A World Divided

A recent bible study group which I was involved with somehow led to an epiphany on my behalf (something that most of you have probably been on to long ago, but I'm usually "late to the party", so forgive me if this is old news:).

That idea is this:

The world is rapidly heading into a new era - an era in which God reveals Himself to the entire world, and at that point the notion that "God doesn't exist" will be forever destroyed as a doctrine. That's a fascinating development in world history, so lets take a look at the scriptures:

First, we see this process of God revealing Himself to the world - quite possibly begins during the Gog-MaGog invasion of Israel, if, as many of us believe this invasion occurs before the Tribulation.

"...and all the people of the earth will tremble at my presence" (Ezekiel 38:20)

"And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord." (Ezekiel 38:23)

"I will display my glory among the nations" (Ezekiel 39:21)

So you can see in these scriptures that God will reveal Himself to everyone on earth: "all the people of the earth" is pretty comprehensive isn't it? That would include everyone.

During the Tribulation, as the judgments of God begin, we see not only acknowledgement of what is happening on earth, but another reference to everyone on earth being aware of God's presence:

"Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every free slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb.'" (Revelation 6:15-17)

So during the Tribulation God makes His presence abundantly clear. We see the same idea in Revelation 11, where the "Two Witnesses" proclaim the Gospel to the entire world - a world who also watches the miraculous resurrection of these same two individuals as they rise three days following their deaths.

God is moving in the entire world into a place where they will have an easy decision to make:

To choose God or to reject God, because denying God's existence will no longer be an option. I see this as an incredible act of mercy, and quite possibly the main aspect of the Tribulation period: In the last days, God completely eliminates the option of "God doesn't exist" - therefore making the decision to accept or to reject God much easier.

By eliminating a third choice - God forces mankind into a binary decision. And even with that obvious choice, people will, incredulously, choose to reject God:

"The rest of mankind...still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and the idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood - idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts." (Revelation 9:20)

"Men gnawed their tongues in agony and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done." (Revelation 16:10-11)

"And they cursed God..." (Revelation 16:20)

But note that there is no denial of God in these scriptures. How interesting. People will have a very simple choice - to choose God or to reject God. And one living at that time cannot complain that God didn't reveal Himself, as God will have made His presence in the universe abundantly clear to ALL people, as stated in the scriptures.

It actually seems more than fair. God will take an unrepentant world - a world who has repeatedly denied His presence - and He will give them a second chance. Not just any second chance - but a second chance that involves making such a decision easy because God will reveal Himself, leaving only two options - he will remove any ambiguity from this process.

What more can He do?

But don't forget; God may not wait until the Tribulation to reveal Himself in this way.

If Gog-MaGog begins before the Tribulation, as many of us believe, then we may be here to witness God's initial world-wide declaration of His existence (in these last days) as the scriptures reveal. To add to that, the way things are shaping up in the Middle East, this may not be far off.

As stated before, I don't believe the Bride (aka The Church) will be here for Gog-MaGog. Recall the words of the apostle Paul:

"We live by faith not by sight" (2 Cor. 5:7)