Chapter 8: The Righteous and the Wicked
When God decided to wipe out all life on earth during the Great Flood, He could have done so by just starting over, and yet, He decided to spare Noah and his family through the Great Flood. Two verses that describe God’s view of Noah are given below:
Gen 6:9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
Gen 7:1 And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
God gave Noah more than a century to prepare for what was coming and even though God could have destroyed all life on earth and could have started over, by just speaking the words if He wanted to, He carried Noah and his family safely above the Flood and unharmed because God saw Noah as a righteous man. God also made a promise in the Garden of Eden that He was not going to break and therefore could not allow Satan to destroy humanity, as this would have affected his promise to Adam and Eve. Also, God does not break his promises which constitute another attribute of him that we should always remember.
Then, if we consider Lot, who decided to go and live in Sodom and Gomorrah, one could argue that it probably would not have been a great deal if Lot, who seemed to have been selfish by picking the best pastures for himself while leaving Abraham with the dessert, would perish with the cities that God was about to destroy. Lot also chose to go and live in a city that was through and through immoral and that it may have been a deserved punishment for him to be destroyed with the people of those cities based on his association with them. God’s promise was after all given to Abraham and not to Lot. Is this not how we often judge people?
But the God of Abraham was very meticulous in the information that He conveyed to Moses when Moses was instructed to write the Torah. Remember that all of what was written in the first 5 books of the Bible, including the information about Abraham and Lot, was dictated word-for-word by God to Moses. The passage below captures what God had Moses write and concerns the exchange between Abraham and God over Sodom and Gomorrah. This is God’s revealing himself to us so that we can know him better – showing us his characteristics toward the righteous that He would like us to know him by:
Gen 18:22 And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD. 23 And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? 24 Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? 25 That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? 26 And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes. 27 And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes: 28 Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it. 29 And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty's sake. 30 And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there. 31 And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty's sake. 32 And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake. 33 And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.
More information is provided in this narrative once the angels are about to destroy the cities and Lot was taking his time to remove himself and his family. Below are some passages that describe the situation:
Gen 19:15 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. 16 And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.
Gen 19:22 Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
Here, once again we see how God saves Lot, whom He considered to be a righteous man, from the destruction that was planned for those cities. These are two Old Testament examples of God’s attitude toward the righteous.
Here is a scenario to consider. Let us say you are involved in a war with an enemy where you are put in charge of giving the orders. You are then tasked to attack a specific city of the enemy in an offensive that is led by your country against the enemy and to wipe the city out in a nuclear attack. As you are about to give the attack order, someone hands you a note that alerts you to the fact that your family have been captured by the enemy and is being held hostage in the city that you are about to wipe out. What do you do? Do you attack without giving your family a second thought or are you first going to send in a special task force to save them before you attack? You are after all in charge and can choose to do either.
I am sure that if you consider yourself a good human being, that you would at least attempt to save your family first before destroying the enemy, or would you disagree?
We know that in the New Testament God has fully reconciled the relationship between God and man as a result of Yeshuah’s sacrifice on the cross. God also tells us that He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow and that He does not change as can be seen below:
Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
In addition to this Jesus further elaborates on the characteristics of our Heavenly Father in the following passage:
Mat 7:9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
Yeshuah calls earthly fathers evil and even they know how to look after their families. How much more will God, who is Love, care for those that have become part of his family. Based on the patterns discussed above we know that God’s attitude towards those that are righteous remain the same and He will always treat the righteous in like manner. This topic specifically relates to the timing of the Church’s removal from earth and how we as children of our heavenly Father should understand his view of us in relation to the timing of events described in Revelation.
Coming back to how patterns apply to the sign of Revelation 12 for now, we know that God provided information regarding the Feasts of the Lord, the dates on which they occur and the celestial signals that will confirm their fulfilment for the first 4 Feasts that were fulfilled by Yeshuah as the Suffering Servant. We also understand that the start of these events, related to the Spring Feasts, was clearly announced by celestial signs and through prophecy to Daniel. Here is another pattern: Daniel was called a greatly beloved person by God:
Dan 10:19 And said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me.
It is also interesting to see that Daniel had 3 friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. When these 4 men experienced trouble in their lives there is a defined distinction. Daniel spent a night in the Lion’s den, but was supernaturally protected by God.
Dan 6:16 Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee. 19 Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions. 20 And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions? 22 My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.
In this passage we see that Daniel is a type of God’s beloved and the fact that He was in the lions’ den is typical of the persecution suffered by God’s beloved bride, living on earth today. It is also fitting for this pattern to compare Satan to a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour:
1Pe 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
In another pattern which in this instance is typical of Israel, we see Daniel’s 3 friends facing the fiery furnace, just as Israel will be facing during the time of Jacob’s Trouble:
Dan 3:20 And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. 21 Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. 22 Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. 24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. 25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. 26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.
What is really important to notice here is the difference between the trouble that Daniel experienced and that which his three friends had to endure. Both came out of their trouble, being protected by God. But when Daniel was in the lions’ den, his three friends were not there. And when Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah were thrown into the furnace, Daniel’s absence from the situation is showing us that God’s greatly beloved bride will not be around when Israel’s time of Trouble commences. All of these patterns have been given to us to understand God’s heart towards his beloved and allows us to understand how He will act in various situations.
If we now focus on the remainder of unfulfilled Feasts of the Lord, I believe, that just as with Daniel, we can see how God announces the start of the fulfilment of the remaining 3 Fall Feasts to another person who was “greatly beloved”:
Joh 19:26 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!
Joh 20:2 Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.
John, who is called the disciple that the Lord loved, was also the recipient of the prophecies regarding the start and fulfilment of the second set of the Lord’s Feasts. So once again we have a pattern that is repeating. When we study diligently, using God’s Word and the knowledge provided in historic accounts, I believe we are in a very fortunate position to know when the start of the second set of Feasts will commence if we just apply this knowledge and use the patterns provided by God in his Word. In addition to this, God has given us many pointers to this important time as well as celestial signs to tell us that the time is now and all we have to do is to tie it all together.