You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
18 And
your covenant [b@riyth] with death [maveth] shall
be disannulled [kaphar], and your agreement [chazuwth] with hell [sh@'owl] shall
not stand [quwm]; when the overflowing [shataph] scourge [showt] shall pass
through [`abar], then ye shall be trodden down [mirmac] by it. KJV-Interlinear
18 Then your
covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not
stand; when the overwhelming scourge passes through, you will be beaten down by
it. ESV
The state of ease and/or indifference will sooner or later hit the wall of Gods justice. Supported by Gods righteousness, then those who have come to the belief that they can do as they please, and that nothing will come of their indiscretions, no matter what they might be, will suddenly meet the truth of reality when they are hauled into Gods court.
And then the mocking and joking and smug attitudes will turn suddenly into an overwhelming terror.
The contract with lies and therefore death, which everyone who rejects truth, ratifies with their chosen pattern of life, and then presume that they have a better contract for their future, will be torn apart and destroyed.
That reliance and trust on the false, will dissolve and crumble into the nothing that it really is, and it will crumble right in front of the eyes of those who have chosen that false path of life.
But then that does not occur until it is too late and nothing can or even will be done to change the ultimate destiny with justice.
The term Sheol is a general term for the underworld or the land of the dead, for that describes what anyone has when they reject or ignore God, Christ, truth and doctrine. God brings life. Lies bring not life. Death describes something that is nothing.
The overwhelming scourge and the phrase, beaten down, is what occurs when an enemy force, sweeps through a weaker force and utterly destroys it. For God is the ultimate and powerful force with truth, and all opposition to truth is the weaker enemy force which will be destroyed.
And not only destroyed, but obliterated from existence such that it will be as though they never existed.
And of course you always have the opportunity to choose the force with which you will align yourself. That is, so long as you are alive and have the ability to choose.
