Many Christians believe that we are in the last days preparatory to the return of Christ as King to the world. Part of the reality of His return is the judgments that are to come. One problem is that many Christian groups look for judgment as though it is a positive thing, but it is not. Judgment is not victory. The victory of the cross of Christ is the salvation of mankind, not its judgment. Yeshua (Jesus) said, “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:17).¹ Yeshua was sent in the love of God to be the answer for all mankind.

Everyone on earth has an open door of salvation in Christ through the sacrifice of the cross. That is the victory. Never be confused about that. Seeing millions destroyed in judgment is not the pleasure of God. When God judged Israel and had the generation of promise die in the wilderness, do you think that pleased God? That was not His delight. That was not what God wanted. We know who did want it: the adversary of God. Always remember that satan is not your adversary; he is God’s adversary, and he is against anything that God is doing. Therefore, if God is raising you up as His people, satan is against you because he is the adversary of the will of God.

The plan of God is to manifest and bring forth His Kingdom. Yeshua came preaching the Kingdom of God, and the end-time is all about God bringing His Kingdom (Matthew 4:17; Revelation 11:15). It is not about judgment. It is about the final victory where God gets what He wants, when the Son of God receives the reward of His suffering. The reward of His suffering is not people dying in judgment. The reward of Christ’s suffering as the firstborn among many brethren is that many sons would come to birth (Romans 8:29; Hebrews 2:10). Judgment is the result of satan bringing people into a lifestyle that causes God to judge them. To be faithful to His Word and to who and what He is, God cannot allow sin and unrighteousness to continually exist. So satan tries to manipulate us into the place where God must judge us.

Judgment begins with the household of God (1 Peter 4:17). Before any of the glorious events of Christ’s second coming, we will face the realities in Yeshua’s parables about His return. He will want an accounting of our faithfulness in what we did with the talents He gave us (Matthew 24:45–51, 25:19–30, 34–46). One of the ways the Church will face this accounting is in our relationship with the Jewish people and the covenants God made with them. God told Abraham, “Indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice” (Genesis 22:17–18). We must recognize that God loves the Jewish people, and we must be obedient to His Word concerning them.

Lord, by the light of Your Holy Spirit, come into our hearts and give us a new way to think. Teach us the truth about Your relationship and Your covenant with Israel and of Your love for Judaism and the Jewish people.

¹ All Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995).