The unwillingness of the Lord to chastise His erring people is here vividly shown. He stays His judgments; He pleads with them to return to their allegiance. He had brought them out of bondage that they might faithfully serve Him, the only true and living God; but they had wandered into idolatry, they had slighted the warnings given them by His prophets. Yet He defers His chastisement to give them one more opportunity to repent and avert the retribution for their sin. Through His chosen prophet he now sends them a clear and positive warning, and lays before them the only course by which they can escape the punishment which they deserve. This is a full repentance of their sin and a turning from the evil of their ways. {4T 165.3}

Herrens uvillighed mod at revse sit vildfarende folk vises her ganske godt. Han udsætter sine domme; han beder dem indtrængende om at vende tilbage til deres lydighed. Han har bragt dem ud af trældomsåget, så de trofast kan tjene ham, den eneste sande og levende Gud; men de havde vandret i afgudsdyrkelse, de havde ringeagtet advarslerne fra hans profeter. Alligevel udsætter han sin revselse for at give dem endnu en anledning til at angre og afværge straffen for deres synd. Gennem sin udvalgte profet, sender han dem nu en klar og tydelig advarsel og lægger den eneste vej, der er, foran dem, hvorved (166) de kan undgå deres fortjente straf. Dette er en fuldstændig anger af deres synd og vender bort fra deres onde veje.