The Rule...
Eternity Online: John Edmiston (Editor)
Eternity-Inspiration for Monday 8th December 1997
The Rule...
(Ecclesiastes 8:9-13 NIV) All this I saw, as I applied my mind to
everything done under the sun. There is a time when a man lords it
over others to his own hurt. {10} Then too, I saw the wicked
buried--those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive
praise in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless. {11}
When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, the hearts
of the people are filled with schemes to do wrong. {12} Although a
wicked man commits a hundred crimes and still lives a long time, I
know that it will go better with God-fearing men, who are reverent
before God. {13} Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not
go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.
Throughout the wisdom literature (Job, Psalms, Proverbs,
Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon) the fate of the wicked is a common
theme. It is universally agreed that honesty is the best policy and
that the wicked perish horribly. Tomorrow we will look at the problem
of the "exceptions" (when the righteous do not prosper and the wicked
do). Today however we will look at the "rule". The rule is: Good
people proper, Bad people perish.
The universe is a moral universe run by a loving God. To be in
harmony with the universe we must love and revere God and obey His
commandments. These commandments bring harmony, order and wisdom into
our life. God responds to our obedience by blessing us. Because we
are at peace with God He makes His creation to be at peace with us
this peace is called "Shalom". The righteous have good health, large
families and bountiful crops. They prosper in life and enjoy the
respect of their communities.
The wicked violate God's laws and have no intention of following
them. They are dissonant and not in harmony with God, man, society
or nature. They are even cruel to their animals. They experience
turmoil and do not know "shalom". (Isaiah 57:20-21 NIV) But the
wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast
up mire and mud. {21} "There is no peace," says my God, "for the
wicked." The life of the wicked may be financially prosperous but it
is temporary and fragile and soon blown away. The wicked have no
lasting inheritance and perish. They often die early.
This is in fact generally true. Violent lawless people like leaders
of bikie gangs and drug lords do not have peace and they do die
early and they do not leave a lasting inheritance. Godly people like
Mother Teresa do have peace and do live long and do enjoy life and
are respected in their communities and do leave a lasting inheritance
behind that they can be proud of (even if it wasn't financial). While
our minds often leap ahead to the exceptions like Job - they are
exceptions. The rule hold true most of the time. That's what wisdom
literature in the Bible is about -wise "rules of thumb" for living.
They are not exact physical laws but "fuzzy laws" that work most of
the time and are good to know and live by.
In general Solomon is right when he says... Although a wicked man
commits a hundred crimes and still lives a long time, I know that it
will go better with God-fearing men, who are reverent before God.
Lets live honest and upright lives in the sure knowledge that we have
a loving God who will grant us "shalom".
Prayer:
Lord help us to appreciate the way you have ordered the Universe so
that the righteous really do prosper in the end. Help us to cull out
anything in our lives that would hinder that prosperity and to walk
in integrity and blessing with You. Amen.
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John Edmiston ([email protected])
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