Judged? What is the outcome of
this judgment?
3. The Resurrection and
Final Destruction of the
Wicked Takes Place at the
End of the Millennium (read
Revelation 20:7-15)
The universe has no question
about God’s judgments, but how
many question them now! As this
is written North America is in the
midst of a presidential election
campaign. By the time it is read
the election will be history. Read-
ers in other countries, if at all in-
terested, were probably puzzled
and amused by the American sys-
tem. But those in North America
who listened to the speeches can-
not help noticing the use made of
caricature by both parties. Car-
toonists use the same method.
Grotesque representations and ex-
aggerations capture the imagina-
tion and implant distrust in the
mind. The resurrection of the
wicked and their subsequent
punishment by fire has suffered
under the same type of distortion
at the hands of verbal cartoonists
and proponents of an eternal hell.
You have probably seen and
heard their stories. God is pic-
tured as saying “If you don’t do
what I want you to do I'll kill you.
What is more I will later dig you
up and burn you.”
Is God being vindictive? Abso-
lutely not. Bear in mind that the
Biblical account of Satan’s rebel-
lion cries aloud with evidence of
ramifications that are far beyond
our ken. We get only a peep
through the curtain of a drama
being played out on a vast stage.
Only when we sit in the heavenly
court will we begin to know the
depths of the mystery of iniquity
and the vastness of the plan of sal-
vation. It will provide a theme for
years of exciting research.
Even in the courts of men the
prisoner is brought back into
court to hear his sentence. The
evidence is reviewed. The guilt is
acknowledged. The sentence is
handed down. So it will be in the
court of the universe. Then, fi-
nally, when all the evidence has
been produced, truth can no
longer be denied, and at the name
of Jesus every knee bows and
every tongue confesses “that
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory
of God the Father” (Phil. 2:11,
NASB). I want to be there and re-
joice in that confession, don’t you?
After studying this week’s les-
son how do you feel about heaven,
hell, and judgment? Why? Will
these feelings change your actions?
Why or why not?
1. LeRoy Edwin Froom, The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathars (Washington, D. C. : Review and Herald Publishing As-
sociation, 1948), vol. 2, p. 650.
2. Quoted by Malcolm Muggeridge, Christ and the Media (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publish-
ing Company, 1977), p. 46.
3. Steps to Christ, p. 51.
114