Elwyn asks,
Church age believers are to be rewarded at the Judgment Seat of Christ [the Bema] after the Rapture of the church at some point during the Tribulation, if I understand this issue correctly. My question is this. When in your opinion will believers of the Tribulation period and the Millennium be judged by Christ and receive rewards? I would appreciate your thoughts very much as I don’t see any clear explanation in Scripture.
In my title for this blog, I have included OT believers as well. What other judgments will there be beside the Bema and when will they occur?
First, while it is typically held that the Bema will occur “at some point during the Tribulation” as Elwyn suggests, I disagree. I believe that the Bema will occur on earth, not in the third heaven, and that it will occur after the Tribulation. There will be 75 days between the ending of the Tribulation and the start of the Millennium, according to Dan 12:12. That would be a perfect time to judge the Church. And since we served Christ on earth, it makes sense that we will be judged here.
Second, we do have a passage that tells us when and where Tribulation believers will be judged. According to Matt 25:31-46, the Judgment of the Sheep and the Goats, believers who survive the Tribulation will be judged on earth after the Tribulation and before the start of the Millennium. We do not know if the Bema is the first or the Judgment of the Sheep and Goats.
Third, believers from the Tribulation who died during the Tribulation will be judged at a separate judgment. This would certainly also take place during the 75 days before the Millennium begins, since some of those who died were martyred and will be chosen to rule with Christ in the Millennium. There is no passage that discusses that judgment.
Fourth, believers from the Millennium need to be judged as well since it is a principle of Scripture that everyone will reap what he sowed in this life (Gal 6:6-9). It is possible that Millennial believers will be judged at the Great White Throne Judgment (GWTJ). Most think that judgment is for unbelievers only. However, Rev 20:15 says, “And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” I heard Zane Hodges suggest that that verse could mean that church age believers will be present at this judgment as witnesses. I think he also suggested that it could mean that Millennial believers might be judged at this judgment.
I think the GWTJ will occur on earth before the destruction of the current heavens and earth.
Fifth, OT saints need to be judged before the Millennium in order to be able to rule with Christ during that time. Hence, I see their judgment as also occurring in the 75-day interim.
You may wonder how untold millions will be judged during a 75-day time period. Each person would receive less than a second to be judged, since in 75 days there are only 6,480,000 seconds.
I believe that these last-days judgments will be conducted using God’s time. Peter tells us that with the Lord “a thousand years [is] as one day” (2 Pet 3:8). There are 365,000 days in a thousand years. Therefore, the compression will be 365,000 to one. That would mean that a judgment taking 60 minutes in God’s time would only require .000164 of a minute. That would mean that a little over 6,000 people could be judged every minute and yet it would seem to us that each person had a full hour.
The Bible tells us about three coming judgments: the Bema, the Judgment of the Sheep and the Goats, and the GWTJ. Other judgments are not explained as to when they will occur or the details of the judgment (though the judgment of OT believers is discussed in Dan 12:3, but without any specificity).
Why aren’t these other judgments of believers explained? I don’t know. Evidently God has given us enough information about the eschatological judgments of believers in what we are told about the Bema and the sheep and goats.
However, every believer who lived during or before the Tribulation will be judged before the Millennium begins. The judgment of unbelievers will be postponed until after the Millennium (Rev 20:11-15). (The judgment of unbelievers at the Judgment of the Sheep and the Goats will not be their actual trial, but instead it will be like an initial arraignment to show that there is evidence to hold them until their trial.)
