get away from the Israelites! The LORD is fighting for them against Egypt."
Exodus 14:27-28 (NIV) Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the LORD swept them into the sea. 28 The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen--the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.
Isaiah 63:9-10 (NIV) In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. 10 Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he turned and became their enemy and he himself fought against them.
God instructed the weeping prophet Jeremiah on three occasions not to pray for a people that were already doomed.
Jeremiah 7:12-29 (NIV) "'Go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for my Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel. 13 While you were doing all these things, declares the LORD, I spoke to you again and again, but you did not listen; I called you, but you did not answer. 14 Therefore, what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears my Name, the temple you trust in, the place I gave to you and your fathers. 15 I will thrust you from my presence, just as I did all your brothers, the people of Ephraim.' 16 "So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you. 17 Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes of bread for the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke me to anger. 19 But am I the one they are provoking? declares the LORD. Are they not rather harming themselves, to their own shame? 20 "'Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: My anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, on man and beast, on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground, and it will burn and not be quenched. 21 "'This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves! 22 For when I brought your forefathers out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, 23 but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you. 24 But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward. 25 From the time your forefathers left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants the prophets. 26 But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their forefathers.' 27 "When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you; when you call to them, they will not answer. 28 Therefore say to them, 'This is the nation that has not obeyed the LORD its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips. 29 Cut off your hair and throw it away; take up a lament on the barren heights, for the LORD has rejected and abandoned this generation that is under his wrath.
Jeremiah 11:6-17 (NIV) The LORD said to me, "Proclaim all these words in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: 'Listen to the terms of this covenant and follow them. 7 From the time I brought your forefathers up from Egypt until today, I warned them again and again, saying, "Obey me." 8 But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubbornness of their evil hearts. So I brought on them all the curses of the covenant I had commanded them to follow but that they did not keep.'" 9 Then the LORD said to me, "There is a conspiracy among the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem. 10 They have returned to the sins of their forefathers, who refused to listen to my words. They have followed other gods to serve them. Both the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken the covenant I made with their forefathers. 11 Therefore this is what the LORD says: 'I will bring on them a disaster they cannot escape. Although they cry out to me, I will not listen to them. 12 The towns of Judah and the people of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they will not help them at all when disaster strikes. 13 You have as many gods as you have towns, O Judah; and the altars you have set up to burn incense to that shameful god Baal are as many as the streets of Jerusalem.' 14 "Do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them, because I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their distress. 15 "What is my beloved doing in my temple as she works out her evil schemes with many? Can consecrated meat avert your punishment? When you engage in your wickedness, then you rejoice." 16 The LORD called you a thriving olive tree with fruit beautiful in form. But with the roar of a mighty storm he will set it on fire, and its branches will be broken. 17 The LORD Almighty, who planted you, has decreed disaster for you, because the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done evil and provoked me to anger by burning incense to Baal.
Jeremiah 14:10-16 (NIV) This is what the LORD says about this people: "They greatly love to wander; they do not restrain their feet. So the LORD does not accept them; he will now remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins." 11 Then the LORD said to me, "Do not pray for the well-being of this people. 12 Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword, famine and plague." 13 But I said, "Ah, Sovereign LORD, the prophets keep telling them, 'You will not see the sword or suffer famine. Indeed, I will give you lasting peace in this place.'" 14 Then the LORD said to me, "The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds. 15 Therefore, this is what the LORD says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name: I did not send them, yet they are saying, 'No sword or famine will touch this land.' Those same prophets will perish by sword and famine. 16 And the people they are prophesying to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and sword. There will be no one to bury them or their wives, their sons or their daughters. I will pour out on them the calamity they deserve.
The words of Eli are most appropriate and can also be applied to Pharaoh's situation. Eli's sons were wicked, and as priests obviously had some knowledge of God. They were in the identical doomed situation that the wickedness of Pharaoh had caused him to be in. God had already judged them prior to their physical death just as He did Pharaoh:
1 Samuel 2:22-25 (NIV) Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 23 So he said to them, "Why do you do such things? I hear from all the people about these wicked deeds of yours. 24 No, my sons; it is not a good report that I hear spreading among the Lord's people. 25 If a man sins against another man, God may mediate for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who will intercede for him?" His sons, however, did not listen to their father's rebuke, for it was the Lord's will to put them to death.
The history of Saul warrants consideration. God changed Saul's heart.
1 Samuel 10:6-9 (NIV) The Spirit of the LORD will come upon you in power, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. 7 Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you. 8 "Go down ahead of me to Gilgal. I will surely come down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, but you must wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do." 9 As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul's heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day.
After God changed Saul's heart, Saul compromised on what God had directed him to do. In perfect consistency, God turned away from Saul because of Saul's sin and became his enemy.
1 Samuel 28:16 (NIV) Samuel said, "Why do you consult me, now that the LORD has turned away from you and become your enemy?
Village of Endor in Israel where Saul and the witch contacted Samuel
There is a point in time when every single Gentile who is going to be saved will have been saved:
Romans 11:25 (NIV) I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.
That point in time when every Gentile who is going to be saved will have been saved, will be shortly after mid-tribulation:
Matthew 25:1-13 (NIV) "At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6 "At midnight the cry rang out: 'Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!' 7 "Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.' 9 " 'No,' they replied, 'there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.' 10 "But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. 11 "Later the others also came. 'Sir! Sir!' they said. 'Open the door for us!' 12 "But he replied, 'I tell you the truth, I don't know you.' 13 "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
Every unholy Gentile will have a hardened heart by that point in time when the full number of Gentiles have come in. ("And the door was shut." Matthew 25:10) You will have crossed the deadline. Many Gentiles have already crossed the deadline, many more will cross it before that point in time. Shortly after mid-tribulation, all Gentiles will have become holy, or will have crossed the deadline.
Proverbs 1:20-33 (NIV) Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares; 21 at the head of the noisy streets she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech: 22 "How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? 23 If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you. 24 But since you rejected me when I called and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand, 25 since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke, 26 I in turn will laugh at your disaster; I will mock when calamity overtakes you-- 27 when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you. 28 "Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me. 29 Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the LORD, 30 since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, 31 they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. 32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; 33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm."
Revelation 16:8-11 gives an example of people who have crossed the deadline after mid-tribulation:
Revelation 16:8-11 (NIV) The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was given power to scorch people with fire. They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him. The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. Men gnawed their tongues in agony and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.
Repent 1: to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one's life 2a to feel regret or contrition b. to change one's mind. (Webster's Dictionary)
These people "refused to repent." Their hearts were hardened, they were doomed and damned. The Holy Spirit was no longer drawing them to God.
John 6:44 (NIV) "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
Every person who has knowledge of God and then acts in rebellion is worthy of death. God is justified in destroying any Godless person at any time. A person who has knowledge of God and is in rebellion is on extremely dangerous ground. He is recklessly dancing on the precipice of eternity, as he toy's with God's mercy. If you are alive and Godless, it is only because God has chosen to delay the inevitable destruction until a later time. At any time, God can choose to discontinue His delay and permit the just destruction that you deserve. If you are not in communion with Jesus Christ, then you are toying with God's mercy. I encourage you to immediately repent of your sins, lest God's patience with you end. If you still have a genuine desire for the indwelling of the Spirit of God, it is because you can still hear His call and you still have a chance for redemption.
The most tragic statement of all eternity is prophesied in Jeremiah 8:20 in the desperation of a doomed man:
Jeremiah 8:20 (NIV) "The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved."