“I heard a pastor say that when lost people sin in the Millennium, they’re cast into hell instantly. If so, what would be the purpose of the sin offering?”

The prophet Zechariah predicts that sin in the millennial kingdom will be punished by “a flying roll” (5:1). The entire Bible was written on rolls (Jer. 36:6,14), but this roll must be a copy of the law of Moses, for it is described as a “curse” (Zech. 5:3 cf. Gal. 3:10). The mention of “this side” and “that side” (Zech. 5:3) suggests that this roll specifically bears the words of the ten commandments, which were written on “two tables” of stone “on both their sides” (Exod. 32:15).

The first four of the ten commandments address sins against God, while the other six deal with sins against men. The roll will punish sinners who violate laws in both categories, as we see when the examples given are “every one that stealeth” (Zech. 5:3 cf. Exod. 20:15) and “him that sweareth falsely” by God’s name (Zech. 5:4 cf. Lev. 19:12; Deut. 5:11). The prophet quotes God as saying that the flying roll “goeth forth over the face of the whole earth” looking for offenders, “and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by My name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.”

But a thief can’t steal something in his own house, for he owns everything in the house. So he must not be “cut off” (Zech. 5:3) immediately after his sin, as Ananias and Sapphira weren’t in a type of millennial judgment (cf. Acts 5:1-10). Instead, he must be given a chance to offer a sacrifice for his sin. For more information about sacrifices in the kingdom (Isa. 56:6-8; Jer. 33:15-18; Ezek. 43:18-46:24), see the March 2016 issue of the Berean Searchlight.

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

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