Sunday, August 9, 2015

Psalm 37:20


Copyright  2015 J. Neely
Psalm 37:20

20 But the wicked [rasha`] shall perish ['abad], and the enemies ['oyeb] of the LORD [Y@hovah] shall be as the fat [yaqar] of lambs [kar]: they shall consume [kalah]; into smoke [`ashan] shall they consume away [kalah].   KJV-Interlinear

20 But the wicked will perish; the enemies of the LORD are like the glory of the pastures; they vanish—like smoke they vanish away.   ESV

The wicked and the enemies, describe two different types of people.  The wicked can be enemies, but they can also be family of God who are under discipline because of their disobedience within Gods plan.

The wicked includes all unbelievers, and all out of fellowship believers.  Which is to say, all disobedient believers are in effect imitating unbelievers, and so they suffer hardships just as unbelievers do.  But the difference between unbelievers and disobedient believers is that the believers will go to heaven one day, while unbelievers have their destiny with the Lake of Fire.

But, while in this world, in this life, all who practice wickedness, will perish.  Perish, ‘abad,’ means to lose.  It also means to be destroyed, but in the way of ones activities.  All wickedness will be destroyed.

Enemies on the other hand are all unbelievers.  Family is not an enemy.  But all non-family, are enemies.

But enemies are said to be as the fat of the lambs.  That lambs here is a reference to lambs that are consumed on the sacrificial fires.

Before the sacrifice, they are fat and beautiful animals, and so too, unbelievers see themselves in life as fat and beautiful, and on their own, in self-control, free and unhindered and never obligated to God, or anyone else for that matter, in any way.

But the lamb goes to the sacrifice, or to the slaughter, as it were.  Then whatever they were before, is no longer.  And the lamb fat is burned and consumed and the smoke is all that remains, and it floats away, never to be found, never to be seen again.

So, wickedness fails, regardless of who practices it.

But, the enemy will eventually be lost and disappear forever.

If you are an unbeliever, then your destiny is in the total loss of yourself, and never to be found or seen by anyone ever again.

Rejecting Christ means that you lose everything.

If you are a believer in Christ but you do not see the point in obeying Gods mandates, for whatever reason, then you are in effect practicing wickedness.  You either practice wickedness or good, and good is practiced by positive and advancing believers, only.  So, if you are not positive and not advancing, then you have only wickedness in your life.

Note that good and wickedness have nothing to do with your deeds, but have everything to do with your attitude toward Christ, doctrine, and your function within your spiritual life.

You can be out of fellowship and help a little old lady across the street, but your deed is wickedness.  It comes from the energy of your own self.

But if you are in fellowship, and do the same exact deed, then that deed is good, because it comes from the energy of God, not you.

Remember that you will live in one or the other of two spheres. The first is the carnal sphere, wherein you live your life out of fellowship, and the second is the spiritual sphere, where you have confessed your sins and therefore reside in the fellowship sphere.

And in fellowship, is where your life and spiritual production functions and exists.

Confession of sin gets you into fellowship, and the committing of a sin gets you out of fellowship.  All confession is directed toward God the Father.

You produce good when you are in fellowship, and you produce wickedness when you are out of fellowship.

So, wickedness perishes, and comes to nothing.  Any investment in wickedness gains you nothing.  And as a believer, practicing wickedness, then you will have nothing much to look forward to as far as eternal rewards go.  If you want to waste your life, then do not expect anything, reward wise, for eternity.

The obvious option is to get with a daily study, confess regularly, and grow up in your spiritual life.  That way you have everything to gain.

Tough decision.  Or is it?


These studies are a part of the massive daily study web site at DailyBibeStudy.Org, and are written, so that you can come to Christ if you have not done so already, and therefore not be lost forever. 

And if you have already believed in Christ, then these studies are written so you can learn and understand and grow in your spiritual life, so that you can come to the full knowledge of Christ, so that you can fulfill your meaning and purpose in life as God intended for you, and so you can qualify for a phenomenal eternal reward which you will have forever.  To ignore this opportunity to pursue a daily study means you will be incomplete, unfulfilled and you will lose out, big time.

The Daily Bible Study is online, making it possible as never before in all of human history, to advance in ones relationship with God, through Christ, and to complete yourself beyond your imagination.

But you have to decide to make that commitment.  No one else can study for you.  You have to do that yourself.