The God of Second Chances - Zechariah 9-12 and Revelation 20
The Bible is full of stories about God giving people second chances to turn to Him, but there is an ultimate judgment day. God is merciful, so He extends every opportunity for us to do the right thing, but He is just, so He must finally punish those who refuse His grace.
God loves Israel. They have gone back and forth from trusting Him to denying Him. God is giving them every opportunity to come to Him and for things to be the way He planned them from the beginning. Zechariah speaks of God's protection of Israel and of a time when Israel will "look on Him whom they pierced" and mourn for Him. I believe that during the Tribulation time the Jewish people will all turn to Jesus as Savior and Lord.(Romans 11:26) They will finally realize what they did by sending Him to the cross, and they will mourn as one mourns his firstborn. This great awakening will precede the 1,000 year reign of Christ on the earth, about which we read in Revelation 20. The Millennium will be a time when the Jewish people who are alive will experience all that God wanted them to experience before. They will occupy the entire Promised Land. They will worship in the Temple realizing the real meaning of all of the sacrifices and feasts, and they will worship Jesus as the Messiah and the fulfillment of all of the Old Testament sacrifices and prophecies. It will be a glorious time for them and for the Gentile believers who reign with Him.
However, it will be one last second chance for the other people in the Millennial Kingdom to come to Christ. The sad things is that after 1,000 years of peace and prosperity, as well as the very rule of Christ, Himself, most of the other people will quickly follow Satan when he is released from the Pit. Then, the Great White Throne judgment will seal the eternal destiny of all who have rejected God's revelation of Himself to them through the ages. They will all be cast into the Lake of fire with Satan himself. Each of them had a second chance and a third chance and many more chances, but they said "no." This is the saddest day in all of history. I believe God will cry, and we will cry when we see the blood of those whom we should have witnessed to on our hands. However, there will be no more chances. Eternity will begin, and there is a great gulf between heaven and hell that can't be crossed. We must do everything we can do to get people to respond to the mercy of God, or they will experience His justice instead of His grace.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Zechariah 13-14 and Revelation 21.
God loves Israel. They have gone back and forth from trusting Him to denying Him. God is giving them every opportunity to come to Him and for things to be the way He planned them from the beginning. Zechariah speaks of God's protection of Israel and of a time when Israel will "look on Him whom they pierced" and mourn for Him. I believe that during the Tribulation time the Jewish people will all turn to Jesus as Savior and Lord.(Romans 11:26) They will finally realize what they did by sending Him to the cross, and they will mourn as one mourns his firstborn. This great awakening will precede the 1,000 year reign of Christ on the earth, about which we read in Revelation 20. The Millennium will be a time when the Jewish people who are alive will experience all that God wanted them to experience before. They will occupy the entire Promised Land. They will worship in the Temple realizing the real meaning of all of the sacrifices and feasts, and they will worship Jesus as the Messiah and the fulfillment of all of the Old Testament sacrifices and prophecies. It will be a glorious time for them and for the Gentile believers who reign with Him.
However, it will be one last second chance for the other people in the Millennial Kingdom to come to Christ. The sad things is that after 1,000 years of peace and prosperity, as well as the very rule of Christ, Himself, most of the other people will quickly follow Satan when he is released from the Pit. Then, the Great White Throne judgment will seal the eternal destiny of all who have rejected God's revelation of Himself to them through the ages. They will all be cast into the Lake of fire with Satan himself. Each of them had a second chance and a third chance and many more chances, but they said "no." This is the saddest day in all of history. I believe God will cry, and we will cry when we see the blood of those whom we should have witnessed to on our hands. However, there will be no more chances. Eternity will begin, and there is a great gulf between heaven and hell that can't be crossed. We must do everything we can do to get people to respond to the mercy of God, or they will experience His justice instead of His grace.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Zechariah 13-14 and Revelation 21.