The Judgement Of The Living Nations

by R. Armstrong, Toronto | Category: The Finger Of Prophecy | Oct 1970

The pre-millennium judgements of God will enter another stage with the gathering of the living nations of the world into the valley of Jehoshaphat. The descent of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of Man to the earth has been dealt with in a former article, and He will be the central Figure in the rapidly unfolding drama of divine judgement. Every living person on the earth at that time will either go into blessing or judgement at His word. The Lord Jesus, now rejected by most of the world's population, will be in complete control of the eternal destiny of each. His word will be final, and in perfect righteousness, "that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may be brought under the judgement of God" (Romans 3.19). He, who in suffering love at Calvary, had the magnificent capacity to say, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do", will in that day change the mighty forces of the cosmic order to do His bidding, as He employs them for His strange work in judgement. As the fixed laws of the universe, unrelenting, unalterable, guide the awful hurricane on its course, carrying all before it, hearing not the cry of the terror-stricken, and cutting its path of death and destruction, so the Lord Jesus will open the flood-gates of God's righteous judgements on the nations of the world in that day.

As Armageddon will be the gathering place of the world's military power, for its destruction, so the valley of Jehoshaphat will be the gathering place of the living nations, for judgement. The ancient prophet's prediction is, "I will gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will plead with them there for My people and for My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted My land" (Joel 3.2).

The Reason for this Judgement

Firstly, God will punish the nations for their treatment of His people Israel. Zechariah prophesied, "thus saith the LORD of hosts: After glory hath He sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of His eye" (Zechariah 2.8). Hatred of Jews is mounting in many parts of the world today, and will reach its climax at the coming of the Son of Man.

Secondly, the living nations will be brought into judgement for their own wickedness, and for their rejection of the Son of God. John wrote of this fact as a reason for the judgement of God, "And this is the judgement, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light;

for their works were evil" (John 3.19). Human sin will have reached its high water mark, and the prophet's words which have lain silent through the centuries, will at last summon the nations to judgement. "Let the nations bestir themselves (be awakened), and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the nations round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, tread ye; for the winepress is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision I for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision" (Joel 3.12-14). God's longsuffering towards the nations will be ended. The cry for vengeance which injustice has caused throughout the centuries will be silenced for ever.

Thirdly, the long promised kingdom of Christ and the golden millennium age of peace cannot be inaugurated while those who oppose its rule of righteousness and its King are still alive. Even the seemingly insignificant act of passive unbelief in the message of the sealed witness's gospel of the kingdom, will be sufficient to bring the judgement of the Lord on those who thus treat their message of life.

Not a single unbeliever will be left on the earth when the Lord Jesus Christ completes the judgement of the living nations. To be otherwise would be incompatible with the constitution of His coming kingdom of peace and righteousness. He will also put down all rule and authority and power in preparation for His absolute theocratic government over the nations. Our Lord appeared to have this in mind when He told His disciples that "The Son of Man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and them that do iniquity, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 13.41,42).

Joel the prophet shares in the great burden of prophetic ministry by depicting the assembling of the nations in the valley of decision, and the appearing of the Lord Jesus and His "mighty ones", to deal with the vast multitudes who will stand before His judgement throne. The "valley of decision" should not be taken to mean that the nations will have an opportunity to make a decision. The die is cast, and the Lord Himself will be the Decider. No power will be able to alter His decision (Joel 3.11,12). The words "round about" in verse 12 seem to suggest a circular array in this valley, with the Lord sitting in the midst as Judge. The valley of Jehoshaphat is said to be the Kidron Valley on the east side of Jerusalem. What memories will be stirred in the heart of the great Saviour Judge as He sits in that valley and remembers the night He crossed the same brook with a handful of disciples, and made His way to the hour of Calvary. Another view suggests that with the cleaving of the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14.4), the resulting topographical changes may well place the "valley of decision" in another location. Wherever this great valley is, the scene baffles human imagination as we visualize wave after wave of human beings, brought by an irresistible force into that great arena to hear a sentence of judgement or a message of blessing from the lips of Christ.

The Principle of Harmony in Prophetic Prediction of this Judgement

Men of God who wrote and spoke of the coming time of divine judgement, and whose ministry is recorded in the Bible, reveal a remarkable harmony in their messages despite the fact they lived hundreds of years apart. We acknowledge this as the work of the Holy Spirit of God with whom a thousand years is as one day. Daniel wrote of a night vision in which he "beheld till thrones were placed, and One that was Ancient of Days did sit: His raiment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool; and His throne was fiery flames, and the wheels thereof burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him: thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before

Him: the judgement was set, and the books were opened" (Daniel 7.9,10). The Lord Jesus Himself gives confirmation of that same judgement when He describes Himself as the great Shepherd Judge who will separate people as a shepherd divides sheep from goats. The omniscient Christ will in perfect righteousness assign each to blessing or judgement. This is the Son of Man coming in His glory as the Judge of all the earth. No mistaking this Person of whom the prophets have written, as He sits on His judgement throne, and there will be a power associated with His glory from which none shall be able to escape, as "before Him shall be gathered all the nations" (Matthew 25.31-33). John in his Patmos visions saw this same judgement. He saw the stars of heaven falling to "the earth, as a fig tree casteth her unripe figs, when she is shaken of a great wind". Heavenly bodies will collide with the earth as the terror-stricken population watch the heavens roll up like a scroll, and see mountains and islands moved out of their places by gigantic subterranean convulsions. People of every level of society will hide in "caves and in the rocks of the mountains; and they say to the mountains and to the rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb" (Revelation 6.12-16). We read of "a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the whole moon became as blood" (verse 12). Nature will provide no hiding place from that relentless storm, and wherever people are there will be no escape from the face of the Lord Jesus Christ as it is projected to every part of the world. It will be the same face of the Man Christ Jesus who once hung on the cross at Calvary, and the "visage so marred more than any man", will be terrible to behold. "Every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him" (Revelation 1.7).

Judgement in Righteousness

One of the remarkable features of the Lord's judgement will be righteousness. The terms of blessing will have been made crystal clear by the world-wide message of the 144,000 witnesses, and there will be no excuse for ignorance. The Lord's perfect knowledge of each will make every plea for mercy unavailing for those who refused the message in the time of their opportunity. The Lord Jesus looked across the centuries and predicted what men would say to Him as He separated them for judgement. "Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by Thy Name, and by Thy Name cast out demons, and by Thy Name do many mighty works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you:

depart from Me ye that work iniquity (Matthew 7.22,23 RVM). The eternal destiny of those of the living nations who are placed on the left hand of Christ is sealed. The irrevocable decision will be made "Depart from Me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels". Ezekiel wrote of God, "As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked" (Ezekiel 33.11). Thus the very heart of God is revealed, that even in the death and ultimate judgement of the wicked He finds no pleasure. The awful place to which they will be sent was prepared for the devil and his angels and not for men. Being there will be the result of their own choice.

It is solemn to contemplate that those who live in times of great privilege have great responsibility, and in any dispensation of God's dealings with men, the hallmark of divine blessing has been, and ever will be, obedience and faith in the revelation of God. Thus will the coming judgements of God on the living nations prepare the way and the people for the inauguration of Messiah's glorious kingdom and 1000 years of world peace which has been "prepared ... from the foundation of the world" (Matthew 25.34).

R. Armstrong, Toronto | Oct 1970
The Finger Of Prophecy