Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. Tonight is study #14 of Genesis, chapter 18 and we are continuing to read Genesis 18:23-25:

And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?

In our last study, we were looking at the fact that the Bible declares that God will judge the righteous and the wicked, but this verse is not speaking of judging, but it is speaking of destroying the righteous with the wicked. Will God do that? No – far be it from God to destroy a righteous man along with the wicked.

That is why Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord and was spared from destruction in the flood, along with seven other members of his family. It is why all of God’s elect are spared destruction. That is the key. The Bible does not say the righteous will not be judged, but it says that God will not destroy them in the judgment.

Let us look at this from another perspective. Again, we see a question in our passage. We have seen some very interesting questions in this chapter. If you remember, there was a question in Genesis 18:14:

Is anything too hard for JEHOVAH?..

Then we saw another question in Genesis 18:17:

…Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;

Now we see a third question. It is a very important question raised by Abraham: “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” What is the answer? The answer is obvious. Yes – the Judge of all the earth will do right. Of course, God is that Judge. He, alone, is the Judge of all the earth. No man can sit in that judgment seat and judge his fellow man, but only the just and righteous God can pronounce judgment. We find this in the Bible, again, and again, and again, as God discusses the final judgment of mankind. I am going to read a few of these verses and you may think there are a good number of them, but it will only be a portion of all the Scriptures that could be read. It says in Psalm 9:8:

And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.

God will judge the world in righteousness and minister judgment to the people in uprightness. That is interesting. He is going to serve judgment and He will do so in an upright manner. We find ourselves living in the world after the date of May 21, 2011, the date God opened up to His people as the date for Judgment Day. It was proclaimed to all the inhabitants of the earth, like nothing before in history. Now we find the Bible is revealing information regarding this spiritual judgment and the fact that the Word of God is judging the inhabitants of the earth. God is judging the people of the world through the Bible. The revelations coming forth from the Bible (like the shut door of heaven) are carrying out the judgment in this prolonged period of Judgment Day.

Psalm 9 is full of good information relating to the Day of Judgment. After telling us in Psalm 9, verse 8 that God will judge the world in righteousness, God tells us in Psalm 9:9:

JEHOVAH also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.

What time of “trouble” would that be? It is the present trouble of Judgment Day. God is a refuge for His people in times of trouble, like the ark was a refuge for Noah and his family in the time of trouble during the flood, which typified Judgment Day. Now God’s elect have entered into the safe haven of the kingdom of heaven through salvation and we are safe in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are safeguarded by the mercy and grace that God has bestowed upon His people during this time of trouble. Then it says in Psalm 9:10:

And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, JEHOVAH, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.

For a short time it appeared that God had forsaken His people that He had foreknown. We had trusted in His Word. We had trusted the Bible’s declaration of the Day of Judgment. We put our reputations on the line and we used our resources to declare it. God is reminding us that He judges the world in righteousness and He is a refuge for His people in times of trouble. He will not forsake those that have put their trust in Him. God has not forsaken us. He has not left us. He continues with His people, indwelling them through His Spirit during this time we have come to know is Judgment Day.

Also, it says in Psalm 98:9:

Before JEHOVAH; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world…

So, God judges the earth with righteousness. On the one hand, “righteousness” is the Lord Jesus Christ, according to 1Corinthians 1:30:

But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

He is made unto us “righteousness,” because we are saved by the faith of Christ and by His righteousness: “…so by the obedience of one many shall be made righteous.” So, He has come to judge the world in righteousness, and then it goes on to say in Psalm 98:9:

… and the people with equity.

The word “equity” is also translated as “right,” “equal,” “righteously,” “upright,” etc. God is making a special point that when it comes to His judgment for this world, it will be done in a very upright and perfect way. He will judge mankind in a just way. And He will judge the righteous and the wicked. He will judge the world in righteousness or in Christ. And who is Christ? Christ is the Word made flesh. Christ will judge the world by His Word, the Bible. We have looked at several Scriptures that indicate these things and we will continue to do so as we go through this study in Genesis.

In the New Testament, it says in Acts 17:29-31:

Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; 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.

Of course, that “man” is the Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him, God will judge the world in righteousness.

You know, sometimes God only says things once or twice, but this truth is stated, again, and again, throughout the Bible. We just read in Acts 17 that God appointed a day in which He will judge the world. By the way, what day did God appoint for judgment? May 21, 2011 was Judgment Day! The Bible guarantees it. God opened the Scriptures to reveal that May21, 2011 was the beginning of Judgment Day for all the unsaved people of the earth. Yes, it is Judgment Day (singular) and now we are many years beyond that date. But this is the Bible. How long did Israel wander in the wilderness? It was forty years, but how did God define that 40-year period in Hebrews, chapter 3? He called it the “day” of temptation in the wilderness and in the next verse He says it was 40 years in duration. God can extend a period of time and, yet, identify it as a single day or He can identify the entire New Testament era as “three and one half days” with the second half of Daniel’s seventy weeks; or as “1,260 days,” as it is said to be in the Book of Revelation. However, the New Testament church age literally lasted 1,955 years, but God uses these figures to describe extended periods of time. It is a very common practice in the Bible.

But, for some people, it is just an excuse: “Oh, now you are saying Judgment Day is more than a single day.” And they turn off their ears and they shut their eyes. In truth, God is the one that blinds the unsaved and keeps them “deaf, dumb and blind,” spiritually, as He holds back truth from them. The Lord is in control of what His people understand and the degree to which they understand. He is also the one that spoke in parables so that those that are not His people will not understand. Christ said of His disciples in Matthew 13:11: “Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.” So when Jesus would give a parable, He would often add, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” The whole Bible is a parable and it is full of hidden truth. God must open our ears to hear and our eyes to see. If He does not do so, we will not understand. And God has certainly opened our eyes to see that Judgment Day is not a single 24-hour day, but it is a prolonged period of time that will go on for many years.

Again, in Acts 17:31 God said He has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness by that “man,” who can only be Christ. It says in John 5:27-30:

And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

Christ declared that His judgment is just or righteous. He will judge the world in righteousness. This is a guarantee. It is the solemn declaration of the just and Holy God. He will judge uprightly in the purest sense. It will be a just weight and a just balance that will try mankind as we come before the Judge of all the earth. The Lord Jesus Christ will honestly and righteously judge mankind. He will determine whether their works were good or evil. And what does the Bible say about all of mankind? All have sinned and come short of the glory of God: “There is none righteous, no, not one.” This is mankind’s problem because of sin; they have transgressed the Law and the Bible says that if you transgress in one point of the Law, you are guilty of all. So, the majority of people on the earth will be found guilty because they have no Saviour. They must answer for their own sins. It is only God’s elect that have had their sins cast upon Jesus and paid for at the point of the foundation of the world. The elect will be found to have done “good” through the Lord Jesus Christ and the new born-again soul God has granted them.

God is judging. He is seated upon the judgment throne and all must appear before Him. There is one judgment event to all and He is the One who makes final determination regarding the innocence or guilt of each human being.

It says in Revelation 19:11:

And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

Judgment Day is likened to a battle, the battle of Armageddon. In righteousness, the One seated upon the horse doth judge and make war with the enemies of the kingdom of Satan, which includes Satan and his forces and all unsaved people.

Let us take a closer look at the One seated upon the horse. It says in Revelation 19:12-13:

His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

His name is called “The Word of God.” In righteousness He doth judge. Yes – Jesus is the Word of God. Yes – He is the word make flesh. But we should not overlook the fact that judgment began at the house of God, the corporate church, back in 1988. And how did God judge the churches? It was through the Word of God, the Bible. There was no visible appearance of Christ, even though he was the Judge of the churches and congregations of the world. He did not show Himself physically, but God opened the Scriptures to reveal a timeline for the church age and the Great Tribulation; He revealed that all churches and congregations had “high places” and He was come in judgment upon these things. The judgment upon the churches was carried out and executed by the things written – it was the Word of God that judged them.

On May 21, 2011, we incorrectly thought we would see Christ and see the visible, outward appearance of the judgment of God upon the earth. Instead, what we have “seen” has come forth from the Word of God, the Bible. It is the judgment of God. In righteousness, He doth judge and make war. We are learning more and more about the nature of the Day of Judgment. Remember the verse in Romans, chapter 2. It says in Romans 2:5:

But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;

The “day of wrath” is Judgment Day. It is revelation of the Word of God. The Greek word translated as “revelation” is the same word found in 2Thessalonians 2, where we read that the man of sin will be “revealed.” How was the man of sin revealed? Did we see him out in the world and we were able to identify him as the Pope or Hitler or Mussolini? No – we did not look out into the world. He is Satan and he was revealed in the Word of God. This is what it means to be “revealed.” After speaking of the flood and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, it says in Luke 17:30:

“Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.”

In Romans 2, it refers to the day of wrath and then we see a very important conjunction “and.” It is the day of wrath and revelation. Again, 2Thessalonians 2 had to do with God opening up the Scriptures to the understanding of His people and, so, too, is the case here. The Word of God doth judge and make war in righteousness.

Let us look at just one more verse to close our study. It says in John 12:48:

He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.