I remember very well getting “fed up” with hearing my boys argue when they were still at home under our supervision. My words would be “that’s enough,” meaning, change the subject, shut up, or whatever would stop the bickering. We all have our limits on almost everything in life. There are limits as to what we will tolerate, and when we get to that limit things change. It only makes sense that we would be that way since we are made in the image of God and he has His limits too! One day God will say “That’s enough” and when God says it everything changes.
Several passages in scripture reveal to us the judgment of God. A time when God had enough of man’s sinful ways. When man chose to ignore God. When man chose to live and enjoy the blessings of God, without obeying the God of those blessings.
- God’s Judgment on a World
One of the greatest judgments was the Universal Flood in Genesis 7. God’s perfect world that he created, was corrupted by sin when Adam and Eve chose to go their own way and disobey God. The earth would never be the same once sin entered in. The corruption was so great upon the earth that God not only destroyed all but 8 people, he destroyed all of creation, except those Noah had on the Ark. The Flood was God’s judgment on a world that had gone their own way.
However, he saw that Noah and his family followed Him, and he extended grace to them and spared their lives. The word “perfect” that the Bible uses to describe Noah does not mean without sin. It does mean he was complete in his trusting God and placing his faith in Him.
Genesis 6:8-9 “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
2. God’s Judgment on a City
If you read Genesis chapters 18 and 19, you will get a good picture of what God can do to a city that has refused to follow Him. They were very wicked, and they were influencing those around them. Abraham begged God to spare the city because his nephew Lot lived there with all his family. Abraham interceded for Sodom and Gomorrah with God, and God agreed to spare the city if there were certain numbers of righteous people found in the city. He puts forward the plea of justice to the righteous on behalf of the city. He repeats his intervention six times, every time diminishing the number of the righteous whom he supposes to be in it. God grants his petition each time, but finally, God finishes the conversation. God saw that the only ones that could be found were Lot, his wife, and two daughters who were still unmarried. Even then, his wife looked back and was destroyed.
Genesis 19:24-25 “Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.”
- God’s Judgment of a Person
Another case where God exercised judgment was upon King Uzziah. Uzziah had served God and had been a good king. In II Chronicles 2:4, we see that he was a King seeking to please God. In verse 5, we find that he sought out the wisdom of God’s prophet Zechariah. He listened, and he obeyed.
II Chronicles 26:4-5 “And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah did. And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper.”
As long as he obeyed God, God blessed him. After a while, these blessings made him prideful. He began to think he was “the great and powerful one.” His pride caused him to be blinded to the cause of his success. God brought judgment on Uzziah when he disobeyed and determined he would worship the way he wanted to, even though God had made it very clear how he wanted to be worshiped.
II Chronicles 26:16 “But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God and went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense.”
Uzziah was determined to do things his way. He had forgotten the God of Israel was the Almighty One, the one who knows and is in control of everything. God smote him with leprosy and destroyed his life. As a leper, he was no longer allowed to be king and be around other people. He was cast out of the city to a leper’s colony where he lived until he died. Because of his leprosy, he wasn’t even allowed to be buried with the kings from the past but was buried where others with leprosy were buried.
II Chronicles 26:19 “Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, from beside the incense altar.”
II Chronicles 26:21 “And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the LORD: and Jotham his son was over the king’s house, judging the people of the land.”
God is a very loving and patient God, but he is a just God, and He will not always withhold his vengeance. The doctrine of God’s justice is pushed to the side in our modern world. A world where everyone wants to do as they please and expect God to continue to bless. You may not experience God’s wrath here, but one day there will be a final judgment and there will be no escape. He is going to come back and He will judge the world. Only those who have given their lives to him and are seeking to obey will be spared. It is by His grace and our faith in Him that we can be free from that judgment. When God says enough to the sinful world we live in, it will be too late to repent. Why not make sure now that you are not standing in judgment.
