Thankful that God's forever doesn't have to be forever

“And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 

The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: 

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.” (Rev. 14:9-11).

“For a fire is kindled in Mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains. 

I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend Mine arrows upon them. 

They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust. 

The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs. 

I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men.” (Deut. 32:22-26).

Sometimes the ways of God are incomprehensible. His strange act seems overly harsh. His discipline seems overbearing. His anger seems like sin. Yet, how can a holy God sin? How can the God of love ever be anything but loving?

Can we be humbled and drawn away from our self-sufficiency and natural-born pride by God’s infinite expressions of disapproval? That is the question we need to answer. Probably more than the ever burning hell misconception that has driven so many away from Protestantism and into atheism, God’s punishments have offended and caused the whole world to desire the service to Satan. As King of kings and Prophet of prophets, God as Preacher of preachers is the ultimate “preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5).

Therefore, the devil easily uses his “happy” Ashtoreth mask to woo the world away into his do-as-you-please camp and away from God’s firm stance against sin. Yet, the divine Preacher of righteousness doesn’t back down from His stance. The Father of glory, “with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (Jas. 1:17), and who says, “I am the LORD, I change not” (Mal. 3:6), remains unbending for our sakes. His remnant would certainly all be lost if He ever deviated from His infinitely high, enduring standard. We tremble before the Law of God because something in us causes us to doubt that we can trust the Law. Despite our profession of service, none of us are wholly surrendered to God’s good will. Our fallen nature won’t let us be completely trusting and committed to Him. But, His mercy maintains us in our journey to His holiness and His firm truth is our stability. When His righteousness has brought us to surrender, then we are glad in His peace.

In what seems an eternal darkness, He has grinded us down and shapen us into His image. His working for our redemption seems eternal.

“The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars; whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills. 

O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin, throughout all thy borders. And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in Mine anger, which shall burn for ever. ” (Jer. 17:1-4).

But, His ever-burning wrath is not a human ever-burning wrath that is full of malice and the cruel venom of asps, and does last forever.

“The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. 

He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. 

He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. ” (Ps. 103:8-10).

Divine wrath doesn’t change divine love. Those judgments were Jesus’ judgments. The Messiah, the Wonderful Counselor, the Prince of peace. His judgments were aimed at the present tyranny. “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.” (Isa. 11:4). All of His forever wrath is made to humble His children into meekness, and then to deal with all who refused to be humbled.

His wrath consigns the tyrannical to an unchangeable state of death. And it also delivers a remnant that have been grinded down and shapen into righteousness by the abuse of the tyrannical. His wrath separates the genuine rebels from the apparent rebels. It separates those who Jesus can redeem from those who have given themselves completely over to Satan. Under  the overly unbearable thunders of God everyone who desires to repent will repent, and everyone who is determinedly atheistic will be driven to utter darkness. This is the purpose of God in His “forever wrath” and His authoritative judgments.

“I have forsaken Mine house, I have left Mine heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of My soul into the hand of her enemies. 

Mine heritage is unto Me as a lion in the forest; it crieth out against Me: therefore have I hated it. 

Mine heritage is unto Me as a speckled bird, the birds round about are against her; come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour. 

Many pastors have destroyed My vineyard, they have trodden My portion under foot, they have made My pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. 

They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourneth unto Me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart. 

The spoilers are come upon all high places through the wilderness: for the sword of the LORD shall devour from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh shall have peace. 

They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns: they have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit: and they shall be ashamed of your revenues because of the fierce anger of the LORD. 

Thus saith the LORD against all Mine evil neighbours, that touch the inheritance which I have caused My people Israel to inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them. 

And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them out I will return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land. 

And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of My people, to swear by My name, The LORD liveth; as they taught My people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built in the midst of My people. 

But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the LORD. ” (Jer. 12:7-17).

“Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me. 

I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against Him, until He plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: He will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold His righteousness.…

In the day that thy walls are to be built, in that day shall the decree be far removed. 

In that day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, and from the fortress even to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain. 

Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings. 

Feed Thy people with Thy rod, the flock of Thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old. 

According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew unto him marvellous things. 

The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf. 

They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and shall fear because of thee. 

Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retaineth not His anger for ever, because He delighteth in mercy. 

He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. 

Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which Thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old. ” (Mic. 7:8,9,11-20).

“They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. 

Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee. 

And when the LORD saw it, He abhorred them, because of the provoking of His sons, and of His daughters.” (Deut. 32:17-19).

Was Jehovah unrighteous to threaten and burst forth in uncontrollable anger when He sees His children murdered under the direction of Moloch (Baal, Satan) and his priests, and at the hand of their parents?

“And He said, I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith. 

They have moved Me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked Me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. 

For a fire is kindled in Mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains. 

I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend Mine arrows upon them. 

They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust. 

The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs. 

I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men” (Deut. 32:20-26).

“For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them. 

O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end! 

How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up? 

For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges. 

For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter: 

Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps. 

Is not this laid up in store with Me, and sealed up among My treasures? 

To Me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste. 

For the LORD shall judge His people, and repent Himself for His servants, when He seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left. 

And He shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted, 

Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? let them rise up and help you, and be your protection. 

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. 

For I lift up My hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever. 

If I whet My glittering sword, and Mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to Mine enemies, and will reward them that hate Me.” (Deut. 32:28-41).

We have a good God. But He only seems good to those who are not among the genuine rebels. But, to which group, the thankful few or the angry majority, do we belong? Have we been privileged with God’s temporal blessings? So had the group against whom Jesus was whetting His glittering sword.

“He made him (Israel) ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and He made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock; 

Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape. 

…thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness….” (Deut. 32:13-15).

But, what did they do with all that prosperity? Were they thankful for His abundance? No. “Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked:… then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.” (Deut. 32:15).

Have we been privileged with God’s spiritual blessing, the gift of God? So had the above group.

“He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; He led him about, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. 

As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: 

So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.” (Deut. 32:10-12).

When Jesus begins His return, His divine presence will precede Him in the Latter Rain. And there will be two groups within His people waiting—the wise and the foolish. In Jesus’ Matthew 25:1-13 parable, both groups professed to eagerly look for their Lord. But, only some were actually ready, and the rest were not. And, in all actuality, those who were ready weren’t perfectly ready, because everybody was asleep. Everyone was in darkness, no one knew who dark the world had become. None of them looked worthy of being called virgin. Not until they woke up do we know who was wise and worth of salvation.

Not until we wake up will we know who of us is wise. Who will be wise and worthy of being suited up to give the Latter Rain? Who of us are being sealed, even today? Yes, the sealing has been happening since 1844. That may come as surprise to many Adventists today because we have lost the reality of the sealing. Revelation 7-10 are all about the seal of God and the mark of the beast. A post I wrote gives an overview of this. It is my  March 20, 2017 post.

Certainly, the wise virgins will be those who, during the tarrying time, feared before the righteous judgments of God. Who else, surrounded by a world with a palpable atmosphere of sin and idolatry, would expend the effort to be adding to their faith in case the time of trouble might be worse in reality than in anticipation? Who else would let the threats of a jealous God rumble against their sinfulness? Who else would stand before the Law of liberty, and not be able to deny that they were chiefest among sinners? To whom else would Paul’s experience apply,

“For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. 

And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. 

For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me…. 

But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. ” (Rom. 7:9-13).

Who else would conclude, “Wherefore the Law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” (Rom. 7:12).

Who else would wind up humbled before God, overwhelmed in despair, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Rom. 7:24). Who else would find themselves beseeching the Schoolmaster face to face, propelled by a faith that He gave them during the process of Romans 7?

And who else would find themselves justified by that struggle and its faith, and ready for Jesus’ appearance at the head of His Latter Rain?

“I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the Law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. 

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. ” (Rom 7:25-8:2).

Therefore, were it not for the firm judgments of God, His ever-burning wrath, the 144,000 would never be wise and able to trim their lamps for the Latter Rain. They would never be part of the sealing, the “great time of trouble such as never was”, Jacob’s troubles, and finally the visible return of Jesus in power.

At this time of Thanksgiving, even though darkness is covering the earth and gross darkness the people, even though a great evil is sweeping over the world, we can be thankful that these are the fierce judgments of God that will be perfectly tailored to arrest our fixation on the things of the world, and turn our whole heart to our coming Saviour. We need His jealous punishment. We need His rod. His rod and staff settle us, comfort us, and establish us in Him.

“I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against Him, until He plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: He will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold His righteousness.” (Mic. 7:9).