The subject of God's judgment is a tricky one for Christians and as such it is often avoided - but what does Scripture teach us?

The subject of judgment is a tricky one for Christians and as such it is often avoided, lest we put people off God by positioning him as vindictive, just waiting for an opportunity to trap us in our errors and pour out his wrath.

The Bible teaches us that God is pure and holy and unable to compromise - yet also full of compassion and love. He will shake the nations if necessary - or leave us to our own devices, like the father in the parable of the prodigal son. Yet, also like this father, he mourns for his child and desires redemption and restored relationship.

Through a full and balanced reading of Scripture we come to know the emotions of our God that bring mercy balanced with justice in the context of judgments that can shock, punish, bless or restore individuals and nations.

Judgment in Hebrew: mishpat

When we talk of 'judgment', what do we actually mean? The Hebrew word for judgment is mishpat. It is a word with legal connotations, meaning a verdict (either favourable or unfavourable). Judgment of God is not only associated with woe and punishment – it can also be to do with blessing. Simply put, biblical 'judgment' refers to the judicial decisions God makes as he interacts with mankind. Our closest analogy is a court of law where a judge sums up the evidence and makes a decision concerning right and wrong, justice and mercy.

This, however, is an insufficient picture, because it sets God into a framework of constantly presiding over a law court. His relationship with mankind is deeper than that, being founded on pure love and desire for fellowship with the people he created. God as judge is active in his responses to the world situation - not passively judging from afar.

The Hebrew language is more verb-orientated than noun-orientated - the Hebrew words for judging and judgments imply action. Unlike human judges, who endeavour to stand back from the circumstances presented to them in order to make an impartial decision, God interacts with his creation with his own righteous agenda, working to bring about his own purposes.

Nevertheless, it is important for us to know that judgments of God can be favourable or unfavourable, depending on the circumstances of our walk with him.

God is active and involved in the world situation, not passively judging from afar.

Judges Appointed by Moses

God also gives his people some responsibility to make judgments themselves. For instance, Moses appointed judges. The Hebrew word for these judges is shophatim, derived from the same root word as mishpat. Exodus 18 contains the account of the appointment of these first judges from the elders of Israel.

Moses was to "teach them the statutes and laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do" (18:20) and the elders were to "judge the people at all times ...every small matter they shall judge...the hard cases they brought to Moses" (18:22, 26) who stood before God for the people (18:19).

Some disputes were to be settled as in a court of law, but this was just a part of the picture. The main purpose of the judges was to help the people of God to understand how to walk with him, according to his teaching (Torah). The picture is of people desiring to have a close walk with God and wanting to get it right. The elders settled the simpler interpretations of Torah and Moses, who was the intercessor for the people, took the hardest cases to God.

In Moses' time, judges were appointed to help the people understand how to walk closely with God. They wanted to get it right.

With this picture in the background, we can begin a balanced study of what else the Bible says about the judgments of God. We can also form an idea of God's vision for justice and mercy for all nations.

The Big Picture

God's first decision (judgment) regarding the world was to create it! Into the world he placed people with free wills. How he weighed up the risks and the consequences is not in our ability to understand, but his decision was made with the logic of Heaven.

The first consequential judgment came at the Fall, when God judged to send mankind forth from Eden into this imperfect world environment. Our need to struggle against sin and to experience sickness and all other evils is a consequence of God's judgment on Adam's and Eve's sin. Additionally, that same satan that tempted Adam in the Garden of Eden and Jesus in the wilderness (Matt 4) is allowed by God to tempt us too (James 1:13-15, 4:7-10, Luke 22:3, 22:31).

God has decided that this will remain the condition of the world until the time he returns and brings in a new heaven and a new earth, as described in the Book of Revelation. We may not understand this fully, but we must accept the nature of this world's imperfections, both physical and spiritual, and – crucially - discover God's purposes in them. Indeed, how mankind responds to these circumstances gives rise to further judgments from God.

The Great Flood

The Great Flood at the time of Noah indicates the seriousness of our need to seek God and follow his ways. The consequences of mankind using their free will to walk away from God brought the judgment of the Flood.

Yet what was in God's heart when he "was sorry that he had made man on the earth" (Gen 6:6)? Scripture says that "he was grieved" (Gen 6:6). This is the same God who looked on his creation and judged "that it was very good" (Gen 1:31). The judgments of God well up out of the emotions of his pure heart. The results can be catastrophic - but God suffers too.

God's judgments well up out of the emotions of his pure heart. The result might be catastrophic for humans – but God suffers too.

Covenants and Conditions

When God made covenants with Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David, and through Jeremiah, he established parameters for his judgments.

One of the 'biggest' words in the Bible is if. God's covenants with Noah and Abraham placed responsibility upon God himself. There were no ifs. God's decision (judgment) was to ensure seedtime and harvest for all generations so that he could draw a covenant family to himself, whatever it would take for him and for us to accomplish this.

Yet conditions for human beings were also made clear within this overall plan - especially in the covenant made with Moses – conditions not for ensuring its ultimate fulfilment (God's responsibility), but laying out the consequences for their obedience and disobedience within it. So, up until the coming of Messiah, Deuteronomy 27 and 28 were the conditions for God's covenant with Israel. These passages are full of ifs: blessings for obedience and consequences for disobedience.

Studied carefully, we can discern that God will bring about growing hardship for his people if they disobey the terms of the covenant, bringing initial signs in the physical environment and eventually, if necessary, even removing them for a time from their Promised Land. Later, the Prophets were sent to remind Israel of the covenant and interpret the signs of judgment around them (eg see Amos 4, which can be read alongside Deuteronomy 27 and 28).

In the Mosaic covenant God laid out conditions for his people – blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience.

Yet, always remember the heart of God for his people. It was not with a vindictive attitude that God sent his people to exile in Babylon. The tears of Jeremiah over fallen Jerusalem (read the Book of Lamentations!) are a prophetic insight into the sadness of God. This sadness can be contrasted with the joy of God over his people when his judgments have brought blessing (reflected wonderfully in many Psalms and in the Song of Songs).

Removing Protection

When God sent Israel into captivity, he took away the nation's protection and allowed their enemies to prevail. He always takes responsibility (read Habakkuk, for example); he ensured that those who were used to sift Israel were themselves to be judged (see, for example, Ezekiel 35). But this principle of taking away protection is a key to understanding many of God's corrective judgments in the world today, as well as in the history of Israel (eg Num 14:9; Ezra 9:9; Ps 64; Isa 25:1-4, 30:13).

If we reject the protection of God, or if he himself removes it, we are vulnerable to the dangers of the world and of our unseen spiritual enemies, and also the consequences of our own sin and foolishness.

The judgment of God, therefore, is often outworked when he takes his protection away, so that we discover our need of him. We are in a fallen world, subject to temptation and the results of evil all around – but remember that this is the world where God sent Adam and Eve because of their own rebellion against him. In a way, then, we can bring judgment on ourselves by rejecting the protection of God. This applies to belief in Jesus too, and the invitation to eternal life through faith in him (John 3:18).

Conditions for Israel

There is always a way back - even for a nation. It is not God's desire to punish, but to redeem. Solomon prayed to God when the Temple was consecrated; God answered and gave conditions for the restoration of Israel, even if they were scattered across the earth. The prayer and God's response (2 Chron 6-7) should be read in full - carefully.

There is always a way back – even for a nation. God's desire is not to punish, but to redeem.

The verse that is well-known is 2 Chronicles 7:14, "If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins and heal their land." The history of Israel (whether within God's blessings or curses) depends on their living by faith and obedience according to the Torah given through Moses. Yet, even at the extremity of God's judgments, God has covenant promises which means he will never abandon them completely.

Though the above show God's character, compassion and forgiveness and therefore give hope to any nation, the context of the passage is a promise directly for Israel as God's chosen nation. Sometimes we of another nation would like to read it as directly to us, but that would mean that we have a covenant with God like Israel has. We must not take this lightly or become fanciful and confused. The principles for any nation are found in Jeremiah 18.

Conditions for Any Nation

Jeremiah was shown at the potter's house that, like a potter re-modelling clay, God could re-model even a Gentile nation. The promise was similar to 2 Chronicles 7:14 but subtly different. We might think that we could read 2 Chronicles 7:14 as being that if Christians pray earnestly then God would heal their land. However, Jeremiah 18:7-10 requires that the nation as a whole repents and seeks God. Of course Christians can intercede, but ultimately the nation must come to God as a whole.

Rather than 2 Chronicles 7:14, it would be more realistic for Christians to place their hope in and quote "If that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring on it" (Jer 18:8).

Nevertheless, the God of judgment is also a God of redemption and signs of his judgment always come with hope. Indeed, we can see God's judgments as having the purpose of redemption, being designed to turn hearts back to him.

God's word contains promises of hope to both Israel and to Gentile nations – his judgments always have the purpose of redemption.

Favour Before Woe

This is "the year of the Lord's favour" (Isa 61:2; Luke 4:18-19) and not yet "the day of vengeance of our God" (Isa 61:2b). This is the period of God's covenant purposes when he is holding out a hand of mercy to all that will turn to him from any nation.

When this phase of God's purposes for redemption is over, his promised judgments will be termed woes because they will have the purpose of punishment rather than refinement. This is what we find in Revelation 18. Though this day will come we are not there yet! This is important to remember because the way we understand the judgments of God influences the way we understand his character.

Justice and Mercy

The weeping of Jeremiah over Jerusalem, recorded in the Book of Lamentations, is echoed in the weeping of Jesus over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41-44) and is to be borne in mind as we read Luke 21 and Matthew 24. The judgments of God, first on Jerusalem in 70 AD, and on Israel in exile since then, and the mighty signs and judgments in the world and on all nations are necessary. They are in the context of a gathering from all nations of God's covenant people as the Gospel goes out. James understood the balance in God's heart when he wrote "mercy triumphs over judgment" (James 2:13).

This points us to the Cross of Jesus Christ where, in the judgment of the Father, the Lord took all the pain of the sin of the world upon himself. (Selah – pause and reflect)

Furthermore, the immense happenings in this world described by Jesus in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21 are not so much judgments, but signs of the Lord's return (Matt 24:3). We draw near to the momentous climax of this world's existence – no wonder there is such a shaking! Such is needed to draw mankind's attention to God and his covenant purposes.

The immense shakings going on in the world are not so much judgments as signs of the Lord's return.

Without compromise God is moving through history, gathering his community who will experience the reverse of the Fall, whilst the wider consequences of human sin bring us to the climax of history - Jesus' return and God's final judgment of all people.

The Prophetic Task

So what is God doing and why? Well, we need only glance at current world affairs to know that God is not careless about our world and is working out his own purposes – including his chief goal of preparing a people of his own for the time of Jesus' return.

Though his ways are beyond our full understanding, we can gain insights that are sufficient for our day-to-day lives. Let us as a prophetic people be sure to understand the heart of our God so that we can truly understand the times and know what must be done.

Balaam: a biblical warning against mingling the exercise of spiritual gifts with unGodly living...

Balaam steps into the pages of Old Testament history at the request of Balak, king of the Moabites, at the time when the Children of Israel were on the point of moving into Canaan, the Promised Land. Like the inhabitants of Jericho, the Moabites had heard how Jehovah had rescued the Israelites from Egypt by drying up the Red Sea and by destroying Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings and - to quote the later words of Rahab the prostitute – "When we heard of it, our hearts sank and everyone's courage failed" (Josh 2:11).

It was because Balak and his people felt threatened by the proximity, strength and reputation of the Israelites that he sent a deputation to Pethor on the Euphrates to ask the well-known soothsayer Balaam if he would come and curse the children of Israel. In fact, Balak and his people need have had no such fear as Jehovah had given strict orders to Moses to pass through their country without hurting them in any way. It was a case of "there they were, overwhelmed with dread, when there was nothing to dread" (Psa 53:5).

Balak's request to Balaam

Balak, filled with fear, sent messengers to summon Balaam to come and curse Israel, in the belief that if the soothsayer did so the Moabite king would be able to defeat them and drive them out of his territory. The deputation brought with them the usual fee for Balaam's services (Num 22:1-7).

Balaam's reply was to give them overnight hospitality while he consulted Yahweh to discover whether it was right to go with these men on the long journey to where the Moabites and the Israelites were in close proximity on the east of the Jordan, where that river runs into the Dead Sea. The reply Balaam received from Jehovah was short but clear: "Do not go with them. You must not put a curse on them, because they are blessed" (Num 22:12). So the deputation returned to Balak and told him that Balaam had refused to come.

Convert to Yahweh

Before going further to discover what special understanding of prophetic character we may learn from the story of this strange man, we must come to terms with the fact that although Balaam was not numbered among the Children of Israel and indeed lived a long way from them, he had come to acknowledge Yahweh as the true God in a remarkable way.

The American scholar William F Albright, whose definitive work shed so much light on this era, described Balaam as "a north Syrian diviner from the Euphrates Valley...who became a convert to Yahwehism" (Journal of Biblical Literature, September 1944, p232).

There are elements in his way of doing things which are reminiscent of heathen divination (cf. Num 24:1), but it is clear beyond all doubt that Balaam knew the true God and could hear what he was saying.

Although Balaam was not an Israelite, and his ways incorporated elements of heathen divination, he had come to acknowledge Yahweh as the true God in a remarkable way.

A genuine prophet

The prophetic words of Balaam (which together number more than those written by the prophet Obadiah) were not the product of incantations or occultic rites, neither was he in any trance state when he spoke them; they were spoken directly under the direction of the Spirit of God (Num 24:2).

King Balak made three attempts at getting Balaam to curse the Israel people by taking him to different vantage points from which he could see less or more of their encampment (Num 22:41, 23:13, 23:27 and 24:2), but God caused Balaam to bless rather than curse them. Moses said that this was because the Lord loved them (Deut 23:5).

Evidence of genuine prophecy

We have already seen that the manner in which Balaam prophesied showed him to be a genuine prophet. To this we can add the testimony of the Bible writer as he reports the attitude of Balaam when he says; "I must speak only what God puts in my mouth...Must I not speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?...I must say only what the Lord says" (Num 22:38, 23:12 and 24:13).

The manner in which Balaam prophesied showed him to be a genuine prophet, speaking directly under the direction of the Spirit of God.

The writer himself records, "The Lord put a message in Balaam's mouth" (Num 23:5). The third line of evidence that Balaam was a genuine prophet may be seen in the subject matter of his prophesying, to which we now turn.

Balaam's four 'oracles'

Balaam spoke three oracles (an oracle means that which is spoken directly from God, see 1 Pet 4:11) in response to Balak's threefold request that Balaam should curse the Children of Israel (Num 23:7-10, 23:17-24 and 24:2-9). But instead of curses, on each occasion he blessed them. After these he added a fourth oracle describing how Israel would conquer her enemies, including Balak's own kingdom of Moab.

A short final oracle foretold the ruin of the Amalekites and the destruction of the Kenites. The reference to Asshur being subdued does not refer to Assyria, the mighty kingdom that conquered Israel in later years, but to an Arabian tribe (see Gen 25:3, 18 and Psa 83:8). This reference is therefore no evidence for the late dating of Balaam's story. As Albright (in the article noted above) says, "There is nothing in the matter of these poems which requires a date in the tenth century or later for original composition".

Theology of God

In his oracles Balaam refers to God as 'El' the mighty God, as 'Shaddai' the almighty provider, as 'Elyon' the supreme, and 'Melek' the King, and constantly calls him by his covenant name Jehovah or Yahweh. This reveals, for a heathen soothsayer, an amazing grasp of the nature of God.

He also makes a statement about the utter reliability of the God who keeps his promises, a passage that has brought untold reassurance to God's people in times of testing and doubt: "God is not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and then not fulfil?" (Num 23:19).

Israel's future

The Lion Handbook of the Bible is right in calling Balaam's words "a remarkable prediction of Israel's future" (p190). Balaam declares that Israel is a separated nation: "I see a people dwelling alone, who do not consider themselves one of the nations" (Num 23:9). Israel is unique in the purposes of God, with its religious rites, its diet and its destiny. Israel is to be numerous like the dust; as God said to Abram, "I will make your offspring like the dust of the Earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted" (Gen 13:16).

Israel will be victorious over all her enemies: "The people rise like a lioness; they rouse themselves like a lion that does not rest till he devours his prey" (Num 23:24). "Israel will grow strong" or, as some translators prefer, "Israel performs valiantly" (Num 24:18b).

For a heathen soothsayer, Balaam had an amazing grasp of the nature of God.

Balaam shows that the reason for these things is God's special care for her and her future. God acts on behalf of Israel (Num 23:23b). God rescued Israel from Pharaoh (Num 24:8). God's presence is with Israel (Num 23:21 b) and therefore she is protected and no sorcery or divination can hurt her (Num 23:23b). Misery and misfortune are not to be found in her borders (Num 23:21). Balaam draws our attention to God's people saying, "See what God has done!" (Num 23:23b).

The promised Messiah

Balaam is privileged to have his eyes opened to see the coming Messiah: "I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not close at hand. A star will come out of Jacob and a sceptre will rise out of Israel...a ruler will come out of Jacob" (Num 24:17, 19). Was it this prophecy of Balaam that was treasured in the East, that brought wise men to Bethlehem because of the sight of an unusual star over the land of Judea?

Universal condemnation

With so much about Balaam that was commendable, why is it that the scriptures of both Old and New Testaments are unanimous in their condemnation of him? We do not know all the reasons but Scripture gives us sufficient information to constitute a terrible warning to any who dare to combine the exercise of supernatural gifts with unholy living.

He is shown to be headstrong and persistently disobedient. When Balak's deputation asked Balaam to go to their king, Balaam was told categorically by the Lord; "Do not go with them!" (Num 22:12). Because of this he sent Balak's deputation back to Moab, refusing to accompany them. However, when a second deputation arrived consisting of a larger number of more distinguished princes (Num 22:15), instead of telling them that God had forbidden him to go, he began to slip, saying he would see whether perhaps God might have changed his mind! (Num 22:19). Remember, this was the prophet who had affirmed that God never did change his mind! (Num 23:19).

Recognising that Balaam was determined to go to Balak, God gave him permission (Num 22:20), but made it abundantly clear through an opposing angel and a speaking ass that he did not approve of Balaam's action (Num 22:21-35).

Though so much about Balaam was commendable, Scripture uses his example as a terrible warning against the exercise of supernatural gifts with unholy living.

Other passages of Scripture make it clear that there was a financial aspect to Balaam's sin. At first sight this is surprising when we remember that in answering Balak's second deputation Balaam had claimed, "Even if Balak gave me his palace filled with silver and gold I could not go" (Num 22:18). There are other Bible references however which accuse him of avarice, and Peter states that Balaam "loved the wages of wickedness" (e.g. Jude 11, 2 Pet 2:15). Matthew Henry in his famous commentary remarks, "We may here discern in Balaam a struggle between his convictions and his corruptions".

The third thing of which Balaam is accused in scripture is sexual immorality. No one would have suspected this had not the Bible made it clear that after his repeated refusal to curse Israel he joined himself to the Midianites and led them to corrupt Israel by blatant immorality (Num 25:1-9, Rev 2:14). The same passage in Revelation also accuses Balaam of idolatry in that he encouraged Israel to eat food sacrificed to idols.

Balaam is killed

In Balaam's first oracle he had expressed a wish concerning his death, which many people have echoed since that time: "Let me die the death of the righteous, and may my end be like theirs!" (Num 23:10b). Sadly, this was not to be his experience, for if we want to die the death of the righteous we must live the life of the righteous.

When the time came for Moses to take vengeance on the Midianites for the way they had corrupted Israel, they also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword (Num 31:1-8). Later on, when the time came to divide the Promised Land between the tribes, the record states: "the Israelites had put to the sword Balaam the son of Beor, who practised divination" (Josh 13:22).

If we want to die the death of the righteous, we must live the life of the righteous.

Not a false prophet but an unholy one

The story of this true prophet who lived an immoral life is a very strong warning to any who are manifesting prophetic or other supernatural gifts, but whose lives are at variance with the standards of Christ. Eagerness for financial remuneration and carelessness in the use of funds has wrecked the work of some whose words were irresistibly powerful.

Others have ended their effectiveness in ministry by wrong sexual relationships. Some have turned aside to the occult or to spiritualism, whilst many more have halted the power that once flooded through them by persistent disobedience.

By their fruits..!

Jesus said it was not by their gifts but by their fruit that we are to recognise those who are genuine (Matt 7:16). We reason that if people can hear God and bring a clear prophetic word, if they can bring an accurate word of knowledge or heal the sick, doesn't that prove they are living in a right relationship with God? The answer as seen in Jesus' words and Balaam's life is No! How tragic was the fall of Balaam!

People might hear God, bring clear prophetic words or words of knowledge, or heal the sick. That doesn't prove they are living in a right relationship with God.

How much more tragic is the fall of those who have much more light than Balaam had and yet whose spiritual gifts are not matched by holiness! Jesus said that many in that day will say to him, "Did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?" They like Balaam will merit the wrath of the Lamb and must at the last hear him say, "I never knew you!"

First published in Prophecy Today, Vol 3 No 3, May/June 1987.