Why do the Wicked Prosper? :: By Sean Gooding
Job 21:7-16
“Why do the wicked live and become old, yes, become mighty in power? Their descendants are established with them in their sight, and their offspring before their eyes. Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them. Their bull breeds without failure; their cow calves without miscarriage. They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance. They sing to the tambourine and harp, and rejoice to the sound of the flute. They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave. Yet they say to God, ‘Depart from us, for we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? And what profit do we have if we pray to Him?’ Indeed their prosperity is not in their hand; The counsel of the wicked is far from me.”
This is an age-old question. Job was asking this question millennia ago. We find another prominent person asking this very question in Psalm 73. There we see Asaph, one of King David’s chief musicians, asking the same question, in verses 3-4, “For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.”
It seems that this is a question that has plagued us all as Christians. I find myself asking the same questions when money is short or resources are lean. Why, Lord, is it so easy for the lost and the heathen to get money, build, pay for, and just do whatever they please? It seems to boggle the mind that the wicked have so much and the Lord’s people, many, not all, have so little.
Now, let me be honest; according to the world system around us, I am in the top 1% of money earners. Not the top 1% for North America or the industrialized world, but as an overall look at wealth in the whole world, I am very well off. As has been the case forever and ever, those who engage in illegal and even immoral activities seem to prosper, and there are many who do good things but without proper ethics, who seem to make the most money and prosper.
Job and Asaph point out that these persons seem never to be in want; they and their families never seem to have to go without, and even their livestock has healthy offspring; they never seem to suffer any kind of loss. They and their children are well fed; their lives are filled with laughter and adventure. They don’t have to make the tough choices between one thing or the other because of money; they can afford both. It just grinds on you. It makes one wonder what is the point of living right? What is the point of obeying God? What, even, is the point of acknowledging God?
These folks don’t want to know about God. They pay no allegiance to Him and certainly do not attribute their wealth to anything from Him. Lord, why do the wicked prosper?
In Psalm 73:13-14, Asaph makes this observation, “Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence. For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.” Asaph comes to the conclusion in the way of man’s thinking that he has tried to live righteously ‘in vain’ and that he has submitted to God’s chastening, His discipline. But for all that, the people who seem to prosper the most are those who deny God and disobey Him. Why, then, should we try to be obedient?
Both of these godly men had to have their eyes opened by God’s Spirit. They needed to see that this life is short, and while these people have pleasure for a season, there is an eternity that faces them where their riches will not offer them any comforts whatsoever.
In Job 21:30, “For the wicked are reserved for the day of doom; they shall be brought out on the day of wrath.”
There is a day of reckoning coming to all men, yes, even the wicked. Asaph had a similar revelation in Psalm 73:16-18: “When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. Surely, thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction.”
Notice that Asaph went to the sanctuary, the Tabernacle there in Jerusalem, and he understood that life here is short and no matter how rich you are here, it profits nothing in the next life. Just like all other men, these wealthy vagabonds will face the judgment, and God will do right there. They will not be able to rely on their expensive lawyers or their money to get them out of trouble.
There is a legend that Alexander the Great was buried with his hand outstretched and his palms upward and empty to remind his people that you can’t take it with you. No matter how rich or powerful, the riches of the world mean nothing on the other side.
I know Jesus as my Savior. Do you know Him as your Savior? If we had nothing else, we would still be amongst the world’s richest people. One day, you and I, children of the Highest, will inherit a Kingdom that is eternal. A kingdom so wealthy that money is not needed. One day, we will inherit a kingdom that will NEVER fail or pass away. One day, we will inherit a kingdom that Jesus, the rightful heir, will share with us, and He will do so willingly and out of a heart of love. We will never have to do anything illegal or unethical to get this kingdom. We will never have to do anything shameful to get this kingdom, and we will never have to do anything dishonest to get this kingdom.
Trust in Jesus, His shed blood and resurrection as the sole and complete payment for your sins and mine, and the kingdom will be ours one day. Until that time, we will still have the question, ‘Why do the wicked prosper?’ Maybe God is just showing them a bit of grace on this side, as there is no grace on the other side. Just a certain judgment where they will have to pay for their own sins. I pray and hope to see you in that new kingdom one day. Jesus is coming to get us soon!
God bless you,
Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Bethany Baptist Church
70 Victoria Street, Elora, Ontario
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