But the great sovereign Creator has a plan and the hour of its execution will soon arrive. The statesman prophet Isaiah spoke of this hour when the whole universe would be under judgment. He said, “Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible” (Isaiah 13:9-11).

At the conclusion of this judgment men and women who were raptured before the seven years will return with Christ to reign and rule this earth. They will not be kings and priests that reign in the old passions of the flesh but will be glorified in the image of Christ and as precious as gold. Isaiah gave us this jewel of information. “I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir” (Isaiah 13:12).

What value God intends for His eternal family of the redeemed! Man was created as a marvel of the Creator’s wisdom. Animals and the world of creatures have never known values that He created in man. The heavenly bodies of stars, planets, and even the Sun and Moon are nothing but great mindless expressions of His energy. The beauty of flowers, trees, and vegetation serve only to enhance man’s world of beauty. The center of His creation is man -- His lofty creatures created in His own image.

Since the fall in the Garden of Eden, the entire redemption plan has steadily moved toward the ultimate day of eternal cleansing. God Himself shed the first blood of covering to clothe Adam and Eve. At every possible junction the Father has walked with man. He took Enoch home with Him to glory. The Father buried Moses after talking mouth to mouth with Him. Abraham was a friend of God, and David was a man after His own heart. The redeemed saints have been His jewels throughout time since the fall.

The glory that will soon be returned to man is the very reason of the seven years of the Great Tribulation. Everything that defiles must be cleansed to extinction. Every drop of innocent blood is still crying out to the Great Creator. God heard the blood of Abel crying from the ground and He presently hears the blood of every aborted baby speaking out of its grief. The reason this earth will be turned on its head is to ascertain that no sin is left unjudged.

Out of this darkness arises a redeemed earth where His family of man will be His precious companions. Words cannot describe the glory to come. The Spirit said, “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

The seven years of the Great Tribulation will be the action of the Architect of this universe correcting the wear and tear of sin. The Creator will be passionately purifying our homeland for the redeemed saints. It will be time for His Son to sit on the throne of David in earthly Jerusalem and give this world a one thousand year Sabbath of rest and worship before His New Jerusalem descends to inaugurate Eternity.

His human family will be “precious as Gold” even as “a wedge of gold.” The Biblical “wedge” was fifty shekels or one hundred pounds of gold. That is worth more than one million dollars in our present day value. By His Son’s blood the redeemed saints are precious in His sight.