Proverbs 12:21
There shall no evil happen to the just:
But the wicked shall be filled with mischief.
Let us step back into history for a moment. Let us take a look at the historical background of our author. His family was very dysfunctional. His brother raped his sister, and his other brother killing the rapist and usurped his father’s throne. Our author belonged to a people whom God Himself had to rescue from slavery and sure annihilation. The short history of his country reveals a constant battle to obtain and keep their country as well as their freedom. Today, this same people, with their persecuted long history, remember the words of this proverb as a promise of God’s contract with them and of His good will towards them. It seems like an oxymoron.
There shall no evil happen to the just:
But the wicked shall be filled with mischief.
Let us step back into history for a moment. Let us take a look at the historical background of our author. His family was very dysfunctional. His brother raped his sister, and his other brother killing the rapist and usurped his father’s throne. Our author belonged to a people whom God Himself had to rescue from slavery and sure annihilation. The short history of his country reveals a constant battle to obtain and keep their country as well as their freedom. Today, this same people, with their persecuted long history, remember the words of this proverb as a promise of God’s contract with them and of His good will towards them. It seems like an oxymoron.
How does that work?
The life of the righteous has been, is, and will always be filled with evil. If the evil referred to in the first part of this verse was the evil of bad tidings, financial problems and persecution, our author would seem to be in denial of, and out of touch with his life, background and reality. But this is not the way to look at that verse. It is not a promise that can be claimed in an attempt to convince God that He should protect us from such or such event. This verse is a statement of fact; it teaches us something that we can count on, and that is as sure and irreversible as the law of gravity.
We learn here that the just, one who has been justified by The Almighty, will never see hell; that the punishment for his sin has been paid for; that his debt has been covered. Like King David said, Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. We learn here that the devil can buffet us as much as he wants while we are in this life, but that once we enter the spirit world, we are bound back home to our Bridegroom’s house and kingdom. We are taught here that contrary to the fate of the wicked, the flames and tortures of hell will never touch he whom Yahweh has justified.
The life of the righteous has been, is, and will always be filled with evil. If the evil referred to in the first part of this verse was the evil of bad tidings, financial problems and persecution, our author would seem to be in denial of, and out of touch with his life, background and reality. But this is not the way to look at that verse. It is not a promise that can be claimed in an attempt to convince God that He should protect us from such or such event. This verse is a statement of fact; it teaches us something that we can count on, and that is as sure and irreversible as the law of gravity.
We learn here that the just, one who has been justified by The Almighty, will never see hell; that the punishment for his sin has been paid for; that his debt has been covered. Like King David said, Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. We learn here that the devil can buffet us as much as he wants while we are in this life, but that once we enter the spirit world, we are bound back home to our Bridegroom’s house and kingdom. We are taught here that contrary to the fate of the wicked, the flames and tortures of hell will never touch he whom Yahweh has justified.
That is the Good News.
The apostle Paul tells us that Yehoshuah, our Lord delivers those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. This is the difference between the just and the wicked: for the wicked, death is the sad mournful hearse that takes him down to his eternal grave; for the righteous, it is a fiery horse and carriage that takes him up to his heavenly reward.
The apostle Paul tells us that Yehoshuah, our Lord delivers those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. This is the difference between the just and the wicked: for the wicked, death is the sad mournful hearse that takes him down to his eternal grave; for the righteous, it is a fiery horse and carriage that takes him up to his heavenly reward.
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