“For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? (1 Peter 4:17 ESV).
We typically associate “judgment” with an act of punishment or correction. One of the more notable instances of that type of judgment occurs in the Biblical book of the prophet Daniel. Daniel chapter five records the account of a lavish banquet hosted by the Babylonian king Belshazzar. It was during that feast that the king made a fateful decision…
“While they were drinking, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver cups and bowls which his father Nebuchadnezzar had carried off from the Temple in Jerusalem. The king sent for them so that he, his noblemen, his wives, and his concubines could drink out of them. At once the gold cups and bowls were brought in, and they all drank wine out of them and praised gods made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone” (Daniel 5:2-4 GNT).
At that moment, a disembodied hand materialized to inscribe the following words on a wall of the palace: “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin” (Daniel 5:25). The king was gripped by fear and summoned Daniel to decipher the message. Daniel then proceeded to give the following interpretation:
“This is what these words mean:
Mene means ‘numbered’—God has numbered the days of your reign and has brought it to an end.
Tekel means ‘weighed’—you have been weighed on the balances and have not measured up.
Parsin means ‘divided’—your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians” (Daniel 5:26-28 NLT).
The closing verses of that chapter reveal that the judgment referenced in that inscription was executed that very night (see Daniel 5:1-31).
Yet even though the word “judgment” often carries the negative overtones associated with Belshazzar’s experience, there is a different type of judgment that is far removed from what we witness in Daniel chapter five. For instance, consider the following portion of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus from John 3:21…
“…those who do what is true come to the light in order that the light may show that what they did was in obedience to God” (GNT).
1 John 1:5-6 provides the contextual framework for interpreting that passage: “…God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” Therefore, we can be at peace with the fact that judgment begins in the house of God if we honor Him and walk in the light today. One source summarizes this concept with a valuable insight…
“Judgment does not always imply condemnation in Scripture. When used in relation to Christians, it consistently refers to the evaluation of a believer’s works for the purpose of reward (1 Cor. 3:10–15).” (1)
(1) Earl D. Radmacher, Ronald Barclay Allen, and H. Wayne House, Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary (Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers, 1999), 1688.