NOTE: All comments in brackets [ ] or in parentheses ( ) as well as highlighted text (bolded and/or in blue) are from the author of this study.
Bible quotations are in maroon.
This is an interesting question bearing examination in context of what the Bible says about how God acts with unconverted nations and in terms of how often and why in the past He has intervened in the affairs of mankind.
Many are those who once were members of the one, true Church and, many who are still currently members in good standing, who think that the reason for the end-time plagues from God is one last all out effort by God to bring about repentance of the nations. They believe that pain and sufferings are means used by God to force the unconverted to repent; to get them to give up resisting Him; and finally, submitting to Him once they can no longer endure the pain inflicted upon them or they can’t bear the idea of having to suffer more pain.
This major error stems from the false pagan religious belief that God uses trials and punishment to bring about repentance from sin. A close cousin to this false notion is that pain and suffering are used by God to perfect His saints.
The version of this idea among the unconverted of the world is that by making ourselves suffer (self-flagellation, depriving ourselves of food or sleep, etc.) we can somehow make amend for certain sins which are making us feel particularly guilty or that by self-inflicted suffering we can make ourselves more worthy in God’s eyes.
Many of these ideas made their way into the membership of the Church as men from all walks of life were called by God and brought with them into the church these false religious ideas; some of these false ideas were even taught by the ministry and can be found in some the Ambassador College Bible Correspondence Course. Mr. Armstrong (HWA) NEVER taught any such things in his personally authored literature and in his personal voice recordings. As a word of caution to those reading this study, you should be sure to stay with Mr. Armstrong’s voice recordings and literature to prevent your thinking from being corrupted by the false pagan religious ideas that have found their way in the sermons and writings of the ministry of the Church.
I fully realize how this will be a very shocking revelation to many but there were numerous rebellions during the days when the Church’s human administrator was Mr. Armstrong. Ministers rebelled and left with several congregations including even Mr. Armstrong’s own son. The Systematic Theology Project was started behind Mr. Armstrong’s back and ran for a long time before it was brought to his attention and when it was, he disavowed any personal involvement and condemned it as an effort by the liberals in the ministry to change the Church’s doctrines.
The belief that God through the end-time plagues is trying to get the attention of the world and bring as many to conversion as possible is contrary to what HWA always taught. HWA’s teachings has always been that God made man an absolute free moral agent and this for a very special purpose directly linked to the carrying out of His master plan of salvation for mankind.
God created man as an absolute, free moral agent because it was essential that man be able to freely choose between good and evil and that there be no force in heaven or on earth that could force him to choose one over the other against his will. It had to be his choice knowingly and freely taken.
Let’s examine what is free moral agency and how it fits into God’s plan of salvation for mankind.
Absolute Free Moral Agency
God granted mankind absolute free moral agency. God decreed that there is no power on earth or in heaven that can force man to believe something that is contrary to what he has chosen to believe. No amount of physical or mental torture or suffering can change the beliefs of a person. If the mind of a person could be effectively changed so that their beliefs could, by force, be effectively changed so that they no longer believe what they used to believe and now believe something entirely different, then man could not be held responsible for not obeying God as there are powers that can change his mind against his will.
If a man’s belief can be effectively changed against his will by a superior force then this man going forward is no longer responsible for his own actions as he is under the power of a stronger power. If his new beliefs are sin, then he cannot be held responsible for it is not of his own doing; a superior force his controlling his actions. Whenever Mr. Armstrong spoke about free moral agency he turned to Deu 30:19.
Deu 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
Here we see God, the Almighty Creator commanding man to choose. This command could not have been given if God hadn’t given mankind the ability to choose; having the ability to choose means that there are no other higher forces that can force a man to believe something against his will. If there were such a power then it would be impossible for mankind to choose as it would be under the control of a higher force. Choosing means being completely free to select good or to select evil once one is given to know the difference. Once men are called and come to know the truth it is not possible for them to be deceived. The only way they can leave the truth is by themselves deciding to do so.
Mat 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Here we see Christ telling the elect that in the end-time there will be false Christs and false prophets doing great signs and wonders that are so impressive and convincing that, if it were possible to do so, they would deceive even the very elect. But, the elect cannot be deceived as to what is God’s truth even by the most awesome and fantastic demonstrations of power by the false Christs and the false prophets that shall arise in the end-time.
Christ is abundantly clear that once an individual has been shown the truth and has accepted it, there is no power in heaven or on earth that can deceive him into believing that something else is the truth. As Mr. Armstrong always said, a deceived person does not know that he is deceived; if he did, then he would not be deceived. A deceived individual does not have the ability to choose as for that person, there is no alternative from which to choose. Mankind is presently deceived as to what is the truth but once God allows them to see the truth and they choose it; they can non longer be deceived; if they become again deceived it is by their freely and knowingly choosing to leave the truth.
If it were possible to deceive God’s elect then this would mean that there is a higher power than God in the universe that can override the power to choose between right and wrong given by God to mankind.
Presently, but for the elect, the whole world is deceived by Satan the Devil (as allowed by God; Satan is not more powerful than God) as to what is the truth of God except those whom God calls.
Rev 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him
And, because the world is deceived, God is not now judging it i.e., their current sinfulness done in ignorance of the truth is not counted as sin that would result in their losing their eternal salvation.
1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
The time of judgment of the unconverted nations will be during the Millennium and during the Last Great Day when their minds will be opened up by God’s Holy Spirit to understand for the first time the truth of God. Since Adam and Eve chose to decide for themselves right and wrong, God removed His spirit from mankind making it blind to spiritual truth and this blindness is to last for the first the first 6,000 years of mankind’s existence.
Since mankind has absolute free moral agency which means that no power can force someone to believe something against his will and; since the world is not now under judgment because it is deceived and cannot know the truth and; that this state of affairs is to continue until after the 2nd Coming of Christ, why will there be end-time plagues on the nations?
Part of the answer can be found if we consider how salvation is made possible while the world remains deceived.
Is it by God forcing Himself upon those He has chosen to call using such means as pain, suffering or exposing them to distressing and frustrating conditions in an effort to break their will and get them to surrender to Him?
Was this how you were called?
Let’s see what the Bible says about how God proceeds to call individuals out of the ways of this world to live a new life based on God’s way.
A Free, Unmerited Gift from God
HWA did spend time countering the false notion of God using physical punishment or causing psychological stress to individuals as the means of bringing about repentance. He often explained and emphasized with all of his strength and ability to communicate that Godly repentance is a gift; an unmerited gift from God and there is nothing that an individual can do to merit it. There is no amount of self-induced physical suffering or mental torment that a man can use to force God to grant him repentance. In other words, repentance is a free gift from God which God gives to whomever He has chosen to give it to and those who were chosen to be offered God’s free gift of repentance were chosen before the foundation of the world as we read in Rom 8: 29-30:
Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to [to eventually come to have] the image [the perfect holy, righteous character of Christ; man created in the image or character of God (Gen 1:26)] of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. [Those that are to be born again will be like Christ in character (be in perfect obedience to God upon their glorification) who is the first human to ever have been resurrected by God the Father as a glorified spirit being with perfect, holy, righteous character; Christ is the first one of many other humans that are to be born again with perfect, holy, righteous, character like Christ.]
Rom 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, [to be called NOT saved; salvation depends on what the individual does with his calling] them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: [upon Godly repentance i.e., coming to the knowledge of the truth for the first time in their lives and choosing to commit themselves to obey God in all things until the end of their physical lives] and whom he justified, [Godly repentance results in justification from sin] them he also glorified. [in the resurrection to come. All throughout Rom 8:30 God shows us the whole process of salvation from His standpoint as an eternal being who sees all things as being in the present.]
And in Ephesians 1: 4-5
Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Eph 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption [to become God’s begotten sons; not, adopted sons] of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, [simply because it was God’s desire to do so; not because anyone or anything forced Him or could ever force Him to do so.]
Since, clearly, Godly repentance is from God; that it is God who chooses those whom He will call and; that there is no force in heaven or earth that can force God to grant someone the free gift of repentance then it follows that no man can force the hand of God in granting him repentance by making himself suffer physical pain or mental distress such as self-flagellation; laying on a bed of nails; walking over hot coals, etc. to punish himself in order to make himself more acceptable to God; to prove to God the sincerity of his desire to obey Him; or to have his sins forgiven.
And, given the absolute free moral agency given by God to man, it follows that sufferings and pain cannot ever force a man to change his beliefs. As HWA often said, “A man convinced against his will (by physical and/or mental torture) is of the same opinion still.” His mind and his beliefs have not been changed.
A very profound notion which is of great importance in understanding the working out of God’s plan of salvation for mankind is summarized in a seemingly easy to understand but not widely understood truth that the mind and will of man cannot be changed by physical or mental pain and suffering.
This knowledge is crucial to understanding God’s actions when He chooses to intervene in the affairs of this world. It has been generally believed and thought that God’s actions during the events of the Day of the Lord is a first step in His taking over the governments of this world by bringing mankind to its knees through the trumpet plagues, the 3 woes and the vial plagues before installing a new government which will be God’s government that will rule over the nations during the Millennium and bring about a time of worldwide peace and prosperity under a perfect government administering a perfect law through perfect spirit beings.
Is this how the Millennium and the Last Great Day are going to be?
The answer can be found in the following studies available on this site Mass Conversion of the Nations during the Millennium? and Administration of God’s Plan of Salvation During the Millennium
If you haven’t already read them, I would recommend that you do so, what have you got to lose?
God will not force man to obey Him by either physical or mental torments. These are all pagan religious beliefs found in the false religions of this world deceived by Satan the devil.
They should have no place in the minds of those who say they are members of God’s Church.
Godly Repentance and Human Level Repentance
The Day of the Lord is coming and at that time, punishment or physical destruction will come upon the nations of the world but will it be for the purpose of converting them?
God did not seek to convert Sodom and Gomorrah or the people living in the days of the Deluge; but for a few persons, they were completely destroyed.
In the days of Nineveh, God sent Jonah to warn the Ninevites to stop doing certain things which God found to be particularly offensive (the Bible does not reveal what were the sins of the Ninevites) or they would be destroyed (NOT punished by God to drive them to conversion). However, we do read that the Ninevites repented but what was their repentance? Is all repentance the same?
A very important point to keep in mind here is that Nineveh repented on the human level; it was not Godly repentance. The Ninevites were not being offered a choice between salvation and eternal destruction (the 2nd death). Also, please keep in mind that the time when salvation will be opened up to mankind generally will be after the 2nd Coming of Christ; NOT before that time.
There is a vast difference between Godly and human level repentance and we can begin to see the difference between the 2 types of repentance as we read 2 Cor’ns 7: 9-10.
2Co 7:9 Now I [Paul] rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, [you were not only sorry for having been caught but it led to you stopping what you were doing that was wrong and you began trying to do what is right] that ye might receive damage [correction] by us in nothing.
2Co 7:10 For godly sorrow worketh [leads to] repentance [turning from evil as defined by God and seeking to follow God’s law] to salvation not to be repented of: [you should not stop or repent of trying to obey God to the best of your abilities] but the sorrow of the world worketh death. [Are only sorry for having been caught; they have no desire to change their bad behavior to good behavior.]
There has been and there continues to be this very widespread misunderstanding in God’s church of the meaning of the word repentance. It is widely believed that every time the word “repentance” is seen in any verse, it always means stopping to sin or ceasing to disobey God.
As we can see from the preceding verses, the word “repentance” depending on the context does not always mean exactly the same thing. Let’s see if I can make things clearer.
The word “repentance” has a general and non-religious meaning and that is to stop doing something or to not go forward with putting into action a planned course of action. For example, I can repent of sleeping in late every day which means I will change my behavior so that I don’t sleep in late every day as I used to do. Or I could have decided to go and cut the lawn tomorrow but when tomorrow comes, I decide not to do it. I repent of cutting the grass as I had originally planned.
Doing a search on the word “repent” will yield many verses such as the one below where we see God repenting. As we know God does not sin, so here the word “repent” does not mean to stop sinning. It merely means, as explained above, to stop doing something which is not a sinful thing or to not go through with a planned course of action which also does not involve something which is sin.
Gen 6:6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
Exo 32:14 And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.
However, when the behavior of which one is repenting has to do with God’s law then the meaning is simply to stop disobeying God with respect to a certain thing which we have been in the habit of doing and which we have realized as we have grown in knowledge and understanding of the truth that this behavior is sin. That is the religious connotation of the word “repentance” which we often find in the Bible.
Repentance then can be with respect to an activity that we decide to stop and which has nothing to do with breaking or keeping God’s law or; it can be with respect to ceasing an activity that breaks God’s law.
Godly repentance, human level repentance and repentance of activities that are not sin are different types of repentance that can be found in the pages of your Bible. And, to prevent major errors in understanding of the Scriptures, we need to be able to know the difference when we read the Bible.
Godly repentance is something that is given to someone whom God is calling and it is the process whereby we decide to commit ourselves to obeying God in all things to the best of our abilities until the end of our human, physical lives. Our attitude of trying to obey God in all things is the attitude that all Christians must maintain until the end of their lives and this is their Godly repentance.
Rom 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
In Rom 2:4 Paul is asking the Roman congregations of God’s Church if they are failing to attach any great importance to having been called by God who does so solely out of goodness. He is under no obligation to do so and they should count themselves as very fortunate that God has granted them repentance unto salvation but they must continue in their repentance for the rest of their lives.
However, and most importantly, Godly repentance involves and is preceded by a period of time where God opens the mind of the one being called to understand some of His spiritual truth through placing His Spirit with the one being called. This is spiritual knowledge that had before always been rejected and to which the person being called had always been hostile.
Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
This new knowledge brings the person being called to a period of reflection where he spends time deciding what he will do going forward. God ultimately brings him to the crossroads where he has to make a decision; He allows sufficient knowledge and understanding for the one being called to know for the first time in his life that God exists, that He is real and that He is calling him to come out of the ways of the world which he always thought to be right and commit himself to learning God’s truth and obeying Him until the end of his life. When that commitment is made, that is Godly repentance.
Godly repentance is both an abiding attitude of obedience to God in all things where it is our intent to try to always obey God to the best of our abilities and it is a process where as we grow in knowledge and understanding of God’s truth we make more changes in our lives where our behavior is found to be transgressing God’s law. It is both an abiding attitude and a process of growth that lasts the whole life of the called out one.
This abiding attitude of obedience to God in all things must remain with us our whole life lest we lose our salvation. It is our part in the salvation process.
Godly repentance is being given access to God’s spiritual truth and committing ourselves to living our lives in accordance with God’s truth until the end of our lives.
Now on to the point I wanted to make with respect to end-time events.
Knowledge of the Truth Required for Godly Repentance
Would physical punishment or mental torment be a useful means in bringing about Godly repentance knowing that God has given man absolute free moral agency i.e., he cannot be convinced against his will; there is no power in heaven or on earth that can force man to believe something he has not chosen to believe and this includes God, Satan and spiritual wickedness in high places (Eph 6:12).
Also as we have just seen, in order for Godly repentance to occur one must first know what to repent of; in other words, the one who is to repent needs to be taught the truth to a certain extent and for a certain period of time in order to be able to come to the point where sufficient knowledge has been acquired to be able to make a decision. It is impossible to make a choice between right and wrong when there is no knowledge of the real difference between right and wrong.
God says that His spiritual truth can only be known by revelation which is done through His Holy Spirit. Remember that mankind as a whole remains cut off from God’s Holy Spirit until after the 2nd Coming of Christ. The end time plagues will be poured out before mankind in general is given access to God’s Holy Spirit which is the only means by which it can know God’s spiritual truth.
So how would physical punishment or mental torment brought on by the end-time plagues be useful in bringing about Godly repentance in mankind since it is impossible for it to know God’s spiritual truth as God is not then calling them and has Himself blinded them to the truth until the appointed time so that it is impossible for them to know the correct difference between good and evil?
In the end time, why should the nations be punished for not obeying God’s spiritual law which they cannot know and to which God says they are hostile and indeed cannot obey (Rom 8:7)?
Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Why would God punish them for not being obedient as God Himself says it is impossible for them to do so until they become converted and God says the nations are not under judgment (I Pet 4:17) because of their inability to know the truth? The conversion process as we should all clearly understand occurs only through God’s Holy Spirit which does not force anyone to believe but simply gives them the opportunity to self-willingly do so. God wants individuals to freely choose, without any physical or mental coercion to obey Him once they come to the knowledge of the truth as God’s Spirit makes it available to them. Those making up God’s Kingdom have to be beings of character i.e., when given to know the truth they choose to follow it even when there is nothing forcing them to do so and they freely choose to restrain themselves from those things which God’s law say are sin.
Since mankind has been blinded to God’s truth following the sin of Adam; that physical suffering and mental torment are not the means used by God to bring about Godly repentance and; that the time of the Great Tribulation and of the Day of the Lord is not the time when God is calling the nations to salvation but only a select few which were predestinated to be called, why are plagues coming upon the nations in the end time?
No one will be converted as a result of the events of the Great Tribulation. If any conversions occur it will be because of God calling men through His Holy Spirit without which it is impossible for them to know and understand God’s spiritual truth. The Bible makes this very clear in the following verses of 1 Corinthians.
1Co 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
1Co 2:10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
1Co 2:11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
The things of God no man knows but by the Spirit of God when it dwells with him (while he is being called) or is in him (upon becoming converted). There is no other way for men to come to know and be able to choose the truth of God. Man’s spiritual creation was incomplete as it was necessary that another spirit be added to his human spirit for him to be able to understand the spiritual truth of God. Pain and fear which are physical cannot bring one to the knowledge of God’s truth which is only available from God’s Holy Spirit which must be with or dwell within the person being called for that person to be able to know God’s spiritual truth. There are no Biblical examples of individuals having come to Godly repentance as a result of having gone through a period of physical suffering or mental torment coming from God.
Ancient Israel
Ancient Israel was unconverted and is a type of the unconverted nations of the world; it was given the 10 commandments and the statutes and the judgments which allowed them to understand the practical application of God’s law in a number of social situations.
The statutes and the judgments were necessary because ancient Israel like the unconverted nations of that time and, of our days, could not understand nor apply the spirit of the law.
The statutes and the judgments resulted from decisions made by Moses and those he appointed to judge the people. They were recorded and kept for reference in judging future identical or similar cases that would come up as the judges administered God’s law over the people.
After the death of Moses who was the human level spokesman for God, the administration of the law would be done through applying the statutes and the judgments which established the pattern of how the law was to be administered. The British common law system is a direct descendant of these law administration practices. In our days, the British and the USA have departed from the common law system of law administration judging every case in accordance with what seems right to those who have been appointed as judges over the people which has led to a general deterioration of morals and social order.
There were penalties for breaking the law which varied from having to give an offering; sacrifice an animal, etc. all the way to the lawbreaker losing his life depending on the gravity of the transgression. There were substitutionary sacrifices (the price for breaking the law was paid by offering a sacrifice) allowed for involuntary, accidental transgressions and lawbreaking done out of ignorance of the law but there was no substitutionary sacrifice for willful law breaking. The penalty was the death of the lawbreaker.
Heb 10:28 He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
This is also the case for true Christians for whom there is no substitutionary sacrifice (Christ’s death on the stake) for willful lawbreaking once a person has become converted.
Heb 6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
Heb 6:5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
Heb 6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
In the days of ancient Israel — a type of the unconverted nations physical, letter-of-the-law breaking resulted in physical punishment which was proportionate to the crime committed. Israel never was given the Holy Spirit and there was no provision in the old covenant that God would ever allow Israel access to the Holy Spirit.
The physical law is derived from God’s spiritual law but it can never be complete as each and every possible transgression has to be defined because the unconverted cannot understand the principle or spirit of the law. For example, if the law says you cannot steal a white horse then the carnal mind concludes that they can steal any other color of horses. And so it went for every subject covered by the 10 commandments.
For the carnal mind, everything has to be spelled out clearly and this is how law is administered today.
It does not suffice to say, thou shall not steal; if a specific novel way of stealing is not covered by existing laws then the perpetrator cannot be prosecuted as basically, there is no specific law forbidding it. When new ways of stealing are developed and come to the attention of law makers, they then have to pass a law that will make this new type of stealing illegal. Letter of the law application of the law will perforce always be one step behind reality. The new type of offense has first to manifest itself before a law can be passed outlawing it.
In the days before Christ’s 2nd Coming the state of the nations of the world will be as in the days of Noah and as in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah; so says Jesus-Christ Himself in the book of Luke.
Luk 17:26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
Luk 17:27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
Luk 17:28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
Luk 17:29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
Those who died in the days of Noah and those of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were unconverted and like the unconverted nations of the world were not under judgment i.e., they are neither lost nor saved. Under the law, which is both physical and spiritual, good or bad consequences result from obedience or disobedience whether a person knows the law or not.
And, this does not require God’s intervention. The law (physical and spiritual) is always in effect whether one knows the law or not. For example, if unknowingly I mix together ingredients that will cause an explosion, I will be killed when the explosion occurs even if I did not realize that this is what would result from my actions. If I absentmindedly walk off the end of a 12 story building, the law will take effect and I will be drawn toward the ground at great speed and be killed. The law exists and is in effect whether I know it or not and the effects of breaking or following the law will apply whether I know the law or not. This is borne out by our daily experiences and this is what Paul is also saying in the following verse.
Rom 2:11 For there is no respect of persons with God. [between those who know the law and those who don’t]
Rom 2:12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: [if one is breaking the law without knowing he is breaking the law then he is still guilty of having broken the law] and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; [and, if one knows the law and sins, his penalty will be in accordance with what is prescribed in the law]
Rom 2:13 For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. [Simply knowing the law is of no benefit; one must be obeying it to be found sinless in God’s eyes i.e., our abiding attitude must be that we want to obey Him and when it is, no sin is imputed; we are justified.]
Rom 2:14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: [when the Gentiles who do not know the law but follow it unknowingly because to them it seems to be the natural thing to do then they are a law unto themselves i.e., they are the ones determining what is the law they will follow though they are unknowingly following God’s law.]
Rom 2:15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) [and by their behavior, we can know what law they are following as they excuse or accuse one another for breaking the law based on the personal code of conduct or law that they believe they have to follow. In other words, their conduct and their beliefs of right and wrong are determined by the law they have established for themselves. It determines their thinking and behavior as the law of God should determine your own conduct; believing and not simply being hearers of the law leads to a changed way of thinking and behaving.]
Rom 2:16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. [Those who have been given the knowledge of God’s law must change their thinking and conduct accordingly as they will be judged by God’s law which requires that they not simply be hearers of the law but doers in order to be justified (have their sins forgiven) in God’s eyes.]
So, the law (physical and spiritual) applies to everybody whether they know the law or not and this occurs without God having to intervene; the law is in effect all the time and all are subject to it receiving the benefits (blessings) or the ills (cursings) resulting from their knowingly or unknowingly following or breaking it.
Ancient Israel, the world that drowned in the Great Flood (the Deluge) and, Sodom and Gomorrah are examples of how God deals with the unconverted nations when their sinfulness becomes so great that He decides to put an end to it.
It should be noted and firmly kept in mind that God’s interventions are exceptional; they are not regular occurrences. God is not striking people with a bolt of lightning every time they do something which is sinful either in the world or in the church which is fortunate for all of us.
Why are plagues coming upon the world in the end-time?
Some say that the intent of the plagues is to be corrective; however, as we have seen the world being blind to God’s truth, they would change their behavior to what other more desirable or better behavior as a result of the pain, destruction and death that will result from the plagues?
The Great Tribulation is the wrath of Satan and the Day of the Lord is God intervening in the affairs of unconverted mankind in ways similar to what He did in the days of Noah and in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah.
In the days of Noah the thoughts of men were wicked continuously and it repented God that He had created man and by extension all of mankind of Noah’s days; but for Noah (who here is a type of Christ) God did not make a full end of mankind.
In the days of Moses, Israel was spared from being destroyed as humanity was in the days of Noah due to Moses’ intercession with God. The Word or Spokesman who is the God of the Old Testament was so displeased with Israel’s continual disobedience that in righteous anger He decided to kill off all of Israel except Moses whom He would use as the basis for making a great nation whose ultimate mission would be to become His Holy nation of kings and priests.
Exo 19:6 And ye shall be [in a future time, yet ahead of us] unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. [Holy Spirit required for a nation to be holy; Ancient Israel was never given access to God’s Holy Spirit; in a time yet ahead of us, end-time Israel returned from captivity and after its conversion will become God’s holy nation] These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
A bit of a digression here which I couldn’t resist and you can get a full explanation of the mission of God’s holy nation of kings and priests by reading the following study available on this site: And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth
Going back to the original point I wanted to illustrate with Scriptures, in the following verses we read Moses’ impassioned, courageous and touching plea to the Word to spare Israel from being exterminated saying that he, Moses, should also be killed if God were to destroy Israel.
Exo 32:7 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:
Exo 32:8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
Exo 32:9 And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:
Exo 32:10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.
An important point to notice here and to keep in mind is that God is capable of wrath or great anger (Exo 32:10) and that in His great anger He does punish; punishment that often results in human beings dying.
Exo 32:11 And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?
Exo 32:12 Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.
Exo 32:13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.
Exo 32:14 And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.
God is capable of wrath, even of great wrath but He is also patient and does not act even at times of great and sustained evil being perpetrated against harmless and innocent individuals.
In recent history and in the living memory of many of us, there has been awesome destruction of property and lives during the 2 last World Wars; the last World War resulted in the death of some 60 million individuals; genocide was practiced on an industrial scale (the Holocaust); millions of innocent women, children and old people were mercilessly starved, tortured and killed. In Laos, over 1 million civilians were killed in the killing fields of the Khmer Rouge, the communist regimes of the old Soviet Union starved to death 40 million of its own people. The Mao Tse Tung regime not to be outdone killed off tens of millions of their own people during the time of the Chinese revolution. Yet, God did not intervene to prevent these massive slaughters of men, women and children from occurring which have led many in the world to the conclusion that there is no God as if there were, He would never have allowed such incomprehensibly horrible atrocities and so many of them.
The latest atrocities being carried out are by Islamic extremists who strap explosives to their wives and children for detonation in crowds of people who are considered to be infidels and only worthy of death. Men are burned in cages, tied to crosses on the beach and left to drown when the tide rises, others are drowned in cages, and others are thrown off buildings and cliffs.
Yet, despite these many and continuing horrific destruction of lives and appalling evils God does not intervene.
But there is a time coming when the Bible clearly shows that God will intervene in the affairs of man and this will be during that period of time described in the Bible as “The Day of the Lord.”
This brings us again to the question of “why” will God intervene in the affairs of mankind during the Day of the Lord when as a rule He has refrained from doing so except in a very small number of occasions.
The Day of the Lord
If we examine why God intervened in the past, we can see certain aspects of the character of God in whose image man has been formed. Men can experience the same range of feelings and emotions as God as mankind has been created in God’s image i.e., men have the same kinds of minds as God with this exception that they are considerably less powerful.
We have seen God become discouraged with mankind being taken aback by their thoughts being continually wicked and being sorry He had created mankind so much so that he destroyed all human beings alive in the days of Noah who was the only one kept alive with his family and his sons and their wives in the ark. God actually was very disappointed with His creation of mankind and decided to start over with the nations that would proceed from Noah’s family.
God can become discouraged and disheartened in the same way that human beings who are created in His character image can become discouraged.
We also see God not being able to bear any longer the sinfulness of Sodom and Gomorrah and destroying it by fire.
God’s patience has its limits as do that of human beings created in His character image.
Then we read of God becoming very angry with ancient Israel’s continued disobedience and wanting to destroy all of Israel except Moses.
God can become very angry even to the point of destroying physical Israel whose mission was to become His holy nation of kings and priests. But for Moses’ pleading God not to destroy Israel, it would have ceased to exist except for Moses through whose descendants God purposed to continue Israel.
God can become wrathful and in His righteous anger causes much death and destruction.
At the time of the 2nd Coming Christ states that the world will be in the same spiritual condition as in the days of Noah and as in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah. The world will be in the very same condition that led God taking action in the past which resulted in the death of all mankind except Noah and his family and in the complete destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah except righteous Lot and his family.
During the Day of the Lord, the physical destruction visited upon mankind will not be total; mankind will not be exterminated but there will be serious loss of life. God will remember His promise that He would not make a full end of Israel who as an un-converted nation is a type of the un-converted nations of the world that will exist during the events of the Day of the Lord. Remember that ancient Israel was a carnal-minded nation just like all the other nations of the world; the old covenant did not include their being given of God’s Holy Spirit.
The following Scriptures make clear that ancient Israel did not have God’s Holy Spirit AND that the day will come (after Christ’s 2nd Coming) when the nations constituting end-time Israel will return from its captivity among the heathens and be given the opportunity to become a converted nation when God for the first time ever will give them access to His Holy Spirit.
You will notice that I have included more Scriptures than the ones strictly speaking about Israel receiving a new spirit and a new heart as I thought it important that you should also read in Ezekiel that end-time Israel is going into captivity and will also be brought back from captivity in a 2nd Exodus.
Eze 11:16 Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come.
Eze 11:17 Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.
Eze 11:18 And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence.
Eze 11:19 And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:
Eze 11:20 That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
Some more Scriptures describing end-time Israel going off into captivity, returning from this end-time captivity, undergoing a conversion process and being given a new Spirit making them God’s holy nation.
Eze 36:16 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 36:17 Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman.
Eze 36:18 Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it:
Eze 36:19 And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them.
Eze 36:20 And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the LORD, and are gone forth out of his land.
Eze 36:21 But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went.
Eze 36:22 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.
Eze 36:23 And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.
Eze 36:24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
Eze 36:25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
Eze 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
Eze 36:27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
Eze 36:28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
Eze 36:29 I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you.
Eze 36:30 And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen.
Eze 36:31 Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.
It is evident from these Scriptures that God will not exterminate end-time Israel as He had not exterminated ancient Israel and, by extension he will not exterminate the unconverted nations of the world of which un-converted Israel is a type.
However, He will bring serious punishment upon them.
The Wrath of God
Let’s now go back to trying to determine why plagues will come upon the nations during the Day of the Lord even though physical and psychological pain and sufferings are ineffective as a means of changing the beliefs and minds of men whom God created with absolute, free moral agency.
The Day of the Lord is described in several Scriptures as being the “great day of his wrath”.
Rev 6:17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
Rev 11:18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
Rev 12:12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
Rev 14:8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Rev 14:10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
Rev 15:1 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.
Rev 15:7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 16:1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
Rev 16:19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
Rev 19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
Rev 21:9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.
Of particular importance here is Rev 15:1
Rev 15:1 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.
The plagues coming upon the end-time nations are the wrath of God with the 7 last plagues completing His wrath. After the pouring out of these 7 last plagues there will be no more plagues from God. The time period known as the Millennium will begin with the first thing occurring being the repatriation of the remnant of end time Israel which God had scattered to the four winds. The remnant will be brought back to Jerusalem and the returned Christ will continue with them the ministry He had started but which was cut short in the middle of the week and confirm with them the covenant (Dan. 9:27). A new covenant (Jer. 31:31; Heb. 8:8) will be made with those of the remnant of Israel returned from captivity who will convert after having been taught by Christ — not all of them will convert. They will then become God’s holy nation of kings and priests (Ex. 19:6) which is the mission God had given ancient Israel but which it was never able to accomplish because the Old Covenant never held any promise of Israel being given God’s Holy Spirit.
Again, I digressed somewhat here so returning to the question asked at the beginning of this study, why is punishment coming upon the nations in the end time?
Why the Plagues on the Nations in the End Time?
As we have been documenting through reference to the appropriate Scriptures, God is capable of losing patience, of becoming discouraged, and of becoming wrathful.
During the Day of the Lord His wrath will be poured out on the nations as it was upon Sodom and Gomorrah and as in the days of Noah because the world will be in the very same spiritual condition as in those days. The loss of human life, the material destruction and the great catastrophes befalling the natural environment (vegetation, fishes and terrestrial animals) are the expression of God’s wrath upon the nations. God is wrathful as in the days of Noah and as in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah. In His righteous wrath He is bringing plagues on humanity as He had then done and He is doing so for the same reason; God is wrathful as the Scriptures very plainly show if you will believe your Bible.
God’s being wrathful is the reason the nations are punished in the end time during the Day of the Lord. It is not to bring them to repentance (can only be done by God’s Holy Spirit and at the time appointed by God which for the world generally will be after Christ’s 2nd Coming and after the Day of the Lord) but because the sinfulness of the nations will have risen to the level of that of Sodom and Gomorrah and the thoughts of men will be as in the days of Noah (Gen 6:5). The un-converted dying during the Day of the Lord will be in the 2nd resurrection of the Last Great Day never having been given to know God’s spiritual truth.
As in the days of ancient Israel, God will use the Gentile nations to punish Israel as well as the elements (extreme weather; an asteroid striking the ocean (Rev 8:8), etc.) that will cause vegetation and sea animals to die off in large numbers. There will be many plagues as described in the Book of Revelation that will cause great destruction of the physical environment including wars between the great nations of the world (the 3 woes) that will cause even more destruction of property and the death of a very large number of individuals. It will be a time of death, misery, suffering, material destruction and great fear such as has never been nor will ever be again as stated in Matth 24:21.
End time Israel will be punished because of its idolatry and Sabbath breaking through their captivity among the heathens and then, the nations where God had driven them to be their captives will be punished. God will not make a full end of the nations constituting end-time Israel, a remnant will be kept and the size of that remnant is a tenth of the people that went into captivity.
Amo 5:3 For thus saith the Lord GOD; The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel.
Isa 6:9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
Isa 6:10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
Isa 6:11 Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,
Isa 6:12 And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.
Isa 6:13 But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.
What Happens After the Day of the Lord
God’s wrath against the nations generally and Israel specifically has ended and Christ’s 2nd Coming has occurred.
What happens then?
There will have been much destruction and death but a full end will not have been made of the nations who held end-time Israel captive as we can know from the following Scriptures.
Zech 2:8 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.
Zeph 2:9 Therefore as I live, saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, even the breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall spoil them, and the remnant of my people shall possess them.
End-time Israel will be in captivity and those that come back from captivity, the remnant or residue will spoil their captors and will possess them.
Zeph. 2:10 This [Israel shall possess the nations that took them captive]shall they have for their pride, because they [the nations that took Israel captive in the end-time] have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of the LORD of hosts.
God says that in order to fulfill his plan which is glorious, he has sent His angel to the nations that took end-time Israel captive because He says that those who have meddled with Israel and took her captive have caused God to react in the same way as if someone had poked their finger in His eye.
Zech. 2:9 For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants: [the captors of Israel will become the captives of Israel and be the servants of Israel when Israel returns from its captivity to the Promised Land in the end-time after the 2nd Coming of Christ] and ye shall know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me.
Isa 14:1 For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they [the strangers] shall cleave to the house of Jacob.
Isa 14:2 And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.
God says He will intervene on Israel’s behalf which is being held captive by the end-time nations constituting the Beast power controlled by the Great Whore. Those who were using the Israelites as their servants will become the servants of the Israelites i.e., they (the nations where end-time Israel has been scattered, shall become the servants of Israel) shall be a spoil to their servants.
And, finally in Eze 16:53 we read:
Eze 16:53 When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, [end-time, modern-day Sodoms] and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters,[end-time, modern-day Gentile nations] then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives [Israel’s] in the midst of them: [modern, end-time cities who are like Sodom and Samaria in spiritual character]
This is a little convoluted but simply stated it means the following. In the end-time the modern-day nations constituting Israel will be taken captive by nations whose character according to God is like that of Sodom and Samaria; these nations, character-wise are the daughters of Sodom and Samaria and end-time Israel will be captives in these nations and serve them as slaves. But, God says He will again bring the captivity of the daughters of Sodom and Samaria; these nations will become the captives of the remnant of Israel living as captives among them at the time when God frees Israel from its end-time captivity. This is saying the same thing as Zech . 2: 9; Zeph. 2:9-10 and Isa 14:1-2.
Summary
In the end time, during the Day of the Lord, God will again intervene in the affairs of mankind as He did in the days of Noah, Sodom and Gomorrah, and of Ancient Israel. God will be wrathful as clearly stated in the Scriptures previously cited and the end time plagues are the working out of God’s wrath which will finally be filled up with the pouring out of the last 7 vial plagues.
The plagues coming upon the nations during the Day of the Lord are NOT for the purpose of bringing mankind to repentance. Repentance is a free, unmerited gift from God and occurs through the action of God’s Holy Spirit working in the minds of those being called; it is not the result of physical or mental pain and torments inflicted by God in increasing intensity until the pressure becomes unbearable and the person starts to obey God. Those that are to become members of God’s Kingdom and partake of His very nature and become God as God is God are only those that will self-willingly and freely choose God’s way after having been called and choose it until the end of their natural human lives.
The major nations of the world after the destruction of end-time Israel (Ephraim and Manasseh) will be competing for rulership of the world and will engage in nuclear warfare that would lead to the extinction of all human life on earth if God did not intervene to put an end to it before the process ran its full course.
The destruction of the Beast army and of the Russo-Chinese army of millions of men (Rev 9:16) occurs at Christ’s 2nd Coming when He returns to the Mount of Olives from which He ascended, this time in glory and with supreme power which He will use to destroy the armies marching toward Jerusalem. (Rev 14:20)
With the destruction of the Beast army and of the Russo-Chinese armies, hostilities will cease and Christ will continue His ministry with the remnant of Israel coming back from its end-time captivity in a process called the “Confirmation of the Covenant.”
Dan 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
After the training and conversion of Israel after its return from captivity, the process of conversion will extend to the Gentile nations as God make His Holy Spirit available to them (Joel 2:28).
Those individuals from the different nations of the earth who follow their calling (not all of them will) will be taught by God’s holy nation of kings and priests (the converted part of end-time Israel will be God’s Church during the Millennium and the Last Great Day) as God’s Holy Spirit makes it possible for them (the nations) for the first time to understand God’s spiritual truth which they had always before rejected. Conversion will extend from the borders of Israel (Mal 1:5) to the nations of the world throughout the Millennium and the Last Great Day.
Shortly after the end of the Millennium there will be spiritual Gog and Magog that will come against the nation of Israel and they will be supernaturally destroyed by God.
Rev 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Rev 20:9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
The destruction of this spiritual Gog and Magog which is a very vast multitude occurs after the Millennium has ended and before the beginning of the Last Great Day. God is removing from the earth all those who have refused their calling and are alive after the end of the Millennium to prepare the way for those that will come up in the resurrection of the Last Great Day. After the purging of the unconverted from the earth there will only be those humans making up God’s Church left and which God will use to teach those of the Last Great Day resurrection who will accept their calling (not all of them will).
Conclusion
The Day of the Lord is simply the wrath of God on the nations of the world which will suffer much loss of life and material destruction but without the level of death of the Deluge where all humanity except Noah and his family died. God can become very angry because of the wickedness of man as He has in the past and the Day of the Lord is God’s wrath upon mankind. It is definitely not an attempt by God to bring man to repentance as many believe; it is simply the playing out of God’s wrath as unlikely as this may seem to many but your Bible if you will believe it makes this very clear.
Contrarily to what is believed by many, salvation is not nor is it going to be that much easier during the Millennium and the Last Great Day. God will not wave a magic wand changing the conditions for salvation or the free will and mind power given mankind. Salvation will be as demanding in those days as in our days. God will not force anyone to become converted nor will He force anyone to remain converted.
God’s desire is that all should come to repentance but He leaves man completely free to choose life or death; He urges man to choose life but if men choose death, He will not intervene to change their minds. Only those that freely and self-willingly choose to submit themselves to God and to resist the lust of their flesh and of their mind to the greatest extent possible so as to be beings of character can ever be part of God’s Kingdom.
This is a very sobering realization if we will believe our Bible which should cause us to review what we have been doing with the salvation offered us to ensure we are not being neglectful of the great salvation offered us (Heb 2:3) and exposing ourselves to losing out.
God's Spiritual Nation 