Turning the page…
Turning the page…
Glory · God the Father
Yes, if the turning is real and it is done now. Scripture holds out both a warning and an open door: there is a hardness so settled that it no longer wants to come, and there is a God who says, 'Seek Yahweh while he may be found.' The worst king in Judah's history came back, and the men who crucified the Son of God were told to repent, and three thousand did. If you want to come back, that wanting is itself grace at work.
https://glorystudy.com/questions/can-a-hardened-heart-come-back · Scripture quoted from the World English Bible
Exodus 9:27-35
As you read: Pharaoh admits he has sinned and asks for prayer, and then does the same thing again.
27Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “I have sinned this time. Yahweh is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.
28Pray to Yahweh; for there has been enough of mighty thunderings and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.”
29Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands to Yahweh. The thunders shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; that you may know that the earth is Yahweh’s.
30But as for you and your servants, I know that you don’t yet fear Yahweh God.”
31The flax and the barley were struck, for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was in bloom.
32But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they had not grown up.
33Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands to Yahweh; and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth.
34When Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants.
35The heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he didn’t let the children of Israel go, just as Yahweh had spoken through Moses.
2 Chronicles 33:1-20
As you read: Manasseh outdid every king before him in evil, and when he humbled himself God was entreated by him.
1Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem.
2He did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, after the abominations of the nations whom Yahweh cast out before the children of Israel.
3For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; and he reared up altars for the Baals, and made Asheroth, and worshiped all the army of the sky, and served them.
4He built altars in Yahweh’s house, of which Yahweh said, “My name shall be in Jerusalem forever.”
5He built altars for all the army of the sky in the two courts of Yahweh’s house.
6He also made his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom; and he practiced sorcery, and used enchantments, and practiced sorcery, and dealt with those who had familiar spirits, and with wizards: he worked much evil in the sight of Yahweh, to provoke him to anger.
7He set the engraved image of the idol, which he had made, in God’s house, of which God said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name forever:
8neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from off the land which I have appointed for your fathers, if only they will observe to do all that I have commanded them, even all the law and the statutes and the ordinances given by Moses.”
9Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that they did more evil than the nations whom Yahweh destroyed before the children of Israel did.
10Yahweh spoke to Manasseh, and to his people; but they gave no heed.
11Therefore Yahweh brought on them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh in chains, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.
12When he was in distress, he begged Yahweh his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.
13He prayed to him; and he was entreated by him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that Yahweh was God.
14Now after this he built an outer wall to the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entrance at the fish gate; and he encircled Ophel with it, and raised it up to a very great height: and he put valiant captains in all the fortified cities of Judah.
15He took away the foreign gods, and the idol out of Yahweh’s house, and all the altars that he had built in the mountain of Yahweh’s house, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city.
16He built up the altar of Yahweh, and offered sacrifices of peace offerings and of thanksgiving on it, and commanded Judah to serve Yahweh, the God of Israel.
17Nevertheless the people sacrificed still in the high places, but only to Yahweh their God.
18Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel, behold, they are written among the acts of the kings of Israel.
19His prayer also, and how God was entreated of him, and all his sin and his trespass, and the places in which he built high places, and set up the Asherah poles and the engraved images, before he humbled himself: behold, they are written in the history of Hozai.
20So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house: and Amon his son reigned in his place.
Isaiah 55:1-9
As you read: God's own invitation to the wicked and the unrighteous, with an abundance of pardon attached.
1“Come, everyone who thirsts, to the waters! Come, he who has no money, buy, and eat! Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
2Why do you spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which doesn’t satisfy? listen diligently to me, and eat you that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
3Turn your ear, and come to me; hear, and your soul shall live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
4Behold, I have given him for a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander to the peoples.
5Behold, you shall call a nation that you don’t know; and a nation that didn’t know you shall run to you, because of Yahweh your God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he has glorified you.”
6Seek Yahweh while he may be found; call you on him while he is near:
7let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to Yahweh, and he will have mercy on him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
8“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” says Yahweh.
9“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Psalms 51:1-17
As you read: David prays after adultery and murder, and asks not for ritual but for a clean heart.
1Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness. According to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.
2Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin.
3For I know my transgressions. My sin is constantly before me.
4Against you, and you only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in your sight; that you may be proved right when you speak, and justified when you judge.
5Behold, I was born in iniquity. In sin my mother conceived me.
6Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts. You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
7Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8Let me hear joy and gladness, That the bones which you have broken may rejoice.
9Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all of my iniquities.
10Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.
11Don’t throw me from your presence, and don’t take your holy Spirit from me.
12Restore to me the joy of your salvation. Uphold me with a willing spirit.
13Then I will teach transgressors your ways. Sinners shall be converted to you.
14Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation. My tongue shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
15Lord, open my lips. My mouth shall declare your praise.
16For you don’t delight in sacrifice, or else I would give it. You have no pleasure in burnt offering.
17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Hebrews 6:1-12
As you read: The sober warning about falling away, and the confidence the writer still has for his readers.
1Therefore leaving the teaching of the first principles of Christ, let us press on to perfection—not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, of faith toward God,
2of the teaching of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
3This will we do, if God permits.
4For concerning those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit,
5and tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come,
6and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify the Son of God for themselves again, and put him to open shame.
7For the land which has drunk the rain that comes often on it, and produces a crop suitable for them for whose sake it is also tilled, receives blessing from God;
8but if it bears thorns and thistles, it is rejected and near being cursed, whose end is to be burned.
9But, beloved, we are persuaded of better things for you, and things that accompany salvation, even though we speak like this.
10For God is not unrighteous, so as to forget your work and the labor of love which you showed toward his name, in that you served the saints, and still do serve them.
11We desire that each one of you may show the same diligence to the fullness of hope even to the end,
12that you won’t be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherited the promises.
God does not offer pardon in the past tense. 'Seek Yahweh while he may be found; call you on him while he is near,' and the next verse says what happens to the one who does: 'let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to Yahweh, and he will have mercy on him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.' Hebrews presses the same urgency twice in one chapter: 'Today if you will hear his voice, don't harden your hearts, as in the rebellion.' A warning like that is not a locked door with a sign on it; it is a hand held out. And Paul says it as plainly as it can be said: 'Behold, now is the acceptable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.'
“Seek Yahweh while he may be found; call you on him while he is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to Yahweh, and he will have mercy on him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”Isaiah 55:6-7
“Therefore, even as the Holy Spirit says, “Today if you will hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, like as in the day of the trial in the wilderness,”Hebrews 3:7-8
“while it is said, “Today if you will hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts, as in the rebellion.””Hebrews 3:15
“for he says, “At an acceptable time I listened to you, in a day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is the acceptable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.”2 Corinthians 6:2
The promise is not hedged with qualifications about how bad you have been. 'You shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart.' Moses had said the same to a people about to be scattered for their idolatry: 'from there you shall seek Yahweh your God, and you shall find him, when you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.' Solomon's prayer over a failed nation has the same shape: 'if my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin.' Even the parable of the son who wasted everything ends with the father running: 'But while he was still far off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.' And Jesus says of every comer, 'He who comes to me I will in no way throw out.' The last page of the Bible is still saying, 'He who is thirsty, let him come. He who desires, let him take the water of life freely.'
“You shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart.”Jeremiah 29:13
“But from there you shall seek Yahweh your God, and you shall find him, when you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.”Deuteronomy 4:29
“if my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”2 Chronicles 7:14
““He arose, and came to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.”Luke 15:20
“All those whom the Father gives me will come to me. He who comes to me I will in no way throw out.”John 6:37
“The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” He who hears, let him say, “Come!” He who is thirsty, let him come. He who desires, let him take the water of life freely.”Revelation 22:17
If there were a category of sin too dark to return from, Manasseh would have been in it. He rebuilt the high places, worshiped the host of heaven inside the temple, and 'shed innocent blood very much, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another.' God spoke to him, and he gave no heed. Then, in chains in Babylon, 'when he was in distress, he begged Yahweh his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He prayed to him; and he was entreated by him, and heard his supplication.' The same is true of the men who killed Jesus. Peter told them to their faces, 'this Jesus whom you crucified,' and they 'were cut to the heart.' Peter did not tell them the door was shut; he said, 'Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.' 'There were added that day about three thousand souls.' And Paul, who had hunted Christians, called himself the chief of sinners and said God showed him mercy 'for this cause... that in me first, Jesus Christ might display all his patience, for an example of those who were going to believe in him for eternal life.'
“Yahweh spoke to Manasseh, and to his people; but they gave no heed. Therefore Yahweh brought on them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh in chains, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. When he was in distress, he begged Yahweh his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He prayed to him; and he was entreated by him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that Yahweh was God.”2 Chronicles 33:10-13
“Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; besides his sin with which he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh.”2 Kings 21:16
““Let all the house of Israel therefore know certainly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far off, even as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.” With many other words he testified, and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!” Then those who gladly received his word were baptized. There were added that day about three thousand souls.”Acts 2:36-41
“The saying is faithful and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. However, for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first, Jesus Christ might display all his patience, for an example of those who were going to believe in him for eternal life.”1 Timothy 1:15-16
Pharaoh is the warning here, and he confessed twice. Under the hail he said, 'I have sinned this time. Yahweh is righteous, and I and my people are wicked,' and asked Moses to pray for him. Then the hail stopped, and 'he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart.' Under the locusts he said it again, 'I have sinned against Yahweh your God, and against you,' and hardened again. His words were true and his repentance was not, because nothing changed. Paul draws the line: 'godly sorrow works repentance to salvation, which brings no regret. But the sorrow of the world works death.' So the test is not whether you feel bad or say the right words. Joel says, 'Tear your heart, and not your garments, and turn to Yahweh, your God,' and Proverbs says, 'He who conceals his sins doesn't prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.' David knew what God was looking for: 'The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.'
“Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “I have sinned this time. Yahweh is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. Pray to Yahweh; for there has been enough of mighty thunderings and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.””Exodus 9:27-28
“When Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants.”Exodus 9:34
“Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste, and he said, “I have sinned against Yahweh your God, and against you. Now therefore please forgive my sin again, and pray to Yahweh your God, that he may also take away from me this death.””Exodus 10:16-17
“For godly sorrow works repentance to salvation, which brings no regret. But the sorrow of the world works death.”2 Corinthians 7:10
““Yet even now,” says Yahweh, “turn to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.” Tear your heart, and not your garments, and turn to Yahweh, your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and relents from sending calamity.”Joel 2:12-13
“He who conceals his sins doesn’t prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”Proverbs 28:13
“For you don’t delight in sacrifice, or else I would give it. You have no pleasure in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”Psalm 51:16-17
There is a hardness that goes past returning, and Scripture names it so that we will not stumble into it. Hebrews speaks of people who were 'once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift,' and then fell away, and says 'it is impossible to renew them again to repentance.' It warns about sinning 'willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth,' and about the man who 'has insulted the Spirit of grace.' It sets Esau before us as an example: afterward he wanted the blessing, 'for he found no place for a change of mind though he sought it diligently with tears.' Jesus calls the same thing blasphemy against the Spirit, the sin that 'will not be forgiven him, neither in this age, nor in that which is to come.' Notice what all of these describe: not a person who trembles and wants to come back, but a person who has settled, who crucifies Christ again, and who calls the Spirit's work demonic. The warning is written to people who can still read it. Fearing that you have done it is not the same as having done it; the sin itself is ceasing to want forgiveness at all.
“For concerning those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come, and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify the Son of God for themselves again, and put him to open shame.”Hebrews 6:4-6
“For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which will devour the adversaries. A man who disregards Moses’ law dies without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will he be judged worthy of, who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant with which he was sanctified an unholy thing, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?”Hebrews 10:26-29
“lest there be any sexually immoral person, or profane person, like Esau, who sold his birthright for one meal. For you know that even when he afterward desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for a change of mind though he sought it diligently with tears.”Hebrews 12:16-17
“Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, neither in this age, nor in that which is to come.”Matthew 12:31-32
“but whoever may blaspheme against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation.””Mark 3:29
Do not wait for a feeling before you come. God's word to us is 'Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out,' and to the contrite He is near: 'Yahweh is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves those who have a crushed spirit.' Pray David's prayer after him: 'Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.' Confess specifically and stop excusing: 'If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.' Humble yourself instead of hardening: 'Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you,' and 'Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you.' And take Him fully at His word, because He is the one saying it: 'Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.' He is still standing at the door: 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock,' and 'As many as I love, I reprove and chasten. Be zealous therefore, and repent.'
““Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, so that there may come times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord,”Acts 3:19
“Yahweh is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves those who have a crushed spirit.”Psalm 34:18
“Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me. Don’t throw me from your presence, and don’t take your holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation. Uphold me with a willing spirit.”Psalm 51:10-12
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”1 John 1:9
“But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Be subject therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you.”James 4:6-10
““Come now, and let us reason together,” says Yahweh: “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”Isaiah 1:18
“As many as I love, I reprove and chasten. Be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me.”Revelation 3:19-20