“And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place:”
My Notes
What Does 2 Chronicles 36:15 Mean?
The chronicler summarizes God's persistent, compassionate efforts to reach his people: and the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place.
The LORD God of their fathers — the God who made the original covenant. The fathers — Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David. The God who is acting now is the same God who has been faithful across the generations. The covenant connection motivates the sending.
Sent to them by his messengers — messengers (malak — the same word for angel and prophet). God sent human envoys — prophets who carried divine messages. The sending was deliberate, authorized, purposeful. Each prophet was a personal dispatch from God to his people.
Rising up betimes (hashkem) — the word means to rise early, to act urgently and repeatedly. The image is of someone who gets up early to attend to something important — who cannot wait, who rises before dawn because the task is urgent. God rose early to send prophets — the urgency was his, not the prophets'. The repetition (rising and sending, rising and sending) indicates that God sent prophet after prophet, generation after generation, without giving up.
Because he had compassion (chamal — to spare, to have pity, to be moved with tenderness) — the motivation is compassion. Not obligation. Not routine. Compassion — the deep, tender, moved-to-act feeling of a parent for a suffering child. God sent the prophets because he pitied his people. The sending was driven by love.
On his people, and on his dwelling place — God's compassion is for both the people and the temple. The dwelling place (maon — habitation, abode) is the temple where God caused his name to dwell. God cares about his people and about the place where he meets them.
Verse 16 delivers the devastating conclusion: 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. The compassion-driven sending was met with mocking, despising, and abuse — until the patience exhausted itself and judgment came without remedy.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What does 'rising up betimes' (rising early, repeatedly) reveal about the urgency and persistence of God's compassion?
- 2.Why does the chronicler emphasize that the motivation for sending prophets was compassion — not anger?
- 3.How does verse 16 ('they mocked... till there was no remedy') describe the exhaustion of divine patience?
- 4.Where might you be mocking or ignoring the messengers God is sending to you — and what does 'no remedy' warn about?
Devotional
The LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending. Rising up early. Again and again. God sent prophets the way a parent sends messages to a wayward child — urgently, repeatedly, without giving up. Rising up betimes — the image is of someone who cannot sleep because the urgency is too great. God was up early, sending another messenger, trying one more time to reach his people.
Because he had compassion on his people. Compassion. That is why he sent them. Not anger. Not impatience. Not the desire to condemn. Compassion — the tender, moved-to-act love of a parent who sees a child heading toward destruction and cannot stop trying to reach them. Every prophet God sent was an act of compassion. Every warning was an expression of love.
And on his dwelling place. God cared about the temple too — the place where he met his people, where his name dwelt, where the sacrifices were offered. The dwelling place mattered to God because it was where the relationship was expressed. The compassion covers both the people and the place of meeting.
But they mocked the messengers of God (v.16). The compassion was met with mockery. The prophets were despised. The words were rejected. The messengers were abused. God rose up early to send — and the people rose up to mock what he sent. The patience was extraordinary. The rejection was persistent. And eventually — till there was no remedy — the patience reached its limit and the judgment came.
The tragedy of this verse is not the judgment. It is the compassion that preceded it. God tried. Over and over. Rising up early. Sending messengers. Driven by compassion. And the people mocked him until there was nothing left to do but judge. The saddest words in the verse are not 'the wrath arose.' They are 'no remedy.' The compassion exhausted itself — not because God ran out of love but because the people ran out of receptivity.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words,.... Which was the treatment Jeremiah and Ezekiel…
We have here an account of the destruction of the kingdom of Judah and the city of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans. Abraham,…
rising up betimes, and sending R.V. rising up early and sending; cp. Jer 26:5.
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture