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Can I Tell You About a Book I Am Reading?

Tom Angstead March 3, 2014

I have been reading Hell On Trial: The Case for Eternal Punishment written by Robert A. Peterson.  In chapter 2 Peterson highlights the accounts of judgement passages of the Old Testament.

The Flood 

When the Lord saw that man’s wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every scheme his mind thought of was nothing but evil all the time,  the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth,  and He was grieved in His heart.  Gen 6:5-6

13Then God said to Noah, “I have decided to put an end to every creature, for the earth is filled with wickedness  because of them; therefore I am going to destroy them along with the earth.  Gen 6:13

17 “Understand that I am bringing a flood—floodwaters on the earth  to destroy every creature under heaven with the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will die. Gen 6:17

 

22 Everything with the breath of the spirit of life in its nostrils —everything on dry land died. 23 He wiped out every living thing that was on the surface of the ground, from mankind to livestock, to creatures that crawl, to the birds of the sky, and they were wiped off the earth. Only Noah was left, and those that were with him in the ark. Gen 7:22-23

11 I confirm My covenant with you that never again will every creature be wiped out by the waters of a flood; there will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.”  Gen 9:11

The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

20 Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is immense, and their sin is extremely serious. Gen 18:20

24 Then out of the sky the Lord rained burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord. Gen 19:24

25 He demolished these cities, the entire plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and whatever grew on the ground. Gen 19:25

28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the plain, and he saw that smoke was going up from the land like the smoke of a furnace29 So it was, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, He remembered Abraham and brought Lot out of the middle of the upheaval when He demolished the cities where Lot had lived.  Gen 19:28-29

The Plagues of Egypt and the Crossing of the Red Sea

29 Now at midnight the Lord struck every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon, and every firstborn of the livestock.  30 During the night Pharaoh got up, he along with all his officials and all the Egyptians, and there was a loud wailing  throughout Egypt because there wasn’t a house without someone dead. Ex 12:29-30

21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back with a powerful east wind all that night and turned the sea into dry land. So the waters were divided,  22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with the waters like a wall to them on their right and their left. Ex 14:21-22

27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal depth. While the Egyptians were trying to escape from it, the Lord threw them into the sea.  28 The waters came back and covered the chariots  and horsemen, the entire army of Pharaoh, that had gone after them into the sea. None of them survived. Ex 14:27-28

The Assyrian and Babylonian Captives of Israel

This disaster happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt  and because they had worshiped  other gods. 2 Kings 17:7

11 They burned incense on all the high places just like those nations that the Lord had driven out before them. They did evil things, provoking the Lord. 12 They served idols, although the Lord had told them, “You must not do this.” 2 Kings 17:11-12

Conclusion 

The probe of some of the primary Old Testament judgment passages yield valuable clues to God’s disposition towards the wicked. First, it confronts us with a biblical picture of God that seems out of step with our contemporary world – God is not only loving and kind, but also holy and just.  After warning sinners of the consequences of despising his love, he punishes them if they continue to rebel against him.  God punishes sinners! How strange this sounds too modern ears! Yeah, regardless of how strange it sounds, it is God’s truth.

 

As I think about this……

Does the reality of the author’s conclusion, after writing on the Flood, Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Plagues of Egypt, The Assyrian and Babylonian Captives of Israel…cause you to pause and consider the seriousness of your own sin?

My prayer-Lord I pray that I would not sin against you. Lord please allow Your Spirit to convict me quickly when I do sin against you.  Lord I praise You for the truth that your kindness leads me to repentance.  Please protect me from evil that I would not sin.  Amen