2 Chronicles 36:16
But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy. But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy.
God sent warning after warning to Judah because He pitied His people and the temple He had made holy in Jerusalem, after its leaders and people had copied the vile practices of surrounding nations and defiled His house. He pleaded with them again and again through prophets and spiritually discerning men who pressed His rightful claim upon those entrusted with His work. Instead of listening, they ridiculed His messengers, hated His words, treated them as enemies, and even hunted and killed some of them at the urging of those in authority. Their stubborn refusal brought the Lord's anger to the point where rescue was no longer possible, and judgment fell in captivity to a foreign power and the ruin of the temple. That same defiant spirit reappeared when later generations condemned their fathers for murdering the prophets while cherishing the same hatred in their own hearts, warning every age that clinging to sin and despising correction forfeits God's blessing and leaves no escape.
Mercy Met With Contempt
The verse describes Judah under its chief priests and people, who transgressed greatly after the abominations of the heathen and polluted the house of the Lord which He had hallowed in Jerusalem. Because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place, God sent to them repeatedly by His messengers, rising up early and sending. He bore with them with a father's heart, pleading with them by mercies given and mercies withdrawn, patiently setting their sins before them and in forbearance waiting for their acknowledgment.
The messengers were prophets and men of discernment and spiritual power, sent to urge God's rightful claim upon the husbandmen entrusted with His vineyard. They mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and misused His prophets, treating them as enemies instead of welcoming them. Some of these holy men were persecuted and killed, slain through the instigation of the leaders in Israel because they denounced the sins of those in authority. The sending was repeated, with still other messengers sent after the first, and they received the same rejection, only with still more determined hatred.
Even amid repeated rejection God still manifested Himself as merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, continuing with more than a father's pitying love. When remonstrance, entreaty and rebuke had failed, He poured out all heaven in one gift by sending the Son of God Himself in person to plead with the impenitent.
Judgment and Present Warning
Refusing to be reproved for iniquity, slighting God's warnings and correction, and folding sins still closer to the heart brought punishment in captivity to a heathen nation. That captivity fulfilled the threatened calamity, for the people went into exile and the temple was destroyed. After that destruction faithful servants hid the sacred ark with its tables of stone, and it was not restored to Israel.
Israel's later fate showed the fulfillment of the law, whose warning of swift calamity for rejecting God's messengers and despising His words was plain. The wrath of the Lord arose against His people till there was no remedy, meaning persistent rebellion brought the Lord's wrath until judgment could no longer be averted. In that same final state repentance was no longer possible.
The same spirit of rejecting God's messengers lived on in Christ's day, when the Jews lamented their humiliation under the Romans and condemned their fathers for stoning the prophets sent to correct them. Yet their priests, elders and leaders cherished in their hearts the very spirit that had slain holy men through the instigation of those in authority whose sins were denounced, and they were ready to repeat those crimes and reject God's warnings again. God does not forsake people until they forsake Him, but unfaithfulness and corruption brought His wrath upon Jerusalem.
God would have brought His people immediately to the promised land had they submitted and loved to be led by Him and trusted in Him alone. But after He had punished them less than their iniquities deserved and given them deliverance, they broke His commandments and joined in affinity with evildoers for their evil deeds and great trespass, so His anger would consume them so that there should be no remnant nor escaping. Jerusalem's example therefore warns against receiving help from or uniting with those who do not serve Him, and against rejecting God's warnings in any age. Neglecting purity and truth and cherishing sin can bring divine denunciation and leave a people without God's blessing, and a prolonged departure from just and righteous principles can make people unable to discern light, truth, justice, and mercy.