A sieve is defined as a screen with holes that allow the passage of fine particles or liquids and prevents the passage of courser particles. The holes in a sieve may vary according to its use. Some sieves, such as kitchen sieves, have large holes and are used to separate liquids from solids such as draining the water off spaghetti. Sieves are used in sand quarries to produce varying grades of gravel. Some sieves are so fine that they work on the molecular level. Such is the case in the process of osmosis that occurs in the roots of plants. The nutrients from the soil pass through the thin membranes of the root hair and are transported upward into the plant.
A similar situation exists in the digestion and assimilation of food in our bodies. The food that we consume is not in a form that can be assimilated, so it must be digested and chemically broken down into smaller molecules. The stomach sorts out from our food the three main food types, carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. These are acted upon by specific designer enzymes; carbohydrates, sugars and starch, are converted to glucose; fats are broken down to their constituent, water soluble fatty acids; proteins are converted to amino acids. These water soluble components are small enough molecules to pass through the sieve of the intestinal walls into the blood stream. Other larger molecules, mainly cellulose, cannot pass through and are eliminated as waste. Thus, the intestinal walls act as a selective sieve to allow passage of only those elements that are useful for the support of body functions. However, it is possible to deceive the sieve by ingesting harmful substances such as drugs and alcohol that pass through and do damage to the body.
We are told that in the judgment there will be a dividing of the sheep and the goats, of the wheat and the chaff. So there must be a type of screen that God uses to sift the good from the bad, the righteous from the evil. It is very critical that there be no mistakes, that no one gets through the screen that would disrupt the peace and harmony of heaven. We are told that sin will never again lift its ugly head in the coming kingdom; sin and sinners will be no more. God’s screen is a combination of justice and mercy for He must take into account the inner desires and motives of the screenees. He must also consider their circumstances and opportunities to know His will. Those who have been converted and committed their lives to His service and the loving service of others, whose names are in the Lamb’s Book of Life will readily pass the test, but there are also murderers, adulterers, thieves, and those who have not known of God who will be admitted through the screen. God in His mercy, forbearance and foreknowledge will know if it is safe to let them through. Those who have spurned God’s love and rebelled against His government will not pass and will be discarded as waste.
We are given a glimpse behind the scenes in the Old Testament dealings of God with the human race and with the nation of Israel in particular. The Holy Watchers pronounced doom on Belshazzar, and King Saul. They also pronounced sentence on Nebuchadnezzar and on Sampson. The time will come when each of us will face the soul-penetrating gaze of these Holy Watchers.
Will we be ready to pass through "the character sieve"?
