The concept of judgment before the return of Christ, or what we call a “pre-Advent” judgment, is found in many places in Scripture.
Read Daniel 7:9-14; Matthew 22:1-14; Revelation 11:1, Revelation 11:18-19; and Revelation 14:6-7. How do these passages shed light on the notion of a pre-advent investigative judgment in the heavenly courtroom? What is the significance of such a judgment?
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The concept of a pre-advent investigative judgment of God’s people is grounded on three basic biblical teachings.
One is the notion that all the dead — righteous or unrighteous — remain unconscious in their graves until the final resurrections (John 5:25-29).
The second is the existence of a universal judgment of all human beings (2 Corinthians 5:10, Revelation 20:11-13).
The third is the fact that the first resurrection will be the blessed reward for the righteous, and the second resurrection will be eternal death for the wicked (John 5:28-29; Revelation 20:4-6, Revelation 20:12-15).
What this means is that if all human beings will be judged, they should be judged prior to their respective resurrections, because at those resurrections they will receive their final rewards.
The book of Daniel helps us to understand both the time and the nature of that pre-advent judgment. At the end of the 2,300 symbolic days — in 1844 — the heavenly sanctuary would be cleansed (Daniel 8:14, compare with Hebrews 9:23) and the pre-advent investigative judgment would begin (Daniel 7:9-14), two different ways of expressing the same event. And the judgment is “in favor of the saints of the Most High” (Daniel 7:22, NKJV). That is, it’s good news for God’s people.
In Matthew 22:1-14, Jesus spoke of an investigation of the wedding guests before the wedding feast actually started.
And in the book of Revelation, the pre-advent investigative judgment is referred to by the task of measuring “those who worship” in the temple of God (Revelation 11:1, NKJV) and in the announcement that “the hour of His judgment has come” (Revelation 14:6-7 NKJV; compare with Revelation 14:14-16).
| How should our knowledge of a judgment in heaven impact how we live here on earth? |
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