A Developing Paper
| Some popular schools of Christian theology suppose that there is a coming single day of judgment for everyone. One finds this view reflected in literature and art through Christendom. However, a careful reading of the Bible indicates that there are at eight or more separate, major judgments of various groups of people recorded in Scripture. |
Summary of God's Judgments
1. God is holy and just. He must judge all evil everywhere. "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Genesis 18:25)
2. The Lord prefers mercy to judgment: He is compassionate and longsuffering, He is, "Not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)
3. Because judgment is often delayed in time (God is longsuffering), many people assume God will never judge us.
4. Judgment is God's "strange work"--however when God does move in judgment He is thorough and even ruthless.
5. More than one single judgment: Some popular schools of theology suppose that there is a coming single day of judgment for everyone. One finds this view reflected in religious literature and art. However, the Bible indicates that there are eight or more separate judgments of various groups of people recorded in Scripture.
6. Judgments at the Cross
A. When Jesus died on the cross the sins of all of mankind were judged. Jesus, the innocent Lamb of God, was the substitute who endured the full wrath and punishment of God for all of the sins of everyone who has ever lived. (Rom. 3:21-26, 1 John 2:2) The judgment of all human sin by God through the propitiatory sacrifice of his Son on the cross has made it possible for all men everywhere to be freely forgiven and thus reconciled to God. For instance, Paul pleads with men to accept God good favor towards them now (2 Cor. 5:14-21). "He who knew no sin was made to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (This does not mean that all men are saved, because God can not violate human freedom to refuse his grace).
B. The judgment of the Adamic nature of believers was carried by Christ on the cross. (Rom. 6:1-10) See "How God Saves Us", on this passage in Romans. This aspect of the work of Christ on the cross with us (not merely for us) is widely overlooked by Christians today!
C. Satan, the chief of the fallen angels, was judged at the cross. This is a vast subject contained within the short statement "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself." (Col. 1:19-20, John 12:31) "For it pleased the Father that in Christ all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross." (Col. 1:19-20)
7. Jesus is Himself the Appointed Judge of all mankind: See John 5:20-30. Jesus raises the dead and He is the final judge of each and every person individually. The Father has ordained that all men shall bow at the feet of Jesus--whether they are his own, or his enemies. "As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God." So then each of us shall give account of himself to God." (Romans 14:11-12 quoting Isaiah 45:23) "...God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11)
8. God judges every man on the basis of what they know about Him, and by their works (including motives). This basis for judgment applies to all mankind. All are without excuse. But men are never saved by their works, [self-effort] but by grace alone, through faith. "...do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who "will render to each one according to his deeds": eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey righteousness--indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God. For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified; for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel." (Rom. 2:4-16)
9. The Judgment Seat of Christ. This one judgment applies to Christians only. This judgment is not a judgment for the Christian's sin but of his "works." (John 3:18, 5:24, Rom. 8:1-4, 1 Cor. 3:9-15, 4:5; 2 Cor. 5:9-10, Rom. 14:7-12). It is a "job performance evaluation."
10. The Judgment of Israel: This event comes after the rapture of the church but before the judgment of the nations. (Matt. 24:1-25:46). This is a vast subject! (For starters see Daniel 12:1-3, Ezek. 20:33-44, Matt. 24:29-31, Zech. 12: 10-14, Joel 3, Malachi 3:1-6, Ezek. 36-37, Isa. 63-66, Hosea 5:13-6:3, Rom. 11:25-36, Rev. 14:14-20, Matt. 25:31-46). Jesus is the Avenger of Blood and Kinsman Redeemer, especially for Israel. Jesus has a special and unique relationship with His own people Israel, and they are a special nation as God's model nation. They are to be judged more strictly than the gentile nations for these two reasons.
11. The Judgment of Angels. Christians, working together with their Lord Jesus will judge both angels and the world. (1 Cor. 6:2,3). No details are given.
12. The Final Judgment of the Nations: The gentile nations will be judged immediately following the judgment of the nation Israel, just after the Lord Jesus has returned to the Mount of Olives at the Second Advent. The basis for this judgment is how the nations have treated the Jews! (Joel 3:1-8, Matt. 25:31-46)
13. The Great White Throne Judgment (sometimes called the "Last Judgment"). (Rev. 20:11-15) All the unbelievers of all time, will be judged by the deeds and banished forever from the presence of God. There are degrees of punishment for the wicked. This judgment comes (in earth-history time) at the end of the Millennium, but before the "New Heavens and New Earth."
14. Temporal Judgments: Individuals are also judged during their life-times. For example, some believers leave this life earlier than might have been the case had they been more responsive to God during their lives. Nations rise and fall in the course of history. The fall of any nation is a judgment on that nation. Wars are a judgment from God which applies to both parties . (That is, there are no just wars. See Ten Propositions Concerning War by Ray Stedman). God is engaged in historical judgments of men and nations all down through the course of history. God's role in these judgments usually escapes the notice of the world, but discerning believers will see God's hand in world affairs. "Acts of God" in legalese are "accidents," such as shipwrecks in a storm, where there is no obvious human cause. Since there are in reality no accidents in a universe where God is in full control of all the details, God allows and even causes shipwrecks, and such, but we don't always know why.
15. Avoiding Judgment: We can avoid being judged by God and awe can void being disqualified for the Lord's work--if we judge ourselves, (1 Cor. 9:27, 11:31,32).
Some Details:
Actually when one begins to look at all the many ways God evaluates men and angels the discussion of these would easily fill a big book. This article is therefore a short overview only. I'll follow the summary by Lewis Sperry Chafer in his Systematic Theology. (see notes below)
John's gospel, Chapter 5, is very important to this entire discussion. While in Jerusalem Jesus talks about His close relationship working in partnership with His Father. Then He tells us that raising the dead and the work of judgment has been placed in His hands.
"For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.
Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth--those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.
I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me." (John 5: 20-30)
Since God is both holy and just, He must judge evil and vindicate (recompense) those who have been wronged. He does this in accordance with His own time-tables and calendars. In the Lamentations of Jeremiah we learn that God's judgments are undertaken reluctantly after all else fails (see The Therapy of Trouble, http://pbc.org/dp/stedman/adventure/0225.html). God is "slow to anger" and very patient and "longsuffering," but when He does judge He is thorough and even ruthless. (See The Ruthlessness of God, http://ldolphin.org/Ruthl.html).
Ray C. Stedman writes,
The claim of Jesus is that life belongs to him. He only loans it, for a while, to us. Think of that! It cuts right across the philosophy and the propaganda of our day! Television, radio, newspapers and magazines tell you that your life belongs to you, and you can do with it what you want; it is up to you to make of yourself whatever you desire. That is what is fed to us all the time. But that is a lie! Your life is not yours. You did not invent it, you were handed it, you were given it. One of these days you will have to give it back. Those two great facts underscore all of life, yet how easy it is to forget them.
How frequently the world tries to operate on a basis that is not true, that life belongs to us, and it will go on as long as we want it to! One of the reasons we gather here Sunday after Sunday is that we might counteract that lie and remind ourselves afresh that many of the things that are being said to us by the world are not true, they are not based on reality. Sooner or later, an exciting, compelling, terrifying reality is going to crash in upon us and we will have to deal with life the way it really is. That is what this claim of Jesus states. He claims not only to possess the power to give physical life, but spiritual life as well.
"Spiritual" life is what the Bible calls "eternal" life. It is a different level of life. It is not merely, as it is frequently translated (especially in the King James version), "everlasting" life. That conveys the idea that this present, earthly life will be extended infinitely. But that is not what the Bible is talking about when it speaks of "spiritual" or "eternal" life. It is rather describing a quality of life. It is true that it goes on forever, but primarily the Bible is talking about the richness, the fullness, the beauty of life. It is a quality of life that is enduring, true, but it is also enriching; it cannot be diminished by circumstances or ended by death. It is a quality of life that is given to us now. It begins here, not in heaven after you die. The claim of Jesus is that he alone has the power to give that kind of life.
Because Jesus gives "to whom he will," that makes him also the arbiter of the destiny of human beings: He is the Judge of all men. It is his knowledge of who is to receive eternal life, and who is to remain without it, that constitutes him an infallible Judge of human destiny. These two ideas blend together; one grows out of the other. If Jesus gives you life you are on your way to heaven. If he gives you eternal life you will never die, you will never taste the emptiness and awful loneliness of death. You will immediately have a fuller experience of life than you have ever had before. But only if Jesus gives it to you. He is the sole possessor of spiritual life.
If he does not give you life then you remain exactly the way you were, on your way to hell, on your way to frustration, torment, hollowness -- all those negative things the Scripture means when it speaks of hell -- life without God, without blessing, without richness, without fullness.
If this claim of Jesus is, real it clearly makes him the most important Person in anybody's life. If your very physical existence has come from him, and your spiritual destiny is in his hands, then he is the most important Person you will ever have to deal with. More than that, he is the most important Person in the whole world, the central figure in all the universe. This is stated all through the Scriptures.
In the last book of the Bible, which was also written by the Apostle John, there is a tremendous scene described in Chapter 5, where John takes us beyond the limits of earth and shows us the throne of God. The creatures of heaven are gathered around the throne, worshiping God, and in the center of the scene John sees a Lamb that has been slain. Here is his description:
Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!" And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all therein, saying, "To him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might for ever and ever!" And the four living creatures said, "Amen!" and the elders fell down and worshiped. (Rev 5:11-14)
There is Jesus, sitting at the heart of the universe. Because of this, no Christian can ever put Jesus Christ on a par with Mohammed, Buddha, Mahatma Gandhi, the virgin Mary, Moses, the prophets, or any religious leader of any time. This is why we cannot call a Christian one who only accepts the teachings of Jesus, or who adopts his moral standards, or admires him as a social reformer or religious leader. Jesus himself does not allow us that privilege. He is above all of this. He alone has the right to give the gift of eternal life. In his first letter, John has written of him, "This is the record, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life, but he who does not have the Son of God does not have life," (1 John 5:11-12). The relationship you have to Jesus Christ is the most important relationship of your life. It determines your ultimate destiny.
If that is true, the great question before us is, "To whom and on what terms does Jesus give eternal life?" The answer to that is given in one of the greatest verses in Scripture, Verse 24. It is one of my favorite texts, one I have used many, many times. I hope you will memorize these words of Jesus,
Truly, truly, I say to you [remember, that introduction in effect underlines the words that follow, calling attention to the importance of them], he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. (John 5:24 RSV)
That verse makes clear that when Jesus says he gives life "to whom he will," it is not a matter of arbitrary selection on his part. He does not point at people in a capricious way, and say, "You and you and you can have eternal life," and so on. It is clear there is a responsibility we are to fulfill.
To whom does Jesus give eternal life? To the man or woman, boy or girl who "hears his words and believes in Him who sent him," to the one who is willing to listen to his claims, believe his credentials, and act on that basis, to follow him and be his obedient disciple. When one hears his words and obeys what he says, notice what happens: immediately Jesus says he "has eternal life;" not, he "shall have" it some day when he dies. He has it, right then. Immediately also all judgment is past. Such a one has "passed from death to life." Our Lord is making very clear to these Jews and to everyone else who reads his words the terms on which one passes from death to life.
All of us are born headed for death. We do not like to talk about it, we put it away from our thoughts as long as possible, but we are all headed for death. Beyond death lies the second death -- unless we have eternal life. Thus the most important question anybody has to settle is whether he has believed in Jesus and received from his hand the gift of eternal life. In Verse 25 Jesus extends this well into the future:
"Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead [the spiritually dead] will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself..." (John 5:25-26)
What does Jesus mean by the words, "the hour is coming"? This is a clear reference to the Day of Pentecost, to the new thing that would happen when the Spirit of God would come in a new, fresh way and this gift of eternal life would be given to Jews and Gentiles alike all over the world and through all the succeeding periods of time. Already the "hour" of which Jesus speaks is over 1900 years long. During that time whoever hears his word and believes on him who sent him receives eternal life.
But, Jesus also says, "it now is," i.e., it was already happening. By those words he is referring to his own giving to individuals of the gift of life. We have already seen this in John's gospel. Nicodemus, the troubled religious leader, came by night to Jesus in an effort to find peace. Jesus said to him, "Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up [on a cross], that whoever believes in him may have eternal life," (John 3:15 RSV). Nicodemus believed and received the gift of eternal life. The Samaritan woman at the well, who was living such an empty life, trying to find satisfaction in five husbands, hoping marriage would satisfy her yearnings, came empty, hungry, and thirsty to Jesus. To her he said, "If you knew who is speaking to you, you would have asked of him and he would have given you a well of water springing up to eternal life," (John 4:10 RSV). Thus he gave her eternal life. She went away so excited she could not contain herself, but soon brought the whole town out to hear this One who could give the gift of eternal life.
So it was already happening, "the hour is coming, and now is," when the spiritually dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. Then he adds that as the Son of God, as the One who is eternally with the Father, he has always had this ability to give life to the spiritually dead. He has this life "in Himself." He is the One who has always given eternal life, in the Old Testament as well as the New. But now he adds something else. Verse 27:
"...and [the Father] has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of man." (John 5:27)
In other words, because he has now become a man and understands how we live, how we feel and what we face, he has the right to pass judgment on whether we should have the gift of life or remain in death. It is because Jesus came among us that he understands us. He knows the pressures and the problems we face, therefore he knows clearly when we have reached the place where we are ready to give up depending on ourselves and are able to receive the gift of life.
To receive the gift of life is the only way by which a man can be permanently changed, whether he has a black record or not. The only thing that can transform us right at the very heart of our being, and make us new again, is the gift of eternal life. Those who have it can never be the same again. The growth process can sometimes be very painful, as many of us know, but, when the gift of life is there at the heart of our being, we can never go back to what we once were. That life is in God's Son. But all physical life is also in his hands. Verse 28:
"Do not marvel at this [What does that tell you about what they were doing? They were agog with astonishment that he would speak like this. Their mouths dropped open at the daring claims he made.] for the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come forth, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.
I can do nothing on my own authority; as I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me," (John 5:28-30)
What a marvelous claim! Jesus says there is coming an hour in history when all the dead, all of them -- bad, good, evil, kind, loving, unloving, murderers, rapists -- all, shall come forth from the grave. He is going to empty the cemeteries of the world. Then, even the bodies of men and women will share in their final destiny.
Those who have "done good" shall experience the resurrection of life. What does "done good" mean? Many people extract this verse from the context and make up their own ideas about what it means to "do good." They say if you have been fairly nice to your neighbor, do not beat your wife too often, speak kindly to people now and then, and try your best to obey the Ten Commandments, then perhaps the good you have done will outweigh the evil and God will let you into heaven.
But that is not what this verse is saying. This is just a few verses removed from what Jesus said about the gift of eternal life. To "do good," of course, means to have received eternal life. Only those in whom the life of God is dwelling can "do good" in God's eyes. In the words of an old hymn, "He died that we might be forgiven, He died to make us good; That we might go at last to heaven, Saved by His precious blood." Those who have obeyed his word, walked in fellowship with him and shared his life -- those are the ones who have "done good."
What does "done evil" mean? Obviously this is referring to those who have refused his life, turned their backs on truth, and shut their ears to the offer of grace from God; those who have denied even the witness of nature, the witness of their own inner hearts. Those are the ones who have all their life "done evil" even though there were times when they thought they were doing good. They will come forth to the "resurrection of judgment."
That is clearly the import of the words of Jesus. No wonder he frightened and challenged the people who heard him on that day, as he frightens and challenges us when we hear his words today. But note his assurance in Verse 30:
"I can do nothing on my own authority; as I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just..." (John 5:30a)
There will be no argument against his judgment, no one can complain that it is unfair, because it is the work of both the Father and the Son; the Father who gave us life to begin with and who knows all that is in our hearts; the Son who came among us and knows how we feel and is both our Savior and Judge. We decide which he is going to be by the reaction we have to truth. (He's Got the Whole World in His Hands, http://raystedman.org/john/3844.html).
Two Different Paths in Life
People often think of Christian morality as a kind of bargain in which God says, "If you keep a lot of rules, I'll reward you; and if you don't, I'll do the other thing." I do not think that's the best way of looking at it. I would much rather say that every time you make a choice, you are turning the central part of you, the part that chooses, into something a little different than what it was before. And, taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature; either into a creature that is in harmony with God and with other creatures and with itself, or else into one that is in a state of war and hatred with God and with its fellow creatures and with itself. To be the one kind of creature is heavenly, i.e., it is joy and peace and knowledge and power; to be the other means madness, horror, idiocy, rage, impotence, and eternal loneliness. Each of us, at each moment, is progressing to the one state or the other. (C.S. Lewis)
Judgment is based on our Knowledge and by our "Works"
It is Jesus who is seated at the judge's bench in God's courtroom. Everyone on earth, everyone who has ever lived, will get a fair trial. All the facts of each case will be brought to light--God's "recording angels" keep perfect accounts. According to Romans Chapter 2, God judges all men on the basis of the truth they have received and their actions (deeds) in life. (The works that count in the life of the Christian are the acts of Christ in and through us--the result of our faith). All men are without excuse. This is established in Romans 1.
"...do you presume upon the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not know that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. For he will render to every man according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are factious and do not obey the truth, but obey wickedness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for every one who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality. All who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. When Gentiles who have not the law do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or perhaps excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. (Romans 2:4-16)
In Chapter One of Romans we learn that the active, ever-present "wrath" of God "is [continuously] revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who repress the truth in unrighteousness." "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." (John 3:36)
In Romans chapter 2 we are introduced to the "stored up" aspect of the wrath of God. When the "stored-up" wrath is unleashed it can not be stopped. For example, "The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of bloodshed, and the city full of perversity; for they say, 'The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see!' "And as for Me [the Lord] also, My eye will neither spare, nor will I have pity, but I will recompense their deeds on their own head." (Ezekiel 9:9-10)
When we judge and condemn others we are playing God. We have neither the knowledge nor the right to sit in judgment on others. Therefore our judgmental attitudes are serious sin. (Judging others in order to make ourselves look good is not the same as discernment which we need in order to help and encourage others).
Motives matter. "Man looks upon the outward appearance, God looks upon the heart." At the judgment of the sheep and goats in Matthew 25:31ff men are evaluated, basically, on the basis of loving their neighbor in practical ways. The Sermon on the Mount intensifies the demands of the Law of Moses by showing that the motives of the heart are as important as outward conduct. James says, "Whoever keeps the whole Law and fails in any one point, is guilty of all of it."
The standards of God are very high. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." One of the definitions of sin is compared to shooting an arrow at a target and missing the mark. Trying hard is not good enough. Who among us actually lives out the Golden Rule (Mt. 7:12) in our daily lives? The gulf between a holy God and us sinners is an infinite chasm, bridgeable only by God Himself who, in Christ, has made our reconciliation possible.
What is the standard for acceptable human conduct? The standard is actually Jesus Himself. Jesus is God's righteousness. In contrast "...we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away." (Isaiah 64:6)
The three-fold work of the Holy Spirit in the world during the age we live in includes convicting the world of its unrighteousness:
"Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I [Jesus] go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged."
Life Styles: People who live outwardly moral and decent lives are usually pursuing goals in life that run contrary to the will of God because they are most likely selfish and self-seeking. From whence comes the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, or the freedom to have an abortion, or the right to choose one's sexual preferences? Man is a worshiping being by nature and if not serving the true and living God, is automatically serving idols.
Hypocrisy (pretending to be godly when one is not) is actually worse than open immorality.
"These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren." (Proverbs 6:16-19)
Providence and Common Grace: God is kind to all men, "He makes his rain fall on the just and the unjust." His kindness, patience and love to all mankind is for the purpose of bringing us to repentance. The proper response to God's grace is thanksgiving, worship, and commitment.
God's judgment is utterly fair and impartial. He judges us on our actual conduct based on what we do know about Him. God judges according to truth and He takes our motives into account. Doing good occasionally is not enough. A consistent good life marks the path of the righteous.
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Wrath Poured Out Where is that salvation to be found? If God's wrath is deserved by us, proportionate to our sin, as certain as the calendar, just, and even partially disclosed in the natural unfolding of the effects of sin in our lives, how can it possibly be avoided--since we are sinners? The only place is in Christ, who bore the full measure of the wrath of God in our place. Do we doubt that God's wrath is real and threatening? If we do, we need only look at Jesus in the hours preceding his crucifixion. He was not like Socrates who calmly quaffed the hemlock that was to end his life. Jesus' soul was "troubled" (John 12:27), and he agonized in the Garden of Gethsemane, asking that the "cup" God had prepared for him might be taken away (Matt. 26:36-44). Jesus was not afraid of death. He had as much courage in that respect as Socrates. The reason Jesus trembled before death is that his death was not to be like the death of mere mortals. Jesus was not going to die for himself. He was going to die for others. He was going to take upon himself the full measure of the wrath of God that they deserved. He was to drink the cup of wrath to the very dregs in order that the justice of God might be satisfied and sinners might be spared. And so it was! The time came when Jesus was led away to be crucified. He was hung on the cross, midway between earth and heaven, a bridge between sinful man and a holy God. There he, who knew no sin, was made sin for us. There God's wrath was poured out. For centuries the wrath that men and women had been storing up had been accumulating-like coins in the attic or water behind a great dam. Oh, here and there a little of the flood of God's judgment had sloshed out over the top as God reached the end of his patience in some small area, and a Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed or a Jerusalem was overthrown. But, for the most part, the wrath of God merely accumulated, growing higher and broader and deeper and increasingly more turbulent. Then Jesus died! When he died the dam was opened, and the great weight of the accumulated wrath of God was poured out upon him. He took God's wrath for us. He bore its impounded fury in our place. No wonder his righteous soul shrank back from the atonement. He had never committed a single sin. He was spotless and without blame. Yet because he was blameless and because he was God, he was able to stand in the breech for us and secure our salvation. God demonstrated clearly that he had! In Jerusalem there was a temple the central feature of which was a room called the Most Holy Place. God was understood to dwell symbolically in that place. Before it hung a thick curtain, symbolizing the barrier that sin has raised between God in his holiness and ourselves in our sin. For anyone to penetrate beyond that barrier meant instant death, as occasionally happened, for the wrath of God must flame out against any sin that would intrude upon holiness. That curtain was torn in two when Jesus died. For centuries it had hung there, proclaiming that God was holy, that man was sinful, and that the way to God was therefore strictly barred. But now that Jesus had died for sin, taking the place of any who would trust him and receive the benefit of his sacrifice, the wrath of God was expended, the way was open, and there was nothing left but God's great love and kindness. This is the gospel. It is what is open to you if you will approach God, not on the basis of your own good deeds or works, which can only condemn you, but on the basis of Christ's having borne the wrath of God in your place. That wrath is thundering down the chasm of history toward the day of final judgment, and one day it must break upon you unless you stand before God in Jesus Christ. Martin Luther began his spiritual pilgrimage by fearing God's wrath and then came to find peace in Christ. But he never forgot the reality of the final judgment, and he always warned his hearers to flee from it to Christ. He said in one place, "The Last Day is called the day of wrath and of mercy, the day of trouble and of peace, the day of destruction and of glory." Luther was right. It must be one or the other. If it is to be a day of mercy and peace for you, rather than a day of wrath and trouble, it must because you are trusting in Christ. (James M. Boice, commentary on Romans) |
The Main Judgments of God
----work in progress-----
The Judgments At the Cross
1. When Jesus died on the cross the sins of all of mankind were judged. Jesus as the innocent lamb was made to be the substitute who endured the full wrath and punishment of God for all the sins of everyone who ever lived.
"But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed [i.e. under the Old Covenant in all who believed in the promises of God before Jesus came into the world], to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." (Romans 3:21-26)
"...And He Himself [Jesus] is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world." (1 John 2:2)
The judgment of all human sin on the cross makes it possible for all men everywhere to be freely forgiven and reconciled to God. This is the impetus for Paul's urging us in 2 Cor. 5 to plead with men everywhere that they accept God gracious good favor towards them now:
"For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:14-21)
2. The judgment of the Adamic nature of believers was carried by Christ on the cross. Romans 6:1-10 outlines this. By taking us out of the family of Adam and "immersing" us "into Christ" we are each identified fully with Christ in His death burial and resurrection. This enables God to make us totally new persons at the core of our being. Galatians 2:20-21 summarizes this. "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain." Many Christians realize that Christ died for their sins, but do not appreciate the other side of the coin: each of us dies with Christ in order to be raised to a whole new life. "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?" (Luke 9:22-25)
3. Satan, the chief of the fallen angels was judged at the cross. Satan's judgment also occurs in stages: 1. When he sinned he was evicted immediately from his high office in the heavens.2. He will be thrown out of heaven and down to earth by the Archangel Michael during the tribulation, Rev. 12. 3. He will be imprisoned in the abyss for 1000 years, Rev. 20:1-3. 4. His final end is in the Lake of Fire, Rev. 20:1-9. At the cross Satan was effectively judged for time and eternity. This is a vast subject included within the short statement "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself."
"It pleased the Father that in Christ all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross." (Colossians 1:19-20)
"Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out." (John 12:31)
The Judgment of Believers of the Church Age (The Judgment Seat of Christ)
Those who have placed their full trust and faith in Jesus Christ and have entered into a relationship with God and can not come into judgment for their sins since Christ has borne them Himself once for all. "...Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation." (Hebrews 9:28)
"He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John 3:18)
"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life." (John 5:24)
"There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." (Romans 8:1-4)
However, each and every Christian experiences at death what is called the "Judgment Seat of Christ." This is an evaluation of how the Christian has lived his or her life since becoming a Christian.
"For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire." (1 Corinthians 3:9-15)
"Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad."
(2 Corinthians 5:9-10)
This issue here is works which result from saving grace which will survive. All we have done in the strength and energy of the flesh will be burned up. Alternately, we can say that only what Christ does through the believer results in lasting works. All else is hay, wood, and stubble. Nevertheless the Bema, the Judgment Seat of Christ will bring each believer God's expressions of approval--commendation not condemnation:
"Therefore do not judge anything before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one's praise (commendation) will come from God." (1 Corinthians 4:5)
"For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living. But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written: "As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God." So then each of us shall give account of himself to God." (Romans 14:7-12)
"And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work." (Revelation 22:12)
If one thinks of this present life as a training program which prepares Christians for life in the world to come, then it is obvious that some Christians care little for long-term or eternal goals, and others care more. "Rewards" would therefore seem to be one's capacity to serve God and to enjoy him. All Christians will be free from sin, fully justified, when they arrive in the next life. Some will be well suited for the Master's highest use, others for lesser tasks. One sees this anticipated in Paul's second letter to Timothy:
"In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work." (2 Timothy 2:20-21) (see Fit to Be Used, http://pbc.org/dp/stedman/timothy/3787.html. See also The Judgment Seat of Christ, http://ldolphin.org/Jseat.html).
The Rapture of the Church will mean that ALL true Christians from the day of Pentecost down to this parousia of Jesus, (the first aspect of His Second Advent), will be raised from the dead, and then be with Him forever in resurrection bodies like His. The total number will surely be a billion or more true Christians? (Given the size of the heavenly city New Jerusalem, the space allotment for a billion people in the heavenly city would average about one cubic mile per person!)
See There's A War On: The Church and the Tribulation, http://ldolphin.org/war-on.html, Aspects of the Return..., http://ldolphin.org/Return.html, The Return of the Landlord, http://www.ldolphin.org/landlord.html, The Coming Cosmic Shakedown, http://ldolphin.org/shakedown.html
The Judgment of Israel
The judgment of Israel takes place after the rapture of the church but precedes the judgment of the gentile nations. This can be seen in the Olivet discourse (Matthew 24:1-25:46). (It is interesting to note that though Israel is judged as a body, as a group, the church is not judged in a similar manner). The judgment of Israel includes all generations of Jews who have lived under the covenants and promises in times past. Believers in Yahweh and his promises who lived before Christ came to live among men, have always hoped for a great Messianic Age on earth. That kingdom age will be ushered in when Jesus Christ returns in power to the Mt. of Olives in Jerusalem. A study of the subject reveals that Scripture provides us with many amazing details of this judgment of historic Israel. But there are also some uncertainties.
At the Rapture of the true church--which precedes the judgment of Israel--Christ will gather the many millions of Christians from the entire ~2000 year time period from the day of Pentecost to the time of the Rapture. Living Christians will receive their new resurrection bodies at the Rapture also. Thus the church as a completed Body will all be together for the Lord.
Most commentators believe that the Old Testament saints will be raised towards the end of the Great tribulation. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews concludes his "hall of fame" description of these Old Testament saints with these words:
"...And all these, (Old Testament saints) having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us (Christians), that they should not be made perfect apart from us." (Hebrews 11:39-40)
On this, Ray Stedman says,
"...Though all those referred to by name or described by action in this chapter received commendation from God even in this life, yet they did not receive the promised city "with foundations" which Abraham sought (vv. 10 and 16). The reference to foundations indicates something material and earthly, rather than purely spiritual. They looked for more than their own personal satisfaction, but still longed to see God's purposes fulfilled on earth. The something better for us denotes the reality we have found already in Christ, which the men and women of faith in the Old Testament would attain only after their earthly life ended. We are already recipients of the blessings of the new covenant. They would not fully know them till the resurrection. The New Jerusalem, come down from heaven to earth, in which God will dwell among us and by which all the supernal vision of the prophets will be fulfilled, blends the two peoples of God together. The hope of being made perfect includes the hope of physical resurrection, as many Scriptures declare. In that "first resurrection" (Rev 20:6-7) believers of both old and new covenants will join. This is the way that together with us would they be made perfect. This is the mystery of God's will which Paul describes in Ephesians 1:9-10 "to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment---to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ." (http://raystedman.org/hebrews2/heb2comm2.html)
How Many Jews?
Israel as a people, nation, has existed since the time of the Exodus, about 3500 years ago. This is approximately 90 generations (allowing 40 years per generation). The total number of Jews who have ever lived would appear to be of the order of at least 100-900 million. Those Jews who have come to know the Lord Jesus during the age of the church have been added to the church. This leaves roughly 40 generations who were born under the Old Covenant, perhaps 50-150 million people (or more?). From the book of Zechariah we learn that at the end of the age we live in now, one third of the Jews who survive the campaign of Armageddon (World War III) will come to know the Lord--perhaps 2 million people. (See Zechariah 13:8, 9. This number is the end time "believing remnant" within the land of Israel and constitutes true Israel--the true people Israel). We do not know how large this believing remnant was, on average, from the time of Moses to the First Advent. But for discussion purposes let us assume the total number of Old Testament saints might be as few as 10 million or as many as 100 million.
At the beginning of the Millennium, after all the Old Testament saints have been raised, Israel will start rebuilding and occupying the promised land with an initial population in the range of perhaps 10-100 million persons. If we add in the number of children below some age of accountability the totals would be much higher. (all these numbers are speculative--for discussion purposes only).
There are other uncertainties. The "sheep" from the gentile nations who survive the tribulation--all believers--will enter the millennium and live in their own native lands, not having yet received their resurrection bodies. They will evidently live out their (extended) lives, die and be raised at a later time? They will marry and bear children. These children all need to be spiritually reborn in order to be part of God's eternal kingdom. Some of these offspring will be saved and others will be lost. That is, the offspring of these people will be children of Adam just as we all were when we were born into the world. The earth will be repopulated during he Millennium starting with the first generation being all believers. But their children will all have the choice of becoming believers or not. This was the situation on earth after the Flood of Noah when the world civilization began all over again through Noah's three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives. Under the righteous rule of Jesus (with a rod of iron), with the devil chained in the abyss, life on earth will be far better during the Millennium than it is now. Nevertheless man's fallen nature will still be manifest.
The promises to the Church are not the same as the promises to Israel! Israel has always looked for a plot of land with secure borders, a temple, a king, an earthly kingdom. The church, on the other hand, mostly looks for a heavenly kingdom (i.e., to the heavenly city of New Jerusalem and beyond). There is an obvious overlap after the Second Coming--earth has to be rebuilt and restored and Messiah will rule here on earth a thousand years with the church at His side. The Church assists Christ in His rule over the nations on earth during the Millennium.
The question then is this: Will all the believing Old Testament saints of Israel all have resurrection bodies at the start of the Millennium? Apparently not. On the Mount of Transfiguration Jesus appeared together with Elijah and Moses who were both in their immortal form. If all of believing Israel were to enter the Millennium in resurrection bodies then will no more Jews be born on earth during this entire thousand year period.
All the Jews on earth who are alive when Jesus returns will be gathered together by the Lord and evaluated. Only those who are believers in Jesus (Yeshua) will enter the Millennial kingdom. These surviving believers will not yet have their resurrection bodies. They will live out their lives in Israel, bring children into the world, and die ("full of years"). They probably will be given resurrection bodies at the close of the Millennium? (The "tribulation saints" will be raised at beginning of the Millennium, see below). So it would seem that those Jews living at the time of the Second Coming, who receive Jesus Christ as Lord will enter the Millennium and live in Israel, marry and raise children but not have resurrection bodies when the Millennium begins. Thus the initial population of Israel will consists of a couple of million Jewish survivors of Armageddon (all believers) and many more millions of their forefathers who will have their resurrection bodies and will be entering into the Millennial promises they had been promised before they died.
If Christ raises all the Jews who have ever lived near the end of the tribulation period (Daniel 12), then all unbelieving Jews will probably be judged at that time since only believing Jews can enter the Millennial Kingdom. This would mean our Lord will be managing a flock of not 10-100 million (but perhaps 100-300 million) Jews in the time period just proceeding His public appearance on the Mount of Olives (the "Second Coming."). This possibility could fit Ezekiel 20:33-44, below. But is is also possible that all unbelieving Jews down through history will instead appear at the Judgment of the Great White Throne.
As noted below, Jesus will be on earth in the time interval between the Rapture and the Second Coming. We, the church, will be with Jesus the whole time--but we shall have our resurrection bodies and thus be dwelling "in heaven" at the same time.
Jesus presides as Judge of Israel. He is Israel's Kinsman Redeemer and Avenger of Blood. (See Jesus the Avenger of Blood, http://ldolphin.org/avenger.html). In a broader sense Jesus is every believer's Kinsman Redeemer because He has grafted gentile believers into the true olive tree of Abraham's faith, (Romans 11).
Daniel the prophet anticipated this final regathering of all of Israel:
"At that time [the time of the end, "the time of Jacob's trouble"] Michael [the archangel who is over Israel] shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, Every one who is found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine Like the brightness of the firmament, And those who turn many to righteousness Like the stars forever and ever." (Daniel 12:1-3)
Ezekiel clearly indicates that God will judge the entire nation of Israel through all of her long history, and He will separate believers ("true Israel") from the non-believing majority.
"As I live, says the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, I will be king over you (Israel). I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out; and (then, after that) I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face. As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, says the Lord GOD. I will make you pass under the rod, and I will let you go in by number. [The term the wilderness of the peoples, v35, as used in the Bible often refers to Edom. The term pass under the rod appears in Leviticus 27 and symbolizes a separation of the consecrated and the unconsecrated animals of the flock.]
I will purge out the rebels [apostates] from among you, and those who transgress against me; I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn (Edom?), but they shall not enter (back into?) the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD. "As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord GOD: Go serve every one of you his idols, now and hereafter, if you will not listen to me; but my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts and your idols. "For on my holy mountain, the mountain height of Israel, says the Lord GOD, there all the house of Israel, all of them, shall serve me in the land; there I will accept them, and there I will require your contributions and the choicest of your gifts, with all your sacred offerings. As a pleasing odor I will accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered; and I will manifest my holiness among you in the sight of the nations. And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the country which I swore to give to your fathers. And there you shall remember your ways and all the doings with which you have polluted yourselves [see Zechariah 12:10-14]; and you shall loathe yourselves for all the evils that you have committed. And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I deal with you for my name's sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O house of Israel, says the Lord GOD." (Ezekiel 20:33-44)
The regathering of Israel will involve the supernatural agency of angels. The coming of Jesus to the Mount of Olives will bring about Israel's national repentance:
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect [Israel] from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." (Matthew 24:29-31)
"And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of compassion and supplication, so that, when they look on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a first-born. On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo." (Zechariah 12: 10,11).
See The Power and the Glory, http://raystedman.org/olivet/oliv08.html.
Malachi Chapter 3 also is about the judgment of Israel at the end of the age,
"Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming," says the LORD of hosts. But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire And like launderer's soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, And purge them as gold and silver, That they may offer to the LORD An offering in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem Will be pleasant to the LORD, As in the days of old, As in former years. And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness Against sorcerers, Against adulterers, Against perjurers, Against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, And against those who turn away an alien-- Because they do not fear Me," Says the LORD of hosts. For I am the LORD, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob." (3:1-6)
Isaiah 11 also contains further suggestions concerning the events of the end time and the Millennium:
There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist, and faithfulness the girdle of his loins. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall feed; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The sucking child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. In that day the root of Jesse shall stand as an ensign to the peoples; him shall the nations seek, and his dwellings shall be glorious.
In that day [at the end of the tribulation] the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant which is left of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Ethiopia, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea. He will raise an ensign for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather the [rest of the] dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart, and those who harass Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah, and Judah shall not harass Ephraim. But they shall swoop down upon the shoulder of the Philistines in the west, and together they shall plunder the people of the east. They shall put forth their hand against Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites shall obey them. And the LORD will utterly destroy the tongue of the sea of Egypt (the Suez Canal); and will wave his hand over the River [the Euphrates?, Rev. 16:12] with his scorching wind, and smite it into seven channels that men may cross dryshod. And there will be a [new king's] highway from Assyria for the remnant which is left of his people, as there was for Israel when they came up from the land of Egypt. (Isaiah 11)
See The Near East in Prophecy, http://raystedman.org/misc/0270.html.
But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel caused to be profaned among the nations to which they came. "Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them; and the nations will know that I am the LORD, says the Lord GOD, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.
Ezekiel says the following about God's mercy, grace and compassion coming on the nation of Israel at the close of the age:
For I will take you [Jews] from the nations, and gather you from all the countries, and bring you into your own land. [Then] I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone 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 observe my ordinances. [This is an announcement, similar to Jeremiah 30, of God's intention to bring the people of Israel into the New Covenant which Jesus put into effect with his 11 disciples at the Last Supper.]
You [Jews] shall dwell in the land which I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses; and I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you. I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations. Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good; and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominable deeds. [Here is the national repentance seen also in Zechariah 12:10-14.]
Ezekiel then describes Messiah's reign over all the nations, from Jerusalem, and the millennial prosperity He will bring to all mankind, through Israel:
It is not for your sake that I will act, says the Lord GOD; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel. "Thus says the Lord GOD: On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be rebuilt. And the land that was desolate shall be tilled, instead of being the desolation that it was in the sight of all who passed by. And they will say, `This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are now inhabited and fortified.' Then the nations that are left round about you shall know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt the ruined places, and replanted that which was desolate; I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do it. "Thus says the Lord GOD: This also I will let the house of Israel ask me to do for them: to increase their men like a flock. Like the flock for sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men. Then they will know that I am the LORD." (Ezekiel 36:21-38)
Regarding the believing remnant, they are gathered under the care of the Great Shepherd of the Sheep at Bozrah,
"I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob, I will gather the remnant of Israel; I will set them together like sheep in a fold, like a flock in its pasture, a noisy multitude of men. He who opens the breach will go up before them; they will break through and pass the gate, going out by it. Their king will pass on before them, the LORD at their head." (Micah 2:12-13)
The Lord's return (at the parousia)--to care for his remnant at Petra/Bozrah and his leading them safely back to Jerusalem by way of Bozrah is then compared by Isaiah with God's care for the Jews through the wilderness in the Days of Moses:
I will recount the steadfast love of the LORD, the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD has granted us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel which he has granted them according to his mercy, according to the abundance of his steadfast love. For he said, Surely they are my people, sons who will not deal falsely; and he became their Savior. In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence (compare 1 Cor. 10:3) saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
But they rebelled and grieved his holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them. Then he remembered the days of old, of Moses his servant. Where is he who brought up out of the sea the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put in the midst of them his holy Spirit, who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name, who led them through the depths? Like a horse in the desert, they did not stumble. Like cattle that go down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest. So thou didst lead thy people, to make for thyself a glorious name.
Now follows a prayer of the remnant of Israel calling on Yahweh for deliverance:
"Look down from heaven and see, from thy holy and glorious habitation. Where are thy zeal and thy might? The yearning of thy heart and thy compassion are withheld from me. For thou art our Father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us; thou, O LORD, art our Father, our Redeemer from of old is thy name. O LORD, why dost thou make us err from thy ways and harden our heart, so that we fear thee not? Return for the sake of thy servants, the tribes of thy heritage. Thy holy people possessed thy sanctuary (the Third Temple) a little while; our adversaries have trodden it down. We have become like those over whom thou hast never ruled, like those who are not called by thy name." (Isaiah 63)
Ezekiel also presents us with the well-known Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones. Many commentators do not consider this passage to speak about a literal resurrection. However in light of what has been said about the judgment of Israel here, I believe this will could be a literal resurrection of all of Israel. This event will take place before the second coming of the Lord in glory (His epiphaneia).
In all of these considerations concerning the Tribulation period, note that the Lord Jesus will be on earth, during the entire seven years of the tribulation period leading His angelic armies and His 144,000 evangelists. The coming of the Lord for His church--His parousia means His "coming and remaining with" His people. (See The Time of Harvest, http://raystedman.org/revelation/4206.html and The Church and the Tribulation http://ldolphin.org/war-on.html).
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THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS COMMENTATORS HAVE OFTEN portrayed the second coming of Jesus as a single dramatic event (Matt. 24:21, 29), following the Great Tribulation, where the Lord will suddenly appear in power and great glory, visible to every eye (Rev. 1:7). The church will be caught up to meet Him and will then return with Him to earth (1 Thess. 4:13-18) where He will judge the living and dead. This either establishes His millennial kingdom or ushers in the new heaven and new earth, depending on which millennial view the commentator holds. This scenario has numerous difficulties connected with it, however, not least of which are the several promises in the New Testament that the true church will not be present during the Great Tribulation. A key to understanding the teaching of the New Testament on this subject is the Greek word parousia. This word is commonly translated "coming," which in the mind of the reader projects the vision of the single dramatic appearance described above. But parousia should properly be translated "presence." This is the mean-ing given first by both Thayer and Arndt and Gingrich lexicons and includes the idea of an entrance, a consequent duration, and either an exit or a continued presence. It is not, therefore, a single event (V), but a continuum (I---------I) of unspecified duration. This meaning is the only way to make sense of Jesus' revelation in Matthew 24 of His return to earth in the last days. There He describes a coming in power and glory immediately following the terrible time of trouble that He calls "the great tribulation" and the darkening of the sun and moon and the falling of the stars from heaven (Matt. 24:28-30). But it would be impossible for such a coming to take anyone by surprise who knew of our Lord's description. For in the same chapter Jesus speaks of His coming as unexpected and sudden as the flood came upon the people of Noah's day; and He likens it to a thief creeping into a household at night, without warning, and surreptitiously removing its treasure (vv. 36-44). Yet how could His coming be both unexpected and preceded by such cosmic events of dramatic character? The only answer is that one passage describes His initial, totally unheralded and unexpected appearing while the other describes the disclosure of His presence by a dramatic display of power and glory after the Tribulation has run its course and the sun, moon, and stars have done their predicted thing. Jesus' coming like a thief would be a fulfillment of I Thessalonians 4:13-18: He would catch up His true church to Himself and then remain on earth during all the events of the Tribulation, but in the same conditions He manifested during His forty-day post-resurrection ministry when He appeared and disappeared at will. After the darkening of the sun and the moon He would disclose His presence to the entire earth in fulfillment of Matthew 24:28-30 and Revela-tion 1:7. Thus His initial, thief-like coming, His continued presence behind the scenes on earth, and His final revelation in power would all be covered by the term parousia. It is noteworthy that where Paul refers to the public revelation of Jesus in 2 Thessalonians 2:8, he calls it "the splendor of his coming" (NIV), which literally means "the epiphaneia ("out-shining") of his parousia ("presence"). But what happens to the church after it is caught up to meet the Lord in the air, as I Thessalonians 4:13-18 describes? The answer of Scripture is "so shall we ever be with the Lord." Wherever the Lord is, there the church will be also, sharing with Him in His work whatever it will be. But some may object, "I thought the church was to be in heaven with the Lord." And indeed it will-but what and where is heaven? It is certainly not another place in the cosmos, within the time-space continuum with which we are familiar. In the light of the new physics of Einstein and others, many are coming to see that heaven is a term for another dimension of existence. It need not be spatially removed from us at all, but may be as present on earth as it is anywhere else. When Jesus ap-peared and disappeared in the course of His post-resurrection ministry, He was simply stepping in and out of the invisible dimension where spiritual realities exist-heaven. Yet all the time He was in some sense on earth, for He said that He had not yet ascended to His Father. While I admit that this may be somewhat speculative and mysterious, it is supported by several passages of Scripture. It simply implies that the church (consisting of believers with glorified bodies) will accompany the Lord in His behind-the-scenes directing of the events of the Tribulation. It is this same church that the apostle John sees under the symbol of a glorious city, coming from heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. The marriage supper of the Lamb will already have taken place in those invisible realms while the events of the Tribulation rage on earth. (Ray C. Stedman, Waiting for the Second Coming, Appendix, Discovery House Publishers, Grand Rapids, 1990). |
At the middle of the seven-year tribulation, the man of sin will desecrate the Third Temple in Jerusalem--and in that temple he will declare himself to be God. In discussing this future event (see Matthew 24:15-21) Jesus warned that all Jews living in Judea should flee at the time--most likely to Petra where they will be safe for the three-and-a-half Great Tribulation (The Times of Jacob's Trouble). See http://ldolphin.org/kingdom/ch11.html
The church will be with the Lord during the tribulation, having been caught up with the Lord and given new resurrection bodies at the parousia. (see Aspects of the Return of the Lord Jesus Christ, http://ldolphin.org/Return.html).
Ray Stedman says,
"During the close of the age, the disciples (or as Jesus calls them 'the elect') will be what we might call 'Post-church Christians.' The church has been removed from the world, at least from any visible participation in world affairs. Since we know that Christians will be given glorified bodies like their Lord's (and Paul says that, once removed from this life, the church will be forever 'with the Lord'), it seems highly likely that church Christians will join the Lord Jesus in this ministry behind the scenes during the tribulation. They will be like Moses and Elijah who appeared with the transfigured Christ on the Mount. The picture then is clear. Jesus will come for his church and take the members into a new relationship with him. Then he, with them, will remain throughout the 'end of the age' period, appearing only to those whose hearts are ready to believe in him. Rumors of his presence will continually be spread abroad, so that men will be saying in that day as they said during the forty-day period, 'Where is he?' Authorities will search for him and will not be able to find him, but false prophets will claim to know where he is. (The Secret Presence, http://raystedman.org/olivet/oliv07.html)
Ezekiel 37 seems to be closer to a description of the literal resurrection of Israel than commentators have thought. Note that Ezekiel 37 says that the whole house of Israel will be raised from the dead and then brought into their land. Concerning Ezekiel Chapter 37, J. Vernon McGee says this:
In this chapter we have the vision of the valley of dead bones which served as the basis for a Negro spiritual written some years ago, entitled, "Dem Bones." The interpretation of this chapter concerns the future restoration of Israel. That restoration has to do both with the national entity of Israel as well as the spiritual revival or restoration which the Lord announced in the preceding chapter. We have here a remarkable vision, and I would like to make it very clear that this vision does not have to do with the resurrection of the dead saints of the church. That is the giant leap in interpretation made by the many who spiritualize the prophetic section of the Old Testament. My friend, when we take prophecy literally, it will make sense. We are talking here about the nation Israel, and we are not talking about a spiritual or physical resurrection of individuals. In my notes I have labeled this chapter, "The Resurrection of Israel," and I think that is a good title, but it is sometimes misunderstood. Some think that I am referring to the raising of the dead from Abraham on. It has no reference to that, but it definitely refers to the nation of Israel. God gives to Ezekiel a real living parable and to do so He takes him to the valley of dead bones:
The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones [Ezek. 37:1].
Before Jerusalem was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, Ezekiel was transported to Jerusalem (see chapter. 8), and I do not believe God had any difficulty doing that. If man today can make a jet plane which can carry him halfway around the world in half a day, I see no reason why God cannot do something which is commensurate with who He is. So I don't think that God had any difficulty getting Ezekiel up and taking him to Jerusalem. Here again, I believe God literally moves Ezekiel. When Ezekiel says that He "carried me out in the spirit of the LORD," he is saying that the Spirit of the Lord carried him out to the valley which was full of bones.
And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, 10, they were very dry [Ezek. 37:2].
Back in 1849, Lewis Manly and his partner by the name of John Rogers crossed Death Valley in California to bring back supplies to the stranded Bennett-Arcane party. The Bennett-Arcane group had mistakenly wandered into Death Valley and would have perished if these two men had not crossed the valley to rescue them. They were actually the first white men to cross this valley and gaze upon its grand scene of death and desolation. Few men have seen such sights, but what Ezekiel saw some twenty-five hundred years earlier must have been even more bleak. He saw a vision of another "death valley," more desolate, more fearsome, and more awesome than Death V alley, California.
The valley which Ezekiel saw was filled with dead bones, and the thing which characterized them is that they were very dry and they were scattered.
And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, 0 Lord GOD, thou knowest [Ezek. 37:3].
These bones scattered all over the place are human bones, and the question that is put to Ezekiel is, "Can these bones live?" Ezekiel answers, "O Lord GOD, thou knowest." In other words, he said, "I don't see how they could. It's beyond me--You alone know whether these dead bones can live or not!"
Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, 0 ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD [Ezek. 37:4].
This is something rather ironical and even humorous. I have always insisted that God has a sense of humor, and here is an illustration of that. If you can't see where it's funny, that's all right--just pass it by. But imagine Ezekiel now as God says to him, "Prophesy on these bones. Start out by saying, 'O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.'" I have a notion Ezekiel said, "Now, Lord, you really don't mean for me to start talking to these dry bones here! The man with the white coat and the net will be out looking for me if I do that!" Really, that isn't a very good sermon introduction is it? No preacher would begin by saying to his Sunday morning congregation, "Oh, you dry bones!" A friend of mine (who also has a good sense of humor) said to me, "You know, I have a congregation with which I'd like to begin as Ezekiel did--the bones I speak to are as dry as Ezekiel's--but I don't dare do that."
Ezekiel is looking out on this valley filled with dry bones, and he's to speak to them. Every congregation that a preacher speaks to includes those who are saved and those who are unsaved. Those who are saved may have ears to hear, but not hear. And the ones who are not saved are dead in trespasses and sins--they haven't been redeemed yet. The preacher is just as helpless as Ezekiel, for any preacher who understands the real state and condition of those who are lost recognizes his own helplessness in speaking to them. Ezekiel is to say to these bones, "I want you to hear what God has to say."
Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones, Behold I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live.
And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD [Ezek. 37:5-6].
God says, "I want you to speak to them and . tell them I'll be the One who will give them life." That is our condition today-if God . doesn't move, no one has spiritual life. I receive letters from people who say, "You saved me." My friend, I save no one. I just speak to dry bones, giving them the Word of God that's all I do. The Spirit of God is the One who has to bring life. That is the only way life can come. This is the application of these verses; we are going to see that they also have a tremendous interpretation.
So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone [Ezek. 37:7]."So I prophesied as I was commanded"--this man Ezekiel obeys God.
"There was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone." This is the point where that Negro spiritual, "Dem Bones," is really accurate when the bones start coming together. I'm of the opinion Ezekiel had a rather funny feeling when in his vision he saw all these bones come together!
And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them [Ezek. 37:8].
We have here a method which I want you to notice. The first state of the bones is that they are scattered, dry, and dead. Then gradually they come together, and the sinews and flesh come upon them. This is a process--it is not instantaneous at all. At this point in the vision all you have is a bunch of bodies, actually corpses; it is just an undertaking establishment down in that valley. They are no longer bones, but bodies with flesh upon them. They are human beings even, but they do not have any life in them.
Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.
So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, am' they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army [Ezek. 37:9-10].
Ezekiel spoke, and life came into those bodies. What happened here resembles the creation of man at the very beginning. God took man of the dust of the earth; Ezekiel started with bones, but God didn't. God started with just the dirt of the earth, and then He breathed life into man. Now what has happened to these bones has occurred in three stages: (I) they were scattered bones, just as dead as they could be; (2) then they came together, and flesh and skin came upon them--they were bodies, but dead bodies; and finally (3) they were made alive.
We will find in these three stages a real key to understanding Bible prophecy concerning the nation Israel.Now this verse explains the meaning of the vision:
Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts [Ezek. 37:11].
"Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel." We are not talking here about the church; we are talking about the house of Israel.
"Behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts." You see, the people in captivity had gone from one extreme to another. As long as Jerusalem had stood and the false prophets continued to say they would return, they maintained a false hope. Now that Jerusalem has been destroyed, they go to the other extreme-they have what psychologists call manic depressive psychosis. They are in a bad state: they were high up one day, but now they have hit the very depths. They say, "We have no hope." This vision is being given to them to let them know they do have a hope, and it is for the whole house of Israel.
Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel [Ezek. 37:12].
After reading this verse, someone is apt to say, "Wait a minute. You said this vision was not concerning physical resurrection." I still insist upon that. Let's drop down to verse 21:
And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into I their own land [Ezek. 37:21].
This is what God meant in verse 12 when He said, "I will cause you to come up out of your graves." Israel is buried in the nations of the world, and they are to be brought back and become a nation again. I want to say something very carefully now concerning the three stages of the bones Ezekiel saw. I have said they are the key to understanding the future of the nation Israel, and I now want to add that if there is any place we have fulfilled prophecy it is in these three stages. I don't go much for finding prophecy being fulfilled on every hand, but I do see it here. Follow me carefully: The nation Israel was buried and scattered in the nations of the world, and was dead to God, dead to the things of God--that's the first stage of the bones that we saw. Now since 1948 they have come back as a nation, but it is really a corpse over there today. They have a flag, they have a constitution, they have a prime minister, and they have a parliament. They have a police force and an army. They have a nation, and they even have Jerusalem. They have everything except spiritual life. If you walk from the old Arab section of Jerusalem where Islam dominates and come over into the Israeli section, there is no spiritual life. I want to say this kindly, but, as far as I am concerned, there is as much spiritual deadness on the one side as the other. There is a great deal more of that which is materialistic, which is intellectual, and which denotes civilization on the Israeli side, but there is no spiritual life whatsoever. This is symbolized by the second stage of the bones--bodies, but without life. That is where Israel stands today.
In verses 15-28 Ezekiel mentions two sticks. I will not go into any detail here other than to say that they typify the northern (Israel) and southern (Judah) kingdoms which will again become one nation. This means, my friend, that there must not be any "ten lost tribes of Israel"--at least, if there are, God knows where they are, and I am confident that it is not Great Britain which will be joined to them in that land!
And I will make them one nation in the land Upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all [Ezek. 37:22].
God will make them one nation.
And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them [Ezek. 37:24].
That one Shepherd is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. When He came, He was born in the line of David. Read Matthew I; Luke 1-2--both very carefully record that He came in the line of David. The One that came in that line is the Shepherd, and He will rule over them. I personally believe that God will raise up David to reign over Israel, either in the Millennium or in the eternal kingdom which will be ushered in immediately following the Millennium. Some commentators say he will reign in the Millennium; others say it will be the eternal kingdom. I believe he will reign during both, that he will serve as the vice-regent of the Lord Jesus Christ down here on this earth.
And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore [Ezek. 37:28].
This is going to come to pass--it has not yet come to pass. "When my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore." There will be a millennial temple and an eternal temple down here on the earth. In Revelation where it speaks of there not being a temple, it is referring to the New Jerusalem, which is where the church will be and which is not to be upon this earth. The eternal home of the children of Israel will be upon this earth, and God's temple will be in their midst. Although there is no doubt that Israel is the subject of Ezekiel, and especially of chapters 37-39, we can certainly make an application of it for our personal lives. The world that you and I live in today is a death valley, full of dead bones, dead people, if you please. Oh, people talk about being alive and say they are where the action is, but they are really dead in trespasses and sins. They have no spiritual life. That is the reason they have to have a drink or two, or take some sort of drugs, or do something to liven up the old corpse.
God has made it very clear that "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life" (I John 5: 12). If you have the Son of God, you have life. If you do not have the Son, you are dead. There are two kinds of people: live people and dead people. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him" (John 3:36). That means that the person without the Son is dead.
God is saying to you today that you are dead if you are not a Christian. Ye dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord. You can come to life. Accept Jesus Christ as your Savior. This is the application we can draw from this portion of Scripture, but the subject of the prophecy is the nation Israel. (Through the Bible with J. Vernon McGee, Pasadena 1982)
Prayers for Israel From Long Ago: The Hebrew Prophetic Future Verb Tense
Verb tenses are not as clearly specified in the Hebrew language as they are in English. In a number of prophetic passages of the Old Testament the verbs are commonly translated as past tense in our English Bibles. However, the prophetic future tense can equally well be used. (Note: When the Hebrew letter waw is added before a word it means "and." When added as a suffix it means "his." Waw before a verb indicates a change of the tense of the verb from past to future and vice versa (a verb in the past tense with a waw in front of it is to be understood as future tense).
Notice in the passage quoted below how the words of the prophet Habakkuk take on new meaning for the end of the age if one switches the verb tenses from past tense to future.
Habakkuk lived just before Nebuchadnezzar's siege and destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple so he was downhearted and grieved because God was bringing great Israel against the chosen people through a foreign people of even great wickedness. It was a dark hour for history similar to the hour that Israel faces in our own time, so Habakkuk's words and prayers applied both to his immediate situation. Yet his pray would seem to apply equally well to the end of the present age:
A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth. O LORD, I have heard the report of thee, and thy work, O LORD, do I fear. In the midst of the years renew it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.
God will come from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran (i.e., from Bozrah/Petra). His glory will cover the heavens, and the earth will be full of his praise. Selah. His brightness is like the light, rays flash from his hand; and there he will veil his power. Before him goes pestilence, and plague follows close behind. He will stand and measure the earth; he will look and shake the nations; then the eternal mountains will be scattered, the everlasting hills sink low. His ways will be as of old.
I see the tents of Cushan in affliction; the curtains of the land of Midian tremble. Is your wrath against the rivers, O LORD? Is your anger against the rivers, or your indignation against the sea, when you ride upon thy horses, upon your chariot of victory? You will strip the sheath from thy bow, and put the arrows to the string. Selah. You will cleave the earth with rivers. The mountains will see you, and writhe; the raging waters sweep on; the deep gives forth its voice, it lifts its hands on high. The sun and moon stand still in their habitation at the light of your arrows as they speed, at the flash of your glittering spear. You will stride the earth in fury, you will trample the nations in anger. You will go forth for the salvation of your people, for the salvation of your anointed. You will crush the head of the wicked (one), laying him bare from thigh to neck. Selah. You will pierce with your shafts the head of his warriors, who come like a whirlwind to scatter me, rejoicing as if to devour the poor in secret. You will trample the sea with your horses, the surging of mighty waters.
I hear, and my body trembles, my lips quiver at the sound; rottenness enters into my bones, my steps totter beneath me. I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us. Though the fig tree do not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like hinds' feet, he makes me tread upon my high places. (Habakkuk 3:1-19)
The Second Coming (Habakkuk 3:1-19)
In this description, Habakkuk [makes] five points concerning the Second Coming of the Messiah. First, he pointed out the place of the Second Coming (vs. 3a), God [will come] from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Teman is in Mount Seir, within the land of Edam or Southern Jordan, which is just north of the city of Bozrah. Mount Paran is in the Southern Negev, across the Arabah from Mount Seir. According to Micah 2:12-13, Isaiah 34:1-6 and 63:1-7, the initial place of the Second Coming will be the city of Bozrah or Petra. He will first come to the city of Bozrah or Petra, and from there He will move on into Israel. This verse gives the route that He will take. He will first go north of Bozrah or Petra till he comes to or by way of the city of Teman. From Teman, He will make His way down Mount Seir, cross the Arabah proper into the Negev Desert, and come by way of Mount Paran, and then into the land of Israel from the southeast. So as to place, He will return to Israel from the direction of Teman in Edam and Mount Paran in the Southern Negev.
Secondly, when the Second Coming occurs, it will come in conjunction with the Shekinah Glory (vss. 3b-5). The Shekinah Glory at the Second Coming is described in five ways: first, the Glory will cover the earth, secondly, the brightness will be the brightness of light; thirdly, rays will issue from His hands, fourthly, there will be a bright light that will hide His power, and, fifthly, the Glory will be destructive against the sinners, because these rays coming out of His hands will ~ be death rays by which He is going to destroy the enemy--the armies of the Antichrist.
The third thing about the Second Coming of the Messiah is the effect it will . have upon the nations (vss. 6-7). It will have two effects: first, the nations will be driven asunder; and, secondly, they will be filled with fear. The fourth thing describes the oath of God (vss. 8-11). The judgment of God will affect the waters, so the question will be raised (vs. 8), "Was it against the waters that the judgment of the second coming came?" The answer will be, "No" (vs. 9). The judgment came because of God's oath to save the tribes of Israel. But (vss. 9-10) the earth and water will be affected by the judgment, and so will the heavens (vs. 11).
The fifth thing about the Second Coming (vss. 12-15) will be the Campaign of Armageddon. Here Habakkuk [makes] four points. First, there will be the marching of the Messiah, and the threshing of the nations (vs. 12; the same point is made in Isaiah 63:1-6). Secondly, the reason why He will thresh the nations at the Second Coming will be for the salvation of Israel (vs. l3a). Before He comes, Israel will be saved spiritually, and when He comes Israel will be saved physically from their enemies. Thirdly (vss. l3b-14a), he describes the fall of the Antichrist: Thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked man.. . Thou didst pierce with his own staves the head of his warriors. The word "head" is singular, so there is only one ruler over all the armies of all the nations. This one head will be the Antichrist himself. That head will receive a deadly and fatal wound. The fourth thing about the Campaign of Armageddon is that it will lead to the fall of the Gentile nations (vss. l4b-15). (Arnold Fruchtenbaum, The Book of Habakkuk, http://www.ariel.org)
Isaiah Chapters 24 through 27 are often called "The Little Apocalypse" because of the prophet's description of this end-time period, "the time of Jacob's trouble" for Israel (Jer. 30).
"Behold, the LORD will lay waste the earth and make it desolate, and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants. And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the slave, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the creditor, so with the debtor. The earth shall be utterly laid waste and utterly despoiled; for the LORD has spoken this word. The earth mourns and withers, the world languishes and withers; the heavens languish together with the earth. The earth lies polluted under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched, and few men are left. The wine mourns, the vine languishes, all the merry-hearted sigh. The mirth of the timbrels is stilled, the noise of the jubilant has ceased, the mirth of the lyre is stilled. No more do they drink wine with singing; strong drink is bitter to those who drink it. The city of chaos is broken down, every house is shut up so that none can enter. There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine; all joy has reached its eventide; the gladness of the earth is banished. Desolation is left in the city (Jerusalem), the gates are battered into ruins. For thus it shall be in the midst of the earth among the nations, as when an olive tree is beaten, as at the gleaning when the vintage is done..."
The Final Conversion of Israel
Israel's national prayer for their Messiah to come and to forgive them is found in Hosea Chapter 5 beginning at verse 15. Many believe this prayer must be prayed by the nation as a precondition for their national salvation in the coming of Yeshua the Messiah to save them:
I [the LORD] will return again to my place, until they [Israel] acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress they seek me, saying, Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn, that he may heal us; he has stricken, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. Let us know, let us press on to know the LORD; his going forth is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth." (Hosea 5:15-6:3).
Earlier we traced the escape of a remnant of some thousands--perhaps tens of thousands--of believing Jews from Jerusalem to Petra which will take at the time of the desecration of the Third Temple at the mid-point of the tribulation period.
As the age comes to a full close many passages of Scripture speak of the national conversion of Israel. We have seen that the imagery of the trampling out of the vineyard and the blood like grape juice flowing as high as a horse's bridle up and down the length of Israel will be Jewish blood as God judges the apostate majority of Jews in the land of Israel. In this terrible time for Israel, millions of men from invading Gentile armies fighting World War III in Israel will also meet their violent end. All the while the terrible judgments from God depicted in the Book of the Revelation will devastate the entire earth. Most of mankind will perish and the great infrastructures of the past thousand of years of civilization will be destroyed.
Yet Paul argues in Romans 11 that in spite of all this, "all Israel will be saved."
Lest you [Gentiles] be wise in your own conceits, I want you to understand this mystery, brethren: a hardening has come upon part of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles come in, [to the church] and then all Israel will be saved; as it is written, "The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob"; "and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins." As regards the gospel they are [now] enemies of God, for your sake; but as regards election they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. Just as you were once disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may receive mercy. For God has consigned all men to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all. O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?" "Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory for ever. Amen. (Romans 11:25-36)
Paul is careful to make clear that he is not speaking of each and every Jew being converted, but true Israel is limited to those who ultimately believe in Yeshua within the nation. Just how many Jews will be saved at the very end of the age? That is, a "true Jew" is one who has the same faith Abraham had.
Though our own nation, the United States, contains a professing Christian population that appears to number many tens of millions of believers, it is more realistic to say that the "believing remnant" in America today is perhaps only 5 to 10% of those professing faith in Jesus Christ. Thus the future large-scale conversion of Jews to belief in Yeshua at the close of the age will represent a very great work of grace by the God of Israel. A final conversion of one-third of the populace of Israel will surely be very large in percentage compared to the size of the fractional wheat harvest from among the Gentiles. The end result of Yeshua's work in Israel at the end of the age will be a completely righteous nation of believers chosen to be the head of all the nations.
Isaiah wrote these words about 700 BC:
On this mountain (Mt. Zion) the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of fat things, a feast of wine on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wine on the lees well refined. And he will destroy on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil [of pride and spiritual blindness] that is spread over all nations. (2 Cor. 4:3,4) He will swallow up death for ever (1 Cor. 15:54), and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth (Rev. 21:4); for the LORD has spoken.
It will be said on that day, "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation." For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain [Jerusalem], and Moab [Jordan] shall be trodden down in his place, as straw is trodden down in a dung-pit. And he will spread out his hands in the midst of it as a swimmer spreads his hands out to swim; but the LORD will lay low his pride together with the skill of his hands. And the high fortifications of his walls he will bring down, lay low, and cast to the ground, even to the dust.
In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: "We have a strong city; he sets up salvation as walls and bulwarks. Open the gates, that the righteous nation which keeps faith may enter in. Thou dost keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusts in thee. Trust in the LORD for ever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock. For he has brought low the inhabitants of the height, the lofty city. He lays it low, lays it low to the ground, casts it to the dust. The foot tramples it, the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy." The way of the righteous is level; thou dost make smooth the path of the righteous. In the path of thy judgments, O LORD, we wait for thee; thy memorial name is the desire of our soul. My soul yearns for thee in the night, my spirit within me earnestly seeks thee.
For when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. If favor is shown to the wicked, he does not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness he deals perv