The Scope of the Judgment. The scope of the Pre-Advent judgment described in Daniel 7 and 8 includes both a judgment against the enemies of truth, of God and His people (7:25-27; 8:11-14, 23-25) and a judgment in favor of "the saints of the Most High" (7:22). In either case this judgment discloses the "rightness" of the divine verdict of salvation or punishment. This judicial process is conducted on the basis of a perfect record of each human life kept in so-called "books": "the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened" (7:10). Here Daniel does not explain which books were opened. The Scripture, as mentioned earlier, refers to several books (Mal 3:16; Ps. 69:28; Rev 3:5; 20:12; Phil 4:3). Whatever these books are, they must contain a record of all the relevant "facts" which include motives as well as overt and covert actions. These data enable the heavenly assize to evaluate and thus vindicate the "rightness" of God’s judgment. The Outcome of the Judgment. The outcome of this judicial process described in Daniel 7 is the complete destruction of God’s enemies ("destroyed to the end"—7:26) and the reception of the "everlasting kingdom" by "the people of the saints of the Most High" (7:27). The finality of this outcome indicates that this is the final judgment which determines the eternal destiny of each human being. This final outcome is described in similar terms in the vision of Daniel 12. In the latter, Daniel is shown Michael delivering during the "time of trouble . . . every one whose name shall be found written in the book" (12:1). The verdicts contained in "the book" presumably determine also who is to have part in the resurrection "to everlasting life" or in the resurrection "to shame and everlasting contempt" (12:2). In Daniel 12, there is no mention of any judicial process but reference is made to the execution of the verdicts contained in "the book," namesly, the resurrection to eternal life for some and to eternal contempt for others. This executive phase presupposes the evaluative phase described in Daniel 7. Thus Daniel 12:1-3 complements the judgment vision of Daniel 7 by describing the outcome of the latter in terms of resurrection to "everlasting life" or "everlasting comtempt." The "books" which are opened in Daniel 7:10 to inaugurate the Pre-Advent judgment are the basis that determines which "name shall be found written in the book" of Daniel 12:1, when eternal destinies are abjudicated. Revelation presumably refers to the same book when it says: "if any one’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire" (Rev 20:15). In short, Daniel 7 describes the evaluative phase of the final judgment which determines the eternal destiny of every human being and which precedes the executive phase when the actual granting of rewards and punishment will take place. 6. Pre-Advent Judgment in the Typology of the Day of Atonement A Time of Judgment. The need for a final judgment, in both its investigative and executive phases, was effectively taught in Old Testament times through the rituals of the Day of Atonement. The great Day of Atonement was viewed as a time of solemn judgment which dealt in a total and final way with the accumulated sins of Israel. This annual day of judgment and cleansing was rendered necessary by the sins which symbolically had been transferred and accumulated in the sanctuary during the daily atonement through the rite of blood (Lev 4:5, 6, 16-18) and the rite of eating the sacrificial flesh by the priest (Lev 6:24-30; 10:18). These accumulated sins of Israel were disposed of in a corporate ("all their/your sins"—Lev 16:16, 22, 30, 34) and conclusive ("you shall be clean"—Lev 16:30) manner, through the elaborate ritual of the Day of Atonement, which included a sacrifice for the priest, a sacrifice for the people, and the release of Azazel (Lev 16). A Judgment Process. The final disposition of Israel’s sins was the outcome of a judgment process which began on the first day of the seventh month (New Year) with a "blast of trumpets" (Lev 23:23) to usher in a period of repentance. This period of soul-searching which lasted ten days, that is, until the Day of Atonement (Lev 23:27), was in a sense an investigative judgment during which God judged in a total and final way the accumulated sins of Israel. The judgment nature of this period was clearly established by the rabbis who taught: "The judgment is passed on New Year and the decree is sealed on the Day of Atonement."12 The judgment-function of the Day of Atonement is also indicated by the fact that people were asked to "afflict" themselves (Num 29:7), that is, to repent and to confess their sins. Anyone who refused to participate in this corporate repentance was to be "cut off from his people" (Lev 23:29).13 Judgment Ritual. The judgment-nature of the Day of Atonement can be seen also in the ritual performed on that day. It was only on that day that the high priest appeared before the Shekinah glory of God, which was manifested above the ark of the covenant (the throne of God’s judgment—Rev 7:15; Ps 99:1; 80:1), to present the cases of all the people. Inside the ark were the tables of the law (Ex 40:20), representing the moral standard of God’s judgment (Ps 89:13-14). The believer did not appear in person before God’s judgment throne, but waited expectantly and penitentially while the high priest presented his case before God. This ritual effectively symbolized, as we shall see, Christ’s entrance into the heavenly sanctuary "to appear in the presence of God on our behalf" (Heb 9:24). A Time of Vindication. The judgment of the Day of Atonement was not intended to be punitive but redemptive. It was a day in which the Israelite was vindicated by God before his fellow beings and before the universe. This redemption/vindication was expressed in a variety of ways. For example, the focal point of the priestly atonement was the mercy seat (cover of the ark where blood was sprinkled seven times (Lev 16:14-15) to reassure the people that God had fully "covered" their sins. The vindication of the believer was in a sense the vindication of God’s justice manifested in saving those who accepted His atonement for their sins. Such a vindication was finally shown through the rite of the goat Azazel upon which were symbolically transferred Israel’s sins (Lev 16:21). Azazel, as symbol of Satan (Enoch 6:7—"chief of fallen angels"), was taken into the wilderness to pass away (Lev 16:21-22) and thus indicate the permanent removal and elimination of sin. Jubilee Celebration. The finality of the cleansing and elimination of sin was also expressed through the blasting of the ram’s horn ("yobel" from which "jubilee" derives—Lev 25:9) at the close of the services of the Day of Atonement to usher in the New Year and the Jubilee Year every 49th year. It is noteworthy that the liberation and restoration of the Jubilee Year was ushered in by the cleansing and new moral beginning granted by God to His people on the Day of Atonement. This may explain why the imagery of the Jubilee’s trumpet blast is used in the Scripture to describe both the messianic ingathering of the exiles (Is 27:13; Zech 9:9-14) and the Return of Christ (Matt 24:31; 1 Thess 4:16; 1 Cor 15:52). All of this shows that the Day of Atonement marked the end of the judgment process of sin and resulted in the beginning of a new order. It symbolized God’s final and conclusive disposition of the sins of the people as a whole and the restoration of a new covenant relationship. 7. The Heavenly Antitypical Day of Atonement The Reality of the Heavenly Sanctuary. The momentous typological significance of the Day of Atonement as a judgment process resulting in the final cleansing and vindication of God’s people points to corresponding redemptive activities performed by Christ. The Scripture teaches the existence of this correspondence by explaining how the earthly sanctuary and its services typified the corresponding greater reality of the heavenly sanctuary is established especially in Hebrews by means of vertical and horizontal typologies. Vertically, the heavenly sanctuary is presented as the "true tent" (Heb 8:2), the "perfect tent" (Heb 9:11; cf. 9:24), of which the earthly one was a "symbolic" pattern (Heb 9:9; cf. 8:5; Act 7:44; Ex 25:40). Similarly, the priestly services and sacrifices of the earthly tabernacle are seen as a "copy and shadow" (Heb 8:5) of the "more excellent" (8:6) High Priestly ministry conducted by Christ in the heavenly sanctuary (Heb 7:24-25; 8:4, 11-13; 10:11-21). Horizontally, the past (before Calvary) typological services of the earthly sanctuary (Heb 9:6-9) are viewed as fulfilled and superseded by the present heavenly intercession and mediation of Christ (Heb 9:9, 11-14). The existence of a real heavenly sanctuary where Christ ministers as High Priest and Intercessor is also attested by the numerous Biblical references to a heavenly sanctuary-temple or parts of it (Is 6:1; Ezek 10:3; Rev 1:13; 7:15; 11:19; 14:17-18). Christ’s Ministry in the Heavenly Sanctuary. The typological correspondence between the earthly and the heavenly sanctuaries presupposes a correspondence between them in the priestly ministry performed. In the earthly sanctuary, the priestly ministry consisted of two phases: (1) a daily service of intercession in the Holy Place, and (2) an annual service of judgment and cleansing in the Most Holy on the Day of Atonement. These two phases of intercession and judgment find their correspondence in Christ’s ministry in the heavenly sanctuary. Intercession. The first phase of Christ’s ministry of intercession began at the time of His ascension to heaven and installation at the right hand of God (Acts 2:33-34; 7:56; Heb 8:1-2). The outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is seen as the evidence of the official enthronement of Christ to His heavenly ministry (Acts 2:33). The installation of Christ to His heavenly ministry is reflected in those passages which speak of His sitting at the right hand of God (Acts 2:34; Eph 1:20; Col 3:1; Heb 1:3, 13). The meaning of "sitting" as intercessory ministry is explained especially in Hebrews 8:1-2, where Christ is presented as the "high priest, . . . seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the sanctuary and the true tent." Through His intercessory ministry, Christ sustains the Church (Rev 1:13, 20), mediates repentance and forgiveness to believers (Acts 5:31; 1 John 2:1-2; 1:9), makes our prayers acceptable to God (John 16:23-24; Rev 8:3), and provides us with the invisible and yet real assistance of His angels (Heb 1:14; Rev 5:6; 1:16, 20). Judgment. The second and final phase of Christ’s heavenly ministry involves, as in the earthly sanctuary, a judgment process which results in the final disposition of sin and the jubilee-celebration at His Second Coming. This final phase of Christ’s heavenly ministry represents not a replacement of, but an addition to the work of intercession. The special sacrifices of the Day of Atonement were offered in addition to the "continual [daily] burnt offering" (Num 29:11). Intercession is intrinsically related to judgment because the positive or negative response to the gift of salvation offered through Christ’s intercession presupposes a final judgment that reveals what each response has been. Both intercession and judgment are the work of the same High Priest. Intercession is Christ’s work in actualizing His redemptive love manifested at the cross. Judgment is Christ’s work in realizing His redemption in a final and conclusive way at the end of history. Thus the difference between the two is one of perspective: intercession is the work of Christ viewed form the perspective of His First Advent. Judgment is the work of Christ viewed from the perspective of His Second Advent. The Cleansing of the Heavenly Sanctuary. The Scripture alludes to the final phase of Christ’s heavenly ministry in a variety of ways. Hebrews, for example, establishes a correspondence between the cleansing of the earthly sanctuary and that of the heavenly sanctuary: "Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things [the earthly tabernacle and its vessels—9:21-22] to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these" (9:23). This text emphasizes the necessity of the "cleansing" of the "heavenly things" and its accomplishment through the "better sacrifice" of Christ which does not need to be repeated annually as did the typical Day of Atonement (9:25).14 How is the heavenly sanctuary cleansed? Hebrews recognizes past, a present, and a future aspect in Christ’s removal of sin represented by the Day of Atonement. In the past, Christ "has appeared once for all at the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself" (9:26). In the present ("now"), Christ appears in the presence of God on our behalf" (9:24). In the future, Christ "will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him" (9:28). 15x The past, the present, and the future ministry of Christ are in Hebrews ideologically connected because they are all dependent upon the same "once for all" sacrifice on the Cross. It is the same atoning sacrifice that enables Christ to fulfill the two phases of His ministry in the heavenly sanctuary: intercession and judgment. An "Already" and a "Not-Yet" Fulfillment. In a sense the Cross represents an "already" fulfillment of the Levitical Day of Atonement, since through it Christ "put away sin by the sacrifice of himself" (Heb 9:26). This, however, does not lessen the "not-yet" future and final aspect of Christ ministry. The principle of a double fulfillment—"an already and not-yet"—is common in the New Testament. The author of Hebrews recognizes that the Cross does not exhaust Christ’s redemptive ministry, because he explains that Christ not only "appeared" in the past "to put away sin" but also appears now in the present before God’s presence and "will appear" in the future to save. The ministry of Christ "in the presence of God on our behalf" (9:24) includes both a work of intercession and a work of judgment. Regarding the first, Hebrews says that Christ "always lives to make intercession for them" (7:25). Regarding the second, Hebrews suggests that the work of the investigative judgment will be completed before Christ comes. This suggestion is made by means of the following comparison: "And just as it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him" (9:27-28). Pre-Advent Judgment. In this passage the author correlates human death which will be followed by the final judgment (cf. Heb 10:26-27) with Christ’s atoning death which will be followed by His Second Advent. In this correlation, the judgment is placed in correspondence with the Second Advent. Yet the judgment implicitly precedes the Second Advent because the author says that the latter does not "deal with sin." Christ "will appear a second time," not to judge but "to save those who are eagerly waiting for him" (9:28). The implication is that the judgment process that decides who is to receive the gift of eternal life is completed before Christ comes. As the appearance of the High Priest out of the sanctuary at the end of the Day of Atonement marked the completion of the judgment process which resulted in the final disposition of sin and the inauguration of a new covenant relationship with God, so Christ’s Second Advent appearance at the end of the antitypical Day of Atonement marks the completion of the process of judgment which results in the bestowal of eternal life to those "who are eagerly waiting for him" (9:28). The above survey indicates that the concept of a Pre-Advent evaluative judgment is clearly implied in different ways in the Scripture. This concept is an underlying assumption of much of the teachings of Jesus and of Paul. More explicit descriptions of the Pre-Advent judgment are found in the apocalyptic judgment visions of Daniel (chs. 7 and 8) and Revelation (chs. 5 and 14). Valuable insights into the Pre-Advent judgment work of Christ are provided also by the typological correspondence which Hebrews establishes between the ministry of the Day of Atonement performed by the high priest in the earthly sanctuary and that performed by Christ in the heavenly. These cumulative indications point convincingly to a Pre-Advent phase of the final judgment. PART TWO: THE POST-ADVENT PHASE OF THE FINAL JUDGMENT 1. The Fact of a Post-Advent Judgment The Testimony of Christ. Several Scriptural passages clearly attest that a judgment will be conducted by the redeemed after Christ’s Return. Christ promised to His followers that "in the new world, when the Son of man shall sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matt 19:28). The number twelve, which is used in this verse to refer both to thrones and to tribes, must not be understood as referring exclusively to the twelve disciples judging only the twelve literal tribes of Israel, but rather inclusively to all Christ’s followers judging all the unsaved. This interpretation is supported both by the symbolic meaning of the number twelve, which stands for the totality of God’s people, and by other passages to be considered below which speak inclusively of all the redeemed participating in the judgment of all the unsaved. The Testimony of Paul. In rebuking the Corinthians for taking fellow-believers to court, Paul makes this startling statement: "Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, matters pertaining to this life!" (1 Cor 6:2-3). Three points in this statement deserve attention. First Paul’s rhetorical question ("Do you not know . . . ?") implies that it was a well-known fact that the saints "will judge the world." Thus the doctrine of the redeemed participating in a Post-Advent judgment process is viewed by Paul as a well-known and established fact. Second, "the saints will judge the world." Obviously "the world" must be the world of the unsaved, otherwise the saints would be judging themselves. The fact that the "saints" are doing the judging implies that they themselves have already been judged in the Pre-Advent judgment which has granted them admission into God’s kingdom. Third, the saints will judge also the "angels." The reference here must be to the fallen angels whom, according to Peter, God has "kept until the judgment" (2 Pet 2:4; cf. Jude 6). In summary, according to Paul, the resurrected saints will participate in a Post-Advent judgment process that will examine the cases of both the unsaved human beings and the fallen angels. The Testimony of John. John the Revelator corraborates and elaborates the above testimonies in his description of the millennial reign of the saints: "Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom judgment was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life, and reigned with Christ a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurreciton. Blessed and holy is he who shares in the first resurrection!" (Rev 20:4-6). This passage informs us first of all that a work of judgment is committed to redeemed persons. The identity of these people has been disputed. Many interpreters limit them to the "martyrs" who have died "for their testimony to Jesus." The language in Greek, however, suggests two groups, as correctly translated by the NIV: "I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus" (Rev 20:4). In other words, John envisaged two groups: one larger group of all the saints to whom judgment was given and then a smaller group—the martyrs—who are singled out for special mention. This interpretation harmonizes also with Christ’s promise found in Revelation that all His followers would share in His throne (Reb 3:21; 2:26; 5:9-10; cf. Matt 19:28; 1 Cor 6:2). This passage tells us also that the saints will begin their work of judgment after they come to life at the time of the first resurrection. The latter is differentiated form the resurrection of "the rest of the dead" who come to life a thousand years later to be destroyed in the lake of fire. The time of the first resurrection is the Second Advent of Christ, which is symbolically portrayed in the preceding narrative through the imagery of a dazzling rider on a white horse coming with the armies of heaven (Rev 19:11-16). The outcome of Christ’s Coming is the destruction of the beast, the false prophet, and the wicked, and the chaining of Satan (Rev 19:17 to 20:3). In the context of these events which transpire at Christ’s coming, John sees the enthronement of the saints who begin a work of judgment. The above testimonies of Jesus, Paul, and John make it abundantly clear that there is a Post-Advent phase of the final judgment which is conducted by the resurrected saints. 2. The Scope and the Basis of the Post-Advent Judgment The Scope. The Post-Advent judgment will include all the unbelievers and fallen angels who ever existed. This total inclusiveness is expressed in a variety of ways. We noted that Jesus said that the judgment will include "the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matt 19:28). Paul speaks of the saints judging "the world" and "angels" (1 Cor 6:2-3). John expresses this inclusiveness in a most dramatic way: "And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened . . . And the sea gave up the dead in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead in them, and all were judged by what they had done" (Rev 20:12-13). No matter how important ("great") or unimportant ("small") a person may have been, no one will be immune from the final judgment. No matter how a person died, he will be brought to life to appear before the judgment seat of God. Contrary to the prevailing notion that only those who died on dry land would rise from the dead, John says that even those who drowned and were lost in the bottom of the sea will be revived to stand before God in judgment. In this final judgment are included not only impenitent human beings, but also "the devil and his angels" (Matt 25:41; cf. Rev 20:10). The Basis. The judgment is conducted on the basis of evidences supplied both by the record contained in the books of the deeds and by the record found in the book of life. These two kinds of books are mentioned in Revelation. The first of these apparently contains the record of human deeds: "And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, by what they had done" (Rev 20:12). The parallelism suggests that the content of the books is the record of "what they had done." We have seen that the idea of the judgment based on the records of people’s deeds is common in the Scripture. "The court sat in judgment," says Daniel, "and the books were opened" (Dan 7:10). Earlier we have shown that there is no conflict between judgment according to works and justification by faith apart from works because the works that save are those that derive from an active, working faith. By the same token, the works that will condemn people are the evil deeds that derive from unfaithfulness to God. The concept of a record kept by God of each person’s deeds suggests that each person is writing his or her own destiny. Through the life we daily live, we are acquiring a record that will bring us either shame or honor in the final judgment. In a sense it is not so much God judging each person as it is each person writing his or her own final judgment. The Purpose. The other book is called "the book of life": "Also another book was opened, which is the book of life . . . and if any one’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire" (Rev 20:12, 15). This is the book which contains the names of all those who have believed in Christ. Both the Old and New Testaments often speak of the book including all the names of the righteous (Ex 32:32-33; Dan 12:1; Luke 10:20; Phil 4:3; Rev 3:5; 13:8; 21:27). The relationship between the books of deeds and the book of life is not clear. Austin M. Farrer aptly suggests that those whose names are missing from the book of life are given the chance to understand the reason by checking the books containing the record of their lives.16 It seems plausible that this verification is also part of the judgment process performed by the saints. As stated at the introduction of this chapter, there will be surprises in God’s Kingdom as some of the respected "saints" will be absent and some of the reputed "sinners" will be present. The book of deeds will explain why some names are present while others are absent from the book of life. Thus an important function of the Post-Advent judgment, like that of the Pre-Advent judgment, is to enable moral beings fully to understand and accept the justice of God’s judgments. 3. The Relationship Between the Pre-Advent and the Post-Advent Judgment Similarities. A comparison between the Pre-Advent and the Post-Advent phases of the final judgment suggests several similarities and some differences. There is a conceptual similarity between the description of the Pre-Advent judgment found in Daniel 7 and that of the Post-Advent judgment found in Revelation 20. George Eldon Ladd notes, for example, that in both passages are mentioned the seeing of thrones, the setting of a judgment, the presence of many beings and the reception of the Kingdom by the saints. To these can be added the opening of books and the destruction ofGod’s opponent (Little Horn—Satan).17 There is also a functional similarity. Both the Pre-Advent and Post-Advent judgments are a judicial process that precedes God’s executive act of granting final rewards or punishments. Both are designed to enable moral intelligences to evaluate and accept the justice of God’s judgment in saving some and condemning others. Both decide eternal destinies of intelligent, moral beings. Differences. There are also some differences. While the Pre-Advent judgment is held in the presence of unfallen heavenly beings, the Post-Advent judgment is conducted before saved human beings. While the former reveals God’s justice in saving believers, the latter reveals His justice in punishing unbelievers. While the former results in Christ’s Coming to grant eternal life to the righteous, the latter terminates with the eternal destruction of the wicked.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Jul 2013 19:19:39 +0000
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