The Judgement of God
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“The Judgement of God”
“For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples
to a pure speech,
that all of them may call upon the name of the Lord
and serve him with one accord.
From beyond the rivers of Cush
my worshipers, the daughter of my dispersed ones,
shall bring my offering.
“On that day you shall not be put to shame
because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me;
for then I will remove from your midst
your proudly exultant ones,
and you shall no longer be haughty
in my holy mountain.
But I will leave in your midst
a people humble and lowly.
They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord,
those who are left in Israel;
they shall do no injustice
and speak no lies,
nor shall there be found in their mouth
a deceitful tongue.
For they shall graze and lie down,
and none shall make them afraid.”
Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion;
shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
The Lord has taken away the judgments against you;
he has cleared away your enemies.
The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
you shall never again fear evil.
On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Fear not, O Zion;
let not your hands grow weak.
The Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival,
so that you will no longer suffer reproach.
Behold, at that time I will deal
with all your oppressors.
And I will save the lame
and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise
and renown in all the earth.
At that time I will bring you in,
at the time when I gather you together;
for I will make you renowned and praised
among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes
before your eyes,” says the Lord.
PRAY
The Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible defines Judgement this way…
Concept in Scripture closely related to the concept of God’s justice. In all his relationships God acts justly and morally. Human beings, created by God, are morally structured so that they may positively respond to God’s righteous demands in their lives. Divine judgment, involving God’s approval or disapproval upon each human act, is a natural consequence of the Creator-creature relationship between God and humanity. Thus judgment, simply defined, is the divine response to human activity. God the Creator must also be God the Judge. Since God is just, he responds with either punishments or rewards to what each person does. One’s moral accountability to God, a quality not shared by the rest of creation, is an essential ingredient of being created in God’s image. Creation in the divine image meant that God and man could communicate with each other in such a way that all people were able to understand God’s moral requirements and willingly respond to them.[1]
In the very beginning God pronounced a Judgement on Adam and Eve. He looked at them and said in Genesis 1:27-31
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Notice that throughout the process of Creation God looked at what He had created and said, “it is good,” But when He was done, when He had created something in His own image, something that was able to take dominion over creation, He said “it is very good.”
He made a judgement. As the ultimate moral authority over all things, He looked at the very thing He had created in His image, and after His likeness and made a judgement calling it VERY GOOD!
Too often we get judgment confused as a bad thing. That likely stems from our innate or instinctive desire to be comfortable. We see and think of judgement as something to be feared, but the reality is we make judgements all the time.
Every person here woke up this morning and made a judgement on what they were going to wear today. Granted, maybe you looked at the weather last night and made the judgement then. Regardless, we make decisions based on the information we have to work with.
But for the aforementioned reason of desiring comfort over ultimate good, we fear any kind of negative judgement that will require momentary (or even extended) discomfort or pain. We fear anything that will require introspection and potential change.
But, as I already stated, Judgement is guaranteed. Often times the negative judgement we receive is the very thing we need to grow, become better, and succeed in life!
In the book of Zephaniah, the prophet speaks of impending judgement on Jersualem, Judah, the enemies of God’s people, and as Zephaniah 3:6 says, “NATIONS.”
But the Holy Spirit doesn’t leave it with impending judgement, doom, and destruction. The final verses of chapter 3 speaks of conversion, joy, redemption, and restoration. The final verses of Zephaniah tell of the Fruits of Judgement.
What we have to understand first and foremost above all else is that…
God’s Mercy Is Central In His Judgement
With that said we understand that judgement, positive or negative, is to bring God’s purposes to light. In judgement He reveals His will. In judgement, He can guide us back to Himself.
I. God’s judgment fosters humility (3:9–12)
a. Zephaniah 3:9-12
“For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples
to a pure speech,
that all of them may call upon the name of the Lord
and serve him with one accord.
From beyond the rivers of Cush
my worshipers, the daughter of my dispersed ones,
shall bring my offering.
“On that day you shall not be put to shame
because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me;
for then I will remove from your midst
your proudly exultant ones,
and you shall no longer be haughty
in my holy mountain.
But I will leave in your midst
a people humble and lowly.
They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord,
b. Proverbs 16:18 God hates pride
Pride goes before destruction,
and a haughty spirit before a fall.
c. Prideful people try to explain away judgement. Azusa Street by Frank Bartleman talks about the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. School teachers, Politicians, Scientists, and even Pastors tried convincing people this WAS NOT God’s Judgement.
d. Malachi 4:1
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.
e. Matthew 5:3
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
II. God’s judgment promotes righteousness (3:13)
a. Zephaniah 3:13
those who are left in Israel;
they shall do no injustice
and speak no lies,
nor shall there be found in their mouth
a deceitful tongue.
For they shall graze and lie down,
and none shall make them afraid.”
b. Directed at Israel, but the theological principle/idea remains for us.
c. Zephaniah 2:7 (Probably won’t be a great end time revival) Righteousness will rest on the Remnant
The seacoast shall become the possession
of the remnant of the house of Judah,
on which they shall graze,
and in the houses of Ashkelon
they shall lie down at evening.
For the Lord their God will be mindful of them
and restore their fortunes.
i. Remnant “A portion of people left after a disaster, especially a disaster identified with divine judgement.” The Lexham Bible Dictionary.
d. 9/11 Promoted a momentary period of the appearance of righteousness as many do, but within a few short weeks the churches had cleared out.
III. God’s judgment results in praise (3:14–20)
a. Zephaniah 3:14-20
Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion;
shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
The Lord has taken away the judgments against you;
he has cleared away your enemies.
The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
you shall never again fear evil.
On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Fear not, O Zion;
let not your hands grow weak.
The Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival,
so that you will no longer suffer reproach.
Behold, at that time I will deal
with all your oppressors.
And I will save the lame
and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise
and renown in all the earth.
At that time I will bring you in,
at the time when I gather you together;
for I will make you renowned and praised
among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes
before your eyes,” says the Lord.
b. Philippians 4:4-7
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
IV. Applications
a. Pray for Judgement
i. You cannot fix what you don’t know is broken
b. Embrace Judgement when it comes.
c. SHARE JESUS!!!
d. Remember that Judgement is important for those whom God loves!!
i. Hebrews 12:6-11
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”
It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
[1]Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, “Judgment,” Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 1248.