A Second Look at “Judgment is Coming”

You hear it all the time: Judgement is Coming! Repent! A fiery preacher proclaiming,

God will judge America for legalizing abortion.

God will judge America for banning the Bible and prayer from school.

God will judge America for immorality, especially homosexuality.

God will judge America for unjust wars.

God will judge America for racism.

God will judge America for whatever you dislike most about America.

Just last week I saw a man standing on the corner of a bustling street in Tacoma, Washington, wearing a sandwich board sign with a bullhorn in hand calling out to all passers-by to repent because the judgment of God is coming.

I, for one, do not relish the thought of God’s judgment. It is, after all, “a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31, ESV). It is bothersome that some relish the thought of judgment. They seem to be thinking, “I am looking forward to God dealing with all the stuff about you I do not like.”

Lately, I have been taking a second look at the judgment of God: What is the judgment of God? Why does judgment come? When judgment comes, what does it look like?”

Our images of the judgment of God primarily drawn from two sources, the Book of Revelation and Dante’s Divine Comedy, especially part one: Inferno. The Book of Revelation is in the Bible; Dante’s Inferno is not. Dante’s Divine Comedy was completed in AD 1320.

In the Book of Revelation, we see horrible judgments being poured out on an unrepentant world. These images are horrifying. Hollywood has yet to top the seven seals (Rev. 6:1-8:5), the seven trumpets (Rev. 8:6-11:19), and the seven bowls (Rev. 15:1-19:6). Just mention the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and some people shudder.

The judgments mentioned in Revelation are so overwhelming we run the risk of missing their point, which is repentance.

Repentance is mentioned at least ten times in Revelation. In six of the instances, the call to repentance is to the church (Revelation 2:5, 16, 21, 22; 3:3, 19). The other four times the word is used speaks to the people’s response to God’s judgment:

“The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.” (Revelation 9:20–21, ESV)

“They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory. The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds.” (Revelation 16:9–11, ESV)

“They did not repent…”

God, speaking through the prophet Ezekiel, says, “Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?” (Ezekiel 33:11, ESV)

God’s judgments are not expressions of hopelessness; they are expressions of hope. God is saying in judgment, “If you will but turn from your wicked ways I will turn and heal you.”

God’s judgments are His roadblocks on our path to self-destruction.

God is trying to stop you from destroying yourself.

God’s judgment comes to slow you down in your stubborn headlong pursuit of your own way.

Judgement is God’s way of saying, “Slow down, think about what you are doing: This will not end well for you. Please, turn around because where you are going will destroy you.”

If we persist, if we insist on our own way, God will unleash the most fearful of all judgments: He will let us have what we are pursuing.

Listen to God’s Wisdom in Proverbs:

“Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you. Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded, because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you, when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof, therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.” (Proverbs 1:20–31, ESV)

Let that last sentence sink in:

“Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof, therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.”

While taking a second look at the judgment of God, I started asking myself, “If God were to do this to us, what would it look like?” “If God turned America over to what it is pursuing, what would that look like?”

Here are some things I began to consider:

Let us say in pursuit of our agenda we sacrifice truth; we sacrifice our belief in the power of moral character, honesty, and personal responsibility in order to gain power.

Let us say we have delighted in scoffing and mockery for so long we no longer believe in any truth but our own. Lying becomes acceptable and expected. Eventually, people begin to think professional wrestling is real and news is fake.

Let us say we now actually hate knowledge and even facts no longer matter. All objectivity is thrown out while we pile up for ourselves commentators who tickle our ears and feed our delusions. Anything goes as long as the economy is doing OK.

And let us say that the salt of the earth and the light of the world loses its saltiness and turns off its light.

And let us say we have been heading down this path for a long time and we have refused to turn around. If God were to “turn us over” to what we are pursuing, what would that look like?

Would we end up looking like a reality show? Would those who claim to have the moral high ground actually participate in the destruction of public truth and character? Would those who stood against government oppression and censorship begin to oppress and censor? Would we begin to throw up our hands in surrender to confusion because we can never really know what the truth is? And would we be OK with our condition as long as the economy is doing well?

If we reached this point, I would not say, “Judgement is coming,” I would say, “Judgement is here.”

Then I would say repentance is the place to start, “for the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17, NKJV)

I would then throw myself upon the God of all mercy who has promised, “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14, ESV)