Where is the God of Judgment?

The Righteousness Seeker’s Observation:

Righteous art thou, O LORD…yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Why doth the way of the wicked prosper? Why are all they happy that deal very treacherously? (Jeremiah 12:1) …there is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedness (Ecclesiastes 7:15) no man knoweth either [God’s] love or hatred by all that is before them. All things come alike to all…as is the good, so is the sinner (Ecclesiastes 9:1-2) He [the wicked] hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity…His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity. He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: He hideth his face; He will never see it (Psalm 10:6,7,12)…I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish. They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. Therefore [God’s] people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to [the unrighteous]. And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High? Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches. Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning. (Psalms 73:3-14)…they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not (Ezekiel 9:9)…Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? (Psalm 10:1) Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: why lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he? (Habakuk 1:13) It is [,it seems,] vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts?…the proud [are called] happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.(Malachi 3:14-15)…[it seems that] Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them…where is the God of judgment? (Malachi 2:17)

God’s Reply:

Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished: but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered (Proverbs 11:21). [For] The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good (Proverbs 15:3). I have heard the cry of the righteous, and a book of remembrance is written before me for them that fear the LORD (Malachi 3:16). Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. (Psalm 37:7), Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity (Psalm 37:1). Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil (Ecclesiastes 8:11). Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them. (Proverbs 24:1). Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long (Proverbs 23:17). For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity (Psalms 125:3). And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head (Ezekiel 9:10). For [I] shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil (Ecclesiastes 12:14). [Therefore] When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever (Psalms 92:7). There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked (Isaiah 48:22).

If Our Gospel Be Hid

But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

(2 Corinthians 4:3-4)

According to the Bible, the gospel is the good news that a selfless Savior has undermined and even rectified mankind’s self-inflicted and ruinous plight. That Savior is Jesus (or Yeshua) the Messiah, the atoning lamb of God who bestows salvation upon those who place their trust in Him (Romans 5:6-10; John 3:16). One of the necessary implications of 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 is that this gospel in not hidden from those who need to hear it. Among those who need to hear this gospel include every single human whom God has ever brought into existence. For it is this same group of people who are in trouble and are hence in need of such a remedy. In other words, since all are entrenched in a ruinous plight then it is all who need to hear the gospel. Or, as Paul states in 2 Corinthians 5:14: “if one died for all, then were all dead.”

But, have they not all heard the gospel (Romans 10:18)? Yes, all have indeed heard the gospel. At least that is what 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 necessarily implies. In that passage God reveals that all who are lost are lost due to unbelief. Matthew 13:19 says “when any one hears the word of the kingdom, and understands it not, then comes the wicked one, and catches away that which was sown in his heart.” Hence Matthew 13:19 confirms that the “god of this world”, i.e., Satan, blinds “the minds of them which believe not” only after they have first received the gospel (“the word of the kingdom”) and neglected to understand it. Second Corinthians 4:3-4 is saying that if the gospel is hid it is only hid to those who are lost. This lostness is not due to the gospel’s unavailability but to the blinded person’s willful negligence. The term blinded in verse 4 implies that someone is obstructing vision. If removing the blinders makes the gospel present then that must means the gospel was always available. Hence, the unbelief of those who are lost on the day of judgement is not an inopportune unbelief but a willful unbelief. Once the sinner professes that he doesn’t need the gospel then Satan comes along and removes what was unwanted. Satan blinds the sinner from seeing that which was deemed useless for him to behold.

2 Corinthians 4:3-4 also implies that the gospel is not hid to those who for one reason or another have not yet heard it. For if the gospel is only hid to those who have dared to disobey it, then that must mean it is available to all other children of Adam. Whether those who are yet to hear include: yourself, your neighbor, your miscarried child, the Pharaoh of the Exodus, the Amorites, the Amalekites, aborted babies, etc. it really makes no difference. 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 implies that what is unhidden to those who have not heard the gospel is the gospel. On Judgment Day, God will ascertain whether each person has obeyed the gospel (Romans 2:16; Hebrews 2:3). According to the implications of 2 Corinthians 4:3-4, no one will, on that day, have a basis for claiming that the gospel of which God speaks was somehow hidden or inaccessible. In other words, on Judgment Day, there will only exist two categories of people: those who have obeyed the gospel and those who haven’t obeyed the gospel. There is no third category of those to whom the gospel was hidden.

For more information see: Everyone (Who Has Ever Lived) Will Hear The Gospel.