point of blaspheming God, even though it is their own rejection of his righteous ways that forms the root and generative cause of all their troubles and plagues. (Rev. 9:20, 21; 16:9, 11) Such ones ‘store up wrath for themselves on the day of revealing God’s judgment.’—Rom. 2:5.

Beyond repentance

Those ‘practicing sin willfully’ after having received the accurate knowledge of the truth have gone beyond the point of repentance, for they have rejected the very purpose for which God’s Son died and so have joined the ranks of those who sentenced him to death, in effect, ‘impaling the Son of God afresh for themselves and exposing him to public shame.’ (Heb. 6:4-8; 10:26-29) This, then, is unforgivable “blasphemy against the spirit,” since it is only by God’s spirit that one can come to “the accurate knowledge of the truth.” (Matt. 12:31, 32; Mark 3:28, 29; John 16:13) It would have been better for such “not to have accurately known the path of righteousness than after knowing it accurately to turn away from the holy commandment delivered to them.”—2 Pet. 2:20-22.

Since Adam and Eve were perfect creatures, and since God’s command to them was explicit and understood by both, it is evident that their sinning was willful and not excusable on the basis of any human weakness or imperfection. Hence, God’s words to them afterward offer no invitation to repentance. (Gen. 3:16-24) So, too, with the spirit creature who had induced them into rebellion. His end and the end of other angelic creatures who joined him is everlasting destruction. (Gen. 3:14, 15; Matt. 25:41) Judas, though imperfect, had lived in intimate association with God’s own Son and yet turned traitor; Jesus himself referred to him as “the son of destruction.” (John 17:12) The apostate “man of lawlessness” is also called “the son of destruction.” (2 Thess. 2:3; see ANTICHRIST; APOSTASY; MAN OF LAWLESSNESS.) All those classed as figurative “goats” at the time of Jesus’ kingly judgment of mankind likewise “depart into everlasting cutting-off,” no invitation to repentance being extended to them.—Matt. 25:33, 41-46.

RESURRECTION TO OPPORTUNITY FOR REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION

By contrast, the people of Sodom, Gomorrah and those of Canaanite Tyre and Sidon are spoken of by Jesus as finding “Judgment Day” more endurable than the people of certain Jewish cities. (Matt. 10:14, 15; 11:20-24) Those of pagan Nineveh are similarly spoken of. (Matt. 12:41) This of itself implies that people from all such places, including the Jewish cities mentioned, will be resurrected and have opportunity to manifest humble repentance and “turn around” in conversion to God through Christ. Those failing to do so receive everlasting destruction. (Compare Revelation 20:11-15; see JUDGMENT DAY.) Those, however, following a course like many scribes and Pharisees, who willfully and knowingly fought the manifestation of God’s spirit through Christ, would receive no resurrection, thereby to “flee from the judgment of Gehenna.”—Matt. 23:13, 33; Mark 3:22-30.

Thief on the stake

The thief on the stake who showed a measure of faith in Jesus, impaled alongside, was given the promise of being in Paradise. (Luke 23:39-43; see PARADISE [Jesus’ Promise to the Wrongdoer].) While some have endeavored to read into this promise the idea that the thief was thereby guaranteed life everlasting, the evidence of the many scriptures already considered does not allow this. Though he admitted the wrongness of his criminal activity in contrast with Jesus’ innocence (vs. 41), there is nothing to show that the thief had come to ‘hate badness and love righteousness’; in his dying state he obviously was in no position to ‘turn around’ and produce the “works that befit repentance”; he had not been baptized. (Acts 3:19; 26:20) It therefore appears that he is given the opportunity to take this course upon his resurrection from the dead.—Compare Revelation 20:12, 13.

GOD’S ‘REGRETTING’ AND ‘TURNING BACK’

In the majority of cases where the Hebrew na·hhamʹ is used in the sense of ‘feeling regret’ the reference is to Jehovah God. Genesis 6:6, 7 states that “Jehovah felt regrets that he had made men in the earth, and he felt hurt at his heart,” their wickedness being so great that God determined he would wipe them off the surface of the ground by means of the global flood. This cannot mean that God felt regret in the sense of having made a mistake in his work of creation, for “perfect is his activity.” (Deut. 32:4, 5) Regret is the opposite of pleasurable satisfaction and rejoicing. Hence it must be that God regretted that, after having created mankind, he now found himself obliged (and justly so) to destroy them, with the exception of Noah and his family, due to their evil conduct. For God ‘takes no delight in the death of the wicked.’—Ezek. 33:11.

M’Clintock and Strong’s Cyclopædia (Vol. VIII, p. 1042) comments: “God himself is said to repent [na·hhamʹ, feel regret]; but this can only be understood of his altering his conduct towards his creatures, either in the bestowing of good or infliction of evil—which change in the divine conduct is founded on a change in his creatures; and thus, speaking after the manner of men, God is said to repent.” God’s righteous standards remain constant, stable, unchanging, free from fluctuation. (Mal. 3:6; Jas. 1:17) No circumstance can cause him to change his mind about these, to turn from them or abandon them. However, the attitude and reactions of his intelligent creatures toward those perfect standards and toward God’s application of them can be good or bad. If good, this is pleasing to God; if bad, it causes regret. Moreover, the creature’s attitude can change from good to bad or bad to good, and since God does not change his standards to accommodate them, his pleasure (and accompanying blessings) can accordingly change to regret (and accompanying discipline or punishment) or vice versa. His judgments and decisions, then, are totally free from caprice, fickleness, unreliability or error; hence he is free from all erratic or eccentric conduct.—Ezek. 18:21-30; 33:7-20.

A potter may begin to make one type of vessel and then change to another style if the vessel is “spoiled by the potter’s hand.” (Jer. 18:3, 4) By this example Jehovah illustrates, not that he is like a human potter in ‘spoiling by his hand,’ but, rather, his divine authority over mankind, his authority to adjust his dealings with them according to the way they respond or fail to respond to his righteousness and mercy. (Compare Isaiah 45:9; Romans 9:19-21.) He can thus “feel regret over the calamity that [he] had thought to execute” upon a nation, or “feel regret over the good that [he] said to [himself] to do for its good,” all depending upon the reaction of the nation to his prior dealings with it. (Jer. 18:5-10) Thus, it is not that the Great Potter, Jehovah, errs, but, rather, that the human “clay” undergoes a “metamorphosis” (change of form or composition) as to its heart condition, producing me·taʹme·los or me·ta·meʹlei·a (“change of feeling; regret”) on Jehovah’s part.

This is true of individuals as well as of nations, and the very fact that Jehovah God speaks of his ‘feeling regret’ over certain of his servants, such as King Saul, who turned away from righteousness, shows that he does not predestinate the future of such individuals. (See FOREKNOWLEDGE, FOREORDINATION.) God’s regret over Saul’s deviation could not mean that God’s choice of him as king had been erroneous and was to be regretted on that ground. God’s regret must rather have been due to the fact that Saul, as a free moral agent, had not made use of the splendid privilege and opportunity God had afforded him, and meant as well that Saul’s change called for a change in God’s dealings with him.—1 Sam. 15:10, 11, 26.

The prophet Samuel, in declaring God’s adverse decision regarding Saul, stated that “the Excellency of Israel will not prove false, and He will not feel regrets, for He is not an earthling man so as to feel regrets.” (1 Sam. 15:28, 29) Earthling men frequently prove untrue to their word, fail to make good their promises or live up to the terms of their agreements; being imperfect, they commit errors in judgment, causing them regret. This is never the case with God.—Ps. 132:11; Isa. 45:23, 24; 55:10, 11.

God’s covenant made between God and “all flesh” after the Flood, for example, unconditionally guaranteed that God would never again bring a flood of waters over all the earth. (Gen. 9:8-17) There is, then, no possibility of God’s changing with regard to that covenant or ‘regretting it.’ Similarly, in his covenant with Abraham, God “stepped in with an oath” as a “legal guarantee” so as to “demonstrate more abundantly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of his counsel,” his promise and his oath being “two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie.” (Heb. 6:13-18) God’s sworn covenant with his Son for a priesthood like that of Melchizedek was likewise something over which God would “feel no regret.”—Heb. 7:20, 21; Ps. 110:4; compare Romans 11:29.

However, in stating a promise or making a covenant God may set out requirements, conditions to be met by those with whom the promise or covenant is made. He promised Israel that they would become his “special property” and “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation,” if they would strictly obey his voice and keep his covenant. (Ex. 19:5, 6) God held true to his side of the covenant but Israel failed, violating that covenant time and again. (Mal. 3:6, 7; compare Nehemiah 9:16-19, 26-31.) So, when God finally annulled that covenant he did so with complete justice, the responsibility for the nonfulfillment of his promise resting entirely with the offending Israelites.—Matt. 21:43; Heb. 8:7-9.

In the same way God can ‘feel regret’ and ‘turn back’ from carrying out some punishment due to the fact that his warning of such action produces a change in attitude and conduct on the part of the offenders. (Deut. 13:17; Ps. 90:13) They have returned to him and he ‘returns’ to them. (Zech. 8:3; Mal. 3:7) Instead of being ‘pained,’ he now rejoices, for he finds no delight in bringing death to sinners. (Luke 15:10; Ezek. 18:32) While never shifting away from his righteous standards, God extends help so that persons can return to him; they are encouraged to do so. He kindly invites them to return, ‘spreading out his hands’ and saying by means of his representatives, “Turn back, please, . . . that I may not cause calamity to you,” “Do not do, please, this detestable sort of thing that I have hated.” (Isa. 65:1, 2; Jer. 25:5, 6; 44:4, 5) He gives ample time for change (Neh. 9:30; compare Revelation 2:20-23) and shows great patience and forbearance, since “he does not desire any to be destroyed but desires all to attain to repentance.” (2 Pet. 3:8, 9; Rom. 2:4, 5) He has kindly accompanied his message on occasion by powerful works, miracles, that establish the divine commission of his messengers and help strengthen faith in those hearing. (Acts 9:32-35) Where his message receives no response, he employs discipline; he withdraws his favor and protection, thereby allowing the unrepentant ones to undergo privations, famine, suffering of oppression from their enemies. This may bring them to their senses, may restore their proper fear of God, may cause them to realize that their course was stupid, their set of values wrong.—2 Chron. 33:10-13; Neh. 9:28, 29; Amos 4:6-11.

His patience, however, has its limits and when these are reached he gets “tired of feeling regret” and then his decision to render punishment is unchangeable. (Jer. 15:6, 7; 23:19, 20; Lev. 26:14-33) He is no longer merely ‘thinking’ or ‘forming’ against such ones a calamity (Jer. 18:11; 26:3-6) but has reached an irreversible decision.—2 Ki. 23:24-27; Isa. 43:13; Jer. 4:28; Zeph. 3:8; Rev. 11:17, 18.

God’s willingness to forgive repentant ones, his mercifully opening the way to such forgiveness even in the face of repeated offenses, sets the example for all his servants.—Matt. 18:21, 22; Mark 3:28; Luke 17:3, 4; 1 John 1:9; see FORGIVENESS.

REPHAEL

(Rephʹa·el) [God has healed].

A son of Obed-edom’s firstborn Shemaiah. He was assigned with his brothers as a gatekeeper caring for the storehouses on the S of the sanctuary.—1 Chron. 26:4, 7, 8, 15.

REPHAH

(Reʹphah) [possibly, rich].

An Ephraimite ancestor of Joshua.—1 Chron. 7:22-27.

REPHAIAH

(Re·phaʹiah) [Jehovah has healed].

1. Second-named son of Tola and head of a paternal house in the tribe of Issachar.—1 Chron. 7:1, 2.

2. A Benjamite descendant of King Saul and Jonathan. (1 Chron. 9:39-43) He is called Raphah at 1 Chronicles 8:37.

3. One of the four sons of Ishi who, likely during Hezekiah’s reign, led five hundred Simeonites against the Amalekites who had escaped into Mount Seir. The Simeonites then took over this territory.—1 Chron. 4:41-43.

4. A descendant of David and Zerubbabel.—1 Chron. 3:5, 9, 10, 19-21.

5. An official in Jerusalem who helped on Nehemiah’s project of repairing Jerusalem’s wall; son of Hur.—Neh. 3:9.

REPHAIM

(Rephʹa·im).

A tall people or tribe. There is uncertainty as to the meaning and origin of the name. Likely, they were called Rephaim because of being descendants of a man named Raphah. At 2 Samuel 21:16 ha-Ra·phahʹ (literally, “the Raphah”) seems to employ the father’s name to stand for the entire giant race.

At some early period the Rephaim evidently dwelt E of the Dead Sea. The Moabites, who dispossessed them, referred to the Rephaim as Emim (“frightful creatures”). The Ammonites called them Zamzummim (perhaps meaning “gibberish”). (Deut. 2:10, 11, 19, 20) When King Chedorlaomer of Elam came W to fight five rebellious kings near the Dead Sea (taking Lot captive), he defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim. (Gen. 14:1, 5) This locates the Rephaim at that time in Bashan E of the Jordan. Shortly thereafter God said that he would give Abraham’s descendants the Promised Land, which included territory where the Rephaim lived.—Gen. 15:18-20.

More than four hundred years later, just before Israel entered Canaan, “the land of the Rephaim” was still identified with Bashan. There the Israelites defeated Og the king of Bashan (Deut. 3:3, 11, 13; Josh. 12:4; 13:12), who alone “remained of what was left of the Rephaim.” It is uncertain whether this means that he was the last king of the Rephaim or that he was the last of the Rephaim in that section, for Rephaim were shortly found W of the Jordan.

In the Promised Land the Israelites had problems with the Rephaim, for some of them persisted in the forests in the mountainous region of Ephraim. The sons of Joseph were afraid to drive them away. (Josh. 17:14-18) When David was fighting the Philistines, he and his servants struck down four men “born to the Rephaim in Gath.” One of them was described as “a man of extraordinary size, whose fingers and toes were in sixes, twenty-four.” The description of their armor indicates that they were all men of great stature. One of these was “Lahmi, the brother of Goliath the Gittite.” (1 Chron. 20:4-8) This Goliath, whom David killed, was in height six cubits and a span (c. 9 feet, 6 inches; 2.9 meters). (1 Sam. 17:4-7) The account at 2 Samuel 21:16-22 reads “Goliath,” instead of “the brother of Goliath,” as at