A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech, winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger, with perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord; therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in a moment he will be broken beyond healing. (Prov 6:12-15)
God is good, patient, merciful, compassionate and longsuffering. But God is also just. God can reach the end of His patience with human beings. In the language of Proverbs 29:1, “He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken beyond healing.” There comes a time when God says to those who stubbornly refuse to listen: “That’s enough!”
In 1 Kings 21, God reached that point with King Ahab and Queen Jezebel in the wake of their brutal murder of Naboth for his vineyard. Through his prophet Elijah the Tishbite, God said to those who continued to stiffen their necks, “That’s enough!” Often reproved, perpetually stubborn, this wicked pair would finally be broken beyond healing.
Such stories have been recorded and preserved “for our instruction” (Rom 15:4). We would do well to pay attention and learn the lessons of those who insisted on learning the hard way.
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