Published answer

The answer proposed here is mercy. Immediate destruction would have introduced death into what appeared to be eternity and condemned many who had followed deception, popularity, or those they loved. The flesh age provides individual accountability without programmed allegiance. Where Scripture supports it: 2 Peter 3:9 says God is not willing that any should perish. Ezekiel 18 says He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, and Deuteronomy 30 places life and death before the individual as a choice. Why it matters: Immediate destruction would end deceived children without the individual testing, teaching, and opportunity that make final judgment personally accountable.

Scripture trail

KJV passages and notes

2 PETER 3:9 — KJV The Lord is not slack concerning his promise… but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. NOTE: God’s patience is explicit. Applying it to His decision after a first-age rebellion is the larger synthesis.

Conclusions and suppositions

EXPLICITLY WRITTEN God desires repentance, takes no pleasure in destruction, and calls individuals to choose life. CALL MY G CONCLUSION Call My G understands the flesh age and Millennium as mercy that separates the deceived from those who knowingly choose evil. SUPPOSITION / OPEN EXPLORATION Scripture does not state in one verse that parental grief over destroying children caused the second age.

Consistency test

Does the explanation uphold mercy without denying judgment, and freedom without turning God into the author of a person’s evil?

G’s commentary