In Defense of God's Judgments

[shirleym]

The catastrophe in Haiti has sent me running to the Scriptures to see what God
says about judgments.
 
First let me tell you about an incident of true worship.
I have a friend who is the mother of five children.
All she ever wanted to be was a mother and these children were her joy.
Her youngest son was a beautiful young man of 18 named Stephen.
Stephen loved the Lord, but he got caught up in drugs.
He sadly accidently overdosed on methadone.

My friend was devastated and could hardly function.
I shall never forget when I looked over at her standing beside the body of her
precious baby with tears streaming and her hands raised unto the Lord.
She stood there endlessly with her hands up in submission and praise to the Lord.
She was so out of it she doesn't even remember doing it.

To tell you the truth I hope I am never put to that test.
But I find that to be true worship and submission.

Job had it, also. He said, "though Yahweh slay me, still will I trust Him."

David was called the man after God's own heart.
David personally experienced the judgments of God.
His child was killed and he was told by God that evil would be raised against him in his own
house and that the sword would never depart from his house.
One of his sons raped his half-sister and then was killed by another son.
Later that son led a rebellion and tried to kill David.
This son was then killed by David's captain.

Even though David had personally experienced God's judgments, he
had a pure understanding of God and His ways.

David said:(Using the names of God as originally written)
Psalms 19:9 The fear of Yahweh is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of Yahweh are true and righteous altogether.
Psalms 36:6 Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O Yahweh, thou preservest man and beast.
Psalms 48:11 Let mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of thy judgments.
Psalms 97:8 Zion heard, and was glad; and the daughters of Judah rejoiced because of thy judgments, O Yahweh.
Psalms 105:7 He is the Yahweh our Elohim: his judgments are in all the earth.
Psalms 119:39 Turn away my reproach which I fear: for thy judgments are good.
Psalms 119:43 And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in thy judgments.
Psalms 119:62 At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments.
Psalms 119:75 I know, O Yahweh, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.
Psalms 119:120 My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments
Psalms 119:137 Righteous art thou, O Yahweh, and upright are thy judgments.
Psalms 119:164 Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments.
Psalms 119:175 Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee; and let thy judgments help me.

Many times the word judgments is teamed with the words righteous and justice.
His judgments are not to be confused with the way we humans see judgments.
His ways are above our ways and his judgments have a purpose.

The main reason for judgments is so that people will repent and acknowledge him as
Yahweh their God. Judgments come and "then they will know that I am Yahweh".
Exodus 7:5 And the Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.
Exodus 7:17 Thus saith Yahweh, In this thou shalt know that I am Yahweh: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood.
Exodus 8:22 And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am Yahweh in the midst of the earth.
Exodus 10:2 And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son's son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that ye may know how that I am Yahweh.
Exodus 14:4 And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am Yahweh. And they did so.
Exodus 14:18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.

Ezekiel portrayed him as Yahweh Makkah. (The LORD that smitteth) and continued the theme that
"then they shall know that I am Yahweh":
Ezekiel 7:9 And mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will recompense thee according to thy ways and thine abominations that are in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I am Yahweh that smiteth (Yahweh Makkeh)
Ezekiel 6:7 And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and ye shall know that I am Yahweh.
Ezekiel 6:10 (And they shall know that I am Yahweh, and that I have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them;
Ezekiel 6:13 Then shall ye know that I am Yahweh, when their slain men shall be among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they did offer sweet savour to all their idols.
Ezekiel 6:14 (So will I stretch out my hand upon them, and make the land desolate, yea, more desolate than the wilderness toward Diblath, in all their habitations: and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
Ezekiel 7:4 And mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity: but I will recompense thy ways upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and ye shall know that I am Yahweh.
Ezekiel 7:27 The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I will do unto them after their way, and according to their deserts will I judge them; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
Ezekiel 11:10 Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and ye shall know that I am Yahweh.
Ezekiel 12:15 And they shall know that I am Yahweh, when I shall scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in the countries.
Ezekiel 12:16 But I will leave a few men of them from the sword, from the famine, and from the pestilence; that they may declare all their abominations among the heathen whither they come; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
Ezekiel 12:20 And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate; and ye shall know that I am Yahweh.
Ezekiel 13:14 (So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered morter, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that I am Yahweh.
Ezekiel 15:7 And I will set my face against them; they shall go out from one fire, and another fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I am Yahweh, when I set my face against them.
Ezekiel 25:11 And I will execute judgments upon Moab; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
Ezekiel 28:22 And say, Thus saith Adonai Yahweh; Behold, I am against thee, O Zidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of thee: and they shall know that I am Yahweh, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her.
Ezekiel 28:6 Therefore thus saith the Adonai Yahweh; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of Elohim.
Here are more of the same: Ezekiel 25:7, 26:6, 29:9, 30:19, 32:15, 33:29, 35:4, 35:9, 35:15, 39:6

Jeremiah said;
Jeremiah 1:16 And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.
Jeremiah 12:1 Righteous art thou, O Yahweh, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?

Hosea said:
Hosea 6:5 Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth.

Paul said:
Romans 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of Elohim! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

If one thinks that only the "God of the OT" issued judgments, then one needs to consider the
book of Revelation (the Apocalypse).
John said:
Revelation 15:4 Who shall not fear thee, O Yahweh, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.
Revelation 16:7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Yahweh El Sabaoth, true and righteous are thy judgments.
Revelation 19:2 For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth.

I am not anti-Haitian. My heart breaks for the innocents. Rather I am pro-God.
I want to be one who praises Him for whatever He does. Whether He extends the hand of blessing
or the hand of judgment, I want to be in agreement with Him.
I applaud Art Katz, a great man of God who was a Jew who dared to say that God was in the Holocaust.

I don't believe that we should be ashamed that our God is a righteous God who executes judgments
so that people will repent and turn to Him.
Haiti's gods (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_mythology) failed her. She should turn to the
true and Living God, Jesus Yeshua who desires to wipe away her tears and filth and mke her His daughter.

He is Yahweh Makkeh, the LORD that smitteth, but He is also Yahweh Rophi, the LORD that healeth
and the God who sent His only Son to provide atonement--Yahweh Yireh.

He is also a God of abundant mercy:
Exodus 34:6-7 6 And the Yahweh passed by before him, and proclaimed, Yahweh, Yahweh El, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
Deuteronomy 7:9 Know therefore that the Yahweh thy Elohim, he is Elohim, the faithful El, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;

I leave with one last verse:
Isaiah 26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
 

 

 

 



 

[shirleym]

 
Here is a phenomenal 2-tape series that starts with the statement
"At the heart of a knowledge of God is the knowledge of a God who judges."
http://artkatzministries.org/judgment-2-part-series/


I know it takes a lot of time to listen to a sermon so I have transcribed a little of it just to share
a little of the knowledge and wisdom the Holy Spirit has imparted to Katz.
These tapes are gold.  Katz is a real scholar and prophet.
Tape No. 72  Judgement:

"There perhaps is no more difficult attribute of God for the church than the wrath or judgments of God.
Atheists pounce with glee in what appears to them to be an irreconcilable contradiction to the character
of God and even the church squirms uncomfortably to equate his goodness with his severity.

The word judgment makes us uncomfortable that somehow it doesn't fit.  How do we equate that with
God? 
We are much more disposed to meditate upon His love or His mercy foolishly forgetting that if God be God
He is indivisible and that one cannot elevate or denigate one attribute below or above another.
You remember that the robe of Jesus was seamless.  They could not part it and that's the statement
of God, Himself.  He is seamless, he is indivisable.  You cannot divide Him let alone elevate or denigate
or raise or lower any one attribute of God as being higher than another.
Is His love higher than His righteousness or His truth?  Or His mercy than His judgment?
He is one the Lord our God is one.

To reject or to give begrudging or scant acknowledgment, which is very much the same as rejection,
to any attribute of God then would be tantemount or equal to to rejecting God.
To reject any portion of God is to reject God entirely...

To give scant accknowledgement or a begrudging condescension--"I guess it's true also that God's
got a judgment," is tantamount or equal to rejecting God.
To reject any portion of God is to reject God entirely.
...
How can we say that we love God and know God and yet we have a controversy with any
aspect of God that we are not willing to acknowledge as being an attribute of God.

If you have a controversy with God as judge, then you have a controversy with God.  And, in fact,
 nothing more reveals your controversy than this.

When you have made your peace with God as a judge--when you have accepted the judgment of
 God as being as blessed an attribute of God as His mercy and His love, you then love God.
To love Him at His most difficult place is to love Him entirely.
...
We who shrink at God's judgment or God as judge are really judging Him.
What we are saying is I love your mercy and your love and your kindness and your goodness ,
 but I have some question about your judgment.
We are elevating ourselves above Him and finding fault as if we are in a place to determine
which of His attributes are acceptable and which not.  There is nothing that reveals the secret
heart as balking at the judgment of God."
 

[Pandora]

~ Well said.