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Ages Transitions Global Judgments
No serious study of end-times prophecies and events would be complete without careful examination of the similarities and differences between the first and the next promised global judgments, namely the global flood and the great tribulation. So, let’s dig in and see what The Bible infers. Please share your comments below, especially on any aspects I may miss. This series addresses three categories: A. Pre-judgment Acts, (Part1), B. Judgment Processes (Part 2), and C. Post-judgment Life (Part 3). While some aspects of this issue have been addressed in posts throughout this blog, this series augments and summarizes what I perceive relative to the topic.
A. Pre-judgment Acts
The Lord’s judgment plans always blanket three groups: (a) His righteous saints, (b) unrighteous sinners, and (c) devils and demons. Though not the target of His judgments, per se, the plant and animal kingdoms and Earth’s environment upon which humans rely become collateral damages in His judgments.
1. Jesus, The Lord God
Global flood: Before the flood, Jesus, The Lord God, ended His Millennial Rest that began on the 7th ‘day’ of Creation. He identified His righteous saint, Noah, and prepared for his salvation from the pending judgment.
Great tribulation: Before the great tribulation, Jesus will identify His righteous saints, perhaps consulting His Book of Life, and will prepare for their rapturous (Goshen-effect type) salvation. After the great tribulation, He will start His Millennial Reign following the spectacular manner in which He will end the global Armageddon War. (Revelation 19:11-21 and Zechariah 14:12)
2. Judgment warnings
Global flood: The only warnings people received before the flood were Noah’s presumed persistent warnings and preaching for ~100 years, and the demonstration effect of his ark-building preparations. There were no water-related warnings. We do not know the geographic extent of Noah’s 'ministry', but in The Lord’s Grace, it is safe to presume people ‘got His message!’ Their ability and willingness to believe these warnings were doused because such a thing had never occurred before. Unfortunately, 'preaching' of the skeptics among them over-ruled Noah’s 'preaching'. Noah and his family survived the flood. The skeptics and their converts …perished.
Great tribulation: Be warned… The Lord appears to be taking a significantly different approach in the run-up to the great tribulation! He has seeded Earth with innumerable, recorded prophecies, sermons, and pivotal signs, and global websites (such as this one)! These include a synoptic picture, expressed in the manner in which He freed Hebrews from Egyptian slavery. Also, we are forewarned about His persistent judgment pattern in Deuteronomy 32, Leviticus 26, Ezekiel 5 and 14 and Revelation 6, 8, 9, and 16. Moreover, our complete post-flood history evidences that this pattern has been, and remains appliable all across the world. It fits very neatly as the second point of The Lord’s declared tripartite modus operandi, recorded in Jeremiah 9:23-24. All of this notwithstanding, the spirit of skepticism of Noah’s day is not only alive and well today, but it is far more experienced in our day.
3. Believers’ fidelity
Global flood: While Noah’s ministry failed to convince anyone, except his immediate family, of the veracity of his warnings, he overwhelmingly succeeded in not losing any of his few believers to debilitating skepticism! That’s success!!! They all believed enough to comply, and thus to be saved from The Lord’s wrathful judgment, though they were not found or declared to be righteous.
Great tribulation: The Church has been/will be far more successful than Noah in convincing sinners of the veracity of The Gospel of Jesus Christ. However, Paul predicted, and we continue to witness, a GREAT falling away and apostasy of many from the faith, per 2 Thessalonians 2:3 and 1 Timothy 4:1. Only Jesus knows the extent of this condition. He even forewarned us of it in the last half of Revelation 3! Nevertheless, there is hope~ (See: Laodicean Lackadaisicalness (Series) and also Fresh Troops, Incoming (Poem))
4. The righteous few
Global flood: The righteous was saved before the flood began, along with his unrighteous family. Sadly, only one man qualified as ‘righteous’, namely Noah. The Lord saved him in an ark that floated on the flood waters, high above the cataclysmic destructions below. Recall, his family was not declared to be ‘righteous’ in the sight of The Lord Who ‘pre-selected’ the unrighteous who would survive the flood to play their designated part in the post-flood repopulation of the Earth.
Great tribulation: All the righteous saints on Earth will be saved before the great tribulation begins, namely The Lord’s tested and proven saints, meeting Him on a cloud in the sky, high above the pending, cataclysmic destructions below. This does not include people who will become saints during the great tribulation. They will be included in a subsequent, pre-Millennial Reign rapture. While unrighteous sinners will not escape the judgments, some will indeed survive the great tribulation, and, similar to Noah's family, will play their role on repopulating the Earth during the Millennial Reign. NB: ‘Surviving’ the judgments does not equate to The Lord’s ‘salvation’.
5. Devils and demons
Global flood: Before or during the flood, the worst-offending devils/demons were locked away. These are those who ‘left their proper/assigned domain’, became humans, and corrupted the human race by marrying and impregnating women, per Genesis 6:1-2. (See: Humans’ DNA Hacked (Poem)) As recorded in 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 6, to date they remain locked away, presumably in human form, pending The Lord’s eternal judgment upon them and their spiritual cohorts who dog us today. Thus, satan’s army was diminished to some extent.
Great tribulation: Before or during the great tribulation, satan, and presumably his entire kingdom of devils/demons, will be locked away, unable to deceive and tempt any human until his/their temporary release at the end of The Millennial Reign, per Revelation 20:1-3, 7-8. NB: I perceive no indication that the devils/demons who became human will be included in the crowd to be released at the end of The Millennial Reign, nor do I see any indication they will at some point reverted to being strictly spiritual beings, as their cohorts are today. Rather, it appears the latter will become like the former before being cast into the eternal lake of fire! (See: Hell: Is This the Man?! (Poem))
