If God is in total control of every thought, word and action of every creature on this planet, then He is either an incompetent ruler or a despicable tyrant. Of course, John Calvin thought it was due to the wonderful counsel of God that some human beings had been chosen by God to be lost, with no chance of ever being saved, so the Creator would be glorified by their eternal suffering in the Lake of Fire.
Well, many people will suffer in that Lake of Fire forever, but it will not be God’s choice for them individually. People make decisions for themselves, and God will honour their free-will decisions; although He would rather they repent, ask Him to save them, and thus avoid the fires of hell. Ezekiel 18:23—Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die, says the Lord God, and not rather that he turn from his wicked ways and live? That is what is called a rhetorical question. And the obvious answer is NO! But, Ezekiel 18:32 puts God’s wishes in the form of a positive statement—I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies, says the Lord God. Therefore, turn and live. That is a command! God actually commands everybody everywhere to repent and look to Him for salvation. So says Acts 17:30. And His offer will remain in effect right up to the very end. In acts chapter two, after describing some of the end-time events (Sun darkened, moon turned to blood, etc.), Peter, quoting Joel, said that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Acts 2:21). Thus, even though during the Tribulation Time God will pour out His wrath on rebellious human beings, He will still be offering salvation to all who will avail themselves of it, by repenting of their sinful lifestyle, and accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. And many will be saved during that horrible time. Revelation 6:9-11 and 7:14 tell of the multitudes who will be beheaded for their witness for Jesus Christ. Persecution of believers will be one of the divine reasons for God’s wrath being poured out during that Tribulation Period. Revelation 16:4-7 says it was right for God to turn the rivers and streams into blood so that those who had shed the blood of the martyrs would have to drink that stagnant blood in those streams. Nevertheless, those hardened sinners will refuse to repent, even under God’s great wrath (Revelation 16:9, 11, 21). In fact, Paul had prophesied in 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 that God Himself will send strong delusion to people who refuse to repent so that they will fall for the lies of the Antichrist. But notice that the non-repenters will have already refused to repent. Therefore, God will only purposely seal the doom of the non-repenters. He will not be the cause of their doom (as John Calvin taught). (I have Calvinism books available.) God truly is God, and He is definitely in control of how everything will turn out in the end. Israel’s enemies have been trying for centuries to wipe out the little nation of Israel once for all, but have failed miserably time after time. The Antichrist will try it one last time but will fail at his extreme attempt as well. Notice that it is always God’s covenant people, whom the devil and his goons try to destroy. Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 prophesy that Gog and Magog and his hordes will descend upon Israel, intending to destroy them once and for all. Daniel 8:23-25, 9:24-27 and 11:40-45 are prophecies of the rise and demise of the Antichrist. Next time we will look at those Scriptures, which reveal that it is actually God’s plan that the nations gather against Israel. See you.
(Ron Craig is pastor, teacher and author of Christian books; and these articles. You may view all the books by logging onto www.livingwayfellowshiponline.org. While logged on the website you can even listen to audio Bible-lesson podcasts. You may also send your questions or comments to ronwritercraig@gmail.com)
