A
Ah, I found out what you asked.
Here's my take. God's the judge, right? (Even if you don't get everything you want out of the Bible and you're unsure who God is, I'm assuming you got the idea he is THE judge.) What do judges do? A case-by-case on each defendant judged. And what do they do with that information? They come down with a guilty or not guilty.
Here's the hard part. God's also the lawgiver, the sentenceer, and the advocate. He knows the law. He knows if we are guilty or not guilty. We're all -- and I mean right down to the least and the most holiest of all people all -- guilty! You've read the Bible. How many times have you recognized that particular sin as something you've done? Put that down on the guilty side of your sheet. (Guilty on one side. Not guilty on the other side sheet.) If there is one single "guilty" charge, we all get the same exact sentence -- separation from God, death and hell. Since we're all guilty, that's what we all deserve.
But there is one tiny part of God's law that works in our favor. The goat clause. In the OT, since all the people were guilty, they had to lay their hands on top of two goats. One goat was sacrificed as their sins. The other goat was released into the wilderness. (You know that goat as "the scapegoat.") In like kind, if you know someone who murdered someone, and you never murdered anyone, you can take on the punishment of that person. (The punishment, of course, was death, but you could do it, if you wanted to.) The catch was, you couldn't take on that punishment, unless you weren't guilty of that crime/sin.
The bigger catch is, we're all guilty of some sins, so for someone to take our place for the just punishment we deserve (separation from God, death and hell), we need someone who never ever ever sinned. Only one to fit that bill is Jesus -- Son of God, God, and Man. He is the goat clause -- both the sacrifice and the one tossed out into the wilderness. He didn't come to save everyone from what we deserve. He came to save whosoever will believe. That's a subset of all people.
So, if you're brother trust in that, he will probably still be put to death in the next few days, but he will spend eternity with God, so gets past the separation from God, death, and hell portion of the judgement he so richly deserves. If he doesn't accept that, he gets permanent separation from God, death and eternal hell. That IS God's answer. It wasn't as if God never answered you. He gave you that answer back in the days you read the Bible.
And, then, in like kind, you get the same deal your brother gets. Trust Jesus or not. Trust him works in your favor. Don't trust works against you. That too was answered when you read the Bible.
God is the judge. He's not going to reneg on his own law just because we happen to love someone. It's his law. He can't, or he's not just. He won't, or he's not just. He's loving, so he gave a way out for any who will take it.
You love your brother? (And, that's rhetorical, or you wouldn't be here asking for help about this.) Give him that! That is his only hope now, whether he is put to death or not.
As for will God spare him from his death sentence? Well, it's possible. If you're brother accepts that about God, it wouldn't be the first time God stopped some of his people from being in prison. Even if God were to break your brother out, that wouldn't be the first time he did that. Assuming you read Acts, you saw him break out some of his people before. BUT, all those people he broke out went on to preach his word and ended up being killed in horrendous ways for the effort.
We don't get out of this life alive. We can get out of this life to spend eternity worshiping God, but we've got to dump this body to do that.
If that's something you or your brother would like to do, God's waiting. If that's something you and your brother don't want to do, God's still waiting. Either way, we face him as the Judge. The big question is do we have an advocate in Jesus? He's the only way out of our just punishment.
And that, as the Bible has already taught you, is God's answer.
Why ask? Because you wanted the answer. Now asked, what will you do with that answer?
God answers. He just doesn't give us whatever we want.
Here's my take. God's the judge, right? (Even if you don't get everything you want out of the Bible and you're unsure who God is, I'm assuming you got the idea he is THE judge.) What do judges do? A case-by-case on each defendant judged. And what do they do with that information? They come down with a guilty or not guilty.
Here's the hard part. God's also the lawgiver, the sentenceer, and the advocate. He knows the law. He knows if we are guilty or not guilty. We're all -- and I mean right down to the least and the most holiest of all people all -- guilty! You've read the Bible. How many times have you recognized that particular sin as something you've done? Put that down on the guilty side of your sheet. (Guilty on one side. Not guilty on the other side sheet.) If there is one single "guilty" charge, we all get the same exact sentence -- separation from God, death and hell. Since we're all guilty, that's what we all deserve.
But there is one tiny part of God's law that works in our favor. The goat clause. In the OT, since all the people were guilty, they had to lay their hands on top of two goats. One goat was sacrificed as their sins. The other goat was released into the wilderness. (You know that goat as "the scapegoat.") In like kind, if you know someone who murdered someone, and you never murdered anyone, you can take on the punishment of that person. (The punishment, of course, was death, but you could do it, if you wanted to.) The catch was, you couldn't take on that punishment, unless you weren't guilty of that crime/sin.
The bigger catch is, we're all guilty of some sins, so for someone to take our place for the just punishment we deserve (separation from God, death and hell), we need someone who never ever ever sinned. Only one to fit that bill is Jesus -- Son of God, God, and Man. He is the goat clause -- both the sacrifice and the one tossed out into the wilderness. He didn't come to save everyone from what we deserve. He came to save whosoever will believe. That's a subset of all people.
So, if you're brother trust in that, he will probably still be put to death in the next few days, but he will spend eternity with God, so gets past the separation from God, death, and hell portion of the judgement he so richly deserves. If he doesn't accept that, he gets permanent separation from God, death and eternal hell. That IS God's answer. It wasn't as if God never answered you. He gave you that answer back in the days you read the Bible.
And, then, in like kind, you get the same deal your brother gets. Trust Jesus or not. Trust him works in your favor. Don't trust works against you. That too was answered when you read the Bible.
God is the judge. He's not going to reneg on his own law just because we happen to love someone. It's his law. He can't, or he's not just. He won't, or he's not just. He's loving, so he gave a way out for any who will take it.
You love your brother? (And, that's rhetorical, or you wouldn't be here asking for help about this.) Give him that! That is his only hope now, whether he is put to death or not.
As for will God spare him from his death sentence? Well, it's possible. If you're brother accepts that about God, it wouldn't be the first time God stopped some of his people from being in prison. Even if God were to break your brother out, that wouldn't be the first time he did that. Assuming you read Acts, you saw him break out some of his people before. BUT, all those people he broke out went on to preach his word and ended up being killed in horrendous ways for the effort.
We don't get out of this life alive. We can get out of this life to spend eternity worshiping God, but we've got to dump this body to do that.
If that's something you or your brother would like to do, God's waiting. If that's something you and your brother don't want to do, God's still waiting. Either way, we face him as the Judge. The big question is do we have an advocate in Jesus? He's the only way out of our just punishment.
And that, as the Bible has already taught you, is God's answer.
Why ask? Because you wanted the answer. Now asked, what will you do with that answer?
God answers. He just doesn't give us whatever we want.
