Judgment

Judgment as well as mercy is an element of the name of Yahweh. The word judgment is used in more than one sense in the Scripture. It is used in the sense of discriminating and deciding between right and wrong; between truth and error. It is also used to denote the visitation of the wrath of God; also His righteous statutes and commandments.

In the sense first mentioned, the Psalmist prays unto the Lord, saying, “Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy commandments” (Ps. cxix. 66). And Jehovah said concerning Abraham: “I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him” (Gen. xviii. 19).

A notable instance of the exercise of the kind of judgment here referred to, is found in King Solomon’s adjudication upon the case of the two women who brought their difficulties before him. The effect of his wonderful power of discernment in discriminating between the right and the wrong, is thus stated: “And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king; for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to do judgment” (1 Kings iii. 28).

In the sense of the righteous statutes and commandments of Jehovah we find ample illustration of the use of the word judgment in connection with the laws and ordinances given through Moses to the children of Israel. Exodus xxi. begins thus: “Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.” And after the Lord had communicated a number of statutes and laws and ordinances unto Moses for the guidance of His people Israel, “Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the Lord hath said will we do” (Ex. xxiv. 3). The Psalmist, therefore, in exhortation says: “Remember his marvellous works that he hath done: his wonders and the judgments of his mouth” (Ps. cv. 5). Presenting his supplications before Jehovah, he saith: “Great are thy tender mercies, O Lord: quicken me according to thy judgments.” …. “Seven times a day do I praise thee, because of thy righteous judgments” (Ps. cxix. 156-164); “God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day” (Ps. vii. 11).

Judgment, in the sense of the execution of the wrath of Deity, appears in the following testimony, wherein Yahweh saith: “If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me. I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh: and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy.” That the judgments of Yahweh will end in the revealing of His goodness and mercy, is shown in the next verse: “Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people; for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land and to his people” (Deut. xxxii. 41-43). “For the Lord shall judge his people” (ver. 36).

In the Song of Moses he celebrates the triumph of Jehovah over Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and testifies concerning His character as a warrior, saying, “Yahweh is a man of war: Yahweh is his name” (Ex. xv. 3). The day of judgment which is in the future, will reveal the fulfilling of the testimony recorded in Deut. xxxii., and the fuller manifestation of Yahweh as “a man of war.”

The prophet Isaiah bears testimony in harmony with that of Moses; he saith: “Behold, the name of the Lord cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire …. And the Lord shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones. For through the voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian be beaten down, smote with a rod” (Isa. xxx.).

When the outpouring of the judgments shall be ended, the time of blessing will come upon Israel and upon the nations who are called upon to “rejoice with his people.” For thus saith the prophet Isaiah: “And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you: and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him. For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry: when he shall hear it, he will answer thee” (ch. xxx. 18).

The judgments of this prophecy, we are instructed, will be fulfilled through One who is designated, “The Name of the Lord, coming from far.” The New Testament Scriptures unfold the mystery, and tell us plainly that “the Father hath committed all judgment unto the Son,” …. “And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man” (John v.).

The apostle Paul, comforting the people of God, who endured much tribulation and persecution for the name of Jesus, says: “And to you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels; the flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power: when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe, because our testimony among you was believed in that day” (2 Thess. i. 7-10).

Speaking prophetically concerning the King who will administer the righteous judgments of Yahweh in the Age to come, the Psalmist saith: “Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the King’s Son. He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment” (Ps. lxxii.).