Is there accountability in the life to come? - Old Testament indications 2

The Old Testament (a seminary professor of mine preferred the term 'Less Recent Testament' so as not to undermine its present relevance) contains endless admonitions to God's designated hitters (hey, the World Series is starting), the descendants of Isreal, to either stick with the programme or face certain ruin. I gave you a lengthy passage from Amos in my last post, but it is representative of similar warnings in all major sections of the OT--the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings.

That is not to say that God enjoyed this method of keeping his people accountable. Having laid another whuppin' on his ne'er-do-well children in the prophecy of Hosea, his essential love and long-suffering are revealed in this anguished exclamation:

Oh, how can I give you up, Israel? How can I let you go? How can I destroy you like Admah or demolish you like Zeboiim? My heart is torn within me, and my compassion overflows (Hoseah 11:8).

It was because of this incredible patience and mercy displayed so often by God that even in the midst of traumatic times, the prophets held out hope that God's eternal covenant with his people would endure:

Lamentations 5:19-23 You, LORD, reign forever; your throne endures from generation to generation. Why do you always forget us? Why do you forsake us so long? Restore us to yourself, LORD, that we may return; renew our days as of old unless you have utterly rejected us and are angry with us beyond measure.

Hosea 6:1-3 Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence. Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.”

We do have this solemn warning, nevertheless, that while God may restore his people even when they have tried him almost beyond endurance, individual members of his people may chose to forfeit that mercy, grace, and love. This indication that God will, in the final analysis, achieve his purposes without overriding an individual's free choice is found in the book of Esther. Queen Esther, Jewish queen to the Persian King Xerxes who was intent upon ridding the kingdom of Jews (not knowing that Queen Esther herself was Jewish), quails at the request of her cousin Mordecai to intervene on behalf of her race.

Mordecai, clearly referring to God's covenant of grace with his people, responds in the strongest possible terms:

Esther 4:12 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the Jews. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish.

The Old Testament speaks very little of eternity, heaven, the afterlife--whatever term you prefer. David speaks of being in the house of the Lord forever. The people of Israel longed for 'Jacob's rest'. But it is far and away an earthly book, a book of commands for living rightly, and ethical views of life. Accountability is discussed with reference to the here and now, not with the there and later.

But does God hold people accountable? Yes indeed. Does this change as we move into the Christian era?

Read on.