Is God Really Merciful?

Have you ever wondered about the way Israel treated the nations who occupied Canaan when they entered the “Promised Land”? Reading through the Biblical story as recorded in the book of Joshua is a bit sobering. We read how much God loves us in John 3:16, we hear preachers tell of a loving and forgiving God, and then we read the book of Joshua. Reading about the way Israel treated the people in the land they were invading makes you wonder about how they could be following the same “loving” God we read about in the New Testament and do all the things they did. How do you reconcile the two? Is it even possible to reconcile them? That is what we are going to investigate.

If you have never read the story here is a brief synopsis of what happened. They started by attacking the city of Jericho. This is how the Bible records what happened, “On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, ‘Shout! For the Lord has given you the city!’ . . . . When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city. They devoted the city to the Lord and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.” (Joshua 6:15-16, 20-21 NIV)

From there they went and attacked Ai. They got all the men of Ai to chase the Israelite army, leaving the city undefended and a part of the army that had been hidden entered the city and set it on fire. When the Israelite army saw the city was on fire they turned around and attacked the men of Ai. “When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the fields and in the wilderness where they had chased them, and when every one of them had been put to the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and killed those who were in it. Twelve thousand men and women fell that day—all the people of Ai. For Joshua did not draw back the hand that held out his javelin until he had destroyed all who lived in Ai.” (Joshua 8:24-26 NIV)

In fact, Joshua just kept right on going throughout the land, day, after day, after day, after day, after . . . .  “That day Joshua took Makkedah. He put the city and its king to the sword and totally destroyed everyone in it. He left no survivors. And he did to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho. Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Makkedah to Libnah and attacked it. The Lord also gave that city and its king into Israel’s hand. The city and everyone in it Joshua put to the sword. He left no survivors there. And he did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho. Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Libnah to Lachish; he took up positions against it and attacked it. The Lord gave Lachish into Israel’s hands, and Joshua took it on the second day. The city and everyone in it he put to the sword, just as he had done to Libnah. Meanwhile, Horam king of Gezerhad come up to help Lachish, but Joshua defeated him and his army—until no survivors were left. Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Lachish to Eglon; they took up positions against it and attacked it. They captured it that same day and put it to the sword and totally destroyed everyone in it, just as they had done to Lachish. Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron and attacked it. They took the city and put it to the sword, together with its king, its villages and everyone in it. They left no survivors. Just as at Eglon, they totally destroyed it and everyone in it. Then Joshua and all Israel with him turned around and attacked Debir. They took the city, its king and its villages, and put them to the sword. Everyone in it they totally destroyed. They left no survivors. They did to Debir and its king as they had done to Libnah and its king and to Hebron. So Joshua subdued the whole region, including the hill country, the Negev, the western foothills and the mountain slopes, together with all their kings. He left no survivors. He totally destroyed all who breathed, just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded.” (Joshua 10:28-40 NIV)

“When Jabin king of Hazor heard of this, he sent word to Jobab king of Madon, to the kings of Shimron and Akshaph, and to the northern kings who were in the mountains, in the Arabah south of Kinnereth, in the western foothills and in Naphoth Dor on the west; to the Canaanites in the east and west; to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites and Jebusites in the hill country; and to the Hivites below Hermon in the region of Mizpah. They came out with all their troops and a large number of horses and chariots—a huge army, as numerous as the sand on the seashore. All these kings joined forces and made camp together at the Waters of Merom to fight against Israel. . . . So Joshua and his whole army came against them suddenly at the Waters of Merom and attacked them, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Israel. They defeated them and pursued them all the way to Greater Sidon, to Misrephoth Maim, and to the Valley of Mizpah on the east, until no survivors were left. . . . At that time Joshua turned back and captured Hazor and put its king to the sword. (Hazor had been the head of all these kingdoms.) Everyone in it they put to the sword. They totally destroyed them, not sparing anyone that breathed, and he burned Hazor itself. Joshua took all these royal cities and their kings and put them to the sword. He totally destroyed them, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded. . . . So Joshua took this entire land: the hill country, all the Negev, the whole region of Goshen, the western foothills, the Arabah and the mountains of Israel with their foothills, from Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, to Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings and put them to death.”  (Joshua 11:1-5, 7-8, 10-12, 16-17 NIV)

But the story of the conquest actually started earlier. Just before they crossed the Jordan River and entered Canaan, Moses reminded Israel of the battles they had already fought, “When Sihon and all his army came out to meet us in battle at Jahaz, the Lord our God delivered him over to us and we struck him down, together with his sons and his whole army. At that time we took all his towns and completely destroyed them—men, women and children. We left no survivors. But the livestock and the plunder from the towns we had captured we carried off for ourselves. From Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge, and from the town in the gorge, even as far as Gilead, not one town was too strong for us. The Lord our God gave us all of them.” (Deuteronomy 2:32-36 NIV) “Next we turned and went up along the road toward Bashan, and Og king of Bashan with his whole army marched out to meet us in battle at Edrei. The Lord said to me, ‘Do not be afraid of him, for I have delivered him into your hands, along with his whole army and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon.’ So the Lord our God also gave into our hands Og king of Bashan and all his army. We struck them down, leaving no survivors. At that time we took all his cities. There was not one of the sixty cities that we did not take from them—the whole region of Argob, Og’s kingdom in Bashan. All these cities were fortified with high walls and with gates and bars, and there were also a great many unwalled villages. We completely destroyed them, as we had done with Sihon king of Heshbon, destroying every city—men, women and children.” (Deuteronomy 3:1-6 NIV)

After reminding the Israelites of what they had already gone through, Moses told them, “When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you—and when the Lord your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy.” (Deuteronomy 7:1-2 NIV)

Sounds rather harsh doesn’t it? How could a group of people who were supposedly following a “loving” God be so cruel? Moses, at God’s command tells the people, “you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy.” I thought God was supposed to be a “merciful” God, isn’t He? That seems to be the response of a lot of people. But it gets worse. Moses just told us that God TOLD them to kill everyone, even the women and children! And in the book of Joshua, this comment was made, “Except for the Hivites living in Gibeon, not one city made a treaty of peace with the Israelites, who took them all in battle. For it was the Lord himself who hardened their hearts to wage war against Israel, so that he might destroy them totally, exterminating them without mercy, as the Lord had commanded Moses.” (Joshua 11:19-20 NIV) Not only did God WANT the people the Israelites attacked to be exterminated, He went so far as to “harden their hearts” so they would fight Israel so Israel COULD kill them all! How cruel and unloving is that?

Before we get too worked up about this, maybe we should check to see it this is all the story. Isn’t it just good investigative procedure to make sure we have the WHOLE story, and not just part of it?

Long before Israel ever got to Canaan, the land they were going to occupy (AKA “The Promised Land”) God had told them, “See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him. If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out.  . . . I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run. I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land. I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will give into your hands the people who live in the land, and you will drive them out before you. Do not make a covenant with them or with their gods. Do not let them live in your land or they will cause you to sin against me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare to you.” (Exodus 23:20-23, 27-33 NIV) God told Israel 40 years before they ever got to Canaan that He was going to wipe out the people who lived there!

So the big question is WHY? Why did God want all the people of those nations dead? Why did He insist that the Israelites kill off everyone – even women and children? Why?

Moses explained , “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. But those who hate him he will repay to their face by destruction; he will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him.” (Deuteronomy 7:9-10 NIV)

Moses also told them, “Hear, Israel: You are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities that have walls up to the sky. The people are strong and tall—Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: ‘Who can stand up against the Anakites?’ But be assured today that the Lord your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as the Lord has promised you. After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, ‘The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.’ No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you. It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.” (Deuteronomy 9:1-6 NIV)

He explained further, ” . . . . in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. Completely destroy them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—as the Lord your God has commanded you. Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the Lord your God.” (Deuteronomy 20:16-18 NIV) And just before he died Moses called the Israelites to assemble before him, “Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel:  ‘I am now a hundred and twenty years old and I am no longer able to lead you. The Lord has said to me, “You shall not cross the Jordan.” The Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will cross over ahead of you, as the Lord said. And the Lord will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, whom he destroyed along with their land. The Lord will deliver them to you, and you must do to them all that I have commanded you. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.'” (Deuteronomy 31:1-6 NIV) Clearly God says these nations were evil, so what had they done that God found so abhorrent?

“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them: “I am the Lord your God. You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices. You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the Lord your God. Keep my decrees and laws, for the person who obeys them will live by them. I am the Lord. No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the Lord. Do not dishonor your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; do not have relations with her. Do not have sexual relations with your father’s wife; that would dishonor your father. Do not have sexual relations with your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere. Do not have sexual relations with your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter; that would dishonor you. Do not have sexual relations with the daughter of your father’s wife, born to your father; she is your sister. Do not have sexual relations with your father’s sister; she is your father’s close relative. Do not have sexual relations with your mother’s sister, because she is your mother’s close relative. Do not dishonor your father’s brother by approaching his wife to have sexual relations; she is your aunt. Do not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife; do not have relations with her. Do not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife; that would dishonor your brother. Do not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter. Do not have sexual relations with either her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter; they are her close relatives. That is wickedness. Do not take your wife’s sister as a rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is living. Do not approach a woman to have sexual relations during the uncleanness of her monthly period. Do not have sexual relations with your neighbor’s wife and defile yourself with her. Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molek, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord. Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable. Do not have sexual relations with an animal and defile yourself with it. A woman must not present herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it; that is a perversion. Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled. Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. But you must keep my decrees and my laws. The native-born and the foreigners residing among you must not do any of these detestable things, for all these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you, and the land became defiled. And if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you. Everyone who does any of these detestable things—such persons must be cut off from their people. Keep my requirements and do not follow any of the detestable customs that were practiced before you came and do not defile yourselves with them. I am the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 18:1-30 NIV) “Keep all my decrees and laws and follow them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out. You must not live according to the customs of the nations I am going to drive out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them.” (Leviticus 20:22-23 NIV)

God lists all these sexual acts that He abhors and tells Israel that because the existing nations were committing them He was going to judge them and remove them from the land. And He also tells the Israelites that if they do the same thing the land will “vomit them out”.

This wasn’t just a whim, the people of the land hated God. They were very wicked, and would lead the Israelites to turn away from God if they were allowed to remain in the land. But still, isn’t that a bit harsh? Shouldn’t they have gotten a chance to change their minds? Shouldn’t they have been allowed to repent? Couldn’t they change and join Israel?

They could change, but the question is, would they? Did they really need more time to make up their minds? To answer that question we need to go back in time. Way back, back before the Israelites left Egypt. Back before they even entered Egypt. Back before there was a nation of Israel, before Jacob (AKA Israel) was born, before his father Isaac was born, back to when his grandfather Abraham was still Abram and lived in Ur of the Chaldeans. Way back then God told Abram to leave Ur and go to Canaan. “And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.” (Genesis 11:31-32 NKJV) Interestingly, the name of the city where they settled down – Haran – was the name of Terah’s oldest son who had died before they ever left Ur. Did Terah actually found the city and name it after his son? Was that what caused them to delay going to Canaan? Did Terah’s grief over his first born son’s death keep Abram from following God’s command? We are not told what caused the delay, just that there WAS a delay.

How do we know that they left Ur because God told them to? Immediately after telling us when and where Terah died, we are told, “Now the Lord had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan.” (Genesis 12:1-5 NKJV) Notice “God HAD said to Abram”. He had been told sometime earlier to leave not only where he lived, but to leave even his father’s household. Did he? No, EVERYONE left Ur but all they did was go up river a ways and settled down there. It wasn’t until his father died in Haran, that Abram actually left for Canaan.

When Stephen was on trial before the Sanhedrin, he made a point of this. “Then the high priest said, ‘Are these things so?’ And he said, Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, and said to him, “Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.” Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell.'” (Acts 7:1-4 NKJV)

The Bible doesn’t say how old Abram was when God told him to leave Ur, but it wasn’t until he was 75 years old that he actually got on the road to Canaan. So the occupation of the land of Canaan has already had a delay. I believe Abram was 55 when God told him to leave Ur and go to the land of Canaan. So the time Abram delayed before obeying God was 20 years.

“After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: ‘Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward. But Abram said, ‘Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?’ And Abram said, ‘You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.’ Then the word of the Lord came to him: ‘This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.’ He took him outside and said, ‘Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness. He also said to him, ‘I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.'” (Genesis 15:1-7 NIV)

God reminds Abram that not only was He giving him the land, but that his descendants would be too numerous to count. But this time God goes on to tell Abram not only when He would give his descendants the land, but WHY He was going to give it to them.

“As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. Then the Lord said to him, ‘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. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.’ . . . . On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, ‘To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadie of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates—the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.'” (Genesis 15:12-16, 18-21 NIV)

Here we learn several things: First, Abram’s descendants would leave Canaan, and go to another country and be enslaved. Second, they would be gone for 400 years. And most importantly, the reason for the delay in their possessing the land was the wickedness of the nations was not bad enough for God to judge them. So God was giving those nations 400 years to either change their ways or get to the point where they were evil enough for Him to judge them and wipe them out.

So, the nations had gotten a delay in judgment because Abram refused to go to Canaan when God told him to, but now God is going to delay His judgment for another 400 years.

But that isn’t all of the story. When Israel finally leaves Egypt and heads back to Canaan we are told, “Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord’s divisions left Egypt.” (Exodus 12: 40-41 NIV) Hold on, that wasn’t what Abraham was told was it? “God spoke to him in this way: ‘For four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated.'” (Acts 7:6 NIV) God said 400 years, but now we find out it was really 430 years! What happened? Why the extra 30 years?

It turns out that Moss himself was the cause of this delay. “One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, ‘Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?’ The man said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?’ Then Moses was afraid and thought, ‘What I did must have become known.’ When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well.” (Exodus 2:11-15 NIV) So what, I can hear some of you say. That doesn’t explain anything. Maybe this will help. Here is how Stephan told the story, “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?’ But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.” (Acts 7:23-29 NIV) Moses thought he could free the Israelites, but he was doing it on his own initiative, not at the direction of God. Because of this Moses had to flee for his life. But there was another problem. The Israelites were not ready to be freed, they basically told Moses to leave them alone, they didn’t need or want his help. So he goes to Midian and lives there.

Meanwhile, back in Egypt, “During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.” (Exodus 2:23-25 NIV) Now the Israelites are finally ready to be freed. So how long did it take? “After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to get a closer look, he heard the Lord say: ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look. Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.'” (Acts 7:30-34 NIV)

Moses has been in Midian 40 years. “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites. And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.’ Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded them. Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.” (Exodus 7:1-7 NIV)

Moses is now 80 years old. He has been hiding out in Midian for 40 years. He was 40 when he thought he could free Israel on his own. “This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. He led them out of Egypt and performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness.” (Acts 7:35-36 NIV)

This time Israel is ready. This time they do get freed. This time they leave Egypt. As we read earlier, it has been 430 years since Jacob and his descendants entered Egypt. God had told Abram they would be there 400 years. So why the extra 30 years? Did you notice how old Moses was when they left Egypt? 80 years old, right? And how old was he when he tried to free Israel on his own? 40 years old. That means the Israelites had only been there 390 years (430 years minus the 40 years Moses was in Midian). Moses jumped the gun by 10 years and as a result, God had to spend 40 years fixing all the problems he created. 40 years to do what He could have done in 10 years.

God had decided to give the people of Canaan 400 years to repent and change their ways. If they decided not to change their ways, God would also give them enough time to become evil enough for Him to judge them. However, Abram delayed going to Canaan for 20 years. Because of this God delayed starting His countdown to His time of judgment of Canaan the 20 years it took Abram to finally go to Canaan. Moses delayed things another 30 years, so now the Canaanites have had 450 years of grace. But it isn’t over for them even now. This time it is the nation of Israel that delays things. Due to their refusal to enter Canaan when God brought them to the border the first time, they got to spend time wondering around in the wilderness. “He [Moses] led them out of Egypt and performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness.” (Acts 7:35-36 NIV) “Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel: ‘I am now a hundred and twenty years old and I am no longer able to lead you. The Lord has said to me, “You shall not cross the Jordan.”‘” (Deuteronomy 31:1-2 NIV) “Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the Lord showed him the whole land—from Gilead to Dan, all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea, the Negev and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar. Then the Lord said to him, ‘This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, “I will give it to your descendants.” I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.’ And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in Moab, as the Lord had said. He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is. Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone.” (Deuteronomy 34:1-7 NIV)

God gave the people of Canaan 400 years of grace. Abram delayed God’s judgment another 20 years, Moses delayed it 30 years, and the Israelites delayed it an additional 40 years. That means that the people really where given time to change their ways. They had already had 490 years to change. They had already had 490 years of grace.

Forgiveness, 490 years of forgiveness. A forgiveness they rejected. “Then Peter came to Him [Jesus] and said, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.'” (Matthew 18:21-22 NKJV) Jesus says to forgive 490 times! (This is why I believe Abram was 55 years old when God first told him to leave the city of Ur and go to the land of Canaan.) God forgave the Canaanites not just 490 times, but He forgave them for 490 years, but they still refused to accept that forgiveness. They refused the grace of God, so they had to face judgment instead.

“The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.” (Numbers 14:18 NIV) “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 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.” (2 Peter 3:8-9 NIV) “‘For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,’ says the Lord God. ‘Therefore turn and live!'” (Ezekiel 18:32 NKJV) “‘But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live. Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?’ says the Lord God, ‘and not that he should turn from his ways and live?'” (Ezekiel 18:21-23 NKJV)

Yes, God is indeed long suffering. However, judgment WILL come if you reject His grace. How will you choose? Will you go your own way and do your own thing or will you bow before God and repent – reverse your direction – and go His way? It is your choice, but choose you must. God will not force you one way or the other. He did not force the nations in Canaan to repent nor did He force them to continue doing things the same way they always had. The choice was theirs. In the same way the choice is now yours, continue as you have always done, or choose to do things God’s way.

After he had finished the conquest of the land of Canaan Joshua called all Israel together and told them, “Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:14-15 NKJV)

Now it is your turn to decide. How will you choose?

So what about the Law?

I was listening to a Bible commentary series by a pastor I find thought provoking the other day. He was going through Romans chapter 7 when something caught my attention. It was this, “For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.” (Romans 7:11 NKJV) I know I have both heard and read this verse many times, but for some reason this time it really struck me.

How can sin use the law to deceive me? Some will immediately claim that the “law” Paul is referring to is the “ceremonial” law and that as we are “no longer under the law” the “deception” is thinking we need to observe those mandates. However, that is NOT the law Paul is specifically referring to, he is talking about the “Ten Commandments”. If we back up a few verses we find this. “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet.’ But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.” (Romans 7:7-11 NKJV) Notice two things that Paul said. By referencing the law against coveting Paul is equating the law he is talking about with the Ten Commandments, but he also uses the terms “law” and “commandment” interchangeably. To further reinforce this, if you go back to verse 1 of this chapter you will find that he refers to another law besides the law against coveting, he also refers to the law against adultery. The laws concerning adultery are in BOTH the Ten Commandments AND the “ceremonial” law. This shows that Paul did not make a distinction between the two. As far as he was concerned there was only one “Law” and it started in Exodus and went clear through the book of Deuteronomy. (Note: The Israelites historically have referred to the Books of Moses – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy – as the Torah – “The Law” or “The Instruction”.)

Remember, Paul explicitly states that the Law (found in both the Ten Commandments and the ceremonial law), can be used by “sin” to deceive us. The question then is, “How can sin deceive us through the Law?”

To answer that let’s look at a couple of examples of how we can be deceived in regards to the Biblical Law. First there was the “Rich Young Ruler”. “Now as Jesus was going out on the road, behold, a certain ruler came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, saying, ‘Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?’ So Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.’ He said to Him, ‘Which ones?’ Jesus said, ‘”You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not defraud,” “Honor your father and your mother,” and, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”‘ The young man answered and said to Him, ‘Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?’ When Jesus heard these things, looking at him, He loved him, and said to him, ‘You still lack one thing. If you want to be perfect, go your way, sell all that you have and distribute it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, take up the cross, and follow Me.’ But when the young man heard that saying, he became very sorrowful and went away, for he was very rich and had great possessions.” (A compilation of Matthew 19:16-22; Mark 10:17-22; and Luke 18:18-23 NKJV) Notice, Jesus also uses laws (commandments) from both the Ten Commandments and the Levitical (or ceremonial) law and thereby equates them.

Then we have the Apostle Paul. He wrote this to the church in Philippi, “Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation! For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. (Philippians 3:1-6 NKJV)

Jesus never contradicted the young ruler’s claim to have kept the commandments Jesus mentioned. And Paul, a Pharisee, well known to both Jews and Gentiles, could claim to have kept the law blamelessly without fear of being contradicted. But Jesus told the young man he still lacked one thing, his obedience of the law was not enough. And Paul had this to say about his law keeping, “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:7-11 NKJV) Paul said that all his law keeping was a loss to him. In fact he called it rubbish!

Paul wrote to the Colossians to beware of people teaching them that they must follow certain rules if they wanted to be “right with God”. He wrote, “Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: ‘Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!’? These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.” (Colossians 2:20-23 NKJV)

It was the Levitical law that commanded the Israelites to only eat certain types of meat and to not even touch others. Paul taught that dietary rules could not get you saved or keep you saved – they had absolutely no spiritual benefit. He called them worldly rules. In his letter to Timothy he goes even further. “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.” (1 Timothy 4:1-5 NKJV) Not only did Paul consider them worldly rules, he says they are actually demonic!

Demonic! Imagine that! Granted, the teaching against marriage is not in any Biblical law, but the dietary laws were most definitely part of the Levitical law. They were one of the “Jewish distinctives”. But Paul also included other laws in his “do not do” list. To the church in Colossi he wrote, “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” (Colossians 2:16-17 NKJV) He adds the seven yearly festivals, the New Moon celebration and even the Sabbath to the list! But just wait, he goes even further!

In his letter to the church in Corinth, notice how specific he gets about exactly what law he is talking about. He tells them, “Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, epistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you? You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart. And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious. Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech— unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (2 Corinthians 3:1-17 NKJV)

No matter how wonderful, how beautiful, how glorious, how good the commandments “written in stone” were, they were still a “ministry of death”! How can the law that was “written in stone by the finger of God” be a ministry of death? Isn’t it supposed to give you eternal life if you keep it? Didn’t God tell Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘I am the Lord your God. You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices. You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the Lord your God. Keep my decrees and laws, for the person who obeys them will live by them. I am the Lord.” (Leviticus 18:2-5 NIV) Didn’t Paul even write to the Romans, “Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: ‘The person who does these things will live by them.'” (Romans 10:5 NIV)

The problem with looking to the law for a way to be righteous before God was pointed out by Jesus. He once told a group of Pharisees, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. . . . Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” (John 5:39-40; 45-47 NKJV) The rich young ruler and the Apostle Paul are prime examples of people who did just as Jesus said, they looked to the law for righteousness and completely missed seeing the only One Who could give them the righteousness they so desperately desired.

James tells us, “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you do well; but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not murder.’ Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.” (James 2:8-12 NKJV) I find it interesting that James points out that the transgression is against the Law Giver more that it is the set of rules given.

When the prophet Nathan came to him after he had committed adultery with Bathsheba, King David wrote this, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.” (Psalms 51:1-4 NIV) Hold on now, he has not only committed adultery with Bathsheba – actually it was closer to rape – but he has also killed her husband and he tells God, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil . . . ” Again we see the offence is more against the Law Giver than it is against a set of laws. And even though at least four other people were affected (Bathsheba’s father was one of David’s “Mighty Men” and her grandfather was one of his advisors who later joined Absalom in his revolt against David) David said his offence was against God only.

The Apostle John wrote, “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” (1 John 3:14-15 NKJV) Well, “I’ve never committed adultery, I’ve never killed anyone, I don’t hate my brother! So I’m good right?” Actually, no. According to Jesus, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.” . . . You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5: 21-22; 27-28 NKJV) Have you ever been really mad at someone? Have you ever called anyone a fool, or idiot? Have you ever looked at someone of the opposite sex and thought, “They really look good! I would really like to get to know them?” and then fantasized about them? Have you ever looked at pornography? Jesus tells us that it isn’t our actions so much as it is our hearts. What and how we think about others, that is at issue.

Paul makes it very plain, “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:19-26 NKJV) There is NO salvation, there is NO maintaining of salvation, there is NO right standing before God through observing (obeying) the law – any law. The law is NOT “God’s love letter to us” as some would lead you to believe, it is, as Paul stated, a “ministry of death”. How? Why?

Paul answers that in his letter to the Galatians, “What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.” (Galatians 3:19-25 NKJV)

The law was meant to teach us of our need for a savior. The law was designed to show us our absolute inability to meet God’s requirements. The law shows us we can not do it on our own, we need someone to do it for us.

The law can only show us our failures. It can not show us our “righteousness”. It is very binary, it is either “yes” or “no”. You either keep the law or you don’t. And your “keeping” the law must be forever and always, no lapses – EVER! The law can not tell you how much “obedience” is enough. It can not even tell you if you are keeping the law correctly! It can only show you how you fail.

Now, before you claim that Paul and the “rich young ruler” managed to do it, remember, Jesus told the ruler that his obedience was not enough, and Paul said, “But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.” (Philippians 3:7-9 NIV) As far as Paul was concerned his obedience was as good as a big pile of garbage – actually, human excrement!

But this idea did not originate with Paul. The Prophet Isaiah said something very similar, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” (Isaiah 64:6 NIV) Unfortunately, just as with what Paul said, the translators cleaned up what Isaiah said a bit. What he said was that our “righteous acts” are like “used menstrual cloths”! Bloody, rotting rags! Not a very appealing picture is it?

To make “righteousness by observing the law” even harder I must point out one other thing, we start out in the hole. That is, we are already guilty of breaking the law because we are humans! Paul reminds us, “There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Romans 3:22b-24 NIV) King David wrote, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Psalms 14:1-3 NIV)

Paul explains why this is, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:12-19 NKJV)

No one is innocent. No one is guilt free. Adam brought sin into the world and in so doing passed along his sinful nature to his descendants. Therefore we are ALL sinners. We start out in this pursuit of righteousness with failure already in our record. That failure we can NEVER  erase no matter how good or faithful our obedience to the law might be. We are “dead in our sins” as Paul points out many times in his writings, and as one commentator put it “Dead Men can’t do anything!”

Sounds discouraging doesn’t it? We are already in the hole, and no amount of effort on our part can ever get us out of it. However, that is NOT the end of the story, as Paul reminded the Ephesians, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:4-9 NKJV)

So what about obeying the law – any law? is it a good idea or not? What have we learned about the law? Well, it teaches us what sin is; it gives us a knowledge of sin; and it is a witness to God’s unobtainable righteousness. The law is a ministry of condemnation; it is a ministry of death; and its every letter kills. We have learned that if you break one law you break them all; when the law is read a veil covers your heart; that there are no “deeds of the law” (obedience) that can justify anyone; and that NO law has been given that can give you life. But we also learned this, even though the law is passing away it is designed to lead us to Jesus.

When we come to Jesus we learn that God did what we can’t. Jesus fulfilled all our deficits. The price has been paid for our salvation. Jesus lived the required perfect life. He also paid the price of our failures. He stamped our bill “PAID IN FULL” on the cross. So what is next? Well, that is up to you, take it or leave it. Accept the gift of God, or go your own way and do it yourself. It is YOUR choice.

I need to point out one other thing for you to think about. While the Apostle John was in prison on the Isle of Patmos, he saw this in a vision, “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:11-15 NIV)

You do have a choice, be judged by what you have done (your deeds) or “judged” by having your name in the “book of life”. “The books” or “a book” your choice. However, you need to consider this, “The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.” And remember this warning, “Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.” It truly is YOUR choice, is your name on a list in a BOOK, or will you be judged by your deeds as recorded in the BOOKS? Faith in YOUR deeds or faith in God’s free gift. Where is your faith? What is your decision?