What does the Bible mean when it mentions the saints judging angels?

Sincerely, Ruling The Skies

Dear Ruling The Skies,

Yes, Christians will judge angels – the same way the Queen of the South judges spiritually lazy people. The verse in question is 1 Cor 6:3. We have to keep in mind that there are many ways to bring judgment on others. In our case, we will bring judgment on others through our example. God uses people’s examples to condemn others in similar circumstances.

1. The Queen of the South condemns those who won’t seek the truth (Matt 12:42).
2. The citizens of Nineveh will condemn those who won’t repent of their sins after hearing the gospel (Matt 12:42).
3. Christians will condemn those who have excuses for why they didn’t serve God (1 Cor 6:2).

Angels that denied God and went to serve Satan (Rev 12:9) will have no excuse for not having served God. All Christians will stand as a living example and condemnation against the angels that chose to deny God and turn to evil.If we, having not seen God (Ex 33:20), can still serve Him… the angels who are ever before Him (Matt 18:10) are without excuse.

     In a rage of anger, I threatened my wife and grandson.  My wife forgave me, God forgave me, but my grandson’s mother will not.  Why do I have to live with that sin for the rest of my life?

Sincerely,
Grieving Grandpa

Dear Grieving Grandpa,

Maybe you will have to live with it; maybe you won’t.  The physical consequences of sin still remain after forgiveness from God and even after forgiveness by our fellow man.  God says that we reap what we sow (Gal 6:7).  When we behave immorally toward a woman, lose our temper, mistreat others, are bad examples for our children, etc. – there are consequences to those choices.  God does offer forgiveness if we place our faith in Him (read “What Must I Do To Be Saved” for more details), but that forgiveness doesn’t remove the consequences of sin in this life.  David sinned when he committed adultery with Bathsheba (2 Sam 11:2-4); God forgave David of the sin when David repented (2 Sam 12:13), but David’s child still died as a consequence of that sin (2 Sam 12:14).

We can’t tell you what the long-term consequences of this sin of anger will be, but part of being faithful is humbly facing those consequences head on.

I have been having an urge to read my Bible lately, but when I sit down to actually do so, it's so intimidating.  I don't know where to start, and I can think of at least five things that I want to look at.  Please help!

Sincerely, Study Stress

Dear Study Stress,

The key to any kind of worship or Bible study is to make it a regular habit.Daniel had a habit of praying (Dan 6:10).Make a decision to put Bible study into your day first (Matt 6:33) and schedule other things around it.Most people fail to study their Bibles because it isn’t a part of their regular life.Make it a part of your morning routine, your lunch break, or bedtime ritual.Somehow schedule it into your life and make it a habit.

After you do that, it is just a matter of what you want to learn first.Many people read a Psalm a day, a chapter of Proverbs each week, or use a ‘read the Bible in a year program’, or you grab one of those five things you want to look at and read away.Any of these is a perfectly acceptable system.In fact, you can buy Bibles that are organized, so that you read a little of the Old Testament and a little of the New Testament every day.For new Bible students, I often recommend reading the gospel of Matthew or the gospel of John first, so that you become acquainted with Christ’s life; then follow that up with the book of Acts and familiarize yourself with the first century church.

The goal is to study your Bible, not just read it.God tells us to study to show ourselves approved (2 Tim 2:15) and to meditate upon God’s Word (Ps 119:15).You could read through an entire book of the Bible in an hour or so but fail to appreciate any of it. Read your Bible with a notepad beside you and a pen or highlighter in hand.Write down your questions and get them answered.Highlight meaningful verses.If you don’t understand something, don’t move on until you do.It is more important that you understand than that you read a large portion of text.And lastly, enjoy your Bible reading time; you are reading the most influential and meaningful book on the planet!

Why was it, when men were about to be confronted with their enemies and they were afraid for their lives, they'd put their livestock in front of them, then their children and their wives/concubines, and then themselves?  This seems like a very cowardly act to me, and I've pondered it quite a while now.

Could it have been that they were showing the enemy just how much they had, or was it that they were simply afraid, and they were willing to sacrifice what was in front of them instead of being brave and defending their family and their livestock?

I also think it was horrible when different men would have other men they were scared of knocking at their door and demanding they send out certain men/visitors, and the man inside would say, “I've got this virgin daughter, or I've got my wife or concubine in here; let me send them out, but leave these men alone.” WOW. What in the world were they thinking?

Sincerely, Women And Children First

Dear Women And Children First,

The women and children went first as a sign of subservience and a reminder of the fact that these men had families to care for – that is why Jacob did it.The story you indicated occurs in Genesis chapter 32 and 33.Jacob’s brother, Esau, had been bitterly angry with him ever since Jacob got Esau’s birthright and blessing from their father, Isaac (Gen 27:36).Esau had attempted to kill Jacob when they were younger (Gen 27:42).It had been decades since the two brothers last saw each other, but Jacob still feared his brother’s wrath (Gen 32:11).Jacob sent livestock ahead as gifts to his brother (Gen 32:13-18).He then sent his wives and children, Esau’s nieces and nephews (Gen 33:1-2).Jacob went last in order to show his humility and lowliness.It was an act of peace, not a defensive war-time tactic.

In the case of men offering their daughters and concubines up for rape… that just shows the degradation of their character.In both cases where that happened (Sodom – Gen 19:8 and Gibeah – Judg 19:24), the societies were so utterly immoral that they were destroyed not long after.Sodom was destroyed directly by God (Gen 19:24), and Gibeah was destroyed by Israel (Judg 20:43).Both of those societies were condemned by man and God for their degenerate evil ways.The Bible records the history of these societies, but that doesn’t mean it condones them.

     Paul says that those who practice bad doctrine should be "delivered to Satan for the destruction of the flesh" (1 Cor 5:5) as he did to Hymenaeus and Alexander (1 Tim 1:20).  I know several such individuals.  I need to know the DETAILS of HOW I am to deliver them to Satan.  As a follower of the "inspired" words of Paul, how do YOU PERSONALLY deliver people to Satan?  What technique do you use to destroy their flesh?  Like John Calvin did to Michael Severtus in Geneva maybe?  A slow burning at the stake?  Please give me the details of how I can effectively follow this well-established and "inspired" Christian doctrine.

Sincerely,
Burn, Baby, Burn

Dear Burn, Baby, Burn,

1^st Corinthians chapter five discusses the process of a church withdrawing from a Christian who is living a sinful life.  In 1 Cor 5:5, it says that the erring Christian should be delivered to Satan for the destruction of his flesh.  If that was the only verse we had, we would just have to scratch our heads and wonder what Paul was talking about… but that isn’t the only verse.  Just a few sentences down, Paul explains that how we deliver someone back to Satan is by not associating with them (1 Cor 5:9) and removing them from the congregation’s ranks (1 Cor 5:13).  The good company and support of the church is a blessing that Christians enjoy and really appreciate; by removing that blessing from an unrepentant brother, hopefully, it will wake him up and show him that he needs to change.

If the church doesn’t act, it will have to answer to God because it didn’t stand up for the truth.  Paul told the Corinthians that they were arrogant for not addressing their errant member (1 Cor 5:2), and he warned them that if they didn’t act, the church would eventually be rotted away by sin (1 Cor 5:6-7).  A church that won’t stand by the truth is bound to fall away from the Lord and cease to be a faithful church.  When a Christian is living in sin, they are responsible for their own behavior, but if the church doesn’t warn them, they have sinned as well (Ezek 3:18-19).