Session 4 Judgment (Part 2)

In modern life we have appointments. We are expected to take part in activities at certain times and

places because of responsibilities or because of who we are. We need to review an appointment you

are never to attend as a Christian.

Please read 1 Thessalonians 5:8-10

1. What is the appointment we will never keep

as Christians?

Now we hear the rest of the story. That we are not doomed for wrath as Christians! No, we are destined

to be saved from it through our Lord Jesus Christ. A very literal “escape clause” if you will, from

God’s wrath. Just think of it, the fearsome description of the Day of the Lord or any other future

display of God’s wrath does not apply to us. We are simply not scheduled for those appointments. In

fact, even the earlier examples of God’s Wrath

we looked at in the last session demonstrate this

“escape clause”. First let’s look at the rest of the

story for Noah. Please read Genesis 6:8-9.

2. Recall from the last session what other people

were like. How was Noah different?

3. How did Noah and his family avoid the wrath of God?

At this point we take a little detour and explore story of another pre-flood patriarch named Enoch. It

turns out that Enoch was Noah’s great-grandfather. In an age when people were living to be about 900

years old, he very likely could have been present for the flood and God’s wrath. He would have had to

have been 1034 years old when the flood started which is only 65 years longer than his son Methuselah

lived (969 years). Speaking of Methuselah, it would

appear that he might have died in the flood or right

before it. (see footnotes)

Let’s read this story in

Genesis 5:23-24.

Genesis 6:8-9 NIV

8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. 9 This is the

account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man,

blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully

with God.

1 Thessalonians 5:8-10 NIV

8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith

and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 9

For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation

through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we

are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.

Genesis 5:24 NIV

24 Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because

God took him away.

4. What does the scripture say about the relationship God has with Enoch?

5. Is the story of Enoch a story of God’s Mercy?

Now we should review the story of Sodom and

Gomorrah again to see who benefited from God’s

mercy. (Genesis 19:15-16)

6. How did Lot and his family avoid the wrath of

God?

Through a conversation between Lot’s

uncle Abraham and God we see a glimpse

of the reason why Lot is spared an

appointment with destruction. Let’s look at

the beginning and end of this conversation

and skip some of the very respectful

pleading of Abraham in the middle.

(Genesis 18:23-26 and Genesis18:32)

7. What is the reason why Lot and his

family was spared?

So, if this is the “escape clause” from the Wrath of God how does that apply to us? There are several

scriptures in the new testament that explain how. Two are 2 Corinthians 5:21 and Romans 10:4

So logically, if we appear to be righteous

before God, and if God does not express his wrath upon the righteous, then we avoid the wrath of

God. Therefore, as we have already seen, we are not appointed unto wrath.

Genesis 19:15-16 NIV

15 With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry!

Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be

swept away when the city is punished.” 16 When he hesitated, the

men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two

daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was

merciful to them.

2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV

21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we

might become the righteousness of God.

Romans 10:4 NIV

4 Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be

righteousness for everyone who believes.

Genesis 18:23-26 NIV

23 Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away

the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous

people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare[e]

the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? 25 Far be it

from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked,

treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will

not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

26 The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of

Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

……

32 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just

once more. What if only ten can be found there?”

He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”

Now we turn our attention back to the future

prophecy of Day of the Lord. Do we see

evidence of this mercy within this future

prophecy? Please read Jeremiah 30:7-8.

8. What is God’s act of mercy to Jacob (aka

Israel ref Genesis 35:10)?

At this point you may be asking why Israel is

specifically mentioned as being saved from

the time of trouble. Where are we at during

that point in time? Now we look at a mystery

that will explain our absence. It also is related

to the fact that we are not keeping that appointment for wrath. Please read 1 Corinthians 15:51 as we

start looking into this mysterious prophesy.

9. We are pretty confident you are aware of a more common name for this event in the future where we

are changed in a moment. What do we call this event?

For more details of this prophesy read 1

Thessalonians 4:15-18. So now we see two

ways that people will avoid the wrath of God

in the prophesied Day of the Lord (two escape

clauses!). One is being carried through the

event which will be what happens for the

Jewish people, and the other is being taken out of the situation which will be the case for the Church.

Examples of both can be seen in the scriptures. Noah was carried through the flood. Lot was taken out

of Sodom. Enoch was taken out of his very

corrupt pre-flood culture (in a very Rapture type

way).

10 What are we to do with words of the

prophesy concerning the Rapture?

Jeremiah 30:7-8 NIV

7 How awful that day will be! No other will be like it. It will be a

time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it. 8 “‘In that

day,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘I will break the yoke off their

necks and will tear

off their bonds; no longer will foreigners enslave

them.

1 Corinthians 15:51 NIV

51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall

all be changed

52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last

trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised

incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 NIV

15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are

alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means

precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend

from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with

the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then

we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them

in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always

be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these

words.

Word Study

By the way, for those who might say the word rapture is not in the

bible we would like to point out that the word for the phrase “caught

up” is rapiemur in Latin

9,10,11

is a word that eventually becomes a

source for the English word rapt and rapture.

Wrap up

In this study we have looked at God’s Mercy that he shows to those who are faithful and righteous

(through His gift). We have seen that Christians do not have an appointment for His wrath because of

His Mercy. We have seen that there are two ways to avoid His wrath. One is to be carried through it,

and the other is to be taken out of it. The first will be the path the nation of Israel will follow during the

Day of the Lord and the other will be path the Church will be taking as they will be “caught up” before

God’s wrath is ever expressed. The last two sections of study were pretty heavy, with a lot of

information, but please view it as a framework for the rest of the study over all.

We have not really addressed much about the sequence of events yet for these topics so we will start to

address some of that in the next section. There is a seven-year period of time prophesied, called the

Tribulation, that details a sequence of events that will help place these topics in chronological order.

In the next session we will start to address, relatively speaking, when will the Rapture happen, when

will the Day of the Lord happen and what happens in between.