11.02 Past Times of Judgment

11 - The Judgment; Section 2 PAST TIMES OF JUDGMENT The first great judgment (trial and sentence) was at the beginning, in Eden, when the whole human race, as represented in its head, Adam, stood on trial before God. The result of that trial was the verdict - Guilty, disobedient, his sin being worthy of punishment and correction; and the penalty inflicted was death - "Dying you shall die" (Genesis 2:17, margin). And so it is that "In Adam ALL DIE" (1 Corinthians 15:21-22). Most have never thought of this as a JUDGMENT DAY for mankind, but such it was, for there was a trial, a sentencing, and the sentence was, and is, as we all know, fully carried out. That trial time in Eden was the world’s FIRST JUDGMENT DAY, and the decision of the Judge has ever since been enforced. Again we read, "The wrath of God IS REVEALED from heaven against all unrighteousness of men" (Romans 1:18). This wrath of God which is revealed against the ungodliness of men may be seen in every funeral procession. Every tomb and every grave stone is a witness to it. Dread diseases such as syphilis, gonorrhea, herpes and aids are a part of it. It is felt in every ache and pain, in every tragedy and sorrow, in every frustration and torment, in the ignorance, poverty, and fear men experience daily - all of which are the results of the first trial and sentence - the righteous sentence of God, that we are unworthy of the life and blessings originally provided for man when obedient and walking in union with God. But, praise the Lord! mankind is to be recovered from the sentence of that first trial, for the penalty was not to be inflicted forever, only until the Redeemer should come and offer Himself as one sacrifice for ALL. And so it is written of Jesus: "Now we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of THE WORLD" (John 4:42). "The bread which I will give is My flesh, which I give FOR THE LIFE OF THE WORLD" (John 6:51). "God sent not His Son into THE WORLD to condemn THE WORLD; but that THE WORLD through Him might be saved" (John 3:17). "And He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of THE WHOLE WORLD" (1 John 2:2). "God was in Christ, reconciling THE WORLD unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:19). "Therefore as by the offence of one JUDGMENT CAME UPON ALL MEN to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of One THE FREE GIFT CAME UPON ALL MEN unto justification of life" (Romans 5:18). Thus we see the scope of man’s first judgment and the provision for his release from the penalty inflicted. Bless His name!

There have been many other judgments beyond this general judgment that fell upon man in the beginning. At various times in the past God has called peoples and nations to account for their actions and executed His judgments by bringing destruction upon them. The best known of these is the world-wide deluge in the days of Noah of which we read: "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; for it repents Me that I have made them" (Genesis 6:5-7). The destructive judgments of God have always come as a result of the wicked conduct of the people in their daily lives. Sodom and Gomorrah are graphic examples of this. God inspected those cities and determined that the sin of the inhabitants was very heavy; He judged that the cities must be brought to ruin (Genesis 18:20-21; Genesis 19:14). Later Jude wrote that those cities underwent the "vengeance (Gr: judgment)" of "fire" which brought destruction (Jude 1:7). So these cities experienced a "day" of judgment.

God conducted a legal case against ancient Babylon, the long-time enemy of God and His people. Because of being unnecessarily cruel to the house of Judah, not intending to release them after the seventy-year captivity and crediting the god Marduk with the victory over God’s people, Babylon was in line for a destructive judgment. That came to Babylon in the year 539 B.C. when it was violently overthrown by the Medes and Persians (see Jeremiah 51:35-37; Isaiah 14:3-6; Isaiah 14:17; Daniel 5:1-4). Similarly, Jeremiah prophesied that God would "put Himself in judgment" with Edom, among others (Jeremiah 25:17-31), hence that nation that had shown repeated hatred for the Lord and His people experienced destructive judgment and was obliterated from the earth. Likewise, when Judah and Jerusalem became unfaithful and merited the Lord’s displeasure, He promised to "execute JUDGMENT in the midst of her" (Ezekiel 5:8). This destructive and corrective judgment came when Nebuchadnezzar came and plundered the land, destroyed the city and the temple, and carried the people away slaves to Babylon (Ezekiel 7:19). However, another and more severe "day" or time of judgment on Jerusalem was prophesied. Joel foretold an outpouring of the Spirit of God which would begin "before that great and terrible day of the Lord" (Joel 2:28-31). Under the anointing of the Spirit Peter, on the day of Pentecost, explained that they were then experiencing the fulfillment of that prophecy (Acts 2:16-20). That particular day of destructive judgment came in A.D. 70 when the Roman armies executed judgment upon the Jews, destroying their city and temple, pillaging their land, murdering more than a million of its inhabitants, dispersing the survivors and catapulting them into a "judgment day" that lasted for nineteen long and torturous centuries!