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.
