Damned by God?

Rare Exceptions to the Rule?

I’ve gone way outside mainstream Old Testament prophecy to find a couple of highly exceptional examples, right? Wrong. Many Christians are like me in having wrongly supposed that if God prophesies something, it is final. The startling truth is that Scripture emphatically and repeatedly declares that whether God’s prophecies come true depends on the response of the people the prophecy is aimed at. We’ve looked at famous minor prophet Jonah and major prophet Isaiah. Let’s now seal it with the pronouncement of yet another renowned prophet: Jeremiah. This time, the Lord, through the prophet, clearly states the very principle we have discovered:

Jeremiah 18:7-8 At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy it; if that nation . . . turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do to them.

We are plunging into some of the blackest parts of Scripture and yet even here we keep finding enormous hope for any condemned person or nation that repents. The Bible was written not as an historical curiosity; it was written by God for you (Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 9:10; 10:6,11). So if ever you feel damned and utterly rejected by God, take seriously Scripture’s words of hope to people who likewise seemed doomed.

Later in the same book the Lord again reveals the intent of his prophecies of disaster:

Jeremiah 26:3 It may be they will listen, and turn every man from his evil way; that I may repent me of the evil which I purpose to do to them because of the evil of their doings.

Jeremiah 26:13 Now therefore amend your ways and your doings, and obey the Lord your God’s voice; and the Lord will repent him of the evil that he has pronounced against you.

Jeremiah 36:3 It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do to them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.

These verses in Jeremiah are like islands of hope in a terrifying sea of fire. Prophecies of judgment are often worded as if God hates the people and that their fate is sealed. Our Lord goes to such lengths in firing words of doom at people not because there is no hope of them escaping the prophesied disasters, but precisely because there is hope. Prophecies are worded to seem final, not because everything is set in concrete, but to arm the prophecies with sufficient power to blast people back to reality. Our loving Lord goes to the extreme of what seem angry, hate-filled words as a last-ditch effort to snap his loved ones out of the complacency that is threatening their eternity. In his grace, he is giving them a foretaste of what it would be like unless they get serious with God, the only one who can save them. So most prophecies are not declaring the inevitable future but are detailing what the target audience can expect if they do not change their hearts.

Again in Amos 7:1-3 the prophet is shown in a vision a swarm of locusts that devastates the entire land. Amos intercedes, asking the Lord’s forgiveness, and the Lord relents, promising it will not happen. Then in the next verses we read:

Amos 7:4-6 Thus the Lord showed me and behold, the Lord called for judgment by fire; and it dried up the great deep, and would have devoured the land. Then I said, “Lord, stop, I beg you! How could Jacob stand? For he is small.” The Lord relented concerning this. “This also shall not be,” says the Lord.

It is not our purpose here to explore prophecies of blessings, but Scripture is clear that the same principle applies: a change of heart – this time a change for the worse – can also nullify prophecies of blessings (1 Samuel 2:30; Jeremiah 18:7; Ezekiel 33:13).

If your mind is reeling as your entire view of prophecy comes crashing down, I can well understand your reaction. We’ve now looked at four prophets. Scripture says that the truth of a matter shall be established out of the mouth of two or three witnesses. To God, for a prophecy of doom to “fail” is the ultimate success. Nevertheless, the notion that divine prophecies can fail to materialize is so shattering to common opinion, that perhaps you are demanding a fifth Scriptural witness. No problem. This time we will go to yet another major prophet: Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 33:14-16 Again, when I say to the wicked, You shall surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right . . . None of his sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him: he has done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.

The yearning of God’s heart is not to waste people’s time by giving them information they can’t do anything with; much less to torment them by letting them know there is no hope. What drives our Lord to talk about future disasters is a longing to avert tragedy. As God, through Ezekiel, said just moments earlier:

Ezekiel 33:11 Tell them, “As I live, says the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live. . . .”

God’s purpose in telling people they are facing destruction is to motivate them to call upon him, because “Everyone [no exceptions] who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Joel 2:32; Romans 10:13). If God truly wanted people damned, he would keep them blissfully ignorant of their fate because once they realized their fearful predicament, they might call out to God for help. Then the Lord would be compelled to keep his word and save them!

Now that I have cited two minor and three major prophets, for any reader to have the tiniest doubt would be ridiculous. If, after all of this, someone wanted still more confirmation, I would be astounded, but I would be quite unfazed. You see, Scripture heaps up even more proof. Let’s look at yet another minor prophet. Micah’s ministry is summarized in one of Scripture’s historical comments.

Jeremiah 26:18 Micah the Morashtite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, “The Lord of Armies says: ‘Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.’”

Here, yet again, we have a prophecy of doom, offering no hope. Let’s read the next verse:

Jeremiah 26:19  . . . Didn’t he fear the Lord, and entreat the favor of the Lord, and the Lord relented of the disaster which he had pronounced against them? . . .

Let’s examine Micah’s prophecy to see if it really was a damning as the above quote suggests:

Micah 1:1 The Lord’s word that came to Micah the Morashtite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. . . .

Micah 3:9-12 Please listen to this, you heads of the house of Jacob,and rulers of the house of Israel, who abhor justice, and pervert all equity . . . Therefore Zion for your sake will be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem will become heaps of rubble, and the mountain of the temple like the high places of a forest.

Perhaps you are sometimes tempted to feel as doomed to destruction as Jerusalem was in this prophecy. If so, remember that Hezekiah repented and the Lord relented.

We’ve noted that even prophecies of blessing can be nullified. That means we can’t be complacent. If you are fearing that you have gone beyond God’s grace, however, that very fear means that, regardless of how you felt other times, you are anything but complacent right now. It would be a mistake to take Scriptures intended for the complacent or rebellious, and apply them to yourself if, as of this moment, you are no longer complacent or rebellious. You might have appallingly abused God’s grace right up until ten seconds ago, but because of the power of Jesus’ blood to wipe out the past, all that matters is your present attitude.