What the Law Can’t Do

Would Adam have escaped the curse if he had repented when the Lord confronted him in the garden?

To answer with a question: Did Josiah’s repentance save Israel?

The threat of the covenant is, “dying you shall die,” and that happens whenever the covenant is broken. As Gowan points out in his wonderful book on prophets, the warning of the prophets is not that Israel will be saved if they only conform their conduct to Torah. They are required to conform their conduct to Torah, as Josiah did even when he knew the situation was hopeless. But once they break covenant, Israel is dead, and the only hope is a God who raises the dead. Torah can guide the living; Torah can kill; but Torah cannot raise the dead.

1-2 Kings is a “former prophet” in a precise sense because it dramatizes precisely the prophetic message to Israel.