WELCOME
by Beth Johnson
"There is so much good in the worst of us and so much bad in the best of us that it hardly behooves any of us to talk about the rest of us." (Anonymous)
I have no idea where that saying originated, but when my mother quoted it I used to wonder how there could be any good in the worst of mankind. Even now, when I consider people like Sadam Hussein, Osama bin Laden and the terrorists who are trying to kill Christians and topple nations to gain more territory and power in the world, I wonder how that can be true. On the other hand I see men in the church (even preachers) whose "tactics" for success may include greed for power.
On another level of evil, we see that some people sneak in at night and set up house on some other man's land. In India we call that poaching, yet if they cannot be removed quickly they will possess the land just by mere occupation. Is it easy to remove these people? Certainly not. They use their minority status (in India it is the "scheduled" cast) and they can gain sympathy and support from the government itself to take away your land. My years of life in India have taught me that it is so.
All these thoughts about the good and evil in people remind me of one tactic which King Solomon used to gain more and more territory. "The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem" (Ecc 1:1). "I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem" (Ecc 1:12). Solomon was certainly no fool when it came to knowing how to conquer the nations around him without a fight. What did he do? Rebelling against God's command, he married the daughters of the idolatrous nations and gained more territory for Israel than any king before or after.A cursory reading of Old Testament history makes us understand that the nations should have been worshipping and serving the true God of heaven and then God would have fought for them. But think for a minute about the kings whose nations were taken without a battle. Surely we cannot gainsay that they were unrighteous, yet for the love of their daughters they did not fight against Solomon. There was that much good in them. What had Solomon done to put them into a position where they would lose everything? He married the princesses not for a righteous reason, but knowing the fathers would not dare to fight against him.
We can agree that the Wisdom of Solomon was good for the wealth and power of Israel. For the first time in history, Israel enjoyed peace with its enemies. Was Solomon righteous in doing this? We know from God's judgment that he was not, but at least God used Solomon's actions to give territory and riches to him that no other man has had. "Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart" (1 Kings 11:2-3).We know God condemned Solomon for taking these wives because they were idol worshippers, but what if Solomon had taken the possessions of a righteous king? What if he had lifted his hand against a righteous nation? We know he did not, yet men today will marry for wealth, power or even for influence, and in the process they destroy the ones from whom they take these things. "Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?" (Pro 27:4).
Good men may do bad things and bad men can have some redeeming traits, but for their every action God will bring them into judgment. "For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil" (Ecc 12:14). We should pity the good men whose daughters have married such preachers. The good men who are willing to relinquish every earthly possession for the sake of peace and safety for their daughters will be rewarded on Judgment Day if not in this life .
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All Scripture is taken from the NKJ Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson,Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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