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Proverbs and Psalms
Blessing the Righteous “The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked, But He blesses the dwelling of the righteous” (Proverbs 3:33). Watch late night television and you will see commercials that offer products for achieving perfect health and abundant wealth. All you need do is pay and faithfully follow the system. The main beneficiary, however, is the one selling the system. Similarly, watch Sunday morning and you will see ministers preaching a message of perfect health and abundant wealth available through faith and prayer. They claim that God wants Christians to prosper. They cite the lives of biblical characters such as Solomon, Abraham and Job; they quote scriptures promising that God will bless and protect those who are His. Ask and you will receive, but don’t forget to send the check! Why the Righteous Suffer Does the bible teach that God will bless His human children with health, wealth and protection from all evil? Is it there for the asking? Some Psalms at first reading appear to suggest God’s blessing of health, wealth and absolute protection from evil. •“Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth forever” (Psalms 112:1-3). •“There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling” (Psalms 91:10). •“The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore” (Psalms 121:8). Is there more here than first meets the mind? Consider that Jesus had complete reverence for his father, yet suffered greatly at the very hands of those whom he had come to save. Jesus was not kept from evil. In fact, the Gospel details Jesus’ face-to-face encounter with the devil during which Jesus was tempted three times (Matthew chapter 4). Did Jesus endure experiences so that no one else has to suffer? The answer is no. Scriptures detail extensive persecutions and sufferings by the apostles and other followers of Jesus in those early years of the Church. Paul provides great detail of the sufferings encountered during his ministry to bring the message of the Kingdom to the Gentiles. Paul said, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12). How, then, do we explain the seeming conflicting message of these Psalms? To understand, consider a person carrying an umbrella during a rainstorm. The person will stay dry as the rain falls around them. Similarly, Jesus’ followers might be sheltered from the ill effects of surrounding persecutions. Yet, other Psalms indicate that if they are Jesus’ followers, they will on occasion feel the pain of both physical and mental suffering. “The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all” (Psalms 34:17-19). Here the righteous cry, have trouble, and feel broken hearted due to their afflictions for living righteously. What is this righteousness being spoken of? “Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it” (Psalms 34:13-14). Those who refuse to speak or think evil of others, who avoid situations where evil might overtake them, and who seed their life with good deeds, will suffer for it. The righteous in God’s eyes promote peace and harmony. Because of this, they are prey for advantage-seekers. The Psalms also promise that God will vindicate and deliver the righteous from their affliction. Followers of Jesus will suffer the pain of insult, but they will be protected from deathly harm by God. The Permission of Evil Why is it God’s will that one should suffer for living a moral, ethical and righteous life? Does God acknowledge the pain we suffer? Indeed he does. Jehovah God knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10). He creates “times and seasons” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). He chose the lamb to ransom mankind before the world was created (1 Peter 1:19-20). He even knows our need before we pray for it (Matthew 6:8). And God knows the time when Christ in power and glory will assume his rule over the nations (Matthew 25:31). God gave Adam and Eve perfect health (their bodies free from disease and imperfection) and earthly wealth (dominion over the earth). What did He ask in return? Only that they follow one rule: do not eat from the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:17). The punishment for disobedience would be death. They did not need to eat that fruit in order to live eternally. The food they had was plentiful and must have been delicious since this was the Garden of Eden! Why, then, choose to eat from the forbidden tree? Lucifer, also called the adversary and the devil (1 Peter 5:8), deceived Eve by lying to her about the forbidden fruit’s effects. Adam, however, was not deceived. He willingly ate of the fruit in violation of God’s law (1 Timothy 2:14). Could God have stopped this deception? Absolutely! Yet He allowed this to happen because it would provide an education about the effects of disobedience and sin, the importance of reverence for God, and the desire for eternal life in harmony with Him. Adam and Eve began to die. They lost the utopia of the Garden of Eden and were forced to live in a hostile environment. Given a second chance after years of living the consequences of disobedience, they would, above all men, choose obedience to God and a return to the perfect health and wealth of the Garden. When their progeny have the opportunity to live in the Paradise of a perfect earth, they will remember the pain and suffering from the past and will quickly and firmly choose harmony and obedience. An Opportunity for All
Will there be such an opportunity for Adam and his posterity? The scriptures declare it to be so. “As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22). This verse answers the age-old question of why all people eventually die. In the same way one inherits eye color and hair color from their parents, they also inherit the effects of sin from Adam, and the most significant inheritance of all, death. However, this scripture promises that this inherited death will be reversed though a resurrection of all who have ever lived. Since ALL die because of Adam, then logically, ALL will be made alive because of Jesus. Through Christ and his Church, who will live and reign with Jesus from heaven (Revelation 20:6), all mankind will be brought into harmony with our Heavenly Father. Think of every man, woman and child who has ever lived and died being back on earth. However, think of Lucifer, the great deceiver, being completely powerless and unable to influence any. Christ and his Church provide an environment of perfection and peace where all can learn the benefit of living in harmony with God. At the end of the Millennium, each individual will be given a final test. Satan will be released to tempt man again (Revelation 20:3). Unlike the deception in the Garden of Eden, all humans will have experienced both the benefits of living in harmony with God (perfection, peace and happiness), and the problems of living out of harmony with God (suffering, unhappiness and death). Which way will they choose? The majority will choose perfection, peace, and happiness, by pledging absolute loyalty and obedience to the Heavenly Father. God’s permission of evil is a blessing for man because it teaches by personal experience the effects of suffering and death. If given an opportunity without the effects of sin, they will choose to obey God. Yet is it really needful that there is so much suffering? Is it necessary that such a large proportion of mankind live in squalor, pain, physical ailments and the sorrow of separation from loved ones in death? God’s wisdom in allowing the degree of such suffering is not to be questioned. However, we may consider practical examples that illustrate the principle behind the permission of evil. In many countries, children are vaccinated against some debilitating or fatal diseases. Those vaccinations cause pain and tears as the needle pierces the skin. Given the choice, those children would not opt for such an experience. Yet parents realize that the short time of pain is worth a life of health. So it is with God. The few years experiencing the effects of sin will be invaluable when offered the opportunity to choose eternal life in harmony with God. When mankind is brought back into harmony with God’s law through Jesus Christ and his church, they will live in perfect health and wealth forever! They will look back on the experience of suffering and say, “We choose life!” Jesus and his Church As we have examined the benefit of human suffering in exchange for an eternity of perfection, let us consider the importance of the pain and suffering of one who was always in harmony with God, His son Jesus. “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). Jesus was always obedient. However, during his three and a half years of ministry, he showed obedience under adverse human conditions. “And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him” (Hebrews 5:9). Jesus was already perfect as a son, but with his experience as a human, he has been set in a new position of authority over man. “Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec” (Hebrews 5:10). Jesus now has the authority of a king and the responsibility of a high priest. He can bring man back into harmony with God because he experienced firsthand the effects of sin and death as it followed him throughout his ministry. Jesus’ suffering — not for his disobedience, but to make him sympathetic — prepared him for the position of high priest during the thousand year millennial reign during which all mankind will be brought back to life and taught of God. Just as Jesus was resurrected to a divine nature, his faithful followers will also be resurrected to the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4, 1 John 3:2). Their sufferings due to following after Jesus will develop characters that will never be tempted to do anything contrary to God’s will. Their present trials and temptations will crystallize their characters just as extreme heat and extreme pressure crystallize carbon into a diamond. Their character of Christ will enable them to become merciful under priests. Together with their King, they will teach righteousness to every man. Their experience in their walk with Jesus will help man walk up the “way of holiness” (Isaiah 35:8) to righteousness and harmony with God. During his earthly ministry, Jesus stood apart from the world. Likewise, those who are part of his Church come from all ages but were never of the world (John 17:11). Their desires are not for earthly wealth. They know that struggle and pain are required to overcome the world. They know that the end result is reward and blessing. •“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). •“Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). •“Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you” (Matthew 5:11,12). The true meaning of the Psalms is not to promise health and prosperity to Jesus’ followers but to promise the oversight of all their trials and struggles. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4). At the end of the Millennial Age, following a final test of obedience, all mankind will recognize God’s wisdom, power and love for His creation. They will echo the words of the Psalm: “I will give thanks to you O Lord my God, with all my heart, and will glorify Your name forever. For Your loving kindness towards me is great and You have delivered my soul from the depths of the grave” (Psalm 86:12-13). |