God's patience has a limit.
Proverbs 1:20-33 (NIV)
20 Out in the open wisdom calls aloud,
she raises her voice in the public square;
21 on top of the wall she cries out,
at the city gate she makes her speech:
22 “How long will you who are simple love your simple ways?
How long will mockers delight in mockery
and fools hate knowledge?
23 Repent at my rebuke!
Then I will pour out my thoughts to you,
I will make known to you my teachings.
24 But since you refuse to listen when I call
and no one pays attention when I stretch out my hand,
25 since you disregard all my advice
and do not accept my rebuke,
26 I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you;
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.”
Canons of Dordt
Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election
Articles 1-14
Article 15 - Reprobation
Holy Scripture most especially highlights this eternal and undeserved grace of our election and brings it out more clearly for us,
in that it further bears witness that
not all people have been chosen
but that some have not been chosen or have been passed by in God’s eternal election—
those, that is, concerning whom God, on the basis of his entirely free, most just, irreproachable, and unchangeable good pleasure, made the following decree:
to leave them in the common misery into which, by their own fault, they have plunged themselves;
not to grant them saving faith and the grace of conversion;
but finally to condemn and eternally punish those who have been left in their own ways and under God’s just judgment, not only for their unbelief but also for all their other sins, in order to display his justice.
And this is the decree of reprobation,
which does not at all make God
the author of sin (a blasphemous thought!)
but rather its fearful, irreproachable, just judge and avenger.
Summary
So much of the book of Proverbs is the story of Wisdom, personified as a lady seeking wayward sons following the call of her adversary, Lady Folly. Right away here in the first chapter, we're introduced to Wisdom as she calls out, rebuking those who've lost their way. Notice how she characterizes the essence of sin: delight in mockery and hatred of knowledge.
She calls out with a one word imperative that comprises the Bible's primary command: repent - turn back from the hatred of knowledge and simplistic thinking! To those who listen when Wisdom calls, she will pour out her thoughts and make known her teachings. And whoever listens to me, she promises, will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.
Sadly, so many people refuse to listen when Wisdom calls. They disregard all her advice and do not accept her rebuke. You didn't need verses 24-25 to tell you that - you see it writ large each and every day in the way people around you live; indeed, even in the way you're tempted to live!
But calamity will overtake like a storm, and disaster will sweep over like a whirlwind upon those who've ignored Wisdom. For, she says, the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.
Dig Deeper
It's somewhat shocking to see how Wisdom responds when the foolish finally do cry out in the midst of the calamity and disaster they've brought upon themselves: I in turn will laugh and mock... They will call and look for me, but I will not be found or answer them. This seems completely contrary to the conventional idea of God so many people cling to: that He's just longingly waiting for us to turn to Him, and when we do He'll quickly spring into salvific action.
But the Canons painfully remind us today that God, like His emissary Lady Wisdom, is not eternally patient. Those who will not accept His advice and spurn His rebuke will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.
In other words, God gives people what they want; to those who continually ignore the Bible's oft repeated calls to repent, God allows them to harvest the effects of the ignorance they cling to. He, as the Canons put it, leaves them in the common misery into which, by their own fault, they have plunged themselves.
But to those whom God has chosen to spiritually regenerate recognize the unsurpassed beauty of godly knowledge and wisdom. They heed God's call to repent by turning from their simplistic thinking to choosing to fear the LORD. Thank God for calling you out of worldly ignorance, and pray that you will continue to grow in Wisdom.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, the God of knowledge;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will reject simple ways, mockery and instead build up godly knowledge and wisdom;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: James 2
