Broad meadows

The Game, a parable.

There was an incredibly wealthy man who owned the land as far as the eye could see. There was another man who had nothing. The wealthy man offered the other to a game of chance. Seeing that the man had nothing, the wealthy man offers the other man two coins and tells him to see what he could do with them. At the end of the game, the man who started with the two coins ends up walking away with over 75% of the other man’s wealth. Who would you say won the game?

I have been fortunate to live in an age of God’s grace to humanity through the shed blood of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. By his blood we have been redeemed as the Apostle Peter wrote, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” 1 Peter 2:8-10. And all of this to the praise of His Glory.

But is that all that God has said in His word? Make no mistake, no one comes to the Father but by the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle John writes, “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” Now, John may be saying, “Gentiles also. . .” But it reads whole world. In Matthew 18:14 Jesus says, “In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.” The three parables that Jesus speaks in Luke 15 are all about finding that lost one. Ezekiel 18:32 says, “for I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!”

I think the reason people are longing for death at the sixth seal and at the end of Revelation 9 is that the age of grace has ended and death and hell (the fourth rider) are preferable to going straight into the lake of fire. And make no mistake, you don’t want to be in there. Apparently, even hell is preferable. So why do I think Michael ends up there? I think for any type of destruction to be righteous, it must come at a cost. As the destroyer that he is pictured as in some Old Testament accounts, he also pays a price, but as the Lord says to the angel of the church in Smyrna, “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.”

Michael is the one in the fiery furnace in Daniel 3. His purpose is to bring them out of the fiery furnace, the lake of fire. Will they suffer? Incredibly so. Will there be anything good in them to come out of there? It would be hard to say. Understand that I’m not preaching universalism, because I don’t think that would be my right to say. I’m saying that God is great and his power, understanding and love are immeasurable.

Ezekiel 22:17-22 says, “Then the word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, the people of Israel have become dross to me; all of them are the copper, tin, iron and lead left inside a furnace. They are but the dross of silver. Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: ‘Because you have all become dross, I will gather you into Jerusalem. As silver, copper, iron, lead and tin are gathered into a furnace to be melted with a fiery blast, so will I gather you in my anger and my wrath and put you inside the city and melt you. I will gather you and I will blow on you with my fiery wrath, and you will be melted inside her. As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted inside her, and you will know that I the LORD have poured out my wrath on you.’” Again, not a place that you want to be. All of the metals that are dross represents the wickedness in that person. If there is any silver, that is, any good or anything worth saving will come out.

In Revelation we are given a list of those who go into the lake of fire and for what: Those who receive the mark, Revelation 14:9-10; Satan, the false prophet and the beast, Revelation 19:20 and 21:10; those not found in the book of life, Revelation 21:15 (see earlier writing on the danger of DNA manipulation and transgenders); “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars —they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” Revelation 21:8.

But then something amazing happens.Jesus says in Revelation 22:14-15, ““Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.””. You don’t see them in the lake of fire anymore, they just can’t enter the kingdom of heaven, an eternal shame.

The scene described in Jude between Michael and Satan where they are disputing over Moses body where Michael is spoken of also in Zechariah 3:1-3 and says, “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. The LORD said to Satan (through the angel of the LORD) “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?” You wouldn’t be a burning stick if you weren’t in the fire in the first place.

In summary, Michael becomes a man to serve multiple purposes in Gods plan. He is tested as man and overcomes. He is then resurrected and descends as the angel in Revelation 10 and the first four trumpets are one singular event with multiple effects. In doing so he is able to bring Christ’s forgiveness to some of the fallen angels (Revelation 9:1) and they do his bidding during the time of the trumpets. He is betrayed by one of those angels and is killed a second time as one of the two witnesses. Their resurrection triggers the rapture and the first resurrection. Michael, now more powerful than ever enters the lake fire to keep those there in from being consumed, after the harvest of the earth. They come out at the destruction of the first heaven and earth, but cannot be part of the kingdom of heaven, an eternal shame.

In the parable of workers in the vineyard, the owner (God) goes out to hire people 5 times, not just once or twice, right up to twilight. In John 10:1 Jesus says, ““Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber.” They were thieves that were able to enter some other way.

For any of the wicked who may see this, now is the time to repent. Now is the age of grace and it has a definite expiration date for you. Accept the forgiveness that comes through Jesus while you can. It doesn’t stop there for you, though. The perpetrators of the Covid hoax and subsequent genocide from the Covid vaccine will have to confess to their part in this crime and tell us who else they knew were involved. I think, only then, can you be considered truly repentant. It is far and away better to face the justice of man than the justice of God. Please act while you still can.

In 2 Chronicles 33, Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, becomes king and is guilty of the most serious spiritual adultery. Manasseh reigned in Judah for 55 years, longer, I believe, than any other king. God is patient with him and after the Assyrians took him captive, he humbled himself and returned to the God of Abraham and was restored. God was patient with him, seeing the end from the beginning. Manasseh’s son, Amon, wasn’t so fortunate. He did evil and his reign only lasted two years. You don’t know how much time you have, so repent!