The Heartbreak Over Saul

“I regret that I made Saul king.”

That’s God speaking in 1 Samuel 15:11. The Creator of heaven and earth using a word like “regret“—a feeling we usually link to weakness, doubt, or error. Yet here it’s not regret born of failure. It’s heartbreak. The deep sorrow of a father watching a son turn away.

Saul had every chance. Chosen from among the tribes, anointed with oil, filled with the Spirit, given clear commands. But power got louder than obedience. Pride replaced dependence. When God said, “Destroy Amalek completely,” Saul spared what looked valuable, then built a monument to himself. He still wanted God’s approval—just not God’s authority.

And that’s when the prophet Samuel hears it: “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments” (1 Samuel 15:11).

But just a few verses later in the same chapter, Samuel declares something that seems to contradict it: “The Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man that he should have regret” (1 Samuel 15:29).

So which is it? Does God change His mind or not?

The Hebrew Word That Changes Everything

The answer hides in that same Hebrew word: nacham. It can mean to relent, to be moved with compassion, or to grieve. When it’s used of people, it means changing course because new information appears. When it’s used of God, it means His heart responds to what He already knew would happen.

His knowledge doesn’t shift, but His posture toward us can.

He’s not surprised by Saul’s rebellion. He’s sorrowful. It’s the language of a God who loves deeply enough to feel disappointment, yet still holds the wisdom that never wavers. His regret isn’t confusion—it’s compassion. The unchanging God, moved by the pain of a broken relationship.

Contrast this with Shincheonji’s blueprint: When Saul failed, did God simply abandon him and move on to David, declaring Saul’s era “destroyed” and establishing a completely new system? No. God grieved. God’s heart broke. And even after removing Saul from kingship, God didn’t declare him demonic or unredeemable. The relationship was broken, but God’s sorrow reveals something profound: He cares about the person, not just the position.

Moses and the Golden Calf

The people of Israel have just been delivered from Egypt through miracles that shook nations. God has spoken to them directly from Mount Sinai. Moses is on the mountain receiving the Law. And what do the people do? They melt down their gold and craft a calf, declaring, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt” (Exodus 32:4).

God’s response is immediate and fierce: “Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you” (Exodus 32:10).

Here’s the moment. God could follow Shincheonji’s blueprint: Betrayal (golden calf) → Destruction (consume them) → Salvation (start over with Moses). Clean slate. New people. Better understanding.

But Moses intercedes: “Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people” (Exodus 32:12).

And here’s what happens: “And the LORD relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people” (Exodus 32:14).

What This Reveals

God relented. Not because He learned new information. Not because Moses convinced Him of something He hadn’t considered. But because intercession matters to God. Prayer changes things—not by changing God’s nature, but by aligning us with His heart for mercy.

The Hebrew word here is nacham again—the same word used for God’s “regret” over Saul. God’s response to human intercession shows He’s not a cosmic computer running predetermined programs. He’s a Father whose heart can be moved by genuine appeal.

The Shincheonji contrast: According to their teaching, when betrayal occurs, destruction must follow. The old must be completely uprooted. There’s no intercession that changes the outcome. The pattern is fixed: betrayal → destruction → replacement. But Moses’ intercession reveals something Shincheonji’s blueprint cannot accommodate: God’s heart can be moved by those who plead for others.

Nineveh: The City That Shouldn’t Have Survived

Jonah receives a clear message from God: “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me” (Jonah 1:2). Later, God gives Jonah the specific message: “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” (Jonah 3:4).

This isn’t a conditional warning. It’s a declaration. Forty days. Overthrown. Done.

But something unexpected happens. The people of Nineveh believe God. From the greatest to the least, they fast and put on sackcloth. Even the king removes his royal robes, sits in ashes, and issues a decree: “Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish” (Jonah 3:8-9).

And here’s what Scripture says: “When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it” (Jonah 3:10).

Jonah’s Anger Reveals the Heart Issue

Jonah is furious. Not because God’s prophecy failed, but because God’s mercy succeeded. Listen to Jonah’s complaint: “O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster” (Jonah 4:2).

Jonah knew God’s character all along. He knew God would relent if Nineveh repented. And that’s exactly what Jonah didn’t want. He wanted destruction. He wanted the blueprint to run its course: Betrayal → Destruction → Done.

But God asks Jonah a piercing question: “Should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left?” (Jonah 4:11).

The Shincheonji contrast: According to their teaching, Christianity is the “home of demons” that must be destroyed and replaced. There’s no room for repentance that changes God’s plan. The era of Christianity has ended; Shincheonji is the replacement. But Nineveh reveals something radical: When people genuinely turn from evil, God changes His declared plan. Not because He was wrong, but because His ultimate desire is restoration, not destruction.

The Death Sentence

King Hezekiah falls deathly ill. The prophet Isaiah comes to him with a message that couldn’t be clearer: “Thus says the LORD: Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover” (2 Kings 20:1).

Not “you might die.” Not “unless you repent.” The message is definitive: You shall die. Set your house in order.

Hezekiah turns his face to the wall and prays: “Now, O LORD, please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight” (2 Kings 20:3). And Hezekiah weeps bitterly.

Before Isaiah even leaves the palace, God speaks to him again: “Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the leader of my people, Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you… I will add fifteen years to your life” (2 Kings 20:5-6).

What Changed?

Did God not know Hezekiah would pray? Did new information cause God to recalculate? No. What changed was Hezekiah’s heart posture. His prayer revealed genuine faith and dependence. And God, who already knew this would happen, responded to that faith.

The death sentence was real. The healing was equally real. Both reveal God’s character: He speaks truth about consequences, yet He responds to genuine faith with mercy that extends beyond what seems fixed.

The Shincheonji contrast: Their system has no room for this kind of divine responsiveness. Each era has fixed standards. What saves in one era doesn’t save in another. The pattern must run its course. But Hezekiah’s story reveals God’s heart is moved by genuine faith and tears, even when the declared outcome seems absolute.

The Sorrow That Preceded Destruction

Before we see God’s judgment, we see God’s grief: “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart” (Genesis 6:5-6).

There’s that word again: nacham—regret, grief. God’s heart was grieved. Not because He made a mistake, but because the creatures He loved had become so corrupted that “every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5).

Even in judgment, we see God’s mercy: “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD” (Genesis 6:8). God didn’t destroy everything and start completely fresh with a different species. He preserved Noah and his family—the same humanity, given another chance.

After the Flood: The Promise

After the flood, God makes a covenant: “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done” (Genesis 8:21).

Notice what God says: Man’s heart is still evil from youth. The flood didn’t fix human nature. Yet God promises never to destroy the earth this way again. Why? Because God’s plan isn’t to keep destroying and replacing until He gets perfect people. His plan is to work with broken people through patient, persistent love.

The Shincheonji contrast: Their blueprint says when betrayal occurs, complete destruction follows, then replacement with new people. But God’s covenant after the flood reveals something different: Even knowing humanity would continue to fail, God commits to working with the same broken humanity rather than repeatedly destroying and replacing.

The Marriage Metaphor

Throughout the prophets, God describes His relationship with Israel using marriage imagery. Not employer-employee. Not teacher-student. Marriage. The most intimate covenant relationship possible.

And Israel? Israel is described as an unfaithful wife. A prostitute. An adulteress.

Listen to God’s heartbreak through Hosea: “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. The more they were called, the more they went away; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols” (Hosea 11:1-2).

God continues: “How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? … My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my burning anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim” (Hosea 11:8-9).

The God Who Won’t Let Go

Read those words again slowly: “How can I give you up? … My heart recoils within me.”

This is not a god following a blueprint of betrayal → destruction → replacement. This is a God whose heart is torn because He loves people who keep breaking His heart, and He refuses to give up on them.

Through Jeremiah, God says: “Return, faithless Israel, declares the LORD. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the LORD; I will not be angry forever” (Jeremiah 3:12).

Through Ezekiel, God describes Israel’s unfaithfulness in graphic detail (Ezekiel 16), then says: “Yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant” (Ezekiel 16:60).

The Shincheonji contrast: According to their teaching, Christianity has become the “home of demons” and must be completely destroyed and replaced with Shincheonji. But Israel’s story reveals something radically different: Even when God’s people become utterly unfaithful, God’s response is not abandonment and replacement, but discipline followed by restoration of the same people.

The Seventy Years

When Judah’s unfaithfulness reaches its peak, God allows Babylon to conquer Jerusalem and take the people into exile. The temple is destroyed. The city lies in ruins. The people are carried away to a foreign land.

This looks like the destruction phase of Shincheonji’s blueprint. The old system is destroyed. Time for replacement, right?

But listen to what God says through Jeremiah: “For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:10-11).

Plans for Restoration, Not Replacement

God doesn’t say, “I’m done with you. I’m starting over with a new people who understand better.” He says, “I’m bringing YOU back. The same people. To the same place. Because I have plans for YOUR future and YOUR hope.“

The exile wasn’t abandonment. It was discipline with a return date already scheduled. God knew exactly how long it would last and exactly when He would bring them home.

Through Isaiah, God says: “But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you‘” (Isaiah 43:1-2).

Even in exile, God says: “You are mine.” Not “you were mine until you failed.” Not “I’ve moved on to better people.” You are mine.

The Shincheonji contrast: Their teaching says when the Tabernacle Temple was destroyed, God completely abandoned Christianity and established Shincheonji as the replacement. But the exile reveals God’s actual pattern: Discipline with a predetermined restoration plan for the same people, not abandonment and replacement with different people.

The Sin That Should Have Ended Everything

David commits adultery with Bathsheba. When she becomes pregnant, David tries to cover it up. When that fails, he arranges for her husband Uriah to be killed in battle. Murder. Adultery. Deception. Abuse of power.

According to the Law, David deserves death. According to Shincheonji’s blueprint, this should be the betrayal that leads to destruction and replacement.

But when Nathan the prophet confronts David, and David repents, God says through Nathan: “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die” (2 Samuel 12:13).

Consequences Without Abandonment

God doesn’t ignore the sin. There are severe consequences: “The sword shall never depart from your house” (2 Samuel 12:10). The child born from adultery dies. David’s family experiences violence and betrayal.

But God doesn’t abandon David. He doesn’t remove him from kingship. He doesn’t declare David’s era over and start fresh with someone new.

Later, God says through Solomon: “I have chosen Jerusalem that my name may be there, and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel” (2 Chronicles 6:6).

Even after David’s catastrophic failure, God still calls him “chosen.” Still works through his lineage. Still refers to him as “a man after my own heart” (Acts 13:22).

The Shincheonji contrast: When the seven messengers of the Tabernacle Temple allegedly betrayed God’s covenant, according to Shincheonji, they were completely destroyed and replaced. No restoration. No second chance. The era ended; Shincheonji began. But David’s story reveals God’s response to even spectacular failure is discipline and consequences, not abandonment and replacement.

The Prediction and the Failure

Jesus tells Peter: “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times” (Matthew 26:34).

Peter’s response is adamant: “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” (Matthew 26:35).

But when Jesus is arrested and Peter is questioned, he denies Jesus three times—the third time with curses and oaths: “I do not know the man” (Matthew 26:74).

Then the rooster crows. And Peter remembers Jesus’ words. “And he went out and wept bitterly” (Matthew 26:75).

The Restoration

After the resurrection, Jesus finds Peter by the Sea of Galilee. Three times Jesus asks: “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” (John 21:15-17). Three times Peter affirms his love. Three times Jesus responds: “Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep.“

Jesus doesn’t say, “You denied me, so I’m moving on to disciples who won’t fail.” He doesn’t declare Peter’s era over and establish a new apostle. Instead, He restores Peter to leadership through the same number of affirmations as denials.

And at Pentecost, who preaches the sermon that brings 3,000 people to faith? Peter. The denier becomes the rock. Not replaced. Restored.

The Shincheonji contrast: According to their teaching, when leaders betray God’s covenant, they are destroyed and replaced. But Peter’s story reveals God’s pattern is restoration of those who genuinely repent, not replacement with people who haven’t failed yet.

The Son Who Demanded His Inheritance

Jesus tells a story that reveals the Father’s heart more clearly than perhaps any other passage.

A son demands his inheritance early—essentially saying, “Father, I wish you were dead.” The father gives it to him. The son travels to a distant country and wastes everything on reckless living. He ends up feeding pigs, so desperate he wants to eat their food.

Finally, he comes to his senses: “I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants'” (Luke 15:18-19).

The Father Who Runs

Here’s the moment that shatters Shincheonji’s blueprint:

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him” (Luke 15:20).

The father was watching. Every day. Scanning the horizon. And when he sees that familiar silhouette in the distance, he doesn’t wait with crossed arms. He runs.

In that culture, dignified men didn’t run. Running required lifting your robes, exposing your legs—considered shameful. But the father doesn’t care about dignity. He cares about his son.

Before the son can even finish his rehearsed speech, the father calls to his servants: “Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found” (Luke 15:22-24).

The Elder Brother’s Complaint

The older brother is furious. He complains: “Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command… But when this son of yours came… you killed the fattened calf for him!” (Luke 15:29-30).

The older brother sounds like Jonah. Like someone who believes in the blueprint: betrayal should lead to destruction and replacement, not restoration and celebration.

But the father responds: “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found” (Luke 15:31-32).

This is the heart of God. Not a god who follows a blueprint of abandonment and replacement. But a Father who runs toward broken children, who celebrates restoration, who refuses to let failure have the final word.

One Way, Not Changing Requirements

Shincheonji teaches that “salvation in each era has a different standard.” What saved people in Moses’ time won’t save them now. Only understanding Revelation through Lee Man-hee brings salvation today.

But Scripture reveals something radically different: God’s standard has always been faith expressing itself through genuine heart transformation.

• In Abraham’s era: “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” (Romans 4:3, quoting Genesis 15:6).
• In David’s era: “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit” (Psalm 32:1-2).
• In Jesus’ era: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
• In the apostles’ era: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).

The Unchanging Foundation

The method of salvation—Jesus’ sacrifice—was revealed progressively. But the heart requirement has always been the same: faith in God that produces genuine transformation.

Hebrews makes this explicit: “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).

Then Hebrews 11 lists heroes of faith from different eras—Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Rahab, David—all saved by the same principle: faith.

The Shincheonji contrast: Their teaching requires mastering their specific interpretation of Revelation to be saved. But Scripture reveals God’s standard has always been faith that transforms the heart, not mastery of a particular interpretive system.

The Sovereignty Question

Shincheonji’s blueprint implies God must work in secret, hide His plans, and quickly destroy and replace when things go wrong—as if Satan could actually ruin God’s purposes if God doesn’t act fast enough.

But Scripture reveals a God of absolute sovereignty who isn’t threatened by opposition:

• “The LORD has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all” (Psalm 103:19).
• “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases” (Psalm 115:3).

Even Satan Serves God’s Purposes

Consider the cross. The greatest evil ever committed—the murder of God’s Son—becomes the means of humanity’s salvation. “This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men” (Acts 2:23).

God doesn’t panic when things seem to go wrong. He doesn’t need to quickly destroy and replace when betrayal occurs. He’s sovereign enough to work even evil into His good purposes.

The Shincheonji contrast: Their blueprint suggests God’s plan at the Tabernacle Temple was ruined by betrayal, requiring complete destruction and a fresh start with Shincheonji. But Scripture reveals God’s plans cannot be thwarted, and He’s sovereign enough to work even through betrayal and opposition.

God in Flesh

If you want to know what God is really like, look at Jesus. “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

How did Jesus respond to failure and betrayal?

• To the woman caught in adultery: Jesus responds: “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more” (John 8:10-11).
• To Zacchaeus: A corrupt tax collector. Jesus invites Himself to Zacchaeus’s house. Zacchaeus is transformed. Jesus declares: “Today salvation has come to this house” (Luke 19:9).
• To the thief on the cross: A criminal. Jesus responds: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:42-43).

The Pattern Jesus Reveals

Jesus doesn’t follow a blueprint of betrayal → destruction → replacement. He follows a pattern of:

1. Encounter: Meeting people where they are
2. Truth: Speaking honestly about sin and its consequences
3. Invitation: Offering a path to transformation
4. Restoration: Welcoming those who respond with genuine faith

This is the heart of God made visible.

The Promise of Transformation

Through Jeremiah, God promises a new covenant: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah… I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jeremiah 31:31-33).

Notice: God doesn’t say, “I’ll give them a new organization to join” or “I’ll give them a new interpretive system to master.” He says, “I will write my law on their hearts.“

The Internal Transformation

Through Ezekiel, God promises: “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules” (Ezekiel 36:26-27).

This is God’s solution to human failure: not external organizational structures that must be destroyed and replaced when people fail, but internal heart transformation through His Spirit.

The Shincheonji contrast: Their teaching focuses on joining the correct organization (Shincheonji) and mastering the correct interpretation (Lee Man-hee’s). But the New Covenant promises heart transformation through God’s Spirit, not organizational affiliation or interpretive mastery.

Conclusion: Two Gods, One Choice

We return to where we began: two fathers at two doors.

Shincheonji presents a god who operates by blueprint. When people fail to meet his standards, he abandons them, destroys the old system, and replaces it with new people. His love is conditional—dependent on correct understanding, perfect obedience, and organizational affiliation.

But the God of Scripture tells a radically different story.

He’s the God who grieves over Saul’s failure because He loved him. He’s the God who restores Peter after denial, making him the rock who preaches at Pentecost. He’s the God who runs toward prodigal sons with robes and rings and celebration.

This is the God of the Bible. Not a god of abandonment, but a God of relentless pursuit. Not a god of replacement, but a God of restoration. Not a god whose love depends on our performance, but a God whose love refuses to let go.

What Does Your God Look Like?

The god you believe in shapes everything about how you live.

• If you believe in a god who abandons people when they fail, you’ll live in constant fear of making mistakes.
• If you believe in a god whose salvation standards shift with each era, you’ll live in anxiety about whether you’re following the right leader.
• If you believe in a god who sees everyone outside your organization as demonic, you’ll lose compassion.

But if you believe in the God revealed in Scripture—the God who runs toward prodigals, who restores deniers, who writes His law on hearts, who refuses to give up on unfaithful people—everything changes.

You can be honest about your failures, because you serve a God who responds to genuine repentance with restoration, not abandonment. You can rest in grace, because you serve a God whose love isn’t earned by perfect understanding or flawless performance.

The Test of Scripture

Jesus gave us a simple test for evaluating spiritual claims: “You will recognize them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16).

What fruit does the biblical portrait of God produce?

• Confidence in God’s unchanging love
• Freedom to be honest about struggles and doubts
• Compassion for all people, recognizing God’s image in everyone
• Dependence on Christ’s finished work, not human understanding
• Love that extends even to enemies, because that’s how God loved us

“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

Come to Me

Jesus extends an invitation that reveals the Father’s heart: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

This is not an invitation to master complex interpretations. It’s an invitation to come to Jesus and find rest.

The Door That Stays Open

Jesus says: “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:9).

Notice: Jesus is the door. Not an organization. Not a human leader. Not a particular interpretation of Revelation. Jesus Himself.

The Promise That Cannot Fail

Jesus makes a promise that shatters Shincheonji’s blueprint of abandonment and replacement: “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (John 6:37).

Read that again: “I will never cast out.“

Paul echoes this certainty: “For I am sure that neither death nor life… nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

The Shincheonji contrast: Their teaching creates constant insecurity. But Jesus promises those who come to Him will never be cast out, and nothing can separate us from God’s love.

The Author and Perfecter

Hebrews calls Jesus “the founder and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). The Greek word for “perfecter” (teleiōtēs) means “one who completes” or “one who brings to the goal.”

Jesus doesn’t just start the work of salvation and then abandon it if we don’t perform well enough. He completes it.

Paul writes: “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).

God finishes what He starts. Not because we’re perfect, but because He’s faithful.

The Good Shepherd

Jesus tells a parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine… and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing” (Luke 15:4-5).

The shepherd doesn’t say, “I’ll just replace the lost one.” He goes after the lost sheep until he finds it. And when he finds it, he doesn’t scold it for wandering. He carries it home rejoicing.

This is the heart of God. Not abandonment when we wander, but relentless pursuit until we’re found.

The Steadfast Love That Never Ceases

In the midst of Jerusalem’s destruction—the very judgment Shincheonji points to as God abandoning His people—the prophet Jeremiah writes something stunning:

“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-24).

Even in judgment, even in exile, even when everything seems destroyed—God’s steadfast love never ceases. His mercies are new every morning. Not every era. Not every organizational cycle. Every morning.

The God Who Doesn’t Grow Weary

Isaiah writes: “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength” (Isaiah 40:28-29).

God doesn’t grow weary of us. He doesn’t run out of patience and decide to move on to people who are easier to work with. Instead, He gives power to the faint.

What We Worship Reveals What We Believe

If you believe in a God of abandonment and replacement, your worship becomes performance. You’re constantly trying to prove you’re good enough, smart enough, loyal enough to avoid being replaced.

If you believe in the God of Scripture, your worship becomes response. You’re responding to a love that pursued you, a grace that saved you, a mercy that’s new every morning, a faithfulness that will complete what it started.

Paul writes: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice… which is your spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1).

Notice: worship flows from “the mercies of God.” Not from fear of abandonment. Not from anxiety about performance. From mercy received.

Which God Do You See in Scripture?

God defines Himself in Exodus 34:6-7: “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…“

Notice the emphasis: steadfast love for thousands of generations, while consequences extend to three or four.

This is not a god of abandonment and replacement. This is a God of steadfast love that endures for thousands of generations.

Conclusion: The Invitation to See Clearly

When you remove Shincheonji’s distorted lens of betrayal → destruction → replacement and look at Scripture clearly, a completely different God emerges.

He’s the God who:

• Grieved over Saul because love feels heartbreak.
• Relented when Moses interceded because prayer matters.
• Spared Nineveh because restoration is always His preference.
• Ran toward the prodigal son because His love refuses to wait with dignity.
• Restored Peter because redemption is His specialty.
• Promises never to cast out those who come to Him because His love doesn’t have an expiration date.

The evidence is overwhelming. From Noah to Peter to the prodigal son—the pattern is consistent: God’s heart breaks over failure, but His response is discipline and restoration, not abandonment and replacement.

This is the God of Scripture. This is the God who runs toward prodigals. This is the God whose love refuses to let go. This is the God worth knowing.