LOVE, MERCY, FORGIVENESS AND CHASTISEMENT
Copyright 1994 - 2008 Endtime Prophecy Org
Last Updated : July 23, 2006
Pride, The Unrepentant Sinner, The Evil Heart, A Root Of
Bitterness, True Test Of Christian Love, Defining 'Offend',
The Apostasy, Steps Of Forgiveness, True Repentance, Love Is
Blind, Mutual Reconciliation, Mercy, Reciprocal Forgiveness,
Sign Of Our Faith, Expanded Steps For Reconciliation, Power
Of Prayer, Forgive And Forget?, God's Eternal Record Books,
Strangers And Foreigners, Pray For Heathen?, Unforgivable
Sin and Blasphemy Against The Holy Ghost, Human And Divine
Capital Punishment, Divine Love And Chastisement, God's Cup
Of Wrath, Sudden Fiery Destruction, Love - The Only Answer
Perhaps some of the hardest words to say in the English
language are 'I am sorry; I was wrong; please forgive me.'
Even though we know full well that we have said or done
something wrong which has terribly hurt or offended another
human being, our pride is so strong, that oft times not only
will we stubbornly refuse to humbly seek forgiveness, but we
will not even be willing to admit that we are guilty of the
crime of which we have been accused. That old pride of ours
just bursts out of our chest like an over-inflated balloon
which repels anyone who tries to draw close to us in order
to show us the error of our ways. Oh, our hearts can be so
evil and so wicked! The Prophet Jeremiah knew all about
this. That is why he said in one place:
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately
wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9)
In the New Testament, we are told that Jesus Christ knew
exactly what was in the heart of man. On one occasion after
He had apparently done some miracles in Jerusalem, the
Apostle John relates the following incident concerning our
Lord:
"Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast
day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles
which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them,
because he knew all men, And needed not that any should
testify of man: for he knew what was in man."
(John 2:23-25)
Exactly what is in the heart of man? Jesus answered this
question quite directly in the Gospel of Matthew when He
told Peter and the rest of the Disciples the following:
"...Are ye also yet without understanding? Do not ye yet
understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth
into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? But those
things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the
heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed
evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts,
false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which
defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a
man." (Matthew 15:16-20)
What some people don't realize is that the longer they cling
to their pride, and stubbornly refuse to admit the error of
their ways, and humbly seek forgiveness from those whom they
have hurt or offended, the harder they will also fall when
it comes time for the Lord to deal with them; and He most
certainly will in His perfect time! This thought is clearly
brought out in the following verse from the Book of
Proverbs:
"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit
before a fall." (Proverbs 16:18)
It is much better for us if we humble ourselves, tuck our
pride back down in our shirt, confess our faults, and seek
forgiveness, than to have to face the consequences for
continuing to yield ourselves to the rebellion of our own
proud stubborn hearts. As the Apostle Paul wrote:
"It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living
God...For our God is a consuming fire."
(Hebrews 10:31, 12:29)
Recently, a dear sister in the Lord asked me for some advice
concerning a serious problem she was having with another
member of her family. According to her story, some time ago,
this person had committed an evil act of violence against
her. Just as I described above, even though it was widely
known that this person had hurt her in this way, he had
never sought for her forgiveness; and in fact, he refused to
acknowledge that he had even committed the crime. While this
sister had thought that she had forgiven this person, a
later incident revealed to her that perhaps she really
hadn't; and that maybe a root of bitterness had taken hold
in her heart. The Apostle Paul spoke of the danger of such
things in his Epistle to the Hebrews when he wrote:
"Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no
man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently lest any man fail
of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing
up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;"
(Hebrews 12:14-15)
That word 'bitterness' is derived from the Greek word
'pikria', which is pronounced pik-ree'-ah. My Greek lexicon
provides the following definitions for this word:
----- Begin Quote -----
1) bitter gall
1a) extreme wickedness
1b) a bitter root, and so producing a bitter fruit
1c) metaph. bitterness, bitter hatred
----- End Of Quote -----
Once bitterness against another person takes root in one's
heart, it can be extremely difficult to rid oneself of it.
It is just like an ugly weed growing in the middle of a
beautiful flower garden. We might use a machete or perhaps a
lawn mower to chop it off at ground level, thus giving the
false impression that we have rid ourselves of it, but
unless we totally remove the root, with time, that same old
ugly weed will grow right back again to defile the beautiful
landscape we have so carefully and patiently created. What
is even worse is that each time we cut off the top of that
weed, the roots continue to grow and strengthen themselves
below ground level. In fact, depending upon its type, that
weed might even spread its hidden roots and produce similar
weeds which will do even more damage to our once-beautiful
flowerbed. Obviously, that flowerbed represents our life and
those we immediately affect in it; and this we will indeed
do, whether we realize it or not. While trying to resolve a
problem in the church at Rome regarding those who ate meat,
and those who didn't, the Apostle Paul made the following
comment:
"For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to
himself." (Romans 14:7)
Thus, as the Apostle Paul wrote to the Hebrews, if we are
not careful, we can defile others with the negative thoughts
that we have towards that person who harmed or offended us;
just like that stubborn weed which secretly spreads its
roots underground. This dear sister then asked me a question
concerning forgiveness. She was wondering how a Christian
should respond in a situation such as the above where the
evildoer has not only refused to seek forgiveness, but will
not even confess to the crime. Are we still supposed to
forgive them? This is indeed a difficult situation which
most of us have faced at least once during our lifetime.
It is so much easier to forgive someone when they humbly
approach us seeking forgiveness; but in real life, this
simply isn't always the case as we have seen. It is at this
time in our lives that we are truly tested by such verses as
the following:
"Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye,
and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist
not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek,
turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at
the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke
also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with
him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that
would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Ye have heard that
it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate
thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless
them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray
for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That
ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven:
for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good,
and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye
love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even
the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only,
what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in
heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5:38-48)
"Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my
brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven
times: but, Until seventy times seven."
(Matthew 18:21-22)
As Jesus makes very clear, it is so easy to love those who
reciprocate our love with their own love. It is an equal
give and take situation; but this is not when the true
Christian character is tested; it is when the other person
does not respond to our love as we would hope, that we are
put on the spot with the Lord. In the case of a person who
has intentionally hurt us either physically or emotionally,
and who shows absolultely no signs of repentance, this is
when our Christian love and patience is stretched to the
limit. To fully understand this issue of offenses and
forgiveness, it is important that you realize that in the
Scriptures, the word 'offense' does not always carry the
same meaning. I explain this is detail in my article 'The
Urantia Book: A Dangerous New Age Doctrine'. In that article
I discuss how the followers of the Urantia Book, what I
refer to as the Unbelief Book, are leading people astray
through their false docrines. I then mention the fact that,
unless they repent, those deluded people are going to face
dire consequences in the day that they have to appear before
the Lord. To support this thought, I quote the following
verse:
"But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which
believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were
hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth
of the sea." (Matthew 18:6)
In the previous verse, the word 'offend' is derived from the
Greek word 'skandalizo'. It is from this word that we derive
our English words 'scandal' and 'scandalize'. While this
word is translated as 'offend' in the New Testament, the
Greek lexicon defines 'skandalizo' as 'putting a stumbling
block or impediment in the way, upon which another may trip
and fall'. Thus, in the above verse, Jesus is actually
warning those who, by whatever means, lead His lambs away
from the truth of the Scriptures. As you can see, this
definition is very different from the meaning most people
are familiar with. This idea of tripping or falling away
from the truth is directly related to what the Apostle Paul
stated concerning the conditions which would exist in the
Endtime. Please note what he said:
"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not
come, except there come a falling away first, and that man
of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;"
(2 Thessalonians 2:3)
Those words 'falling away' are derived from the Greek word
'apostasia' which is defined as 'a falling away, defection
or apostasy'. There are many reasons why people are falling
away, or stumbling, from the true Faith and doctrines of the
Bible, but this topic is amply discussed in other articles;
so I will not dwell upon it here. Jesus then continued to
warn against those who would offend His little ones by
saying:
"Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs
be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the
offence cometh!" (Matthew 18:7)
Thus again we see that these 'offences', or stumbling
blocks, from 'skandalon', are the lies, deceits and false
doctrines which are causing many to be led astray from their
faith in the Saving Grace of God through the atoning Blood
of Jesus Christ. Of course, as we all know, in our modern
day, this is not the only meaning of the word 'offend'. In
the Gospel of Luke, we find another account of these very
same teachings from our Lord. Notice, that after speaking of
offenses, Jesus continues His teaching by discussing
trespasses and forgiveness:
"Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that
offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they
come! It were better for him that a millstone were hanged
about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he
should offend one of these little ones. Take heed to
yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke
him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass
against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day
turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive
him." (Luke 17:1-4)
In the previous verses, the word 'trespass' is derived from
the Greek word 'hamartano', which is correctly pronounced
ham-ar-tan'-o. Of the forty-three times that it is used in
the New Testament, it is translated thirty-eight times as
'sin'. The Greek lexicon offers a variety of definitions for
this word. Consider the following:
----- Begin Quote -----
1) to be without a share in
2) to miss the mark
3) to err, be mistaken
4) to miss or wander from the path of uprightness and
honour, to do or go wrong
5) to wander from the law of God, violate God's law, sin
----- End Of Quote -----
As can be seen, the main thought seems to be to err, to be
mistaken, or to do or to go wrong. In the previous verses,
we see that it is understood to mean to do these things
against another person; and more specifically, to do them
against a brother in the faith. If we closely examine
Jesus's actual teachings in these verses from Luke, we see
that He is describing a process which involves four key
steps. These steps are the following:
1. the offense
2. the rebuke
3. the repentance
4. the forgiveness
If we were to behave ourselves like the rigid Scribes and
the Pharisees, then technically speaking, we cannot go
directly to step four from step one; we must first go
through steps two and three. In other words, if a person,
meaning a brother or sister in the Lord, offends you, you
are to rebuke him. If he humbly receives your rebuke and
repents of his sin, then you are to forgive him. At this
point, it might be good to explain exactly what is meant in
the Bible by the word 'repent'. In the world today, when we
hear this word, we usually think of the act of being sorry
for something we have said or done; however, as you will now
see, the true meaning of the word is much deeper than that.
Consider the following verses from the New Testament:
"From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent:
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 4:17)
"I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all
likewise perish." (Luke 13:3)
"And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God
is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel."
(Mark 1:15)
"And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now
commandeth all men every where to repent:" (Acts 17:30)
"As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous
therefore, and repent." (Revelation 3:19)
Over and over again we see this warning to repent, repent,
repent; but exactly what does it mean? According to the
Greek lexicon, the word 'repent' is derived from the Greek
word 'metanoeo', which is pronounced met-an-o-eh'-o. The
lexicon provides the following definitions for this word:
----- Begin Quote -----
1) to change one's mind, i.e. to repent
2) to change one's mind for better, heartily to amend with
abhorrence of one's past sins
----- End Of Quote -----
Notice that 'repent' does not simply mean to say you are
sorry for something; it means to change your mind, and to
wholeheartedly amend your ways. Exactly what does amend
mean? In this case, it means to change something, just as
when a new clause is added, or amended, to the United States
Constitution. By adding a new clause to a particular Article
or Section, you are in effect changing or expanding the
meaning of the Constitution. Words are cheap, and people say
'I am sorry' to each other just about every single day of
the week; but how much do they really mean it? If we are
truly sorry for something which we have said or done, then
we are going to have a complete change of mind and heart
about it as well. If this repentance is real, then it will
be manifested by a genuine change in our lives; in other
words, our actions will support our words. This is confirmed
in the Scriptures by the following verses where we see a
direct relationship between repentance and the works which
follow it:
"But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem,
and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the
Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do
works meet for repentance." (Acts 26:20)
"Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent,
and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee
quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place,
except thou repent." (Revelation 2:5)
"Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit
adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent
of their deeds." (Revelation 2:22)
Thus, just as Jesus and James both said, we must prove what
we believe, that is, our faith, by our actual fruits, which
are the works that we perform; otherwise, we are just like
the hypocritical Scribes and the Pharisees who said one
thing, yet did another:
"Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."
(Matthew 7:20)
"All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe
and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and
do not. (Matthew 23:3)
"Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew
me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my
faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God;
thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But
wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is
dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he
had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how
faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made
perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith,
Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for
righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see
then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith
only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by
works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent
them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is
dead, so faith without works is dead also."
(James 2:17-26)
Thus, as is now clearly evident, saying that one is sorry is
not always a true act of repentance; particularly when we
are dealing with people of the world who don't even know the
Lord. They will insist that they are sorry regarding some
offense that they have committed, yet their lives will never
manifest any kind of a real change. Such is the case with
hardened criminals. In some instances, these people are
continually going through the revolving door of their local
prison. They spend more time locked up in a jail cell, than
they do being free on the street. But let's return to a more
personal level. What is one supposed to do when a certain
person, due to their pride and the hardness of their own
heart, shows absolutely no intentions of repenting? What if
he isn't even honest enough with himself to acknowledge the
sin? This is precisely the problem which this dear sister
had to face. At times like these, we can thank the Lord for
the wonderful truths found in His Word; because they never
steer us wrong. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus said the
following:
"For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly
Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men
their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your
trespasses." (Matthew 6:14-15)
If we were not aware of the previous verses I have shared
from the Gospel of Luke, the above verses from Matthew would
seem to offer a definitive answer to this problem; however,
because we are already aware of the previous verses, we must
now ask ourselves if Jesus might be saying that we should
forgive the offender AFTER they have repented and sought for
forgiveness. The only other alternative is that is He saying
that we should forgive said person regardless of whether or
not they repent and seek forgiveness. As I thought on this
problem, I recalled another article where I also speak about
forgiveness. In this article, entitled 'To Pray Or Not To
Pray, That Is The Question', I mention the fact that, in his
Epistle, James makes it clear that we are to confess our
sins to each other, and to forgive each other:
"Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for
another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer
of a righteous man availeth much." (James 5:16)
As can be seen, confession is sometimes a two-way street. In
other words, we are to forgive those who have offended us,
as well as be forgiven by those whom we have likewise
offended. This takes humility of the kind which only God can
give. It also requires a Love which God alone can pour upon
us when we are truly yielded to Him. With His Love, we will
be able to forgive anyone, despite the true desires of our
evil heart. There is an old saying which states that love is
blind. This idea actually originates in the Bible, and means
that if we truly love someone, we will be able to overlook
their faults and shortcomings, just as God overlooks ours
when we plead our cause through the Blood of Jesus. Consider
the following verses:
"And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one
another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."
(Ephesians 4:32)
"And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves:
for charity shall cover the multitude of sins."
(1 Peter 4:8)
So again, it is only this mutual reconciliation which brings
about true spiritual healing of the soul; and it is Love
which is the healing ointment. Of course, such healing also
requires honest communication between the parties concerned.
Sadly, this is something which is severely lacking in many
modern-day relationships. Instead of opening our hearts to
each other in humility so that we can try to resolve our
differences, we prefer instead to put up a defensive wall of
silence around ourselves. Due to our self-righteous pride,
we choose rather to keep things guarded in our hearts, where
we use them as timely weapons to inflict further damage on
the person who has offended us. One wrong word, or one wrong
action from them, and we quickly remind them of their faults
and their past sins against us. We become cruel, merciless,
legalistic tyrants, just like the Scribes and the Pharisees
of old who constantly criticized Jesus for His many acts of
love which seemed to contradict their cold hard law. But
notice what Jesus said concerning this attitude:
"Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy."
(Matthew 5:7)
"But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy,
and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance." (Matthew 9:13)
To reiterate, it is only this humble joining of hearts
through an honest confession of sin which destroys any
remaining root of bitterness which might be poisoning and
destroying our relationship. Only in this way can personal
relationships truly be healed. Furthermore, it is only then,
after having made amends with the person we have offended,
that the Lord tells us that He will also hear us and forgive
us as well:
"Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there
rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave
there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be
reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy
gift." (Matthew 5:23-24)
"And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that
is indebted to us..." (Luke 11:4)
So again, Jesus is clearly saying that before we can expect
God to forgive us, we must first be reconciled with those by
whom we have been offended, or against whom we have also
done wrong. Divine Forgiveness only comes through forgiving
others, and through accepting Jesus' overall Atonement for
the sins of mankind. If we forgive each other, God will then
forgive us through the Death of His Son on the Cross.
Consider what the Apostle John tells us in his first
Epistle:
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
(1 John 1:9)
At this point, it is important that you realize that, thus
far, all of the verses I have shared concerning the act of
forgiveness, were spoken and/or written by Jesus Christ
Himself, and His Apostles; and that they were directed at
the Christian Body of Believers. In other words, they were
not directed to the unbelieving heathen of the world.
Remember the Words of our Lord which I shared earlier when
He said 'But whoso shall offend one of these little ones
which believe in me...'. Thus, this counsel is primarily
directed at Christians who already know the Lord. This is
because the Lord apparently holds a higher standard for His
own Children, than for the children of the world. You may
recall that Jesus said to His own Disciples:
"By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye
have love one to another." (John 13:35)
In his first Epistle, the Apostle John also emphasized the
importance of Christian love; going so far as to say that
those who do not love, do not even truly know God. In fact,
he tells us that they are the children of the devil:
"In this the children of God are manifest, and the children
of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of
God, neither he that loveth not his brother...We know that
we have passed from death unto life, because we love the
brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death."
(1 John 3:10, 14)
"He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love...If a
man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar:
for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how
can he love God whom he hath not seen?" (1 John 4:8, 20)
Thus we see that Christian love is meant to be the principle
sign of our Faith. It is supposed to be what sets us apart
from other religions of the world. Notice also that John's
words are again directed at the Christian Body and not to
outsiders. This is not to suggest that all of this wise
counsel would not be good for the children of the world as
well, as it most certainly would; however, I am stressing
this difference for a specific reason. As I have pointed out
in other articles, the Word of God advises us that we are
not to concern ourselves with the affairs of the world. They
have their own laws and their own ways of doing things; and
they are not always in agreement with God's laws.
As we can see by the example of this dear sister in the
Lord, the problem occurs when our interaction with the
unbelieving people of the world results in our being
threatened or harmed in some way, whether it be mentally,
emotionally or physically. What are we supposed to do in
such cases? If this were a matter of a Christian brother or
sister straying away from the teachings of the Gospel, the
answer would be quite simple. Notice what James also tells
us in the same chapter we looked at earlier:
"Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one
convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the
sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from
death, and shall hide a multitude of sins."
(James 5:19-20)
The teachings of James were derived directly from the Lord's
own words which we find in the eighteenth chapter of the
Gospel of Matthew. Notice carefully what Jesus says here:
"Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go
and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he
shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he
will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more,
that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may
be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell
it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church,
let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican."
(Matthew 18:15-17)
The previous verses add a great deal of balance to our
answer; and this is precisely what we are striving for in
our understanding of God's Word. As some of you know, my
personal approach to Biblical study is to carefully compare
Scripture with Scripture. Only in this way can we guard
ourselves from falling into error; and even then, due to our
human nature, this is still no guarantee that we will have a
perfect understanding of the Word of the Lord. Notice again
the steps which Jesus advises us to follow in seeking
reconciliation with our brethren:
1. the offense occurs
2. the private rebuke
3. the offender refuses correction
4. the private rebuke with several witnesses
5. the offender still refuses correction
6. the open rebuke before the whole congregation
7. the offender continues to refuse correction
8. the offender is treated as a heathen and publican
As we can see, this is the very same pattern we saw earlier
with the following:
1. the offense
2. the rebuke
3. the repentance
4. the forgiveness
The primary difference is that in this second example, the
offender does not repent despite three serious attempts to
help him to see the error of his ways; and thus we are shown
exactly what to do in such cases. So then; if we were to
take into consideration and summarize all of the verses I
have presented thus far, it would probably be something like
the following:
As Christians, it is primarily our responsibility to forgive
those who harm us or perform any evil against us in any way.
In fact, as we saw at the beginning of this article, Jesus
advises us to pray for those who despitefully use us. Of the
three times that this word 'despitefully' is used in the New
Testament, twice it is derived from the Greek word 'epereazo',
which is pronounced ep-ay-reh-ad'-zo. The Greek lexicon
defines this word as follows:
----- Begin Quote -----
1) to insult
2) to treat abusively, use despitefully
3) to revile
4) in a forensic sense, to accuse falsely
5) to threaten
----- End Of Quote -----
Thus, regardless of how much we may have been despitefully
used, or abused, by a particular person, we should never
underestimate the power of prayer to bring about repentance
and change in their life. Later on this article, we will be
taking a look at some specific examples of lives which were
changed in the past. Prayer is indeed powerful. The Lord and
His Apostles spoke quite a bit concerning the positive fruit
which can result from those who earnestly seek His Face.
Consider some of the following examples:
"And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer,
believing, ye shall receive." (Matthew 21:22)
"But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that
wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and
tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any
thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all
his ways." (James 1:6-8)
"And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we
ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if
we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we
have the petitions that we desired of him."
(1 John 5:14-15)
"Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we
know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit
itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which
cannot be uttered." (Romans 8:26)
Concerning the topic of specifically praying for our
brothers and sisters in the Lord, we also find a number of
interesting verses in the Epistles, such as the following:
"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the
Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and
supplication for all saints;" (Ephesians 6:18)
"For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not
cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled
with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual
understanding;" (Colossians 1:9)
"Pray without ceasing...Brethren, pray for us...Finally,
brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have
free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you:"
(1 Thessalonians 5:17, 25, 2 Thessalonians 3:1)
"Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all
things willing to live honestly." (Hebrews 13:18)
"Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for
another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer
of a righteous man availeth much." (James 5:16)
Thanks to the supplications of some of the Lord's special
Prayer Warriors, who have devoted many years to praying for
certain hard-hearted individuals, lives have indeed been
changed. Such is the case concerning the dear sister who
inspired this article. She has informed me that the person
who caused her harm in the past, is now seeking professional
as well as spiritual help. Hopefully, with time, he will
come to a full repentance, and will finally be able to make
a full confession, and thus make amends with this sister.
Another topic which is directly related to our main
discussion concerns the popular worldly saying 'Forgive and
forget'. While we have already seen that we are obligated by
the Word of the Lord to forgive those who offend us, this
idea of forgetting has absolutely no Scriptural basis that I
am currently aware of. Sometimes we are hurt so deeply
emotionally, mentally or physically, that we remain severely
scarred for the rest of our lives. This is certainly the
case with such crimes as rape, incest, child molestation,
assault and battery, etc.
While it is easy for some people to nonchalantly suggest
'Forgive and forget', it is more than likely that they have
never been in the shoes of those who have been the victims
of such horrible crimes; and thus have to deal with it for
the rest of their lives. A clear case in point is my own
dear sister. A number of years ago, she became the victim of
a gang rape. To this day, because of the violent act which
was commmitted against her person, she has had to remain on
medication in order to maintain some degree of mental
stability and normalcy in her life. To ask her to simply
forget the incident is ludicrous to say the least. This
horrible crime has left an indelible mark on her life.
While the Lord expects us to forgive those who offend us or
harm us in some way, given the gravity of some of these
situations, I personally do not believe that He holds it
against us if we find it difficult to forget the incidents
or the perpetrators themselves. To try to force ourselves to
forget such negative experiences in our lives is nearly a
human impossibility. To even attempt such a thing may very
well result in one going completely insane. While some
people resort to drugs or alcohol in order to forget the
incident or the pain associated with it; they are not really
forgetting it; they are simply burying it temporarily by
dulling their senses and state of awareness.
In some cases, the Lord is merciful to us; and thus, with
the passage of time, we are sometimes able to forget the
wrong which has been done against us, if it hasn't been too
severe. It isn't that we consciously try to force the memory
out of our minds through the work of the flesh; it is just
that the passage of time sometimes acts as a soothing balm
which eventually heals the hurt, and helps us to forget the
pain. Whether or not my sister ever actually forgave those
who committed this evil against her, I honestly do not know;
it is really between her and the Lord; however, at the same
time, her failure to do this could result in a root of
bitterness springing up in her heart as we saw earlier in
this article. Thus we see that forgiveness, no matter how
difficult it is to impart, not only helps the person who is
being forgiven, but it also helps to heal the person against
whom the crime has been committed.
While it is indeed difficult for we humans to forget the
evil acts which have been done against us, the Scriptures
tell us in certain places that the Lord will 'forget' our
iniquities. For example, consider the following verses:
"And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and
every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall
all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of
them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and
I will remember their sin no more." (Jeremiah 31:34)
"For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their
sins and their iniquities will I remember no more."
(Hebrews 8:12)
"And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more."
(Hebrews 10:17)
It is probably a misunderstanding of the above verses which
has given birth to the popular phrase 'Forgive and forget'
discussed earlier. If we study the Hebrew word from which
the word 'remember' is derived, we discover that when the
Lord says He will remember our sins no more, it doesn't mean
that He will actually forget them, but rather that He will
simply not bring them to mind and hold them against us. In
the Old Testament, the word 'remember' is derived from the
Hebrew word 'zakar', which is pronounced zaw-kar'. It means
to remember, to call to mind, to mention, or to record. Here
is the full definition from the Hebrew lexicon:
----- Begin Quote -----
1) to remember, recall, call to mind
1a) (Qal) to remember, recall
1b) (Niphal) to be brought to remembrance, be remembered,
be thought of, be brought to mind
1c) (Hiphil)
1c1) to cause to remember, remind
1c2) to cause to be remembered, keep in remembrance
1c3) to mention
1c4) to record
1c5) to make a memorial, make remembrance
----- End Of Quote -----
In the New Testament, the word 'remember' is derived from
the Greek word 'mnaomai', pronounced mnah'-om-ahee, which
carries the same meaning as its Hebrew counterpart:
----- Begin Quote -----
1) to remind
1a) to be recalled or to return to one's mind, to remind
one's self of, to remember
1b) to be recalled to mind, to be remembered, had in
remembrance
1c) to remember a thing
1d) be mindful of
----- End Of Quote -----
On the other hand, in the Old Testament, the word 'forget'
is derived from the Hebrew word 'shakach', which is
pronounced shaw-kakh', or 'shakeach', which is pronounced
shaw-kay'-akh. Following is the definitions provided by the
Hebrew lexicon:
----- Begin Quote -----
1) to forget, ignore, wither
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to forget
1a2) to cease to care
1b) (Niphal) to be forgotten
1c) (Piel) to cause to forget
1d) (Hiphil) to make or cause to forget
1e) (Hithpael) to be forgotten
----- End Of Quote -----
In the New Testament, the word 'forget' is only used on two
occasions, and in both instances it is found in Paul's
Epistle to the Hebrews. This word is derived from the Greek
word 'epilanthanomai', which is pronounced
ep-ee-lan-than'-om-ahee. The Greek lexicon defines it as
follows:
----- Begin Quote -----
1) to forget
2) neglecting, no longer caring for
2) forgotten, given over to oblivion, i.e. uncared for
----- End Of Quote -----
Thus, based on the previous definitions, we can clearly see
that to not remember something, or to forget something, do
not mean the same thing in the Scriptures. The Lord does not
really forget our sins, He simply chooses to ignore them
once we have accepted His mercy through the Sacrifice of His
Son. The Scriptures tell us that He blots them out, He
removes them from our record; which is precisely one of the
meanings of that Hebrew word 'zakar' which we looked at a
minute ago. This is precisely what is done sometimes in a
court of law. On certain occasions, a statement made by the
witness is stricken from the record. In other instances, due
to the process of appeals, sometimes a person is later
vindicated of a false accusation brought against him; and
thus the crime is also removed, or purged, from his court
record. Because of our faith in Jesus Christ, and because of
the Special Arrangement that God has made with His Son, as I
explain in the series 'Is Jesus The Only Begotten Son Of
God?', the Lord also gives us a clean record. He doesn't
really forget our sins per se, but we are declared 'clean'
in His carefully-kept Books:
"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD:
though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as
snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as
wool." (Isaiah 1:18)
"Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine
iniquities." (Psalms 51:9)
"He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white
raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of
life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and
before his angels." (Revelation 3:5)
Thank the Lord for such inspiring little revelations! As I
was typing this, a fitting example came to me. Consider
this: Before we come to accept the Lord, our sins are marked
in bright red letters in the Books found in the Halls of
Heaven. The American Heritage Desktop Dictionary defines
scarlet as a bright red or red-orange color; and crimson as
a vivid purplish red color. In other words, our sins are
very apparent to the Lord; they stare God in the Face from
the pages of His Book! They show Him without a shadow of a
doubt that we are all guilty! However, once we repent of
our sins and accept the Salvation of the Lord through Jesus
Christ, what happens? Our sins become as white as snow; they
become as white as the wool of a newborn lamb. Imagine, if
you will, what would happen if you were to take a pen
containing white ink, and write on a white piece of paper.
The words would be not only be difficult to see, they would
basically be invisible! So it is with the Lord. Those bright
red sins of ours which are written in His Books, become
'invisible' to His Eyes! He remembers them no more!
As I mentioned earlier, unlike we humans who tend to store
negative incidents in our hearts so that we can use them
later in a moment of anger to attack a certain person who
did us wrong in the past, the Lord keeps His Word. If He
says we are forgiven, then we are truly forgiven. We don't
need to worry about it anymore. On the other hand, if a
person has not come to accept Jesus Christ, if he has not
truly repented of his sins, then he has not been forgiven;
and his Court Record is not clean! His sins are written in
bright red letters which still stare God in the Face; and
someday soon, when the Lord opens up the Books, that person
is going to be awfully sorry; and here is why. Please note
that the words in brackets were added by me for the sake of
clarification:
"And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him [the
beast], whose names are not written in the book of life of
the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."
(Revelation 13:8)
"The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall
ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and
they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were
not written in the book of life from the foundation of the
world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and
yet is." (Revelation 17:8)
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and
the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is
the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those
things which were written in the books, according to their
works...And whosoever was not found written in the book of
life was cast into the lake of fire."
(Revelation 20:12, 15)
"And there shall in no wise enter into it [the Heavenly
City] any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh
abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in
the Lamb's book of life." (Revelation 21:27)
"And if any man shall take away from the words of the book
of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the
book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things
which are written in this book." (Revelation 22:19)
Thus again, we see that while God the Father does indeed
forgive those who come to Him through His Son, He does not
forgive or forget the sins of those who willfully and
stubbornly continue to rebel against Him until it is too
late. As we saw earlier, forgiveness is to be based upon the
offender recognizing his sins and seeking forgiveness first
from the person whom he has offended, and then from the Lord
Himself. If the offender will not seek forgiveness, or if he
is so hard-hearted that he will not even admit to the crime,
what does Jesus say to do? The Lord tells us to treat him as
a heathen and a publican. Exactly what does the Lord mean by
this? The answer becomes clear when we check with our Greek
lexicon. The word 'heathen' in that particular verse, is
derived from the Greek word 'ethnikos', which is pronounced
eth-nee-kos'. The lexicon defines it as follows:
----- Begin Quote -----
1) adapted to the genius or customs of a people, peculiar to
a people, national
2) suited to the manners or language of foreigners, strange,
foreign
3) in the NT savouring of the nature of pagans, alien to the
worship of the true God, heathenish
3a) of the pagan, the Gentile
----- End Of Quote -----
As can be seen, Jesus is simply saying that such a person
who refuses correction, and who refuses to submit himself to
the Spirit of God, should be viewed and treated as a
stranger or a foreigner. In other words, he is no better
than the unbelieving pagans! In contrast to this, it is for
this very same reason that the Apostle Paul tells us that
once we come to Christ, we are no longer strangers and
foreigners; but rather, we are of the very Household of
God!:
"Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in
the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is
called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at
that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of
promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But
now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made
nigh by the blood of Christ...Now therefore ye are no more
strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the
saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ
himself being the chief corner stone;"
(Ephesians 2:11-13, 19-20)
Notice that Jesus also said that such unrepentant souls are
to be treated as publicans. Again, those to whom He was
speaking perfectly understood what the Lord meant by this;
for you see, 'publican', from the Greek 'telones', which is
pronounced tel-o'-nace, was simply another word for one of
the most detestable classes of people in ancient Israel; the
tax collectors. Considering Jesus's stern advice regarding
those who resist His Spirit, we must ask now ourselves, are
we even supposed to pray for such unrepentant people? While
this answer may shock you, consider what Jesus said in the
Gospel of John concerning His Disciples:
"I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them
which thou hast given me; for they are thine."
(John 17:9)
There can be no doubt then that we are under no obligation
to pray for the unbelieving rebellious people of the world
who have knowingly rejected the Salvation that God offers
through the Sacrifice of His Son. Jesus gave us an example
which we are to follow. Once they have heard the Good News
and made their choice to reject it, that is it. They have
consciously chosen to remain heathen and foreigners to God
by their own free will. As the Apostle Paul wrote:
"...Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind."
(Romans 14:5b)
Thus, our only responsibility is to pray for our own; that
is, for our worldwide Family of brothers and sisters in the
Lord. Perhaps this is why in his first Epistle, the Apostle
John states the following:
"If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto
death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them
that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not
say that he shall pray for it." (1 John 5:16)
As I have pointed out in other articles, according to Jesus'
own words in the Gospel of Matthew, there is only one sin
which is worthy of Eternal Death, that is, the Second Death;
and that sin is blasphemy against the Holy Ghost:
"He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth
not with me scattereth abroad. Wherefore I say unto you, All
manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but
the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven
unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of
man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh
against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him,
neither in this world, neither in the world to come."
(Matthew 12:30-32)
Exactly what does this mean? In my view, to blaspheme
against the Holy Ghost is to deny the Ultimate Reality which
has been revealed to humanity by the Spirit of Truth. Based
on Jesus' own words, it is my belief that the Spirit of
Truth is an extension of God Himself:
"But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers
shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the
Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and
they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in
truth." (John 4:23-24)
Based upon my understanding of the Scriptures, I personally
believe that to blaspheme against the Holy Ghost is to call
God a liar when He emphatically tells us throughout His
Word, over and over again, that Jesus Christ is His only
begotten Son who came to die for the sins of the world. I
explore this topic at great length in the revelatory series
'Is Jesus The Only Begotten Son Of God?'. I trust you will
take the time to read it.
Returning to our main topic, while we are definitely
supposed to forgive and pray for our Christian brethren, it
is my view, based upon the Scriptural evidence we have now
looked at, that when we are told that we won't be forgiven
by our Heavenly Father unless we forgive those who have
trepassed against us, Jesus may really be saying that we
should forgive them IF they seek forgiveness from us first.
If they are so proud and stubborn, and so yielded to Satan
that they won't do this, then not only are we not under any
obligation to forgive them, but we are to treat them as
heathen, and simply commit them to the Lord's judgments.
To really emphasize the foolishness of doing anything to the
contrary, consider a criminal who is taken to court. If
despite overwhelming evidence which points to his guilt, the
criminal refuses to admit to his crime, or to show any kind
of remorse for his act, what will be the normal inclination
of the judge and jury? Are they just going to forgive him
and acquit him of the charges brought against him? Are they
going to give him a light sentence? Of course not! In all
likelihood, they will probably be inclined to give him an
extremely hard sentence. If the crime merits death, he may
even face the electric chair, lethal injection, the firing
squad, the gallows, or whatever happens to be the form of
capital punishment in that particular country. While this
may be difficult to understand for some people, God also has
a system of Laws. Those who break His Laws must also face
judgment sooner or later. This is why the Apostle Paul wrote
in his various Epistles:
"But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set
at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the
judgment seat of Christ." (Romans 14:10)
"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ;
that every one may receive the things done in his body,
according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."
(2 Corinthians 5:10)
"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this
the judgment:" (Hebrews 9:27)
As in the case of human laws, depending upon the severity of
the sin, a person might also merit death, just as we saw
earlier in John's first Epistle. In other words, the Lord
may choose to destroy the flesh in order to save the spirit.
This is precisely what we see the Apostle Paul discussing in
the fifth chapter of his first Epistle to the Corinthians,
where he is dealing with a case of fornication within the
church:
"It is reported commonly that there is fornication among
you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among
the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. And ye
are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that
hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. For
I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have
judged already, as though I were present, concerning him
that hath so done this deed, In the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with
the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one
unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit
may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus."
(1 Corinthians 5:1-5)
Thus we see that, even within the Christian Body, there
are times when we must simply commit our brethren into the
Lord's hands. If iron sharpening iron does not bring about
positive results, then we are left with no other recourse:
"Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance
of his friend." (Proverbs 27:17)
If all of our prayers and counselling do not break through
their wall of pride, then we must simply say, 'Okay Lord; we
have done all that we can; now it is up to you.' As harsh as
that may seem to some sensitive souls, you can see for
yourself that it is Scriptural Truth. As I point out in
other articles, while the Lord can be a stern Father, He is
nevertheless a loving one; much more so than our natural
parents. Consider the following from Paul's Epistle to the
Hebrews:
"Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto
you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the
chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of
him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth
every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God
dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the
father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement,
whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not
sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which
corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much
rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and
live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after
their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be
partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present
seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward
it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them
which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands
which hang down, and the feeble knees; And make straight
paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out
of the way; but let it rather be healed."
(Hebrews 12:4-13)
Surely, if anyone understood the loving chastisement of the
Lord, it was the Apostle Paul. Despite his blatant crimes
against the Lord's children through manifold persecutions,
the Lord dealt with him as with a wayward son and did not
cast him off forever. In like manner, because of his many
sins which the Lord forgave, such as murdering a man and
then committing adultery with his wife, King David also
recognized the Lord's love; even in the midst of His
chastisements. Consider what he wrote in one of his Psalms:
"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. For
as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy
toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the
west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth
them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth
that we are dust." (Psalms 103:8-14)
In other articles such as 'The Children Of God And Politics'
and 'The Fruits Of Disobedience', I have pointed out that
the invasion and destruction of Jerusalem by the forces of
Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar in 587 B.C., was a severe
chastisement from the Lord due to the sins and rebellion of
ancient Israel. The situation grew so bad that women were
forced to eat their own children. Despite this fact, the
Prophet Jeremiah, who had warned the leadership for some
forty years of impending doom, never doubted the mercy of
the Lord. Consider what he wrote in the Book of
Lamentations:
"It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed,
because his compassions fail not. They are new every
morning: great is thy faithfulness."
(Lamentations 3:22-23)
"The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I
hope in him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for him,
to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should
both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the
LORD...For the Lord will not cast off for ever: But though
he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the
multitude of his mercies. For he doth not afflict willingly
nor grieve the children of men...Let us search and try our
ways, and turn again to the LORD."
(Lamentations 3:24-26, 31-33, 40)
Turning to the New Testament again, Peter was also fully
aware of the Lord's longsuffering and mercy towards His
wayward children. Despite the fact that Peter denied his
Lord three times, he also found mercy in the sight of the
Almighty; and this is why he was able to say:
"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men
count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not
willing that any should perish, but that all should come to
repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)
It can clearly be seen then, that despite the waywardness of
His children, the Lord is not One to easily give up on them.
He gives all of us the benefit of the doubt and is extremely
merciful and longsuffering towards us. At the same time,
being the righteous God that He is, as we have already seen,
the Scriptures also tell us that the time eventually comes
when He must stop talking, and allow His wrath to be felt
upon those who stubbornly rebel against Him; whether it be
His own children, or else the unbelieving world at large.
While they might be a bitter pill to take at the time,
through His loving chastisements, the Lord will plead with
us to return to Him. In some cases, the situation has gone
to such an extreme, that the Lord has had no choice but to
totally destroy the source of the evil. This is precisely
what happened in the days of Noah when the Lord finally sent
the Flood. The world had become so corrupt and evil, that
God had to destroy His once-wonderful Creation; thus all
perished save for Noah and his immediate family:
"And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the
earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his
heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD
that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his
heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have
created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and
the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it
repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in
the eyes of the LORD." (Genesis 6:5-8)
"By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as
yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his
house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir
of the righteousness which is by faith." (Hebrews 11:7)
"...when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of
Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is,
eight souls were saved by water." (1 Peter 3:20b)
While the Lord has repeatedly judged the nation of Israel
for the past four thousand years or so, in some of the
prophetic Books of the Bible, we find a number of very
interesting chapters, a close reading of which will reveal,
that they are dealing with the Endtime, when the Lord will
pour out His fiery wrath upon the nations. For example, in
the Book of Isaiah, we find the following verses:
"For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his
chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury,
and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by his
sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of
the LORD shall be many." (Isaiah 66:15-16)
In the twenty-fifth chapter of the Book of Jeremiah, we also
find an angry Lord pouring out the cup of the wine of His
indignation upon the nations. Consider the following verses:
"For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the
wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations,
to whom I send thee, to drink it. And they shall drink, and
be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send
among them...Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith
the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be
drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of
the sword which I will send among you...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. A noise shall come
even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a
controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh;
he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the
LORD." (Jeremiah 25:15-16, 27, 30-31)
The descriptive language used in the previous verses is
uncannily similar to what we find in the Book of Revelation.
This prophecy undoubtedly found a partial fulfillment when
the Lord began to punish the nations of the Middle East
which had oppressed Israel, beginning with Babylon itself.
However, at the same time, this chapter appears to take a
leap into the far future to the final Battle of Armageddon
when the Lord shall pour out the cup of His indignation:
"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 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. 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 14:9-10, 19-20)
For the sake of clarification, allow me to point out that
while in our modern day, the word 'plead' is understood to
refer to the act of begging with someone in order to achieve
some specific goal or purpose, in the previous verses, it
has an entirely different meaning. It actually means to
execute judgment, or to punish. This word 'plead' is derived
from the Hebrew word 'shaphat', pronounced shaw-fat', which
has the following definitions:
----- Begin Quote -----
1) to judge, govern, vindicate, punish
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to act as law-giver or judge or governor (of
God, man)
1a1a) to rule, govern, judge
1a2) to decide controversy (of God, man)
1a3) to execute judgment
1a3a) discriminating (of man)
1a3b) vindicating
1a3c) condemning and punishing
1a3d) at theophanic advent for final judgment
1b) (Niphal)
1b1) to enter into controversy, plead, have
controversy together
1b2) to be judged
1c) (Poel) judge, opponent-at-law (participle)
----- End Of Quote -----
It is also interesting to note that in the Endtime chapters
found within the four Gospels, Jesus makes a clear reference
to the evil days of Noah, in order to not only show how the
spiritual condition of the world during the Endtime will be
very similar to that of four thousand years ago, but also to
emphasize that God's judgments are going to fall very
quickly when they are least expected. To further emphasize
this point, Jesus also uses the example of the sudden
destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Consider what the Lord
said:
"But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of
this generation. And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall
it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they
drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage,
until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood
came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the
days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they
sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot
went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven,
and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day
when the Son of man is revealed." (Luke 17:25-30)
Considering the similarities between the primary sin of
Sodom and Gomorrah, and the rampant homosexuality and
lesbianism which has gripped the world today, I don't doubt
that it is significant that the Lord used this example. Not
only that, it is also noteworthy that these ancient towns
were destroyed by fire and brimstone, just as the Prophet
Isaiah also describes the coming destruction as being by
fire, as well as the Apostle Peter:
"But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same
word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day
of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be
not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the
Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men
count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not
willing that any should perish, but that all should come to
repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in
the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a
great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat,
the earth also and the works that are therein shall be
burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be
dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy
conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the
coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire
shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent
heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for
new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth
righteousness." (2 Peter 3:7-13)
In his first Epistle to the Thessalonians the Apostle Paul
also warned of the suddeness with which the destruction of
the ungodly would come. This would come about as a result of
their failure to properly discern the signs of the times;
exactly as Jesus had also warned:
"For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so
cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say,
Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them,
as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not
escape." (1 Thessalonians 5:2-3)
"The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting
desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven. He
answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It
will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the
morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red
and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the
sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? A wicked
and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there
shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet
Jonas. And he left them, and departed." (Matthew 16:1-4)
As all of the previous writers have stated, Paul also warned
that the destruction of the wicked would come by means of
fiery judgments from the Lord. Perhaps you will recall these
verses which I shared at the beginning of this article:
"It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living
God...For our God is a consuming fire."
(Hebrews 10:31, 12:29)
While all of the previous Scriptures are dealing with a
widespread form of Divine Chastisement, the basic principles
also apply to individuals as well. If someone commits any
form of violence against one of the Lord's children, he can
be sure that sooner or later, the Lord is going to deal with
him about it, unless he truly repents. Even if we, as the
Lord's children, forgive them, unless they personally
acknowledge their sins before the Lord, and before us, it
does not appear that they are going to escape judgment. When
the children of the world purposely harm the children of the
Lord, the Scriptures tell us that it is just like poking
their finger in God's very own Eye. Consider the following
verses:
"...Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm."
(Psalms 105:15)
"Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow
of thy wings," (Psalms 17:8)
"For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he
sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that
toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye."
(Zechariah 2:8)
In the previous verses, the word 'apple' is derived from two
Hebrew words, both of which actually refer to the pupil of
one's eye. These words are 'babah', pronounced baw-baw', and
'iyshown', which is pronounced ee-shone'. To conclude this
article on a positive note, I felt that it would be
appropriate to share the following short chapter which
clearly reveals the only real and lasting solution to any
form of conflict, whether it be on a personal level with
another individual, or else on a global scale. I hope you
will enjoy the wise advice of the Apostle Paul.
"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and
have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a
tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and
understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I
have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have
not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods
to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned,
and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity
suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity
vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave
itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily
provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but
rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all
things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity
never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall
fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether
there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in
part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is
perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done
away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood
as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I
put away childish things. For now we see through a glass,
darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then
shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith,
hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is
charity." (1 Corinthians 13:1-13)
What a wonderful chapter! Truly, charity, or love, is the
healing balm which the world so desperately needs; yet
sadly, it the very thing in which it is most lacking; for as
Jesus said concerning the Endtime:
"And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall
wax cold." (Matthew 24:12)
Thank the Lord that even though we may not know each other
face to face, and even though we may be separated by
hundreds or even thousands of miles, we Christians can be
bonded together by His Love. As the Apostle Paul wrote to
the Colossians:
"And above all these things put on charity, which is the"
bond of perfectness." (Colossians 3:14)
As I point out in another article, not only is love the bond
of perfectness, but the Apostle James tells us that it is
the Royal Law; it is the Golden Rule; precisely as our Lord
Himself taught:
"If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou
shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:"
(James 2:8)
"Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question,
tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great
commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love
the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul,
and with all thy mind. This is the first and great
commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love
thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all
the law and the prophets." (Matthew 22:35-40)
With these thoughts I am going to bring another article to a
close. I truly hope that it has been a blessing and an
inspiration in your life.