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Verse:“Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’” —Matthew 22:13
In September 2014, I visited some historical sites in Upper Austria. In the city of Braunau, my attention was drawn to an old house on a corner with a stone in front of it. Engraved on the stone was a German inscription that read, “For Peace, Freedom, and Democracy. Never Again Fascism, Millions of Dead Warn.” Surprisingly enough, it was in this very house—some 125 years earlier, April 20, 1889—that a baby boy was born who was given the name Adolf Hitler. When his mother, Klara Hitler, took him in her arms for the first time, she never imagined the impact that her little boy would have on the world or how he would be remembered in history. While at Hitler’s birthplace, I thought of all the atrocities of World War II that I had first been deeply touched by during a 2004 visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camps. I then imagined the final scene at the end of the thousand years described in Revelation 20, when the wicked of all the ages (including, most certainly, Adolf Hitler) will be raised to life. They will march up “over the breadth of the earth” and surround “the camp of the saints and the beloved city” (verse 9, NRSV).
That will be the first and only time in history that all of the wicked human beings and every demonic power will be gathered together in one unholy union.
As startling as it may seem, we cannot escape the reality that being lost means that we not only miss out on the happiness of heaven but also that we become part of that wicked, demonic army, far more wretched than the infamous Nazi hordes of World War II. No wonder Jesus warned that at that time, “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 22:13). By no means can we continue playing games with our salvation! Nothing in this world, whether possessions or endeavors, can compare with the blessing of heaven. Ellen White implores, “I saw that all heaven is interested in our salvation; and shall we be indifferent? Shall we be careless, as though it were a small matter whether we are saved or lost? Shall we slight the sacrifice that has been made for us?” You and I must make it to heaven! That is our home.