Submitted by Ken Murrell, Depew Church of Christ Guest Article by F. LaGard Smith, Attorney, Author, Bible Chronicler
“Who could have seen it coming? Not I…a veteran of terrifying fires threatening my former faculty condo on Pepperdine…Malibu campus… watering down my deck with a garden hose as fierce flames flared around me…In search of words to describe…destroying thousands of homes and businesses— not to mention lives—virtually everyone is using biblical language and imagery…. “Apocalyptic.” “Armageddon.” “Literally like driving through hell.” Does anyone stop to think that there is a spiritual reality behind this universal lexicon of disaster language?
In common parlance, “Apocalyptic” has to do with events associated with the end of the world as described by the aging apostle John in the figurative imagery he sees in his vision from Jesus. Yet, the word derives from the Greek, meaning “to uncover,” or “to reveal.” Hence, John’s “Revelation.” Seen in that light, this week’s “Apocalypse” is Apocalyptic, revealing a graphic depiction of the coming Apocalypse! Don’t focus on the fire, but on the utter destruction.
It’s a fire that consumes! No, not the same literal fire as this week’s inferno—as if it could be extinguished by water! It’s the “fire” awaiting the heavens and the earth, “being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly” (2 Peter 3:7). Like the ever-burning fire in Jerusalem’s garbage dump, Gehenna, (from which the word “hell” is derived), nothing survives in the “lake of fire”—the “second death.” (The “eternal torment” of the devil and his angels in that “lake” is a different story.)
Whether multi-milliondollar celebrity homes or rental apartments, the fires were no respecter of persons. Nor will God’s judgment be. Each soul will have to answer for “how” they lived, not “where;” and whether they were adequately prepared for the “mandatory evacuation” of death.
Even those who use “hell” flippantly are unwittingly acknowledging its reality! Ever considered that—as with a fairly universal notion of “heaven”—virtually everyone (even beyond the Christian faith) has some idea about a “hell” of divine judgment? Who, then, can say we haven’t been warned! While there’s no such thing as “hell on earth,” there is certainly a hell to come for those who ignore the warnings. Yet, ironically, as with this week’s fires, that Day will come without warning—at a time we least expect it.
Why was the brush in the hills not cleared? And why was there no water in the hydrants? Imagine the structures that could have been saved…the souls that could be saved by repentance and baptism! Where man has failed, God has…a fire prevention plan...his own Son as First Responder to rescue us from destruction.
Much has been said about good neighbors…What could be more neighborly than telling others about a God of love who, just as surely, is “a consuming fire!” (Hebrews 12:25-29)