Judgment Day

     "But I say to you that every idle word, whatever men may speak, they shall give an account of it in Judgment Day." (Matthew 12:36), solemn words from the mouth of Jesus. There is certainly a day of judgment, but is it in the future or is it every day, every moment? We will know judgment day has already pasted when Christ descends at His second-advent, "And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to each as his work is." (Revelation 22:12). We also know that there is a solemn decision for each of us to make, "I call Heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore choose life that you may live, you and your seed." (Deut. 30:19), these were the words of Moses to the Israelites, and, "A stream of fire went out and came out from before Him. A thousand thousands served Him and a myriad myriads stood before Him. The court was set and the books were opened." (Daniel 7:10), from Daniels vision, it appears that this is a particular time and it is taking place in Heaven because of those looking on during this event and the ones that are serving the Judge are God's angels and of course, Christ, certainly is present, as the saint's Advocate.

     What also seems correct is that those being judged will not be present at this court setting, only the books of our accounts, which are perfectly accurate and no defense can be given by us personally, and this session must take place before Christ's second advent. John brings more light to this, "And I saw the dead, the small and the great standing before God. And scrolls were opened. And another scroll was opened, which is the Scroll of Life. And the dead were judged out of the things written in the scrolls, according to their works." (Revelation 20:12). The word for standing in Strong's dictionary: "histemi" which has a list of choices and standing is the general meaning, but can refer to a literal or figurative standing. Since the dead are not to rise again until they are called to either resurrection, I consider "standing" to be figurative. This speaks only of the dead being judged, by their accounts in the books (scrolls). Not only were the books of their accounts opened but the Book of Life was opened, for these are the ones already judged and listed, according to Christ's judgment, "The one overcoming, this one shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not at all blot his name out of the Book of Life; and I will acknowledge his name before My Father, and before His angels." (Revelation 3:5). The consequence of not being in the Book of Life is, "And if anyone was not found having been written in the scroll of life, he was thrown into the Lake of Fire." (Revelation 20:15), this is after the second resurrection, those of the unrighteous, after the one thousand year rest of the earth.

     We still don't know when this court session takes place but I can assume it ends when the last person is judged and sealed, "Do not harm the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees, until we seal the slaves of our God on their foreheads." (Revelation 7:3), "The one acting unjustly, let him still act unjustly; and the filthy, let his still be filthy; and the righteous, let him still do righteousness; and the holy, let him still be holy." (Revelation 22:11). Does the Bible declare a starting point? I logically assume it is sometime after Christ had established salvation at Calvary for His Father, Jehovah, who sent His Christ into the world for that purpose. Maybe a starting point could be at the end of the 2300-year prophecy, given to Daniel, "And he said to me, For two Thousand, three hundred evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be vindicated (cleansed KJV)." (Daniel 8:14). Strong's #6663 tsadaq does not list vindicate but it does list cleanse. At the end of each year, the earthly sanctuary would hold a special ceremony where the High Priest would take the first goat (two goats are required for this ceremony), and sacrifice one on the alter, this is the day of atonement, then all the sins of that year (sins that were forgiven by the blood of a sacrificial animals), were brought into the most holy place and put onto the head of the second goat (the scapegoat) and sent into the wilderness and this cleansed the sanctuary, in preparation for another year of sacrifices for sins. Christ, having died on the cross became the perfect sacrifice, the "Lamb of God", ending the need for a sacrificial system forever, He, paying our price for our second death, for all our confessed and repented sins, "From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, Repent! For the kingdom of Heaven has drawn near." (Matthew 4:17).

    Do not be mistaken, sins are still sins, and God's chosen people need to be cleansed before Jehovah opens the doors of His kingdom to mankind, even though Christ paid the wages of our sins, we still need to repent. Since Christ satisfied the need for animal sacrifices, this possibly indicates that the courts in Heaven started this process of judgment, and when the last soul is judged and sealed, Christ will come again and to gather those chosen for the kingdom. After Christ second advent, a thousand year period starts, the saints, those in the first resurrection and those successfully coming through the tribulation period, will spend this time with Jesus in New Jerusalem, and they will have the opportunity to judge mankind for themselves, from all of Heaven's records, those that were not part of the first resurrection and the angels that worked for Satan; this is for us to understand why they were judged as they were, showing to all that Jehovah had every just reason for His every judgments. The real scapegoat at the end of this one thousand year period will be Satan, and the Lake of Fire will be the end of Satan and death, also for those not found written in the Book of Life, as it states in Revelation 20:15 (mentioned above). Christ's second advent completes the testing and cleansing period, where we currently exist.

      Judgment day will take place for each of us, and this process is most likely now in session for those that have passed on, into what Christ called a "sleep", referring to the first death, the second death occurs outside New Jerusalem in the Lake of Fire, "And they went up over the breath of the land and encircled the camp of the saints, and the beloved city. And fire from God came down out of Heaven and burned them down." (Revelation 20:9). This is a topic not to be uncertain about, Christ died for the purpose of you avoiding the sentence required for transgressing God perfect laws, and this was determined on judgment day for those listed in the Book of Life. God Jehovah made available the reward of eternal life through His Son's sacrifice; it is our responsibility by the decisions we need to make, to follow Christ in His perfect walk, whom God sent to show us the way to His salvation. This is a one-time offer, being executed right now, before our personal first death. As Christ said, "For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light." (Matthew 11:30), His burden is light and He promises to help us in every way needed and requested, but it is our journey and our efforts, our choices, Christ is waiting to lead us, to guide us and to strengthen us in this spiritual journey. Choose wisely by reading all of God's word and executing all its instructions.