Major Bible Themes

Hal actually did this lesson and number 51 in the same week, but we've got our calendar all laid out. We didn't account for that. So if we get out of here a little bit early, it won't be the end of the world. But it's funny because we are talking about the end of the world. So let's talk about some of the judgments. Can you guys see this okay? We've got small non-presentation like fonts. It turns out that there have been and will be a number of judgments executed by the Lord. So this lays out the biggies all along the way.

I think the one that may be missing and confusing to folks is the BEMA judgment. And we can certainly talk about that if we need to talk about that. But it's a different one in nature, whereas the Bema judgment is looking at believers with an eye to rewards. The rest of these are not looking so much at rewards, but actual judging and condemnation. So we start out at the fall.

This is our first judgment where, you know, Eve messed it up for the entire world, you know, can't believe that she actually did that. No, where Adam sinned, and based on Adam's sin, turns out all man is put into this state of being separated from God, and the Earth ends up getting corrupted. Courtney, I don't know why this comes to mind, but I can't help but think about how you're scuba diving and looking at all the splendors under the ocean and thinking, wow, this is the corrupt world. Let's just imagine what the uncorrupt one looked like.

Okay, so judgment number one. Judgment number two is the flood. And we're going to end up looking at the flood and comparing it to the judgment of the nations and the tribulation, because those guys sit together pretty closely in time. And because our Lord Jesus Christ actually compared the two of them to one another. So that's a good one to look at.

But what was the deal with the flood? Why did we have a flood? Because we were so rotten. Yeah, pretty much. I mean, everybody was just horribly rotten. And God said, you know what, I'm just going to wipe out the whole lot of them, save for these eight, who I regard as righteous.

Okay, so we're cruising along and we get to the cross. The cross is yet another judgment. Who or what is being judged at the cross? I'm sorry? Sin. Sin, for sure. Anything else? Satan. Yeah, and we'll cover that, I think, week after next. That one may get pushed another week when we look at the judgments against Satan. We can look at that one in depth.

Then the tribulation. What's being judged at the tribulation? Those that are his saints. His saints are being judged at the tribulation? They're being taken out of the world, so he's judged us in fulfilling the righteousness that he declared of us at the cross. He certainly pulls us out of this world before the tribulation hits, and I'm very grateful for that. But the tribulation itself is a judgment and punishment against those who were not taken out of this world.

And it's again... For the unbeliever, right? That's right. And again, we're at a place where, oh my goodness, man has completely messed it up again. And so this is God's wrath being poured out and poured out in dramatic fashion. And so we'll be comparing the tribulation with the flood a little bit if we get time for that.

And then the judgment of the nations, I'm not going to say a word about that because that's what we're going to talk about today. I don't want to give away any of the secrets there. But basically the next few weeks are all going to be about judgments of some sort.

So we get the judgment of Satan, we get the Great White Throne judgment, and they all sort of fit together. We'll back up and look at the resurrections and see how those fit into the same thing. Anyway, once we make it through the Millennial Kingdom, we end up with Satan the Beast and the False Prophet getting judged.

They get thrown into the Lake of Fire, good riddance. There's the Great White Throne Judgment, at which God opens up the books, and we'll find out that that's the Book of Life. It's also the Book of Works. And then finally, the purging of the earth is God's final judgment on the correct nature of the earth that we live on. So a whole bunch of judgments. We're going to focus mostly today on the judgment of the nations.

So a little bit of review, and it's a game I want to play called, Who's Left in the Ground? So let's look at the resurrections as we move from left to right on this slide. and figure out who's left in the ground and why we want them left in the ground. Okay?

So, at the beginning of the tribulation, before things start, all of the believers, so the church is raised to be with Christ. So, who's left in the ground? Non-believers. Non-believers. Who else? Old Testament saints are left in the ground. And the reason is because they're not reigning with Christ. That's not the position that they've got. So we can leave them in the ground for a little while. So we get a couple witnesses raised. It doesn't really change the state of who's left in the ground too terribly much.

But then we get to the end of the Tribulation. And at the end of the Tribulation, We get a few more folks raised. So we get all of the believers who died during the tribulation. So people will come to believe during the tribulation and will be killed for it. So we get them out of the ground. All right? And we get all of the Old Testament saints out of the ground. And why would we pull... Go ahead.

Just a question for you, Craig. Shouldn't those two green arrows be reversed, the dead and Christ? Dead in Christ are raised first and then alive in Christ are meet in the sky. Which is not actually... That's why the little arrow is longer for them. They're ahead of them. It's a timeline. Oh yeah, so maybe it's top to bottom, not left to right on that particular set of arrows. But you're absolutely right.

So the dead in Christ up first and then alive in Christ meet them in the sky. So anyway, we get to the end of the tribulation, and God chooses to raise up the believers who died during the tribulation, and also raises up the Old Testament saints. So a couple questions for you.

Why does God want them out of the ground? And here I'm saying out of the ground, but it turns out that it may have been somewhere else. But why does God want them out of the ground at this point in time? We serve on earth. We're about to enter the Millennial Kingdom and God wants to set up his kingdom with these Old Testament saints and wants the believers to be part of it. So all of these folks have to be part of this Millennial Kingdom. Who's left in the ground? That's it. At this point the only people in the dirt are the unbelievers. Why are they still there? Because they didn't believe. That's right.

So we're waiting for the Day of Judgment, but we've got this Millennial Kingdom that we want to have between that point and the Great White Throne Judgment. Who wants unbelievers in this Millennial Kingdom to start it off with? Do we think that's a great way to start off the Millennial Kingdom? Pull all the unbelievers and make them part of the Kingdom?

No, let's leave them in the dirt. So that's why we've got it set up that way. And there's going to be a Judgment right here. I mean, right at the same point, and we need to make that same dividing line here. We want to exclude our unbelievers from the Millennial Kingdom, who wants them there. And we want our believers, who made it through the Tribulation, come on in. So there's going to be a judgment right there.

And for the Millennial Kingdom, this is the one that's interesting. Scripture's a little bit silent. So at the very end, We've got one last resurrection before the Great White Throne Judgment. And my question for you is, who's in the ground at that point? Who's getting resurrected? Unbelievers. Unbelievers. Anybody else? Believing saints during the millennium. Maybe. Maybe. So it may be that there are some believing saints during the millennium, during the millennial kingdom, who die.

And scripture is pretty silent on this. Unfortunately, it's not important for our salvation or our sanctification to know the answer. And when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back, it's all going to make a whole heck of a lot of sense to us. But there may be some believers in that last resurrection. We don't know for sure. Scripture is silent.

But what we can say is the vast majority of those who are resurrected at that point are not resurrected to happiness. because they're unbelievers and they're going straight before the Great White Throne and there's going to be a judgment there. Now, an interesting thing that we will look at in week 51. So when we look at the Great White Throne judgment there are a lot of folks who like to take the judgment that happens right here at the end of the Tribulation and they like to take the judgment that's right here at the end of the Millennial Kingdom and make it into one judgment. And how would you go about making those two judgments into one judgment?

You're going to have to wave your magic spiritual wand at the Bible and say, oh, when it says a thousand years, it means kind of like, you know, blink of an eye. Or, you know, you can decide, oh, I don't buy this whole millennial kingdom thing. There's not going to be a millennial kingdom. There are ways that you can sort of skirt the issue, but the way that you do that is by reading the Bible, taking some of the words, and deciding they don't mean what they say.

So we'll look at that in a few weeks. Could be there's so many believers that it would take God a thousand years to reward us. Yes, maybe the judgment at the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom is really slow. No, probably not, because there's some actual ruling and reigning going on outside of judging. Okay, so let's spend our time looking at the judgment that happens here, right at the end of the tribulation.

This thing's trying to fall off my ear. Okay, and this is sheep and goats, right? And we need to separate our sheep from our goats because the goats are pretty unruly and we need to get them out of here before we start our kingdom. All right, so we're going to look at a few things. Number one, when did this happen?

And this is going to become relevant because when we look at the Great White Throne judgment, we're going to look at when that happens, and we're going to be building the case for, hey, you know what? These are two separate judgments. Same thing with the subjects. Who is the subject of this particular judgment? We'll answer that same question for the Great White Throne Judgment, and we'll find out, again, we've got different sets. The basis of the judgment looks remarkably similar, and the result of the judgment looks fairly similar, but still not exactly the same.

Today, let's figure out what we need to figure out about the judgment of the nations. So let's start with timing. Tristan has no Bible. How can that be? Alright, moving on to Courtney. And that's recorded for all time. People can hear that all they want. Yeah, that's right. Okay, Courtney, why don't you give us Matthew 24, 29 through 31, and you can give us Matthew 25, 31 through 35.

Matthew 24, but immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its in great glory, and he will send forth his angels with a great trumpet, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. Interesting question for you that should have an obvious answer. Why did the tribes of the earth mourn when they saw Christ coming? You can just see the sinking feeling in every single person here. Oh, crud. All right, Matthew 25, 31.

But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, and He will sit on His glorious throne, all the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them from one another, as shepherds separate the sheep from the goats. And He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me in. Okay.

So, end of the Tribulation, Christ comes back. When Christ comes back, there is a judgment. I mean it, and it's pretty clear it happens, bang bang. Okay, so right after the Tribulation, that's when this judgment takes place. And we're going to find out the Great White Throne judgment is definitely a thousand years later. Okay? So subjects, who ends up getting judged? We just saw that.

All the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate them from one another. So question, those who he's judging at this point, are they alive or dead? Say that again. The folks that are being judged at the judgment of the nations, are they alive folks or are they dead folks?

They're alive, folks. That's right. So he's gathering all of the nations together. These are all the folks who made it through the tribulation. These are the ones who are being judged at this point. These are the ones who look up in the sky, see Christ coming, and say, oh, crud. That's the point at which they're being judged. But it turns out that at that point, there are some believers on this earth. So, for example, we've got the 144,000 Jews who have been sealed, who are believers, and those who came to know Christ through those 144,000 are there. So these are the ones that we're going to be separating out.

The ones that we want in the kingdom, the ones that we don't want in the kingdom. So wait a minute, so we won't have, you know, it says we'll have one person that will rule the world, but what happens to the nations? I thought it would be one vision, one world. So we'd still have different nations? Oh, the nations here is just meant to be all people. So this, yeah, this isn't Poland and Hungary. All people other than Jews. All people other than Jesus.

Now let's look at the basis on which these folks are judged. Before we jump into it, I think I want to do these verses in a different order. I just decided that. I hope to make it a little clearer. I want to look at faith from two different perspectives. Because I think it's going to help us understand what's going on in these judgments. So let's start with Ephesians 2, 8 through 10. And I'll read it. So here we go. Maybe I'll wait a little longer for the folks who don't have iPads to turn their pages. Okay.

For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are created in his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." We covered this passage and what works are several weeks ago when I was teaching. So on what basis are we saved? on the basis of belief. And belief in what, Monique? In Christ. In Christ. So it's belief in Christ.

And specifically that he died on the cross for our sins, was buried for his third day. And we can see that in 2 Corinthians 15, 2 and on. So we know very clearly, this is the basis on which we are saved. Okay? 100%? We're all confident in this? OK, beautiful. Now let's go to James 2, 14 through 20. OK.

What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, go in peace, be warmed, and be filled, and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, What use is that? Even so, faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.

But someone may well say, You have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe and shudder. But you are willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless. Okay, so how do you reconcile that passage with we're saved by faith? I mean, just going back in there, what use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? Yeah, I think so.

Because Scripture says that faith is useless. But I thought that You don't have to work for faith. You're supposed to believe. Forget work. And that's what simple faith is. Ellen, do you have your... I would say faith is the first thing. You have faith, and it produces works. Yeah, that's exactly right. So the works come out. They are the fruit. Right.

Right? If you continue to read further in James 2, so that's James 2, 22, you see He talks about Abraham, our father, justified by works when he offered up Isaac, his son, on the altar. Like, was he not justified by his works? And it says, you see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected. Right.

So, faith is what saves us. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Works are something that come afterwards, by which other folks can see. So, maybe put it this way. Works are the necessary outflowing of faith, but faith is what saves us. Okay, and I think what's key in this particular passage is the word says, and that's, I'll see, you with real Bibles, you don't have it go into power save mode, so. You can just keep looking at that as much as you want to look at it. Okay, so, What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Scripture is very clear on this in this passage in James, that if you want to know what somebody believes, look at what they do. If you have no works, I don't believe that you have saving faith.

Does that make sense, Ellen? I'm going to say, is it like the fig tree that Jesus came across and it produced nothing? And he ended up perusing said fig tree? Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So what good is it without works? And, you know, even unbelievers understand this concept very clearly. I mean, John Stuart Mill is lauded for one of his great, great ideas that if you want to know what a person believes, you look at what they do, not at what they say. Well, he was 1700 years late to that party. But isn't it here that we need to be looking at who is the causal agent? Is it I or is it God working through me?

And that's what you can see back in Ephesians 2.10 when we see that these works were prepared beforehand for us to walk in.

Yeah, and that's absolutely right. It's not a question of, boy, I am really looking pretty because I have this faith. It is, the Lord Jesus Christ is really looking pretty through me. Well, I always thought it was a matter of just scrubbing myself up and keeping myself clean, and those works were going to do that. And it's what I was raised with, was that thought.

Okay, so through faith, you become, because God is in you, Christ is in you, it makes you want to be a missionary, for instance. I think that's a fine example. I mean, when you are saved, you become a new creation in Christ. And that new creation in Christ is probably much less interested in going to Vegas as they are, you know, going out and proclaiming the gospel.

Isn't this kind of continuing on what Merton, the logical imperative, if you have faith, the logical outcome would be works. Yeah. I mean, it's not the other way around. Exactly right. And so it's not that, and I think you said it, and that's what I'm curious about, if you don't have any works, I don't know how you said it, your salvation is questioned or whatever. I don't think you, this isn't, if you don't have works, work backwards. I think if you have faith, the logical outcome of that will be works, things you do for the Lord. I don't think you can go the other way around, that if you don't have works, you don't have faith, you don't have salvation. You can't flip that equation around. I don't think that's what was stated, though. Well, it sounded like you said, and that's why I was trying to think what you said a while ago. I'm just saying you can't reverse this equation.

If you have faith, the logical outcome is you'll have works. But you can't say if you don't have works, you don't have faith, which means you don't have salvation. Do you understand? Mike? I think the Ephesian passage points out the fact that a man who is saved is saved by faith alone and his righteousness is before God without any works. passage, you're talking about righteousness before men. Yes. And it's visible that that person is saved because of what he does, but it doesn't affect his position before God. 100% agree with that statement. Yep. Okay.

So now that we've got that relationship clear, we're going to be able to figure out what's going on in Matthew 25. So I'm going to mix it up. I'm going to come over to you, Russ. So the basis on which folks are being judged, let's go with Matthew 25, 34 through 40, and then also 46.

Then the king will say to those on his right, Come ye who are blessed by my father. and have prepared for you from the creation of the world. I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you invited me into your home.

What? Which one is your ID? Uh, 46. Oh, okay. And they will go away in eternal punishment that derives us to go into eternal life.

I would have to say I completely messed up that reference. So I'm just going to read the rest of what I was going for in Matthew 25, 34, which is, For I was hungry, you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, you invited me in. Naked, you clothed me. I was sick, you visited me. I was in prison, you came to me.

Then the righteous will answer him, Lord, When did we see you hungry, and feed you, or thirsty, and give you something to drink? And when did we see you a stranger, and invite you in, or naked, and clothe you? When did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you?

My king will answer and say to them, truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of the brothers of mine, even the least of them, you did it to me. So, on the surface this looks like, you know, these folks are being judged on their actions. But, Let's look at the context of when they were doing these, when they were performing these actions. So when were they, let's start with, in that you did these to brothers of mine, you did it to me.

Who are the brothers of Christ that he's talking about at this point? Believers. He's talking about believers and in what time period? Before the cross. No. So he's talking to people who have just come through the tribulation. They've popped out the other side of the tribulation. These are the folks he's talking to. And he said, you did all these awesome things to brothers of mine. So he's talking about it during the time period of the tribulation. So, let's think about what the time period around the Tribulation looks like for believers.

Pretty good or pretty bad? Not good at all, right? So, folks are running around with the Mark of the Beast on them. And if you don't take that mark, things are not working out well for you. You can't buy Pop-Tarts. You really can't function within the society. You're persecuted, and in large part, a large number of them are beheaded. So this is really an ugly time for believers. And during this really ugly time, when it's incredibly dangerous to be helpful to anybody who does not take the mark of the beast, these folks are clothing them, giving them shelter, visiting them in prison, taking care of them.

Do you think works like that come out of just a really good heart? Well, they have the love of Christ in them. That's exactly right. I mean, at this point in time, they've got a pretty clear understanding of who Christ is, what scripture is, and who these Jewish folks are who are sealed on this earth, and they're treating them accordingly.

And it's only on the basis of that knowledge that anybody could possibly, you know, do this sort of thing. Give me just a sec to see if I can find In fact, for a Gentile to befriend a Jew at a time when Jews are being hounded to death would be to endanger his own life and freedom. The only possible reason for such kindness under these circumstances, in a time of great satanic deception and hatred of the Jews, would be that the Gentile is a believer in Christ and Scripture and recognizes the peculiar position of Israel as the chosen people of God. So, when Christ is saying You know what? You're a sheep. You're going to get to go into the kingdom based upon all these nice things that you did for my brothers. What he's saying is, I know you're a believer. Come on in.

Is that clear? Are we comfortable with that? Ellen? That would not pertain to the people that helped the Jews during the Holocaust recently, would it? I wouldn't say so unless we get a tribulation here in the next five minutes. Right, because this is going to be a judgment on the folks who make it through that tribulation. Okay, so then the goats. These are folks who are not so lucky. Ruth, can you do Matthew 25, 41 through 46? Hopefully this set is better.

Then he will say to those who on his left depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink. I was a stranger, and you did not invite me in. I needed clothes, and you did not clothe me. I was sick and in prison, and you did not look after me. They also will answer, Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or needing clothes, or sick, or in prison, and did not help you? He will reply, truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me. Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.

Okay. So no works is evidence of no faith, at least in this set of circumstances, Courtney. One thing that I find interesting in this passage, what do these folks call Christ? Lord. Isn't that great? I mean, these people who deny Christ continually, when he's in front of them and judging them, is there any doubt that they understand what the circumstances are? Lord! When did we not do these things? So anyway, the basis on which they're judged is their actions, but it's their actions with an eye towards their heart and their belief, right? Where do they put their faith?

John 13, 20. John what? Say that again. 13, 20. Thank you. Truly, truly I say to you, He who receives whomever I send, receives me. And he who receives me, receives him who sent me. So we've got this same relationship. Those who were kind... Mike? Acts 9, same thing. Acts 9, same thing. When Paul was saved on the road to Damascus, the Lord said, why are you persecuting me? Exactly right. Yeah. So those who persecute the brethren are persecuting Christ. Yeah, exactly right. Okay, so now it's clear. We know when folks are being judged, we know who is it. It's the folks who've just made it through the tribulation. And the goal is to figure out who's coming into the kingdom.

We've got sheeps, we've got goats. Sheeps were kind to the brethren because they were believers. Goats, not so kind to the brethren because they don't believe. And now we're going to find out the result, which is in Matthew 25, 34. Then the king will say to those on his right, who's on the right? The sheep are on the right.

Come, you who are blessed of my father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. So sheep, into the kingdom. Next one, 2546. These are the goats. These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go to eternal life. So sheep get to go into the kingdom, get eternal life. Goats, not so much eternal punishment. And also, back in 41, To the goats, depart from me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels. So, there you go. Better to be a sheep.

Any questions about the judgment of the nations? Yes, ma'am. So, I don't know, this is always been a question that's confused me with, you know, you're saying the believers are still left in their ground during this time. So, like, believers who have died now, are they, like, when you say they're going home, Are they with the Lord right now or are they still on the ground? Still on the ground. So they will be raised at the beginning of the tribulation and...

What's going on, Crystal? What? She's the press agent. Resurrections only talk about bodies. So the spirits of those who have died, like our loved ones, they are with the Lord right now, and those that are murdered, yeah. First Thessalonians, it talks about that the dead in Christ will go first, they get reunited with their bodies, and then we go right behind them. Bodies are changed into glorified bodies on the way.

But if we talk about their body right now, their body's in the dirt. It's in the dirt. That's right. Yeah. It sure is. Okay. Did I clear that up? Yes. Oh, good. Okay, wait a minute. Their body is in the dirt, but they're soulless. With the Lord. With the Lord. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, because the action from the body is present with the Lord. Okay, so I got it. OK, so this one is just a little bit of fun. Boy, that font is incredibly small. So I'm going to end up reading this aloud to you for the most part. Before we start, Crystal, can you read Matthew 24, 36?

But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angel of heaven. nor the Son, but the Father alone. And 37. For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. Okay, so Christ himself draws a comparison between his second coming and also the flood.

And so it's kind of fun to do this exercise and look at what the correlations are. And so when Hal taught this class, he looked at it two different ways. So number one, the second coming is associated with the tribulation because it's something that happens right after. So let's compare the flood with the tribulation. And then also when Christ comes back there will be this judgment of the nations. And so let's look at a comparison between the flood and judgment of the nations.

This particular slide is available online if you want to go and take a look at it. I think we handed out some CDs. You can certainly look at it and that will save your eyes from trying to squint and see it all the way up here. It's kind of funny even on my computer screen.

But anyway, the length of the judgment, so here's something that ends up being different with the flood, the length of the judgment, not very long, right? Not too terribly long, maybe six months or so. Tribulation, it's going to be pretty long, seven years, so it's a difference. The form of the judgment, Under the flood, the form of the judgment is pretty simple. It's a flood.

With the tribulation, oh my goodness, what a whole mess of stuff you end up with. I mean, you end up with hail and fire and cosmic catastrophes. You get locusts, slaughter. I mean, just a whole mess of stuff. You don't want to be part of that. Of course, you probably didn't want to be part of the flood either.

But it's clear, the tribulation wrath, that's pretty intense. Interesting one to me, man's response to the judgment. With the flood, we can just guess. But I'm under the impression that folks tried to swim a little bit and see how long they could stay out, maybe climb to the top of their roof. Completely different. Bruce, can you read Revelations 9-6?

What's man's response to the tribulation? And in those days, men will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, and death flees from them. I mean, so basically, you've got a world population of suicidal people who just can't quite do it. I mean, that's just how horrible the tribulation ends up being.

But the warning of judgment, Noah got to preach to folks for 120 years. And with respect to the tribulation, had scripture around for a while. So probably a few thousand years folks are going to be ignoring this. And then man's response to it, what was it when Noah went out and preached to everybody and said, hey, you know, there's going to be a flood and you really want to be on this side of the equation.

What was, what were the response? Yeah, they didn't buy into that so much, and so there were exactly eight who were saved. And man's response with respect to the saving gospel? A little bit better. I mean, a lot of people have suffered for that gospel. A lot of people are being put to death today for sharing that gospel. But we're amassing some believers, and that's pretty cool. Yeah?

Just an aside there. In that first six, it says, they will desire to die and death will flee from them. What do you think? I think it means that they simply won't be able to, you know, they'll just be unsuccessful. Oh, we know that there's a lot of death within the tribulation, so I don't think death is literally running away from every single individual during that time. But I do believe that it's saying that those who want to die via suicide are not having a lot of luck with it. Because God, maybe it's because God doesn't want them to die, so bingo, you can do whatever you want, but you're not dying. Yeah, because he's pouring out his wrath. It seems like an easy out, get out of the wrath.

Of course then they're going to pop up at the end of the millennial kingdom and run into some trouble. And lastly, the destiny of the unbelievers immediately after judgment. You end up with prison. for those folks who are part of the flood. They end up going to torment section of Sheol, waiting for this great white throne judgment. And then in the tribulation, you're looking at Lake of Fire.

So overall, there are a couple similarities between tribulation and the flood, but it's It's not really great in terms of how that lines up. But if you look at Christ's second coming and the judgment of the nations, you get better alignment. So in terms of exact timing, nobody knows the exact timing of either event. So we had a better idea with the flood, about 120 years, but you don't know day, hour, those sorts of things. So it's just something that's going to come.

In terms of Conditions, in both cases, people are being judged based on their wickedness. So with respect to the flood, man is constantly doing evil continually, is the way that that's expressed. And the judgment of the nations when Christ comes back is based upon their actions during the tribulation. So it's based upon the actions of man and the wickedness thereof. In terms of attitudes of man, you end up both indifferent to God.

With the flood, that's pretty obvious. Let's look at 2 Thessalonians 2, 1-7. As soon as I get out of power save mode here. Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, and son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes His seat in the temple of God displaying himself as being God Do you not remember that while I was still with you?

I was telling you these things and you know what restrains him now so that in his time he will be revealed For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way so So we look at this lawlessness that's on the earth and folks following the lawless one, it's clear that their focus is not on God. They just flat out don't care. And so in both cases you end up with complete indifference.

But it's so funny because they think they're in charge and that they think they're the primary reason why everybody's happy or sad. I mean they make themselves out to be God and I think What the heck's wrong with that brain? That is a very interesting point. That you're sitting there in the tribulation thinking that you are the cause of what's going on. Yeah. I hadn't looked at it that way. I like that.

And then lastly, God's response, sending judgment to earth and man in both cases. So there's correlation in the way that these judgments worked out. So with that and the second bell, let's go ahead and close. So, Father, thank you so much for your love again, and for giving us scripture so that we can understand some of these things that are to come. It's in Jesus' name I pray. Amen.