GOD’S RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENTS

 

You shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the Lord. Lev 18.4-5

 

Seven times a day I praise You, Because of Your righteous judgments. Ps 119.164

 

I will praise You with uprightness of heart, When I learn Your righteous judgments. Ps 119.7

 

We are to understand that all God’s judgments are righteous. Psalm 119 is all about the Torah and God’s righteous judgments.

 

My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you, So that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; Yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding, If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly; He guards the paths of justice, and preserves the way of His saints. Then you will understand righteousness and justice, Equity and every good path. Proverbs 2.1-9

 

God’s judgment and righteousness are always connected. That is what these verses in Proverbs are showing us. All of God’s judgments are righteous--sometimes we do not understand and are mistaken in thinking the judgment is not righteous. The big picture is expressed in Ps 9.8...He shall judge the world in righteousness, and He shall administer judgment for the peoples in uprightness.

 

We should not become angry with God if we do not understand what He is doing.

 

And I heard the angel of the waters saying: “You are righteous, O Lord, The One who is and who was and who is to be, Because You have judged these things. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, And You have given them blood to drink. For it is their just due.” And I heard another from the altar saying, “Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.” Rev 16.5-7

 

All judgment was not nailed to the cross--there is still some to come. All God’s judgments are righteous and have a purpose. God’s judgments have deep meaning in the course of eternity.

 

The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever. Ps 119.160

 

God’s judgments have deep meaning in the course of eternity.

 

Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reaches unto the clouds. Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O Lord, You preserve man and beast.

 

HOW DO RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENTS BENEFIT US?

They are designed to help us govern our ways. The judgment/chastisement brings blessing or cursing. God wants us to do things His way--the righteous way--and to stop blaming others:

 

The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they then gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward. Psalm 19.9-10

 

And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? Hebrews 12.5-7

 

We are warned and taught through the chastisements of the Lord. Often we want to blame the Adversary for our troubles, but often the Lord is chastening us for our attitude. We need to understand the difference! God chastens us as individuals and as a nation. When the nation turns away from God He will chasten the nation through nature and through other nations.

 

God thunders marvelously with His voice; He does great things which we cannot comprehend. For He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth’; Likewise to the gentle rain and the heavy rain of His strength. He seals the hand of every man, That all men may know His work. Job 37.5-7

 

From the chamber of the south comes the whirlwind, And cold from the scattering winds of the north. By the breath of God ice is given, And the broad waters are frozen. Also with moisture He saturates the thick clouds; He scatters His bright clouds. And they swirl about, being turned by His guidance, That they may do whatever He commands them. On the face of the whole earth. He causes it to come, Whether for correction, Or for His land, Or for mercy. Job 37.9-13

 

Katrina, Sandy, and Athena were God’s chastening to our nation and specific areas. His desire is that people will turn back to Him and repent. It is His way of getting our attention. Sometimes Christians will be hurt by these destructive storms. God may be telling them to relocate because this area is not where He wants them. See Lot as an example.

 

THREE TYPES OF JUDGMENT

 

1. Eternal Judgment - John 3.14-16...And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

 

Grace and salvation. Jesus saves us from eternal judgment. Acts 4.12...Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

 

God wants us to practice righteousness by right living, but this eternal righteousness and salvation is imputed by Jesus--it is not earned!

 

Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. Rev 20.11-15 Only Jesus blood and salvation gets us written in the book of life. The wicked dead rejected God’s word. Eternal judgment is “heaven or hell.”

 

2. Wrath Judgment - Gen 6.5-9...Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.

 

These wrath judgments are unto death. Noah obeyed God’s word or law and was saved. The others experienced God’s end-time wrath--death. The same happened with Lot in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. Gen 19.23-29

 

God delivers the righteous from wrath:

 

For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; 5 and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; 6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; 7 and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked 8 (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)— 9 then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries….2 Peter 2.4-10

 

For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ…1 Thess 5.9

 

Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.

Reaping the Grapes of Wrath

Then another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, who had power over fire, and he cried with a loud cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, “Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe.” So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. Rev 14.14-19

 

3. Temporal Judgment - This is a judgment that leads or should lead to repentance. 1 Cor 11.32...But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.

 

God disciplines us in order that we should not be condemned! It is God’s loving parental way of moving us in the direction we should go. This is God’s way. Remember the children of Israel knew His acts, but Moses knew His ways! God wants us to know Him in a deeper way.

 

He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. Ps 103.7

 

It takes time for God to work His character into us because we are slow to learn and understand. The bottom line is that we trust Him to work His character in us. That means He will often use other people to point out areas in our lives that are not in line with His purpose in us.

 

When we understand this we can yield to the working of the spirit and allow this, rather than trying to escape. It is not always pleasant when we allow God to show us our short comings. The purpose is to create Godly character in us—a trait the world truly lacks in this day.

For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.” If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?  But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 

Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?  For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.  Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12.6-11