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Meaning and Examples of Repentance Part 5

The meaning of repentance

  1. Change of mind, re-calculate, re-do, or re-think

  2. To Turn from Sin

  3. Be Sorry for Sin

From the book of Revelation. Some refuse to Repent.

  • Revelation 9:20  And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: 
  • 21  Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.  

Sadly we see from chapter 9 of Revelation that people's hearts were so hardened that with all the judgments, plagues and even knowing full well who was sending them, refused to repent and save themselves. Idol worship brings with it many other sins: Murder, stealing, sexual immorality, drugs, and hearts so full of evil that nothing is wrong to them. They call evil good and good evil.

  • Revelation 16:10  And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, 
  • 11  And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds. 
In Revelation chapter 16, instead of repenting after all these judgments, they went so far is to be angry at God and blaspheme His name. They did not repent. These were those that shed the blood of the martyrs. Even knowing what was coming they blamed God instead of repenting.

That use to puzzle me as a young person reading Revelation. I couldn't understand why people would not repent and save themselves from an eternity in hell. I had never met anyone that bad before or with that attitude. Today though with the news media available online, I see the attitude of those that hate God and hate those that believe in God. I've seen some that do repent and are saved but the majority continue on spewing out their accusations against those that stand for righteousness just like Jesus said they would do.

From the book of Isaiah we see the heart of God and what He would rather see than vain sacrifices, religious holidays, and Sabbaths.

  • Isaiah 1:10  Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. 
  • 11  To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. 
  • 12  When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? 
  • 13  Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. 
  • 14  Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. 
  • 15  And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. 

Without obedience, works of righteousness, compassion, and love for God, His word and His commandments outward shows of religion is a waste of time. Not having mercy and compassion on our fellow human beings is another thing that grieves the heart of God.

The remedy is the same as it is all through the bible: To repent.

  • Isaiah 1:16  Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; 
  • 17  Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. 
  • 18  Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 
  • 19  If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: 
    20  But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. 

There is another little verse in Isaiah that does not use the word repent or repentance but the word returning is used. We see though that the same thing is taught. Return to the Lord God of Israel. They will have quietness, they shall have rest and refreshing with the Lord's presence in their midst, they shall be saved, they shall have strength and confidence. Sadly the last three words hinder all the good things promised to them and to anyone who refuses God's good way. At the time of Isaiah's warning, "they would not". Let that not be us in these latter days.

  • Isaiah 30:15  For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.  

From Jeremiah chapter 25 at the time when Judah was going into captivity to Babylon, God tells them the reason.

  • Jeremiah 25:4  And the LORD hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear. 
  • 5  They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD hath given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever:
  • 6  And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt. 
  • 7  Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the LORD; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt. 
  • 8  Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words, 
  • 9  Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations. 
  • 10  Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle. 
  • 11  And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.  

In the days of Noah God sent him to warn the people of coming judgment. Only 8 people were saved because they didn't repent. They probably had thousands or millions by that time. Now just before Judah was taken captive by the evil nation of Babylon after sending prophets to warn, the time was up. They knew better. This same thing happened to Israel which was taken over by Assyria. God gave all these time to repent and they did not.

  • Jeremiah 26:2  Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD'S house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD'S house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word: 
  • 3  If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings. 
  • 4  And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you, 
  • 5  To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened;  

One of the saddest words through out the bible, is "you have not" "they repented not" "they did not listen" "they refused" "they did not believe" "ye would not" and other terms that mean, they heard the word of God but either ignored it, didn't believe it, or believed it but didn't receive it. God's word contains the only way of salvation and eternal life yet so many do not believe it to the point that they turn from their sin and turn to God.

  • Jeremiah 36:1  And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 
  • 2  Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day. 
  • 3  It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.  

We see here another occasion when God spoke a warning, gave the nation a chance to repent but as we read further in the book of Jeremiah, they did not repent nor heed the words Jeremiah brought them from God.

Repentance Part 6  God forgives a whole nation.

 

 


 
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