The Vengeance
of Almighty God!
                                                                                             By Pastor F. M. Riley
                                                                                             April 26, 2019
     "God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth; The Lord revengeth, and is furious;  The Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries,  And He reserveth wrath for His enemies,"  Nahum 1:2

     "When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thy hand.
     Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul, Ezekiel 33:8-9    
Introduction
     Much has been preached and written about the  "love of God," and  rightly so, for the inspired Word clearly states, "For he that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love," 1 John 4:8.  Therefore preaching and writing on "the love of God" is entirely Scriptural, and even necessary if we intend to bring others to a saving knowlege of our Lord.  
     However, while preaching and writing on the subject of "the love of God," the subject of God's hatred for sin and wickedness, and His coming  vengeance against incorrigible Christ rejecting, unbelieving, sinners has been sadly neglected.  
     In this study, by the grace of God, I want to approach the subject of God's soon coming "vengeance" upon Christ rejecting mankind.   I am not trying to be "original" in writing out this study.  I am simply trying to warn the wicked to "flee from the wrath to come."  I ask every reader who is a true believer to share this study with others, and to pray for me.  
The Passover Observance
     As I write the Jewish people are observing "Passover Week" as many of them now refer to Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  So what was involved in the Passover as the Lord God originally gave it to His chosen Jewish people?   
     For the answer to this question, I urge our readers to carefully study both Exodus 12 in depth, and also Leviticus 23:4-5.  .  
     In God's instructions for the observance of the Passover, it was to begin by every family in Israel selecting a lamb.  The lamb  they selected on the 10th of Abib, was to be kept up and inspected on the 11th, 12th, and 13th of Abib, and then offered as a sacrifice to God on the 14th day of Abib.  Therefore, not just any lamb out of the flock would do.   The lamb they selected had to be a firstborn lamb.  The lamb was to be selected on the 10th day of Abib [or Nisan; both terms being used in the Bible], and carefully inspected over the next three days.  There was to be no spot or blemish of any kind in the body of the lamb.   In other words, the lamb  offered to God was to be in good health and physical  condition.  
     Surely every true believer knows that the lambs offered in sacrifice to the Lord God by the Israelites on Passover, were typical of the one perfect Lamb of God; the Lord Jesus Christ.  Read John 1:29; 1:35; and Colossians 2:16-17.   
     On the night or evening of the 14th of Abib, all of the Jewish people were to assemble together, and then sacrifice their lambs to the Lord God, Exodus 12:6.  
How God Told the Israelites to Sacrifice the Lamb
     The heads of each household among the Jewish people, were to sacrifice the lamb they had selected and kept up since the 10th day of Abib.  The sacrifice was done by binding the lamb to the four horns on the altar which the Levitical priests had prepared.  Then with a sharp knife, the throat of the lamb was sliced open, severing the jugular vein, resulting in almost instant death for the lamb.  The blood of the lamb was caught in a basin by one of the family members involved, and the blood was applied to the door posts and lintels of every home  in Israel.   
     This was the commandments given by God to the Israelite people for the sacrifice of the Passover lamb.  The lamb was in no way abused, but rather was sacrificed in as humane a way as possible.
     But now let's compare this with the sacrifice of the true Lamb of God;
the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself as a sacrifice for the whole world.    
    How God DID NOT tell the Is Israelites to Sacrifice the Lamb
     Our readers should keep in mind that the sacrifice of these lambs on the Passover, foreshadowed the sacrifice of the true Lamb of God; the Lord Jesus Christ, Colossians 2:16-17.  
     Almighty God, in giving His commands for the sacrifice of an innocent lamb on Passover, DID NOT tell the Israelites.......
      To spit upon the lamb.  
     To beat the lamb with their fists.
     To whip the lamb with a scourge until the flesh on it's back had been ripped open.   
     To tear the hair (wool) and flesh from the lamb while it was still alive.
     To try to force the beaten bloody lamb to drag a heavy stake or cross on it's back to the place of sacrifice.  
     To nail the lamb to a cross while it was still alive.
     To lift the lamb up and drop the cross into a hole with a thud, increasing the suffering of the lamb nailed to the cross.  
     To then keep the lamb hanging on a cross in the heat of the sun for hours before it's death.  
     To stand around the cross of the lamb, jeering and mocking at the suffering of the lamb.  
      To give vinegar to the lamb in mockery of  it's thirst.
      To finally thrust a spear into the side of the lamb to hasten it's death.
     None of the above were what the Heavenly Father commanded the Israelites to do in sacrificing their Passover lambs.   Almighty God DID NOT give any such instructions to the Israelites.  No way!  Rather, the Passover lamb was to be humanely killed.  
The Suffering of the Lord God
     Yet everyone of these things listed, were what the wicked, unbelieving, Israelite persecutors of the Lord Jesus Christ, did to their Messiah and Savior,  the true Lamb of God; as He suffered and bled, and died,  as the one true sacrifice for the sins of fallen mankind.  O thank you Lord Jesus!  
     All of this  extreme cruelty done to the Lord Jesus Christ, the true Lamb of God, on Passover in 30 A.D., then went beyond what  God had instructed for sacrificing the Passover lamb.  Do our readers recall what God has said about adding something to His Word?  If not, then read it again for yourself in Revelation 22:18-19.    
       Was Almighty God offended by this extension of His instructions for offering the Passover lamb, as it related to the sacrifice of His Son?  Readers had better believe that He was!   
       Yes, it is true that God knew the end from the beginning, and therefore knew that His Son would suffer in such a manner.  Yet, God never  commanded such extra-Scriptural suffering.  It was wicked, God hating, unbelieving, fallen, mankind who went beyond what God had commanded for the sacrifice of the Passover lamb, and poured out their hatred for God on His Son.  The suffering of Christ at Calvary was so bad, that Father God  turned His back, and refused to look upon the cross as His Son was suffering and dying.  The Lord Jesus was suffering so much in His flesh, that when Father God briefly turned His back on the cross, the Lord Jesus cried out, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? Why art Thou so far from helping Me, and from the words of My roaring?" Psalm 22:1.  
     Right here I suggest that every true believer who is reading this study, turn and carefully read Isaiah 53 again, remembering that Christ's sufferings were to purchase our "eternal salvation."  
     Folks, the expression in the Bible, "the son of God," applied to the Lord Jesus Christ, is not just a figure of speech.  He really was "the only begotten Son of God," John 3:16.  Now can any reader who has a son [or daughter] even imagine their child suffering  such cruelty, and them not being effected by it?   How  would it make the reader feel towards those who had brought such wicked and unnecessary suffering upon their child?  Think about it!  
The Vengeance of God
     I am well aware that the death of Christ Jesus was ordained to occur before the foundation of the world.  But His becoming a sacrifice to pay the sin debt of fallen mankind, and the unnecessary cruel abuse and suffering heaped upon Him as He was being sacrificed are two different matters.  In the light of what God commanded for the sacrifice of the Passover lamb,  the sheer torture that Christ was subjected to went far beyond what God had commanded.
      And then to add insult to injury, millions of Adam's fallen race have stubbornly refused to receive Christ by faith in order to obtain the salvation the Lord purchased for them by His great suffering at Calvary.  God has not overlooked any of this!   God is going to take "vengeance" upon fallen mankind, whether some choose to believe it or not.  
     This is why the inspired Word speaks over and over again of God taking "revenge" and "vengeance" upon all of Christ rejecting mankind. Use your Concordance and look up both of these words in your Bible, and see what the inspired Word has to say about God's "vengeance."  "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life," John 3:16.
     By faith believe the inspired record of God's love for your soul, and receive Christ Jesus for yourself in order to be saved,  or reject Him and come under the "vengeance" of an offended and angry God.  The choice is up to every individual, and every descendant of Adam will make a choice, either for or against the Lord God.  Repentance, faith, and eternal life, or rejection, unbelief, and eternal damnation.  Which will it be?  
Sin Will Be Recompensed   
      Every sin of mankind has a recompense.  Galatians 6:7-8 is still in the Bible.  Almighty God has not overlooked the supreme sacrifice that His Son made in order that mankind might be saved.  Therefore, Almighty God will take "revenge"  on those who dare to reject what His Son did in their behalf, and will be absolutely righteous in doing so.  There is a price to pay for rebellion and wickedness, Roman 6:23.  
      Also the Lord Jesus Christ Himself is going to take "revenge" on those of mankind who reject the sacrifice He made in their behalf.  If our readers will look up the words, "revenge" and "vengeance" in the Bible, and study the context in which these words are used, it becomes glaringly obvious that the Lord Himself is angry with those of mankind who are so ungrateful for the supreme sacrifice He made in their behalf.  
The Approaching Wrath of God
    The inspired Word is quite clear that the SOON coming Tribulation Period, will be  the time when "the wrath of God" will be poured out upon God hating, Christ rejecting, unbelievers LEFT BEHIND on the earth following the rapture.
The Order of the Tribulation Period
     The Tribulation Period is the seven years immediately following the resurrection and rapture of the Lord's Church, and all true New Covenant believers from off the earth, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.   According to the Word of God, the Tribulation is a period of 2,520 days, or two periods of 1,260 days in each period.
The First Half...3 1/2 years
      The first half of the Tribulation will be "the wrath of the Lamb" as He pours out His "wrath" upon wicked, unbelieving,  mankind LEFT BEHIND on the earth at the time of the rapture. These judgments are described in Revelation 5 through 9.  I urge our readers to STUDY these chapters for themselves.
The anti-christ
     During this first half of the Tribulation, the wicked anti-christ will be raised up from among "the sea" of humanity [Rev. 17:15] LEFT BEHIND on the earth, Revelation 13:1; 13:18.  He is the "man" who will "confirm" [strengthen] the "covenant" made with Israel, as prophesied in Daniel 9:27.  He will come on the world scene doing great "signs and wonders" [Matthew 24:24] by the supernatural power of Satan, Rev. 13:2.     Because of these "signs and wonders" and "great miracles,"  the presently unbelieving Jewish people will be deceived into receiving  him as their long awaited Messiah.   
     However, when he enters into the rebuilt Jewish Temple, and sets down on the "mercy seat," and publicly declares himself to be God [2 Thessalonians 2:3-4], some of the Jews will then recognize him as the prophesied anti-christ.  They will then assassinate him, exactly as prophesied in Zechariah 11:17 and Rev. 13:3 and 13:14.  But Satan will enter into his body, and cause him to live again, in a wicked counterfeit of the resurrection of Christ.  Thousands [or millions..?] of people on the earth at that time will then believe he is God, as he claimed to be, and will follow him, to their own eternal destruction, Rev. 13:3-4.   It is quite significant that from Rev. 13, the anti-christ is never referred to as "a man" again, but only as "a beast."  
     The anti-christ, and his helper, "the false prophet," will then erect an idolatrous image in the courtyard of the Jewish Temple, and demand that the whole world worship it.  The Jewish people know that the worship of images [false gods] is strictly forbidden by the Law of God [Exodus 20:1-2], and will therefore flee from the land, leaving it desolate and empty, exactly as the Lord told them to do, Daniel 9:27; Matthew 24:15-21.  
THE TRUE CHRIST
     The events described in Revelation 10 relate to the middle of the Tribulation.  The "mighty angel" which "comes down from heaven" is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.  Study the description given to Him in this chapter, and see this truth for yourself.  The "little book" is one of the clues to His identify.  The "little book" was given to the Lord Jesus in Rev. 5:6-9.  Here in Rev. 10, He has the "little book" open in His hands, having opened all the seals on the book as recorded in Rev. 6:1 through 8:1.  
     It is at  the middle of the Tribulation  that the Lord Jesus will come back down to the earth for the specific purpose.....
     [1]   Of resurrecting the Old Testament believers as plainly recorded in Daniel 12:1-2.  The resurrection of Old Testament Israel at that time is for the purpose of assembling ALL of God's covenanted people [Genesis 17:1-8] together in the city of Petra, to where they  have fled to escape from the hatred and wickedness of the anti-christ.   
     [2]    Of revealing Himself to all Israel, as their true Messiah, Savior, and King, as prophesied in Zechariah 12:10-14.   As a result of the Lord revealing Himself to all of assembled Israel there in Petra, "And so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:  For this is My covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins," Romans 11:26-27.   From that time forward, there will never again be an unsaved, lost, Israelite.
The Last Half...3 1/2 Years
     It is also at the middle of the Tribulation that Father God takes over the reins of judgment upon the Christ rejecting world still alive on the earth.  
     "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou at My right hand, Until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool," Psalm 110:1.  
     After all of the judgments poured out upon Christ rejecting mankind LEFT BEHIND on the earth, during the first half of the Tribulation, there will still be many who have refused to repent, Rev. 9:20-21.  Therefore Father God will take the reins of judgment during the last half of the Tribulation, until it comes time for the Lord Jesus to return to the earth "with all His saints," Zechariah 14:5; 1 Thessalonians 3:13.  
     If our readers think the "wrath of the Lamb" will be bad during the first half of the Tribulation, as described in Rev. 5 - 9, what about the "wrath of Almighty God" as described in Rev. 12 - 18?  
     The End of the Tribulation
     The end of the Tribulation is described in Rev. 19.  
     The first thing described in this chapter is "the marriage of the Lamb" in Rev. 19:1-10.  If our readers want more appreciation of this event, then turn and read Deuteronomy 24:5.  The "marriage of the Lamb" will take place at least one year before the end of the Tribulation. Then a year later, the Lord will go out to "mop up" all of the wicked, whom Father God has left alive  on the earth, who still refuse to repent and believe.
     Then as the Tribulation ends, the Lord goes forth to rid the earth of every unbelieving, unrepentant, soul still alive on the earth.  Every one!
     I remind our readers that the Lord Himself said in Luke 17:26-27, "And  as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man."  Now tell me, how many wicked, unbelieving, people survived the flood in "the days of Noah?"  None!  Not one!  
     So how many wicked, unbelieving, people are going to survive on the earth, following the Tribulation period?   Well...??
     Read this carefully, and believe what you read.......
     "Whose fan is in His hand, and He will throughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire," Matthew 3:12.  This same statement is repeated a second time in Luke 3:17.  When the Lord God repeats something a second time in His inspired Word, it is absolutely certain to come to pass.  
     When Noah and his family came forth from the Ark, there was not a single wicked lost person left alive on the face of the earth.  Likewise, when the Lord Jesus finishes "purging" the earth, in preparation for establishing His glorious Kingdom, there will not be one lost person left alive on the earth.  Not one!  Every living soul that goes into the glorious Kingdom of the Lord will be a saved believer, by the grace of God!  Oh, glory!  "Even so, come, Lord Jesus," Revelation 22:20.  
     Can our readers even imagine all of mankind on the earth being totally righteous, so that the whole of humanity on the earth will live together in  righteousness and peace?  
     Dear readers, this is where God's people are headed, both those in our "glorified bodies," and those redeemed souls still living in the flesh.  Oh, glory to God!  Praise the Lord!  Hallelujah!  
     "For His anger endureth but a moment: in His favour is life:  Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning," Psalm 30:5.  
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      My personal contact information:
POSTAL.......Pastor F. M. Riley, 14275 Co. Rd. 8120, Rolla, MO 65401
EMAIL.........francismriley34@gmail.com
PHONE........573-202-6493
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     I take this opportunity to again express my heartfelt thanks and gratitude to those readers who pray for this ministry, and to those who from time to time send gifts to help.  Thank each of you dear folks so very much.  Stay close to the Lord, and in His Word, and keep your mind and heart upon "the blessed hope" of His soon glorious appearing, Titus 2:11-15.  My prayer is that every reader of this study will meet me in glory.  
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