The Strand Study Bible
GENESIS GENESIS that He had to eventually destroy it and Gomorrah completely. Yet, in spite of the flagrant evil of the alternative lifestyle behavior, God was willing to spare the two cities if ten righteous persons could be found within its borders. Surely mercy and grace could be carried to no greater extreme than that. The God of the Old Testament reveals Himself here as being so kind and forgiving that He stands ready to forgive the guilty rather than bring suffering upon the guiltless within the city (Psa 78:38 & 86:15). Unger’s Bible Dictionary notes: 95 Sadly, modernists have portrayed the God of the Old Testament as a harsh, brutal and bloodthirsty God who orders the extermination of helpless people throughout the Old Testament. However, this Modernism theory couldn’t be farther from the truth ( Ezk 18:23 ). While it is true that God is stern and just where He must be, it is also true that He is always merciful and kind where He can be. Dr. Harold L. Willmington in Doctrine of the Trinity notes: The Old Testament speaks four times as much about the mercy of God as does the New Testament. It is mentioned twenty-six times in Psalm 136 alone. Mercy then, among other things, is not getting what we deserve, namely, hell. 12 13:15 This term ( for ever ) indicate the continuance of many promises to Abraham and his seed (Israel), which includes a 1000- year Millennium in which CHRIST will reign and the earth will revert back to an “Eden-like” state ( Ezk 36:35 ). Note some of the following characteristics of the coming Millennium (Rev 20:1-10): 1. Unparalleled prosperity, health and happiness (Psa 46:4, Ezk 47:12, Zech 14:8 and Rev 22:1-2) 2. Positive climate and land changes (Isa 30:26 & 35:1-2) 3. Peaceful coexistence with animals and reptiles (Isa 11:6-9 & 35:9 & 65:25, Hos 2:18 and Ezk 34:25) 4. Pre-Flood Eden-like living conditions (Isa 51:3 & 65:17-20) 5. Worldly-free environment (but not a sin-free environment) (Isa 11:4-5, Zech 14:16-19 and Rev 20:7-10) Without a doubt, one of the duties of the resurrected saint, who is to rule and reign with Christ over the saved that enter the Millennium after the Seven-Year Tribulation Period (Mt 25:31-46), will be to assist the Lord in keeping the world from becoming too worldly. 6. The total restoration of the nation of Israel (Isa 11:11-16 & 30:18-25 & 34:16-17, Zech 8:1-17 and Rev 20:4 a ) due to the reign of CHRIST (Isa 11:10, Jere 23:3-6, Rev 12:5, Dan 7:14,27 and Lk 1:32-33) and the FATHER (Zech 8:18-23 & 14:16-17, Isa 24:23 & 25:6 and Rev 7:15 & 11:15 -17 & 12:10) 7. Devil-free environment (Rev 20:1-3) NOTE – Finally, after so many failures on the part of mankind, a utopian world will have arrived, via the reign of CHRIST and the FATHER ( Rev 11:15 & 20:4-6). There is no warrant for the statement that the Old Testament magnifies the justice of God more than does the New. The New Testament brings to light most distinctly the economy of grace, by no means lost sight of in the Old. 11
1 Unwin, Joseph Daniel. Sex and Culture , London: Oxford University Press. 1934. Print. 2 Satinover, Jeffrey M.D. Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth . Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books. 1996. Print. 3 Cahill, Mark. One Thing You Can’t Do In Heaven , Rockwall, TX, Biblical Discipleship Pub., 2002-2008. Print. 4 Dallas, Joe. The Gay Gospel? , Eugene, OR, Harvest House Pub., 1996/2007. Print. 5 Lester R. Brown, Gary Gardner, and Brian Halweil. “Press Release: Summarizing findings reported in a new book I. ” Worldwatch Institute . 12 Apr 1999: Print.
6 Frank Turek and Norman Geisler. Legislating Morality , Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock. 2003. Print. 7 Pyle, Hugh. The Pestilence of AIDS , Murfreesboro, TN: Sword of the Lord Pub., 1987, Print 8 MSNBC. Banned for life: Gay men still can’t donate blood. May 23, 2007
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