“outside the city” is more merciful than annihilation. God does not shoot us if we refuse to be with him; he simply hands us over to our refusal. As we shall see even more clearly in future chapters, this is punishment enough. If we want independence over communion, if we prefer autonomy to worship, if we desire sin over salvation, then God’s most merciful option is simply to let us go our own way, to hand us over to the decision we have made. For God to annihilate the unrepentant sinner like a spurned