More On Evil
Good Morning,
Genesis 6:5 “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
Genesis 8:21 “...for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth;”
I wrote on evil a few months ago, but in our current world, I thought a little more on the subject would not hurt.
Evil is present in mankind – Athaliah killed all her sons so she could rule the kingdom (2 Kings 11:1). Jehoram killed all of his brothers so he could become king (2 Chronicles 21:1-4). Adonibezek said, “Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table:” (Judges 1:7). Really? Simply cut off thumbs and big toes and left them like animals under his table? Killing your enemy is obviously wrong, but torture and humiliation is truly evil. Evil is not new, and that which we see in our world is quite tempered by the mercy of God, many Bibles, and churches internationally.
Evil lives in this world – right now, a living, plotting entity, both spiritual and physical. You are not exempt. If you listen to the wrong people, you will find yourself committing evils that you will greatly regret. Each of us is capable of evil deeds and of being the victim of evil deeds.
I teach the students in our school to be alert while walking through their world. I warn them about earbuds and looking at a phone while walking. I warn them about keeping their eyes open and driving with an awareness at all times. Most victims are those who are not paying attention, but sometimes difficulties are allowed by God to enter the lives of the best of us.
Wrong friends or wrong counselors may cause one to do evil. “Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil.” (Exodus 23:2) Many people are told that taking from a large company and not hurting anyone personally is a justifiable evil. Endless lines of people will lie and slander to get money, or will fight over estates and business deals to get money. The Lord says the love of money is the root of all evil.
Cheating or being deceitful at work for a desired position is not uncommon, and hurting another to gain something is evil, but both are present in our world. Trying to make another look bad so their own godless life does not seem so pitiful is another common evil.
Jesus warned that jealousy, pride, envy, greed and things like these give birth to evil actions. Guarding what we hear is a huge step toward protecting us from being personally involved in evil deeds.
Another evil we may easily slip into is that of accusing God or slandering His faithfulness. To accuse the promises of God as wrong is evil: “And they brought up an evil report of the land.” (Numbers 13:32)
To murmur and slander godly leaders is evil.
Numbers 14:27 “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me?”
When religious leaders try to turn you away from obeying the Bible is also evil.
Deuteronomy 13:5 “And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.”
To slander a person and make their name bad is evil. (Deuteronomy 22:14)
Titus 3:2 warns that we not speak evil of others: “To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.”
If we are not careful, as Christian’s, we can follow evil rather than good...
3 John 11 “Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.”
Evil is not just the man who cuts off the thumbs and toes, it can be you or me.
Pastor