The Judgment
of the Dead & Living During the
Great Tribulation
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From the previous
studies on Daniel 7, Daniel 8, and
the seven seals, we have determined
that the judgment for the dead began
in 1844. Because each dead
person’s life is unique, because
each person’s knowledge of God
and His Word is unique, and because
each person’s response to the
Holy Spirit is unique, three
witnesses are necessary in the
judgment of the dead. After the
testimony of these three witnesses
has been corroborated, Jesus passes
judgment on each dead person.
The first witness to
speak in the judgment of the dead is
the life record of each dead
person. The second witness to speak
is the law of God (the plumb
line) and the third witness is the Holy
Spirit. God follows His own law
in the judgment of the dead.
“One witness
is not enough to convict a man
accused of any crime or offense he
may have committed. A matter must be
established by the testimony of two
or three witnesses.” (Deuteronomy
19:15) Notice how these three
witnesses operate. First, Jesus
reviews a flawless recording of the
dead person’s actions. This is
the first witness. Then, the second
witness speaks: Jesus considers the
level of knowledge of the dead person
had regarding God’s law.
Finally, Jesus listens to the Holy
Spirit’s report about the dead
person. The Spirit intimately knows
the heart and mind of every person.
(Romans 8:27) and His testimony is
infallible. It is important to
understand that the judgment of every
dead person is unique, but completely
fair. Every dead person is judged in
the same way even though there are
differences in actions, knowledge
base, and responses to the Holy
Spirit.
For example, those
living in one age will have a
different understanding of God and
His law than those living in another
age. Paul wrote, “Indeed,
when Gentiles, who do not have [knowledge
of] the law, do by nature things
required by the law, they are a law
for [unto] themselves, even
though they do not have [knowledge
of] the law, since they show that
the requirements of the law are
written on their hearts, their
consciences also bearing witness [that
they acted in good faith], and
their thoughts now accusing [having
known some guilt], now even
defending them [by doing what was
thought to be right].” (Romans
2:14,15, insertions mine) Children
and people with mental disabilities
are held harmless, that is,
God’s grace covers those who are
not accountable for their sins. This
makes the testimony of the Spirit
very important because the Spirit
intimately knows each one of us. He
knows our response to His promptings.
He knows how willing or unwilling we
have been when it comes to fellowship
and communion with God. After Jesus
assembles the facts presented by the
three witnesses, He passes judgment.
Those declared righteous will be
resurrected at the Second Coming. (1
Thessalonians 4:16,17) Those found to
be evil will not be resurrected until
the 1,000 years have ended.
(Revelation 20:5)
The second phase of
the judgment bar is of Christ (the
judgment of the living) and it begins
when the censer is cast down and the
Great Tribulation begins. The 144,000
will announce the judgment bar of
Christ. They will cry out, “…
Fear God and give him glory, because the
hour of his judgment has
come. Worship him
who made the heavens, the earth, the
sea and the springs of the
water.”(Revelation 14:7,
italics mine)
The judgment of the
living is unlike the judgment
of the dead in several ways. First,
the judgment of the living does
not require a complete review of
a person’s life. The judgment of
the living will be based on our
response to the Two Witnesses. Here
is how it works: Jesus is going to
test the faith of the living. (1
Corinthians 3:13; Revelation 3:10)
All that matters to Jesus is our
response to His Two Witnesses. At the
end of the 1,260 days, the judgment
of the living will end because every
person will have received either the
seal of God or the mark of the beast
by that time. If a person should die
during the Great Tribulation before
he receives the seal of God or the
mark of the beast, he will be judged
just like those who have previously
died. Because many people will die
before they are sealed or receive the
mark of the beast, the judgment of
the dead continues uninterrupted
after the judgment of the living
begins.
The second difference
between the judgment of the dead and
the living is that the judgment of
the living involves a four-step
process. When the censer is
cast down, everyone on Earth will
participate in “Step One”
even though they may not live long
enough to complete all four steps.
Some people will go through these
four steps faster than others. The
first people to be judged and receive
the seal of God will be the 144,000.
They are sealed just before the Great
Tribulation begins. (Revelation
7:1-4) They are the first fruits of
the end time harvest. (Revelation
14:4) After the 144,000 are sealed
and empowered, the censer will be
cast down and the four steps will
begin. They are rather easy to
understand.
The Four Step Process
Step One – The
Law of God Proclaimed: When the
censer is cast down, the 144,000 will
go to work. The Holy Spirit will
empower them to preach the law of God
as a witness to all nations.
(Matthew 24:14) A witness does not
have to be a human being. Consider
this example: “After Moses
finished writing in a book the words
of this law from the beginning to
end, he gave this command to the
Levites who carried the ark of the
covenant of the Lord: “Take this
Book of the Law and place it beside
the ark of the Covenant of the Lord
your God. There it [the Words of
God] will remain as a witness
against you.’” (Deuteronomy
31:24-26, italics and insertion mine)
God’s law
operates like a plumb line.
God’s law defines the truth and
in doing so doing, it destroys lies
and deception. Nothing is more
wonderful than the light of
truth to those who love truth. During
the Great tribulation, God’s
Word will be given unusual power to
cut people “to the heart.”
Remember Peter and the disciples on
the Day of Pentecost?
“[Peter said] “Therefore
let all Israel be assured of this:
God has made this Jesus, whom you
crucified, both Lord and
Christ.’ When the people heard
this, they were cut to the
heart and said to Peter
and the other apostles,
‘Brothers, what shall we do [to
escape God’s wrath]?’ Peter
replied, ‘Repent and be
baptized, every one of you, in the
name of Jesus Christ for
the forgiveness of your sins.
And you will receive the gift of the
Holy Spirit.’” (Acts
2:36-38, italics and insertion mine)
The overwhelming
devastation of the first four
trumpets will subdue religious
prejudice for a short time.
God’s manifold wrath will open
the minds and hearts of a religiously
diverse world so every person,
regardless of language, culture, or
religious background can thoughtfully
and intelligently consider His law
that the 144,000 will proclaim.
People will hear the testimony of
Jesus (the words of Jesus) coming out
of the mouths of the 144,000 and the
honest in heart will be “cut to
the heart.”
Step Two –
Holy Spirit Discomfort: God’s
law makes no sense without the
enlightenment of His Spirit! “The
man without the Spirit does not
accept the things that come from the
Spirit of God, for they are
foolishness to him, and he cannot
understand them, because they are
spiritually discerned.” (1
Corinthians 2:14)
God’s law will be
proclaimed throughout the world with
Holy Spirit power. The distinction
between truth and error, good and
evil, will be made so plain that
young people will be able to
understand the difference. Conviction
will fall upon the honest in heart
and painful decisions will be
required. The social consequences for
following Jesus will be severe. (John
16:1-3) The Holy Spirit will
sufficiently “pressure”
each person to choose the right and
refuse the wrong. (See Joshua 24:15
and Hebrews 3:7-19.) Socially and
culturally speaking, the situation
will be difficult.
The gospel of Jesus
puts a person in a tough situation
because the gospel demands total
submission and loyalty to the law of
God, and it goes without saying that
our fallen human nature finds it
difficult. When there is a price to
pay for submission to God’s law,
our faith in Christ is tested. Do you
remember how Peter betrayed Christ
outside Caiaphas’ home? (See
Mark 14:53-15:1.) That embarrassing
moment was a turning point in
Peter’s life. Peter realized
that Friday morning that there was a
huge difference between knowing Jesus
and surrendering to Jesus. A few
weeks later, Peter was chosen as the
primary speaker at Pentecost because
he had openly betrayed Christ and
repented. Jesus gave this converted
disciple a chance to let his
countrymen clearly know where he now
stood. I mention this matter because
Peter knew first hand the internal
struggle between loyalty and
cowardice. He wrote, “For it
is time for the judgment to begin
with the family of God; and if it
begins with us, what will the outcome
be for those who do not
obey the gospel of God?
And, ‘if it is hard
is hard for the righteous
to be saved, what will
become of the ungodly and the
sinner?’” (1 Peter 4:17,18,
italics mine)
Those who love God and
His truth will eventually step out in
faith and embrace the gospel of Jesus
Christ. Once a person decides
to take his stand to obey God’s
Word, he will be given as much grace
and strength as needed to face the
trials and persecution that will
follow. On the other hand, people who
cannot make a decision to obey the
gospel will capitulate. There is
no strength to bear the consequences
of persecution without first making a
wholehearted decision to follow
Christ. Cowards, faithless, and
double-minded people will go along
with the flow to avoid suffering, and
their eternal loss will be
mind-boggling. (Revelation
21:8)
“….’No
eye has seen, no ear has heard, no
mind has conceived what God has
prepared for those who love him-but
God has revealed it to us by his
Spirit.’ The Spirit searches all
things, even the deep things of
God.” (1 Corinthians 2:9,10)
For 1,260 days Jesus
will watch and wait, patiently
allowing each person to make up his
own mind. The Holy Spirit will pound
on every heart’s door. The third
member of the Godhead will do
everything short of violating human
choice to get rebellious people to
surrender to the plumb line of
Truth-the law of God; unfortunately,
many people will choose to rebel.
Like the rich young ruler, they will
conclude that the price for obedience
is just too great. (John 3:19-21;
Luke 18:18-25; Revelation 13:8)
Without the enabling power that comes
from a determined decision to obey
Christ at any price, the wicked will
be right-the price for obedience is
too great.
Step Three –
Your Final Decision: During the
judgment of the living, three forces
will be working together. The Word of
God will be heard by everyone.
Then, the Holy Spirit will apply
great pressure within every heart
to obey God’s law, and last, persecution
will force everyone into making a
decision. At first, you might
think that the Two Witnesses are
pulling people toward the shores of
salvation and persecution is driving
them away, but it is not what you
think! Those who love God and His law
will receive the testimony of the
Holy Spirit. They will be willing to
accept persecution because they are
committed to pleasing God at any
cost. On the other hand, those who
love their lives and their
possessions more than God will not be
able to take the heat and accept the
suffering that comes with their
decision. Jesus said, “The
man who loves his life will lose it,
while the man who hates his life in
this world will keep it for eternal
life.” (John 12:25) “And
everyone who has left houses or
brothers or sisters or father or
mother or children or fields for my
sake will receive a hundred times as
much and will inherit eternal
life.” (Matthew 19:29)
There are always some
people who waver back and forth for a
time, but increasing pressures from
persecution will eventually force
everyone into their final decision.
Everyone living on Earth will either
receive the mark of the beast or the
seal of God. There is a simple reason
for the persecution of the saints:
Salvation comes through faith. Faith
in God quickly separates people.
Remember the twelve spies that Moses
sent into the Promised Land? (Numbers
14) Faith is a scary thing to those
who do not know God and His power of
His Word. Faith in God separates
sheep from goats. Our actions declare
our faith. James agrees. He wrote, “….
I will show you [and God] my
faith by what I do.” (James
2:18, insertion mine) Jesus assured
the church members of Philadelphia
(an early Christian Church that had
suffered persecution for years), “Since
you have kept my command to endure
patiently, I will also keep you from [or
during] the hour of trial that is
going to come upon the whole world to
test those who live on the
earth.” (Revelation 3:10,
italics and insertion mine)
Step Four –
The Seal and the Tattoo: Every
person who surrenders to the law of
God and the Holy Spirit will fall in
line with the testimony of Jesus.
After choosing to obey Jesus without
regard for the consequences, each
person will be given the strength and
faith to pass any test which
persecution might impose. The fires
of persecution will refine and purify
the faith of the saints. “….
I will refine them like silver and
test them like gold. They will call
on my name and I will answer them; I
will say, ‘They are my
people,’ and they will say,
‘The Lord is our
God.’” (Zechariah 13:9)
After passing some fiery tests of
faith, a dramatic miracle will
happen. It is ironic that after
losing everything he owns, each
faithful person will then lose his
carnal nature!
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