THE BIBLICAL GOSPEL: God’s Predetermined Judgment & Wrath

SHEOL/HADES

When you die, if you have not repented of your sins and believed in the penal, substitutionary, atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and reconciliation to a right relationship with the only true God: there is a temporary judgment/punishment of the wicked. After you die, if you are still dead in your sins and unrepentant heart, you will be under God’s punishment. “When a wicked man dies, his hope will perish, and the expectation of vigorous men perishes” (Proverbs 11:7). “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). This is temporary judgment in Sheol/Hades: “The wicked will return to Sheol, even all the nations who forget God” (Psalm 9:17). “The path of life leads upward for the one who has insight that he may turn away from Sheol below” (Proverbs 15:24). “You shall strike him with the rod and deliver his soul from Sheol” (Proverbs 23:14). “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no working or explaining or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going” (Ecclesiastes 9:10). 

“‘Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. But a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. Now it happened that the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom, and the rich man also died and was buried. And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.” But Abraham said, “Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things. But now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you are not able, and none may cross over from there to us.” And he said, “Then I am asking you, father, that you send him to my father’s house—for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.” But Abraham said, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.” But he said, “No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!” But he said to him, “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead”’” (Luke 16:19-31). This is the reality of the situation. This is coming your way if you don’t repent. There is no coming back from Hades, from God’s wrath; it is permanent, there is no second chance after death: “A cloud vanishes, and it is gone, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come up” (Job 7:9). You could die at any moment; it is only God’s mercy that He keeps you alive. 

THE DAY OF YHWH

There is coming a day when God will pour out His wrath on this literal, physical earth. It is called the Day of YHWH: “‘For the day of YHWH draws near on all the nations. / As you have done, it will be done to you. Your dealings will return on your own head’” (Obadiah 15). “For Yahweh has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion” (Isaiah 34:8). “Before Yahweh, for He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. / He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness” (Psalm 96:13). The Day of YHWH will be a day of distress and darkness: Zephaniah 1:14-18—

“Near is the great day of Yahweh,

Near and coming very quickly;

O the sound, the day of Yahweh!

In it the mighty man cries out bitterly.

A day of fury is that day,

A day of trouble and distress,

A day of destruction and desolation,

A day of darkness and thick darkness,

A day of clouds and dense gloom,

A day of trumpet and loud shouting

Against the fortified cities

And the high corner towers.

I will bring distress on men

So that they will walk like the blind

Because they have sinned against Yahweh;

And their blood will be poured out like dust

And their flesh like dung.

Neither their silver nor their gold 

Will be able to deliver them 

On the day of the fury of Yahweh;

And all the earth will be devoured

In the fire of His jealousy, 

For He will make a complete destruction,

Indeed a terrifying one,

Of all the inhabitants of the earth.”

“The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz beheld concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 

Now it will be that in the last days

The mountain of the house of Yahweh

Will be established as the head of the mountains,

And will be lifted up above the hills;

And all the nations will stream to it.

And many peoples will come and say,

‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh,

To the house of the God of Jacob,

That He may instruct us from His ways

And that we may walk in His paths.’

For from Zion the law will go forth

And the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem.

And He will judge between the nations,

And will render decisions for many peoples;

And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation will not lift up sword against nation,

And never again will they learn war.

Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of Yahweh.

For You have abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob,

Because they are filled with influences from the east,

And they are soothsayers like the Philistines,

And they strike bargains with the children of foreigners.

Their land has also been filled with silver and gold, 

And there is no end to their treasures;

Their land has also been filled with horses,

And there is no end to their chariots.

Their land has also been filled with idols;

They worship the work of their hands,

That which their fingers have made.

So the common man has been bowed down,

And the man of importance has been made low,

But do not forgive them.

Enter the rock and hide in the dust

From the dread of Yahweh and from the splendor of His majesty.

The lofty look of man will be made low,

And the men made high will be bowed down,

And Yahweh alone will be exalted in that day. 

For Yahweh of hosts will have a day of reckoning

Against everyone who is proud and high

And against everyone who is lifted up,

That he may be made low.

And it will be against all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up,

Against all the oaks of Bashan,

Against all the high mountains,

Against all the hills that are lifted up,

Against every lofty tower,

Against every fortified wall,

Against all the ships of Tarshish

And against all the desirable craft.

The loftiness of man will be bowed down,

And the men who are high will be made low;

And Yahweh alone will be exalted in that day,

But the idols will completely vanish.

Men will go into caves of the rocks

And into holes of the ground

Before the dread of Yahweh

And the splendor of His majesty,

When He arises to make the earth tremble.

In that day men will cast away to the moles and the bats

Their idols of silver and their idols of gold,

Which they made for themselves to worship,

In order to go into the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs

Before the dread of Yahweh and the splendor of His majesty,

When He arises to make the earth tremble.

Stop regarding man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils;

For why should he be esteemed?”

—Isaiah 2.

The wicked deserve God’s wrath which He will pour out in His coming Day: “And I heard the angel of the waters saying, ‘Righteous are You, who is and who was, O Holy One, because You judged these things; for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. They deserve it.’ And I heard the altar saying, ‘Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments’” (Revelation 16:5-7). “According to what they deserve, so He will pay in full, / Wrath to His adversaries, what is deserved to His enemies; / To the coastlands He will pay what they deserve” (Isaiah 59:18). 

God still gives men time to repent in this Day: 

“‘And I will put wonders in the sky and on the earth,

Blood, fire, and columns of smoke.

The sun will be turned into darkness 

And the moon into blood

Before the great and awesome day of Yahweh comes.

And it will be that everyone who calls on the name of Yahweh

Will be delivered;

For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem

There will be those who escape,

As Yahweh has said,

Even among the survivors whom Yahweh calls.”

—Joel 2:30-32.

“‘And this gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in the whole world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come’” (Matthew 24:14). “Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who inhabit the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people. And he said with a loud voice, ‘Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters’” (Revelation 14:6-7).

The Day of YHWH is near: “Alas for the day! / For the day of Yahweh is near, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty” (Joel 1:15). “Behold, the day of Yahweh is coming, cruel, with fury and burning anger, / To make the land a desolation; and He will exterminate its sinners from it” (Isaiah 13:9). “The word of Yahweh came again to me saying, ‘Son of man, prophesy and say, “Thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Wail, “Alas for the day!” / For the day is near, even the day of Yahweh is near; it will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations’”’” (Ezekiel 30:1-3).

The Lord Jesus Christ could return to rapture His Church and begin the Day of YHWH at any time: “‘But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. For just as the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then there will be two in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding grain at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left. Therefore stay awake, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming’” (Matthew 24:36-42). 

You have read God’s Word. Woe to you if you do not repent. You do not know how many days God has decreed for you; you could die at any time. The Lord Jesus could return at any moment and begin His Day of vengeance, you could be caught under God’s wrath poured out on this earth. So: “‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’” (Matthew 3:2; 4:17).

THE FINAL JUDGMENT

There is coming a Judgment where God will repay to each according to his works: “I said in my heart, ‘God will judge both the righteous man and the wicked man,’ for a time for every matter and for every work is there” (Ecclesiastes 3:17). “Be glad, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be merry during the days of young manhood. And walk in the ways of your heart and in the sights of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things. So, remove vexation from your heart and put away evil from your flesh because childhood and the prime of life are vanity” (Ecclesiastes 11:9-10). “The end of the matter, all that has been heard: fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the end of the matter for all mankind. For God will bring every work to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14). “‘But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned’” (Matthew 12:36-37). 

“‘And He commanded us to preach to the people, and solemnly to bear witness that this is the One who has been designated by God as Judge of the living and the dead’” (Acts 10:42). “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will repay to each according to his works” (Romans 2:5-6). “on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus” (Romans 2:16). “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom” (2 Timothy 4:1). “In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, maligning you, but they will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead” (1 Peter 4:4-5).

All the wicked will be resurrected unto judgment: “‘And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to reproach and everlasting contempt’” (Daniel 12:2). “‘Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment. I can do nothing from Myself. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. If I alone bear witness about Myself, My witness is not true. There is another who bears witness about Me, and I know that the witness which He gives about Me is true’” (John 5:25-32). “‘But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I do serve the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets; having a hope in God, for which these men are waiting, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous’” (Acts 24:14-15). 

This is God’s final judgment: “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sits upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. Then I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them, and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:11-15). 

The lake of fire is Hell because in it God will destroy both soul and body of the wicked: “‘And do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell’” (Matthew 10:28). “And the tongue is a fire, the very world of unrighteousness; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our existence, and is set on fire by hell” (James 3:6). “‘The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the fiery furnace; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’” (Matthew 13:41-42). 

All the wicked will be resurrected, their physical bodies will be resurrected, and God will judge each one according to his deeds; those whose names are not written in the Lamb’s book of life will be thrown into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. This is the second death. The first death is just physical; the second is eternal death of soul, spirit, and body in the lake of fire, having been resurrected unto judgment, with a body prepared for eternal death—eternal torment which is God’s just wrath. It is God’s justice and wrath against His enemies. He is righteous and true and good. “‘Amen, the blessing and the glory and the wisdom and the thanksgiving and the honor and the power and the strength, be to our God forever and ever. Amen’” (Revelation 7:12).

REPENT AND BELIEVE IN THE GOSPEL

You are dead in your sins, you do not please God, all your “righteous” deeds are as filthy rags before Him. Therefore God will execute His fierce anger and just wrath upon you for eternity because of your sins, transgressions, and rebellions against Him. So repent and believe in the gospel, in the good news of Jesus Christ! “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God…Now after John had been delivered up into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel’” (Mark 1:1, 14-15). Jesus is the Christ and Jesus is this good news. Unless you repent of your sins by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, unless you believe in Him—in all of who He is—and His redeeming work on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins, you will lie down in torment (Isaiah 50:11).