Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible Part in the Book of Genesis. Tonight is Part #19 of Genesis, chapter 17 and we are going to read Genesis 17:17:

Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?

This has been an opportunity to look more closely at the word “laughed.” In our last Part, we saw that God has two main programs for this world, a salvation program and a judgment program. During the time of salvation, God assigned the figure of “weeping” to His people – we would “weep” while bringing the precious seed of the Gospel. You can read Psalm 126 to see that figure.

Also, Jesus said in Luke 6:21:

Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.

The weeping was during the day of salvation, as the Apostle Paul said in Acts 20:31:

Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

There was much warning done through the sharing of the Gospel during the day of salvation and that warning was done with tears. Again, Psalm 126 is very clear in that identification. God had His salvation program in which His people would sow and weep. But God also has a judgment program and His people are identified with “laughter,” as God said He would laugh at the calamity of the wicked, in Proverbs 1. God is laughing, but not in the sense of delighting or taking pleasure in the death of the wicked, but it is a figure. The people of God are also laughing: “Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.” There would come a time when God’s people would laugh.

Typically, we had thought in the past that this would take place in the new heaven and new earth, but it identifies with the Day of Judgment, the prolonged period of judgment. Then we also must consider the scripture where God said He would wipe away the tears of His people. This was said of the great multitude that was said to have come out of Great Tribulation. It says in Revelation 7:15:

Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple…

“Day and night” is a time reference and it refers to a certain time period, the time of Judgment Day after that Tribulation. We are presently in the Day of Judgment and the elect people of God are alive and remaining on the earth. It goes on to say in Revelation 7:15-16:

… and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more…

We can understand this because of what Jesus said in the beatitudes about “hungering and thirsting after righteousness,” and since everyone to become saved has become saved, there is no more “hungering and thirsting after righteousness” because it has been spiritually fulfilled. Then it says in Revelation 7:16-17:

… neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them…

Here, the word “feed” is the same word translated as “rule” in Revelation 19:15. Christ will “rule” with a rod of iron as He is treading out the winepress of the wrath of God in the Day of Judgment. Again, the Lamb is seated upon His throne and He shall “feed them.” He will rule the wicked with a rod of iron, but the same Word of God that crushes the wicked is spiritual nourishment for those that are saved.

It goes on to say in Revelation 7:17:

…and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters…

This will go on into eternity future, but it is also happening now as God is opening His Word to bring forth truth from the Bible. Then it says in Revelation 7:17:

… and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

Yes, I know that for some, since May 21, 2011 they have literally wept more than in any other time of their lives. But, again, we have to look at the Bible spiritually and God had a program of bringing the Gospel to the world with tears and weeping during the day of salvation. That was the time to weep.

But now it is the time to “laugh.” It is Judgment Day and the roles are reversed for the two groups of mankind that live on the earth. The unsaved people of the earth laughed when they should have wept; they should have come humbly to God before His throne of grace and beseeched Him for mercy with much weeping for themselves and their families. But they did not do this and God does use this kind of language in James 4:8-10:

Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

This had everything to do with the spiritual condition of unsaved mankind because they were guilty and deserving of the wrath of God and subject to destruction. The correct posture should have been to prostrate themselves, like blind Bartimaeus, and cry out for mercy, “O, thou Son of David, have mercy upon me!” And when you are crying for mercy and beseeching the Lord for your life, you are not laughing. You are weeping and shedding tears. Yet, most of the world continued on, unaffected and undisturbed by the Gospel during the day of salvation. They continued to take pleasure in their sins and to take pleasure in the evil course of this world. In that way, they laughed and mocked, but God had warned, “Let your laughter be turned to mourning,” but they refused. They would not “stop the Party” and they would not stop eating, drinking and making merry long enough to seek God on behalf of their sin problem. As a result of refusing to turn their laughter to mourning, now God has turned their laughing to weeping in this Day of Judgment.

Remember what it said in Revelation 18:2:

And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

This lets us know that the context is the point of the fall of Babylon. Historically, when did Babylon fall? The answer is that it was at the conclusion of 70 years in the year 539 B.C. when the Medes and Persians took the kingdom. Darius, also known as King Cyrus, took Babylon and put the king of Babylon to death in that very night. It was a picture of Christ coming as a thief in the night at the conclusion of the Great Tribulation period on May 21, 2011. That is when the king of Babylon, typifying Satan, fell. So, this passage is talking about Judgment Day and it goes on to say in Revelation 18:9-11:

And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:

The “merchandise” had to do with Gospel of salvation and salvation had ended. God had shut the door to heaven and that is why this time period for the world is identified with weeping and mourning (for the unsaved.) There is no more laughing. Just as the true child of God could be experiencing more physical tears as we are being tried, the world may be laughing physically at this time. You will still see them going to shows and laughing and joking with one another or going to the bars and Partying with much laughter. But that is not the point. This is a spiritual designation that God has assigned. In the day of salvation when we went forth weeping with the Gospel, you would have seen some very happy elect people of God as they were ministering on a tract trip. We may have gone back to the hotel at the end of the day, feeling energized, happy and full of laughter. However, that time period spiritually identified with “weeping.” Again, we cannot look at outward appearances – we must look at the Bible and the spiritual identification God assigns to each period of time.

It goes on to say in Revelation 18:15:

The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,

This idea is repeated again in Revelation 18:19:

And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

For the wicked of the earth, weeping goes along with Judgment Day.

Now I think we can better understand what God means when He says this in Matthew 8:11-12:

And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

This is repeated in Matthew 22 when the king came in to inspect the guests and their wedding garments and he saw a man without a proper wedding garment. It says in Matthew 22:13-14:

Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen.

This is Judgment Day and there is weeping and gnashing of teeth for the unsaved.

It also says in Matthew 24:48-51:

But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Let us look at one more place, in Luke 13:24-25:

Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door…

Now we can see the time period that is view. When did God shut the door of heaven? It was at the end of the Great Tribulation on May 21, 2011, which was the point of Babylon’s fall.

Again, it says in Luke 13:25-28:

When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; dePart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.

Keep in mind that in the Bible “to see” means “to know,” and it does not mean they will physically see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and so forth. There is weeping and gnashing of teeth and it is at the time of the shut door when the Master of the house has ended His salvation program. He has saved all the prophets (all the elect) and they are already Part of His kingdom, but the unsaved are knocking at the door and attempting to enter in or obtain salvation. Again, it said in Luke 13:24: “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.” There is no ability to enter through the door and Christ is the door. God has ended His salvation program. There is no more weeping by the elect, but there is a transition to weeping by the wicked: “There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.” The unsaved were (and are) hearing the reports of these things, like the door being shut.

You know, a great number of people heard that message from Mr. Camping right after May 21, 2011. They heard it during the five-month period after that and they have heard it from EBible Fellowship for years. We have handed out many tracts and they are hearing it on Facebook and so forth. It is God’s judgment program and they have the designation of weeping and gnashing of teeth. We have understood the “gnashing of teeth” for some time as an intensely angry reaction against a Biblical truth that they despise. Just read Acts 7 where Stephen spoke to the Jews and told them that they had resisted the Holy Ghost as their fathers had done. They stopped their ears and gnashed at him with their teeth. And that is what many people have done in the Day of Judgment. They do not want to hear about timelines or the Great Tribulation or the time of Christ coming. They shut their ears. They do not want to hear the true Gospel of the Bible and they will gnash their teeth and speak evil against it and anyone that identifies with it.

But we wonder why it says that there is both “weeping” and “gnashing of teeth,” especially when we do not see the people of the world weeping. But, spiritually, it is the time for unsaved inhabitants of the earth to weep. The season has changed. There is a time to weep and a time to laugh. The time for weeping for the people of God has ended and the time of laughter for the people of God has begun.

We will look more at “laughter” in our next Part and we will focus on the idea of the laughter of the people of God in the Day of Judgment, being very careful to emphasize that it has nothing to do with delighting in the death of the wicked. No matter how many times I say it (and I have said it several times), I know there will be some that will hear what they want to hear. They are selective in their hearing and they will say, “EBible Fellowship is laughing at the destruction of the wicked,” and they will come up with their false conclusions. When people have little concern for truth or Biblical facts, they are not very honest reporters of the facts. They will say things out of context. But I am trying to be very careful and all I can do is to repeat that God does not delight in the death of the wicked and neither do His people delight in the death of the wicked. We take no pleasure in the death of the wicked and the fact that people no longer have the possibility of salvation. That is not something we delight in or take pleasure in, but it is a sorrowful thing to me and all of God’s people because we all have loved ones that we would desire the very best for. We may personally weep over this, but, again, the designation for Judgment Day given by God for His elect people is a time of “laughing.”