The Investigative Judgment
One of the arguments against a heavenly investigative judgment is that God is omniscient and already knows everything; hence, there is no need for a final investigation before Jesus comes to give every man his reward according to his deeds. But consider the following scenarios where someone might think that God did not know everything.
“And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?” (Gen. 3:9).
“And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.” (Gen. 11:5,6).
“And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto Me; and if not, I will know.” (Gen. 18:20,21).
The Lord, the Omniscient One, came down to Sodom to apparently see whether or not it was true what He knew to be true. Did the Lord not know the condition of Sodom and Gomorrah? Yes, “The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth.” (2Chron. 16:9). So why did He even come down then, if He already knew what they were doing?
Did He know of the apostasy in the plain of Shinar under Ham, Cush, and Nimrod? Did He know that Adam had fallen into the ranks of Lucifer’s rebellion, or of his whereabouts in his garden home? Yes, to all the above questions. Why did He talk as if He didn’t know?
To satisfy every claim made by the adversary, He must come in person to witness for Himself; in the sight of the on-looking angelic hosts and the sinners of Earth who would afterward read of this, they must all know, as they witness and record, that it is appropriate and timely for the Lord to destroy sin, the work of Satan. It was for the benefit of the angelic hosts whose work it is to record the deeds of sinful mankind, and also for man’s sake who needs to be convicted of his sin. The question to Adam evoked a sudden shock throughout his being. Thus, he was ready to repent and be spared total destruction. We see the Lord God’s fairness in that He witnesses rebellion in person before He makes use of divine discipline. It is in mercy to us, who learn of His divine wrath and naturally have an ear to Satan’s suggestions, that the Lord establishes an investigation before He executes justice on others.
The Lord is omniscient. He “knoweth them that are His.” “Yea, He loved the people; all His saints are in Thy hand.” (2Tim. 2:19;Deut. 33:3).
However, “there are certain men crept in unawares,” “false brethren unawares brought in.” (Jude 4;Gal. 2:4). As with the world, so in the church—all that glitters is not gold.
Once saved, not necessarily always saved. “But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation….
Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee….
For their rock is not as our Rock.” (Deut. 32:15,18,31).
Jesus said,
“But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.” (Matt. 13:25,26).
As we all know, the followers of Satan are within the camp of Christ’s followers. All four plots of ground received the seed of God’s word. But three out of the four did not remain faithful. Thus, the need to separate the wheat from the tares, the sheep from the goats. “Therefore thus saith the Lord God unto them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle.” (Ez. 34:20). And for the sake of the angelic jury, God opens the books for all to see why some in the Book of Life are destroyed, while some are spared.
As we see in the vision of Ezekiel 9, an investigative judgment was done before any execution of those whom God already knew were ripe for judgment. An investigation preceded all other execution of divine wrath. Why should it not precede the final conflagration of the ages?
“Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt:
And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.” (Is. 13:7-11).
As He gave the antediluvian world 120 years of Noah’s warning of destruction by flood, so today during this final investigative judgment, God has given the world the message of warning, “Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come.” (Rev. 14:7).
All who will fear Him and let His Spirit convert and cleanse them, will find His pity that will protect them on the day He judges the Earth. (Ps. 103:13). When He has completed His final investigation and atonement, and His character is perfectly reproduced in His children, then He will come and claim them as His own.
“And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?” (Gen. 3:9).
“And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.” (Gen. 11:5,6).
“And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto Me; and if not, I will know.” (Gen. 18:20,21).
The Lord, the Omniscient One, came down to Sodom to apparently see whether or not it was true what He knew to be true. Did the Lord not know the condition of Sodom and Gomorrah? Yes, “The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth.” (2Chron. 16:9). So why did He even come down then, if He already knew what they were doing?
Did He know of the apostasy in the plain of Shinar under Ham, Cush, and Nimrod? Did He know that Adam had fallen into the ranks of Lucifer’s rebellion, or of his whereabouts in his garden home? Yes, to all the above questions. Why did He talk as if He didn’t know?
To satisfy every claim made by the adversary, He must come in person to witness for Himself; in the sight of the on-looking angelic hosts and the sinners of Earth who would afterward read of this, they must all know, as they witness and record, that it is appropriate and timely for the Lord to destroy sin, the work of Satan. It was for the benefit of the angelic hosts whose work it is to record the deeds of sinful mankind, and also for man’s sake who needs to be convicted of his sin. The question to Adam evoked a sudden shock throughout his being. Thus, he was ready to repent and be spared total destruction. We see the Lord God’s fairness in that He witnesses rebellion in person before He makes use of divine discipline. It is in mercy to us, who learn of His divine wrath and naturally have an ear to Satan’s suggestions, that the Lord establishes an investigation before He executes justice on others.
The Lord is omniscient. He “knoweth them that are His.” “Yea, He loved the people; all His saints are in Thy hand.” (2Tim. 2:19;Deut. 33:3).
However, “there are certain men crept in unawares,” “false brethren unawares brought in.” (Jude 4;Gal. 2:4). As with the world, so in the church—all that glitters is not gold.
Once saved, not necessarily always saved. “But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation….
Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee….
For their rock is not as our Rock.” (Deut. 32:15,18,31).
Jesus said,
“But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.” (Matt. 13:25,26).
As we all know, the followers of Satan are within the camp of Christ’s followers. All four plots of ground received the seed of God’s word. But three out of the four did not remain faithful. Thus, the need to separate the wheat from the tares, the sheep from the goats. “Therefore thus saith the Lord God unto them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle.” (Ez. 34:20). And for the sake of the angelic jury, God opens the books for all to see why some in the Book of Life are destroyed, while some are spared.
As we see in the vision of Ezekiel 9, an investigative judgment was done before any execution of those whom God already knew were ripe for judgment. An investigation preceded all other execution of divine wrath. Why should it not precede the final conflagration of the ages?
“Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt:
And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.” (Is. 13:7-11).
As He gave the antediluvian world 120 years of Noah’s warning of destruction by flood, so today during this final investigative judgment, God has given the world the message of warning, “Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come.” (Rev. 14:7).
All who will fear Him and let His Spirit convert and cleanse them, will find His pity that will protect them on the day He judges the Earth. (Ps. 103:13). When He has completed His final investigation and atonement, and His character is perfectly reproduced in His children, then He will come and claim them as His own.
posted by David | 10:40 AM
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