Some modern believers try to maintain that there is only one Day of the Lord, and it is yet future. However, they have no proof that there is only one.[1] The fact remains that Job referred to those days as his days (plural; Job 24:1), vis-à-vis the Lord’s days. If the Day of the Lord is a time of God’s judgment upon mankind, how would one refer to the Noahic Flood? How would one refer to the Lord’s judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah? How would one refer to his judgment upon Israel or the nations, prior to the coming of Christ, or his judgment upon Jerusalem in 70 AD? Are not these days clearly the Days of the Lord? Are they not HIS days, as mentioned by Job in chapter 24:1? If not, why not?
The problem with the friends’ argument, as perceived by Job, was many of the wicked lived relatively peaceful lives and didn’t survive until those seasons, which the Lord had set aside to judge mankind (cp. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). What of these wicked (Job 21:29-33)? Traditional religion has no logical reply for these things, if they believe in a just God. Much of modern Christianity would tell us that those men and others are reserved for the everlasting fires of hell, an ever-burning, perpetual, torturing flame. Nevertheless, if we hold to the belief that God so loved the world (John 3:16), and keeping in mind that the wicked are a part of that world, which the Lord says he loves, where is the love of God in in the doctrine of an ever-burning hell? Still others would tell us that the wicked are condemned to an eternal separation from the Lord. Imagine never knowing the Lord, never having hope of release, condemned to eternal neglect! If we truly believe that love never fails (1Corinthians 13:8), where is the love of God in eternal neglect?
There are also those who believe in eternal death. Nevertheless, how would this be punishment for the one who rebelled against God and wickedly treated his neighbor, and that without any sort of punishment? Although we could say: “He died!” but what kind of punishment is that? Certainly, Job didn’t think death, and death alone, was just punishment for the wicked (Job 24:23-25). More to the point, how does eternal death express the love of God or his desire to save all (John 3:16-17)?
If the love of God cannot be found in any of these presumed judgments, we are left even today with the very same question Job raised, namely, when are the wicked punished? Are they punished at all? If they are, and keeping in mind that the Lord is understood as a God of love, which is one of the three attributes that seem to personify our idea of God, namely: God IS love (1John 4:8, 16); God IS spirit (John 4:16); God IS light (1John 1:5). Whatever we think of the wrath of God or how the Lord might judge mankind, God remains God. In other words, he remains true to his essential Being. So, once again, if God IS love, and there is no love in the doctrine of punishment by eternal fire, eternal neglect or eternal death, when and how are the wicked punished?
Perhaps equally important would be the question of how long the wicked are punished. For example, where is the love of God in eternal punishment (Psalm 78:38-39; 85:5; cp. Micah 7:18; Isaiah 57:16). What good parent would ever punish his child for his entire life, because the child had disobeyed the parent’s command or had dishonored him in the deed the child had done? Certainly, the terrible crimes committed by some men in our history deserve punishment that fits their wicked deeds, but we also need to remember that God is love, and any punishment that he administers must have reconciliation at its root. Otherwise, God is no better than any world government that punishes its criminals. While it is true that at times attempts are made to rehabilitate the criminal and restore him to society as a law-abiding, productive participant, this isn’t always successful. Nevertheless, if the wicked can be rehabilitated, but such a thing, as a rule, isn’t done by God in this life, when and how would rehabilitation take place? Job believes that many of the wicked are punished by God sometime after death (Job 21:28-30).[2] If this is true, what might that look like?
We are possibly given a picture of the judgment and rehabilitation of the wicked in Ezekiel, and this would take place sometime after the erection of the new Temple.[3] It will be when the Prince (the Messiah) would sit in the Temple (Ezekiel 44:1-4). The prophet mentions the rebellious house of Israel (Ezekiel 44:6). Through their abominations, they had broken the covenant (verse-7) and set foreigners over the temple for their own benefit (verse-8). The rebellious Levites who went astray after their idols would bear their iniquity (Ezekiel 44:10). But, how would that be done?
They get to minister in the Lord’s sanctuary and have charge over the gates of the house, vis-à-vis of bringing folks into the house to worship the Lord, which concerns the sacrifices, and they point to the cross of Christ, vis-à-vis his death for their sins. The rebellious Levites get to minister to these folks (verse-11). Why is that? It is because they ministered to the people in their rebellion, causing the people to rebel against the Lord. Therefore, they’ll bear their iniquity in the time of judgment and will truly bring in folks to worship the Lord and not an idol (Ezekiel 44:12). But, notice that they will not come near to the Lord to minister to him or to be near any of his holy things (Ezekiel 44:13-14). Rather, they will bear their shame and their iniquity, away from him at the gate of his House (Ezekiel 44:11).
This punishment would have to take place after the death of those wicked men who caused Israel to rebel against God. Their punishment fits their crimes, and rehabilitation is in view. They are given charge over what should have been done in their earlier lifetime. There appears to be a kind of separation from the Lord and his holy things, but, if we take into consideration that the Lord isn’t angry forever (Psalm 78:38-39; 85:5; cp. Micah 7:18; Isaiah 57:16), we must conclude that their punishment would have an end, and they would be fully reconciled to the Lord. Thus, we have an example of what rehabilitation might look like for the rebellious religious leaders of Israel, so we need only expect that something similar would be administered to all the wicked, making their punishment fit their crimes, but with reconciliation in view. Thus, although God is the righteous Judge, he is also a God of Love.
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[1] As an aside, they also err in maintaining that **the** Day of the Lord is yet future. See my studies on my AD 70 Eschatology page.
[2] See my previous study: Why Is the Obvious So Unbelievable?
[3] I hold to the idea that the New Temple is spiritual. Peter writes that we are the living stones of that Temple (1Peter 2:5), and Paul supports this point of view (1Corinthians 3:16; 2Corinthians 6:16, 19; Ephesians 2:20-22). How the above would play out in reality is a mystery, but we are told that it will play out as indicated in Ezekiel 44.
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