Not to sound irreverent....

[hiddenshapes]

Hi all,

I have listened to Steve Gregg's lecture on Eschatology. It was very thorough and I appreciate this perspective.. There is one thing that is bugging me though..

With regard to 'the Lords coming' being applied to the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D.

It is easy to think of war/ destruction of people and property in tems of 'killing' the enemy.. but what else comes along with the death.. Let's say (and i think it is possible) that one or more of the roman soldiers raped the women/children during the war.. would that be God sponsoring that horrific act?

I hope this isn't to heavy or irreverent..

[TK]

I think it is an excellent question, and the same question might be asked regarding the surrounding nations subjugation of Israel say, in the time the Judges.

Unfortunately I don't have an answer.

TK

[mattrose]

Even if we don't ascribe 'The Lord's Coming' to AD70, the problem remains because at numerous times in the Old Testament the Lord was said to 'come' in judgment upon various people via other people who were also wicked.

It seems that God does not equate using the wicked to judge the wicked as an immoral practice. Perhaps this is because He knows that He will also judge the former at a later date.

If God provokes, for instance, Babylon to destroy the Southern Kingdom and they do so, but meanwhile carry out detestable methods, God is not necessarily to blame for those methods. That would be like blaming the tax-paying citizen for police brutality. The police are commissioned by the tax-payer, but the tax-payer is not necessarily responsible for the misbehavior of the police. Babylon was commissioned by God, but God is not responsible for when they go outside the bounds of the task at hand.

I can't remember the references off the top of my head, but I remember in some of the prophetic books God rebukes nations that He commissioned for HOW they went about fulfilling the task they had been called to.

[alaskazimm]

One place would be in Isaiah 10:5-16 where God condemns Assyria for not recognizing their part in judging Israel.

[Paidion]

Are there any places in the New Testament where God does these things?

Jesus came to reveal what the Father is really like. So we have some interesting statements about how the Father deals with sinners:

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, 'Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust'. (Matthew 5:43-45)

There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:1-5)

[steve7150]

Are there any places in the New Testament where God does these things?










In the OT & the flood, were there not children who died before the age of accountability. Why did they have to die as opposed to God making other provisions?