26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Wow, the wrath of God! This is what a lot of unbelievers would give as an excuse for why they aren't a Christian. It appears like God is saying. "Worship me, or I will send you into the raging fires of Hell". He is sort of like a Donald Trump God, "Agree with me and you are fine. Disagree and I'll fire you." Is God really that petty, proud,and tyrannical? (BTW I am a Trump supporter, I just acknowledge his HUGE character flaws unlike most of his fans)
First of all we have to remember that Hell was created for the devil and the one third of angels, now called "demons", who - although created by God and given all the wonders and blessings of eternity of Heaven - chose to rebel against God and try to thwart everything He does from then on. They became the enemies of God and they will get an eternity with none of the goodness that God bestows on the universe. They didn't want Heaven and are currently "squatters" on this earth enjoying the common grace of God but soon they will be given what they wanted, the opposite of Heaven - Hell. So when you say that God made Hell for all humans that don't bow the knee to Him, that would be incorrect.
Second - let me develop this. As I study Genesis, at the very start of the Bible, I see God saying to Adam, "The day you eat from this tree you will die." That was the only "no", everything else in their perfectly eternally constructed planet was a "yes". But when Satan convinced them that God was a mean God, they chose to rebel and follow their own rules thus choosing Satan's side and the future that he has to offer rather than the future that God was offering. But even in that, God gave mercy and they didn't die like He had said. He covered them instead and began a complicated plan which would end in the death of His Son to pay for our rebellion so we could spend eternity with Him. God raised up a nation through Abraham to reveal Himself to the Earth and bring His Son to the Earth through this nation. In a bizarre passage in Genesis 15, God foretells to Abraham,
“Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 15 You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”
According to this, the one thing keeping the Israelites from the promised land, the one thing that caused Joseph, possibly the most righteous man in the Bible, to be sold into slavery, rise to power, bring his family to Egypt to survive the famine only to be enslaved, mistreated then brought out only to wander in the wilderness for 40 years before beginning to take the land - the one thing delaying all that was that one nation, the Amorites, opposed to God from the beginning, was given 400 years to realize that God was not against them but for them and come to Him, even though God knew over those 400 years that their behavior would so deteriorate that for them to be wiped out would be totally justified. That is what the author of Hebrews refers to as the "Spirit of grace".
Or how about this one. Peter says in his 2nd epistle,
"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."
In context, Peter is talking about the Lord's return and like the Israelites being delayed headed into the promised land because God waiting for the repentance or absolute degradation of the Amorites, God is delaying our joining Him forever in Heaven because He is waiting for mankind to repent or to be so evil that there is no alternative but giving up on them. We have a condition like that in medicine called "irreversible shock". The patient is still alive but they have been in shock so long that they can't be rescued. Every organ has been damaged so badly by the lack of perfusion that they are beyond hope even if, say, you stop the bleeding.
Are there signs in our society that we are approaching that end stage of degradation? Let me give you three.
1. Recently a bill passed in the senate called "Born Alive Survivors Abortion Act" was voted down. The bill basically said that a baby that is born alive from an abortion must get treatment to save its life like any other baby born alive. And this was voted down! This follows laws in states like Virginia that allow abortions to occur at the approval of one physician up to the due date for the mental health of the mother. God has destroyed nations for their treatment of the innocent and you have to wonder how long He will tarry.
2. Rights for pedophiles? There are voices out there trying to make pedophiles an accepted group saying "love is love". In fairness, as I read more on this it hasn't gained a whole lot of momentum but when it does, and it will, how long will the patience of God last?
3. Have you heard about John Allen Chou? Probably not because there has been very little outrage which is a sign of our depravity. This young man paid fishermen to sneak him onto an island off India that is isolated from civilization and protected by the government. This tribe kills any outsider that sets foot on their island. John felt called to share about a savior who died for them so they could spend eternity in Heaven. Shortly after he arrived on the island, fisherman witnessed him being killed. Instead of outrage at a people that could do whatever they wanted to visitors like in the days of Sodom and Gommorah and the people of Gibeah in Judges 19 , the government is prosecuting the people that took him there. The comments on social media were decidedly outraged at this young man for imposing white man's religion, bringing 21st century diseases to this isolated group, not respecting peoples' privacy, etc. The fact that 8 months later this is forgotten shows the depravity of mankind.
In summary, God created Eden and Heaven and never said, "Your staying here is contingent on you worshipping me." The existence was so awesome and He was so clearly infinitely greater than any of His creations that the natural response would be love, gratitude, worship. Instead, Satan and His Angels rebelled against God so God prepared a place for them to go (Matt. 25:41) where none of His goodness would be. It's called Hell. Satan then convinced all of mankind to rebel against God but yet God loved us so much that He sent His Son to rescue us from the destination we are all headed for and waits patiently while the world goes down the toilet for a person here and there to realize their depravity and accept God's goodness, until He can wait no more. I don't see that as an angry, self centered, tyrannical God but a merciful loving one and I'll worship Him any day.
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