THE JUDGMENTS OF NO THUMBS, NO BIG TOES AND TWO MOTHER BEARS

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

 

I want to share with you some actual events recorded in Holy Scripture that demonstrate God’s judgment for sinful behavior. God judges individuals using many means. He can judge wrongful actions through His use of nations, individuals, natural events as well as personally using His righteous omnipotence (godly power). The stories I will share illustrate that evil will be judged. They are examples that show us that while those who sin against God may seem to prosper and get away with unrighteous behavior for a season, there is eventually a day of reckoning.

 

In Judges 1:1-7 we find the account of Judah going against the Canaanites and Perizzites in battle. God directed Judah to encounter the enemy and fight for the land God had set aside for them. Judah combines forces with the Simeonites to attack the Canaanites and Perizzites. God delivers the godless armies into their hands. Over ten thousand Canaanites and Perizzites were killed. God’s people found the King of the enemy, Adoni-Bezek, as well as his military leaders and chased them down. They then proceeded to cut off their thumbs and big toes.

 

Now you might ask. What in the world are they doing cutting off the thumbs and big toes of their enemy for? Well, there really is a very good reason. First, Adoni-Bezek, received punishment for what he had done to others. In Judges 1:7 he states after being captured, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and their big toes cut off used to gather up scraps under my table; as I have done, so God has repaid me.” Adoni-Bezek’s brutal actions towards others were given to him as a judgment from God through Judah. God does at times allow us to reap the type of treatment we have given out to others. But secondly, this Godly directed judgment by Judah upon the survivors of their enemy had a practical purpose. It would prevent the men from being able to handle a sword, spear or a bow in battle. Also, the loss of a big toe would hinder their speed of travel either to pursue or escape from an adversary. Thus God used practical means of judgment to reduce the possibility of these enemies coming back and attacking His chosen people.

 

God worked through Judah to judge the Canaanites because of their horribly unrighteous behavior. The Canaanites’ religion encompassed a worship of fertility gods of numerous forms. The worship of their false gods involved all varieties of immoral lewd acts including temple prostitutes. Baal was one of these false gods. In honor of him, his followers would sacrifice not only animals in their worship, but also their young children. In many instances in scripture we find God using His chosen people to judge tribes and nations for their sinful behavior.

 

In 2 Kings 2:23-25 we are told the story of Elisha, who inherited Elijah’s prophetic mantle, traveling to Bethel. The people of Bethel did not respect prophets of God. Their habitual rebellion against men of God was a behavior that their young men adopted as their own. In this situation a huge group of young people came out of the city taunting and making fun of Elisha. Whether their parents sent them out to do this or whether they chose to do it on their own is not clear. What is clear is they were not shouting words of encouragement. They were making fun of Elisha calling him “Baldy.” This term very likely did not refer to the lack of hair on his head, it was intended to say that he was “empty headed or ignorant, because he was sharing the truth of God. In this action they were mocking both Elisha and the God he served. Elisha knew their motivation of rebellion against God and called a curse upon them. The manifestation of judgment that follows is not from the power of Elisha, but from God Himself. We know God agreed with the Elisha’s interpretation of their actions for God fulfilled the curse by sending two mother bears out from the nearby forest to maul forty-two members of the disrespectful gang of young people. This response by God was not only against the young men, but also against their parents for teaching their children in the ways of false idols. God will not always endure insults against Him or His chosen prophets. While God may not always bring ferocious mother bears into the lives of those who persecute or abuse His followers, He does work out His justice in a multitude of ways. This justice may or may not come in our lifetime, but eventually He will judge perfectly and completely all those who behave badly, especially those who mistreat His chosen people, be they Jews or Christians.

 

We are given numerous examples in the Bible of God using weather conditions and animals to judge individuals and nations. We even see supernatural events such as the plagues of Egypt that illustrate the power and judgment of God upon rebellious people. Scripture if full of references illustrating that God judges the earth and mankind.

 

1 Chronicles 16:33

“Then the trees of the forest will sing, they will sing for joy before the LORD,

for he comes to judge the earth.”

 

Psalms 9:7-8

“The LORD reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment. He will judge the world in righteousness; he will govern the peoples with justice.”

 

Psalms 96:11-13

“Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy; they will sing before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his truth.”

 

These are only a few of the numerous verses announcing and proclaiming that God is a God of judgment. Yes God loves mankind deeply. That is why He gave His Son as a payment for our sin, but along with His love is His desire to judge righteously for He is a holy God.

 

Each and every person who is alive today or who has ever lived through all of human history will be judged by the holy majestic God. The Bible tells us this fact in several places.

 

Matthew 12:36-37

“But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

 

Matthew 16:27

“For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.”

 

2 Corinthians 5:10

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”

 

2 Timothy 4:1

“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead,”

 

Hebrews 9:26-28

“Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,”

 

 

All of us will face a form of judgment when Christ returns. Those of us who are true believers will be rewarded according to how we used our time, skills, and spiritual gifts in service of our King, Jesus Christ. Those of us who have failed to accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord will receive the fiery judgment and wrath of the Almighty God in Heaven.

 

The judgment of God through individuals, nations and nature is one thing. The final judgment we all will face when Christ returns will be another. It will be very, very personal. It will be intimate, individual, specific and accurate. God knows all that we have ever done and all the thoughts that have ever entered our mind. He knows our attitudes and intentions of every moment of our life. When we are judged by Jesus Christ He will very likely take one of three possible actions.

 

If we have lived an obedient life as a Christian and served Him well, He may walk up to us, give us a hug, kiss us on the cheek and say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

 

If we have truly accepted Him as our Savior but have not served Him well, He may walk up to us, give us a hug, and kiss us on the cheek and say, “Welcome.”

 

If we have not truly accepted Him as our Savior or claim since we have lived a good moral life He should accept us into Heaven, He may say to us, “Who are you? I don’t know you.”

 

The problem with our concept of judgment is that we can always think of someone who is worse than us. We justify our own sinful actions because we can find a Tom, Dick or Mary who is more sinful than we are. We may think that God will judge on a curve and since we fall within the bell-shaped group of people who are not too bad we’ll pass the test of God’s judgment. We may even think that as long as we “possibly” accepted Jesus as our Savior twenty or more years ago that it doesn’t matter how we live now and that we’re secure from God’s wrath. We prove by our lifestyle and thought life if we really have actually accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord or if we have merely entertained a commitment to His calling.

 

In Matthew 7:21-23 and Matthew 25 we find descriptions of such individuals facing the personal judgment of Christ Himself. They are sobering verses for those who claim to know Christ as Savior but do not have the Holy Spirit directing their lives. They are convicting verses for those who disobey God’s word. They are condemning verses for those who serve themselves and not the risen Lord. They are verses of judgment.

 

Matthew 7:21-23

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”