Romans – God’s Timeline XXXV: More Judgment of the Nations

 

Old Testament Groundwork

This realization helps us greatly in re-evaluating texts which have so often been used against the individual today at church. These various references, thrown at us from the Old Testament as examples of the impending wrath of God (often without context) are supposed “proof” texts as to why God would then turn around and “burn people alive” in some place of eternal torment, as would be the case with “everlasting fire” and “everlasting punishment” of the KJV’s Matthew 25.

Unfortunately for them, not only are the fire and chastening not “eternal,” but “eonian,” as the multiple contextual uses of the adjective have demonstrated to us its time-sensitive nature, but the “proof texts” which are thrown at us, when applied to even the most rudimentary level of scrutiny in understanding the eons, are revealed, in truth, to be temporary, and necessary, movements from a righteous God – One Who hates sin, but has the long-term goal of reconciling the sinner.

So, let’s briefly exercise this idea. Instead of applying the following texts to you, or unbelievers, or whomever you may wish to guess, try applying them to the conclusion of the eon, as Jesus does. Here’s an easy one. Jeremiah 25:30-33–

Yahweh shall roar from the height, And from His holy habitation He shall give forth His voice; He shall roar, yea roar over His homestead; He shall answer with a vintage-shout like the grape treaders to all the dwellers of the earth. The tumult will come unto the end of the earth, For Yahweh has an indictment against the nations; He shall enter judgment upon all flesh; The wicked, He will deliver them to the sword, averring is Yahweh.

Thus says Yahweh of hosts: Behold, evil is going forth from nation to nation, And a great tempest is being roused from the remote parts of the earth. Those slain by Yahweh will be in that day from one end of the earth unto the other end of the earth; They shall not be bewailed nor gathered nor entombed; They shall become manure on the surface of the ground.

Instead of taking this verse as some grand indictment against “sinners,” “unbelievers,” or whomever your local church wishes to implant into the context, why not acknowledge that nations are in view, and that the deliverance to the sword which is spoken of occurs just before this judgment of the nations (cf. Rev. 19:21?) It makes keeping the anger of Yahweh in its proper place, and thus not misapplying His anger where it doesn’t belong. We see the temporary and necessary anger of God on a national level, to destroy the beast system that we know through Revelation to be established on earth at the time that these angry afflictions are imposed.

In other words, no eternal burning here. Just a righteous God reasonably removing a rancid realm and its rulers from the earth. This righteous God then imposes a righteous rule with a righteous Ruler. The subjects of the rancid rulers will, in the long run, be grateful for freedom from such a terrible situation. And the subjects of the righteous Ruler will be grateful for the grace that will flow upon the earth.

Here is another example, in Zecheriah 14:12–

And this shall come to be the stroke with which Yahweh shall strike all the peoples who rallied their hosts against Jerusalem: Their flesh will putrefy while they are standing on their feet, and their eyes, they shall be putrefied in their holes, and their tongue, it shall be putrefied in their mouths.

Let me ask you, now-eon-educated Bible student: is this some random, hardcore, Old-Testament God threat that will randomly take place at the time of your favorite pastor, or does this strike from Yahweh line up directly with the Revelation statement that armies are rallied at the Hebrew place, “Armageddon” (Rev. 16:16,) to be swiftly killed by the King of kings (Rev. 19:21)?

Yet again, here is Zeph. 3:8–

Therefore, tarry for Me, averring is Yahweh, For the day when I rise to testify, Seeing that My judgment is to gather the nations, To convene the kingdoms, To pour out My indignation upon them, All the heat of My anger, For, by the fire of My jealousy, the entire earth shall be devoured.

The passage in view makes far more sense when we distinguish the judgment of the nations from the judgment of the dead! The anger here is figured by fire. Fire that covers the earth – not some unknown location that will permanently flay your grandparents like the villain in Temple of Doom. This fire refines, both healing the land (Jer. 30:3, 33:7, Ezek. 36:33-35,) and re-dividing the national boundaries according to loyalty to righteousness. This is conveyed best for us in Psalm 82:8–

Do arise, O Elohim; do judge the earth; For it is You Yourself Who shall have the allotment of all the nations.

Indeed, this is God’s agenda with His “judging.” Not to dismiss all for eternity, but to juxtapose this terrible eon with a proper rule. When the demonstration is made, then those who do appear at Judgment Day will realize just how grand grace truly is, in comparison to these pitiful systems of the present.

There are many, many more examples of this (the pride being abased in Is. 2:11-17, the subjection of the nations for Christ’s allotment in Psalm 2, etc.) but these few should suffice to give any rational reader pause, and hopefully a strong re-evaluation of the Old Testament passages which, under Christian interpretation, are confusing and seemingly contrarian to New Testament passages.

It is important to point out these passages in the Old Testament so that you can see very well that this is not some new teaching that Jesus pulled out of His caboose, but is simply building off the Old Testament passages which already exist to verify His statements. That Jesus contextualizes these events from the Old Testament as when He returns in glory (and, to be fair, even the Old Testament itself contextualizes it thus, per passages like Zech. 14:3-4, or Is. 63:2-4) should prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that we are dealing with a specific and temporary moment in history. It is a big moment in history, yes – but temporary, and should not overshadow the ultimate goal to follow as already conveyed through Paul.

Severing of the Nations

So we see that there’s a wealth of Old Testament evidence to this judgment, and that it directly follows the seven-year indignation period of Revelation. This is given for us in Matthew 25 itself, where verse 31 begins with,

Now, whenever the Son of Mankind may be coming in His glory, and all the holy messengers with Him, then shall He be seated on the throne of His glory, and in front of Him shall be gathered all the nations.

…Yeah, I mean, that’s clear and straightforward. The only way this could be clearer is if Jesus Himself sat down in a chair and poured some Maker’s Mark for you as He directly repeated it. The nations will be gathered before the throne of glory, on which He will be seated.

And He shall be severing them from one another even as a shepherd is severing the sheep from the kids. And He shall be standing the sheep, indeed, at His right, yet the kids at the left.

This statement from Jesus is a direct reference to the judgment of the nations as intimated in Isaiah 42:1-3. The “right judgment” that proceeds in the passage occurs on earth. The “sheep” and “goats” are, of course, not literal, but, as we’ve discussed, “sheep” are representative of Israel. For a nation besides Israel to be called “sheep” along with Israel for the kindness displayed will be a privilege in the coming kingdom.

With the nations subordinate to the true Hebrew priesthood, these nations must then be severed (the same word from Romans 1:1 – that forceful disconnect) – the sheep nations from the goat nations, through the parameters intimated from verses 33-46. Nations like Edom will be cut off for the fourth eon (Obad. 1:10,) for what they do will be done unto them (Obad. 1:15, 18.) Hence passages like “Jacob I love, yet Esau I hate” have their necessary understanding within the context of the nations they represent. Through the figure of metonymy, a passage like that becomes clear: “Israel I love, yet Edom I hate.”

Fire Eonian

Let me preface this headline by saying this: I have already done a major study on the term “hell” as it appears in the KJV, over the course of sixteen separate articles. These articles are similar to this series, but more argumentative. It is aptly demonstrated in that series that the word for “hell” is, like “eternal,” completely mistranslated, and stems from a theological bias toward the escapist fantasy of burning those whom we disagree with alive.

As such, the Bible student (particularly you Bible students who have found a blog like this and wish for proper study on the scriptures as they are written,) should already know that this passage would not, naturally, be referring to a place of “eternal torment.”

As such, let us consider “fire eonian” in its context, with the now-demonstrated assertion that eonian can and does mean for the amount of eons defined by the context.

Then shall He be declaring to those also at His left, “Go from Me, you cursed, into the fire eonian, made ready for the Adversary and his messengers.

This fire is not a literal fire, but a figurative fire. We can tell, immediately, that this does not demean its value, but gives it value. It shows us that the “fire” is the chastening in view in verse 46, as verse 46 is the direct effect of Jesus’ proclamations in verses 41-43.

Nations cannot be chastened in literal fire.

They will, however, endure a painful chastening. Jacob is a fire; Joseph a blaze (Ob. 1:18.) Israel is an iron furnace or crucible (Deut. 4:20, 1 Kings 8:51, Jer. 11:4.) The Old Testament prophets indeed write plenty concerning this theme, that the adversarial nations who opposed Israel at every turn will be swallowed up by the fiery judgments imposed upon them by the ultimate Priest of God, Christ.

The nations are said to be given figurative fiery indignations in the future – that is, during the millennium. God will send a fire on Magog and the isles (Ezek. 38:22, 39:6.) He will set fire in Egypt in the day of Yahweh (Ezek. 30:8, 16, Zech. 14:17-18.) He will blow against the Ammonites with the fire of His indignation (Ezek. 21:31.) These cannot strictly be literal fires, or Christ would not be shepherding them with a club of iron, as is prophesied in Rev. 19:15. In truth, it is a figure for afflictions they will face in disobedience, and the forceful demands to obey. This is the true force of a chastening fire (see Paul’s use of such a figure in 1 Cor. 3:15.)

There are two other uses of “eonian fire” in the scriptures. The first is also in Matthew, chapter 18, verse 8–

Now, if your hand or your foot is snaring you, strike it off and cast it from you. Is it ideal for you to be entering into life maimed or lame, or, having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the fire eonian? And if your eye is snaring you, wrench it out and cast it from you. Is it ideal for you to be entering into life one-eyed, or, having two eyes, to be cast into the Gehenna of fire?

The text here is evidently figurative. It is heavy inference on the part of the interpreter to make the claim that, not only is this fire “everlasting” (which is not true, per the various uses of aionios in which “everlasting” stands out like a sore thumb,) but that this somehow translates to you becoming “everlasting” in this fire, to be perpetually burned. It is even worse to add that this “fire eonian” occurs in death, which means that people, in death, still have life, and also have hands and feet, so still have pain receptors in death. This verse doesn’t say any of that, and it is laughable to point at it and say, “Oh, hell is real because fire scary!”

The context is the coming kingdom, as with many passages in Matthew, and simply intimates to the audience that there are many hindrances which keep one from entering the kingdom of the heavens. If anything stands in the way, it should be abandoned. It is far better to make a sacrifice (figured by the ‘loss of limbs’) now for your ultimate benefit than it would be to pursue vanity, and end up losing everything.

The other example of “fire eonian” is found in Jude 1:7–

As Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them in like manner to these committing ultra-prostitution, and coming away after other flesh, are lying before us, a specimen, experiencing the justice of fire eonian.

It is not the fire eonian which is a “specimen” for us today, but the justice of fire eonian. The devastation of Sodom and Gomorrah could not be understated. It is so all-encompassing, in fact, that the very location of Sodom and Gomorrah is a perpetual debate to this day! In this sense, Sodom and Gomorrah are indeed “experiencing” the justice of fire eonian. The destruction itself has long passed, but it is eonian because of its effects. They still testify to God’s judgment until the end of this eon. At the end, in a great example of grace, God will indeed restore Sodom to her former allotment on earth, at the beginning of the new eon (Ezek. 16:53-56.)

Chastening Eonian

With this, let us return once more to the passage in view – the eonian chastening which will occur. The biggest strawman thrown around on the Christian end is, simply, that “if you’re going to call the chastening eonian, in that it comes to an end, then you are also saying that the life comes to an end.” We have, through studying the other uses of “life eonian,” dispelled such a strawman (sorry to any Christian who decided to skip down to part 36 of what we call a “series,” where you’re supposed to read the former parts before you get to this one.)

At the end of the story, death is abolished (1 Cor. 15:26.) This, in truth, occurs because of the chastening during the fourth eon, which restores the earth, and the great white throne judgment, which corrects all. It is further centered in the cross of Christ, as He promised through His sacrifice that He will draw all to Himself, and unveils exactly how He does this throughout Romans 1-8. The life, then, is not dispelled, but transcends from life eonian to permanent life beyond the eons. And the chastening, which was a means to effect this permanent life, will indeed come to an end.

If God had to keep “chastening” forever, then He’s not doing a very good job at subjecting people like a “God” is supposed to do. To “chasten” is to punish with a view to correction. This will undoubtedly piss off the KJV folk, but I’m beginning to realize that if someone who sticks to a poor translation gets mad at correction using the original Greek, it shows their stubbornness and falsehood – nothing more. The Greek term is kolasis. This is not “judgment,” for there is already a word for judgment, krima, as we studied in Romans 2. The suffix “-sis” in Matt. 25:46 gives the thought of perpetuity, the chastening continuing throughout the eon.

In short – the life eonian will indeed last for the final two eons, as will the chastening eonian. Yet, once the eon has passed, life becomes a permanent quality for all, while the chastening eonian is completed. The parallel – life eonian / life chastening – each last for the same amount of time. Yet when death is abolished, life ceases its “eonian” quality, because chastening ceases altogether.

Keep in mind, finally, that the perpetual chastening occurs through fiery subjection toward the nations as a whole, not individuals specifically. They directly relate to the inception of the kingdom of the heavens. The judgment will necessarily refine the nations themselves, as this God of scripture truly does have the ultimate welfare of all of His creatures in mind. He is not merely hoping that this outcome occurs, but is stacking the deck in such a perfect way that the conclusion is not to be wished upon, but expected with certainty.

- GerudoKing