The Judgment of God

Examples of the Canaanites and the Apostate Israelites

God's judgment is not a manifestation of His cruelty.
It is the execution of corrupt and harmful people and the severing of evil.

Can you recognize God's right to judge people?

Jas 4:12
12 One there is that is lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But you, who are you to be judging [your] neighbor?

Life is a gift from God to those who use it as something valuable.
What would the Giver of the gift of life do if people misused their lives and free will and created a society in which they enjoyed murder, rape, incest, animal slaughter, baby sacrifice, and doing idolatry and thought nothing of it?

God will put an end to such a society that is led by the perverted spirits of Satan and fallen angels.
The inhabitants of the land of Canaan created such a society.

And, it took hundreds of years for the depths of evil to reach their peak.
God foresaw this development and told Abraham his plan to terminate evil hundreds of years in advance.

Ge 15:16
16 But in the fourth (4th) generation they will return here, because the error of the Am′or‧ites has not yet come to completion.

The inhabitants of the land of Canaan fell into the same moral state as Sodom and Gomorrah, and it turned out to be that the land vomited them out.
Although Israel was used as God's executioner to destroy Canaanites, they too later committed the same sin on a national scale, and it tuned out to be that they were also vomited out of their land.

Le 18:1–30
1 And YHW (Yaho) continued to speak to Moses, saying: 2 "Speak to the sons of Israel, and you must say to them, 'I am YHW YOUR God.

3 The way the land of Egypt does, in which YOU dwelt, YOU must not do; and the way the land of Ca′naan does, into which I am bringing YOU, YOU must not do; and in their statutes YOU must not walk.

4 My judicial decisions YOU should carry out, and my statutes YOU should keep so as to walk in them. I am YHW YOUR God. 5 And YOU must keep my statutes and my judicial decisions, which if a man will do, he must also live by means of them. I am YHW.

6 "'YOU people must not come near, any man of YOU, to any close fleshly relative of his to lay bare nakedness. I am YHW.
7 The nakedness of your father and the nakedness of your mother you must not lay bare. She is your mother. You must not lay bare her nakedness.
8 "'The nakedness of your father's wife you must not lay bare. It is your father's nakedness.
9 "'As for the nakedness of your sister, the daughter of your father or the daughter of your mother, whether born in the same household or born outside it, you must not lay bare their nakedness.
10 "'As for the nakedness of the daughter of your son or the daughter of your daughter, you must not lay bare their nakedness, because they are your nakedness.
11 "'As for the nakedness of the daughter of your father's wife, the offspring of your father, she being your sister, you must not lay bare her nakedness.
12 "'The nakedness of your father's sister you must not lay bare. She is the blood relation of your father.
13 "'The nakedness of your mother's sister you must not lay bare, because she is a blood relation of your mother.
14 "'The nakedness of your father's brother you must not lay bare. You must not come near his wife. She is your aunt.
15 "'The nakedness of your daughter-in-law you must not lay bare. She is your son's wife. You must not lay her nakedness bare.
16 "'The nakedness of your brother's wife you must not lay bare. It is your brother's nakedness.
17 "'The nakedness of a woman and her daughter you must not lay bare. The daughter of her son and the daughter of her daughter you must not take in order to lay her nakedness bare. They are cases of blood relationship. It is loose conduct.
18 "'And you must not take a woman in addition to her sister as a rival to uncover her nakedness, that is, besides her during her lifetime.
19 "'And you must not come near a woman during the menstruation of her impurity to lay her nakedness bare.
20 "'And you must not give your emission as semen to the wife of your associate to become unclean by it.
21 "'And you must not allow the devoting of any of your offspring to Mo′lech. You must not profane the name of your God that way. I am YHW.
22 "'And you must not lie down with a male the same as you lie down with a woman. It is a detestable thing.
23 "'And you must not give your emission to any beast to become unclean by it, and a woman should not stand before a beast to have connection with it. It is a violation of what is natural.

24 "'Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, because by all these things the nations whom I am sending out from before YOU have made themselves unclean. 25 Consequently the land is unclean, and I shall bring punishment for its error upon it, and the land will vomit its inhabitants out.

26 And YOU yourselves must keep my statutes and my judicial decisions, and YOU must not do any of all these detestable things, whether a native or an alien resident who is residing as an alien in YOUR midst. 27 For all these detestable things the men of the land who were before YOU have done, so that the land is unclean. 28 So, don’t be vomited out from the land for polluting it, as the people did whom I’m driving away.

29 In case anyone does any of all these detestable things, then the souls doing them must be cut off from among their people. 30 And YOU must keep YOUR obligation to me not to carry on any of the detestable customs that have been carried on before YOU, that YOU may not make yourselves unclean by them. I am YHW YOUR God.'"

1Ki 14:21-24
21 As for Re‧ho‧bo′am the son of Sol′o‧mon, he had become king in Judah. Forty-one years old Re‧ho‧bo′am was when he began to reign, and seventeen years he reigned in Jerusalem, the city that YHW had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there. And his mother's name was Na′a‧mah the Am′mon‧it‧ess. 22 And Judah went on doing what was bad in the eyes of YHW, so that they incited him to jealousy more than all that their forefathers had done by their sins with which they sinned. 23 And they too kept building for themselves high places and sacred pillars and sacred poles upon every high hill and under every luxuriant tree. 24 And even the male temple prostitute proved to be in the land. They acted according to all the detestable things of the nations whom YHW had driven out from before the sons of Israel.

2Ch 28:3
3 And he himself made sacrificial smoke in the valley of the son of Hin′nom and proceeded to burn up his sons in the fire, according to the detestable things of the nations that YHW had driven out from before the sons of Israel.

Ps 106:34-38
34 They did not annihilate the peoples,
As YHW had said to them.
35 And they went mingling with the nations
And took up learning their works.
36 And they kept serving their idols,
And these came to be a snare to them.
37 And they would sacrifice their sons
And their daughters to demons.
38 So they kept spilling innocent blood,
The blood of their sons and their daughters,
Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Ca′naan;
And the land came to be polluted with bloodshed.

Eze 9:9-10
9 So he said to me: "The error of the house of Israel and Judah is very, very great, and the land is filled with bloodshed and the city is full of crookedness; for they have said, 'YHW has left the land, and YHW is not seeing.' 10 And as for me also, my eye will not feel sorry, neither shall I show compassion. Their way I shall certainly bring upon their own head."

There is no reason to doubt the correctness of God's standards.
Judgment according to that righteous standard will be fair and beneficial to all involved.

When evil spirits and those who are led by them are removed, there will be no victims being tormented by them.

Currently, Satan's world is accelerating its corruption toward the peak of its evil.
For that reason, many victims are shedding tears today.
This situation will continue until the judgment on the “Day of the Lord” when Christ returns.

All the sons of the kingdom will be gathered by angels into heaven either from the four corners of the earth or through the first resurrection to join the Christ in his judgment. It will be the time when the head of Satan and his seed will be crushed, and all evil will be judged and receive its due.

So the Canaanites and apostate Israelites were not ordinary sinners.
It is not humans who judge such evildoers.
It is a judgment that only God, who examines the heart and the kidneys, and precisely know how to reset sinners can make.
There is no valid reason to doubt the legitimacy of that judgment.

God delivers the righteous.

The lesson from the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah is that God rescues righteous ones.

Ge 18:32
32 Finally he said: "May YHW, please, not grow hot with anger, but let me speak just this once: Suppose ten (righteous ones) are found there." In turn he said: "I shall not bring it to ruin on account of the ten."

In fact, there were fewer than ten righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah.
So YHW God sent angels to rescue Lot and his family.
On the way to rescued, Lot's wife lost her life.
YHW God's love and righteousness are eternal and unchanging.

2Pe 2:4-10
4 Certainly if God did not hold back from punishing the angels that sinned, but, by throwing them into Tar′ta‧rus, delivered them to pits of dense darkness to be reserved for judgment; 5 and he did not hold back from punishing an ancient world, but kept Noah, a preacher of righteousness, safe with seven others when he brought a deluge upon a world of ungodly people; 6 and by reducing the cities Sod′om and Go‧mor′rah to ashes he condemned them, setting a pattern for ungodly persons of things to come; 7 and he delivered righteous Lot, who was greatly distressed by the indulgence of the law-defying people in loose conduct- 8 for that righteous man by what he saw and heard while dwelling among them from day to day was tormenting his righteous soul by reason of their lawless deeds- 9 YHW knows how to deliver people of godly devotion out of trial, but to reserve unrighteous people for the day of judgment to be cut off, 10 especially, however, those who go on after flesh with the desire to defile [it] and who look down on lordship.

Even if been raised amid wicked Canaanite customs, individuals could embrace the true worship of YHW God.

Rehab was a prostitute who became a worshipper of YHW.
Although Ruth was a Canaanite, she also became a worshipper of YHW.
These two women became the ancestors of Christ.

Biblical examples show that YHW God will never ignore those who love righteousness and seek God.
God knows how to save the righteous.
There is no validity or valid reason to doubt that.

God takes no delight in the death of sinners.

God's judgments, such as those of ancient Sodom and Gomorrah, can be regarded as a part of God's plan of salvation.
For God decides whether that destruction is a final judicial decision.
It is said that on God's Day of Judgment during Jesus' 1000-year reign, the people of Sodom and Gomorrah will be resurrected and given an opportunity to repent.

The examples of God's judgment in the Bible were events that occurred according to the circumstances at the time and God's purpose and will, and can be considered as a one stage in the process of God's salvation.

God does not delight in the death or perishing of sinners.
It is the same as God not wanting Adam and Eve to die (perish).
Adam and Eve reaped the consequences of their sin, but were given the hope of future salvation.

The same is true of those who were destroyed in God's past judgments. The people of Sodom and Gomorrah reaped the consequences of their sin in sudden destruction. However, they will be resurrected on the Millennium Judgment Day of Christ and given the opportunity to repent and live righteously.

Mt 10:14-15
14 Wherever anyone does not take YOU in or listen to YOUR words, on going out of that house or that city shake the dust off YOUR feet. 15 Truly I say to YOU, It will be more endurable for the land of Sod′om and Go‧mor′rah on Judgment Day than for that city.

Mt 11:20-24
20 Then he started to reproach the cities in which most of his powerful works had taken place, because they did not repent: 21 "Woe to you, Cho‧ra′zin! Woe to you, Beth‧sa′i‧da! because if the powerful works had taken place in Tyre and Si′don that took place in YOU, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes. 22 Consequently I say to YOU, It will be more endurable for Tyre and Si′don on Judgment Day than for YOU. 23 And you, Ca‧per′na‧um, will you perhaps be exalted to heaven? Down to Ha′des you will come; because if the powerful works that took place in you had taken place in Sod′om, it would have remained until this very day. 24 Consequently I say to YOU people, It will be more endurable for the land of Sod′om on Judgment Day than for you."

Eze 18:23
23 "'Do I take any delight at all in the death of someone wicked,' is the utterance of the Sovereign Lord YHW, '[and] not in that he should turn back from his ways and actually keep living?'

In the 8th century BC, God sent the prophet Jonah to Nineveh, the capital of the brutal Assyrian Empire, to warn of its impending destruction.
Jonah proclaimed in Nineveh, "In just forty days Nineveh will be overthrown."
The people of Nineveh, from the king to the common people, then put their faith in God and expressed their repentance by wearing sackcloth and fasting.
So God showed mercy and refrained from the intended destruction.

Jonah was displeased with God's treatment of Nineveh because the destruction he had proclaimed had not come to pass.
Jonah was concerned about his credit as a prophet so that he failed to recognize God's mercy toward the people.
So God gave Jonah a lesson about mercy. It shows that God has no pleasure in the death of sinners.

Jon 3:1-10
1 Then the word of YHW occurred to Jo′nah the second time, saying: 2 "Get up, go to Nin′e‧veh the great city, and proclaim to her the proclamation that I am speaking to you." 3 At that, Jo′nah got up and went to Nin′e‧veh in accord with the word of YHW. Now Nin′e‧veh herself proved to be a city great to God, with a walking distance of three days. 4 Finally Jo′nah started to enter into the city the walking distance of one day, and he kept proclaiming and saying: "Only forty days more, and Nin′e‧veh will be overthrown."

5 And the men of Nin′e‧veh began to put faith in God, and they proceeded to proclaim a fast and to put on sackcloth, from the greatest one of them even to the least one of them. 6 When the word reached the king of Nin′e‧veh, then he rose up from his throne and put off his official garment from himself and covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the ashes. 7 Furthermore, he had the cry made, and he had it said in Nin′e‧veh, by the decree of the king and his great ones, saying: "No man and no domestic animal, no herd and no flock, should taste anything at all. None should take food. Even water they should not drink. 8 And let them cover themselves with sackcloth, man and domestic animal; and let them call out to God with strength and come back, each one from his bad way and from the violence that was in their hands. 9 Who is there knowing whether the [true] God may turn back and actually feel regret and turn back from his burning anger, so that we may not perish?"

10 And the [true] God got to see their works, that they had turned back from their bad way; and so the [true] God felt regret over the calamity that he had spoken of causing to them; and he did not cause [it].

chap 4:1-11
1 To Jo′nah, though, it was highly displeasing, and he got to be hot with anger. 2 Hence he prayed to YHW and said: "Ah, now, O YHW, was not this an affair of mine, while I happened to be on my own ground? That is why I went ahead and ran away to Tar′shish; for I knew that you are a God gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abundant in loving-kindness, and feeling regret over the calamity. 3 And now, O YHW, take away, please, my soul from me, for my dying is better than my being alive."

4 In turn YHW said: "Have you rightly become hot with anger?"

5 Then Jo′nah went out of the city and sat down east of the city; and gradually he made for himself there a booth, that he might sit under it in the shade until he would see what would become of the city. 6 Accordingly YHW God appointed a bottle-gourd plant, that it should come up over Jo′nah, in order to become a shade over his head, to deliver him from his calamitous state. And Jo′nah began to rejoice greatly over the bottle-gourd plant.

7 But the [true] God appointed a worm at the ascending of the dawn on the next day, that it should strike the bottle-gourd plant; and it gradually dried up. 8 And it came about that, as soon as the sun shone forth, God also went on to appoint a parching east wind, and the sun kept striking upon the head of Jo′nah, so that he was swooning away; and he kept asking that his soul might die, and he repeatedly said: "My dying off is better than my being alive."

9 And God proceeded to say to Jo′nah: "Have you rightly become hot with anger over the bottle-gourd plant?"
At that he said: "I have rightly become hot with anger, to the point of death."

10 But YHW said: "You, for your part, felt sorry for the bottle-gourd plant, which you did not toil upon or make get big, which proved to be a mere growth of a night and perished as a mere growth of a night. 11 And, for my part, ought I not to feel sorry for Nin′e‧veh the great city, in which there exist more than one hundred and twenty thousand men who do not at all know the difference between their right hand and their left, besides many domestic animals?"

God does not want people to perish. God desires that evil will end not by destroying evildoers, rather by changing their minds and hearts to love righteousness, thereby eliminating evil.

Isa 55:6-7
6 Search for YHW, YOU people, while he may be found. Call to him while he proves to be near. 7 Let the wicked man leave his way, and the harmful man his thoughts; and let him return to YHW, who will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will forgive in a large way.

Ac 17:30
30 True, God has overlooked the times of such ignorance, yet now he is telling mankind that they should all everywhere repent.

unforgivable sins

Those who despise God's standards and mercy are committing a sin against God's Spirit, and there is no forgiveness for such.

Mt 12:31-32
31 "On this account I say to YOU, Every sort of sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the spirit will not be forgiven. 32 For example, whoever speaks a word against the Son of man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the holy spirit, it will not be forgiven him, no, not in this system of things nor in that to come.

2Pe 2:20-22
20 Certainly if, after having escaped from the defilements of the world by an accurate knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they get involved again with these very things and are overcome, the final conditions have become worse for them than the first. 21 For it would have been better for them not to have accurately known the path of righteousness than after knowing it accurately to turn away from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 The saying of the true proverb has happened to them: "The dog has returned to its own vomit, and the sow that was bathed to rolling in the mire." （The genuineness of repentance is tested by the way we live our lives afterward.）

He 6:4-6
4 For it is impossible as regards those who have once for all been enlightened, and who have tasted the heavenly free gift, and who have become partakers of holy spirit, 5 and who have tasted the fine word of God and powers of the coming system of things, 6 but who have fallen away, to revive them again to repentance, because they impale the Son of God afresh for themselves and expose him to public shame. （Counterfeit repentance and favoring lies and unrighteousness are not in harmony with the Spirit of God.）

Isa 26:10
10 Though the wicked one should be shown favor, he simply will not learn righteousness. In the land of straightforwardness he will act unjustly and will not see the eminence of YHW.

Re 22:14-15
14 Happy are those who wash their robes, that the authority [to go] to the trees of life may be theirs and that they may gain entrance into the city by its gates. 15 Outside are the dogs and those who practice spiritism and the fornicators and the murderers and the idolaters and everyone liking and carrying on a lie.'

There are those who are not in harmony with God's Spirit, such as an angel who has become Satan, angels who have left heaven and indulged in earthly pleasures, and wicked people who have suffered God's judgment. Those who do not abide in the truth but liking lies and pursue the desires of the flesh will commit the unforgivable sin and will come to their own end with the evil they have produced. Evil and lies cannot exist last longer.

Merciful ones coming out of the Great Tribulation

Satan's world, which has lasted for about 6,000 years since the time of Adam, will eventually experience great tribulation caused by wicked people and will be removed by Christ when he returns to judge them.

When the judgment of all mankind begins, who will receive God's mercy and survive the great tribulation?

Jesus' parable of the "sheep and goats" teaches us that it is the merciful people of the nations.

Even sinners, those guided by the voice of their conscience, loving honesty, and responding to the needs of others, will survive God's judgment.

Because man is made in the image of God, every man bears within him the image of God. Therefore, that inner ideal allows you to act like God. God will save those who behave just like God.

Mt 25:31-46
31 "When the Son of man arrives in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit down on his glorious throne. 32 And all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will put the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left.

34 "Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, YOU who have been blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for YOU from the founding of the world. 35 For I became hungry and YOU gave me something to eat; I got thirsty and YOU gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and YOU received me hospitably; 36 naked, and YOU clothed me. I fell sick and YOU looked after me. I was in prison and YOU came to me.'

37 Then the righteous ones will answer him with the words, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty, and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and receive you hospitably, or naked, and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to you?' 40 And in reply the king will say to them, 'Truly I say to YOU, To the extent that YOU did it to one of the least of these my brothers, YOU did it to me.'

41 "Then he will say, in turn, to those on his left, 'Be on YOUR way from me, YOU who have been cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. 42 For I became hungry, but YOU gave me nothing to eat, and I got thirsty, but YOU gave me nothing to drink. 43 I was a stranger, but YOU did not receive me hospitably; naked, but YOU did not clothe me; sick and in prison, but YOU did not look after me.' 44 Then they also will answer with the words, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you?' 45 Then he will answer them with the words, 'Truly I say to YOU, To the extent that YOU did not do it to one of these least ones, YOU did not do it to me.'

46 And these will depart into everlasting cutting-off, but the righteous ones into everlasting life."

Ro 2:14-16
14 For whenever people of the nations that do not have law do by nature the things of the law, these people, although not having law, are a law to themselves. 15 They are the very ones who demonstrate the matter of the law to be written in their hearts, while their conscience is bearing witness with them and, between their own thoughts, they are being accused or even excused. 16 This will be in the day when God through Christ Jesus judges the secret things of mankind, according to the good news I declare. （People are accurately judged by their own consciences—the image of God within them.）

Ga 6:7-9
7 Do not be misled: God is not one to be mocked. For whatever a man is sowing, this he will also reap; 8 because he who is sowing with a view to his flesh will reap corruption from his flesh, but he who is sowing with a view to the spirit will reap everlasting life from the spirit. 9 So let us not give up in doing what is fine, for in due season we shall reap if we do not tire out.

Ro 2:6-11
6 And he will render to each one according to his works: 7 everlasting life to those who are seeking glory and honor and incorruptibleness by endurance in work that is good; 8 however, for those who are contentious and who disobey the truth but obey unrighteousness there will be wrath and anger, 9 tribulation and distress, upon the soul of every man who works what is injurious, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who works what is good, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 11 For there is no partiality with God.

Mt 5:7
7 "Happy are the merciful, since they will be shown mercy.

Jas 2:13
13 For the one that does not practice mercy will have [his] judgment without mercy. Mercy exults triumphantly over judgment.

A great crowd of conscientious people of the nations, whom no one can number, shown mercy from YHW God for the mercy they are showing will survive the great tribulation.

Job's Mistake

In his suffering, Job failed to stand up for God's righteousness.
He could not defend God because he reasoned that suffering was from God.
However, he did not know that in reality, Job's suffering was caused by Satan and that he was a victim of Satan's evil personality test.

So he was corrected by God.

Job 40:6-8
6 And YHW went on to answer Job out of the windstorm and say:
7 "Gird up your loins, please, like an able-bodied man;
I shall question you, and you inform me.
8 Really, will you invalidate my justice?
Will you pronounce me wicked in order that you may be in the right?

After his conversation with God, Job gained a correct perspective of God.

Job 42:1-6
1 And Job proceeded to answer YHW and say:
2 "I have come to know that you are able to do all things,
And there is no idea that is unattainable for you.

3 'Who is this that is obscuring counsel without knowledge?'
Therefore I talked, but I was not understanding
Things too wonderful for me, which I do not know.

4 'Hear, please, and I myself shall speak.
I shall question you, and you inform me.'

5 In hearsay I have heard about you,
But now my own eye does see you.
6 That is why I make a retraction,
And I do repent in dust and ashes."

How can we, mere humans with limited knowledge and no way of examining the hearts or kidneys, judge the One who is perfect in knowledge and can examine the hearts and kidneys, as being evil, cruel, and inclined toward violence?

Can someone with limited vision who cannot see all the factors involved judge the Almighty as unjust based on one instance of God's dealings?
That is what he who became Satan did.

Starting with doubting the love and goodness of the Almighty, Satan belittled God to suit his own convenience. It would have been an excuse for his disrespect for God.

Therefore, we should not fall victim to shallow reasoning that belittles God and curse him based on just one aspect of his dealings with us.

Our heavenly Father is by no means wicked.
His judgment will be just, loving, and merciful, giving everyone involved due rewards.
Everyone will reap what he sows.

YHW (Yaho) God is not a self‐willed ruler, but the guarantor of our happiness.

Ps 19:7-11
7 The law of YHW (Yaho) is perfect, bringing back the soul.
The reminder of YHW is trustworthy, making the inexperienced one wise.
8 The orders from YHW are upright, causing the heart to rejoice;
The commandment of YHW is clean, making the eyes shine.
9 The fear of YHW is pure, standing forever.
The judicial decisions of YHW are true; they have proved altogether righteous.
10 They are more to be desired than gold, yes, than much refined gold;
And sweeter than honey and the flowing honey of the combs.
11 Also, your own servant has been warned by them;
In the keeping of them there is a large reward.