God's Goodness and Love in the Judgment
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September 24, 2017 |
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Case 1. The first man Adam was sent out from the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2-3).
In God's wisdom, Human Cultivation, the project to gain true children, began.
The first man Adam enjoyed great authority and power in God's grace and love but he did not keep God's command telling him not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It is recorded in Genesis 2:16-17, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die."
Adam's disobedience severely broke the heart of God. It was just the same as Lucifer betrayed God. It caused great pain in God's heart, and through Adam, sin entered into all mankind. However, God did not let him die immediately but sent him to the earth and let him face death on the earth. It was an opportunity God gave him so that he could realize the true meaning of God's love, repent from his heart, and reach salvation.
God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife Eve who were sent out from the Garden of Eden due to their sin, and clothed them (Genesis 3:21). He knew very well they would feel pain and sorrow in the world filled with sin and would also take on the sufferings and toil on the infertile fleshly world. He felt sorry and concerned about them. It was in His love that, God made the garments of skin and clothed them.
When Adam and Eve saw the garments of skin, they remembered God who gave them the opportunity with love and let them feel His love, and they kept God in their hearts. With the love they could overcome everything on the earth.
It was a heartbreaking incident for Adam to be sent out from the Garden of Eden and live on the earth which was cursed due to his transgression. But, in it was contained the depth of God's goodness and love.
Case 2. The judgment of the flood came in Noah's time (Genesis 6-9).
God gave enough time for people to repent and waited until the end.
The judgment of the flood in Noah's time was God's final decision. Because sin and evil were so rampant at that time, God concluded that human cultivation should not continue on such a course.
God knew that all people would go the way of death except for Noah and his family, but He still wanted to save other people and looked for the way to accomplish it. God had Noah build the Ark and He had him cry out to the people saying that there would be a judgment. Through Noah, God continued telling them to repent and turn back. He gave enough time for Noah's word to spread widely and gave people many opportunities. Even after the Ark had been completed and Noah and his family and every kind of animal had entered, God waited for the next seven days to pass. However, people just dwelled in sin up until right before the flood. Even though God knew their hearts, He gave chances and waited with mercy on them.
In the end, the great flood began. Tears fell from the eyes of God, and they formed the word 'Expectation' on His robe. It showed that He would have expectations again, He'd wait, and surely succeed.
The Judgment of Flood came upon the people due to their great evil according to the justice of God. Still, God did not take it for granted. He felt great sorrow and made a covenant by showing a rainbow that He would not judge people with a flood again (Genesis 9:8-17).
As a result, through Noah's descendants came Abraham the forefather of faith, Moses the leader of the Exodus, Elijah the prophet of power and many others. Moreover, through King David, Jesus came to the earth in a human form, and finally opened the way for all people to be saved.
Case 3. A Judgment of Fire came upon Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18-19).
God wants to keep giving opportunities and save people by all means.
God's justice says, "The wages of sin is death," but God does not want to bring judgment against people who have even the slightest chance of salvation. That is why God searched through Sodom and Gomorrah with two archangels to find the way for people in the cities to avoid the judgment. However, their sins and evil were so grave that the judgment was unavoidable.
Yet God listened to Abraham's earnest plea and promised to withdraw the judgment if there were ten righteous people in the cities. Unfortunately, there were not even ten people to be saved. Here, righteous men refer to people who were worthy to be saved. If there had been ten righteous people, God would have withdrawn the judgment and given another chance to the cities.
God remembered Abraham who interceded with love, and gave an opportunity to his nephew Lot and Lot's family. This is the original heart of God who wants to keep giving opportunities and save people. This is His goodness and love. In the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah, we can feel the original heart of God who wants to save people by all means.
Case 4. Judgment came upon Korah and all his company who stood against Moses (Numbers 16).
God wants to save more people by preventing more sin from occurring.
According to the Word of God, Moses was leading the Israelites to Canaan after the Exodus. One day Korah, Dathan, and Abiram stood against Moses and Aaron with 250 leaders of the clans. They did not hesitate to say things against Moses.
Korah and his company not only rose up before Moses the man of God, but also gathered people for rebellion and led many people to the way of death. It was just as they stood against God, and God knew that if He had left them as they were, they would have caused greater problems to the other Israelites. For the reason, God needed to make a decision in His love and justice. He repaid their evil so that the other people would not be misled into following in the wrong direction.
Before the rebellion, the Israelites' sin and evil had gone beyond limit several times but God waited with endurance and led them to the Canaan land. But this was a more urgent situation because the rebellion of Korah of the clan of Levi and Tathan and Abiram of the Reubenites could have led the other people to commit grave sins before God and it could have put all the people in the path of destruction.
Moses and Aaron pleaded with God to withdraw His fury that would otherwise come upon the whole assembly. So, only Korah and his company were put under the judgment of God's anger. Among Korah's descendants, those who did not join the rebellion were allowed to continue their duties as the Levites. The judgment upon Korah and his company was a work of goodness to enable many people to reach salvation.
In the end, the ground opened its mouth and swallowed them up and consumed them with fire. It showed how grave a sin it is to stand against men of God, and thereby, God prevented possible future evil actions beforehand.
The carrying out of judgment itself is something heartbreaking. But if it leads to salvation of more people and achievement of God's providence, God lets it happen.
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