Mocked, Despised, Scoffed

2 Chronicles 36:15-16 The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. 16 But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy.

I often wonder what the limit is on the number of times we must support stupidity. We all know people, maybe even people in our own families, who just won’t learn from their mistakes. The continue to choose the wrong path and the consequences come.

For some of us this means that we then do everything in our power to soften the blow of the consequences. Instead of letting the natural consequences become the instrument of learning, we short-circuit the learning. No wonder they never learn! We make it too easy for them to stay in the same pattern.

This is often a very personal and complicated process. The human brain has the capacity to learn and grow, but so often gets stuck in dysfunctional patterns. It gets programmed to try to protect us in ways that end us hurting us more. The actions that once protected our young selves, now doesn’t serve our adult realities.

We see this pattern of dysfunction in the nation of Israel. One of the final paragraphs of the Hebrew Scriptures as found in the Hebrew ordering of the books contains the text above. It is a summary of the actions of the LORD and the inaction of the people over generations.

There is always this interplay of the LORD’s actions in faithful love and humanity’s actions of rebellion and self-determination in opposition to the LORD. The degree may vary over time, but the pattern is the same. He is faithful, we are not.

The three words in the title are potent: mocked, despised, scoffed. What would we do if our children displayed these attitudes toward us? What would we do if an employee or employer did? Would we ‘cancel’ them?

But the LORD didn’t cancel his people. His people canceled their relationship with Him. They said a big “NO” to the loving advances, His guidance, His safety net of behavioral norms and values.

Of course humanity failed. That is part of the story of the Good News found in Jesus. He didn’t fail! He succeeded in every aspect of life with God and life with humanity. And humanity killed Him, thinking they could silence the love of God. But it didn’t work. The cry of love broke through.

So today when you hear the cries of broken humanity, listen all the more intently to the cries of a loving God. He calls. He encourages. He comforts. He reconciles. Let’s be more like Him!