“Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” —1 Peter 4:16-17 KJV.
WHAT DOES JUDGEMENT ENTAIL?
The Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary states that it is the process of forming an opinion or evaluation by discerning or comparing; or the formal utterance of an authoritative opinion; or the formal decision given by a court. You see judgement all around us, especially America. As it states in Ecclesiastes 1:2-9, actions being misconstrued as evil for good and vice-versa is what the world population is undergoing. But, instead of judgement being fare and honest, it is corrupted. America use to be the land of the free and home of the brave; but, slowly but surely, it was replaced by a tyranical section of the government under the guise of a health pandemic in 2020. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ method of communicating this health scare was that they used a variety of techniques, but most effective was social media and the “news.” Now, America is mainly the land of fear and government obedience.
GOD USES MINOR JUDGEMENTS ON EARTH BEFORE THE ULTIMATE JUDGEMENT IN HEAVEN
“For thus saith the LORD (YHWH) of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye caused to be dreamed. For prophesy falsely unto you in My name: I have not sent them, saith the LORD (or YHWH). For thus saith the LORD (YHWH), That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform My good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD (YHWH), thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon Me, and ye (all of you, you’s guys, or y’all) shall go and pray unto Me, and I shall hearken unto you. And ye shall seek Me and find Me when ye shall search for Me with all your heart“ — Jeremiah 29:8-13 KJV.
There’s a lot in this little passage of scripture, I am going to try and explain a few. First of all, it was written to the Israelites who were captive in Babylon, but can the crust of what it says be applied to us today? We’re somewhere in a cycle as Ecclesiastes 1:2-11 so eloquently puts it. And I think you would all agree that we are living in this time again. Don’t you think? “let not your prophets & your diviners that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken unto your dreams which ye caused to be dreamed for they prophesy falsely unto you in My name.”
Here is another set of truths from the Bible:
“For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.”
Exodus 12:12 KJV
This was a time in which Moses and Aaron, representing the Israelites before Pharaoh, were still in Egypt. Over two hundred years past when Moses and Aaron were chosen by God. The memory of Joseph was long gone in Egypt so the Israelites found themselves under Moses’ younger brother, Pharaoh Ramses. See, Moses was found in the Nile River by pharaoh’s daughter and she chose to adopt Moses (which means “drew from the water”) into her family, a family of the leading authority figure, pharaoh’s family. However, after killing an Egyptian slave master for being harsh to an Israelite, he fled for forty years.
After forty years, God spoke to him out of a burning bush that wasn’t consumed. That is when Moses received instructions from God to go and rescue the Israelite people from under the tyrannical leadership of Pharaoh of Egypt. After nine plagues, things were coming to a point of no return under the leadership of Pharaoh Ramses in Egypt .
Did you know that each one of the plagues that struck Egypt was in correlation to what that “god” provided? Well, it was up to the tenth and final plague, and it is no coincidence that the final plague was the one where Egypt worshipped the deity gods of solar Ra, the mysterious god Amun, and the mother goddess of Isis – The highest deity was usually credited with the creation of the world and often connected with the life-giving power of the sun. Some scholars have argued, based in part on Egyptian writings, that the Egyptians came to recognize a single divine power that lay behind all things and was present in all the other deities. Yet they never abandoned their original polytheistic view of the world (wikipedia).
Wouldn’t you say that the LORD was with Israel, and judgement was executed upon Pharaoh Ramses and the Egyptian army given what happened to them in the Red Sea? Now, let’s take more Biblical examples.
“And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land. And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old. And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash. And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.” Judges 2:6-10 KJV
The generation after Joshua and the elders died, they started being lax — lax in fulfilling God’s command of writing His commands on their walls of their houses, talk about them with others, make notes all over yourself, etc., etc. Are you starting to draw a conclution? America is just like Israel, even though (in my perspective) we have done it a lot faster and better than the Israelites, to our shame. America is now the land of fear and the home of government obedience.
There were a total of fifteen Judges. You know of Gideon, Samson, and Debra. But you ever hear of the judge who made a promise to the Lord that if he’d won then he would sacrifice the first thing that would come out his door to the Lord? Just take a look at Judges 11:20-40 KJV as you know the first thing that came out his door? His only daughter. Like a good father, he fulfilled his promise to the Lord after letting the daughter go and celebrate for two months.
Like a good daughter she returned. She could have run away thus sparing her physical life, but she returned to make herself a sacrifice to Yahweh. I don’t think that I am to far off when I make this correlation: for I am sure that’s what Judge Jephthah and his daughter were thinking of when Abraham making a sacrifice of his son, Isaac, is similar to God the Father sending His Son down from heaven to earth to be a sacrifice to the Father.
The two months away for the daughter and then she returned to be a sacrifice for Yahweh correlates with with Jesus Christ’s time here on earth and His death on the cross. Or you don’t want to hear what happened to the concubine in Judges 19 (KJV) where a man sent his concubine’s pieces and parts to the twelve tribes but America has done worse with the sacrifice of aborted babies disguising it under women’s rights. But we’re all good. Right?
JESUS AND HIS CALL TO REPENTANCE
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”
JOHN 3:14-21 KJV
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness” let’s go back & look at it –
“Then they set out from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, in order to bypass the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient on the journey and spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you led us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food!” So the LORD sent venomous snakes among the people, and many of the Israelites were bitten and died. Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Intercede with the LORD so He will take the snakes away from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.” Numbers 21:4-9 KJV
So Moses interceded for the people. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live” (So Moses made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole. If anyone who was bitten looked at the bronze serpent, he would live. Thus it gives the same power when Moses was instructed by the Lord to the Son of man, the Son of God, Jesus Christ: “even so the Son of man must be lifted up: that whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever (how many? WHOSOEVER!) should believeth on Him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:15-16 KJV).
A COUPLE OF VERSES ON REPENTANCE
“Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death” (2 Corinthians 7:9-10 KJV).
According to the Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, repentance is ” the action or the process of repenting especially for misdeeds or moral shortcomings. Ok, what does repent mean? Repent means to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one’s life. What does amendment mean? Amendment means to make a correction. So, to give your life to Christ through repentance of your sins, you get the pleasure of being the LORD’s through the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit’s job is to constantly make you like Christ until you physically die. Then what’s the Holy Spirit’s job after you physically die? To keep us pure in heaven.
REVIVAL
Did you know there is one book in the Bible dedicated to revival? It is the whole book of Joshua. Throughout Joshua’s life, after Moses laid his hands on him to transfer the leadership of the people of Israel, God gave him some encouraging words:
“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest” (Joshua 1:8-9 KJV).
We want a revival that at least lasts as long as the revival led by Joshua unto the Lord for it says in Joshua 24:15 (KJV):
“And if it seem evil unto you who serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Ammorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD (YAHWEH).”
This proves my point:
“Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: For this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. Use hospitality one to another without grudging. As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:1-17 KJV).
● Gentiles is a common term in the Bible, and it is common for those who DON’T perform the will of God to referred to as Gentiles.
Sunday night, July 31, 2022, when the service was coming to a close, the pastor had us look up one last verse, Matthew 23:23-24 (KJV).
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.”
My title for this post is called Judgement, Repentance, and Revival; similar to that spoken by Jesus of judgement, mercy, and faith. We all don’t like judgement, but we need it or otherwise we would be like spoiled little children. We move on to repentance. Repentance is when you realize you have done something wrong and are willing to change direction or depart from it. That’s where mercy comes in. Mercy means to have compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender. That leaves us with the third part, revival and faith. You can’t have one without the other.
I JUST LOVE HOW SCRIPTURE EXPLAINS SCRIPTURE
The Assurance of Salvation – Pastor Norm Bennett
~ Darren L Beattie, The Soul Blogger of TrueLifeChristianity.com ~
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