26:4-6
A verse I have mentioned again and again is “judgement begins with the house of God”, and here is another example. Notice also “if you do not listen”. If the people had repented at this point the coming judgement would have been averted. Sometimes the concept of death-bed conversions is raised. If someone repents just before the end of their life will they be saved? The answer is yes. We have the examples like this in Jeremiah, then we have the supreme example of the thief who put his trust in Christ while on the cross. Some say this is unfair, think you can live a sinful life for many years, repent at the last moment and off to heaven you go! There are two answers to this, both important. One is that all of us are saved by grace, none of us deserve to be saved. So the thief on the cross did not deserve to be saved, the person who became a Christian at a young age did not deserve to be saved. The second is that it is a very risky approach to take. Acts of sin are symptomatic of a corrupt soul. Judah had had numerous warnings but had not responded. If you think “I’ll live a life of rebellion against God and then repent” you almost certainly won’t.
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