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Scripture Reading: Job 42:3, 5-6, 10, 12; Ruth 1:19-21; 4:13-14; 2 Cor. 7:9-11; James 4:6
The various words used to describe God in the Bible are revelations of His attributes. We must pay attention to these descriptions if we are to know the kind of God that He is and His relationship with us.
The Bible calls God the creating God (Gen. 1:1; Psa. 100:3; Isa. 45:18), the redeeming God (Job 19:25; Psa. 19:14; 78:35), the judging God (Gen. 18:25; Psa. 7:11; 9:7), and the God of blessing (Gen. 1:22, 28; Psa. 115:13). These four attributes represent the four stages of God’s relationship with man. In Genesis the creating God created the heavens, the earth, everything in between, and man. When man fell, God came to redeem man not merely as the creating God but as the redeeming God. Since people reject God’s redemption, they are under His judgment, and thus He is also the judging God. Sometimes the redeemed have problems that hinder God from giving them grace. As a result, He judges them too. God’s primary goal in judging man is not punishment but the giving of grace. The Bible says, “He gives greater grace” (James 4:6). Thus, God is also the grace-giving God.
The result of God’s judgment is the giving of His grace so that those who are judged may know Him better as the One who is full of grace and lovingkindness. This is the experience of every believer. At the end of Revelation He is sitting on the throne of judgment in order to carry out His final judgment on the universe. This judgment brings in the new heaven and new earth with the New Jerusalem, which is wholly God’s presence and blessing (20:11—21:3). After all creation passes through God’s judgment, it will be brought by God into blessing. The new heaven and new earth will be full of God’s blessing.
God creates, redeems, judges, and then blesses. In this process God judges in order to bless man, not to punish man.
God’s blessing needs man’s cooperation. God judges man in order to bless man; however, if those who are being judged do not cooperate with God’s judging but rather despise and resist it unrepentantly, God has no way to give them grace or to bless them. In such a situation nothing is beyond God’s judgment because God cannot bless an unrepentant man. A believer who is willing to judge, condemn, and convict himself according to God’s judging can receive God’s blessing and more grace. In this situation God’s judging brings in blessing. Such a believer experiences God as the God of blessing.
The first step to being blessed by God is for a believer to judge himself. When God comes to us, the first thing that He does is to judge us. If we judge and convict ourselves according to His light, He will bring us into His blessing. The more we receive grace, the more we judge ourselves. A person who is self-righteous is short of God’s grace and presence. A person who is visited by God is constantly under God’s judging.
The experience of Job is a good illustration. According to the Bible, Job was perfect and upright, and he feared God and turned away from evil (Job 1:1). God even testified concerning Job (v. 8). However, Job was a self-righteous man who lacked a contrite and lowly spirit; hence, God could not bless him. When he was struck by God, his self-righteousness was impregnable. Job said, “I would speak to the Almighty, / And I desire to argue with God” (13:3), and “Oh that I knew where I might find Him, / That I might come to His seat! / I would present my cause in order before Him, / And I would fill my mouth with arguments” (23:3-4). In the debate between Job and his friends, Job said that he wanted to reason with God. He was self-righteous and in darkness.
After Jehovah answered Job (chs. 38—41), Job saw God with his eyes, he met God’s light, and he abhorred himself and repented in dust and ashes (42:3, 5-6). Job saw that he was wrong and filthy. This self-righteous man fell before God, and he convicted himself and repented according to God’s judging light.
Job saw light and was able to judge himself because of God’s judging. Formerly, Job seemed to be enclosed in an impregnable fortress in which was complete darkness; he was without light. Therefore, God had to judge him, striking his environment, his family, and his body. Eventually, everything was taken away. Job had severe boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head (2:7). Then God’s judging broke through this impregnable fortress. Job was exposed before God and shined on by God. As a result, he judged himself in God’s light, abhorred himself, and repented in dust and ashes.
Once Job judged and convicted himself in this way, God’s blessing came in, and he received grace. “Jehovah gave Job twice as much as he had before” (42:10). Job also prayed for his three friends, and his prayer was accepted and blessed by God (vv. 8-9).
Job’s case shows that the purpose of God’s judging man is not to cause man to suffer but to bring man into peace and blessing. God is a judging God in order to bless us and give us grace. Judging precedes blessing, and blessing follows judging; judging paves the way for blessing, and blessing accomplishes the purpose of God’s judging. However, we must cooperate with God’s judging in order to find grace and receive His blessing. As soon as we judge ourselves according to His judging, we can receive His blessing.
The Scriptures say, “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). “The proud” are self-righteous persons who always condemn others, not themselves. Their convicting finger always points to others, their condemning lips talk only of others, and their eyes are clear when looking at others’ weaknesses and shortcomings but blurred when looking at themselves. They are like the self-justified Pharisee; while praying in the temple, he condemned others yet expected God’s blessing (Luke 18:9-12). God resists such proud persons and does not give them grace, for He cannot be a God of blessing without first being a judging God.
God blesses those who tremble in His presence because of His word and convict themselves according to His shining. They look at their wrongdoings, not the wrongdoings of others. Whether or not others are wrong, they do not know. They are like the tax collector, who would not even lift up his eyes to heaven when he prayed, but beat his breast, and said, “God, be propitiated to me, the sinner!” (v. 13). Such believers are humble persons. It is not a wonder that God can give them grace, because they give Him the opportunity, that is, open the way for Him, to give grace. God’s grace can reach them, and God can be a God of blessing to them.
God gives grace to the humble. When Job insisted on his self-righteousness, God could only strike his pride and self-righteousness, until Job condemned and abhorred himself. Once Job humbled himself and felt unworthy of God’s grace, then grace reached him, and he experienced God as the God of blessing.
The principle of God’s blessing is also seen in the case of Naomi in the book of Ruth. Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and their two sons left Canaan, the land blessed by God, and went to the country of Moab (1:1). The Moabites were descendants of Lot who were produced through an improper union (Gen. 19:30-37). They were abominable to God and accursed by Him: “A Moabite shall not enter the congregation of Jehovah; even to the tenth generation, no descendant of theirs shall enter the congregation of Jehovah forever” (Deut. 23:3). Elimelech, Naomi, and their two sons went astray; they left the blessed land and went to an accursed land. This brought in God’s judgment. Naomi’s husband and two sons died, leaving Naomi with her two daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth (Ruth 1:1-5). God’s hand upon Naomi was indeed severe.
If, instead of being subdued under such a severe judging, Naomi had made excuses and complained to God, she would have closed the door to receiving grace from God. However, she was subdued, and upon hearing that God had visited His people by giving them food, she rose up to return to the land of Judah from the country of Moab with Ruth (vv. 6-7). Naomi was subdued, not hardened, by God’s judging. All the city of Bethlehem was stirred because of them, and Naomi said, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara; for the All-sufficient One has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, but Jehovah has brought me back empty...The All-sufficient One has dealt harshly with me” (vv. 19-21). Naomi means “my pleasantness,” but Mara means “bitterness.” This shows that she was bitter within; she condemned and convicted herself under God’s judging hand and willingly suffered humiliation without argument or resentment.
Since Naomi was humbled and subdued under God’s judging hand, God’s blessing was brought in. Boaz married Ruth, and she bore a son, Obed, but the women neighbors said, “A son has been born to Naomi” (4:13-17). Obed was the grandfather of David, who was according to God’s heart. The Lord Jesus came from the line of Obed. What a blessing this was that came upon Naomi after she was judged and stricken by God! Because she was humble and accepted God’s judgment, He became the God of blessing to her. This case shows that God’s heart is to bless, but man’s questionable condition requires God’s judging hand first. God’s judging hand comes because His blessing heart wants to bring man into His blessing. Whoever is willing to judge and condemn himself under God’s judging, will meet grace and receive blessing.
The God of blessing blesses us according to one principle. We receive His blessing when we humbly judge ourselves according to His judgment. For instance, a worker of the Lord might labor diligently but not see results, just like when the disciples toiled through the whole night but did not catch any fish (Luke 5:1-5). A co-worker who finds himself in such a condition should realize that this is the Lord’s judging hand. This worker either needs God’s dealing and discipline, or he needs God’s purging and purifying. If the co-worker is enlightened by this dealing and is subdued under God’s hand to judge, convict, condemn, and deal with himself, God’s blessing will surely come upon him, and the effect of his labor will be manifested. However, if the co-worker remains hard — complaining, criticizing, or rebuking others — or is self-satisfied, God’s blessing will not come to him. He will know God only as the judging God, not as the God of blessing.
Such experiences apply not only to the co-workers but also to everyone who has been saved by grace. A businessman or an entrepreneur who has incurred a great loss or has suffered frequent disasters should not think such occurrences are coincidental. We must see God’s judging hand, be subdued, and ask Him to shine. If we would accept His discipline and His shining by judging ourselves in His light, He will have a way in us, and we will come out of our bitter circumstances.
The same principle applies to the sisters who have a family. Children are often naughty and unruly even when disciplined or admonished. It seems that the more a mother disciplines them, the worse they become. Many sisters worry to the point of tears concerning their children. This is also God’s judging. A child’s condition often reflects his parents’ condition before God. If the sisters are willing to be subdued in this matter, God will shine and let them know their condition. The sisters will see how unrestrained and hard they have been in not loving God, not wanting Him, and despising His salvation. If they would repent and judge themselves in this light, God would bless them so that they experience Him more, and their children would change. This is often the way that God blesses Christians.
A great principle for God’s children to learn is that in order to be blessed by God, there is a need to be humble. God judges us in order to make us humble so that we may be blessed by Him. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). A humble person, that is, a person who can inherit God’s grace, judges and convicts himself according to God’s judgment and repents (2 Cor. 7:9-11). God is continually doing a judging and disciplining work within us. If we cooperate with His judging, we will bring in His blessing. Blessed are the humble, for God will give them grace.
There are manifold blessings that issue from God’s judging. First, we gain more of God when He judges us through His shining; that is, God’s element increases in us, and we partake of His nature. Second, through God’s judging we are forgiven by God, experience His grace, and are filled with peace. Third, God’s grace and blessing change our environment, and we turn from our bitter circumstances to enjoy more of His care.
We are thankful that He is the God of blessing. Although He is also the judging God, He judges in order to bless. In order for God to be the God of blessing, He must first be the judging God so as to open a way for us to receive His blessing. May we all touch the way to receive God’s blessing and judge ourselves in humility. Then we will experience the God of blessing.
