The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Hosea 9:7a,
"The days of punishment are coming, the days of reckoning are at hand."
As the Lord brings his indictment against Israel, he lets them know that judgment is at hand. A frightful turn of events for this nation is headed their way at the hand of God for their abandonment of him.
I am reminded of the horrific judgment of God that faces the world. From time to time I think of the frightful future of all who reject God. While many who do so enjoy life here as it is, this life is so very short compared to all eternity that all mankind is ushered into following this life. For those who have embraced Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, there will be a bright and wonderful future of eternal pleasures at the right hand of God. For those who reject God's provision for escape from his judgment in Jesus Christ, there will be wrath and anger.
Paul tells us in Romans 2:6-11, "God 'will give to each person according to what he has done.' To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism."
Jesus spoke of the horrific nature of his judgment, "The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear." Matthew 13:41-43. Also verses 49-50, "This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Also, in the last book of our Bibles, we read, "The lake of fire is the second death. If any one's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." Revelation 20:14b-15. Another passage that comes to mind in Revelation is chapter 21:6-8, "He said to me: 'It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.'"
We all have fair warning: "The days of punishment are coming, the days of reckoning are at hand." It is my prayer that we all find ourselves safe in God's hands on that day!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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