Grace Thoughts
God’s Justice: How It Works (Part Seven)
The death penalty is at the top of God’s Justice list. As He told Noah thousands of years ago, “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.” (Genesis 9:6) However, as we’ve seen in earlier parts of this series, most humans oppose the death penalty. That includes Jews and Christians.
Many Christians point to the New Testament and claim that Jesus would not support the death penalty if He were on earth today. Since that’s a truth claim, let’s ask the obvious question: is that true? Would Jesus oppose the death penalty if He were on earth? Let’s look to the New Testament to see.
Jesus and the Death Penalty
Here are some important things to keep in mind about Jesus:
- Jesus is God … He is the Son of God … as a Member of the Godhead, Jesus would have been part of the decision to institute the death penalty with Noah and reinforce and expand it with Moses and the Law of God.
- Jesus told His followers not to think that He had come to destroy the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfill it. He also told them that until Heaven and earth passed away, nothing would pass from the Law (even the smallest parts) “till all is fulfilled.”
- Jesus did not nullify the death penalty during His earthly ministry.
- The same Jesus who we see in the Gospels is the same Jesus we see in the Revelation conquering and killing people “with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse.” (Revelation 19:21)
- The same Lord Jesus we see in the New Testament is the same Lord we see in Psalm 110 who will “execute kings in the day of His wrath,” “fill the places with dead bodies,” and “execute the heads of many countries.”
From simply a biblical perspective, people’s beliefs about Jesus are wrong. That includes many Christians. Many view Jesus as a friendly healer who preached non-violence, was misunderstood by the government and died because of those misunderstandings. Many people who say they are Christians don’t even believe Jesus rose from the dead, so that demonstrates how wrong they are about Jesus.
Jesus is far more than a friendly healer who preached and taught some nice things. He’s more than someone the government misunderstood and killed. Jesus is God! He is Sovereign. He is Israel’s Messiah. He is returning to destroy His enemies and He will use the death penalty during His earthly reign.
The question of what would Jesus think about the death penalty if He was here on earth has already been answered for us. Jesus will return to the earth soon and will execute swift justice on His enemies. He will judge the nations and establish a thousand-year reign on earth where He will rule with a rod of iron and tread the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God (Revelation 19:15).
Okay, so Jesus will wage war on the nations and defeat them. Isn’t war different from the death penalty? Won’t Jesus end the death penalty during His Millennial reign?
The short answer is no. We could say that war is different than the death penalty if both sides have a somewhat fighting chance, but that’s not what we find in the Old Testament prophecies or in Revelation. Jesus is going to utterly wipe out His enemies. They have no fighting chance against the Lord. Then the Thousand-Year Reign begins. Ruling with “a rod of iron” means what it says. The Divine Justice of Jesus Christ during His earthly reign will include the death penalty. Here’s what some of the Old Testament prophets wrote about how Christ will rule on earth:
But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, And decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, And faithfulness the belt of His waist.
Isaiah 11:4-5
It shall come to pass in that day That the Lord shall set His hand again the second time To recover the remnant of His people who are left, From Assyria and Egypt, From Pathros and Cush, From Elam and Shinar, From Hamath and the islands of the sea. He will set up a banner for the nations, And will assemble the outcasts of Israel, And gather together the dispersed of Judah From the four corners of the earth. Also the envy of Ephraim shall depart, And the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, And Judah shall not harass Ephraim. But they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines toward the west; Together they shall plunder the people of the East; They shall lay their hand on Edom and Moab; And the people of Ammon shall obey them. The Lord will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt; With His mighty wind He will shake His fist over the River, And strike it in the seven streams, And make men cross over dry-shod. There will be a highway for the remnant of His people Who will be left from Assyria, As it was for Israel in the day that he came up from the land of Egypt.
Isaiah 11:11-16
I will also gather all nations, And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; And I will enter into judgment with them there On account of My people, My heritage Israel,Whom they have scattered among the nations;They have also divided up My land … And it will come to pass in that dayThat the mountains shall drip with new wine, The hills shall flow with milk, And all the brooks of Judah shall be flooded with water; A fountain shall flow from the house of the Lord And water the Valley of Acacias. ‘Egypt shall be a desolation, And Edom a desolate wilderness, Because of violence against the people of Judah, For they have shed innocent blood in their land. But Judah shall abide forever, And Jerusalem from generation to generation.
Joel 3:2, 18-20
You can also read about God’s specific plans concerning individual nations that opposed Israel in the writings of several of the Old Testament prophets (e.g. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Joel). The nations that today believe themselves to be controlling their own destinies will have a rude awakening when Christ the Lion of the Tribe of Judah roars from Heaven ..
The Lord will roar from on high, And utter His voice from His holy habitation; He will roar mightily against His fold. He will give a shout, as those who tread the grapes, Against all the inhabitants of the earth. A noise will come to the ends of the earth— For the Lord has a controversy with the nations; He will plead His case with all flesh. He will give those who are wicked to the sword,’ says the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Behold, disaster shall go forth From nation to nation, And a great whirlwind shall be raised up From the farthest parts of the earth. And at that day the slain of the Lord shall be from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall become refuse on the ground.
Jeremiah 25:30-33
The Millennial Reign of Christ on earth is not going to be fun and games for the people living during that time. Jesus will rule them with a rod of iron throughout His reign of a thousand years. Many of the people born during the Millennial Reign also won’t like the way Christ rules them. In fact, they will rebel against the Lord’s reign as soon as they can. How do I know that? Read Revelation 20 ..
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while … Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are.And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Revelation 20:1-3, 7-10
The people living on earth during the Millennial Reign will have the Son of God ruling with a rod of iron from Jerusalem, which becomes earth’s capital city. Satan will be bound in the bottomless pit for a thousand years, so he won’t have any influence on the people during that time. However, the people will continue to have within them the nature of sin. Their nature will oppose the Nature of Christ. Some will obey and some will disobey Christ during the Millennium, thus the need for Jesus to rule with a rod of iron. However, those people will become supercharged in their rebellion against Christ when Satan is loosed from the bottomless pit. Satan will go out to “deceive the nations which are in the four corers of the earth.” Satan will bring together a great army of rebellious people and surround Jerusalem for the purpose of overturning Christ’s rule. However, fire will come down from God out of Heaven and devour them. Satan will be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone with the beast and false prophet and they will all be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Next Time
What about God’s mercy? Doesn’t that impact the death penalty? We’ll look at that in the next part of our series, God’s Justice: How It Works.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Published by gracelifethoughts
Founder & Director of GraceLife Ministries View all posts by gracelifethoughts
