Protective Judgments (6) - Old Testament

The Old Testament records a number of situations where God sent a protective judgment to prevent the advance of evil in fulfilment of the rainbow covenant.

1. The disruption of the tower of Babel was the first protective judgment recorded in the scriptures. When the people of the world got together to expand their power, God sent confusion among the people, because he could see that it would lead to terrible evil (Gen 11:5-6). The prophetic voice is not identified.

2. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed when evil was rampant and threatened to spill out across the Middle East (Gen 18:20-21). Abraham was the prophet who released God’s power to act ((Gen 20:7). The faithfulness and righteousness of Abraham gave God to his prayers. His prayers protected Lots and his family, but they also gave God authority to remove a serious evil from the earth authority to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.

3. The Kings of Canaan were destroyed by and invading army when their evil began to get out of hand (Gen 15:16; 17:8). Moses was the prophet who pronounced judgment against the sin that had taken control of Caanan.

4. God destroyed the armies of Pharaoh to set the children of Israel free from their captivity in Egypt. Moses was the prophet who made this protective judgment possible (Deut 34:10). He prophesied specifically by holding out his staff and releasing the power of God against the army of Egypt.

5. The Assyrian empire was destroyed by God when it Got out of hand. This event was prophesied by Isaiah (Is 14:25).

6. God used Babylon to smash the power of Egypt. This event was prophesied by Isaiah (Isaiah 19:1-4) and Jeremiah (Jer 46).

7. The Babylonian empire collapsed when it was invaded by Darius Mede. Isaiah, Jeremiah and Daniel were the prophets who made this possible (Is 13:17-22; Jer 50-51). Daniel was on the spot giving precise warnings (Dan 5).

In each of these situations, a powerful force for evil was emerging in the world. If these had been left to grow, they could have produced tremendous evil. God cut them down before they got big enough to ruin the earth. God has been faithful to the promise of the rainbow. Evil has never been able to take control of earth as it did before the flood, because God’s judgements have kept evil in check.