A DAY OF RECKONING

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Sound the trumpet in Gibeah, the horn in Ramah. Raise the battle cry in Beth Aven; lead on, Benjamin. Ephraim will be laid waste on the day of reckoning. Among the tribes of Israel I proclaim what is certain. Judah’s leaders are like those who move boundary stones. I will pour out my wrath on them like a flood of water. Ephraim is oppressed, trampled in judgment, intent on pursuing idols. I am like a moth to Ephraim, like rot to the people of Judah.”

“When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his sores, then Ephraim turned to Assyria, and sent to the great king for help. But he is not able to cure you, not able to heal your sores. For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, like a great lion to Judah. I will tear them to pieces and go away; I will carry them off, with no one to rescue them. Then I will return to My lair until they have borne their guilt and seek My face—
in their misery they will earnestly seek Me.”

Hosea 5:8-15

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

What happens when someone chooses to oppose the Lord?

As we see in today’s passage from the closing verses of Hosea, Chapter 5, they had better be prepared to go to battle because anyone who decides to go toe-to-toe with God will always come to a day of reckoning with Him, a day of reckoning that will never result in a positive outcome for His opponent. Such was the case of the Israelites as we look at our scripture passage here:

“Sound the trumpet in Gibeah, the horn in Ramah. Raise the battle cry in Beth Aven; lead on, Benjamin. Ephraim will be laid waste on the day of reckoning. Among the tribes of Israel I proclaim what is certain. Judah’s leaders are like those who move boundary stones. I will pour out my wrath on them like a flood of water. Ephraim is oppressed, trampled in judgment, intent on pursuing idols. I am like a moth to Ephraim, like rot to the people of Judah.”

“When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his sores, then Ephraim turned to Assyria, and sent to the great king for help. But he is not able to cure you, not able to heal your sores. For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, like a great lion to Judah. I will tear them to pieces and go away; I will carry them off, with no one to rescue them. Then I will return to My lair until they have borne their guilt and seek My face—in their misery they will earnestly seek Me.”

Note here where the Lord is calling for the battle cry to be raised and the trumpet of war to be sounded. The Israelites had chosen to sin against Him, worshiping false gods and idols despite His commands to not do so and the warnings of the prophets about the judgment to come if they didn’t cease and desist in their wickedness. They had continued to disrespect and disregard God and so He was going to send His punishment upon them, laying waste to their land as He poured out His wrath on His people “like a flood of water”. We know through biblical history that God’s judgment was exacted by the Assyrians who took out the northern kingdom of Israel and the Babylonians who took care of Judah in the south. The people had no hope for rescue as no one they called on would be able to stop God’s consequences from coming. No one would be able to heal their affliction or spare them from the seventy years of exile God would send them off to as they would be carried off into captivity and oppression. There they would remain until they bore the full brunt of guilt and misery for their sinfulness and turned back to God in remorse, once again seeking His face and pursuing Him in earnest.

The saddest part of this was that it never had to happen. All God’s people needed to do was be obedient to His word and will in every way, rejecting iniquity and chasing after righteousness, ever seeking to submit to God and please Him in every way. Had they done this, there would have been no need for a day of reckoning as they would have been found in God’s favor instead of His displeasure.

So where do we stand today before God?

Do we appear to Him as a people committed to His righteousness and living in resistance to sin?

Or are we complicit when it comes to wicked behavior, committing transgressions consistently and persistently as if we have no fear of what God might do to us given His utter hatred of sin?

Is a modern day of reckoning coming for us here in the 21st century?

I can’t answer that question with absolute certainty but I can say with complete confidence that a day of reckoning is coming in the future when Jesus returns, a future He detailed this way:

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.”

“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me.’”

“Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? When did we see You a stranger and invite You in, or needing clothes and clothe You? When did we see You sick or in prison and go to visit You?’”

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you did for Me.’”

“Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite Me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after Me.’”

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help You?’”

“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.’”

“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” Matthew 25:31-46

Jesus, the Lamb of God who was sent by God the Father to take away the sins of the world, is going to return at a time and place sometime in the future for the final day of reckoning. When He does, He will come as the Judge of all creation, exercising the authority God had given Him over heaven and earth. No one will escape coming before His court and facing trial, a trial where there will only be two verdicts: innocent and guilty.

1. The innocent.

Those who chose to believe and trust in Jesus, conforming their lives to His and carrying out His will and way, will find themselves gathered to the right of their Savior, the sheep gathered with their Good Shepherd. These are the ones who although sinners, will be justified through Christ and move onto eternal life, those who will live with Jesus and God forever.

2. The guilty.

Those who decide to reject Jesus, represented by the goats in His illustration, will be placed to the left, staged for a fiery judgment and eternal damnation for their unwillingness to receive the salvation that Jesus offered to provide. They will be condemned for their lifetime of iniquity, a lifetime willfully spent void of God and Jesus.

Where will you stand on this day of reckoning?

If you are counted with the goats today, I highly recommend you consider your choice to live without Jesus, turning to Him for your salvation and ensuring you will have the best day ever with the rest of the sheep when Christ returns.

Amen

In Christ,

Mark
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