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Introduction
The dialogue continues, and a number of you
are joining in. This week we go to the Bible to find evidence that
the principle of Investigative Judgment is part of God's
character of love and justice upon which His throne is founded. Why
wouldn't it be? Is there less justice in God's way of doing
things than there is in our own imperfect legal
systems? This is part one of our response to a challenge that
has been issued by Robert K. Sanders. We decline the challenge
to show a Bible text with any Gregorian calendar date in it. But as
to the rest, here is part one of our answer. It is
presented in love and humility, in the hope of lifting up a truth that
is for the benefit of every blood-bought child of
Adam.
The Challenge
Restated: “Remember how you Seventh-day Adventists have enjoyed
offering $1,000 to anyone who can produce a Bible text showing the
Sabbath was changed from Saturday to Sunday? Well, now the
shoe’s on the other foot – give us one Bible text stating that there
was an Investigative Judgment on October 22, 1844.... Show us
the text and we'll give you $1,000. We’re waiting. And
we'll be waiting till the Lord comes because your Investigative
Judgment is a lie, which directly contradicts the Bible. The
truth is there is not one Bible writer who ever taught an
Investigative Judgment. I J is an EGW myth believed only by
Adventists.” ~Robert K. Sanders, a former Seventh-day
Adventist (1)
Food For Thought
"Anna Nicole Smith's mother said Tuesday that
she hopes an inquest into the death of her 20-year-old grandson
will lead to justice as a Nassau court gathered potential jury
members to hear the case." (1)
Response To A Challenge, Part
One
Does God Make Inquest Into Our Human
Affairs?
Gina Barton
is a journalist with the Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel. Her article, "No Sense of Justice," carries the
following subtitle: "Inquests aim to reveal truth in death, but many
say the system is flawed when police are the gunmen." (2)
What about God? Does God have a
legal system in His government? Does He have a court? And does He
hold inquests to reveal the truth? Are any such things brought to
light in the Bible?
One thing is certain. If He
does have such a system, it is certainly without a single flaw,
because, "As for God, his way is perfect..." (Psalm
18:30).
Dictionary.com Unabridged
(v 1.1), gives the following four definitions for the word
"inquest." (3)
1. a legal or judicial inquiry,
usually before a jury, esp. an investigation made by a coroner into
the cause of a death.
2. the body of people appointed to hold
such an inquiry, esp. a coroner's jury.
3. the decision or
finding based on such inquiry.
4. an investigation or
examination.
A Little-Noticed Bible Doctrine
Let's try to answer the question as to
whether God makes investigative judgment, or inquest, into the
affairs of human beings. Is there even one text of scripture in the
Bible that actually says such a thing as divine inquest exists?
The answer is yes, there is
such a text. It is found in Psalm 9:12, although most modern
translations obscure the literal meaning of the original Hebrew
text. Here is my own unauthorized translation. You can use a
Strong's dictionary of the Hebrew language to confirm that I am
being faithful to the true meaning of the original
language.
“Sing praises to the LORD, who inhabits
Zion. Announce his exploits among the people. When He makes
inquest for bloodshed, He marks them. He is not oblivious to
the cry of the humble.” (Psalm 9:11, 12).
The King James says, "When he maketh inquisition for blood,
he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the
humble."
Inquest and inquisition are the same thing. It's just that
the word inquisition has been given a bad connotation by the Roman
Catholic church who used that word to describe their cruel and
torturous methods of rooting out what they decided was heresy
from their ranks during the dark ages. The word inquest is a more
modern-sounding legal term that accurately describes what the
Psalmist is saying in this verse.
The Hebrew word that is translated by King James as
"inquisition," and by me as, "inquest" is the word, "darash."
According to Strong, it is, "A primitive root; properly to
tread or frequent; usually to follow (for
pursuit or search); by implication to seek or ask;
specifically to worship: - ask, X at all, care for, X
diligently, inquire, make inquisition, [necro-] mancer, question,
require, search, seek [for, out], X surely."
The First Investigative
Judgment
The
fall of man is the first example of God "treading" or walking among
men to pursue, to search, to seek, to ask, to inquire, to make
inquest, to question, require and search out His wayward creation.
You remember the story. It's in Genesis 3:1-15.
In a nutshell, Adam and Eve sinned. When they realized the
nakedness that their sin had caused them, they tried to cover
themselves up with leaves. Then when the Lord God came down to visit
them in the coolness of the evening, their first reaction was
to hide for fear of the God they knew they had sinned against.
God then began a series of questions to draw out from the
fearful couple the truth about what had happened. Obviously, He was
not doing this for His own information. Being God, He already knew
what they had done. But still, He made an inquest into their crime.
Why?
A Divine Rationale Behind
Divine Inquest
I'd like to suggest there are at
least two reasons God made that first investigation of sinners. And
j
ust as in a legal inquest on earth, the underlying
divine purpose for making inquest is to reveal the truth about
things.
God was working to have the truth revealed for the
benefit of the guilty ones. God was trying to help them see that in
spite of their sin, He still loved them and was not about
to zap them out of existence with a bolt of lightning. That was the
first truth revealed in this divine inquest.
Adam and Eve's sin did not take God by surprise.
He already had a plan in place, "from the foundation
of the cosmos," (1 Peter 1:20), to save them from their sin through
the substitutionay death of the Son of God. That was an additional
truth also revealed in this divine inquest. This additional
truth proved the depth of His love for even guilty, and fallen
beings.
So I imagine God speaking in the softest, and most tender
tones of voice to Adam and Eve who were probably shaking like leaves
behind the bushes of Eden. But He had to have them confess
their sin before He could let them know that He still loved them
in spite of their sin, and that He had a plan to save them
from their sins.
So the two basic reasons for this tender, divine
inquest, are 1) to have them confess their sin, even though it was a
fear-filled confession at first that tried to shift the blame onto
God, and, 2) to have them confess His continued love for them, in
spite of their sins, as evidenced by the plan of salvation that
He described to them in symbolic covenant language in verse fifteen
of Genesis chapter three.
Once these first two reactions to God's loving
inquest were accomplished, a third reaction would take place.
The relieved and grateful couple would accept God's forgiveness and
would worship Him.
God's Merciful Judgment
Leads Men To Worship God
The Bible doesn't
record the very first act of worship of Adam and Eve. But in
Genesis 3:21, we learn that before God brought His investigative
visit to a close, He made "coats of skins, and clothed them." This
means that the blood of animals had to be shed for the first time,
in order to make their skins available as clothing for the naked
couple.
What a beautiful illustration of the gospel this was! Animals
were slain, symbolizing the future death of the Son of God. Then the
skins of those animals were used to clothe the naked sinners, just
as the righteousness of Christ covers the spiritual nakedness of
repentant sinners.
And because we see Adam and Eve allowing God to
cover their nakedness with the sacrificed animal skins, we can know
that they submitted themselves to God's mercy and
forgiveness and in doing so, they worshipped Him as
their deep gratitude for His goodness and His love flowed out of
their broken hearts. The rest of the Genesis story goes on to document how Adam and
Eve, and their children who continued to be grateful to God for
His mercy, worshipped God daily and made regular sacrifices to Him.
(Genesis 4:4, etc.).
And that brings us to the second instance of investigative
judgment or divine inquest in the story of God's dealings with
mankind. But first, let's summarize the results that God brought
about in the first man and woman as a result of making investigative
judgment, or divine inquisition into their sin.
1. God's tender and loving inquest drew out a fearful
confession of their sin from the guilt-ridden
pair.
2. God's obvious love and mercy in the face of their
inexcusable, death-deserving sin, soothed their fears, and
caused them to recognize that God still loved
them.
3. As they came to understand the loving character of God, even
to sinners, and the plan that God had devised to save them through the
"Lamb of God" who would one day be slain in their place, they were
led to renew their allegiance to God and to worship Him, in spite of
their fallen condition.
The Second Investigative
Judgment
Now, let's
look quickly at the second investigative judgment, because it
demonstrates the opposite reaction to God's loving and merciful
judgments as we saw in Adam and Eve.
"And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of
the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he
also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof.
And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But
unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very
wroth, and his countenance
fell." (Gensis 4:3-5).
Cain had committed a sin when he brought garden produce
instead of a lamb as his sacrificial offering. The lamb represented
Christ who would do for Cain what he could not do for himself. But
the garden produce represented Cain's own efforts, which could never
save him from his sins. In the very next verse, after we see Cain
getting mad that God didn't accept his offering, we see that God did
the same thing with Cain that he had done with his parents when they
had sinned-- He came down to visit Cain and talk with
Him.
And once again, the conversation begins with God asking
questions. This is the second divine inquest recorded in the Bible.
And God's purpose is the same with Cain as it was with his parents.
But this time, God meets with stubborn resistance to His gentle
questioning and loving reasoning.
The next thing we know is that Cain has had a talk with his
brother Abel that ends with the first murder on the face of the
earth. And again, God comes down to investigate.
"And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And
he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper? And he said,
What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me
from the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which
hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy
hand; When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth
yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou
be in the earth." (Genesis 4:9-12).
There are many beautiful lessons here, but for time's sake we
will have to pass over them so we can get to the climax of this
divine inquest for bloodshed. In verse fifteen, we learn that
God puts a mark on Cain, "lest any finding him should kill
him." This is truly fascinating, because it ties us right back in to
our text in Psalm 9:12 that says, "When He makes inquest for
bloodshed, He marks them."
The Mark Of
Cain
The Hebrew word
that we translated as "marks" is the word "zakar." According to
Strong, it is a root word that properly means "to mark (so as to be
recognized), that is, to remember." So our translation is literally
correct. When God makes inquest for bloodshed, when he makes
investigative judgment, He marks the sinner "so as to be recognized"
or
remembered.
The Number Nine And
Judgment
Those of you who
have been with us from the beginning will remember that we proved
from the Bible that the number nine is associated with judgment
in God's system of numeric symbolism. It is fascinating, then, to
see Ezekiel chapter nine describing a judgment scene. And this
chapter follows chapter eight, where we see a divine investigation
into what the leaders of God's people are up to. God invites Ezekiel
to participate in this investigation and what he sees shocks and
grieves the prophet. So in these two chapters you have first a
divine investigation, or inquest, then the setting of a mark in
people's foreheads, and then an executive judgment in the ninth
chapter.
When you read the whole of the ninth psalm, you will see
that it has a whole lot to say about God's judgment too.
Verse four says, "For you have maintained my right and my
cause. You sat in the throne judging right." Verses
7 through 9 say, "But the LORD will endure forever. He has
prepared his throne for judgment. And he will judge the world in
righteousness. He will minister judgment to the people in
uprightness. The LORD will also be a refuge for the oppressed, a
refuge in the times of trouble."
And, of course, verse twelve brings to view the concept of
investigative judgment or inquest.
Investigative
Judgment Part Of God's Nature
Psalm 9:7 says that "he has prepared his
throne for judgment." Verse eight says that "he will judge
the world in righteousness, " and that "he will minister
judgment to the people in
uprightness." Judgment is part of the Priestly and Kingly ministry
of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.
And because "his work is
perfect," His judgment includes both investigation, or
inquest, and the execution of both punishing
judgments on the wicked and saving judgments on the righteous. The
Bible is full of examples of all three of these aspects of God's
judgment because as a King, and as Lord, He is a Judge. And all of
these aspects of judgment are necessary in His dealings with His
subjects.
We've looked at two cases in the Genesis
story where it seems to have been in the very nature of God to make
investigative judgment, or inquest, into the lives of human beings,
as a means of convincing them "of sin, and of
righteousness, and of judgment," as Jesus put it. (John 16:8)
First, He
tries to convince the sinner of his sin. Then He tries
to convince them that because of His great love, mercy,
forgiveness, and grace, He has a robe of
righteousness, that can cover and atone for their sin. And
finally, He convinces them of the judgment that he has decided upon for
them that is based on their acceptance or their rejection of
His free gift of righteousness.
In Eden, God took the first
sinners through these steps of investigative judgment in
person. In later history, He has done it through the agency of His
Holy Spirit. But whether in person, or through His prophets, or
through His Spirit, this is the way God has consistently dealt with
sinners from Eden to the end of the world, which is where
we stand right now.
Investigative Judgment And The
Gospel
In fact,
these three steps that God brings about by making inquest
into the affairs of humans, are the very steps called for in the
gospel of Jesus Christ. Rightly understood, then, investigative
judgment is the gospel! It's good news! And
every person who shares the gospel with others is actively
partnering with Christ and the Holy Spirit in the ongoing
work of making divine inquest into the spiritual condition of
men and women from generation to generation.
In
Deuteronomy 32:4 we read, "He is the
Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are
judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right
is he. In other words,
making loving inquest into the spiritual condition of fallen
humanity to try to draw them to Himself is who God is.
It's His very nature. It's His way of asking after our spiritual
welfare so that we can see our need and turn
to Him for Salvation.
David
wanted his son Solomon to understand this wonderful truth about God,
so he told him "And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy
father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind:
for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all
the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found
of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for
ever." ( 1 Chronicles 28:9).
In fact
David had come to know just how merciful and purifying
God's investigative judgments are to the point that he could
ask God to make spiritual inquest into his personal life.
He prayed, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try
me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked
way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." (Psalm 139:23,
24). David knew he had nothing to fear from God's investigative
judgments so long as his faith was in the Redeemer, and his heart
was contrite and sorrowful for his sins. He longed to be free from
all sin so much that he wanted God to search him out
to discover even his sins of ignorance so that he could be cleansed of these too by the
blood of Jesus Christ.
The
apostle Paul, the most eloquent gospel messenger of them all, knew
that "the LORD searcheth all hearts." (Romans 8:27). And
Jesus Christ Himself said, "I am he which searcheth the reins and
hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to
your works." ( Revelation 2:23).
And for
those who are tempted to make God's investigative
judgments an Old Covenant experience of trying to earn
salvation by the works of the law, listen to what Jesus says He
is looking for when He comes investigating: "...they said to him,
'What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?' Jesus
answered and said to them, 'This is the work of God, that
ye believe on him whom he hath
sent
.'" (John 6:28, 29).
And yes,
"faith without works is dead," (James 2:20), but works without a
correct faith are equally dead. And in a future issue we'll show
from Scripture why "all" really means "all" in Isaiah
64:6, which says, "all our righteousnesses are as
filthy rags." And yes, that means even after conversion my
Adventist friends! Ask Zechariah, who agrees with Paul when he
said, "for by the works of the law shall no flesh be
justified." (Galatians 2:16). You know, the Bible really
means what it says!
Next week, Lord willing, we'll take a look at how
investigative
judgment, in particular, is mentioned in the ten commandmants
as part of God's nature of love, and we'll also take a look at other
investigative judgments in the history of God's dealings with
mankind. Each of these has something to teach us about the final
investigative judgment in the end of the world. It's right on the
horizon now, so this is present truth indeed
.
HOME | synthesis 1.18 | synthesis 1.16
Reader Comments
Reader comments are
welcomed.
From: bryan
tyler
Subject: Re: synthesis 1.16
Hey brother Jones.
I am a close friend of Demarcus Shipmen and I want to let you know
we are praying for you and please continue the great work. If
there is anything we can do please let us know.
Your
brother in Christ,
Bryan
From: Daniel Nsubuga
Subject: Re: synthesis 1.16
Thanks
for the publication, I did not know how it came to my inbox and
thanks to God I did not trash it as spam and I have dearly liked it.
Thanks Ian for the struggle to create dialogue its one think highly
needed
Yours in a blessed
hope
Nsubuga
Daniel
KAMPALA -
UGANDA
At 12:00 PM 8/21/2008, you
wrote:
I feel so bad,
I have tried to get to your
website but my computer has refused.
Daniel
Editor's Response:
No brother, that is not your fault or your
computer's fault. It has been taken down for a while now to update
it. I'm so sorry that it has taken much longer than I would have
liked so it is still not available. I pray we'll be able to get it
back up soon, by God's grace.
God bless you!
From: Bill King
Subject: Your
Mailing Lists!
Dear Sir:
I got your article on
?The Sixth Trumpet of Revelation? from Julia Berry and I would
really like to be on your mailing list. This subject is
fascinating!
Is it possible to go back and get the
other articles related to this subject? How can I find out more
about Grace Amadon?
The John Adams statement about the
Jews hooked
me!
Respectfully,
Bill
and Rose King
Reston, Virginia
From: ofmafrica (email address)
Subject:
Re: Synthesis 1.16
Dear Ian Anthony Jones,
I admire your
effort to conceal your distaste for those who have left Adventism
for theological reasons. I also admire you because, even though you
have always known that Adventism has, for a long time, suffered from
the inconsistencies and frailties that made Sanders and others
disembark, your Adventist skin was thick enough to cushion you
against leaving the wrecked "ship". My admiration for you crescendos
on the fact that what you want for all that is your "precious Jesus
and his precious truth to be lifted up" and not Sanders' money. I
only have three basic issues with your synthesis though!
1.
Your poor standard for comparison. It is ridiculous for you to
appear to be competing with the children of Israel in your
synthesis! That the children of Israel suffered from similar
inconsistencies and other deficiencies cannot be a point of
consolation for any forward-looking believer who must be informed
that Jesus Christ came for the reason that
the people who once
walked in darkness may see the light. That you knew of Adventism's
anti-Gospel claims and yet you chose to rationalize over them the
way you have explained in your synthesis amounts to a conspiracy
against the Good News of God's salvation for sinners. You stand
reprimanded for that, though that reprimand may not affect your
salvation!
2. Your use of Luke 21: 12 and 16 amounts to a
gross misuse of Scripture to camouflage threats directed to those
who you imagine to be misguided. This is a characteristic use of
such Scripture by Adventism and other poorly secured apocalyptic
sects which seek to hold their adherents in cages using such
controvertible texts.
3. Your apocalyptic introduction
exposes you badly! The conclusion of human history is nowhere nearer
than it was 2000 years ago. Believers, with the exception of those
of misguided and unlighted knowledge of God in quasi-Christian
setups, live, presently, in the kingdom of God through faith in
Jesus Christ. Their evil past has been washed away in the blood of
Jesus, their present is well for them in Jesus Christ and their
future is secure in Christ. For them, night has become day and time
has ceased because Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of the Living God,
is all in all!
So, while for pagans the end is coming (present continuous), for
believers, the new life has come because the old has passed away and
the new has come in Jesus Christ (both events are punctiliar in
Jesus). 2Cor.5:17. Hence, the wonderful New Covenant gift which you
believe "He is about to pour out" is a present reality for believers
who are seated with Jesus Christ in heavenly places (Eph.2:6).
Believers' lives are hidden in Jesus Christ in heaven and there is
no known or unknown power that can take them away from Him (John
10:27-31).
SO, RELAX BROTHER IAN ANTHONY JONES; JESUS CHRIST IS ALMIGHTY
SAVIOR, AND KING OF KINGS!
Editor's Response:
Dear brother who-ever-you-are,
Thank
you for taking the time to write. You have misunderstood me in
several areas.
1. I have no distaste for any of God's
children, whether they are former Adventists who chose to leave the
"sinking" organization, or whether they are New Age Pagans, among
whom I have some good friends who are more like Jesus than most
professed Christians I know.
2. I have no thick skin, much
less a thick "Adventist skin." I have suffered deeply for most of my
life, especially at the hands of other Adventists.
3. I am not defending the inconsistencies of Adventism. I'm only
pointing out that none us us, including you, can judge, since we are
all as an unclean thing and all our righteousnesses are as filthy
rags and we all are totally dependent on the rich grace of God by
which we can have complete assurance of salvation. Amen!
4.
My use of Luke 21: 12 and 16 was applied to my own personal
experience.
5. You will soon see that we are indeed closer to the
conclusion of earth's history than we were 2000 years ago. If there
is a conclusion at all, then each year we would have to be a year
closer, wouldn't you agree? But besides that obvious truth, you will
soon have all the evidence you might want when the end of history
does indeed come crashing in on all our senses, in a few more years.
I will not argue the point. I'll just wait for the reality to
convince you!
Let's carry ourselves and relate to one another
as the brethren we truly are in Jesus, believing all things and
hoping all things for one another, loving one another with tender
mercies and Christlike graciousness.
Peace and grace to you
my dear brother in Christ,
Ian Anthony Jones
You may submit your
comments to The Editor of synthesis newsletter by replying to
this e-mail.
E-mail: publications@newreformation.com
Web Site: www.newreformation.com
All opinions stated and
positions taken in synthesis (with the exception of
quotations and articles by other authors) are solely those of Ian Anthony
Jones, Director of New Reformation Ministries, International and
are subject to correction. They do not necessarily
represent the official teaching of the Seventh-day Adventist church, or
its affiliate ministries and institutions. This newsletter is sent
out to stimulate thought, further study, and dialogue. But it
is also sent with the hope and the prayer that God may use it to
help bring about the final revival and reformation that will prepare
the Bride of Christ for His sudden coming.
The contents of this newsletter are copyright by Ian Anthony Jones
but may be freely forwarded or printed and distributed free of
charge so long as the entire contents are unaltered including this
copyright notice.
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