Laughing At the Mercy of God

This morning in my Bible reading I was struck by a particular line I found in 2 Chronicles 30:10.  Before I get to that line let me set up the context a bit. Hezekiah is king in Judah and is calling on not only Judah to repent and turn back the Lord, but all of Israel.  So Hezekiah sends out letters inviting all of Israel (Ephraim and Manasseh included) to come to Jerusalem for Passover.  In verse 7-8 he exhorts them to avoid being faithless and stiff-necked like their fathers and grandfathers so that they may avoid the judgment and wrath of God.  Then in verse 9 he writes,

For if you return to the LORD, your brothers and your children will find compassion with their captors and return to this land.  For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away His face from you, if you return to Him.

So in verse 10 we read of the couriers traveling from city to city delivering this message of repentance and mercy, and here is where the text becomes troubling.  In verse 10 it says that they traveled to Ephraim and Manasseh, and even as far as Zebulun, but when they delivered the message the people "laughed them to scorn and mocked them."  Did you get that?

 ...they laughed them to scorn and mocked them.

Hearing about the grace and mercy of God they laughed and mocked. It is important to point out according to verse 11 that some of the people did humble themselves, but the greater populous laughed at the mercy of God.  How wicked! How rebellious! How evil it is to laugh at God's merciful call to repentance!

BUT (you probably knew that was coming) aren't we all guilty of taking lightly God's merciful's calls to repentance in our lives?  Sure we may not openly mock during the response time on a Sunday and we may not scornfully laugh after personal or family time in Scripture - but doesn't our indifference really communicate the same thing? Doesn't our lack of repentance make us just like them? Doesn't our lack of "doing" the word reveal that we don't really take God or His words seriously? 

Just something to consider.