Character Templates for the Judgment

Heb 9:27  And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 

1 Cor 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. 

Our New understanding of Justice has invited us to place this new wine into a new wineskin.

Psa 89:14  Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face. 

Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law; That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked. For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance. But judgment shall return unto righteousness: and all the upright in heart shall follow it. Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity? Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence. When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O LORD, held me up. In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul. Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law? They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood. But the LORD is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge. And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the LORD our God shall cut them off. (Psa 94:12-23)

Rom 5:20  Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 

Moses – Judgment of the Dead

Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.  Jude 1:9 

The angels also revealed to Moses that although he mourned because he had sinned and could not enter the promised land, and although he felt that he had caused the children of Israel to sin, yet it was their own sin, their murmuring and complaining spirit that had led him to deviate from the right and commit a sin that kept him out of the Promised Land. The angels told him that he was not the greatest sufferer, that he did not feel in his heart the fullest depth of their sin, but that Christ, their invisible leader, was the one against whom they had transgressed. Christ was the one who would bear their iniquities. 10MR 151

When the view of the crucifixion was presented before Moses, what a scene there must have been on Pisgah's summit! I have often thought that if I were an artist, I should like to portray the countenance of Moses as he viewed the panoramic scenes passing before him, in which he saw the sufferings of the Angel who had led the Israelites through the wilderness, guiding them in their wandering journey from Egypt to Canaan. 10MR 154

In solitude Moses reviewed his life of vicissitudes and hardships since he turned from courtly honors and from a prospective kingdom in Egypt, to cast in his lot with God's chosen people. He called to mind those long years in the desert with the flocks of Jethro, the appearance of the Angel in the burning bush, and his own call to deliver Israel. Again he beheld the mighty miracles of God's power displayed in behalf of the chosen people, and His long-suffering mercy during the years of their wandering and rebellion. Notwithstanding all that God had wrought for them, notwithstanding his own prayers and labors, only two of all the adults in the vast army that left Egypt had been found so faithful that they could enter the Promised Land. As Moses reviewed the result of his labors, his life of trial and sacrifice seemed to have been almost in vain.  {PP 471.3} 

     Yet he did not regret the burdens he had borne. He knew that his mission and work were of God's own appointing. When first called to become the leader of Israel from bondage, he shrank from the responsibility; but since he had taken up the work he had not cast aside the burden. Even when the Lord had proposed to release him, and destroy rebellious Israel, Moses could not consent. Though his trials had been great, he had enjoyed special tokens of God's favor; he had obtained a rich experience during the sojourn in the wilderness, in witnessing the manifestations of God's power and glory, and in the communion of His love; he felt that he had made a wise decision in choosing to suffer affliction with the people of God, rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.  {PP 472.1} 

     As he looked back upon his experience as a leader of God's people, one wrong act marred the record. If that transgression could be blotted out, he felt that he would not shrink from death. He was assured that repentance, and faith in the promised Sacrifice, were all that God required, and again Moses confessed his sin and implored pardon in the name of Jesus.  {PP 472.2} 

After the self examination of his life and the wrestle to accept the forgiveness of God, He won that victory. He lay down in death and then another investigation was conducted just before he was raised to life.

But it was not long before Christ came to raise Moses to life. As He stood by the grave and bade him come forth, Satan stood by His side, saying, "I have control over him. I tempted him and he yielded. Even Moses was not able to keep God's law. He has transgressed and has placed himself on my side of the controversy. He appropriated to himself the glory which belonged to God. He is my property, for by his sin he has placed himself in my dominion and in my power."  {10MR 159.4} 

     Satan contended earnestly for the body of Moses. Again he sought to enter into controversy with Christ in regard to the injustice of God's law, and with deceiving power reiterated his false statements about not being fairly treated. His accusations were such that Christ did not bring against him the record of the cruel work he had done in heaven by deceptive misrepresentation, the falsehoods he had told in Eden that led to Adam's transgression, and the stirring up of the worst passions of the hosts of Israel to incite them to murmur and rebel until Moses lost command of himself.  {10MR 159.5} 

     The sin of Moses was not premeditated. He was surprised into it. He took to himself the murmuring of the people when they were really murmuring against God. {10MR 159.6} 

     Christ did not retaliate in answer to Satan. He brought no railing accusation against him, but raised Moses from the dead and took him to heaven. Here for the first time the power of Christ was exercised to break the power of Satan and give life to the dead. Here began His work of making alive that which was dead. Thus He testified that He was indeed the Resurrection and the Life, that He had power to ransom those whom Satan had made his captives, that although men die they will live again. The question had been asked, "if a man die, shall he live again?" (Job 14:4). The question was now answered.  {10MR 160.1} 

     This act was a great victory over the powers of darkness. This display of power was an incontrovertible testimony to the supremacy of the Son of God. Satan had not expected that the body would be raised to life after death. He had concluded that the sentence, "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return" gave him undisputed possession of the bodies of the dead. Now he saw that he would be despoiled of his prey, that man would live again after death.  {10MR 160.2} 

1. Just before Moses is raised by Christ Satan appears beside Him.
2. Satan seeks to cling to his prey by bringing accusation against Moses
3. Satan calls his sins to remembrance and demanding his death sentence to remain final.
4. Satan is the initiator of the judgment against the Moses.
5. Christ does not say anything except – The Lord rebuke you – then took Moses to heaven.  

“In Jude we have a description of the pollution of the world, and the working agencies of Satan to corrupt the world. 'Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.'  {RH, April 13, 1911 par. 7} 

     "'And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.' Zechariah 3:1. These things are written for our benefit, and we are to study the Word in all these things now; for they concern us, particularly.  {RH, April 13, 1911 par. 8} 

Joshua the Priest

And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel. And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment. And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD stood by. Zec 3:1-5

“Every time God works in their behalf, Satan with his angels is aroused to work with relentless vigor to compass their ruin. He is jealous of every soul who makes Christ his strength. His object is to instigate evil, and when he has succeeded, throw all the blame upon the tempted one, presenting him before the Advocate, clothed in the black garments of sin, and endeavoring to secure to him the severest penalty. He would urge justice without mercy. Repentance he does not allow. The penalty, he argues, can never be remitted, and God be just.  {RH, September 22, 1896 par. 7} 

     The sinner cannot contradict or answer the charge of Satan against him, but our Advocate presents his wounded hands, and makes an effectual plea in behalf of the repenting one who has placed his case in the hands of Jesus. Our Saviour silences this bold accuser by the unanswerable argument of the cross. Jesus stands to plead his own blood in behalf of the sinner. He has unveiled the disguised tempter, and shown him in his true light, as a malignant enemy to Christ and man. {RH, September 22, 1896 par. 8} 

Satan claims a right to have those who once stood under his black banner, but who have turned from sin to the living God and have cast their helpless souls upon Jesus. All who take hold of the merits of Christ by faith have the pledged word of God that they shall make peace with Him. . . . {CTr 186.2}

Trials are permitted to come upon the chosen people of God. The expressions are used, “God tempted Abraham,”“God tempted the children of Israel.” This means that the Lord permitted Satan to tempt them in order that their faith might be found unto honor and glory when the judgment shall sit, and when every person shall be judged according to the deeds done in the body. God knows every heart, every motive, every thought in the heart; but He permits Satan to try and tempt and test His believing ones in order that their trust and confidence in God may be revealed. . . . {CTr 186.3}

The Lord hates sin; but He loves and forgives the repentant, believing sinner, and takes everyone under His guardianship and control. Satan is on the track of every soul, but with every temptation that is permitted to come upon the children of God’s pardoning love, He makes a way of escape in order that they shall not be tempted above that which they are able to bear. . . . {CTr 186.4}

“And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.” The work of Satan is plainly defined as that of resisting the meritorious work of Christ. . . . When Christ steps in between the tempted souls and Satan, the adversary is angry and opens up with a tirade of abuse and accusation, declaring that Christ is unfair in protecting these souls, and in lifting up a standard against him. . . . {CTr 186.5}

In the presence of the unfallen worlds, in the presence of the universe of heaven, in the presence of the angry adversary who has painted them in robes of blackness and moral defilement, urging that they be given into his hands, Jesus answered Satan’s malignant charge whereby he accused them before God day and night. To those who stood before Him, earnestly watching the controversy and marking the determination of Satan to destroy the righteous, Jesus spoke, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.”Manuscript 27, 1894. {CTr 186.6}

The work of Satan as an accuser began in heaven. This has been his work on earth ever since man's fall, and it will be his work in a special sense as we approach nearer to the close of this world's history. COL 167-8

"Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel: and he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment. And I said, Let them set a fair miter upon his head. So they set a fair miter upon his head, and clothed him with garments." Then with the authority of the Lord of hosts the angel made a solemn pledge to Joshua, the representative of God's people: "If thou wilt walk in My ways, and if thou wilt keep My charge, then thou shalt also judge My house, and shalt also keep My courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by"--even among the angels that surround the throne of God. (Zechariah 3:3-7.)  {COL 169.2} 

     Notwithstanding the defects of the people of God, Christ does not turn away from the objects of His care. He has the power to change their raiment. He removes the filthy garments, He places upon the repenting, believing ones His own robe of righteousness, and writes pardon against their names on the records of heaven. He confesses them as His before the heavenly universe. Satan their adversary is shown to be an accuser and deceiver. God will do justice for His own elect.  {COL 169.3} 

God has a controversy with the world. When the judgment shall sit, and the books shall be opened, He has an awful account to settle, which would now make the world fear and tremble were men not blinded and bewitched by satanic delusions and deceptions. God will call the world to account for the death of His only-begotten Son, whom to all intents and purposes the world has crucified afresh, and put to open shame in the persecution of His people. The world has rejected Christ in the person of His saints, has refused His messages in the refusal of the messages of prophets, apostles, and messengers. They have rejected those who have been colaborers with Christ, and for this they will have to render an account.  {TM 39.1} 

[How does the judgment work – how does God call them to account?]     

Satan stands at the head of all the accusers of the brethren; but when he presents the sins of the people of God, what does the Lord answer? He says, "The Lord rebuke [not Joshua, who is a representative of the tried and chosen people of God, but] thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the Angel." Satan had represented the chosen and loyal people of God as being full of defilement and sin. He could depict the particular sins of which they had been guilty. Had he not set the whole confederacy of evil at work to lead them, through his seductive arts, into these very sins? But they had repented, they had accepted the righteousness of Christ. They were therefore standing before God clothed with the garments of Christ's righteousness, and "He answered and spake unto those that stood before Him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him He said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment." Every sin of which they had been guilty was forgiven, and they stood before God as chosen and true, as innocent, as perfect, as though they had never sinned. TM 39.2

1. Just before Christ comes to raise the righteous dead, Satan appears to resist them Zech 3:1
2. Satan seeks to cling to his prey by bringing accusation against the saints.
3. Satan calls to remembrance the sins he has caused them to commit, demanding their death to be final.
4. Satan is the initiator of the judgment against the saints.
5. After 1844 Satan is aware that Christ is preparing to raise the righteous dead. Satan stands to accuse each one. Each person is brought into judgment by Satan. Those who judged God merciful and trusted His forgiveness before they died will have Christ say to Satan – the Lord rebuke thee. Those who did not trust in the merits of Christ, Satan claims forever.

Mary – Judgment of the Living by the dying church

And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. John 8:3-11

1. The Pharisees initiate the judgment against the woman.
2. The Pharisees bring accusations against her and call to remembrance her sin
3. Jesus does not bring a railing accusation against them.
4. He gently rebukes them by writing in the sand the law concerning their sins
5. The Spirit of God brings conviction to their hearts to repent.
6. Satan turns of them and accuses them of their crimes so that they flee lest they should repent.

Mary – Judgment of the Living by Remnant Church

There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him, Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this. For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always. (Joh 12:2-8)

At the Cross God assumes the Character of a Judge divesting Himself of the endearing qualities of a Father. He appears to judge His Son – Cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree.

Through this assumption – man sees that God is willing to forgive and pardon

In 1844 God is forced to assume the character of a judge because humanity has not accepted the witness of Christ about His Father. He allows Satan to stand beside them and tempt them to see if they have faith.

For those who have died, Satan disputes for each body but Christ presents the record of the faith of His children and says to Satan the Lord rebuke thee.

Satan is the one who initiates the judgment as we see in the case of Moses for the dead and as we see in the case of Mary for the living.

God is forced to assume the character of a judge to cause our sin of judging to abound and thus to open the way to the Most Holy Place.