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JUDGMENT BEGINS AT THE HOUSE OF YAHWEH
By
Bertrand L. Comparet
One verse of the Bible was formerly quoted more often
than it is today, even though today we are arriving at the time of its
fulfillment. This verse is I Peter 4:17, "For the time is come that
judgment must begin at the house of Yahweh: and if it first begins at us, what
shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of Yahweh?" Strangely
enough, this verse is almost always used by the ministers to threaten their own
congregations with judgment and condemnation. This is as though it was the
Christian who should be in fear of this judgment. Perhaps this does get more
money in the offering that Sunday but, is this a correct use of the word of
Yahweh? Let's examine the subject in detail.
This is a Christian nation.
It was founded by Christians, who came to this continent when it was an untamed
wilderness, peopled by fierce savages. They came here, as their own records tell
us, to establish Christian communities where they could worship Yahweh without
interference. Even today, although we have allowed the entrance of millions of
people who hate our God Yahweh, and everything we hold sacred, yet the great
majority of our people are still Christian.
Our people are not completely perfect, people were never
sinlessly perfect at any time that is why there was a need for Yahshua to come
and save us by His sacrifice on the cross. His death and resurrection were not
in vain. Yahshua has cleansed us of the guilt of our sins, if He had not, then
He would have died in vain. Yahweh's purpose can never fail. He has saved us
from the judgment for our sins and redeemed us as His children, who had
strayed like lost sheep. It isn't the Christians who need to fear the judgment. I
John 4:17 tells us, "Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have
boldness in the Day of Judgment: because as He is, so are we in this
world."
It is still true that judgment must begin at the house of
Yahweh but we see it is not judgment upon the Christians. Who then, are to be
judged among those who are found in this nation, which is the household of
Yahweh? Those who hate our God are loud in their denunciation of us for our
supposed sins. These supposed sins consist mostly in not helping them to commit
their own sins, on a scale as great and profitable, as they desire. Should we
hang our heads in shame and plead guilty to their accusations? Never! Isaiah
54:17 gives the answer. "No weapon that is formed against thee shall
prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt
condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of Yahweh, and their righteousness
is of Me, saith Yahweh."
Yes, our righteousness is of Him. The righteousness,
which Yahweh imputed to Christians because Yahshua died and was resurrected to
accomplish this very thing. Therefore, every tongue that shall rise against thee
in judgment thou shalt condemn.
In many places, the Bible tells us that Yahweh's judgment
will fall upon the ungodly. Upon those who hate Him and refuse His sacrifice
made for us upon the cross. One of these many verses is, I Samuel 2:10,
"The adversaries of Yahweh shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall
He thunder upon them: Yahweh shall judge the ends of the earth." There are
many more verses to the same effect; those nations, which are not Christian,
must face the final accounting for their wickedness. This is because they have
refused to accept the salvation offered them by Yahshua. What can possibly
remain except the judgment of complete justice? What a heavy penalty complete
justice will require for their many centuries of continuous wickedness!
Then why are we told that judgment must begin at the
house of Yahweh? There is time enough to get the other nations in their own
turn; meanwhile let them stew in their own juice. The household of Yahweh, His
people the Anglo Saxon, Scandinavian, Germans, all Israelites, must be cleansed
at the beginning of this period of judgment, which we see already coming over
the horizon. We must be made ready to receive Him. Since the Christians are not
the people against whom the judgment is coming, then why does it begin with our
own nation?
It begins here precisely because we have allowed those
who hate our God to come here and live among us in great numbers. They
ceaselessly attack every mention of the name of Yahshua. They constantly strive
to prohibit all mention of His name in the schools, in any public place or in
governmental proceedings. They even want to remove the slogan, In God We Trust,
from our money. In all other respects they love our money with greed, which has
been proverbial for many centuries. No nation can be righteous with such people
in its midst. Consequently, the judgment must begin in this nation in order to
remove those who fight against Yahweh in His own household.
Psalm 1:5 tells us, "Therefore the ungodly
shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the
righteous". Note this is completely different from the judgment upon the
other nations. Those nations, who reject Yahweh and all His commandments,
could never be called the congregation of the righteous. This speaks of a
judgment, which falls upon those who are sinners while they are among the
congregation of the righteous.
Obviously, they couldn't be part of the congregation of
the righteous, for then they would not be sinners. They are found among the
congregation of the righteous, as an inassimilable, forever-alien element among
them. Having rejected Yahshua, they must therefore face the judgment they have
earned. Yahshua tells us 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."
It should not be hard to identify those who must be
removed by this judgment. Yahshua, as well as many of the prophets, tell their
rejection of Him leaves them no escape from judgment. Isaiah 3:9
completes the identification. It is very appropriate that this should come in
verse nine, as nine is the number always associated with judgment in the Bible.
This verse points out, "The show of their countenance doth witness against
them: and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their
soul! For they have rewarded evil unto themselves."
Today our nation is flooded with corrupting influences.
Salacious movies and books, a false psychology taught in many of our schools,
which undermines the confidence of the youth in their own parents. The list
grows longer with liquor dealers who grow rich selling whiskey to youths. There
is a well-financed campaign to break down all moral standards in the coming
generation. Then there is politics, wherein nothing counts but winning public
office, no matter what kind or degree of corruption is needed to win. There is
merchandise sold by advertising, which cleverly contrives to mislead the buyer
to expect better quality than he receives.
Surely none of this could have come from truly Christian
sources, it is the antithesis of Christianity. Yet we find it here wealthy,
powerful, numerous and utterly corrupt. It is the work and the evidence of
sinners who are physically present in, but not a part of, the house of Yahweh,
the congregation of the righteous. This element must be removed before we can be
ready to enter into the kingdom of Yahweh as the congregation of the righteous,
the household of Yahweh. It is upon these aliens that the judgment falls, not
upon us. It is this very process which Yahshua was describing to us in the
parable of the tares among the wheat. This is recorded in Matthew 13:24-30,
36-43, where Yahshua told us of the tares growing among the wheat, but being
no part of it. The tares were the children of the devil. Yahshua also identified
them in John chapter 9, living among Yahweh's own children, who must be
weeded out to be burned in the fires of judgment.
When this is completed, we shall have a glorious nation,
which is truly fit to be the kingdom of Yahweh, the congregation of the
righteous, with nothing remaining that can tarnish our glory. Yahshua
concludes His explanation of the parable of the tares among the wheat, with the
statement that as soon as the tares are removed, "Then shall the righteous
shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father". The time of
judgment is at hand. The tares themselves are publicly declaring their fear of
the national resentment rising against them. They bitterly attack every attempt
to reinstate the moral and political values of the day when this nation was
morally great. They attack all this as a movement of the extreme right. Be glad
that you are extremely right, for only thus can you be in the company of Yahweh.
Let judgment begin at the house of Yahweh as quickly as possible, so that we can
be cleansed and made ready to receive our God, Yahweh! |