The Narrowing of God’s Mercy

What Hays and Hays miss

No, this will not be a very Christmasy post. It is still Advent for one more day, and so I will administer some medicine accordingly.

Nor is this is yet another book review of that Hays and Hays book, The Widening of God’s Mercy. If you would like that book picked apart, Robert Gagnon does that very well. If you would like a nicer but still well done review, there is Michael Legaspi’s review over at First Things.

I want instead to assert that Hays and Hays have it backwards — Scripture teaches an eventual narrowing of God’s mercy through time. To be fair, Hays and Hays are not the only ones who miss that. Many faithful Christians do so as well, and especially my post-millennial brethren, some of whom I highly respect but will now proceed to annoy.

There is no question that God’s mercy is broad indeed. Otherwise I would be in big trouble. There are any number of beautiful depictions of that in Scripture, particularly in the Apocalypse of St. John.

After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.” (Rev. 7:9, 10)

God’s mercy is so broad, it can be annoying, at least to odious people like me. We would rather Jesus be just a little quicker about coming back and executing justice. But he delays — seems to delay is more accurate — because, as Peter teaches, he gives that much more opportunity “for all to come to repentence.” (2 Peter 3:9)

But in the very next verse, Peter teaches that the end will come suddenly. “The day of the Lord will come like a thief” and destroy this wicked world. In other words, God’s mercy will narrow quite suddenly. And the door of mercy, heretofore open to people from any number of backgrounds who have repented of just about every sin under the sun, that door will slam shut forever.

We should not presume, as so many have through history, to know when that day will come. But there is a pattern in God’s dealings that indicate what the world will be like when that day comes. It is a simple pattern and almost obvious. But first you have to see it, and I honestly did not until recently. The pattern is most clear in those two archetypical judgements in Genesis, the Flood and Sodom and Gomorrah.

What prompted God to flood the earth according to Genesis?

GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (6:5)

Only Noah and his family “found grace in the eyes of the LORD” as the King James puts it. (6:8) So God made a covenant with Noah and his family and with us his descendants as well. God remained merciful, but his mercy narrowed suddenly although not without warning as Noah did not build the Ark in a day.

The episode of Sodom is even more clear, thanks to Abraham venturing to negotiate with God to spare the city as he feared for his nephew Lot. Abraham was rather persistent in his negotiation. The Lord was patient and even granted his every request. Abraham at first got God to promise to spare the city if it had fifty righteous men. But he pleaded and pestered and got the Lord to promise to relent if there were only ten righteous men in the city. (18:22-32)

You know the rest of the story. There were not even ten righteous men in Sodom. And the sin of the city was awful indeed and of the sort that Hays and Hays and too many others go through contortions to explain away. So God did destroy Sodom, and that suddenly. (And in case any reader is so foolish as to mock, there is evidence that a large meteorite did just that.) But God saved “righteous Lot” (2 Peter 2:7) and some of his family.

By now, you probably see the pattern. God is patient, but when mankind or a people become so overwhelmingly and profoundly evil that hardly any righteous people are left, he judges and brings them to an end while delivering the faithful few. God remains merciful, but his door of mercy narrows suddenly; he delivers the few remaining faithful; then he slams the door shut.

One should always be careful and humble in the area of unfulfilled prophesy. But I will venture my opinion: that pattern will repeat at the Second Advent of Christ. Christ does delay (by our finite standards of time) in order to give ample opportunity to repent and come to faith. But when mankind becomes so overwhelmingly evil that hardly anyone is repenting, then Christ will return to judge the quick and the dead.

I think this is indicated by that odd question of Jesus that few seem to notice and fewer want to answer:

When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8)

I do think the church will remain on the earth until Christ returns. But it will become very small and sorely persecuted. He will deliver them. And he will avenge them and bring about perfect justice as indicated by his preceding parable and interpretation:

And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily.

So God’s mercy will narrow suddenly at Christ’s Second Advent. He will deliver the faithful elect that remain and judge the rest.

Like I said, not very Christmasy. But the door of God’s mercy is wide today, thanks to the incarnation of our Lord Jesus, thanks to that Holy Child laying in a manger who went on to defeat sin and death for us through his cross and resurrection. As the beloved carol says, “Good Christian men” can indeed “rejoice with heart and soul and voice.” For “He hath ope'd the heav'nly door” by the birth of Jesus that first Christmas.

But since it is still Advent for a day, I will be curmudgeonly and warn that “the heavenly door” of mercy will not remain open forever. The day will come of the sudden narrowing of God’s mercy. So if you have not done so yet, may this Christmas be the occasion of you repenting and believing in that humble Child born to save, to reign, and to judge.

May you indeed have a happy Christmas.