What would make a loving father to give up on his biological son?

Zedekiah was the reigning king when Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians. He had tried to overrun the invading army of Babylon but his attempt was not approved by God. When the people sought divine help, Jeremiah made it clear to Zedekiah the king, “Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands wherewith ye fight the king of Babylon.” In other words, God’s answer was an emphatic ‘no’. Consequently, the two sons of Zedekiah were slaughtered before his eyes by the Babylonians. His own eyes were blinded and in painful humiliation, he was led away in chains to Babylon where he died later in exile.

The underlying spiritual cause of the fall of Judah and Jerusalem was not so much due to the superior military might of Babylon as to the effect of God’s decree against the people because of Manasseh’s sin and Judah’s apostasy. God never excuses unconfessed sin. He Judges and punishes it. There are those with the misguided mind-set that God winks at sin and that grace covers all acts of impropriety. How catastrophically wrong such warped souls are. You can’t ride rough shod over His Son’s painful death on the cross and expect a soft-glove treatment.

Those who repeatedly reject God’s clear reproof and warning, who despise His chastening and correction, run the inevitable risk of excluding themselves from His grace. There is no more plea for mercy when once God’s grace is abused and rejected. God’s love must not be taken for granted. This dispensation of grace does not give license for carelessness and recalcitrant behaviour.