Right judgement is according to the spirit, not flesh

Deuteronomy 1:16-17 (ESV)
And I charged your judges at that time, ''Hear the cases between your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the alien who is with him. [17] You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God's. And the case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.''

Judge righteously between a man and his brother or the alien who is with him. The cases these judges were handling were cases between man and man. But on that Last Day, judgment will be between God and man. God will bring in all His dispute and strife with mankind, and Judge the world by that God-Man that He has chosen: Jesus Christ.

It is one thing to have a lawsuit made against you by a mere man, who can at worst kill your body. But it is something else altogether to have God make a lawsuit against you. God has been gathering the evidences for this one Day in court, writing all our transgression and sin in His books. In them He has written exactly what sin we have committed, and how, and when. He knows it all. And the witnesses shall be none other than our own consciences. We ourselves will confess our sins, and have no excuses, and shall agree with God's decree of condemnation. His lawsuit will be successful against us, for He is God, and we have sinned against our Maker who gave us life.

The judgment shall be righteous judgment, for Christ will judge not by what He sees, or by what He hears, but only by what the Father tells Him, only according to what has been written against us. If we have not received Christ as our Saviour, every transgression will be recompensed, and the sentence of punishment will be pronounced that will fit our crimes:
Revelation 20:12-15 (ESV)
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. [13] And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. [14] Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. [15] And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Christ will judge us according to all that we have done in this body. Everything we have ever done has been recorded against us in His books. However, for Christians, we shall be judged according to the book of life. All our transgressions have been blotted out from God's book, for God had nailed them with Christ on the Cross. Christ took the blame for our records of transgressions:
Colossians 2:13-14 (ESV)
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, [14] by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
Acts 3:19 (ESV)
Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out,

When we repented and believed in Christ, our names were written in the book of life. And we were counted among those who are justified, counted to be righteous before God. What Christ did in His body was counted to be what I did, His punishment for my sins, His resurrection assurance of my eternal life with Him. Therefore even when we are judged righteously by Christ on the Last Day, we will be saved from God's wrath, because Christ has covered ourselves with His works and His death. Not only that Christ, the Judge, will also be our Advocate who will speak for us to God on that Day, for He will declare to the Father that our sins are wholly forgiven, and that He has fulfilled all the requirements of the Law for us:
1 John 2:1 (ESV)
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
Praise be to God, that if we have repented and trusted in Christ in this life, our Judge who will judge us will also be the one who will plead for our case. Just as His case against the sinners will be successful in condemnation, His case for us whom He has chosen will also be successful in salvation. We are to rejoice for God's grace, for Christ chose us and died for us. The fact that our names were written was not any of our doing, but God's election:
Luke 10:20 (ESV)
Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

The judges of Israel were commanded to judge righteously between man and his brother, and also with the alien. They were not to show any favouritism to Israelites over the stranger. Firstly, this shows that on the Last Day also God will not regard which country we were from. Jews or Gentiles, God will condemn and save likewise according to the persons sins or faith in Christ. Righteousness or condemnation has nothing to do with the colour of skin or nationality. As it is written:
Romans 2:9-11 (ESV)
There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, [10] but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. [11] For God shows no partiality.

Nor will any other demographic receive special treatment: poor or rich, those who have died young or old, male or female, slave or master, from a Christian family or not, from a Christian country or not. It will not make any difference who you are on the outside. Human beings loved to speak of 'equality' - and thus they shall indeed be equally treated on that day of Judgment. God will not look at the outward appearance at all, but look only at the inward man. And those who have done evil will go to Hell, and those who have done good by grace of God through faith in Christ will go to heaven. God will judge by righteousness:
Revelation 19:11 (ESV)
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.
John 5:28-29 (ESV)
Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice [29] and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. The judges were not to turn a blind eye for the causes of the small. We remember how Solomon, who was the King, even heard a case from prostitutes, though it was small and vile:
1 Kings 3:16 (ESV)
Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.
Solomon, though he was king, was willing to listen to such an insignificant case, because he was willing to obey God's precept. But how much don't we have this mentality in our justice system today? If a person has no money, it is impossible to file or continue a lawsuit. Only those with money are able to sustain a lawsuit. But that is not what God desires.

We Christians, as judges with Christ, are not to turn a blind eye on the cases of the poor and the small:
Galatians 2:10 (ESV)
Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.
If Christ considered our pitiful case against God, and saw that we would but perish on Judgment Day because of our sins, and reached out His hand to rescue us, who were but like small worms, how much must we also show compassion to those poor whose voice is heard by no one. We must help them. Let us remember those who are in affliction. God has heard our small and pitiful cry for salvation:
Matthew 9:27 (ESV)
And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, "Have mercy on us, Son of David."
Let us also bother to hear the cries of those whose voices are small, and turn to help them in any way we can. It is our duty as Christians, as much as keeping ourself pure from the world:
James 1:27 (ESV)
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

We like to believe that human rights was the invention of man. But here it shows clearly that it is the invention of God. God hears the cry of the Jew and the Gentile, small and the big. He shows no partiality to any one. He judges according to righteousness and not by appearance. That is what Christ meant when He said:
John 8:15-16 (ESV)
You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. [16] Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me.
Likewise we are not to judge according to the flesh, according to the outer appearance, but according to the Spirit, according to the standards of God, not our own standards. How can we hold prejudices against someone because of their nationality, ethnicity or social status?

Not that those who live in sin, such as homosexuals, are counted amongst this "minority". We cannot change the colour of our skin, but we can turn away from our sins by God's grace. We can repent of our sins and be cleansed by the power of any sin through faith in Jesus Christ. Our outward appearance we may not change, but our hearts can be changed by the Spirit of God. It is therefore an abomination for sinners to think that because they commit peculiar sins, they can be included as a minority. It is an offence to those who really are the minority, those who are poor, homeless and oppressed. God will therefore enter into righteous judgment with those who live in special sins, and abuse the meaning of "human rights". He will repay them with special destruction.

You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God's. It is interesting that Jethro said of these judges, that the judges should be ones who "fear God":
Exodus 18:21 (ESV)
Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.

When we fear God, then we shall not be fearful of man. When we see that God can destroy not only our bodies but also our souls, we shall not be afraid of those who can only destroy our bodies. These judges, because they feared God's judgment, were not afraid of the rich man or the prince who threatened them. We must likewise fear God's judgment of us, than man's judgment. How shall we face God after we die if we have sinned or have neglected certain things because we were afraid of man's judgment. Christ feared God's disapproval more than man's, and therefore was able to endure the Cross:
Matthew 10:28 (ESV)
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

By saying "judgment is God's", Moses is saying that these judges were in God's place, to carry out His vengeance, His judgment. Therefore they were to judge as God judges. God is not afraid of man; in fact, He laughs at man's threatenings:
Psalm 2:4 (ESV)
He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.
Therefore, the judges also must not be afraid of man, but be at ease as God is, trusting in God to carry out His justice through them.

Here we remember that ALL judgment in the world is God's, just as all authority is from God. Any judgment that has been made in the court of law anywhere, is the judgment made by God. Even if there have been mistakes and wrong judgments, it has been God's judgment, to bring glory to Him. For it was GOD who judged and condemned Jesus Christ to death by the Sanhedrin, and by Pilate. Though the judgment was humanly speaking 'wrong' and sinful, it was to fulfil God's good will, that Christ may die for the sins of His people:
Matthew 26:65-66 (ESV)
Then the high priest tore his robes and said, "He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. [66] What is your judgment?" They answered, "He deserves death."
Mark 15:15 (ESV)
So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.

Also, we remember also that Christians will judge the world with Christ, and be co-assessors with Him on the Day of Judgment. We will judge not by what we hear or see, but with Christ's judgment, just as Moses' judges carried out the Judgment of God:
1 Corinthians 6:2-3 (ESV)
Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? [3] Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!

We Christians are these judges that Isaiah prophesied of:
Isaiah 1:26 (ESV)
And I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city."
Christians shall surely be judged ourselves, but after we are acquitted and counted righteous, we shall sit in thrones next to Christ on that Day, and participate in judging the sinners and the devils who have sinned:
Revelation 20:4 (ESV)
Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

If then we shall have the authority to judge the world and devils, we must walk in a manner that a good judge would walk. A judge that commits crimes would be a corrupt judge, with a warped standard of righteousness, excusing sin. We must always keep a good conscience towards God and men. How cannot we point out the sins of others, if we are committing the very same sins that they are committing. We must first take away the plank from our eyes that we may see properly our brother's sins. We can't be hypocritical judges, but we must thoroughly repent of our own sins before we can rightfully help others to escape from sin. Let us walk as the light of the world, and as those who shall reign with Christ in righteousness, and make our actions worthy of our calling. Amen.

Submission to God's authority is the way to glory

Deuteronomy 1:14-15 (ESV)
And you answered me, ''The thing that you have spoken is good for us to do.'' [15] So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experienced men, and set them as heads over you, commanders of thousands, commanders of hundreds, commanders of fifties, commanders of tens, and officers, throughout your tribes.

These heads were to be judges to settle strife between brethren. There goal was that Israel may reach the promised land in peace:
Exodus 18:23 (ESV)
If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace."
Peace had to be the primary goal for these judges when judging these cases. They had to love righteousness and equity, but their goal had to be to cease the fighting between the brethren. Israelites were going to Canaan to war against the inhabitants of the land. But if there was war between the brethren, they could never stand. As Christ said:
Matthew 12:25 (ESV)
Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.

The Church also needs wise and experienced people who can wisely judge between brethren:
1 Corinthians 6:5 (ESV)
I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers,
We need these leaders do not take any sides but God's and aims for peace among the brethren. For if there is fightings between us, how can we fight together against the kingdoms of the devil and of darkness? It is not possible. Let us pray for peacemakers with discernment and love to flourish in Christ's Church.

We also remember from this passage that all authority is given by God. These commanders, though they were established by Moses through Jethro's advice, were ultimately from God. Any government, Church or family authority, everywhere in the world, is established by God. Even when leaders are voted in, it is the hand of God working in those voters to bring to power whoever He wants to place in power. If the nation has an oppressive ruler, it is also a work of God, either to punish the nation's sins, or to do some other work that brings glory to God. It is God who has given us our mothers, fathers, bosses, husbands and teachers, no matter how difficult they may make our lives. Pastors and spiritual teachers/mentors that God has placed over have been given to us by Him, no manner how lacking we may think they are. Therefore we are not to despise any authority, but be submissive, just as we are submissive to God:
Romans 13:1-7 (ESV)
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. [2] Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. [3] For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, [4] for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. [5] Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. [6] For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. [7] Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

Especially, in the above context, Paul talks of being submissive to our government. Not that we ought to not speak out against the injustices and the ungodliness of our government, but that does not mean we ought to rebel against it. We are to be subject, for by this we are subjecting ourselves to God's authority and His will. And we must also pray for our governments:
1 Timothy 2:1-2 (ESV)
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, [2] for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.

We are not to mock and scoff at our rulers and kings in high positions whom God has appointed, as the world loves to do. Even if they appear weak and incompetent, we are not to disrespect them, or treat them with contempt, for we know that God places weak people to be princes over people:
1 Samuel 2:8 (ESV)
He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the LORD's, and on them he has set the world.
God intentionally places weak beings, the poor and needy, to be princes and to sit in places of honor. He does this for His own glory, so that no man may be worthy to be called "king" apart from Jesus Christ His Son, the King of Kings. He gives people with flaws authority, so that no man may bow down to them, but hate them, and only give glory to God as their true Lord. Therefore, we are not to be surprised when political leaders disappoint us. God has made it that way, as it is written:
Isaiah 3:4 (ESV)
And I will make boys their princes, and infants shall rule over them.
Why? So that God may get maximum glory as the only sovereign, omnipotent Ruler of the world. Princes of this world will fail us and make us sigh, because they are not God. They are sinners, just like the rest of us. We must therefore so mercy and grace to them, that they may do their work as leaders without hinderance. We must encourage them, and let them do their jobs joyfully, and not grudgingly. This following applies to our attitudes to all our masters:
Hebrews 13:17 (ESV)
Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

We must remember also here that every single human being has a leader to answer to. As in a large corporation, the bosses have bosses to report and be subject to, whom they must obey. Even the kings and presidents of the earth must answer to their King - Jesus Christ the Sovereign Lord of the universe. Only God Himself has no ruler over Him. No one commands to God and tells Him what to do. God does whatever He wishes, with complete freedom, with no one's word being an obstacle to Him. This is what it means to be God, to have absolutely no authority over you. God is therefore the great I AM, who does whatever He chooses:
Psalm 115:3 (ESV)
Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.

Therefore, this sinful desire in humans to do "whatever I want", is a desire to be God. It is a desire to have no Ruler over you. Yet listen to what Solomon says about this:
Ecclesiastes 11:9 (ESV)
Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

Solomon is saying to the young man who thinks he is God, 'Go on, live according to your heart and your eyes, do whatever you want in all your freedom. But remember: for everything you do God will bring you into judgment on Judgment Day'. Human beings must answer to God as King. They must each bow down and submit to the authority to God and do all things in light of God. Otherwise they will be brought into judgment, and be condemned:
John 3:20-21 (ESV)
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. [21] But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God."

We must be in subjection to God, for even our God, the Lord Jesus Christ, is in subjection to the Father. Jesus Christ, though He is equal to His Father, willingly demonstrated subjection by bowing down to the Father's authority:
Philippians 2:5-8 (ESV)
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, [6] who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, [7] but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. [8] And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

By this willingness to humble Himself under the Father's authority, and to be obedient, Christ earned Himself the Authority to be the Name above all names:
Ephesians 1:20-21 (ESV)
that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, [21] far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
Matthew 28:18 (ESV)
And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

True authority comes from being submissive to God's Lordship. Even if it costs our death, true authority and glory is gained by being a slave to God, not being a tyrant over others. Christ humbled Himself, and became a slave, yet because of that, He became the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. The way up is down. It is kneeling before His throne, obeying Him, and serving Him and willingly serving others, even though they are our equal, as Christ served the Father.

Our Lord Jesus Christ was even submissive to His human parents, though He was their Maker:
Luke 2:51 (ESV)
And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.
And Christ submitted Himself to the rulers at the time, the Jews, Pilate, to Herod, and allowed Himself to be killed under their authority:
John 19:11 (ESV)
Jesus answered him, "You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin."
Why did Christ, though He was higher than all, submit Himself to even these pagan authorities? Because Christ believed that even Pilate's authority over Him to kill Him was given by God His Father. Because He knew submission under authority that God had placed is the only way to glory. As Christ Himself said:
Luke 14:11 (ESV)
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

And also why did Christ humble and submit Himself? It was for us, so that we may be saved. For love's sake, Christ did not regard the shame of His humbling under authorities, though He was God. Love must be the motivation for our submissiveness to God and to His authorities. Submitting to God without love to Him is an abomination, it is only an outward show. But when we love God, our submission is made easier and willing. Christ submitted to His Father because He loved Him. Christ submitted Himself to the hands of sinners because He loved us. We must also submit to our human leaders with love toward them. If they have sinned against them, let us forgive them, and submit ourselves to them in willingness and love:
Ephesians 5:21 (ESV)
submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.