JUDGMENT


The verb "judge" in the Hebrew is "din" in the Greek is "krises" means to "discern", "sift" or "make manifest". This concept of discerning or sifting reminds us of the parable of the sheep and the goats. 

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all his holy angels with him, then will he sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. He shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King shall say to those on his right hand, "Come you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me." Then the righteous will answer him saying "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink ? .... " and the King will answer and say to them "Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it for me". Then will he say to those on the left hand. "Depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels, for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger and you did not take me in, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and you did not visit me." Then they also will answer him saying, "Lord when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you ?" Then he will answer them saying, "Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it for the least of these, you did not do it for me." And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" (Matthew 25:31 - 46).

There are a couple of important things to note about this passage.

  1. It is the judgment of the nations, not the church nor Israel. I believe that the church and Israel will have already been judged by this time "for judgment begins with the household of God" (1 Peter 4:17). 
  2. The judgment is a process. It involves a trial of character which the participants are obviously not aware of. According to how these people treat Jesus' "brethren" so they shall be treated.
  3. The final designation of their end is according to their own deeds. As they have done to others so it has been done to them. There are many passages which speak about the final judgment being based on what we have done.
  4. It displays the true wisdom of God in discerning the true hearts of the people.
  5. Their judgment will be both fair and just, for the Lord searched the heart and tests the mind (1 Samuel 16:7, Jeremiah 17:10, Jeremiah 20:12). We should note that judgment in the Biblical sense does not mean an automatic "death sentence". It does imply a putting right of every wrong.
Consideration of this form of judgment, which looks at the motivation of the heart, reminds us of the judgments of Solomon (1 Kings 3:16-28). When the two women came to Solomon, each claiming that the child was theirs, the King ordered the child cut in half and a piece given to each (1 Kings 3: 24 - 25). On the surface of this it seems a very harsh thing to do, but he was looking for the reaction of each of the women. As each responded to this command he was able to discern who was more deserving to be the child's mother. So he gave the child to the woman who had compassion on it (1 Kings 3:27).

We are also reminded that the wisdom of Solomon came from God (1 Kings 3: 5 - 12), therefore the judgments of God will also display this same wisdom. It is good to fear God (Proverbs 9:10). But our God is a good and just God who does things for a purpose. In testing the hearts of the nations and allowing those who are worthy according to their deeds to enter into the "kingdom prepared for them", God will not only remove evil intent from the new world, but draw praise and worship from those who are thus saved from destruction. Let us consider some verses which convey the hope we have in God's judgment:

"Let the heavens rejoice and let the earth be glad and let them say among the nations 'The Lord reigns'. Let the sea roar, and all its fullness. Let the fields rejoice and all that is in it. Then the trees of the wood shall rejoice before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth" (1 Chronicles 16:31-33). "Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy ! For You shall judge the people righteously and govern the nations on earth. Let the peoples praise You, O God. Let all the peoples praise You. Then the earth shall yield her increase. God, our God, shall bless us. God shall bless us and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him" (Psalm 67:4-7). "Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad. Let the sea roar and all its fullness be joyful and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the wood will rejoice before the Lord for He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the earth with righteousness and the peoples with His truth" (Psalm 96:11 - 13). "The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice. Let the multitudes of isles be glad" (Psalm 97:1). "Let the sea roar, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell in it. Let the rivers clap their hands. Let the hills be joyful together before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth. With righteousness He shall judge the world and the peoples with equity" (Psalm 98:7 - 9).

Obviously it is a time in which the righteous can rejoice.

There is one verse from Isaiah which also places an entirely new light on the "judgments" of God. Consider:

"My soul yearns for you in the night, my spirit within me earnestly seeks you. For when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness." (Isaiah 26:9) 
We may be confident that God's judgments will be in the earth during the reign of Jesus and His Saints in the Millennial Kingdom. We are also confident that the world will be inhabited by nations when Jesus returns to establish this Kingdom. Therefore we may be confident that these nations will "learn righteousness" during this time. It is interesting to look at the original Hebrew word translated here as learn. It is "lamad" which means "learn or accustom one self to". So this passage could also be read as "when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world accustom them selves to righteousness." This is a profound thought ! It also gives us an even better understanding of God's Eternal Purpose and its ultimate fulfillment.

Consider:

  1. God creates a perfect world with no sin or death. 
  2. He creates man in His own image.
  3. This man is perfect, but has a free will. A true free will means the man has the ability to choose to love and obey God and continue to live or to rebel against God and thus die.
  4. The man chooses to rebel and God, , in His righteousness, condemns man into sin and death.
  5. God, in His wisdom, allows this state to extend to all mankind. Consequently we learn, or are accustomed to the consequences of sin.
  6. God, in His love, provides a redeemer to take upon himself the righteous judgment for our sin, by dying for every man.
  7. God, by His power, raises Jesus from the dead to assure us that the penalty for sin has been paid "in full", and appoints him as Lord of all things.
  8. God establishes an earthly Kingdom for Jesus in which Satan is bound (Revelation 20:2) and the "inhabitants of the earth accustom them selves to righteousness". They already know the consequences of sin, now they know the glory of righteousness.
  9. At the end of this Millennial Age, Satan is loosed for a short time to tempt the nations (Revelation 20:7-9). There will be those who openly rebel against God's Justice for "If favor is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness they deal perversely and do not see the majesty of the LORD" (Isaiah 26:10). These perverse individuals are finally destroyed by fire from heaven (Revelation 20:9).
  10. Those who remain loyal to God continue on into the new earth (Revelation 21:1) and God himself will dwell with men on earth (Revelation 21:3).
We see in this plan all the attributes of God at work together, in harmony, resulting in a total restoration of all that Adam lost, given to those, who by virtue of their endurance and character, are counted worthy to receive it. 

WHAT ABOUT THE CHURCH ?

There is one thing in which we can all be confident. We shall all give an account to Christ for our actions (2 Corinthians 5:10). For the church, our time of trial begins now, "for the time has come for judgment to begin at the household of God" (1 Peter 4:17). Our faith is already being tested. "Now for a little season, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials that the genuineness of your faith, which is much more precious than gold ... may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:6 - 7).

We are on trial during this present evil age, "for our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (2 Corinthians 4:17). It is for this reason that God has permitted us to endure evil. To those who overcome (Revelation chapters 2 and 3) the rewards are beyond measure:

  1. To eat from the tree of life.
  2. Immortality.
  3. To eat of the hidden manna and receive a white stone with a new name written on it.
  4. To rule over the nations.
  5. Clothed in white garments, have their name in the Book of Life, and have their name confessed before God and His angels.
  6. Become a pillar in the heavenly temple of God.
  7. To sit with Jesus on his throne.
Those who are judged worthy of life in the trial to come in the new age will enter in as human subjects of the Kingdom of God. They will be restored to the perfection that Adam and Eve first knew. Those who overcome in this age, because the trial is more difficult, will receive a higher calling to become as Jesus is (1 John 3:1 - 3).

We have been called to a much higher calling. The Church is a mystery, hidden in past ages, but now revealed. We have been set aside by God to form the new heavens, for "God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ -- by grace you have been saved-- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus". (Ephesians 2:4-7)


Created: 23 - Jan - 1997.
Last modified: 18 - Sept - 1998.
Copyright © 1998, Graham Brodie.

Maintainer: Graham Brodie, Email