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Proverbs Chapter 24
The bible has a lot of warnings against evil men and also rich men at times. In the end those that ignore the grace of God that provided salvation to all "rich or poor," will face God's judgment for what they did or did not do in this life. We have some governments that want to rob the rich and overtax them to pay for the poor. So instead of a rich person giving from their hearts freely, we see them forced to give. This came about by those that envy the rich and what possessions they have. It is wrong to force giving. In times past a few of the rich ruled over the poor and miserably used them. Having riches were considered a blessing from God and if one was poor, he was under a curse. This too, is very wrong. I believe there are poor among us and there are rich. The rich have an opportunity to share their wealth and be blessed by the Lord. The poor are to be thankful for what they receive and also to be blessed by the Lord. To want to take by force is just as evil as those that rob the poor of his wages or what little he has out of greed. We must be thankful whether we be rich or poor for what we have and never envy rich men or evil persons for the possessions. Once we reach the end of this present life on earth, all those things are gone for those that once had them. We cannot take them on to the next life. So what do we envy?........Nothing, for in the end the only thing we will have is our spiritual inheritance that we receive from the Lord. It is eternity that counts.
The love of money has caused so many to end up doing evil to innocent people. This happens when judges take bribes, when businesses cheat their customers, when people desire to prosecute the innocent and let the guilty go free because the guilty were able buy their way out and the poor can not. I use to think the United States was different but I'm finding out that there is a lot of selective prosecution for political reasons just like we read about in history. Some go on witch hunts to find one little mistake someone makes, one little lie, one mistake on their tax return, for instance, if they want to bring down someone who stands in the way of their desire to win elections. This happens while murderers and rapists get the get out of jail free cards if their politics are right. Evil. This has been going on throughout history but we in the United States are supposed to be different. We are to set the example to the rest of the world by having fair elections and a congress that works together for the good of all people, not to control all people. The constitution is one of the best documents in history but there are some that would like to change it for their own gain.
We return to the thought of the evil men that we are not supposed to envy. We never should desire to follow after them for their heart is always after destruction and mischief. When we face God, we will answer to all that we do so its better to follow after those that are righteous. Abraham is a man who dwelled in tents. His goal was not to build houses and cities in this life but he was seeking a city whose builder and maker was God.
Abraham and his brother Nahor dwelled in what we call Syria today. Nahor built a city and stayed in one place. Abraham left and dwelt in tents. Yet Abraham is the one we remember and is the seed God chose to bring His own Son through to save the lost. Let's not get the message wrong here and think we must leave our houses and live in tents but the message is to walk and live by faith and not trust in the things of this life.
This applies in the natural. It takes wisdom to build a house but this is referring to the spiritual house we build when our foundation is laid up with God through the faith we have in Jesus Christ.
The true riches are found in the knowledge of the Lord. We think wealth is the material things we covet, not realizing that those things are not true riches. They are nothing and pass away with the years. True knowledge is the knowledge of God and His word. To possess those things is to be rich.
Another one that applies to these passages is:
Oh if we only could "get" this. God has so many better things for those that trust in Him than the things that are here today and gone tomorrow.
This of course means the true knowledge of the Lord and His ways. The knowledge of the world do not always bring strength.
It is understood that this would refer to godly counselors but evil counselors would work the very opposite. To win a war, wise counselors are needed to plan strategy. To not plan is a sure way to lose. In all things though, to have a multitude of wise counselors is surely safety.
Those that live foolishly and do not desire to walk in wisdom will not seek it. It will be too high for him. There is nothing for that person to say so its better for him not to speak. I doubt if anyone would listen to him anyway.
Unfortunately there are many in today's world that we could call mischievous and desire to do evil. Politics are full of those who want to win even at the cost of destroying the reputation of their opponent. Its one thing to plan a campaign in order to win, but quite another when the main goal is to trash one's opponent. In the long run, its just not worth it. An athlete who wins a contest based on his or her training and hard work is one thing but to try to injure one's opponent in order to win is really not winning. Yet some want to win even if it means another is injured or put out of the game. In business, some want to excel even at the cost of robbing or deceiving the buyer with inferior products cheaply made in order to save money. On other hand there are those that work for businesses that think they have a right to milk the company and not work hard for their employers but expect high wages anyway. Drug dealers are the most mischievous people I can think of. In order to gain their evil riches, they will sell products that will steal, kill and destroy the lives of the foolish that buy their products. In the long run we all will stand before the judge of all the earth; it is vanity and for nothing. Our riches will be wasted and become as nothing.
So true. Nothing is more depressing that being around someone who finds fault and scorns others all the time. Those who are given to foolishness and serve no purpose by using their time in idleness or troublemaking also is someone to be avoided. Its a total waste of time.
If we are strong in the Lord, we will not faint in the times that trouble comes. If our trust and hope is in the Lord, He will see us through all things.
If we know someone who is unjustly condemned to death, we should speak out and try our best to deliver them by telling the truth. God sees all these things. To keep silent and allow and innocent person to suffer death because we are afraid to speak out, is very evil indeed. To say, "I don't want to get involved," would be sin. What if it was reversed and we were the ones falsely accused and those that knew of our innocence would be afraid to speak on our behalf, how would we feel?
Like honey is sweet to the taste and something to desire, so should our desire to know God's word and His word be within our spirit. What a reward it brings to us when we delight in the word of God and desire to be in His presence at all times. We don't have to die and leave our natural bodies to have God's presence in our lives. We can do this now by receiving the Son of God we call Jesus into our lives by repenting or turning from sin and allowing Him to come into our lives.
So true. Those that walk in integrity and righteousness can fail many times but rise up again. The wicked though will fall greatly and not rise again. In the end when God judges all things, their sin will be stopped for eternity and be no more. All they did when they were alive was in vain and for nothing. The works of the righteous live on and we see the fruit of it in eternity.
It is better to be grieved to see anyone, even an enemy fall and suffer hurt. God wants to see mercy and forgiveness in our hearts. He will not be pleased when we desire our enemies to come to harm. We should desire that the evil that someone does be stopped and righteousness prevail but we should not desire to see them suffer evil. A more righteous desire is to see people repent and find happiness in the Lord. To see someone restored and their lives turned around is a better desire to have. The story of Jonah is a good one to study. We tend to remember the whale and the peril Jonah suffers because he disobeyed God but later we see Jonah's attitude toward Nineveh. He didn't want to preach to them because he didn't want them to repent and get right with God. Nineveh was a city that was cruel to the nation of Israel. They were violent enemies of Israel. Jonah did not want their salvation. God showed Jonah though that His will was to save rather than destroy. Years later Nineveh went back to their old sinful ways and were later destroyed but in the time of Jonah many were saved.
God made a provision through His Son, Jesus Christ to blot out the sins of those who come to Him for cleansing and forgiveness. There is no excuse for any to remain in their sins if they come willingly to Christ, putting away their sins and allowing the Holy Spirit to abide with them from that point on. The wicked shall not be rewarded with eternal life in the presence of God. Their end is everlasting destruction so they are never to be envied. When they die their riches remain behind and they never receive them. What good would riches profit those that are burning in hell for eternity. Riches in this life doesn't even profit the person who is a believer in Christ. When he dies, his reward is in heaven and he will receive everlasting life in peace and happiness. The pitiful riches in this present life is nothing compared to what he or she receives when they pass from death to life. So to have our eyes on things temporal and not on God is a waste of time. Those things pass away very quickly. That does not mean that we do not work and make a living supporting our families. Of course we are to do that but we are to be thankful for what God allows us to have and not envy those that seemingly have so much yet live in sin. Their final end unless they turn to Christ for forgiveness of sins, is to be eternally lost and separated from God. They will not be rich.
Being content with what we have without murmuring and complaining, honoring God in all things with thanksgiving and being obedient to the laws of the land as long as they don't oppose God's laws is what we are to live by. We are not to rebel and follow political movements for change if it causes us to become unlawful and violent. This does not mean that we don't vote out evil rulers if we are allowed to vote. Adolph Hitler was voted into office. We must always oppose rulers that kill the innocent such as Hitler in the days of the Holocaust but most people at that time didn't realize what kind of person he was going to become. As much as possible though we obey them that have rule as long as it isn't in opposition to the commandments of God.
Though we are to obey and respect the laws of the land that we live in, we know that our rulers are but men (women) who are part of a fallen ungodly world. Even good rulers make mistakes and get it wrong sometimes. One temptation they face continually is "respect of persons." They will often be more severe with those of the opposite political persuasion or those that do not have a good reputation than the rich or those that are considered pillars in the community. When it comes to crime, murder is murder no matter who commits it, stealing is stealing whether it is a petty thief of a poor man trying to get something to eat or a rich businessman who cheats his customers with inferior products that are not worth half of what they pay for it. They can't say, "Well that's business." On the other side of the coin though we can't go the opposite extreme and rob the rich to support the lazy slothful person who wants something for nothing and will not work. Unions use to be a good thing to have to keep businesses from extracting labor and not paying the workers fairly but now the unions have begun to demand so much that the businesses can't stay in business because of the high cost of health insurance, paid holidays and vacation and many other things people take for granted that they didn't use to even think about much less have to enjoy.
This is what is happening in today's world. We call evil good and good evil. The sin of sexual immorality that is the opposite of the bounds God set in His word is one example. Abortion, divorce and lack of respect for God's ordained marriage is getting worse both in the world around us and in the church that is supposed to be free from these things. Sexual sin has caused the rise of abortion rights. Now in 2024, we are dealing with those that desire infanticide. I never thought I would see this in the United States. The baby is born alive and allowed to die rather than to save it. There are people actually rejoicing to see this become law. Abortion doctors have admitted killing a newborn by breaking it's neck or drowning the infant in saline solution. Now how is this to save the life of the mother? To rebuke and warn is more of a sign of love than the "live and let live" attitude of the world today.
Think before you act. Jumping into things (non emergency things of course) without planning and making good decisions is asking for trouble. The only exception would be an emergency where you have to act fast or a direct commandment from the Lord where you are trusting Him for the outcome sort of like when Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and ventured out toward the land of Canaan. If one goes to build a house on a piece of land without checking the land first for large rocks, drainage and such, he may run into trouble. When one goes to plant a garden, if he doesn't till the ground and prepare it, nothing will grow.
This is one thing that even we who call ourselves believers in Christ must watch. To latch onto a rumor or repeat a bad thing without checking the facts closely can result in much damage to an innocent person and to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Naturally we know better than to be false witnesses and lie or deceive to avert attention to our selves and the blame toward someone else but we can do this without thinking if we just repeat something we have heard without checking to make sure it is true.
The bible says to do unto others as we would want them to do unto us, not do unto others as they do unto us. We are not to seek vengeance and desire to get back at someone. Naturally this does not mean that we stop someone who attempts to murder someone in the community in which we live. We have to have law and order which is certainly in the will of God. Other than things that are dangerous to society as a whole though, we never should seek vengeance but show mercy.
Just because we put the Lord first and have the gospel and the teaching of the word in the foreground does not mean that we become lazy and slothful in the necessary things to support our families and feed the hungry. We can't give food if we don't work to plant and harvest food. We can't provide shelter for our families if we don't ever build houses or dwelling places of some kind. We can't provide heat if we don't produce that which will burn like fuel, coal or wood. It takes hard work for a community of people to survive. This does not mean that we do all those things and neglect our spiritual needs or vice versa. When I put God first at the beginning of my day by studying the word and praying, I get more accomplished in the necessary things than when I do the work first and get around to the spiritual things when I get time. I never seem to get the time if I do it that way. However, if I spent all day in the spiritual things and never made sure the pets and children received food and tended to their needs, I would be doing more harm than good to my family. There is times and seasons that someone may want to take a certain amount of time to drop all things and seek the Lord but I'm not talking about that. In that case we would make sure there was someone else who could tend to the necessary chores. The bible though never condones laziness and trying to get out of hard work. -Dorna Chambers
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