CHAPTER NINE

Part 2

More Scriptures Which Warn  of the Fierceness of God’s Wrath

Isaiah 13:11: And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity, and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.

Isaiah 26:20-21:  Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.  For behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity:  the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.

Jeremiah 25:29:  For lo, I begin to bring evil on this city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished?  Ye shall not be unpunished:  for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of Hosts.

Verse 30:  Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.

Verse 31:  A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD  hath a controversy  (dispute) with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD.

Verse 32:  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.  (Could this be an ancient prophet’s description of a  mushroom cloud nuclear blast?  If so, it is indeed a prophecy for the  future, since nuclear weapons have not been used in warfare since they destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of WWII.

 Verse 33:  And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth:  they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.

Nahum 1: 2:  God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.  * * *This, despite the fact the next verse declares that the LORD is slow to anger. Yet there is no contradiction.  God’s long patience with this sinful planet  is not infinite, and the day of judgment against ungodly mankind will come.

Malachi 4:1:  For behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be as stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

Deut. 32: 39:  See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me:  I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal:  neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.

Verse 40: For I lift up my hand unto heaven and say, I live for ever.

Verse 41: If I whet my glittering sword and my hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.* * *Since bullies are estranged from Christ and they hate God’s attributes of love and mercy, and it follows that they also hate God Himself.

Verse 42: I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy.

Verse 43:  Rejoice, O ye nations with his people:  for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful to his land, and to his people.

Parallel verse in New Testament:  Revelation 18:20:  Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.

Isaiah 11:4: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove 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 shall he slay the wicked.

Isaiah 63:1:  Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah?  this is that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength?  I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.

Verse 2:  Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat?

Verse 3: I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me:  for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.

Verse 4: For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.

Verse 5:  And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold:  therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me, and my fury, it upheld me.

verse 6:  And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth.

Parallel Wrath Passages in New Testament

Revelation 14:19: And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the  great winepress of the wrath of God.

Verse 20:  And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.

Revelation 19:11:  And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

Verse 12:  His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.

Verse 13:  And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood:  and his name is called the Word of God (see John 1:1 and I John I:1).

Verse 14:  And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

Verse 15:  And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations:  and he shall rule them with a rod of iron:  and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.* * *Notice, God is not just mildly annoyed with sinners, there is a FIERCENESS about his righteous wrath. At that time, the hour of mercy will be past, and lamblike forbearance will turn to forever-BEAR-ance! 

Verse 16:  And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

Matt. 10:28:  And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul:  but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Luke 12:4:  And I say unto you, my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.

Verse 5:  But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear.  Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.

RELIGIOUS MYTH:  JESUS IS WAY TOO “NICE” TO EVER GET MAD.

Luke 19:27:  But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither and slay them before me.* * *In this parable, Jesus, the soon-coming King, is typified by the nobleman who went away into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. At His First Coming, Jesus came to give His life a ransom for many (Matt.20:28).  When He comes again, it will be to reign as King upon Planet Earth until he has put ALL enemies, human or demonic, under his feet (I Cor.15:25).

John 2:13:  And the Jews’ Passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

Verse 14:  And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:

Verse 15:  And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;

Verse 16:  And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise;

Verse 17:  And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. 

Matt. 24:48:  (Jesus speaking):  But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My Lord delayeth His coming;

Verse 49:  and shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;

Verse 50:  The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of.

Verse 51:  And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites:  there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.* * *This passage certainly applies to greedy “televangelists” who devour widows’ houses like the religious rats in Matt.23:14.

RELIGIOUS MYTH:  JESUS LOVES SINNERS SO MUCH, HE WILL ALWAYS TURNS A BLIND EYE TO WRONGS DONE TO HIS FOLLOWERS, AND WILL CERTAINLY OVERLOOK SINS AGAINST HIMSELF.

Matt. 25:41:  Then shall he (Jesus) say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:

Verse 42:  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink.

Verse 43:  I was a stranger, and ye took me not in:  naked, and ye clothed me not:  sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

Verse 44:  Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

Verse 45:  Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

Verse 46:  And these shall go away unto everlasting punishment:  but the righteous into life eternal.

RELIGIOUS MYTH: THE GOD OF WRATH AND JUDGMENT APPEARS NOWHERE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

If, as we established earlier, Jesus and His Father are One and the same God, and have been since before the creation of the world, Who is going to pour out the just wrath of God upon unrepentant sinners in the Day of Judgment?

JESUS!  He says of Himself in John 5:22:  FOR THE FATHER JUDGETH NO MAN, BUT HATH COMMITTED ALL JUDGMENT UNTO THE SON.

2 Thess. 1: 7:  And to you who are troubled (persecuted) rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels,

Verse 8:  In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:

Verse 9:  Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power;

Verse 10:  When He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.

Rev. 6: 15:  And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bond man, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;

Verse 16  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:

Verse 17:  For the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

Rev. 14:9: And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast (Antichrist) and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand,

Verse 10:  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; (note: This speaks of the vessels of wrath appointed to destruction) and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb (Jesus).

Verse 11:  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.* * *Here is a prime example of how deadly it can be to “follow the crowd.”  During the Great Tribulation, taking the Mark of the Beast will be the popular thing to do.  But it will forever end any chance for repentance and be a one-way ticket to hell. 

Rev. 16: 1  And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. 

Verse 2: And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.

Verse 3:  And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea, and it became as the blood of a dead man:  and every living soul died in the sea.

Verse 4:  And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters, and they became blood.

Verse 5:  And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.

Verse 6:  For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink, for they are worthy.

Verse 7:  And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. (note:  Remember, God the Father has committed ALL judgment unto His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and those who will not let Him be their Savior will have Him preside as their Judge unto eternal damnation).

Verse 8:  And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.

Verse 9:  And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues:  and they repented not to give him glory.

Verse 10:  And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness, and they gnawed their tongues for pain.

Verse 11:  And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.

RELIGIOUS MYTH:  CHRISTIANS WILL ALWAYS HAVE TO BEAR PATIENTLY WITH EVIL MEN NOW AND FOREVERMORE IN ORDER TO BE LIKE JESUS

Rev. 2:26:  And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:

VERSE 27:  And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers:  even as I received of my Father.

Contrary to popular belief, Jesus is to be loved with proper reverence, not whimsical sentiment.  Far better to let Him love you dearly as one of His very own cherished people than to be dealt with harshly later on as one of His enemies.

People act like they can come to Christ any old time they feel like it.  But I believe that in each person’s life there’s an expiration date on Christ’s offer of salvation  known only to Himself. As II Corinthians 6:2 says:  For he saith,  I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation.  This scripture is echoed in Isaiah 49:8:  Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee. If anybody thinks it’s his prerogative to decide which day of his life will be God’s chosen time to save him  from sin and its penalty, that’s the most dangerous form of Russian Roulette anybody can play.  The stakes couldn’t be higher:  either life in heaven with Jesus or eternity in a devil’s hell.

Hardly anybody ever stops to consider:  Jesus shed His blood to save sinners, but that blood is still God’s property to do with as He pleases.  It is only by sheer undeserved mercy that He decides to apply it to the heart of a repentant sinner to wash his heart whiter than snow.  It’s still HIS Blood.  As High Priest of heaven, Jesus presides over the sprinkling of it to wash away sins committed by sinners and backsliders.  So don’t indulge in immorality, then  assume you can always take a quick dip in the Blood to disinfect yourself after you’ve had your fun and things will be all right afterward. That’s reducing God’s grace to the same level as popping penicillins after a visit to the local cathouse. That attitude amounts to:  “Well, the night’s over, I’ve gotta go to my heavenly Blood bank to get an antidote for  ‘Go-to-hell-itis’.  Just in case I get run over by a pickup truck before I go see my sweetie again.”

Now I’m going to address a sticky question. Lots of people bank on “Once-saved-always-saved”. But don’t bank on getting an easy antidote to sin and its consequences from Christ’s heavenly Blood Bank  when you decide you’re tired of one-night stands and  all-night boozers.  In  I Samuel 3: 10-14 we read where God is so disgusted by the actions and attitude of a family of priests that He refuses to allow their sin of their house to be purged away by sacrifice ever again.  Eli the high priest’s two wild sons treated the animal sacrifices of the Lord with contempt.  They would violently seize the worshippers’ raw meat off the pot hooks just as it was about to be boiled according to instructions written in Exodus 29:31 and Leviticus 8:31.   In that way they supplied raw meat to Eli so he could gratify his lust  for roasted flesh. Quite possibly Eli’s son ran an illicit butcher business on the side. But their trespass against the Lord involved much more. It was a spiritual sin.  In Old Testament times, offering animal sacrifices was an outward ritual which reflected faith in God as Redeemer from sin and its penalty. Old Testament sacrifices were sacred in the eyes of God, for they pointed toward Christ’s future, final Sacrifice of Himself. By profaning those temporary animal sacrifices those two bully-boys severed their only  lifeline to eternal life.

Phineas and Hophni were among those counted by God as “vessels of wrath fitted unto destruction”, spoken of in Romans 1: 21-28, predestined to eternal perdition (I Peter 2:8).  God foreknew from the beginning that these two apostate priests would  trample underfoot His Covenant of mercy and salvation, so God had no other choice but to consign them to being vessels of wrath, that He might to pour out into them the unmitigated mixture of His dread wrath on the awful Day of Judgment spoken of in Revelation 20:11-15.  In that terrible day the books will be opened.  Now there might have been other men named “Phineas” or “Hophni” throughout the centuries, but the Book of Life will be thoroughly searched  for two particular men named “Phineas and Hophni” , who were sons of Eli, who ministered as High Priest during the Prophet Samuel’s youth.  They will not be found written in the Book of Life and so they will meet the same fate as other reprobates who had been temporarily raised from the dead...straight out of  hell, God’s death row for unrepentant sinners.  Then they will land in their final destination, the Lake of Fire, to burn with their evil father satan forever and ever.

Just recently there was a news story about two adult men who tormented a teenage boy by preventing him from getting out of a deep swimming hole.  Whenever the poor youth attempted to climb out, the two men would throw rocks at him or hit him with sticks, forcing him back into the water.  The teenager eventually drowned.

Those two psychos got sentenced to a piddly 5-1/2 years in jail.  Big deal, they’ll probably be out again before you know it, looking for another cheap thrill.  The court’s anemic sentence was based on the supposition that it was  just a “bit of fun” that went way too far. But unless that teenage boy knew Christ as Savior, this murder did far more than kill his body.  His murderers decided that he would immediately have to meet the Judge of all the universe without further opportunity to make peace with Him.

Murderous bullies who mock and scoff, thinking that if there IS a God He’s too cool to send them to a hot place like hell, ought to consider: They’re literally playing with fire!  It would take an infinite degree of mercy for God to grant such recreational killers repentance unto eternal life, seeing they closed someone else’s window of opportunity for salvation. God is not mocked!

Jesus did say, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” The word “for” means “because”.  Christ’s killers didn’t know what they were doing. Maybe there was a time long, long ago when most cruel people COULD have been moved to repentance through tender pity and kindness.  But today’s bullies are cold-blooded reptiles, dead to God and dead to basic decency.  We live in a day of desperate evil, when conscienceless creatures torture and kill just for the hell of it. Earth is about to enter the Tribulation Period, when profound darkness will enshroud the earth  (Isa.60:2). Many modern sinners scoff at God’s tender mercy  and fling it back into His face in utter contempt. Most likely, those evil murderers would be absolutely tickled to death if they knew they’d sent another soul to hell!

Why Has Christ Been So Merciful?

Jesus offered Himself as a Sacrificial Lamb, Who willingly took upon Himself the sins of the world. Isaiah 53:6 says:  All we like sheep have gone astray.  We have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.  Because Christ was suffering for our sins, He  did not defend Himself.  He could have called twelve legions of angels down from heaven to protect him (Matt. 26:53). Instead, He took our punishment.  His disciples shared in His sufferings. For two thousand years God’s people have borne patiently with privations, persecutions and afflictions so that God could call sinners unto Himself by demonstrating His love through His people. In the coming Kingdom Age it will be Paradise on earth, even for mortal man. At that time no believer will ever have to suffer persecution. Those who commit wickedness will be executed by Christ Himself (Isa.11:4b).

For those who love Him, God’s  mercy endures forever.  But God’s patience does not endure forever for sinners.  It’s stupid to take it for granted.    In these final days before the appearing of Christ we see scoffers walking after their own lusts and sneering: Where is the promise of his coming?  For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation (2 Peter 3: 3-4).   Because sentence against an evil work  is not immediately executed, men’s hearts are set on doing evil, endlessly (Ecclesiastes 8:11).  And verse 12 says it is even possible those wicked people might live out long lives. 

The danger lies in taking God’s mercy for granted. He is under no obligation to show the same degree of forbearance  toward one sinner as another. The youths who taunted Elisha got for-BEAR-ance instead!

Today the Love of Jesus is the only aspect of His nature presented to lost sinners by many well-meaning evangelists.  Don’t get me wrong, we ALL need love, and nothing is greater than God’s love.  But we do people no favor by modernizing Jesus to fit in with warm and fuzzy churchianity which emphasizes only His love.  There is another, equally necessary, side to Jesus’ nature, which will be fully manifest in the soon-coming judgments of Revelation. It is not enough to mention the sweet love of Jesus and the heaven that awaits the redeemed. People need to be told that they  expose themselves to the wrath of God by rejecting Christ, although that is a very unfashionable and very politically incorrect thing to do these days.  God will not settle for partial obedience.  Jude 23 says: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:11:  Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.

PROHPETIC WORD

The Name of the Wicked Shall Rot

Psalms 5:1; 7:11;Prov.10:7; 18:10; 13:20; Isaiah 49:16

Oh, how bold and brash bullies are as they tread upon the sick, the weak, the despised and the poor!  How the man of violence boasts of his numberless allies, his weapons, his unending strength and power! The righteous despair that the cruelest of men live long lives in health, strength and pleasures as they trample upon those who are voiceless and without influence in a wicked world gone astray from its Creator.

The righteous cries “How long, O Lord? How long until you vindicate those who trust in you and put an end to the endless reign of satan in the earth?  How long until You finally run out of patience with those who trample underfoot the helpless and rob their weary victims?  Why is it that the most depraved sinners enjoy the best this world offers, and everyone seems to love and praise them and want to be like them?

The candle of the wicked burns brightly but for a moment, but I shall surely snuff it out, saith the Lord Almighty.  It does not burn with My Holy Light, but it shoots off sparks of arrogance and pride. NATURALLY wicked people will accumulate plenty of  friends and followers.  Fallen man is naturally attracted to that which is carnal and exciting, regardless of how sinful it is.  People hero-worship the strongest, the best-looking, and the richest characters in their society, even if they are cruel, wicked beasts.  The friends of the wicked bully are no better than he is and shall meet the same eternal fate, because they approve of the bully’s wicked deeds.

Only eternity matters, My dear children. All the wicked have is the perverse enjoyment of sin in the earth, and soon even that shall be taken from them. If you’re walking with Me now in the Spirit of Christ and seeking the ways of holiness, you will be honored in the world to come after satan is deposed.  In that day you will share the  Throne of My Glory in a renewed Paradise earth which has been thoroughly scrubbed clean of wicked sinners. Yes, it shall be completely purged of rebels who despise my Name.

I will surely cleanse the earth as no dishwashing machine ever could cleanse its contents. Just as a man turns a dish over and over in hot soapy water, scrubbing and scraping off the grit and grime of past meals, I will make a thorough end of the residue of wickedness in the earth. Floods of My indignation and My just wrath against sin shall wash and rinse away the filth of the wicked-doer’s very presence. The heat of My fierce wrath shall sterilize the face of the earth to ready it for My coming in Glory.  The glory of the wicked is an abomination in My sight.  The glory of the wicked is the misery he inflicts while he lives upon the earth.  The wicked takes pleasure in the pain of others. He feasts upon the tears of others. The wicked feeds on filth like the lowly worm he is.

The wicked leaves a disgusting legacy of destruction, rot and ruin in the earth.  Even a wicked person’s name is an abomination to Me.  I hate all unrepentant sinners infinitely more than a skilled surgeon hates disease pathogens in his operating theater.  But if you know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, your own name is written on the palms of My hands.  It is recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life.  What greater place of honor could you desire than to reign with Me in My coming Kingdom?  Those you ministered to lovingly in the name of Christ will call the very memory of you blessed, long after you leave your present life in this earth.

By contrast, the name of the wicked shall be trodden underfoot as garbage.  Their name shall die in infamy in the flames of hell as the wicked perish for the evil they have done on the earth.  I created this universe for the benefit and inheritance of My children, not for the wicked to defile like mad dogs soiling a sidewalk.

The Name of the Lord is a strong Tower.  My righteous ones take refuge in it and are safe from fear of destruction. Those who name the name of Jesus and are connected to Him by faith have a blessed name, for Christ is their true identity and their all-sufficiency.  My people are not to look unto this fallen, wicked world to validate their worth as people.  All that is identified with this present world system is destined to be destroyed by fire. 

The wicked has had his/her day, and I am bringing down the curtain on the sad old era of satan’s oppression of the earth.  The devil and his children are about to see the seven cups of My terrible wrath poured out in the earth, and these bitter cups shall be drunk to the dregs by those whose name shall rot in outer darkness throughout all eternity.