Salvation on Judgment Day

Something has to change when the Lord says,

“I have written for him the great things of My law, but they were considered a strange thing.” [1]

Something has to change when the Lord says,

“Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness on you.” [2]

Something has to change when the Lord says,

“By the help of your God, return; observe mercy and justice, and wait on your God continually.” [3]

Something has to change when the Lord says,

“I have also spoken by the prophets and have multiplied visions; I have given symbols through the witness of the prophets. By a prophet, the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet he was preserved.” [4]

It is a good to read and live-by the writings of God’s prophetic writings that are recorded in the Bible because,

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. For by Me your days will be multiplied, and years of life will be added to you.” [5]

When the people of Ephraim turned from the Lord in the days of Hosea, the Lord let lose His lions on them. The Lord chastises those He loves. If He didn’t love them, He would have allowed them to keep spiraling down into depravity.

“For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them and go away; I will take them away, and no one shall rescue. I will return again to My place till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.” [6]

God described war-bent world empires as a lion, leopard and bear in Daniel 7:2-6 and He uses a similar metaphor in Hosea 13:7-8. He empowers these empires to bring judgment on nations so that they repent, believe in Him, and glorify Him.

“So I will be to them like a lion; like a leopard by the road I will lurk; I will meet them like a bear deprived of her cubs; I will tear open their rib cage, and there I will devour them like a lion. The wild beast shall tear them.”

The Lord used this speech in the Book of Joel as well…

“A nation has come up against My land, strong, and without number; his teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the fangs of a fierce lion. He has laid waste My vine and ruined My fig tree; he has stripped it bare and thrown it away; its branches are made white.” [7]

What is the change that is needed now?

“Consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly; gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord.” [8]

Praying! Fasting! Gathering together in the Name of the Lord!

One of the sins that was especially disturbing to God was the trafficking of boys and girls, “They have cast lots for My people, have given a boy as payment for a harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.” [9]

A great war was coming. Multitudes of people are about to die.

“Let the nations be wakened and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down; for the winepress is full, the vats overflow—for their wickedness is great.” [10]

They should have made a decision to submit themselves to His guidance.

“Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will diminish their brightness. The Lord also will roar from Zion and utter His voice from Jerusalem; the heavens and earth will shake; but the Lord will be a shelter for His people, and the strength of the children of Israel.” [11]

The key to victory is to be one of God’s people. Know Him! Trust Him! Testify for Him! He is a shelter to those who run to Him in the day of judgment. Bring others with you.

[1] Hosea 8:12
[2] Hosea 10:12
[3] Hosea 12:6
[4] Hosea 12:10; 13
[5] Proverbs 9:10-12
[6] Hosea 5:14-15
[7] Joel 1:6-7
[8] Joel 1:14
[9] Joel 3:3
[10] Joel 3:12-13
[11] Joel 3:14-16