“During the Middle Ages there was a strong tendency to portray God as a sever, punitive Judge. Today the tendency is to describe Him as a loving, permissive Father who never punishes His children. Yet, love without justice will turn into chaos and lawlessness, and justice without love will become oppression and subjugation. God’s judging process is a perfect blend of justice and mercy, both of which derive from His unconditional love” (On Death, Dying, and the Future Hope, Sabbath School Teacher’s Quarterly, Lesson 13, Page 167, para 1).

Perhaps you have heard of this doctrine, that if God is Love (which we know He is, see 1 John 4:8), then He did not destroy the Earth with the flood, the antediluvian world did. But I ask then, where was God’s judgement in this scenario? They may say that the judgement was placed in the Antediluvian’s hands. As I contemplated this doctrine, my thoughts were that it does not make sense. John 5:22 reads, “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all Judgment unto the Son:”, and of course we know from John 1:1-3 and Revelation 19:13 that Jesus is God because the Father and Jesus are one (see John 17:22). 

Matthew 7:1-3 states, “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you.” So if we take judgment out of God’s hands, it becomes self-will, does it not?

Let’s see what happens when judgment is given to self, shall we? Genesis 3:4-6, “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die. For God doth know that in the day that ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her and he did eat.”  

Did the antediluvian cause the flood to happen? If so, how did they cause it, by fracking or some other form of digging going on or what about the rain? It had never rained until then. Here again, my thoughts turned to the judgement set down in Genesis 6:3 which states,  “And the Lord  said , My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” Here God set the judgment and the time. However, maybe because God knows the future; He knew when that would happen once the people destroyed the earth enough for it to flood. So they caused the rain and the breaking up of the earth to make it flood? Hmmm.

Genesis 6:13 reads, “And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence through them, and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.”  The next verses 14-16 explain the building of the ark to His specifications. One of the things brought up was that the Hebrew word for destroy in this context different and has a different meaning. So I tried to look it up and found this website which explains the first section of the verse that, yes, the people were destroying themselves, but the last portion of the verse states that God destroys with the earth. And then we read Genesis 6:17 and which makes it crystal clear just Who was in control. “And, behold, I, even I, do bring the flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and everything that is in the earth shall die” (Genesis 6:17). 

A danger lies in when we take a portion or just one verse and create something without looking forward or behind the verse in question. For instance, John 8:15, Jesus states, “Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man.” So someone might say see—Jesus does not judge so we must be judges of ourselves. Really?  Let’s go back to the verses before and after. John 8:12-18, “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. The Pharisees therefore said unto Him, Thou bearest record of Thyself: Thy record is not true. Jesus answered ad said unto them, Though I bear record of Myself, yet My record is true; for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go.  Ye judge after the flesh: I judge no man. And yet if I judge, My judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent Me. It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true. I am one that bear witness of Myself, and the Father that sent Me beareth witness of Me.”  If Jesus had been the judging others as these Pharisees had, that could have led to a sinful nature (see Matthew 7:1-2) and Satan would have won. As a man Jesus went to the cross sinless and paid the price for our sins.

Taking judgment out of the hands of God leads to many other questions. One such question is if we are judges of self why the need for the covenant “bow” that God established?  Genesis 9:9-15 reads, “And, behold, I establish My covenant with you, and with your seed after you; and with every living thing creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of beast of the earth with you: from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. And I will establish My covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of the flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, this is the token of the covenant  which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a token of a covenant between Me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that a bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.”

When judgment is taken out of the hands of God, a person’s line of thought may take this route. If we are judges of self and we know we are carnal and the heart deceitful above all things (Jeremiah 17:9), we may even take Jesus’ sacrifice right out of the picture. Folks, this is what the Pharisees did by relying on themselves (their own judgment) thinking their works brought them salvation. They took the Messiah right out of the picture.  That is why they did not recognize Him when He came even though they were preaching Him in their synagogues. Do we do the same? Do we rely on self instead of coming to the Lord? If in the beginning Eve came and asked the Lord what the serpent (devil) meant…  

Once again, I agree that God is love but there comes a time when sin is so great and the cup of wrath is so full that destruction is the only way to eradicate the sin (Revelation 14:9-10). Genesis 6:5-6 states, “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. And it repented the Lord (He was sorry) that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart.” He loves, yes, but He also knew every man’s heart that is why only Noah “found grace in the eyes of the Lord.”

Other Bible examples come to mind. I think of the earth swallowing up those people who spoke against God and Moses (Numbers 16:32-34). I think about the sinfulness of Sodom and Gomorrah that was so great fire and brimstone rained down upon them (Genesis 18: 20). I think of Jesus separating the wheat from the chaff and the chaff is reserved for the fire (Luke 3:17). Not to mention Revelation 20, regarding the judgment and the end of the Satan, his angels, and the wicked. Matthew 10:28 states, “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (emphasis added). Yes, God is a loving God but as Romans 1:18 states, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;” and in the end and as we have read in the above verses, God goes against His character (Isaiah 28:21) to complete the salvation promise established from the beginning (Genesis 3:15).

Thank the Lord that we do not have to be judges of ourselves because we have the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:9-11 states, “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God” and if we stay the course; the final judgment will not be a fearful prospect because Daniel 7:22 says that judgement will be “in favor of the saints of the Most High.”