The Ballestero Blog

The God Of Seven Chances

Prov. 24:16 For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again:

Everything about God speaks of Mercy. That doesn’t mean he tolerates sin. It sure doesn’t mean He approves of our wrongdoings. Yet His Mercy is everlasting. It NEVER runs out.

Sin still requires judgment. That’s why we must judge ourselves guilty and repent now, so we won’t have to face our sins at The Great Judgment Day.

Nevertheless, even after we have been born again of the Water and the Spirit according to Acts 2:38, our walk with God may not be one that is perfect. Mistakes are sometimes made by the best of folks. Failures may be more common than some could imagine, even in good people.

In Biblical Typology, the number Seven represents perfection and completeness. It speaks of God’s complete provision in His dealings with men. The number Seven appears though out the Bible beginning in Genesis.

• There were the 7 days of creation
• Every 7th day was a Sabbath.
• Every 7th year was a Sabbatical year.
• After the 7th Sabbatical year was the year of Jubilee.
• Every 7th month was holy and had 3 feasts.
• The Passover feast lasted 7 days.
• The feast of Tabernacles lasted 7 days.
• The blood of the sin offering was sprinkled before and upon the Mercy Seat seven times on the Day of Atonement.

By the time wise old King Solomon got done observing men’s lives, he plainly declared that even the best of people have problems too.

Prov. 24:16 For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again:

If the just or righteous man would fall seven times, how many times would the unrighteous fall?

No one can even guess how many times the unrighteous man will sin and do wrong. That is not ours to worry about. I willingly leave that in God’s Hands.

If Seven is God’s number of completeness, then God is not limiting your mistakes to seven. He is not saying that a man only gets seven chances (literally) and then he will not be forgiven anymore! That’s not the truth nor is it what the Scripture was trying to convey.

Solomon is telling us that God’s mercy is complete. It’s perfect. And no matter how many times we mess up, there is still hope for us.

Lam. 3:22 It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

Lam. 3:23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

If Jesus asked all of us to forgive our brother 70 times 7 in one day, (that’s 490). The Lord will forgive us, even if we ask Him 490 times in one day. All He needs us to do is repent when we fall down and get back up when He forgives us.

That dirty devil will tell you that you have messed up too many times for God to forgive you. The devil will say there is no hope for you. He is still a liar. There is hope. God is in the forgiving business.

His Mercy is waiting for you. You haven’t used up all your chances.