What do you think of when you think of “the Judgment”? More importantly, why does the Bible talk about judgment?
Scripture:
Ezekiel, chapters 22-24; Revelation, chapter 9
Ezekiel 22:13-16 (CEB):
I now strike my hands over your ill-gotten gain and blood that’s been shed in you. Will your strength and courage endure when I deal with you? I am the Lord: I speak, and I act! I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you throughout the lands, and so I will remove your uncleanness from you. When you are degraded like this in the sight of the nations, then you will know that I am the Lord.
Revelation 9:20-21 (CEB):
The rest of humankind, who weren’t killed by these plagues, didn’t change their hearts and lives and turn from their handiwork. They didn’t stop worshiping demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood – idols that can’t see or hear or walk. They didn’t turn away from their murders, their spells and drugs, their sexual immorality, or their stealing.
Observations:
Prophecies of Judgment
Today’s passages, from Ezekiel and Revelation, reveal a number of similarities. Both contain prophecies of coming judgment: Ezekiel, against the people of Jerusalem and Judah; and Revelation, foretelling the events before Christ’s ultimate return. The judgments, however, differ in a very important aspect. Ezekiel’s prophecy was designed to turn the people of Judah back to God. Even though they had rebelled and disobeyed God over and over again, God wanted them to turn back to Him. He intended to remove your uncleanness from you…then you will know that I am the Lord.
The judgment that John narrates in Revelation 9 is different. Even though the plagues that John describes would kill “a third of humankind” (Revelation 9:18), the people would not change their hearts and lives and turn from their handiwork. While God always calls to people, and always wants them to return to Him, the fact is that rebellion against God continually hardens people, making it harder and harder to repent. It’s hard to imagine that even after plagues that would kill a third of humanity, people would still deny God and refuse to turn to Him.
Justification for God’s Judgment
So what kinds of actions constitute this sort of rebellion? What attitudes would take people so far that even a catastrophe could not lead them to turn to God?
God’s call is for people to change their hearts and lives and turn from their handiwork – in other words, to stop their rebellion against Him. The consequences of sin, whether individual in scope or cataclysmic as in these passages, are intended to turn us away from rebellion and back to God. But the sad reality is that most people won’t.
Application: God’s Judgment and Forgiveness
It’s dangerous to blindly apply prophecies against ancient Israel to modern situations. The United States today is not Israel and Judah of 2,500 years ago. God’s relationship with the Israelites was grounded in a covenant that God made with Abraham. We are not parties to that covenant. Instead, God instituted a new covenant with us; Jesus sealed that covenant through his blood. The new covenant is not limited to the descendants of Abraham; it is open to all who confess Jesus as Lord. Many aspects of the old covenant – promises and warnings – do not apply outside that covenant.
But God’s principles do not change. When God identifies behaviors that He condemns, we can be sure that He still condemns them. We read lists of actions that God forbids, and we immediately gravitate to those that we don’t do. Some people will focus on how we treat those who are marginalized – orphans, widows, immigrants – and challenge others to “do better.” Other people will point to God’s standards of sexual morality and purity, or the commands against idolatry.
Scripture is not a menu, where we choose the things we like and ignore the rest. It is God’s Word; it is eternal truth. “Every scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for showing mistakes, for correcting, and for training character, so that the person who belongs to God can be equipped to do everything that is good” (2 Timothy 3:16-17, emphasis added). God’s principles do not change. Will we change our hearts…and turn away from disobedience? God has promised to cleanse us if we turn to Him (1 John 1:9)!
Prayer:
Father, thank You for reminding us that You have promised to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness if we confess our sins and turn to You. Your standards do not change. You commanded the Israelites to care for widows, orphans, and immigrants; that command has not changed. You called Your people to sexual purity, in contrast to the nations around them. That call has not changed.
Jesus told us that He did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them. As we follow Him, we fulfill them as well. Help us to hear Your Spirit’s leading, and to sense His empowerment to walk in obedience each day. We know that the day of Jesus’ return is growing ever closer; help us to be ready, and to encourage others to be ready as well. Amen.
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