These three are obvious alternatives, but there is another possibility
which is normally overlooked. Herein, the Lord recognizes
that He has failed to save them from taking the wrong turn,
and that therefore, the work calculated to save them from that is
now valueless. Because they have not yet tasted the bitter experience
of the consequences of their apostasy, they are not disposed
to come back. But they have not gone beyond the possibility of restoration.
So God, in His infinite love, will not abandon them and
thus cut off their opportunity to rectify their misdemeanors.
If no saving help is provided to draw them back from going into
the worst effects of their choice, then they would not survive
long enough to ever return to God. Therefore, the Lord works to
save them from those evil results both to make their sufferings
as mild as possible, and to extend the time in which they may
learn and repent. It is because this aspect of God's working has
not been understood that He has been so seriously misjudged in
the Old Testament.
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