The Prophetic Telegraph - No.49
VENGEANCE
We should like to thank all
those who respond to our Telegraphs, either by thanking us for fellowship, or
with problems and disagreements needing to be tackled. Our readers will have
noticed that our theme of late has been very much devoted to the issues
connected with Ultimate Reconciliation, and this is because we have sensed the
Lord's gracious pressure upon us in that direction. Some have written to say
that the expositions have released them from perplexities concerning God's
character (in connection with the popular notion of hell-fire), but others have
given us lists of references which support a most gruesome scene in the distant
future, seemingly contradicting our thesis.
It is because of these
latter correspondents that we now address the issue of God's vengeance. One of
the most powerful passages in Paul's writings is as follows:- "The
Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming
fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction
from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power."
(2 Thess.1:7-9) One cannot but shrink from the dire and dreadful scene depicted
of the return of this "Rambo-style Messiah" suddenly appearing from
heaven with a strong angelic force, wielding flame guns and exterminators.
Sorry. The language does no credit to the Lord, and in fact makes mockery of
divine utterance. But we have written it like that to pinpoint the need for
contemplation. This is a very serious matter, and it deserves our best
attention.
How are we to UNDERSTAND
the meaning of these very terrible words? Have they been translated correctly?
What did they mean to those who first heard them, or read them, in Paul's day?
First of all it must be said that Paul was only writing in the same vein as the
Old Testament prophets, one verse of which deserves to be quoted here.
"For by fire and by His sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the
slain of the Lord shall be many." (Isaiah 66:16) In the
second place, it must be remembered that the Hebrew language is replete with
figures of speech, and Paul, being a Jew would of necessity write as one who
was well-versed in the Old Testament, and whose thought-patterns were governed
by this constant usage of Hebrew figures.
We in the western world are
also given to figurative language a great deal, and when my wife and I went to
teach black Africans in
Blind unbelief is sure to err, and scan His
work in vain;
God is His own interpreter, and He will make it
plain.
It is our studied belief
that the Bible will interpret itself through its pages, for all those who are
prepared to give of their time to search, and who are concerned enough to WANT
to know the answer to most difficult questions such as the one now before us.
In the two quotations given above, mention is made of FLAME OF FIRE, and a
SWORD. These we believe to be the figures of speech, the symbols used by the Lord
to describe His acts of judgment. They are based upon warfare as it existed in
those days, and could have been understood by those who read the words. We say
"could" rather than "would" because our Lord showed that
true understanding is not the happy lot of all who read the Scriptures, then or
now.
Where else do we find
mention of FLAME OF FIRE? In Revelation
We have no intention of
trying to EXPLAIN all these mysteries, but enough is revealed in these
references to show that the FLAME OF FIRE is vastly different to anything that
comes to the mind of westerners in modern society. How then are we to
understand this FLAME OF FIRE? If it issues from the eyes of the Lord, then it
has to do with an appearance of the Lord, and the effect He has on those who
LOOK INTO HIS EYES. Jesus said, "And I, if I am lifted up, will
draw all men to Myself." And in Zechariah we read
"They shall LOOK UPON ME whom they pierced, and shall mourn for Him."
The simple yet powerful truth is that to look into the eyes of the glorified
Lord is to be struck with one's own unworthiness, and weep in bitterness for
one's own sin. "In that day a fountain shall be opened - - for
sin and uncleanness." (Zech.12:10 & 13:1) Rather than
have thoughts of destruction, we can appreciate what God is doing in His
judgment scene. The "fires" of the Lord enter into man's soul and
bring about repentance. But we have also read that the Angels are "a flame
of fire". It seems that God has many helpers whose job it is, and will be,
to bring man to repentance in this same manner. We even recognise the ability
being given to some of God's preachers of the past. We have read a passage in
the biography of Smith Wigglesworth, that one day he walked into a railway
carriage and upon looking at a man in there, found him getting up and saying,
"Sir, you convict me of sin." Merely by looking at him. Furthermore,
this happened on many occasions in the ministry of Charles Finney in
It would seem therefore
that the Lord has a work of greater magnitude in coming days than anyone has
yet appreciated. The second symbol was that of a sword. Isaiah said that the
Lord would plead with all flesh by the sword, and that the slain of the Lord
would be many. What are we meant to understand by the SWORD? In the passage of
Revelation already quoted, are the words "Out of His mouth went
a sharp two-edged sword." (
Yes, the word of the Lord
can kill, but what sort of death is to be understood? Is it just physical
death? We ask, what point would there be in that? Is not man "appointed
once to die, and after that the judgment?" Are we not ALL
already appointed to death, because we are born in Adam, and therefore sinners.
"The soul that sinneth it shall die." No,
this "death", by the sword of God's mouth, is not to do with physical
death, it is rather to do with the death of our old natures. None of us should
object to this thought, because the preaching of the word is doing this all the
time. If a man preach the Gospel, and the Spirit of God convicts some of sin,
then a state of repentance is achieved, which brings great joy in heaven. If
the word of God can bring about this blessed effect through the preaching of us
humans, then think how much greater will be the effect when the Lord of glory
appears Himself, and "every eye shall see Him."
The combined effect of His EYES (the fire), and His MOUTH,
(the sword-words), will indeed mean that "the slain of the Lord
are many." Praise the Lord.
In His coming judgment
scene, He will be manifesting Himself for the sake of drawing men to Himself.
Jesus will be lifted up. God is not the author of destruction, unless it be
interpreted as the destruction of evil. But NOT the destruction of the beings
whom He has Himself created. In Revelation, when the seven seals are opened, we
are told that ONE QUARTER of men are killed. During the time of the sounding of
the seven trumpets, ONE THIRD of the earth is "slaughtered." But in
chapter seven, we read about a "great multitude whom no man can
number, who have washed ther robes and made them white in the blood of the
Lamb." On the one hand the vision speaks of about 50% of the
earth's population being killed, whereas on the other hand God obtains a
harvest of prodigious size "out of every nation, kindred,
people, and tongue."
The analysis given above
shows that these apparently diverse things are in reality ONE AND THE SAME.
Physical death is used as a figure of speech to indicate the magnitude of God's
harvest, like the later symbols of the sickle and the blood from the grapes.
Those who advocate an unnecessary literalism in the interpretation of
Revelation cannot but foster the bloodthirsty vengeful nature of God, which we
believe is wholly false. God sent Jesus into the world so that men might be
saved, not utterly destroyed or tormented for ever and ever.
We realise that even if the
foregoing finds some satisfaction with our readers, there will always be a
question mark because of the latter part of 2 Thess.1:8-9, where Paul says that
those who "know not God, and those who obey not the gospel,
will be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the
Lord." We are challenged by some of our readers to find an
answer to this verse without resorting to some devious or mischievous device.
On the surface the verse sounds dreadful, and reminds one of a person taking
revenge in hot temper. But we offer the following questions, which must be
answered on the basis of God's character, and not just semantics.
1. If the writer intended
to convey the idea of annihilation, why didn't he just say that and nothing
more? To say that their punishment would be "destruction" would
suffice. Anything added would then be wholly superfluous.
2. Why is this destruction
said to be "everlasting"? Greek scholars are unanimous about the
meaning of AIONIOS, that whatever nuances it may possess, it was never intended
to mean "everlasting" as we think of it today. AIONIOS is not equal
to infinity-of-time.
3. Why is this destruction
said to be "from the presence of the Lord?"
Destruction, if it really means extermination, needs no additional descriptive
clause of this type.
We believe that answers to
these questions can be found, and our own understanding may be summarised as
follows. The words translated destruction in the N.T., when applied to human
beings always means "death", just ordinary physical death, and no
more. But the Book of Hebrews tells us that "after death comes
the judgment." Hence this ordinary physical death cannot be
equated with destruction, annihilation, or extermination as we understand the
use of those terms. This is why the "destruction" is
"everlasting". It is death which lasts throughout the Millennial age.
The punishment is to be excluded from this glorious period of God's Sabbath
Rest. That's why the word AIONIOS is better translated age-lasting, rather than
everlasting. The "destruction" is "from the presence
of the Lord, and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in
His saints."
This amplifies what was
said in the last paragraph. It depicts something of the wonder that will be
present on earth during Christ's reign, and the anguish that will be
experienced by those who will be excluded from it. Finally, we believe that
Paul's words are his way of summing up what the Lord said Himself about the
division of the "sheep" from the "goats" in Matthew 25. We
find it difficult to understand why some believers seem to be intent on
upholding the traditional view of everlasting torment and hell-fire. Some who write
to us send us lists of all the most horrible verses they can find, and say that
we haven't given any consideration to them. We have tried to restore the
balance in this paper, but would also like to point out that a much fuller
exposition was given in the Telegraph entitled "Every Knee Shall
Bow". (P.T.20) But the real point is this. In our papers we have
presented all those marvellous verses which speak of God's ultimate goal, to
recreate ALL. There are so many such verses throughout both Testaments. Our
query is why these same correspondents find it so difficult to believe THEM,
whereas they find it so 'palatable' to believe the dreadful ones.
May we make a gentle
suggestion? It is our studied belief that the apparent necessity of some in
believing in everlasting torment is just a part of the old nature of man,
sometimes whipped up into a frenzy by the Devil himself, who gets very angry
indeed when he is told that one day he will bow the knee to Jesus!
Try it, tel the Devil that
one day he will submit to Christ, and see what sort of lash-back you
experience. But please do so under the canopy of Christ's protection, and not
just as a "dare". We have spoken to Satan in this wise, and we sensed
a very hostile reaction in our spirits.