The dictionary definition of judgment: “a decision of a court or judge; a misfortune or calamity viewed as a divine punishment.”

The Bible speaks a lot about judgment. When we read about the subject of judgment in the Bible, it’s always about the other guy: someone in the past, or someone in the future, or someone that we consider to be more wicked than we are. The problem is that our pride prevents us from thinking that it is something that could happen to us.

Judgment is nothing more than suffering the consequences of our actions. It’s simply a function of the law of cause and effect. If you jump off of a building, you’ll suffer the consequences of your actions when you hit the ground. Similarly, when we break YHVH’s commandments, we will suffer the consequences. It’s a matter of degrees. To the degree that we obey his commandments, we’ll reap the blessings of obedience. To the degree we disobey them, we’ll reap the negative consequences (Lev 26:3ff cp. 14ff). For most of us, our actions with regard to obedience to YHVH’s laws are a mixture of both good and evil, so we’re reaping both blessings and curses at the same time.

Coming out the mainstream church, most of us have been so indoctrinated with the doctrine of YHVH’s love and grace, that we have a skewed view of his judgments. No one ever talks about judgment. Add to this the idea of the pre-tribulation raptures, and the idea of divine judgment is shoved further into the back of many believer’s minds. If a preacher does talk about divine judgment, they’re often accused of being judgmental, and that shuts down the conversation. No one wants to talk about it since it messes with people’s false view of a totally loving and gracious Elohim, and it also forces people to face the facts of their own sinfulness and wickedness and the fact that they deserve his judgments for their disobedience.

Beyond this, most of us have developed a theology of our own making whereby we excuse and justify ourselves in the comfort zones of our sin. Our hearts become hardened at that level and we often justify ourselves by comparing ourselves to someone who, in our mind, is a worse sinner than we are, thus making ourselves feel better about ourself. This is a deceptive form of self delusion and is not based in the reality of YHVH’s righteous standards.

The Laodiceans, for example, were believers. They weren’t adulterers, idolators or murderers. They were “good Christians.” What was their sin? Being lukewarm with regard to their faith and having an inflated view of their own righteousness. For this, YHVH was willing to reject them! For this, they had to go through fiery judgments. It seems that YHVH’s standards of righteousness are much higher than most of us are willing to admit, and that our standards of righteousness are too low. Between these two standards, there’s a huge gap. To get from our low level of righteousness to YHVH’s high level, one of two things need to occur. We need to wake up to our true spiritual condition and repent, or YHVH will have to use the shock treatment of judgment on us to wake us up forcefully. It’s like the rebellious child for whom a verbal correction is insufficient, so the parent must bring out the paddle. In reality, for most of us, it’ll probably be a combination of the two to get us where YHVH wants us to be—the rebuke and the paddle. Even then, after we’ve gone through judgment and repented of our sin, we will still need Yeshua’s imputed righteousness to make up the difference for the lack of our own righteousness. That’s how sinful, dark and evil our hearts really are in YHVH’s view! Remember, what the apostle says: The righteous are scarcely saved, and YHVH’s judgments must begin at the house of Elohim, which is the church (1 Pet 4:17–18).

Let us not squander any of the time of grace YHVH has given us to repent before his heavy judgments begin to fall in these last days. Remember this:

And the times of this ignorance God winked at [overlooked]; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. (Acts 29:30–31)

The church is being judged (refined) including those who have come out of the traditional, mainstream church system and come into the Hebrew Roots Movement. Sadly, many in the HR movement have brought with them the same lukewarm attitudes they had before when they were in the mainstream church. The wheat and tares are beginning to be separated.

1 Cor 11:18–19,  For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. (1 Cor 11:18–19)

Spiritual leaders are especially being judged. Those who are self-appointed, and who are pursuing money and power using corporate American techniques to build their ministries are being judged. Those who are merchandizing YHVH’s people will be judged (2 Pet 2:3; 1 Pet 5:2; Rom 16:18; 1 Tim 3:3, 8; Tit 1:7, 11). YHVH is separating out the hirelings from the true shepherds after his own heart (Ezek 34; John 10:7ff). Leaders of congregations who don’t fit the biblical qualifications for eldership will be exposed. Those who have skeletons in their closets, who have repented of sin and who have failed to make proper restitution for those sins will be exposed. If you’re a leader, beware of YHVH’s judgments. If you have hidden sin, or are self-appointed, or have ulterior motives for being a leader, YHVH will expose your sin. If you’re a sheep,  be careful to know those who labor among you (1 Thess 5:12).

When trials (YHVH’s judgment?) come upon us (Jas 1:2) we must seek YHVH’s wisdom (v. 5), so we will understand why these trials have come upon us. This is very difficult to do. Our pride usually causes us to excuse ourselves from any culpability for the trials that come upon us. We often blame others, or attribute the trial to time and chance. When we’re in the middle of a trial, it’s extremely hard to see the forest for the trees.  It’s too easy to fail to see the hand of YHVH’s chastening judgment on us as he tries to refine out of us the impurities that are preventing us growing spiritually closer to him.

In the end times, YHVH is going to turn up the heat of refining judgment on his people. Those who refuse to repent will get hotter, more intense judgments (qv. Lev 26:14–39). Like a good parent, YHVH endeavors to instruct and correct his children through a light-handed approach at first, but when they refuse to hear him, he is forced to use more intense and painful means to get their attention (Ps 32:8–10).

The four sets of  successively intensifying judgments of Leviticus 26 relate to the same in the book of Revelation (the seven seals, trumpets, thunders and bowls). The time is coming when YHVH will judge the whole world — and especially the bride of Yeshua. YHVH wants a holy, spotless and pure bride for himself. The foolish virgins of Matthew 25 lacked the Torah and Spirit. That’s why they were excluded from the wedding supper. The Laodiceans were lukewarm, naked, impoverished, naked and blind, which is why they had to go through refining fires of YHVH’s judgment. In the book of Revelation, there are the 144, 000 redeemed Israelites, and then there are those who because of lukewarmness, must go through the refining fires of great tribulation to get their robes washed. The latter group will be the larger number of believers — a great an innumerable multitude. This doesn’t even include the large numbers of believers who have already falling away in the great apostasy of the end times (2 Thess 2).

Remember this one thing: Heartfelt repentance is the key to averting YHVH’s judgments and experiencing his grace (Lev 26:40–41).

Please also remember this: It’s the watchman on the wall’s job to warn the city of the judgments he sees coming. He’s likely to be unpopular with the people, who are complacent and apathetic in their status quo — all things continue as they have from the beginning (1 Pet 4:3), they say. But the watchman still has to warn, or the people’s fate will be on his head, their blood on his hands.