When even God gives up

Jeremiah 14:11-16:15
1 Thessalonians 2:9-3:13
Psalm 80:1-19
Proverbs 25:1-5


Jeremiah 14:11-12 is, to say the least, a little bit shocking, "Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for these people anymore. 12 When they fast, I will pay no attention. When they present their burnt offerings and grain offerings to me, I will not accept them. Instead, I will devour them with war, famine, and disease.”  God basically says to Jeremiah, "I'm not going to listen to these people's prayers anymore and don't you bother praying for them either!"  How bad does it have to get for even God to give up on a nation or group of people?  


Given the amount of pretty seriously pleading that happens in the rest of Jeremiah as God more or less begs his people to return to him then it must take quite a lot.  God describes himself in Exodus as visiting the sins of the fathers to the second and third generation of those who hate him but being faithful to thousands of generations of those who love him.  In other words his anger is easily turned away by even the smallest genuine act of repentance and faithful love.


What happened in Jeremiah's day however was the culmination of generation after generation of people turning away from God until finally God says, "OK, if you don;t want me then I'm not going to bother any more."  That would be bearable if it were a person or if God were simply one God amongst many but when he is the one who guides all history and the very source of life and happiness then it's probably not a good idea to tell him to go away too many times.


God is patient, he works with us time and time again as we fail him either accidentally or deliberately.  He does not have a three strikes and you're out policy.  But there is such a thing as taking this for granted.  This is awkward territory for Christian understandings of God because we would always affirm that no-one is beyond God's grace until the moment that they die but there do seem to be moments in the Bible when individuals and groups of people push that grace too far.  It is very rare and if we are even slightly remorseful for our sin then it isn't likely to happen to us but there are some times when even God gives up.