Why does Yahweh drown the world, destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, and swallow up large groups of Israelites during the wilderness wanderings? Were these incidents worse than what the Nazis and Communists committed in the last century?
What was it that inflamed the anger of Yahweh to personally extinguish these ancient miscreants and why doesn’t He act accordingly, today? Is He different, today?
If Yahweh is righteous, then He must judge. A judge may have mercy, but if they exercise only mercy, then there is no justice.
Elohim judges Adam and Eve and evicts them from the Garden. He does not do this in anger, rather He judges it is better for man to die and be resurrected in a new body than to live eternally in a sinful body. Adam and Eve must be separated from the Tree of Life for their own good (see my blog Tree of Life vs Everlasting Life).
Righteous judgment can only be made from an established standard and the equal and uniform enforcement of the standard is a measure of justice. We enter into contracts and treaties – demanding that the conditions of these instrument be adhered to, but not all standards are agreed upon arrangements.
A child does not ask to be born and it is not consulted when the parents decide upon the guidelines that must be followed in their home. When a parent judges that a child has broken the rules, then the parent disciplines the child to re-enforce them to the standard to be obeyed.
When a child plays in the street or with an electric socket, the parent may scold the child. Repetition of the offense may require more stern measures be taken – not out of anger, but out of a desire to ensure the child does not suffer serious injury or death.
Yahweh created life and set a standard for living it. We were not consulted, but as adults we are given the opportunity to embrace a covenant with the Creator. He has set a standard for life and for salvation and there is a consequence for refusing to follow those standards.
Not every bad thing that happens is Yahweh’s ‘righteous repercussion’. Many falsely blame the Father for the consequences of their own actions.
It was often said (and is probably still repeated) that, “HIV is God’s judgment on homosexuals”. This claim is ridiculous for several reasons:
- Some people who have never committed homosexuality have gotten HIV,
- Not all homosexuals get HIV, and
- Not all who get HIV die of AIDs.
If HIV is ‘god’s judgment’, then He is a poor and arbitrary judge.
Some desire an adrenaline rush by parachuting from a plane. To others, that’s not enough of a rush, so they BASE (Buildings, Antennas, Spans [bridges], and Earth) jump. BASE jumping is forty-three times more likely to result in death than is jumping from a plane (most-dangerous-sports-in-the-world). We have the freedom of our actions, but not of the consequences of them.
In the same way, promiscuous, homosexual behavior is the largest contributing factor to getting HIV, so the disease is largely conditional on human behavior rather than a heavenly transmitted judgment.
Driving a car has perils associated with it . . . driving drunk has numerous additional hazards. Our bad behavior has consequences, but not every time and not always to the same level.
When Yahweh destroyed the world by flood, the consequence was the same for all. He didn’t, however, decide one day that He needed to destroy the Earth and start over.
5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
Genesis 6:5-7
The Word tells us, in Genesis 6:3, that Yahweh will flood the Earth 120 years after He has rendered His judgment. Yes, time was needed for an ark to be built (estimated at 70 – 75 years), but it was also a time for mankind to repent of their wickedness if they so desired . . . which they did not.
Abram was promised that the land of Canaan would be given to his ancestors, but not for many hundreds of years. Why so long?
13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; 14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. 15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. 16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
Genesis 15:13-16
Yahweh did not condemn the Amorites to extinction, yet. They were given time to repent, which they did not do.
The same verses speak to the judging of Egypt (which is not named here). Yahweh decreed numerous plagues before he stuck down the first born. They had numerous opportunities to repent and did not.
One nation that did repent was Nineveh. Jonah was commanded by Yahweh to preach in Nineveh, but he didn’t want to because he knew of the prophecy that in the future, Nineveh would become great and defeat Israel.
Jonah boarded a ship that would take him away from Nineveh, believing he could hide from Yahweh and Nineveh would be destroyed because of their wickedness. When the ship he was on was besieged by a huge storm, Jonah convinced the folks onboard that he was the reason for the storm and that it would end if they threw him overboard – so they did.
The storm ceased and Jonah was swallowed by a whale that swam to Nineveh and vomited him up unto the beach three days later. Unlike the story of Pinocchio, it is impossible to survive even fifteen minutes inside a huge fish. Yeshua alludes to this when he refers to Jonah in Matthew 12:40.
4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. 5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
Jonah 3:4-5, 10
The consequence of sin is everlasting death, but, if you are still alive (hard for you to be reading this if you weren’t), then your sentence has not been finalized, yet. There is time, but no one knows how much time they have.
21 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. 22 All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. 23 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?
Ezekiel 18:21-23
Sin (lawlessness) hurts the sinner and, collaterally, the believers. This is why Paul tells the believers to excommunicate unrepentant sinners in their community (1Corinthians 5). Failure to judge signals that the community acquiesces to the sin, making it more likely to be repeated by others.
His anger against those that violate His Law will not be restrained indefinitely. Repent while there is time (see my blogs, Born Again? and Born Again, Part 2).
If you love people, do not encourage them to sin. It is not “courageous” to commit sin. It is not okay to premeditatedly kill ‘a clump of tissue’. It is not praiseworthy to celebrate pagan festivals by claiming they are somehow linked to Jesus (see my blog, Really Awful Worship).
We are to judge each other (anyone who tells you, “only God can judge me”, is ignoring the numerous scriptures that command us to judge and is probably doing something they know is wrong) to the standard of the Word – not for condemnation, but to reclaim a lost soul.
24 But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die. 25 Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal? 26 When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die. 27 Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. 28 Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.
Ezekiel 18:24-28, 32
Turn – live.
If you are unaware of Yahweh’s standards (unfortunately, an overwhelming number of Christian churches do not teach the Torah in favor of a blasphemy called “dispensationalism”), I have written an easy reference guide that you may find useful.
GRAFTED: Embracing Torah is not a substitute for you delving into the Word for yourself, but it can kick-start your studies.