People in this world don’t like to think about a God of judgment. They like a God of peace and joy. They only want “good news.”

That’s the reason they receive so much bad news! They refuse to face reality. after all, God is not only a God of mercy and kindness. he is a God of judgment—a God of correction.

In the book of Malachi, there is one scripture that shows how even the Laodiceans today are confused about the God of judgment and want to keep their distance from Him. “Ye have wearied the lord with your words. yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the lord, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?” (Malachi 2:17). The Laodiceans are talking back to God: Wherein have we wearied Him? Where is the God of judgment?

The Laodiceans are upset with God. He didn’t punish the world through the Great Tribulation and return as soon as they expected. Their weak faith caused them to get discouraged and begin to rebel. So now they must get to know the God of judgment through experience. They should have strengthened their faith by continuing to obey God. Instead, their government problem caused them to blame God. The Laodiceans would not be asking this question if they were responsive to God’s correction today. It is only because we are corrected now that God delivers us from the Great Tribulation.

The Laodiceans force God to correct them harshly. It is the only way He will be able to save 50 percent of them. The remainder are beyond help.

Where is the God of judgment? This is where people have trouble with God. God does correct us; He says if we’re not corrected, we’re not even His sons (Hebrews 12:7‐8). What we really need to be concerned about is not God’s correction, but God not correcting us!

The Laodiceans are refusing God’s correction today. So God gives them an answer to their question, in the very next verse in Malachi: “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the lord of hosts” (Malachi 3:1). The God of judgment will return and deal with the world and its rebellion. he will come suddenly and unexpectedly. So if people don’t learn today where the God of judgment is, they will then!

Where is the God of judgment? This is the same statement the evil servant makes in Matthew 24:48: “My lord delayeth his coming.” The Laodiceans are saying, we thought God was going to come a long time ago. He’s still not here. You can tell these people know about God’s return; they’re upset because He hasn’t come already. And God says, if you have that problem, be assured that you will get to know this God of judgment—the hard way!

Of course, God would like them to repent and obey him now, before that time. And they would, if they would heed God’s message from the book of Malachi. We have to learn about the God of judgment today if we’re to teach the world in the World Tomorrow about God—about all of his characteristics.

The Family messenger

Look at the flow of events here: Where is the God of judgment? is immediately followed by, I will send my messenger. Malachi is an end‐time book. So where is God’s messenger? He must have come. God is directing these people back to Herbert Armstrong. If you really want to know about the God of judgment, get back to Herbert Armstrong. He taught us about judgment; he taught us about government. The problem is that they won’t listen to what he’s already taught them.

“Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the lord: and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse” (Malachi 4:4‐6). God sent a man in this end time who concentrated on the family structure. And underlying that is the family of God. But today, you don’t see the family being built in most of God’s own people, you see it being torn apart. Why? Because people are not heeding the words of this end‐time Elijah.

Today, just about every religion talks about a God of mercy and peace, but they won’t face the God of judgment. We are so far from God, our understanding of family is twisted. Newsweek ran an article titled, “Do Parents Matter?” do parents matter?

You see where Satan is taking the world: He is totally destroying God’s family. An Elijah taught it, and Satan is destroying it. That article quoted from a book that said, “Parents matter a whole lot less than scientists believe.” This abominable viewpoint was given credibility in a national newsmagazine! Anybody should understand that the family is the foundation of a nation. You know Israel is about to collapse when its people become that ignorant. The family has fallen apart.

Articles like that are anti‐God. Does anyone ever ask what God thinks of these things? What does the God of judgment think? The Ten Commandments reveal that he puts those sins on the same level as murder! Do the American people see it that way—lying and adultery as being equal to murder? Our Constitution essentially was founded on our forefathers’ belief in the Ten Commandments; but we don’t believe in them today! We don’t even think the family is all that important.

Pornography is a $10 billion a year business in America. Over $4 billion is generated by videos alone—up from $10 million 25 years ago. according to one report, “Americans spend more on hard‐core porn, telephone sex and strip clubs than they do at cinemas. Porn videos account for a quarter of all those rented or sold, while strip clubs generate more money than all other live entertainment, including rock concerts and Broadway theaters, put together.” What is all that doing to the family? It’s tearing it apart! Where is the God of judgment? Well, these people are about to meet him.

There is no joy in the pornography and the filth of this world. People are desperate for any kind of sensation. They don’t know what real happiness is. The family of God is where the real joy is! God wants man to have happiness and joy in His family. But it does take correction to be a godly family, and man hates correction. He likes to go his own way. God allows that today. But suddenly that will change when the Tribulation comes, and the great God—the family God, the husband God—returns to this earth!