The Judgments of the Lord

Mark Dunagan
03/21/10 - Sunday Morning

 

True and Righteous Altogether

Every single act of God, including His judgments, have been righteous or just – The future final intervention is no exception:

• “And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls on 
  those who practice such things” (Romans 2:2).
• “And revelation of the righteous judgment of God” 
  (Romans 2:5).
• “And every transgression and disobedience received a 
  just recompense” (Hebrews 2:2).
• “His judgments are true and righteous” (Revelation19:2).

God’s judgments have often been preceded by a tremendous amount of second-chances, mercy, grace and patience:

• “How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling” (Matthew 23:37).
• “...do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” (Romans 2:5).
• “...I gave her time to repent; and she does not want to repent” (Revelation 2:21)
• “How long, O Lord, holy and true, wilt Thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (Revelation 6:10).

When we recall God’s intervention in the past, they include:

• The Flood
• Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
• Plagues upon the Egyptians
• The expulsion of the Canaanites

Yet Were The Following Judgments Also Just?

Often God’s judgments upon individuals is questioned as to the punishment truly fitting the crime, that is, God’s justice in these cases:

• The deaths of Nadab and Abihu, two sons of Aaron who were immediately consumed by fire or offering strange fire (Leviticus 10:1-2).
• Moses being excluded from entering the Promised Land because he struck a rock instead of speaking to it: Numbers 20:8-12
• Uzzah, who was struck dead for touching the Ark of the Covenant: 2 Samuel 6:6
• King Uzziah, who was struck with leprosy for seeking to perform the duties of the priests: 2 Chronicles 26:16ff
• Ananias and his wife Sapphira, who were struck dead for telling a “white lie” (Acts 5:1-10).

How about These?

At the same time there were various individuals who seemed to sin far more grievously, yet were not struck dead and did get a second chance:

• Noah’s drunkenness: Genesis 9
• Abraham lying about his wife (twice): Genesis 12 and 20
• David’s Adultery: 2 Samuel 11-12
• Aaron, when making the golden calf: Exodus 32

Why might God bring a swifter punishment on various situations and not on others? Remember, we are not talking about the eternal consequences of sin, for every sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2; Romans 6:23), rather, why did God bring a swift punishment on certain violations – and passed on others.

The Beginning of Things

Often God has made an example of someone at the very beginning of a new era. This is true in the examples of Achan (Joshua 7) and Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5). On these occasions God began the sentence with an exclamation point, a calling card, of sorts. It was a line drawn in the sand – here are My standards and they are unchangeable. “The severity of God’s dealing as He trained His people in the principles of holiness becomes intelligible when we see what is at stake. It was nothing less than the salvation of the world. The chosen people was the precious casket in which was to be placed a priceless jewel: the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of men. Against this people Satan directed his fiercest attacks, and to the preservation of this people in righteousness God directed His fiercest defense” (The Goodness of God, John W. Wenham, p. 146). In like manner, the church is the new Israel (1 Peter 2:9-10) and there’s never been as much at stake. The church is the pillar and ground of the truth to the world (1 Timothy 3:15). The church will be the target of the devil’s energy and likewise, God will defend her. Yet this defense at times involves judgment – as in the case of Acts 5. God defends His people in various ways and one way is to clean out those that would dilute her purity.

A Reminder of Forgotten Sins

It is sinful to practice something although not specifically condemned in the Scriptures—at the same time is not authorized: Leviticus 10:1-2, The sons of Aaron are punished severely for doing something “not authorized”. There existed no “thou shalt not” against this fire—the problem was that there existed for command for the fire. As there is no command for instrumental music in worship in the New Testament.

A Reminder of the impact of our sins on God

On various occasions God was severe when the infraction was doing something just somewhat different than what was commanded:

• Hitting the rock rather than speaking to it: Numbers 20:8-12
• Killing all the animals verses offering them later than day in a sacrifice: 1 Samuel 15
• Getting the fire from the wrong source or offering one sacrifice not commanded – one too many: Leviticus 10:1-2

What God said upon these occasions is very instructive. In Leviticus 10 He said, “It is what the Lord spoke, saying, ‘By those who come near He I will be treated as holy’” (Leviticus 10:3). Obviously, ignoring any command or any part of a command – adding to or subtracting at any level is a lack of respect for the holiness of God – and other people see this. One snubbed passage only leads to another snubbed passage. In Numbers 20 He said, “Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel”(20:10). Therefore, altering any command is a complete lack of trust in the Lawgiver; it is the elevating of our will over His. It is a “slap in the face” to God – no matter how small people claim the infraction.

Often in areas of Unauthorized Worship

Many of the examples listed above have one thing in common: they were all violations of how God wants to be worshipped. It is as if God is saying, “If I can’t trust you to worship Me in the way that I stipulate – then you really don’t respect or love Me”. These examples are written for our learning (Romans 15:4) and in a day and age when people design worship around feelings and what the audience wants, instead of what God authorized, they are still examples that are desperately needed. The real test of love and loyalty is, “Will you love God in the way that He desires to be loved?” The problem with many religious people is that they want to “love God” in the way that makesthem feel loved.

A Reminder of “What it Really Was”

We might be tempted to call Moses’ striking the rock as an indication of frustration, but God doesn’t call it such. He calls it a lack of faith and a lack of respect. We might equally be tempted to call Uzzah’s actions as being “good intentions”, or a mere “technical violation”, yet God does not say that Uzzah was struck down for his good intentions, rather the word God uses is “irreverence” – that is having no real awe of God or the things of God. He was too casual with God. We might even be tempted to call Saul’s actions “partial obedience”, but God calls it insubordination, rebellion, and links it with witchcraft. Some would call the sin of Ananias and Sapphira a little white lie, yet the Holy Spirit describes it as testing God’s patience (Acts 5:9), or challenging Him. I hope we realize that every time we knowingly sin we are basically challenging God. In closing, what we learn is that God’s people have often needed reminders concerning the fact that God is a holy God and that He needs to be treated with awe and respect. Those who truly love Him will stand in awe of His majesty and obey fully and without hesitation, and will reap unimaginable blessings both in the process, and in the end.

God Values it All

I often find people trying to argue that one principle in Scripture trumps another, yet all of our examples in this lesson establish the point that God values everything in His word. Attitudes are important, so are precise requirements.