Does God Love All Sinners the Same?

Zedekiah's Sons vs. the Messiah's Sons

‘Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.’ - Romans 9:13

There’s a commonly held belief about God that people mistakenly think is biblically accurate.

God loves everyone!

Some churches take this statement to the extreme by speaking dogmatically of God’s love for every sinner - ‘God loves you!’ - without giving the appropriate biblical exception to His love.

While Christian people and leaders are sincere in their statements of universal love, they seem not to grasp the Bible’s message, nor fathom that they might be in error.

The Bible teaches that God only loves those 'in union with His Son,' who 'turn' (repent) from their wickedness, believing in the work of the Messiah, and follow His teachings.

In truth, God hates the unrepentant wicked.

'These six things the LORD hates: yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart devising wickedness, feet that are swift to mischief, a false witness that speaks lies, and he that sows discord." Proverbs 6:16-18

You may say, "But these are 'things' that God hates, not people." I respond by pointing out that the personal pronoun 'he' in Proverbs 6:16-18 refers to eyes, tongue, hands, heart, and feet, which are descriptors of people, not things.

Those who take PRIDE in their rebellion against God and are without repentance over their sins, who live and die without faith in Christ, experience God's hatred.

"Kiss the Son, lest God be angry." – Psalm 2:12.

God’s hatred is never uncontrollable, unjustifiable, or unreliable like human hatred.

God's hatred of unrepentant sinners is righteous, holy, and just.

When God puts the wicked to death in their first death (on earth) or their second death (after the resurrection), He takes no pleasure in the judgment.

Again -

"Say to them, As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from their ways and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why will you die?" – Ezekiel 33:11

If a proud lover of sin dies at the hand of our just and furious Creator, it is the sinner's fault.

• The LORD will destroy the world's wicked and all wickedness.

• God's judgment on the wicked is not eternal torment; it is eternal death.

• God's judgment culminates in the Final Judgment, which follows the general resurrection of the dead. It ends in eternal life for those sinners in Christ and the second death for unrepentant sinners outside of Christ.

Pictures of God's Judgment

The judgment of death is a serious subject. The theme of the Bible revolves around it.

The prophet Jeremiah warns King Zedekiah of his impending death (Jeremiah 34), a painting by classical artist Joseph Staellart (Public Domain).

'The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our LORD.’ Romans 6:23

The General Theme of the Bible

Most people who struggle with God's hatred and judgment on the wicked never read the Bible.

Even preachers often don’t teach the Bible, or if they do, they don’t get its message. The Bible’s general theme, applicable to the Old and New Covenants, is as follows:

_____

‘The (gentle) hand of the LORD will be made known to his servants, but His fury will be shown to his foes.’ – Isaiah 66:14

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Evangelical preachers often wrongly teach God’s love for every sinner in the world and then slam believers in Jesus Christ with an equally wrong message about God's judgment on followers of Jesus who fall short in their walk of faith and repentance.

Evangelicals seem to delight in smooth-sounding platitudes, refuse to face unpleasant and uncomfortable truths, and desire popularity with religious institutional growth and success, irrespective of the King or His Kingdom.

Churches, secular societies, and our world in general would be better off if people who claim to believe the Bible would read it and actually practice what it teaches.

The sacred Scriptures teach us to focus on the Good News of God's Grace and Love to those who repent of their sins and trust the Messiah. The responsibility of all churches and pastors is to gently encourage believers in Jesus to continue their life of faith and repentance, assuring those who have trusted Jesus that God’s love is everlasting.

But the Bible’s message for unrepentant sinners is entirely different.

The Bible reveals the Solemn News of God's Judgment and Death on unrepentant, proud sinners who love their pride, lying, violence, sexual immorality, mischief, slander, and discord.

To help all broken sinners who love Jesus see the difference between the Law (for the world) and the Gospel (for the church), I’ll compare two groups of people in the Bible.

Zedekiah’s Sons versus the Messiah’s Sons

Zedekiah is a type of the anti-Christ in the Bible.

You should know that the Bible nowhere teaches there is just ONE anti-Christ in our world. Scripture reveals that anti-Christs are everywhere, for ‘the spirit of anti-Christ’ inhabits all unrepentant sinners (see I John 4:3).

In speaking to proud, unbroken sinners, Jesus spoke to them bluntly:

‘You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.’ John 8:44

An anti-Christ spirit energizes a proud sinner to live against Jesus the Messiah.

Zedekiah and his sons perfectly picture all proud, unrepentant sinners throughout world history.

Who Is Zedekiah?

The collapse and destruction of Jerusalem in August 586 BC, under Zedekiah’s reign.

Zedekiah is the 20^th and final King of Judah. We get the word "Jew" from an abbreviation of Judah. Zedekiah was King of the Jews from 597 BC to 586 BC.

Judah had 20 kings throughout its history as a nation, from 931 BC to its destruction in 586 BC by King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian army.

Zedekiah came to the throne in 597 BC at the age of 21.

Six characteristics show Zedekiah's unrepentant wickedness against God throughout his life until Zedekiah's death at age 33.

• 1. Zedekiah's life is summarized by his two names: Mattaniah is Zedekiah's birth name. The Hebrew name Mattaniah means ‘God's gift,’ which conveys a sense of ‘hope’ (see 2 Kings 24:17; 1 Chronicles 3:15). Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar changed Mattaniah's name to Zedekiah. Zedekiah means "YHWH (God) is righteous." Mattaniah's life, like every life, started as "a gift from God." Mattaniah wasted God's gifts, and he died as Zedekiah, an example to all of God's righteous judgment on the unrepentant wicked.