Judgment Day
What exactly is Judgement Day? Many read about it about in books. Many Hollywood films have offered their interpretation of it only for box office receipts because it is no doubt an intriguing topic to draw moviegoers. But, is it a real future event that is coming upon the world or it is fantasy?
Do we really have to deal with an actual judgment of God once He removes all the believers from the earth and the wicked are left behind? That’s what the best-selling novels by Jerry Jenkins and Tim LaHaye discuss right?
The judgment of God is indeed real, but to get a correct view of what will happen, we must go to the scriptures.
There are numerous passages in the Old and New Testaments that deal with not only the Judgment of God or what Revelation 6 called the Wrath of the Lamb, but Judgment Day itself – when Jesus returns to earth to destroy his enemies and set up His eternal kingdom on earth.
a. Malachi – For behold the day of the Lord is coming, burning like an oven. Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming the great and dreadful day of the Lord (Malachi 4:1,5).
b. Zechariah – Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, and your spoil will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem. The city hall be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished (Zechariah 14:1-2a).
c. Zephaniah – The great day of the Lord I near; it is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the Lord is bitter. There the mighty men will cry out. The day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of devastation and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness (Zephaniah 1:14-15).
d. Matthew - 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 in heaven the sign of the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory (Matthew 24:29-30).
e. ll Thessalonians – And the lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing with the brightness of His coming (ll Thessalonians 2:8).
f. II Peter – But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a great roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and the dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed (II Peter 3:10).
g. Jude – It was about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam prophesied saying, “Behold the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him (Jude 14-15).
h. Revelation - And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”
Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in mid heaven, “Come, assemble for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great.” “And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.
And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh” (Revelation 19:11-21).
These passages given by eight different witnesses describe the day of the Lord or Judgment day. It will be the most horrific day in human history, and rest assured it is coming!
Why must this day take place? Because God must for His holiness sake judge the sins of the world. The world must go through a global cleansing in order for God to rid the earth of evil and usher in eternal peace.
Many doubt the return of the Lord. Why? Because the writers predicted Judgment Day centuries ago and it has not occurred yet.
Many mock at the return of Jesus Christ which is foolish. Listen to what Peter declares. Knowing this first of all, that scoffers (we would call them haters in today’s vernacular) will come in the last days (now) with their scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation” (II Peter 3:3-4).
Peter rebukes the ignorance of the naysayers stating that the world that existed at the beginning of creation is different from the world that exists now. The old world was destroyed by water – i.e. the Flood. This current world is reserved for destruction by fire (II Peter 3:5-7).
In Noah’s day God saw all the evil man was committing continually and declared that His Spirit would not always strive with man, and that he (man) had 120 years (Genesis 6:3).[1] God will not forever strive with man now either. God has even been more gracious now in that He has given man nearly two thousand years, since the time of Christ’s first coming to repent, and all of the world still commits evil continually.
Jesus’ return I believe cannot be that far away. Judgment Day is coming. Will you return with Him in glory (Revelation 19:11), or judged by Him in damnation (Revelation 20:15)?
[1] The 120 years in Genesis 6:3 has been interpreted in at least two ways. (1) the 120 years
supposedly became the life span God reduces man to due to his persistent sinfulness after the flood. Prior to the flood, men were living past 900 years old. This is unlikely because Abraham lived to be 175 years and his son Isaac lived 180 years. Jacob his grandson lived to be 147 years old. (2) the 120 years are the years Noah preached until the coming of the flood.
The author does not know of any other possible interpretations
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