Tag: divine judgment

The Day Is Coming (Malachi 4:1-6)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
The Great Day of His Wrath, by John Martin, c.1851

“Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them. But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves. Then you will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty.

“Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel.

“See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.” (New International Version)

These are the final words of the Old Testament, the concluding message of the prophet Malachi.

Malachi’s vision of God’s future action describes a Day of Judgment, a time of utter destruction for all those who devoted themselves to wickedness. The faithful, however, will receive healing by means of bright righteousness. God will restore a good, right, and just order of things.

The divine restoration will cause joy and celebration. In their freedom, the faithful will ensure that the wicked shall not have power and authority ever again.

Therefore, the conclusion to the Book of Malachi – and of all the Old Testament – is a call to obedience, to observe the law. Finally, it is communicated that Elijah – one of the greatest prophets in Jewish history – will return in order to turn the hearts of family members toward one another. And without this change of heart and behavior within the family, there isn’t anything good to look forward to.

In other words, justice and righteousness, humility and gentleness, mercy and peace, all begin within the home. If we are to get things right out in the world, it will be because we have learned how to develop and maintain right relationships and provide for one another in our families.

So, how is that project going? (said in a sarcastic tongue-in-cheek sort of way).

And, how is the religious and spiritual progress going? (said in that same obnoxious sort of tone)

Furthermore, what are you and I doing to help the situation, and not to bring harm to it? (said in an actual serious tone)

It will not do for any of us to simply blame others – even though those others likely have a lot to answer for themselves. You and I cannot control others, especially family members (although some folks do their darndest to try and do it!).

Therefore, we must practice self-control, and do what is within our own power to do in order to help bring blessing – not judgment – to the earth.

All of us need to allow accountability into our lives, so that we may continue in living good and responsible lives.

Yet, that does not always happen. Graciously, the world is not presently spinning on its axis because of me or you. Our mistakes, foibles, screw-ups, and sins are not good, but they are also not going to stop the sun from coming up tomorrow.

It is terribly sad that there is so much war, death, destruction, harm, malevolence, disease, and disaster in this old world. It’s as if the earth is under a curse, which it is. But the world is also loved by God.

The faithful ultimately trust in the grace and mercy of God. The Christian, specifically, looks to Jesus to provide the righteousness and justice that we ourselves have not been able to accomplish.

The judgment of God exists, so that the justice and mercy of God can be fulfilled.

He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.

1 Peter 2:24, NIV

In union with Christ, the faithful know what a change of heart truly means. And they know what to do in order to affect that change in their lives today:

For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. (Romans 6:6-13, NIV)

So then, let us restore right relationships with others, and especially with family. Let us live as people who have been lifted from a curse, and are free from divine judgment.

Let’s get up each day and live into the freedom we possess from the power of guilt, shame, and plain old-fashioned sin.

Let’s be people who choose to look both backward and forward:

  • We look back at the redemptive events of Jesus, to his coming to this earth in a miraculous incarnation, and to his death, resurrection, and ascension.
  • We look forward to the return of Christ, a second advent, when he will save his people, judge all people, and restore all things.

We can do this, my friends. We can live as we ought to live, love as we ought to love, and give as we ought to give – because of the One who has gone before us, is with us, and is coming again.

The Day is coming. Make sure that when it does, we are found faithful.

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Mark 10:45, NIV

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. (Revelation 1:5b-6, NIV)

Divine Intervention (Isaiah 1:24-31)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
The Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem, by David Roberts (1796-1964)

So now, listen to what the Lord Almighty, Israel’s powerful God, is saying: “I will take revenge on you, my enemies, and you will cause me no more trouble. I will take action against you. I will purify you the way metal is refined, and will remove all your impurity. I will give you rulers and advisers like those you had long ago. Then Jerusalem will be called the righteous, faithful city.”

Because the Lord is righteous, he will save Jerusalem and everyone there who repents. But he will crush everyone who sins and rebels against him; he will kill everyone who forsakes him.

You will be sorry that you ever worshiped trees and planted sacred gardens. You will wither like a dying oak, like a garden that no one waters. Just as straw is set on fire by a spark, so powerful people will be destroyed by their own evil deeds, and no one will be able to stop the destruction. (Good News Translation)

Judgment does not mean that you need to leave a part of yourself behind in order to be accepted or belong. Judgment isn’t about stuffing down emotions and denying certain thoughts about things because you were told to.

Rather, judgment – divine judgment – is for those leaders, and the persons who support such leaders, who tell people they have to live a particular way, be a certain way, and think in the same way the leaders say you have to think.

Isaiah’s prophecy is first and foremost directed toward leaders – political leaders and religious leaders. Indeed, the nation of Israel had gone down a path of worship that God never condoned nor wanted.

And the Lord put the primary blame squarely upon rulers who led their people in unacceptable ways by telling them things that God never wanted. As a result, the nation as a whole, lived unjustly and unrighteously.

God was determined to do something about the situation of bad leadership: Replace the rulers and advisers. Get rid of them, just like a metallurgist gets rid of impure and worthless dross.

A lot of things in life rise and fall because of leadership. The character and competence of a leader is of upmost importance. God raises up particular people to lead. So, leaders and rulers are expected to fulfill their mandated duty with all diligence and decorum.

The city of Jerusalem fell to the invading Babylonians in 586 B.C.E. All of the Old Testament prophetic books are related to that seminal event in one way or another.

Jerusalem’s destruction, according to the prophets, had a direct relationship to the failure of political kings and religious priests to lead the people according to God’s law. And that failure was specifically tied to the lack of religious piety and leadership performance amongst the rulers of the land.

Indeed, individuals are responsible for their own thoughts and words and actions. Yet, at the same time, the leaders of a city and a nation are also responsible for whether they are leading the people into ways of justice and equity, or injustice and prejudice.

People in responsible positions of authority are to take ownership of the sort of culture they develop. And when people, as a whole, have rude and irresponsible words and actions, such behavior isn’t only on individuals – it’s on the leaders, as well.

God will hold everyone accountable – especially leaders = for what they have done, and not done, to foster a just and right society.

In the time of the prophets, the majority of those in authority led the people into a degenerate state. It had become so bad that divine judgment would intervene in order to burn out the evil, and remove the worthless dross of incompetent and inconsiderate leadership.

Only through the wholesale replacement of rulers and advisers could restoration and regeneration ever take place.

Fortunately, the Lord is a God of justice, mercy, and grace. The Lord is a redeeming God. And the theme of redemption runs throughout the Book of Isaiah. Yet, for a nation to be redeemed, it will require an elimination of rebellious evil.

The wrath of God exists precisely because of the love of God. Since the Lord has a steadfast, committed, and covenantal love for the people, God will render judgment, purging hate and injustice from the land.

When God decrees something, no one can stop it. And when God decrees destruction upon the material things which promote illegitimate worship and public injustice, you can be absolutely sure that it’s going to happen.

No one, no city, and no nation is truly autonomous, in the sense that they can do whatever the heck they want to do, regardless of whether it is right or just, or not. There is no person and no government who is free to indulge in their own selfish agenda.

We have a purpose and a mandate as people on this earth, to care for this world – the people and the environments we inhabit.

All of the ways in which individuals, groups, and governments cheapen and degrade human dignity and environmental worth, puts everyone at risk of survival and a good life on this planet.

Unjust and dysfunctional systems and structures must be purged of their impurities. And that means, in many cases, a new order of things must occur.

If we cannot learn to play well with one another, then playtime will be over; and God will call us back into the house and make us sit in the corner for a long time – or worse.

Whenever leadership fails to be neighborliness, then we have a huge problem.

Our world suffering divine devastation of all the things we know and love may not be far behind. And, quite frankly, it will be our own damn fault – and not somebody else’s.

However, in the prophetic biblical tradition, devastation and destruction never have the last word. There is always hope – a confident expectation that good, right, and just forms of social, economic, and religious communities will function yet again.

There are good leaders waiting in the wings. It’s just that no one yet sees or knows them. But God will raise them up at the proper time, to accomplish good purposes in communities, churches, families, and governments everywhere.

A divine intervention will make the last be first, and the first be last.

May it be so, for the blessing of the world, and to the glory and praise of God. Amen.

First Sunday of Advent – The Paradoxical Christ (Luke 21:25-36)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
Christ Among the Doctors, by Paolo Veronese, c.1560

“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

Then he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

“Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place and to stand before the Son of Man.” (New Revised Standard Version)

Do we understand the dire situation of humanity? Is there comprehension of the sinister road that many choose to walk? Or are we cut off from ourselves, fragmented and unable (or unwilling) to participate in becoming people who are wise and seek what is just?

Perhaps we are adrift, lost in our own hubris, believing that our beliefs and opinions are so right as to either force them on others; or either live and let live, as if nothing bad will ever happen.

But the Son of Man is coming. He has a lesson for us from a tree; and an exhortation to beware.

I just hope it’s not too late for many of us.

Today’s Gospel lesson is part of a longer discourse by Jesus, warning about coming persecution and impending destruction of the Temple. It’s apocalyptic stuff about famine, war, judgment, with exhortations in the midst of suffering.

This is how we are beginning the new Christian Year, and season of Advent. Dealing with judgment and cosmic cataclysm may seem out of sync with the month of December.

Advent helps us prepare our hearts in anticipation of Christ’s birth. It’s actually one of the best times to remember that just as Jesus came as a child in his first advent, a second advent is yet to come, in which Jesus returns as the judge.

The Coming of the Son of Man

The season of Advent, and Jesus himself, are paradoxical. In my estimation, all of Christianity is inherently paradoxical. A paradox brings two contrasting truths or images together. Jesus is God. Jesus is human. Both are true. Jesus is a paradox. Jesus came. Jesus is coming. His advent is a paradox.

Jesus and his teaching may seem self-contradictory. But it nonetheless shows us truth. That’s what a paradox does. It expresses things like Jesus being both a baby and a savior, an infant and a king, a servant and a sovereign.

Christ brings peace. And Christ brings division. To keep your life, you must lose it. In order to be first, you must be last.

The Lesson of the Tree

Trees are some of our greatest teachers, that is, if we will but listen to them and observe them. The tree teaches us the paradox that with the changing of the leaves, death can be beautiful. In using the tree’s wood, we learn there is new life through destruction.

The dormancy of the tree in winter appears as if it will last forever. Yet, when Spring arrives, we discover that the bare branches and lifelessness is temporary, not permanent. The tree blossoms, almost exploding with life and color.

Our earthly trials and tribulations will not last. God will vindicate the righteous. Redemption is near. There is the paradox of suffering that leads to glory, and tears which will give way to great comfort.

The Exhortation to Watch

But we must watch. Jesus tells us to beware. With paradox, and in the apocalyptic view of things, events that happen on this earth that we see are mere reflections of much greater workings on an unseen plane of existence.

Paradoxically, the struggle between good and evil is both earthly and celestial; it is playing out on multi-dimensional levels. There is always more going on than what meets the eye. Therefore, watch out, because you do not really know what’s happening unless you’re looking with both physical and spiritual eyes.

So, stay awake. Pay attention. Be prepared. Keep awareness of yourself and your situations.

As we move into the busyness and bustle of this month, let us not overprepare for something transitory and impermanent. Let’s remember to use our vision to see a large and expansive world in need of the paradoxical Christ.

If you are reading this, or listening to this, then there is hope. This present existence is not permanent; it won’t last forever.

For what is at stake is the coming of the kingdom of heaven, a realm of existence that is both already here, and not yet here. In allowing such a rule to come and take over our lives, we find freedom and peace and permanence.

Tying our hopes to earthly rulers and all of their construction of petty kingdoms and fiefdoms will only end in darkness and disappointment.

The Servant King, who rules through loving service, is coming. And the Universal Judge, who controls all things with a powerful gracious force, is also coming.

The paradoxical Jesus was here, is here, and is to come.

Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious Majesty, to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.

Divine Judgment and Human Judgmentalism (Luke 21:20-24)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
Jesus Wept Over It, by Enrique Simonet, 1892

“When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those inside the city must leave it, and those out in the country must not enter it, for these are days of vengeance, as a fulfillment of all that is written. Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress on the earth and wrath against this people; they will fall by the edge of the sword and be taken away as captives among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the nations, until the times of the nations are fulfilled. (New Revised Standard Version)

Judgment is coming… and is already here…

To be more specific, God’s judgment is coming; and humanity’s judgmentalism is already here.

Because of our judgmental spirits, we ought not be surprised that the judgment of God will be here soon.

I cannot get through a day – barely an hour – without hearing judgmental statements coming from another’s mouth. And sometimes, it’s my own mouth.

Judgmentalism is rife. It’s everywhere. And there’s no way to escape it. In a “normal” day (if there is such a thing for me) I hear all sorts of statements, without even trying to hear them. And when I do, I usually have a thought about it (in the parentheses):

  • “They did it because they don’t care about anything.” (And you don’t seem to give a rat’s rear end about understanding why they did it.)
  • “They deserved all the bad stuff they received.” (And you don’t?)
  • “The only reason they got the job to begin with is because of their connections.” (I didn’t realize that you are all-seeing, like God)
  • “You don’t know what you’re talking about!” (Maybe, but neither do you.)
  • “The rain is terrible.” (That’s your assessment. But it isn’t the local farmer’s assessment of the rain. He thinks it’s wonderful.)

Judgmentalism is the tendency to make quick and excessively critical judgments of others, especially moral judgments which characterize another’s thinking or way of being as immoral, unethical, monstrous, and/or harmful.

Our human judgmentalism of one another tends to detract from the sort of judgment we ought to be paying attention to.

Ultimately, none of us sits as Judge to arbitrate what who deserves punishment, or not. That is the job of Judge Jesus. So, when the true judge speaks, it behooves us to listen and follow through with what he (Christ) says about upcoming divine judgment.

When Jesus said his words of Jerusalem’s impending destruction, he was making it clear that these would be days of God’s vengeance, of divine judgment against the people. It would not last forever, because the wrath of God never does.

Yet, judgment is imminent. God will not let times of injustice, unrighteousness, and hatred last without end.

Therefore, Jesus was warning his disciples, and all who would follow him, about how they are to live while they await the end of all things.

We are not to be led astray, and be fooled by anyone who claims the name of Christ, yet lives like a devil. Unfortunately, some will foolishly succumb to falsehood. Everyone will suffer in some way.

Believers are to be watchful and prayerful. This is not passivity on our part, but actively putting a great deal of energy into becoming wise and interceding on behalf of others.

If we cannot sit still in silence, in contemplative prayer, for even 20 minutes, then we have a problem. It will be quite difficult to discern the good, right, and just.

If we cannot go half the day without making a judgmental statement about another person, then we have an addiction which needs to be broken.

If we continue to have reasons why we cannot (and therefore will not) read or listen to Holy Scripture, especially the New Testament Gospels of Jesus, then we are likely following someone else other than Christ.

If we keep moaning about the state of the world, the problems in our families, and all the local issues of our communities, then it is imperative that we come back to examining the words and ways of Jesus and deal with our own junk, instead lamenting everyone else’s.

If you know how to prepare for a zombie apocalypse, a new movie that’s coming out, or a birthday party for someone, but don’t have any idea about how to make life preparations for a coming disaster (let alone your own eventual death) then the last thing that ought to be happening is judging another person for anything at all.

You’ve got some work to do to get ready for the coming of Christ.

“Let us be alert to the season in which we are living. It is the season of the Blessed Hope, calling for us to cut our ties with the world and build ourselves on this One who will soon appear. He is our hope—a Blessed Hope enabling us to rise above our times and fix our gaze upon Him.”

A.W. Tozer

It’s possible that you may want to judge me for saying not to be judgmental. It’s happened more than once in my life. Yet, if we can learn to distinguish between the person and the behavior, then we can deal with unjust behavior, and leave any condemnation of the person to God.

If ever we struggle to know what to do, one can never go wrong with showing grace.

Gracious God, I repent for being quick to pass judgement both in speech and thought. For every time my words or actions of judgment and condemnation have hurt someone, I repent. Lord, I pray that I will not focus on the faults or shortcomings of others. Help me to see others through the eyes of grace. Amen.