Learning to Judge

Good morning, brethren. It's a pleasure to be here again with you. And let me say thank you very much to the ladies and gentlemen of the choir. And to Mr. Graham, not that he's not a lady or a gentleman, but Mr. Graham, for the extra effort of organizing. I really appreciate that. Music adds so much to worshiping God. Before I launch into my message, I have somewhat of a personal announcement and an offer. We made arrangements in advance for visiting the Newport Aquarium.

They had a special offer where if you reserve tickets in advance, you could get a half price. So we overestimated. I've got two tickets. The reservation is for a particular time at 2 o'clock. And they're going to go to waste if somebody doesn't take them. So if you had in mind that you might want to visit and you'd like to see me after services, I'd be happy to put them in your hands.

Otherwise, I might take them there and just try to hand them out. I look like a scalper or something. But you might make a note. You could see me afterwards. Otherwise, again, it's not a big deal. Well, for my message today, I want to begin with a story. It's in Exodus 18 if you want to turn there in advance. It seems that I'm on a theme this year of looking at stories that we know well but don't always think of during the Feast of Tabernacles.

This is the one where Moses has led the children of Israel with God's guidance, of course, and at God's direction. He's led the children of Israel out of Egypt. They've come to the Red Sea. God parted the waters and they came through. Now they're approaching Mount Sinai where they're going to meet God. God will come down and speak to them. And then in the storyline, there's a little interlude where something interesting happens. Moses' family arrives. Moses' father-in-law comes, bringing Moses' wife and two sons.

They welcome them there. And then something interesting happens. Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, sees one day, Moses sits to judge the people of Israel and they line up. And they're there all day. And Jethro asks Moses afterwards, what are you doing? And Moses says, well, people come to me when they have a difficulty. Some margins say when they have a dispute. Now they have problems. Maybe they have disagreements. And so Moses says he makes judgments. I invited you to turn there and I didn't go there myself yet. But we see that explained briefly in Exodus 18 and verse 16. It says, When they have a difficulty, they come to me, and I judge between one and another.

And I make known the statutes of God and His laws. This is good. Except Moses, or Jethro tells Moses, this is too much. It's too much for one man. You're going to wear out you and the people with you. So he advises Moses, you need to get some help. And he says, this is what you should do. Get some well-qualified men and make some governmental appointments. Captains of thousands and captains of hundreds of fifties and of tens.

And then let people, when they have a difficulty or a dispute, come to them. And the more difficult cases can work their way up to the line, perhaps even to Moses and to God Himself. Now, although it doesn't describe it, I've always imagined that Moses might have talked to God about that to get his okay. Because then he does follow that advice. As we see beginning in verse 26. He appointed in verse 25, it says, He chose able men, made them heads over the people. And in verse 26 it says, So they judged the people at all times, the hard cases they brought to Moses, but they judged every small case themselves.

Now, you might be wondering or thinking to yourself, so what? This is in ancient Israel, what does this have to do with keeping the feast and with the world tomorrow? And my answer to this is, can you see yourself in this picture? That's a phrase I like to use. Now, we see this as an example of a form of organization, a way to do a government that obviously God did endorse.

The church has in the past sometimes used this as a model for how to organize what we call church government. Now, the United Church of God doesn't see this as a requirement. I don't see here it saying, thou shalt, thou must use this organizational model. But it's one that can be effective. And to be honest, today I'm not so concerned about church government and organization. As we look ahead to the Kingdom of God on earth, we're interested in world government with political administration. During the feast, we're thinking of the Kingdom of God set up on earth.

So you might say, well, we don't have to worry about government then, or laws, or judgment, will we? Well, you might say, who will be worrying about government? Who will be governing? Who will be judging? And the answer is the people in this room. I believe we're being called. We'll be involved in that. If we're to be kings and priests in God's government, it makes sense that we should be learning and understanding principles of good government.

We should learn and know a thing or two about judging. A thing or two. It reminds me of that State Farm commercial where they say, we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. That might apply to one or two people in this room if I'm not mistaken. And I don't think we should take that for granted, though. I want to spend a little time maybe reminding ourselves of what the Bible says about who will be governing in the Kingdom of God. It could go without saying, but let's say it. When the Kingdom of God rules on earth, God will be the supreme power, the ultimate government.

Jesus Christ is going to come to this earth. I want to turn and read a couple of scriptures from Revelation 19. But I will mention first that you can see at the end of the book of Matthew. If you want to jot it down, it's Matthew 28 and verse 18.

Where when Jesus Christ appeared to His disciples, one of the first things He told them is, All authority has been given to Me on heaven and on earth. Jesus Christ will hold the ultimate authority on this planet. That's where we combine what we see in Revelation 19. This is one of my favorite chapters because after all the description of the cataclysm to come on this earth, it finally leads to the point where the heavens are open and Jesus Christ appears riding on a white horse.

And if we read verse 11, it says, I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse. And he who sat on him was called Faithful and True. And in righteousness he judges and makes war. Emphasize the judges. His eyes were a flame of fire. On his head were many crowns.

He had a name written that no one knew except himself. So he has many crowns. Verse 15 says, Out of his mouth goes a sharp sword. With it he should strike the nations. And he himself will rule them with a rod of iron. And he treads the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God Almighty. Now when we imagine a shepherd, which this image is from, a shepherd in ancient Middle East would often have two types of rods. One, the traditional shepherd's crook, maybe with a hook that he could use to pull some of his sheep or lambs out of danger or out of a difficult spot. Another one was more like the rod of iron might picture, not to use on the sheep so much as to use to defend the sheep. So Christ isn't coming to smite people unless he needs to. But he will have that power and authority. I'll make another reference that I won't turn to because I want to read another scripture here. But in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, which we commonly refer to as the resurrection chapter, there is a brief comparison that the Apostle Paul makes with Christ beginning in 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 22. He compares Christ with Adam. Christ is sometimes called the second Adam. And he says, as in Adam all dies, so in Christ all will be made alive. And he makes the point that God has a plan with phases, each in his own order. But he makes sense, you know, Christ and those at his coming. And he says, then comes the end when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father. We see as being after the millennium. But it says, he, Christ, must reign till he's put all enemies under his feet. And again, I'm emphasizing the point that I think we know, but it's worth emphasizing. Jesus Christ, when he comes the second time, won't be as a sacrificial lamb. Now, he'll still have that role he was that sacrificed, but he's coming as a king. He's coming to rule. Here in Revelation 19 and verse 16, it says, He has on his robe and on his thigh a name written, King of kings, Lord of lords. That's the ultimate peak. But notice that he's a king over other kings, and that's in the plural. A lord over other lords, that's in the plural. He'll be supreme and he'll be king ruling over other rulers. What other kings? You might ask that. And we could speculate, but the Bible does identify some for us. If you want to turn to Jeremiah chapter 30, and we'll read in verse 9. Maybe I should have warned you. Warm up your fingers. I've got a number of scriptures. That's why some of them I'm referring to without asking you to turn. But in Jeremiah 30 and verse 9, we see an interesting prophecy of this time.

And I'm breaking into a thought, but in verse 9 it says... Maybe I should slow down and make sure you can get there. I was thinking earlier, we've heard from some speakers from below the Mason-Dixon line, and I appreciate that. Sorry, I'm a bit of a Yankee, and the words will start flowing more quickly than they should at times. Jeremiah 30 and verse 9 says... So this is an indication of a particular job that is assigned in the Kingdom. If you turn forward in your Bible to Ezekiel chapter 34, we see another reference. And there are more, but I'm only going to read a couple of them. Ezekiel chapter 34 and beginning in verse 23. This is where I like to see these pictures painted, and the details that we don't always have of the Kingdom of God. It's nice to have some of the details. Ezekiel 34 and verse 23 says...

Bible scholars use the phrase, second Exodus, because it says... We'll no longer remember the first time when I brought them out of Egypt, but people will talk about bringing Israel from the North Country and East and West, and bringing them back. And then it says... Here, I'll establish a shepherd over them, and he shall feed them. Who? My servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd. I'll mention another one. I'll be surprised if one of our speakers next Monday doesn't go through Ezekiel chapter 37 and describe the great resurrection of all the people who've lived and not known God. But after that, that particular prophecy, beginning in verse 21, there's a mention of Israel and Judah reuniting into one Kingdom and having that one King, David, ruling over them.

If you're keeping notes, if you want to explore this later, so does Hosea chapter 3 and verse 5 mention that. So, for that one Kingdom, one of the Kings under the King of Kings will be David. Now, Scripture doesn't necessarily tell us who will rule over the various other kingdoms that will exist. We know there will be others. In Zechariah 14, a famous prophecy tells us all nations will go up to Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And if any refuse, maybe Egypt, they're not going to get any rain. So we know there will be other kingdoms. That was Zechariah 14 and verse 16 as a reference. I won't read.

And likewise, Isaiah chapter 19 verses 24 and 25. I won't turn there. Isaiah 19 verses 24 and 25 mentions, In that day Israel will be one of three with Assyria and Egypt. And God says, now my memory might fail. I know one of them will be my people. Israel, my people. Assyria, the work of my hand. No? I'm not saying it right. Okay, I'm going to turn there because I hate it when I do this. This happens to me in class sometimes. Isaiah 19, since I said it, let me go there. Verse 24, Better to be correct than fast. In that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria, A blessing in the midst of the land, whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, Saying, blessed is Egypt, my people, and Assyria, the work of my hands, and Israel, my inheritance. I have a speculation that God might indeed have in mind some specific people to be rulers of different nations in the millennium. And as I often say, there's information that God has that's on a need-to-know basis. And that's something we don't need to know. But Christ did indicate that under King David there are some specific jobs that will be assigned. We can find that in Matthew 19. Matthew 19, beginning in verse 27, As Jesus was working with the disciples, We don't know exactly how many men followed him and worked with him, but we know 12 worked very closely. And there must have been more than 12, because when Judas Iscariot turned traitor, they drew lots to choose someone to take his place. They had a question. Matthew 19 and verse 27.

Peter answered and said, See, we've left all and followed you. Therefore, what shall we have? So Jesus said, Assuredly I say to you that in the regeneration, That's talking about the resurrection, the kingdom of God, When the Son of Man sits on the throne of his glory, You who have followed me will also sit on 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel.

I'll leave there for now. This sounds to me a bit like that captain's system, with layers of administration and rulership. The government of God will certainly be efficient and will be effective. But we still get asked the question, Like Peter, what about us? What will we have to do? Where can we see ourselves in this picture? We commonly use a term that we see sometimes in the book of Revelation. Matter of fact, we're not far from Revelation. I told you I'd turn to some. Revelation 1, verses 5 and 6. Revelation 1, I'll begin reading verse 5. From Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, The ruler over the kings of the earth, Emphasizing again the point I've been making. To him who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. That's us. He loved us. He washed us from our sins. And has made us kings and priests to his God and Father. To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Okay, so we see that phrase come up more than once. Kings and priests. That's our destiny. To be kings and priests. Now, I sometimes have wondered, can you be a king and not a priest? Or a priest and not a king? That also might be a need to know basis. These are some phrases. But there are different things encompassed in that. 2 Corinthians 15... No, sorry. 2 Chronicles. And I won't turn there, but 2 Chronicles 15, verse 3, Makes reference to a teaching priest. And being a teacher by profession, I like that. I'd love to keep doing the job I do now in God's kingdom for a long, long time. That was 2 Chronicles 15, verse 3. Similarly, in the book of Malachi, Malachi 2, verse 7, tells us that the lips of a priest should keep knowledge. He should be the messenger of God. So an important role for us in God's kingdom might well be to teach his ways. And I think that's a very good one. Both kings and priests can be involved in administering God's law. And I'll make it a point. I was talking with Ryan Jenkins, who will be speaking on Sunday. Our messages, I think, fit together rather well. Matter of fact, surprisingly well. So he'll be exploring some aspects of this Sunday that I'll avoid speaking on. But let's turn to Ezekiel 44. I want to begin reading in verse 15 to show us that priests in the kingdom of God can do things besides sacrifice animals and even besides teach. Not that I want to downplay teaching, and I don't even want to comment on sacrificing animals. I tell my students sometimes, I worked for a brief time in a restaurant where we actually made our own hamburger, and we had these chunks of beef, and we had to debone and cut, and boy, that's hard work. Being a Levite was a tough job back in the day. Let's look at something the priests will do in the kingdom. Ezekiel 44 in verse 15, just a mention, says, The priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who keep charge of my sanctuary, will now drop ahead to verse 23.

It says, They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the unholy, cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. Now, that's something that I believe the ministry in God's church today wants to do, and we want to strive to teach the difference between the holy and unholy. It goes on, though, in verse 24, it says, In controversy, they shall stand as judges. Priest standing as judges. And judge according to my judgments. In other words, judge as God would judge. Imagine you're a captain of a hundred, and a judgment comes up to you. The captain of ten or the captain of fifty had trouble, and you need to make a decision. In some cases, it might be to pass it on up to the captain of thousand, but it could be here. Judge according to my judgments, and they shall keep my laws and my statutes, and all my appointed meetings, and shall hallow my Sabbath.

That could be a role for us.

Ha ha. Sorry, you don't understand why I'm laughing when I look at my wrist. I'll share this story, which has nothing to do with the sermon except for what I just did. When we did a scouting trip for the Boundary Water, summer before last, I had a nice watch that I took with me and lost. It got knocked off my wrist and down to the bottom of a lake. So I got a new one, a nice Casio, waterproof, and took very diligent care and was careful to not lose it. I took it on Boundary Waters, up in the wilderness, all the way there, all the way back home, and two days later, I lost it. How could I have taken it all through the wilderness? And I still have no idea where, when, or how that thing disappeared. So a few days ago, I said, I'm going to go and buy myself another $5 watch. I spent $8.50 on it, but it's here, and I know what time it is.

In the time that I just spent telling you that story, I'll just reference instead of turning to Luke chapter 19. But in Luke 19, Christ has one of His parables, the parable of the pounds, or modern translations will say the parable of the minus. As you remember, He has these servants. 20 gives 10 minas, to another 5, to another 1. This is similar to the talents in Matthew 25, but the reward is different.

When one comes and says, Master, look, you gave me 1 pound, and I've gained 10 pounds, His answer was, because you've been faithful and a little, have authority over 10 cities. The one who earned 5 more minas or pounds, He said, you have authority over 5 cities.

Now, He rebuked the one who did nothing but hide the mina in a napkin, and my purpose isn't to examine that. But to wonder, does this proverb tell us something about our role in the Kingdom of God? As I said, I focused on priests judging. There will also be kings under King David and under kings of other nations.

Will some of us be ruling over a number of cities in that Kingdom of God?

I can't say for certain. We could note this is a parable, not necessarily a prophecy.

But Jesus Christ probably didn't put things in their just happen stance.

And we tend to think we're going to have positions of authority, of rulership, of making judgments and decisions.

And I think that's important for us to know. As a matter of fact, I will turn to 1 Corinthians 6, where the Apostle Paul isn't making a parable. He's telling us something very direct and important.

As he was in the midst of correcting the congregation in Corinth, they needed to be corrected on a number of things.

And I'm sure so do us, and so do I, on a number of things. They had a problem of having disputes amongst themselves and going to courts of law.

And Paul said, you shouldn't do that. In verse 1, he said, do you dare, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints?

He could be saying what he says next to those of us in this room. Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?

We're the saints. We're called by God. We don't usually call ourselves saints. We're not the New Orleans saints. Sorry, Sunday's coming.

But we will judge the world. And he says, and if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Don't you know that you'll judge angels? How much more are things that pertain to this life? And so this is telling us that we're going to have that role.

Now, some people that rubs the wrong way a little bit, they'll think, didn't Jesus say, judge not? I don't know if he said it like, judge not! But he did say, don't judge that you be not judged. And he made the point, though, that with whatever measure you measure out, it'll be meted back to you.

Because that's Matthew 7, 1, if you want the reference of where he said, do not judge lest you be judged. But we should note that in John 7, verse 24, he said, to judge with righteous judgment. Now, Jesus didn't contradict himself. One of the things that's worth noting is the word there from the Greek that's rendered judge in English is krenos. And like the English, it can be used in more than one way. Judge can mean to condemn or render a verdict, but it can also mean to discern and to decide. And so he doesn't want us to condemn people. That's not our role. But he wants us to learn to distinguish. We need to learn to discern, to judge righteous judgment. Because we're going to be in a position, it seems, in his kingdom to perhaps even render some verdicts. I propose that we learn to make wise judgments today to prepare so that we can be good administrators and leaders in God's kingdom. Now, I'd love to be the position of the servant where he said, good and faithful servant, you be ruler over ten cities. Maybe. Well, pardon me. I said, whenever I'm asked to do this. It's funny. I thought, I'm the coordinator guy these days. I coordinate a feast site. I coordinate ABC. I coordinate the Winter Family Weekend. And the funny part is, I'm not very coordinated. If you've ever seen me dribble a basketball, you'd say they should come up with another word to use for that rather than coordinate. But, regardless of whether or not you can play sports, you can prepare to judge in the kingdom of God. But how? How can we do that? Put on a black robe and practice banging a gavel? That's not really what we need to practice. Now, I'm a history teacher by training, and so I like to look for examples in history. And I think we have some. There are plenty of examples of both good and bad government in human history.

One example we can look at and know that it's good. The government and the law that God gave the ancient nation of Israel, we know was good. In Nehemiah 9 and verse 13, in a prayer to God, it says, You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven, and gave them just ordinances and true laws, good statutes and commandments. I hope you don't mind me just reading that. It was Nehemiah 9 and verse 13. That whole chapter is certainly worthy of spending some time reading through and studying.

But this, along with other passages, tells us that the government and the laws that God gave to Israel were good laws. It was a good government. The problem was that the people, they were lacking God's Holy Spirit. And so the good laws and the good government were not as effective as they could have been. But we, in preparation for God's government, when the Holy Spirit will be poured out on all flesh, we can learn from those principles. I believe. As a matter of fact, that's one reason when I teach the Pentateuch class, as I'm about to delve into Leviticus and Numbers with some things that people say, this isn't my favorite part of the Bible. Maybe it is your favorite part. That's okay. But I tell students, it's worthy of us studying this government because we're going to be in a position of rule. I'd like to consider some broad principles from that that I think we can expect to help us when we're judging in God's kingdom.

The first one is that God's government is a rule of law. There will be rule of law, not personality. And that's a distinction from some governments in this world. Now, in the United States, we've set up a government that is supposed to be by rule of law. So it might not sound as foreign to us as some others.

But there have been governments in the past where the ruler or the emperor, the king, could make law at a whim. His word was law, and he could change it like that. It might be based on his feelings, his emotions of the day. Now, there is one similarity in that with God's kingdom, and that in the kingdom of God, God is the highest authority. His rule is law. But it never changes on a whim. God doesn't change. Malachi 3 and verse 6 is where he said, I am the eternal, I change not. And he then adds, therefore you're not destroyed. Because he's very patient, he's merciful. But he doesn't change. Therefore, for everyone else, including King David and the apostles and whoever else will be ruling, God's law will be supreme. God's law, of course, is an expression of God himself. If we want to know what God's personality is like, to some degree, we can see it in his law, in his word. And it's to be administered fairly and equitably. I would like to turn to Deuteronomy 17.

Deuteronomy 17, I'll begin in verse 18.

Because even while Moses was leading the people of Israel, and he had designated Joshua to take over when Moses was gone, but there was not a king. Moses acted as God's agent, but he wasn't a king. And God wouldn't establish a king after Joshua.

The intent was, as God said through Samuel, that God was the king. But he knew eventually those hard-hearted people would say, we want a king like all the other nations. So he anticipated it and said, when you have a king, shouldn't be like the kings of Babylon or Persia. Nebuchadnezzar said, I built this great city and he could just build a statue and tell people to bow down and worship it because he said so.

Israel's kings were not to be like that. They were to rule by God's law, and God wanted to make sure those kings knew it. So let's begin. In verse 18, referring to the king that would be in Israel, says, Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book from the one before the priest.

So borrow it, like going to the library, get you out a pen and a lot of paper, and write your own copy. And it shall be with him. He shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and be careful to observe the words of this law and these statutes. If we're to be kings in the kingdom, we need to read this all the days of our life. Put it in our hearts so that we can govern as God would govern. I've sometimes wondered if I should try writing a copy by hand.

I know that's a great way to learn things, but I also know what my handwriting looks like. So I'm happy to have the printed version to read and study, but that's something I think can be effective to us. So we want to put this law in our hearts, and when you read through the Psalms, you can see that King David seems to have done that. I don't know if he wrote out his own copy, but he meditated on God's law and he talked about how wonderful it was. We want to follow that example. Let me move on to another principle. This is principle 2 of government. And for judges in particular, that they need to be impartial.

Need to be impartial. Favoritism has no place in godly judgments or decisions. And this point is made over and over again in God's Word. Certainly in the law of the Old Testament, but before I come back to the Old Testament, it's worth turning to the book of James, because not showing partiality is one of the major themes that we see in this book. I'll begin in James 2, beginning in verse 1. I should apologize. Sometimes I give the book or a chapter, and I know people want to write their notes and then turn.

So James 2, I'll read verses 1 through 4, where he says, I made up a new word, cleanly. James 2, 9 says, if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. When we're called upon to render judgment on God's behalf, which seems to be a role we'll have in God's kingdom, evil thoughts cannot be a factor. Partiality, favoritism, that can't be a factor. We have to judge righteous judgment.

And that applies not only to showing favoritism to the rich and powerful. Leviticus 19 and verse 15 says something that I found intriguing. Leviticus 19 and verse 15, I am going to turn and read this because I don't want to misstate it. Leviticus 19 and verse 15 says, You shall do no injustice in judgment.

So it's a matter of judgment, which we are to do. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness, you shall judge your neighbor. This seems to contrast with something that seems has become more common in American society. Sometimes there seem to be instances of programs or social policies that are designed to help lift people out of poverty. But in some cases, it seems like they verge toward showing partiality and favoritism towards those who are poor. And that can lead to some poor decision-making. Now, I'm not saying to spit on the poor or not show them help.

That's obviously not what God wants. And I would say, in the kingdom of God, I think poverty will very soon be eliminated. I'm not sure how it will start out. As Mr. Antion mentioned, the world that we inherit will have to make into God's kingdom. And there will be work involved. But even when we establish that, I don't think it's going to be a communist state, where everyone has exactly the same possessions, where everyone has the same talents, the same everything as everyone else. I don't know exactly what differences there will be.

But I do know we're not to make them a basis for partiality. We're not to show partiality towards the poor or to the rich or mighty. We're to be impartial.

And we can practice thinking and acting impartially now. And I say practice, I think it takes a lot of effort. By the way, when I mention these things, I'm not implying that it's easy or that it comes quickly. That leads to another important principle for judging and governing in the Bible. I have three of these, and then I'll move to another main point. My third point is get all the information before making a judgment. As much as we complain about the inefficiencies of the American judicial system, at least I think it's designed to try to give a fair hearing where all the information is gathered in, and people are allowed to speak on their behalf. All sides can be heard and then a verdict rendered.

And that's a biblical standard. If you're in Leviticus, a few pages towards the back, towards Deuteronomy 19, we'll begin Deuteronomy 19, beginning in verse 16. Deuteronomy 19 and verse 16 says, If a false witness arises against a man to testify against him of wrongdoing, sometimes someone makes a false accusation. But interestingly, this seems to describe judges getting information before rendering a decision. It says in verse 17, Stop and think. If those days is the millennium, the priests and judges they'll stand before are us.

And verse 18, And the judges shall make a careful inquiry. Check it out. Make a careful inquiry, not a brief, superficial one. Get the information that's needed. And if the witness is a false witness who's testified against his brother, it says, You'll do to him as he thought to do to his brother, so you shall put away evil from among you. Now, I might come back to the latter part of that in a bit, but this seems to indicate the idea that those rendering judgment do need to look into things. Have an investigation. Now, when we're spirit beings in the kingdom, it'll probably be much easier to get that information. Now, we see indication that Jesus Christ could know the thoughts of men. I don't know how much of that ability we'll have. And now I'm trying to think it was Mr. Antean or someone else that mentioned, perhaps, angels helping us to understand how to use the abilities we'll have. That'll be intriguing. But we can work on the principle now. Proverbs 18 and verse 17, I'll read this to you. Proverbs 18, 17 says, He that is first in his cause seems just, but his neighbor comes and examines him. So the first one sounds right. And boy, I've had that experience, you know, sometimes making decisions and running a summer camp. Someone will come up and say, this is happening, blah, blah, you know, and oh, well, we got to do this. And then someone will come from the other perspective and say, well, did you know this is also going on? Oh, so maybe I need to get all the information before I jump to a conclusion. I have been guilty of doing it the other way. And I'm still learning that principle.

This reminds me of a story from ancient Israel. Slow down. I have a little bit of time. If you remember, God had Moses lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, and they hesitated at taking the Promised Land immediately, so God let them wander for a while, 40 years. And eventually Joshua then led them across the Jordan River, organized them to fight, and they conquered the Promised Land. Now, before they crossed Jordan, though, two and a half tribes, and they came to Moses and said, you know what?

This land on the eastern side of the Jordan is really good for cattle. Hey, you know what? We've got cattle. So Manasseh, half of Manasseh, Reuben, and Gad, asked to have that land for themselves. And they were allowed to have it as long as they went and fought. And if they sent their men of war to fight to help the other tribes conquer theirs. And so that happened. And then they conquered the land. Joshua gathered leaders. They divided the land by lot.

And then he goes to the men of Gad, Reuben, half of Manasseh, and says, you can go back now. You've done good service, and they depart. But word comes back. They stopped at the River Jordan, and they started a construction project. They're building something. It turns out it looks like they're building a big altar. Now the problem with that is God had made very clear that the altar that was at the tabernacle was the only place to worship Him.

You bring your sacrifices here, not just anywhere. Have they fallen into idolatry, into false religion already? I should have told you to turn to Joshua. Joshua, chapter 22, I will turn there. It's close to where we were. Joshua, chapter 22, beginning in verse 11, says, now the children of Israel heard someone say, behold!

The children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh have built an altar on the frontier of the land of Canaan and the region of the Jordan. Verse 12, when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered together at Shiloh to go to war against them. So they said, we're going to gather and stop this by force. But fortunately, maybe somebody had talked to them about getting all the information first. So before they send the men of war, we see in verse 13, they sent Thinnias, the son of Eleazar the priest, to the children of Israel, and Reuben and Gad.

Verse 14, with him ten rulers, one each from each of the chief house of every tribe. Verse 15, they came to the children of Reuben, to the children of Gad, and they spoke with them. And they said, what is this treachery that you've committed against the God of Israel to turn away this day from following the Lord? You build an altar that you might rebel against the Lord. And they go on to describe the punishments they'd received in the past.

Sort of saying, don't you remember what happened before? Remember that whole thing when Balaam convinced us to go, you know, and we got caught up in worshipping the gods, the Moabites and the Midianites? But this is important. They went and talked to them, asked the question, and they listened. And they got the full picture, the other perspective. And then we get an answer in verse 21. The children of Reuben and the children of Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh answered and said to the leaders, the heads of the divisions of Israel, the Lord God of gods, the Lord God of gods, he knows.

Let Israel know if it's in rebellion or if it's in treachery against the Lord. If so, don't save us. If we've built an altar to turn from following the Lord or offer burnt offerings. Verse 24 says, but in fact, we've done it for fear for a reason, saying in time to come your descendants may speak to our descendants, saying, what have you got to do with the God of Israel? The Lord made a Jordan a border between... let me say that more slowly. The Lord has made Jordan a border between us and you.

So what they said is, no, no, this is not to offer sacrifice on. We're not breaking God's law. This is a memorial. It looks like the altar at the tabernacle to remind our descendants and your descendants that we are joined and we worship the same God. The important thing is they had a chance to explain the story or explain the situation. And when the leaders got all the information... Now I lost my place where...

Oh, in verse 33, let's go right to the end. So the thing pleased the children of Israel, and the children of Israel blessed God, and they spoke no more of going against them in battle to destroy the land where the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt. So they got all the information, and they rendered a just and a righteous judgment. That's what we want to do. So we can see from the laws and government that God gave to ancient Israel some good principles to guide a person who is in a position to judge, to make a decision. Hopefully to us these things sound like common sense, or at least good Christian principles.

And I want to keep in mind the reason I'm discussing this is so we can study and make these principles a part of us so that we don't have to stop and prepare a sermon when we're in God's kingdom to decide how to do these things. Now, so far we've determined some of us will have a position, a reason to judge. And we've looked at some principles. What about if we do have to make a decision that calls for punishment? That's something, well, I'll say we don't think of very often in God's church, or hopefully we don't too much. We need to remember that right now we're a church. We're not a government exercising political or civil authority. Now, when the kingdom of God is established on earth, we'll be put in such positions. But for now, we don't punish people who are guilty of crime or even of sin. The Apostle Paul wrote in the book of Romans that we should respect civil government. We should obey the laws of man as long as they don't contradict the laws of God. We know John and Peter said, you know, we ought to obey God first. We ought to obey God rather than man. So the most we would do as a church, if someone is disobeying and doesn't want to change, is we might stop fellowshipping with them. Treat them as though they're not a member of the church because they would act that way. When we're rolling with Christ in his kingdom, though, there might be times when we have to issue a punishment. The closest we do that now is perhaps with our children. And these principles could apply in that case. With that said, I want to briefly consider some principles to use for deciding a punishment. And as I said, think of studying these for what would go in the future. One, if you want to turn back to Deuteronomy 19, one is one that I believe comes from maybe a more thorough understanding of a popular scripture, or I could say a well-known scripture, that we often don't look very deeply at because, frankly, we're not in a position to use it. If you're turning to Deuteronomy 19, we'll begin in verse 19.

But if you want to do a more thorough study, I'll mention that this same phrasing appears earlier. It shows up in Exodus 21, beginning in verse 23. So Exodus 21 beginning in verse 23. It shows up again in Leviticus 24. Leviticus 24 beginning in verse 19. And then we see it here in Deuteronomy 19, and I'll start in verse 17.

So Deuteronomy 19.17, and remember, we read part of this earlier, both men in controversy stand before the Lord, before the priests, the judges. The judges shall make careful inquiry. If indeed the witness is a false witness who's testified falsely, then you shall do to him, as he thought to have done to his brother, so you shall put away evil from among you. And those who remain shall hear and fear, and after, they shall not again commit such evil among you.

Your eye shall not pity. Life shall be for life. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Now, we're familiar with the phrase, eye for an eye, but I wanted to point out that it recurs a number of places, enough that I think we might see it as somewhat of an idiom or a colloquial phrase that represents a broader principle.

I don't know how many times in ancient Israel judges had to make a decision that involved putting out someone's eye. Now, I don't think we... I don't want to say this couldn't be taken literally. That might have happened. At times, maybe a foot for a foot.

But I think they might have more often dealt with a principle this can be seen to represent. And the principle, I would say, can be described as, let the punishment fit the crime.

An eye-level crime shouldn't be punished, or should be punished with an eye-level punishment. Not a greater one, not a lesser one. You know, if someone punches you in the face and you get a black eye, that doesn't warrant a punishment of putting that man's eye out. It might warrant a punishment, you know, level with getting a bruise. You don't impose the death penalty for petty theft.

And unlike some governments, a thief doesn't need to have his hand cut off. A good judge will issue an equitable punishment, a punishment that fits the crime.

And again, what it says in verse 20, Those who remain shall hear and fear, and afterward they shall not again commit such evil. Even punishment that might be severe is not for revenge, but it seems to be to show a deterrent. You know, it is to punish, but it's to show other people that a crime will be punished with a fair, equitable punishment, so people should stay away from doing that. A few pages later, we can see something similar. Deuteronomy 25, beginning in verse 2.

Actually, in verse 1, it mentions, The dispute between two men, they come to court, that the judges may judge them. Again, perhaps this happens in year 50 of the millennium, and we're still working out human nature to teach people God's way. It says, They shall justify the righteous and condemn the wicked. And it shall be, if the wicked man deserves to be beaten, the judge will cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence according to his guilt with a certain number of blows. Notice it says, According to his guilt, let the punishment fit the crime. And then it says, 40 blows he can give him and no more, lest he should exceed this and beat him with many blows above these and your brother be humiliated. Here's a judge that has to witness the punishment. He couldn't issue a very severe punishment that would just be gruesome to behold and say, You guys go take care of it. I'm going to go sip a pina colada and look out over my balcony. Now, we know in ancient Israel the death penalty did exist for certain crimes, but torture did not. And beating with severe blows, apparently beyond 40, could amount to that. And studying military history as I did, I know that in the English Navy, in the 18th and 19th centuries, they sometimes had some severe punishments. Sometimes common sailors found guilty of a crime would be punished in a delta verdict of 400-500 lashes. And what they would do is they would give them as many as they could stand until they passed out, send them to the brig to heal up until they were healthy enough to come back and give them more until they collapse again. And God's punishment says, No, that's not the way we do that. That's never to happen in God's view. I'm running on a little short. Let me give a couple of other principles that I think fits with the first. Some would call it a sub-point, but this is simply to make restitution. If a person does someone wrong and they're able to, they should make restitution. Exodus 22 elaborates this principle quite a bit. I'll read a couple of verses from there. Exodus 22, verse 5.

Actually, verse 14 uses that phrase.

Now, it goes on to say, though, sometimes, something bad doesn't happen from negligence. Like, if an animal is just, you know, you borrow someone's ox and it's a thousand years old and it just dies of old age, you don't have to make it good. And I can see a difference. If I borrow your lawnmower and I'm a little careless, which I've been with my own and I hit a tree root, I did that with mine and stops. I bent the shaft in the mower. If I did that with your lawnmower, I need to replace your lawnmower. You know, I need to make it good. Now, if I borrow your lawnmower and as I said, you never took care of it and it just wears out, and especially if you're there to see it, it says you don't. This is getting the facts, making righteous judgment. I'm going to move ahead to the third principle. Third principle is one that's not explored as much in the Old Testament as it could be, but it's there. That is the principle of mercy and forgiveness. Now, you might say, well, of course there's mercy and forgiveness. Yeah, but we need to say that. We couldn't imagine us as sons of God and His kingdom without that. Let's turn to Matthew 5. Matthew 5 will begin in verse 38. This is part of what we call the Sermon on the Mount, and in many ways we see Jesus Christ expounding the Spirit of the Law. I've been looking a lot at the letter of the Law and trying to explore some principles that it expounds, but there's also something beyond that that we never want to forget. Matthew 5 in verse 38, Jesus said, You've heard it was said, an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth. But I tell you, don't resist an evil person. Whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. Let's drop down to 43. You've heard that it was said, love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies. Bless those who curse you. Do good to those who hate you and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you. I think one of the reasons Jesus Christ was emphasizing that is, as I said, we're a church. We're not a government. And we don't want to presume the privileges of government.

But that's something for us to make part of our hearts and our minds for when we do. We still always want to have mercy and love. We know that during his earthly ministry, Jesus Christ did exercise a prerogative. And something we should note, we will never be in the position to forgive and pay the price for sins. Jesus Christ was the ultimate sacrifice. When it comes to forgiveness of sins, he could do that. He does do that. In Matthew 9 and verse 5, I want to point that out. Now, so, let me read this first. Matthew 9 verse 5, he healed a man, and in healing him, he said that his sins were forgiven. And Pharisees were pretty upset about that. And he answers them back in Matthew 9, 5, Which is easier to say? Your sins are forgiven you, or to say arise and walk? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins. And he said to the paralytic, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house. So, as I'm saying, I don't know... I'm not going to say that we'll have authority in the kingdom of God to forgive sin and remove the ultimate penalty. That belongs with the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. But we can observe the principle of mercy and forgiveness. Turn back just a few... a couple pages to Matthew 6. Matthew 6, beginning in verse 14. Here's a principle that should become deeply a part of us. Matthew 6 and verse 14, it says, If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

But, if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Now, that forgiveness should be tied to repentance. Although in this life, sometimes we have to say, okay, the repentance needs to go to God, not to me. Sometimes we forgive others for our sake as much as for theirs, for our sake more than for theirs. And we know that repentance will come in time, or else the lake of fire will come. But that's a judgment that's not ours to make, not ever. But I think, remember what Jesus told the woman that was taken in adultery? The story's in John 8. I won't go there. But he told her, go and sin no more. So forgiveness, mercy, repentance, those go together. Boy, I feel like I'm getting ready to do a baptismal counseling. Forgiveness, mercy, and faith. But we know Christ is merciful, and I want to tie these things together. I'll just quote. If we think of how closely these things are, when Jesus Christ spoke of the weightier matters of the law, Matthew 23, verse 23, He said, judgment, mercy, and faith. I'm talking about our calling to prepare to make judgment. It's tied to our faith. It's tied to mercy. And I can never think of Matthew 23, 23 without also Micah 6 and verse 8. Micah 6, 8 says, what does the Lord require of you? Do justly. Render justice. Righteous, judge righteous judgment. And love mercy, and walk humbly with your God. And again, that brings us back to the point that I hope you see as my main point. We're called to a great and glorious future. We're called to become spirit-born children of God. We're among the firstfruits called at this time, and we look forward to living and reigning with Jesus Christ for a thousand years. God's Word tells us we'll be kings and priests. That's going to give us opportunity, privilege, and responsibility. We'll be making decisions and judgments. We need not wait till that time to begin preparing. We should be studying God's Word, making its principles our way of thinking. We can build character for making righteous judgment now, so that in the kingdom of God, we can judge righteous judgment.