Articles

What Happens When People Won’t Repent

by Francis Frangipane
by Francis Frangipane

Why Did the Children of Israel Wander Away from God? They had unrepentant hearts….

Moses sent twelve spies to Canaan to bring back a report of the land. When they returned, ten said that, though the land was good, Israel would surely be defeated by the inhabitants. Although Joshua and Caleb argued that Israel certainly could drive out their enemies, the people moaned, complained, and rebelled, even seeking to stone Joshua and Caleb and return with new leaders to Egypt. And again, the anger of the Lord was kindled against them and threatened to bring judgment (see Num 12-14).

Faithfully, once more Moses intercedes.

“I pray, let the power of the Lord be great, just as Thou hast declared. The Lord is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.” -Num 14:17-18
Just as Abraham had prayed centuries before him, Moses focuses upon two things: the integrity of the Lord and His great mercy. God is slow to anger, He is abundant in lovingkindness, He forgives people. When the Scripture says He will “by no means clear the guilty,” it speaks of those who sin yet do not repent. Yet even here the Lord is able to be entreated.

Remember, the Israelites have rebelled, they are not even aware that their sin has them at the threshold of God’s wrath. The Lord looks at a nation of unrepentant, sinful people on one side and one man, Moses, praying on the other. Even though Moses acknowledges that the Lord will not “clear the guilty,” Moses still prays that God would forgive Israel,

“Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Thy lovingkindness, just as Thou also hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.” -Num 14:19
Listen in awe at the Lord’s response to Moses’ mercy prayer. He says, “I have pardoned them according to your word” (Num 14:20).

Incredible!
Three million Israelites had not repented, nor rent their hearts, nor confessed their sins to God and one another. Not one of them who sinned possessed a broken, contrite spirit. Yet, the Lord says, “I have pardoned them.” This is utterly amazing to me. The Lord granted Israel forgiveness “according to [Moses’] word.”
Staggering!

One man with favor from God brought mercy upon three million people who had not repented.
Then, in case we think this is some kind of easy grace, the Lord reaffirms His purpose with all nations, beginning with Israel. He says, “But indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord” (Num 14:21).

The integrity of the Lord is non-negotiable. He says, in effect, Though I forgive, I am not going to change My plans. All the earth will be filled with My glory.

When we ask God for mercy, we are not asking Him to compromise His intentions. We are only asking that He forgive the sins of people until He can fulfill His purpose. In truth, we are in complete agreement with His desire. We earnestly want His glory to overshadow America, to fall upon Canada, to roll through Europe and Asia, Israel and the Middle East-all over the world, in fact. We shout a resounding “Yes!” to the purpose of God. Fill America with Your glory, Lord. Fill Canada. Fill Europe. Fill Israel and Africa, Asia and Australia with Your majestic glory. But we also pray, until Your purposes are perfected, reveal Your mercy and forgive the sins of Your people.

We need a vision of God’s ultimate destiny for our nation: America “will be filled with the glory of the Lord.” He will hear our prayer for mercy as we reach, with Him, toward His ultimate goal. Do you doubt this? The mercy prayer worked for Moses. God brought Israel from Egypt to Canaan through the prayer of His servant.
You say, “But that was Moses, I am a nobody.” Jesus said, “He who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater” than the greatest prophets in the Old Testament (see Matt 11:11). How can that be? We have the power of Christ’s blood covenant to aid our quest for mercy!
Yet, God indeed used Moses to bring an imperfect people from promise to fulfillment. Whether we are praying for our nation, our cities, our churches, or our family, the Lord will “pardon them according to your word.”

Adapted from Francis Frangipane’s book, The Power of One Christlike Life, available at www.arrowbookstore.com.

Francis Frangipane was born in 1946 and grew up in Lodi, New Jersey. After graduating from high school in 1964, Frangipane entered the U.S. Air Force, where he was discharged honorably as a sergeant on February 2, 1969. He relocated briefly to Berkeley, California and then Honolulu, Hawaii before returning to the mainland U.S. These were the days when the hippie movement was emerging, and Frangipane, like countless other young people, was searching for meaning. He traveled extensively throughout the United States and Canada. Eventually his travels brought him to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia where he became a Christian on November 26, 1970. Five months later he met his wife-to-be, Denise Piscitelli, and led her to the Lord. In October of 1971 they were married. In 1972 Francis and Denise received ministerial training at Grace Chapel in Southern California; by early fall they had moved to Hilo, Hawaii to start a church. Their little work grew to about twenty-five people, most of whom they had personally led to Christ. They also had their first child during this time. After fourteen months, however, they felt their time in Hawaii was complete. A church in the Detroit, Michigan area offered them a pastoral position. For the remainder of the seventies, they led a small church of approximately 100 people; they also planted eight churches and home groups in southeastern Michigan and Ontario, Canada. They relocated to Iowa in 1980 where, with the addition of four more children and a Vietnamese foster child, their family grew to eight. These were hard times. Francis was self-employed and the family was very poor. It was during this time that Francis began to develop his writing skills. It was also a three year season of being shut in with God; the only spiritual food that nourished him came from the words of Christ in the Gospels. In 1982 the opportunity to pastor a church in the Cedar Rapids area was offered to the Frangipanes. After a season of prayer, they accepted this new assignment. Pastor Francis soon found himself united with several other pastors from various evangelical denominations who met in one another's sanctuaries for monthly prayer. After three years, the founding minister of this prayer group left the city, and in 1985 Francis and another local pastor (from the local Assemblies of God) picked up the prayer initiative. They opened it up for intercessors as well and increased their times together from monthly to weekly. The group soon multiplied, which led to many other interdenominational citywide events. During this time, Pastor Frangipane began to write in earnest. His first book, Holiness, Truth and the Presence of God, was a compilation of his essays and sermons. It was published in 1985. He wrote his second book, The Three Battlegrounds, in 1989 when asked to speak on spiritual warfare at a conference in Kansas City. Both these books became best sellers. Since 1985, he has written fourteen books including four In Christ's Image Training manuals, which were developed for his online school, plus a number of study booklets. Francis is the founder of River of Life Ministries in Cedar Rapids IA and has traveled throughout the world ministering to thousands of pastors and intercessors from many backgrounds. Francis' heartfelt prayer is to see established in every city, Christlike pastors and intercessors, united before God, revealing the love of Christ to their communities. Over the past decades, Francis has served on a number of other ministry boards. However, in recent years he has gradually resigned from these various boards. As of June 2009, he has also retired from his position as senior pastor of River of Life Ministries. In this more simplified life, Frangipane is devoting himself to prayer and the ministry of God's word.

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