The King Seated on the Judgment Throne

[Proverbs 20:8-12]

Dear friends, a few weeks ago on Sunday, we received a lesson from God based on Matthew 7:1-6 under the title "Do Not Judge." The teaching was clear: "Do not judge, so that you will not be judged." In other words, Jesus taught us, "If you do not want to be judged, do not judge others." Why did Jesus say this? Why did He prohibit judging? The reason is that judgment and condemnation belong solely to God. In other words, because God is the only true judge, we must not take His place and judge others.

In today’s passage, Proverbs 20:8, the Bible tells us: "When a king sits on the throne to judge, he winnows out all evil with his eyes." We would like to reflect on the lesson God is giving us today under the title, "The King Seated on the Judgment Throne."

First, the King seated on the judgment throne distinguishes between good and evil and disperses all evil.

Look at Proverbs 20:8: "When a king sits on the throne to judge, he winnows out all evil with his eyes." Here, the writer of Proverbs, King Solomon, uses the phrase "winnows out," which is translated as "winnows out" in English. This is the literal meaning of the Hebrew word (Gesenius). The literal meaning is "to winnow or sift" (Naver Dictionary). Another meaning is "to filter out something unwanted" (Naver Dictionary) [in English, it’s “sifts” (MacArthur)].

What does "winnow" mean? It refers to the act of separating grain from chaff by shaking it (internet sources). So, King Solomon also says in Proverbs 20:26: "A wise king winnows the wicked and drives the wheel over them." Ultimately, the point King Solomon is making is that the king seated on the judgment throne is wise enough to separate good from evil, just as one separates grain from chaff. Then, the king filters out the evil that is unwanted.

As I meditated on this passage, a couple of Bible verses came to mind:

(1) The first Bible verse that came to my mind is Matthew 3:12: “His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor. He will gather His wheat into the barn, but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.”

This was spoken by John the Baptist, referring to the judgment that Jesus Christ, who was coming after him, would carry out in the future. The result of this judgment is that the wheat will be gathered into the barn, while the chaff will be burned with unquenchable fire. Here, the wheat refers to the righteous, those who believe in Jesus, while the chaff refers to the wicked, those who do not believe in Him. Jesus says that He will gather the wheat into the barn, and this barn is essentially heaven, while the chaff, the wicked, will be burned with unquenchable fire, which refers to hell.

(2) The second passage that came to my mind is the prophetic word about the last days, found in Matthew 25:31-46.

Let’s look at Matthew 25:31-33: “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.”

This passage speaks about when Jesus returns in glory and sits on His throne of judgment. He will gather all the nations before Him and separate them, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. So, the King of kings, seated on the judgment throne, will separate the wicked, represented by the goats, and assign them eternal punishment, and the righteous, represented by the sheep, will be granted eternal life. Matthew 25:46 confirms this: “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Do you believe that the Lord, seated on His throne of judgment, will separate the righteous from the wicked? When He comes to judge, He will separate the wicked from the righteous and punish the wicked forever, while He will lead the righteous into eternal life in heaven.

Secondly, no one can claim that their sins have been cleansed in the presence of the King on the judgment throne.

Let’s look at today’s scripture, Proverbs 20:9: “Who can say, ‘I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin’?”

Who can say, "I have kept my heart pure"? Who in this world can confidently say, "I am clean; I have no sin"? The Bible tells us in Romans 3:10: “As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one.’” In 1 John 1:8, it says: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

However, in Job 33:9-11, we see that one of Job's friends says to him: “I am clean, I am not wicked, I am pure and have no injustice. Yet truly God finds fault with me, considers me His enemy, and puts my feet in shackles, watching all my paths.”

If Job thought as his friend suggested, could we say that Job was clean in the sight of God? When I think about this question, I remember hymn #274, verse 4: “Though I correct all my bad deeds and throw away all my evil thoughts, I still cannot boast of being pure before God.” Who can boast of being pure before the holy God? Before a God who watches us with eyes like flames of fire (Revelation 2:18) and who searches our deepest secrets (Genesis 16:13; Proverbs 20:27), who can say they have cleansed their sins? No one in this world.

But there is only one who is completely pure, without sin, and that is Jesus, the Son of God, who was both fully divine and fully human. This sinless Jesus was crucified for us. God made Jesus, who knew no sin, to be sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). The purpose of this was so that through Jesus Christ, God would cleanse all our iniquities (Psalm 51:2) and remove our sin completely.

In other words, God allowed Jesus, who knew no sin, to die on the cross in our place, so that we might have a pure heart created within us (Proverbs 20:9; Psalm 51:10). Not only that, but God raised Jesus from the dead, declaring us righteous before Him (Romans 4:25). In other words, the reason God made Jesus, who knew no sin, to be sin for us was so that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21).

The apostle Paul explained this in Ephesians 5:25-27: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” Paul says that the purpose of Jesus giving Himself for the church was to make it a glorious church, holy and without blemish, before God. This glorious church is the pure and holy church.

This glorious church is the bride of the Lamb, as Revelation 21:9 describes: “Come here, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife.” This means that the church is the bride of Jesus, the Lamb. And this glorious church is blessed, as those invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9).

Jesus said in Matthew 5:8: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” We will indeed see God. When the King of kings, seated on the judgment throne, separates the righteous from the wicked, He will grant eternal life to those of us who have been justified by Jesus’ righteousness.

Therefore, when we stand before the King of kings, the Lord seated on His judgment throne, we will be able to say, “I am clean and without sin”, because Jesus, who had no sin, took our sins upon Himself and died on the cross to cleanse us from all sin.

Thirdly, we must be honest before the King seated on the throne of judgment.

Let us look at today’s passage, Proverbs 20:10: "Unequal weights and unequal measures are both alike an abomination to the Lord." Similar words can be found in the book of Proverbs: "Unequal weights are an abomination to the Lord, and dishonest scales are not good" (Proverbs 20:23); "A false balance is abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight" (Proverbs 11:1). If we combine these three verses, it is clear that what God hates is dishonesty. In other words, God hates dishonesty.

So why do you think the writer of Proverbs, King Solomon, mentions dishonesty, which God hates, three times? Perhaps during the time of King Solomon, some merchants used scales to deceive their customers by manipulating the quality, weight, or quantity of goods, thereby cheating them out of more than they deserved (as noted by Park Yun-seon). These dishonest merchants used "double scales" and "double measures". In other words, when selling grain, they would use lighter weights and smaller measures to give less, but when buying, they would use heavier weights and larger measures to receive more (as mentioned online).

This is why the Bible in Deuteronomy 25:13-16 says: "Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small. Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a great and a small. But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have, that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto the Lord thy God." Can you imagine? A dishonest merchant with two kinds of weights, a large one and a small one, deceiving the customers with double scales?

The Bible also says in Leviticus 19:35-36: "Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure. Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin shall ye have: I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt."

You may have heard news reports about merchants who were arrested for deceiving customers about the origin of goods. For example, some merchants sold Chinese goods as if they were Korean, earning unjust profits before being caught by the police. Some dishonest merchants not only deceive customers about the origin of products, but also about the weight of the contents, and even modify meters to extract unjust profits from customers. All of this is similar to using unequal weights and unequal measures, as mentioned in today’s passage.

Why do merchants use unequal weights and measures to gain unjust profits from their customers? The reason is greed. Due to greed, dishonest merchants take unfair profits.

Now, as Christians, how should we act? Let’s look at Proverbs 20:11: "Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right." We must act correctly. In other words, we must conduct ourselves properly. Our conduct must be pure and right. And we must hate unequal weights and unequal measures, which God hates (verse 10). In other words, we must hate dishonesty.

If we Christian merchants are dishonest in our business dealings, we must remember that God hates such practices. We should never engage in dishonest actions to gain unjust profits. Instead, we must be honest in our commercial activities (as noted by Park Yun-seon). May God renew a spirit of honesty within us (Psalm 51:10).

Finally, the King seated on the throne of judgment hears and sees everything.

Let us look at today's passage, Proverbs 20:12: "The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the Lord has made them both." This verse tells us that the Creator God, who made us, also made our hearing ears and seeing eyes. The meaning of this is that the God who created our ears and eyes listens to everything and sees everything (MacArthur).

Our God is a God who hears whatever we ask. Let us look at 1 John 5:14-15: "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him." Also, our God is the one who watches over the whole earth. Let us look at Job 28:24: "For He looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens." Additionally, God even examines the hearts and consciences of people (Psalm 7:9). His eyes watch over both the wicked and the righteous, wherever they are (Proverbs 15:3). However, the wicked, in their pride, say, "God does not see it," and in all their thoughts, they claim there is no God (Psalm 10:4, 13). Therefore, the King seated on the throne of judgment will punish the wicked, whom He hates in their hearts (Proverbs 11:5).

Psalm 34:15 says: "The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are attentive to their cry." Also, 1 Peter 3:12 says: "For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." Clearly, the Bible says that God's eyes are on the righteous, and His ears are attentive to their cries. But His face is against those who do evil.

And as we have already meditated upon, when Jesus returns to this world as the King seated on the throne of judgment, He will gather all the nations before Him and separate them, distinguishing the righteous from the wicked. The wicked will be cast into eternal punishment, while the righteous will enter eternal life (Matthew 25:46).

I would like to conclude this meditation with a question: Do you believe in the "final judgment"? The final judgment that will take place when Jesus returns to this world (Matthew 25:31-46, Revelation 20:11-15). Let us look at Revelation 20:11-15: "Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from His presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire." On that day, all people, both believers and non-believers, will be resurrected and stand before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Timothy 4:1, 1 Peter 4:5, Luke 14:10, John 5:26-27, Acts 10:42, 1 Corinthians 3:12-15, 2 Corinthians 5:10).

Additionally, all believers, whether living or dead, will also be judged. However, since "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1), the judgment for believers who have already passed from death to life (John 5:24) will not endanger their eternal salvation. Of course, even the secret sins of believers will be revealed on the last day (1 Corinthians 4:5, 2 Corinthians 5:9-10). Therefore, we must live godly lives (internet).

So, what does it mean to live a godly life? Today, we have received four lessons about the King seated on the throne of judgment, based on the passage from Proverbs 20:8-12:

1. The King seated on the throne of judgment distinguishes between good and evil and scatters all evil. Therefore, we must also distinguish between good and evil and live a life that avoids evil.

2. Before the King seated on the throne of judgment, no one can claim that their sins have been completely cleansed. However, through the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross, all our sins have been forgiven and cleansed. Therefore, we must live with the assurance of forgiveness and live in the Lord.

3. Before the King seated on the throne of judgment, we must be honest. We must live honestly. In this dishonest world, we must live with integrity.

4. The King seated on the throne of judgment hears and sees everything. Therefore, we must live before God, who examines even our hearts and consciences and listens to our cries, in a godly way.