Tag: Judging

What Does Yeshua Say About the End Times – Part 12

On By Donald N. NorrisIn Christian Torah4 Comments

In my last post, we finalized our study of the Parable of the Talents.  In this post, we will begin to conclude our exploration of what Yeshua has to say about the End Times in the Christian Torah.  Once again, I have divided the exploration of the Final Judgment into two parts.

The Final Judgment ~ Part 1

 This so-called “parable of the sheep and goats” is not truly a parable but a metaphor around which Yeshua builds His message of judgment and salvation.

sheeps and goats

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, accompanied by all the angels, He will sit on His glorious throne.  All the nations will be assembled before Him, and He will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates sheep from goats.  The ‘sheep’ He will place at His right hand and the ‘goats’ at His left.  Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take your inheritance, the Kingdom prepared for you from the founding of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you made me your guest, I needed clothes and you provided them, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ ” ~ Matthew 25:31-36

He will sit on His glorious throne.  This speaks of the earthly reign of Yeshua described in Revelation 20:4-6.  This judgment precedes Yeshua’s millennial reign, and the subjects seem to be only those who are alive at His coming. Continue reading “What Does Yeshua Say About the End Times – Part 12” →

What Does Yeshua Say About the End Times – Part 11

On By Donald N. NorrisIn Christian Torah2 Comments

In my last post, we began to look at the Parable of the Talents and what transpired with the first two servants.  In this post, we will conclude the parable by examining the third servant who was given only one talent.

The Parable of the Talents ~ Part 2

One

“Now the one who had received one talent came forward and said, ‘I knew you were a hard man. You harvest where you didn’t plant and gather where you didn’t sow seed.  I was afraid, so I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here! Take what belongs to you!’  ‘You wicked, lazy servant!’ said his master, ‘So you knew, did you, that I harvest where I haven’t planted? and that I gather where I didn’t sow seed?  Then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, so that when I returned, I would at least have gotten back interest with my capital!  Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten.  For everyone who has something will be given more, so that he will have more than enough; but from anyone who has nothing, even what he does have will be taken away.  As for this worthless servant, throw him out in the dark, where people will wail and grind their teeth!’” ~  Matthew 25:24-30

We can only speculate how this last servant reasoned.  All we know is that he was afraid.  Perhaps this last servant was thinking only of himself.  He hoped to play it safe and protect himself from his hard master, but he had accomplished nothing for him.  His words to the master reveal a self-centered character.  He accused his master of being hard and exploiting the labors of others.  You harvest where you didn’t plant and gather where you didn’t sow seed. Continue reading “What Does Yeshua Say About the End Times – Part 11” →

It’s Dangerous to Be A Judge ~ Part 4

On By Donald N. NorrisIn Christian Torah3 Comments

Sitting at the Feet of Yeshua

We have been examining Yeshua’s instruction regarding being judgmental.  In this post, we finish His instructions from Matthew 7 concerning God’s judgment of us.

God’s Judgment of Us (Matthew 7:21-29)

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, ! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, only those who do what my Father in heaven wants.  On that Day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord!  Didn’t we prophesy in your name?  Didn’t we expel demons in your name?  Didn’t we perform many miracles in your name?’  Then I will tell them to their faces, ‘I never knew you!  Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness!’  So, everyone who hears these works of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on bedrock.  The rain fell, the rivers flooded, the winds blew, and beat against that house, but it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on rock.  But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a stupid man who built his house on sand.  The rain fell, the rivers flooded, the wind blew and beat against that house, and it collapsed – and its collapse was horrendous!”  When Yeshua had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at the way He taught, for He was not instructing them like their Torah-teachers but as one who had authority himself.”      (Mathew 7:21-29)

From picturing two gates and two types of prophets, our Lord closed His message by picturing two builders and their houses.  The two gates illustrate the start of the life of faith; the two prophets illustrate the growth and results of the life of faith here and now; and the two houses illustrate the end of this life of faith, when God shall call everything to judgment.  There are false prophets at the gate that leads to the broad way, making it easy for people to enter.  But at the end of the way, there is destruction.  The final test is not what we think of ourselves, or what others may think.  The final test is: What will God say? Continue reading “It’s Dangerous to Be A Judge ~ Part 4” →

It’s Dangerous to Be A Judge ~ Part 3

On By Donald N. NorrisIn Christian Torah1 Comment

Sitting at the Feet of Yeshua

In this post, we continue to look at Yeshua’s instructions for judging others.  We also learned that practicing the Golden Rule releases the love of God in our lives and enables us to help others; even those who want to hurt us.  In this post, we will look at His instructions regarding the basis for judging.

“Go in through the narrow gate; for the gate that leads to destruction is wide and the road is broad, and many travel it; but it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life, and only a few find it.  Beware of false prophets!  They come to you wearing sheep’s clothing, but underneath they are hungry wolves!  You will recognize them by their fruit.  Can people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?  Likewise, every healthy tree produces good fruit, but a poor tree produces bad fruit.  A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, or a poor tree good fruit.  Any tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown in the fire!  So you will recognize them by their fruit.”   (Matthew 7:13-20)

Since there are false prophets in the world, we must be careful of deception.  But the greatest danger is self-deception.  The Torah teachers and P’rushim had fooled themselves into believing that they were righteous and others were sinful.  It is possible for people to know the right language, believe intellectually the right doctrines, obey the right rules, and still not be saved.  Continue reading “It’s Dangerous to Be A Judge ~ Part 3” →

It’s Dangerous to Be a Judge ~ Part 2

On By Donald N. NorrisIn Christian Torah1 Comment

Sitting at the Feet of Yeshua

In my last post, we began to look at Yeshua’s instructions on judging ourselves found in Matthew 7:1-5.  In this post, we continue in Matthew 7 to learn what He has to say about judging others.

Here are three good reasons why we should be cautious of judging others:

  1. We never know the whole facts or the whole person.  Long ago Hillel, the famous Rabbi said, “Do not judge a man until you yourself have come into his circumstances or situation.”  No man knows the strength of another man’s temptations.  The fact is that if we realized what some people have to go through, so far from condemning them, we would be amazed that they have succeeded in being as good as they are.
  2. It is almost impossible for any man to be strictly impartial in his judgment.  Again and again we are swayed by instinctive and unreasoning reactions to people.  Only a completely impartial person has a right to judge.  It is not in human nature to be completely impartial.  Only God can judge.
  3. But it was Yeshua who stated the supreme reason why we should not judge others.  No man is good enough to judge any other man – we have too many beams in our own eyes.

Continue reading “It’s Dangerous to Be a Judge ~ Part 2” →

It’s Dangerous to Be a Judge ~ Part 1

On By Donald N. NorrisIn Christian Torah1 Comment

Sitting at the Feet of Yeshua

In this post, we will continue our study of the Sermon on the Mount by turning to Matthew 7.  Yeshua closes the Sermon on the Mount with a discussion on judgment.  In it, He discusses three different judgments:  our judgment of ourselves; our judgment of others; and, finally God’s judgment of us.

In His teaching, Yeshua gives us the characteristics of the true Believer and contrasts them with the hypocrisy of the religious people.  Throughout this sermon, the P’rushim were used as examples of religious hypocrisy.  They had established a righteousness of works.  People who judge the most are those who feel superior on the basis of their self-righteousness.  Continue reading “It’s Dangerous to Be a Judge ~ Part 1” →