The Bible reveals God as judge.
Psalm 75:6, 7
For not from the east or from the west
and not from the wilderness comes lifting up,
7 but it is God who executes judgment,
putting down one and lifting up another.
Psalm 50:6
6 The heavens declare his righteousness,
for God himself is judge! Selah
Judgment, in Hebrew, is:
From shaphat; properly, a verdict (favorable or unfavorable) pronounced judicially, especially a sentence or formal decree including the act, the place, the suit, the crime, and the penalty. https://biblehub.com/hebrew/4941.htm
For instance, many do not understand that instead of one final judgment, the Bible teaches that there are a series of five to seven future judgments (depending on how they are categorized) that differ in respect to time, purpose, subjects, and circumstances. Understanding these various judgments will give insight into God’s program, but the goal here is not just information. God wants Christians to understand the truth of the judgments to both comfort and motivate them to godly living. He wants those who have not trusted in Christ to understand the judgments that this might motivate them to trust in Christ as their personal Savior because He bore the judgment for their sin in their place. The Christian will not face the final judgment because Christ was judged for us, but all believers will face a judgment called the Judgment Seat of Christ, the nature of which will be covered in the material to follow. (See Appendix A for an explanation of how to become a Christian.) https://bible.org/article/judgments-past-present-and-future
Past Judgments
- The judgement of satan and the fallen angels
- The judgement in Eden
- The judicial judgement
- The judgement to moral degeneration
- The judgement of Jesus for the sin of the world
Present Judgments
- The self-judgement of the believer
- The discipline judgements of the believer
Future Judgments
- The judgement of the bema (the judgement seat of Christ)
- The judgements of the tribulation.
- The judgement and reward of resurrected Old Testament and tribulation saints
- The judgement of living Israel.
- The judgement of living gentiles.
- The final judgement of satan and the fallen angels
- The judgement of the Great White throne. https://bible.org/article/judgments-past-present-and-future
Any serious study of the Psalms includes awareness of a theme of God’s judgement.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
Arise, O Lord, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies; awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.
For you have maintained my just cause; you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment.
The Lord has made himself known; he has executed judgment; the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion. Selah
Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O Lord.
Let Mount Zion be glad! Let the daughters of Judah rejoice because of your judgments!
but it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another.
From the heavens you uttered judgment; the earth feared and was still,
when God arose to establish judgment, to save all the humble of the earth. Selah
He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth.
He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter chiefs over the wide earth.
My flesh trembles for fear of you, and I am afraid of your judgments.
to execute on them the judgment written! This is honor for all his godly ones. Praise the Lord!
This week, I have a sentence churning in my spirit. I wonder if it is from the Holy Spirit?
Prepare for the judgment of God.
Let’s begin our preparation for the judgment of God with Psalm 1:1-2
Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
Walk
Stand
Sit
Delight
Meditate