Job 9:22-23

22 This is one ['echad] thing, therefore I said ['amar] it, He destroyeth [kalah] the perfect [tam] and the wicked [rasha`].

23 If the scourge [showt] slay [muwth] suddenly [pith'owm], he will laugh [la`ag] at the trial [maccah] of the innocent [naqiy]. KJV-Interlinear

22 'It is all one; therefore I say, 'He destroys the guiltless and the wicked.' 23 'If the scourge kills suddenly, He mocks the despair of the innocent. NASB

'This is one thing,' means that God has a policy, which treats everyone the same. Whether you are among the good and decent people in history, or whether you are among the lowest of the low, it makes no difference.

All have sinned, and therefore all are treated according to the requirements of Gods righteousness and justice first, and then love and grace second.

The nicest of people will go to the Lake of Fire if they refuse to believe in the savior, Jesus Christ. The most ruthless of villains will go to heaven if they have believed in the savior, Jesus Christ. So, whether a person is guiltless, so to speak, or wicked, their life style is irrelevant. Gods policy is what is important, not mans thoughts and actions.

Now when it comes to advancing in ones spiritual life, then of course only believers have spiritual lives, and only those who subscribe to Gods mandates will advance in their spiritual lives. Wicked believers cannot advance simply because they do not function within the fellowship sphere. Likewise, even a very nice person who is a believer, will not advance in the spiritual life if they maintain an out of fellowship life.

Again, it is Gods rules which we must follow, not our own. No one can invent their own standards for life and expect God to accept their rules for life.

When trouble comes onto a person, whether that person is good or bad, whether that trouble comes on them slowly or with mind boggling speed, makes no difference. God will smile, laugh, mock as it were, at those who become the target of His discipline or judgment. That does not mean that God is making fun of us, this means that God is fair, consistent and thorough.

If you choose to ignore Gods mandates for the spiritual life, His legitimately defined spiritual life, then what falls on you should not be unexpected. Similarly, since you were born into this devils world you should also expect that trouble will hunt you down. If you are a good person, advancing in your spiritual life, then you can be doubly certain that evil will hate you, not because of you, but because of God and His doctrine in you.

Every human being who was born into this world, was born with a sin nature. This is a genetic defect of sorts, and I used the term, genetic, only to indicate that it saturates your entire physical being. You cannot wash it off. You cannot clean it away. You cannot amputate it. You cannot rid yourself of the sin nature you were born with. It resides within the very fabric of your physical being. You are stuck with it while you live in your physical body in this world.

The sin nature was originated with Adam's original sin, for by one man, Adam, all, that is the entire human race, has become spiritually dead. You are born into this world spiritually dead. Nothing dead, can by means of its own energy, or effort, bring itself back to life.

The exception to this, is the person who never lives long enough to become responsible for their own decisions, like babies and such.

The sin nature has two areas within it. One is an area of strength, which is human good, and the other area is that of weakness which is sin.

When in fellowship, you voluntarily place yourself under the control of the Holy Spirit. When out of fellowship, you choose your master to be the sin nature. In life, apart from God, you will never have any independence, but only slavery to your sin nature. And your sin nature will only lead you to a life of failure and destruction. It has no other destiny.

Eliphaz and Bildad have proposed that the good are the blessed of God, and the bad are the cursed.

Here, Job counters that concept. While it is true that in the long run, when considering ones entire lifespan, then there will be blessings for those who have believed in Christ and more blessings for those who advance in their spiritual lives, and then judgment or loss of blessing for those who do not.

But in general, all people are subject to problems in this world. At the very least, all people will one day die. Their life as a growing believer or as a tyrant to the n'th degree makes no difference. Both the good and the bad all die.

You cannot look at anyone and determine by their life style, or by their obvious success or lack of it, that they are blessed or cursed by God. What a person wears, where they live, what they drive, how they speak, how they look, are all irrelevant.

Some very wealthy people are evil to the core, while some very poor people can study their Bibles and advance in their spiritual life, maximizing their spiritual growth and blessing. Their blessings may not be financial, but only a mental rest. Likewise, anyone among the very poor, middle, or upper class people can be the most arrogant, self-righteous, and opinionated among humanity.

You cannot gage your own spiritual success by means of some external measurement. The spiritual life is an internal state of your soul.

But regardless of your state of soul, God has a plan for humanity and He will deal with your life in accordance with His divine plan. Your very best bet in life, is to advance to spiritual maturity and then, and while doing so, let God guide your life through the maze of historical dilemma's that you will encounter.

Previous Page

Table of Contents

Donation

Next Page

Now is the time to post a prayer.