Answer: Jesus was sent by God to bring blessing to all
people (as promised to Abraham) "by turning each of you from
your wicked ways," (verses 25 and 26).
MORE INFORMATION AND/OR OTHER SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:
2 Chronicles 7:14: [God said,] "If
My people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and
pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I
hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their
land."
Psalm 34:11-16: "Come, my children,
listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Whoever
of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your
tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. Turn from
evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the
Lord are on the righteous and His ears are attentive to their cry;
the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the
memory of them from the earth." (See also 1 Peter
3:8-22.)
Psalm 37:27-28: "Turn from evil and
do good; then you will dwell in the land forever. For the
Lord loves the just and will not forsake His faithful
ones."
Psalm 80:14-19: "Return to us, O
God Almighty! Look down from heaven and see! Watch over
this vine, the root Your right hand has planted, the son You have
raised up for Yourself. Your vine is cut down, it is burned
with fire; at Your rebuke Your people perish. Let Your hand
rest on the man at Your right hand, the son of man You have raised
up for Yourself. Then we will not turn away from You; revive
us, and we will call on Your Name. Restore us, O Lord God
Almighty; make Your face shine upon us, that we may be
saved."
Jeremiah 17:13-14: "O Lord, the
hope of Israel, all who forsake You will be put to shame.
Those who turn away from You will be written in the dust because
they have forsaken the Lord, the spring of living water. Heal
me, O Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for
You are the One I praise."
Jeremiah 18:11-12: [God said,] "Now
therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem,
'This is what the Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster
for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil
ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your
actions.' But they will reply, 'It's no use. We
will continue with our own plans; each of us will follow the
stubbornness of his evil heart.'"
Jeremiah 25:4-7: "And though the
Lord has sent all His servants the prophets to you again and again,
you have not listened or paid any attention. They said,
'Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways and your evil
practices, and you can stay in the land the Lord gave to you and
your fathers for ever and ever. Do not follow other gods to
serve and worship them; do not provoke Me to anger with what your
hands have made. Then I will not harm you.' 'But
you did not listen to Me,' declares the Lord, 'and you
have provoked Me with what your hands have made, and you have
brought harm to yourselves.'"
Jeremiah 36:4-7: "So Jeremiah
called Baruch son of Neriah, and while Jeremiah dictated all the
Words the Lord had spoken to him, Baruch wrote them on the
scroll. Then Jeremiah told Baruch, 'I am restricted; I
cannot go to the Lord's temple. So you go to the house of the
Lord on a day of fasting and read to the people from the scroll the
Words of the Lord that you wrote as I dictated. Read them to all
the people of Judah who come in from their towns. Perhaps
they will bring their petition before the Lord, and each will turn
from his wicked ways, for the anger and wrath pronounced against
this people by the Lord are great.'"
Ezekiel 3:16-19: "At the end of
seven days the Word of the Lord came to me: 'Son of
man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear
the Word I speak and give them warning from Me. When I say to
a wicked man, "You will surely die," and you do not
warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order
to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will
hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the
wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his
evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved
yourself.'"
Ezekiel 18:23, 30-32: [God said,]
"Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares
the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn
from their ways and live?...Therefore, O house of Israel, I will
judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign
Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not
be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have
committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die,
O house of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of
anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and
live!"
Ezekiel 33:11: [God said,] "Say to
them, 'As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I
take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they
turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why
will you die, O house of Israel?'"
Acts 26:15-18: "Then I [Saul of
Tarsus] asked, 'Who are You, Lord?' 'I am
Jesus, Whom you are persecuting,' the Lord replied.
'Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to
appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of
Me and what I will show you. I will rescue you from your own
people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open
their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power
of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a
place among those who are sanctified by faith in
Me.'"
2 Timothy 2:19: "Nevertheless,
God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription:
'The Lord knows those who are His,' and,
'Everyone who confesses the Name of the Lord must turn away
from wickedness.'"
