The Nature of Judgment

    As we see the trumpet judgments, we have to keep them in context. They are devastating, but so were the evil acts generated by the forces of evil on the earth. Evil reproduces after its own kind, bringing deception and abomination such that what is evil is called good, and what is good is called evil (Is. 5:20).
    Choices always have consequences. To be just, these consequences have to be equivalent to the deeds done. Without equal consequences there can be no accountability and justice. We’ve already seen in our current culture what happens when justice is not served and wrong-doers are not prosecuted accordingly. Society falls apart. That is the nature of lawlessness.
     Judgement is based on God’s nature. He is both perfectly loving, yet perfectly just, unlike mankind. God created mankind to love and be loved. Despite what we may think, love is not just a physical attraction. It is a decision.
       True love chooses to love no matter what the other person does. It doesn’t excuse wrong actions, but it seeks to help the person see the error of their ways, primarily through the negative results of their decisions. We call this disciplining. The Bible calls it chastisement.
     The fact that our decisions have consequences was vividly on display in the Garden of Eden. For God had planted two trees: the Tree of Life (in Him, according to God’s kingdom of light) and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Very quickly our human ancestors came to realize that this second tree brought a fallen life, compliments of the fallen angel (Satan) and his kingdom of darkness.
       These plantings were part of God’s prophetic plan of redemption. Being all-knowing, He knew what mankind would choose, yet He already had the remedy in place before He even started creating this earth (Rev. 13:8).
       The plan was necessary because there was another fall before that of mankind. A created spiritual being, an angel, likewise created with a will, revolted against God. He wanted to be worshipped like God, despite serving in the throne room. He goes by several names: Hay-lale, Lucifer, Satan, the Devil, the Accuser, and the Father of Lies.
      End-Time Lesson: God’s plan of redemption was fashioned according to the creation blueprint. But instead of 7 regular, earthly days, it would unfold across 7 great Days, each lasting 1,000 years as God counts prophetic time. Why would it take so long? The saga of the early Days of the Old Covenant gives us a clue. Because we have a will so we can choose whom we will love and serve, we have, as we say it, a mind of our own.
       Separated from God by our sin nature, mankind tends to see ourselves as gods, deciding for ourselves what is right and wrong. We prefer to do things as the song declares: “I did it my way.”
         Within the first few chapters of the first book in the Bible, we see this in the Tower of Babel, where mankind wanted to make a name for themselves and construct their own building as a temple unto themselves. They rejected God’s mandate to spread out and populate the earth.
        Before long, we see mankind intermingling with other created beings, both natural and spiritual. The contamination of sin escalated rapidly as seen in the ungodly practices in idol worship. Within one generation, murder occurred. Within a few more generations, “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” (Gen. 6:5). As with everything else in God’s natural creation, each aspect of life reproduces according to its own kind (Gen. 1:11). Lawlessness breeds more lawlessness.
       Yet because God had given the earth over to mankind as His delegated authority (Gen. 1:27-28), He would not go against His own word. Thankfully, He had the solution already in line, the Seed prophesied in Gen. 3—His only begotten Son who would redeem the world. However, the Redeemer could only come at the appointed time. The world first had to see the consequences of their decisions. They had to see the full impact of choosing unwisely. They had to be held accountable.
        We may see this as unjust at first glance, but God will not violate our wills. Instead, He always provides a way to be connected to Him in a covenant relationship. It is always up to us whether we want to abide by the conditions stipulated in the agreement. Without consequences and judgments, there can be no justice and peace.