in the Lord’s presence because he is coming. He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and its people with his truth.
All of Mount Sinai was covered with smoke because the Lord had come down on it in fire. Smoke rose from the mountain like the smoke from a kiln, and the whole mountain shook violently.
As I looked, I saw a storm coming from the north. There was an immense cloud with flashing lightning surrounded by a bright light. The middle of the lightning looked like glowing metal.
A river of fire flowed. It came from him. Thousands and thousands served him. Ten thousand times ten thousand were stationed in front of him. The court convened, and the books were opened.
“Certainly the day is coming! It will burn like a furnace. All arrogant people and all evildoers will be ⌞like⌟ straw. The day that is coming will burn them up completely,” says the Lord of Armies. “It won’t leave a single root or branch.
His winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will clean up his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into a barn, but he will burn the husks in a fire that can never be put out.”
Realize today that the Lord your God is the one who is going ahead of you like a raging fire. He will wipe them out and will use you to crush their power. You will take possession of their land and will quickly destroy them as the Lord promised you.
So how will we escape punishment if we reject the important message, the message that God saved us? First, the Lord told this saving message. Then those who heard him confirmed that message.