Judgments of Israel and Gentile Nations

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This is Today With Derek Prince. The internationally recognized Bible teacher and author presents to you Keys To Successful Living.

Yesterday Derek Prince showed us three ways in which to apply the parable of the talents to our own lives. Today he will conclude the theme ‘Eternal Judgment’ by explaining about the judgment of the nation of Israel, the Gentile nations and the remaining dead at the Great White Throne. Listen as Derek concludes this topic at a New Zealand conference, and stay tuned at the end of today’s program for our address and this week’s special offer.

Derek Prince:

One of our big problems, Ruth and I, is we need somebody to serve us. We’re not ambitious, we don’t want to lord it over people but if we’re to do our job, the one that God assigns, we have to have people who will serve. Just serve. And do you know what the hardest thing to find in the church today is people who are willing to serve. We’ve had some wonderful ones, we’ve met two or three of them here. In fact, we had a little gathering with three different people who had served us at different times. Each of them had been faithful. But we’ve had so many problems with people who want their own ministry. They’re not content to invest in another ministry. And they miss everything. They don’t get their own ministry, they don’t get the benefit of the investment that they made in another’s ministry.

Dear one talent people, look out! You’re in danger. You may hear the words, ‘Cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Now let me take some principles from these parables.

“Number one, our service in this life determines our position in the next life.
Number two, not to use your talent is to lose it.
Number three, not to do good when you can is sin. James 4:17:
Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, it is sin.”

We often talk about the sins of commission but the sins of omission are just as real. And then I want to analyze for a moment Matthew chapter 5. There are three classes of people there who were totally rejected by God. The foolish virgins who took no oil, the one talent servant who did nothing with it and the goat nations who did not help the brothers of Jesus. And they were all totally and finally rejected by God. I said to myself one day, ‘What did they all have in common that caused them to be rejected? What did they do?’ I got a simple answer, ‘They did nothing.’ That’s all you have to do to be rejected—just do nothing. It’s a solemn thought.

We’re going to go on very quickly to the other judgments. We’ve been dealing mainly with the judgments of believers because that’s the one that really concerns us. If we’re believers this is what we really need to know about.

Now I believe the next judgment will be the judgment of Israel, a special people set apart by God. And though they’ve been disobedient and unfaithful in many, many centuries, God has never finally rejected them. What is the Scripture we say?

“The Lord will not reject His people for His great name’s sake because it has pleased the Lord to make Israel His people.”

What God does for Israel is not because of Israel’s desserts, it’s because of the Lord’s name, that His name may be glorified. God is going to deal with Israel in a special way. Here’s a principle that I want to pass on to you about blessing and judgment. God blesses the Jews direct but He blesses the Gentiles through the Jews. Those of us who are Gentiles here need to remember that. Every spiritual blessing we have ever received we owe to the Jewish people. Jesus said in John 4:22:

“Salvation is from the Jews.”

It’s a very simple statement. Every single blessing that you’ve ever received in salvation you owe to one people, the Jewish people. God expects you to recognize that and act accordingly.

But when it comes to judgment God judges the Gentiles direct, He judges the Jews through the Gentiles. Let me repeat that. God blesses the Jews direct, He blesses the Gentiles through the Jews. God judges the Gentiles direct, He judges the Jews through the Gentiles. You go back through hundreds of years of Jewish history, persistently God has used Gentile nations to judge them for their disobedience and their unfaithfulness.

And so, the next judgment is going to be the judgment of Israel in the great tribulation. We’ll just look at one Scripture, Jeremiah 30:3–7.

“For thus says the Lord, ‘The days are coming that I will bring back from exile my people Israel and Judah,’ says the Lord. ‘I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers and they shall possess it.’”

No matter what any government or politician likes to think, it says they shall possess it. And everybody who knows the Bible knows what land that is, there’s only one land.

A preacher, a friend of mine once said, ‘Well, if the return of the Jews to their land were from God, there would be peace.’ He didn’t know His Bible because this is what God says in connection with the return of the Jews:

“These are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah, ‘For thus says the Lord, we have heard a voice of trembling, of fear and not of peace. Ask now and see whether a man is ever in labor with child. So why do I see every male with his hands on his loins like a woman in labor and all faces turned pale?’”

The greatest pressure that Israel has never experienced is immediately ahead, it’s after they’ve returned to the land.

“‘Alas, for that day is great so that none is like it. It is the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.’”

Notice not saved from it but saved out of it. And there God will deal in judgment with the Jewish people. At the end of the tribulation their judgment will have taken place. Then God will judge the other nations. Joel chapter 3:1–2,

“‘For behold, in those days and at that time when I bring back the exiles of Judah and Jerusalem . . .’ Notice this refers to the same period, the return of the Jewish people to their own land, God says:
‘I will also gather all nations [Gentile nations] and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will enter into judgment with them there on account of my people, my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations. They have also divided up my land.’”

So God says when He’s finished dealing with the Jews then He will deal with the Gentiles. He will deal with them on one basis, the way they have treated Israel. That’s a remarkable fact but it’s there. God has got two accusations. One, they have oppressed the Jewish people. Number two, they have divided up or partitioned that land. God says, ‘That’s my land. I gave it to Israel.’ And, no human authority or government has any right whatever to divide that land up. What is happening today? Exactly what God said should not happen. The land has been partitioned, is being partitioned and probably will be partitioned. But when God comes in judgment He’ll judge the nations that have partitioned that land.

Unfortunately, right at the top of the list He could put Britain. Because, Britain was responsible for the mandate at the end of World War I, was authorized to provide a national home for the Jewish people and in the year 1922 Britain by a single decision of Winston Churchill allocated seventy-six percent of that land to an Arab nation which is now called Jordan. And no Jew is permitted to live there. Of the remaining twenty four percent, the United Nations divided it up. But all are going to have to answer to Jesus when He comes. And if you look at Matthew 25, the judgment of the nations—the sheep nations that are invited into the kingdom, the goat nations that are dismissed from the kingdom, that are sent into everlasting punishment—

the basic principle of division is the way they have treated the brothers of Jesus. I say this because it’s so important because Israel is a major factor in world affairs today and many of the nations are lining up on the wrong side. Israel cannot defend themselves but sooner or later, when the time comes, God will intervene.

So that’s the third judgment, the fourth we’ll only just mention, it’s the judgment before the great white throne referred to in Revelation chapter 20:

“When heaven and earth have fled away from the face of the One who sits on the throne, and all the remaining dead are resurrected, stand before God and are judged according to the things written in the books.’”

But there’s another book, thank God for that, which is the Book of Life. And, those whose names are written in the Book of Life will enter into eternity with God. The rest will be banished forever from the presence of God.

“So those are the four main judgments.
Number one, the judgment seat of Christ, a judgment only of believers.
Number two, the judgment of Israel in the great tribulation.”

Number three, the judgment of all other nations before Christ’s throne at the beginning of the millennium.

And number four, the final judgment of all the remaining dead before the great white throne. So those are the principles of God’s judgment as I have been able to understand them. And each of us now needs to ask ourselves, ‘Am I prepared to face the judgment of God? Am I living the kind of life that will not cause me to be ashamed when I stand before Him?’ Brothers and sisters, let’s pray together and pray about this vital issue of standing before the judgment of God.

“‘Almighty God, your Word is so clear. We have been ministering your Word to your people tonight. Now I want to pray for every person gathered here that these words that I’ve spoken that have been taken directly from the Bible will sink deep into the hearts and that there will be many who will be prompted seriously to examine their own lives. I pray especially for the one talent people. Lord, don’t let them hide that talent in the ground. Help them to deposit it with the bankers that they may not be ashamed before you when you come. Lord Jesus, you’ve spoken to us many times you’re coming quickly, you’re coming soon. You’ve warned us many times even in these meetings that we need to be ready for your coming. I pray for each one here, myself included, grant us by your grace to be ready for your return, to be ready to stand before the judgment seat of Jesus and give an answer to the things we’ve done in the body. Lord, we pray this mercy in your name, the name of Jesus. Amen.’”

Announcer:

This week’s topic has helped us to understand the series of events at the end of time when everyone will face judgment enabling us to make adjustments and set priorities in our lives. Join Derek Prince again next week when he will begin another theme of importance to all Christians.

This message on ‘Eternal Judgment’ is available on audiocassette No. RC4169, and also on video. Our special offer this week is The Spirit-filled Believer’s Handbook by Derek Prince, an effective reference tool for counseling, witnessing and ministry as well as a necessary guide for new believers on living a successful Christian life. Be sure to get this classic hardcover edition.

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