My dear readers,

The LORD Made All Things!

Proverbs 16:4: “The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.”

Evil and good co-exist throughout the history of man since the Fall. Paradise on earth does not exist. Generations of men have tried to eradicate evil since man fell into sin. Regardless of man’s gargantuan efforts, no generation has ever succeeded, not even come close to succeeding. The world is getting from bad to worse with man's struggles to improve it. It is more plausible for him to climb Mount Everest on his knees than to erase evil. Global calls to rid the world of poverty are noble beginnings. The belief is that poverty is the cause of evil in this sin-sick world. If people were fed well with a roof over their heads, there would be no need to rob, steal, or kill. Humanity would be very contented with food on their table. Then peace and prosperity for all and paradise on earth can become a reality! These dreams have generated good works from foundations to help the poor through global concerts to raise funds to feed them. Man will never succeed. The problem is not the external environment but the inward sinful nature of man.

Because of his sinful nature, evil and wickedness will prevail. It gets worse with the advancement of the development of weapons of war. Many more men, women and children will die. Conflicts between nations will intensify with more deaths. The vicious nature of evil man knows no bounds. Man kills indiscriminately. The innocent die beside the guilty. When bullets fly, they have no eyes but will kill all who stand in their trajectory. When bombs fall from the sky, thousands are buried in cities reduced to rubbles. Babies are killed in the millions because of abortion. The weak suffer while the mighty raise their fists in victory. “Might is right” is the clarion call of the wicked throughout the ages. Sinful men have challenged the existence of God by blaming Him for all their ills. “If a loving God truly exists, then such evil should not!” is the complaint of many atheists.

Proverbs 16:4 will silence the blameful voice of sinful man.

The literal translation of Proverbs 16:4 demonstrates its key emphasis – “All things, the LORD has made, to answer to Him, even also the wicked, on the day of evil.”

The Domain is Absolute – Being placed in front of the verse, the phrase “all things” is the emphasis. Nothing is excluded in the domain of influence. All things that are “good” for man are readily accepted. The “good” things are defined as carnal things, to the sinful man. Good is the rain that falls from heaven to water the crops but not the torrent that brings floods and destruction. Happy is the farmer when the sun shines to awaken life in the planted seeds to produce food, but not the heat of the same sun that brings drought. The earth that is rich with nutrients that sustain life is much appreciated, but not the earth that quakes so that cities crumble. Every fisherman smiles when the sea fills his net to breaking point, but not when the same sea produces three-meter-high waves that send every living thing to its watery grave. Man is selfishly selective in what they expect from God. What hurts their materialistic way of life is cursed. Sickness, injuries and deaths that rob them of their life-long dreams are disdained. God is often blamed for these evil in their sad, transient and carnal life.

Proverbs 16:4 says that all things include the evil done by wicked men. There is nothing on earth, good or bad, that is not included in the phrase “all things.” They have been made, i.e. “ordained.” Not one jot or tittle of “all things” occurs by chance. All of them have been permitted to happen on earth for a purpose. There are no accidents in life. Just as the Bible declares, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven” (Eccles 3:1). Christians need to know this in their soul. There is no bad or good luck. Such thoughts or language hurt the ears of the LORD when He sees His children believe that some things could occur by chance and not by His ordained will. The sequence of these events, including evil, are also ordered by Him, for the word “made” also has the idea of being “systematically and habitually made.” Did not the LORD prophetically reveal the sequential mighty powers that conquered His people, from the Babylonians to the Medo-Persians followed by the Greeks and the Romans? The good and the wicked and their deeds are all accountable to Him.

The Maker is the LORD – For the Maker of all things is the LORD, the God of Israel and of all believers. The LORD is the Maker but He is not the Author of evil. The wicked one is the cause of evil. He will be judged and punished by God. However, the evil committed by the wicked cannot be done if the LORD does not allow it. Everyone answers to Him. Some will answer to Him today. The rest will answer to Him after death. “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Heb 9:27). Every work done will be judged by the LORD. He is the covenant God of His people. He protects His people when they live in obedient holiness. He disciplined His people when they lived in sin by sending the Gentile Babylonians to destroy Judah. Did He not call King Nebuchadnezzar His servant? These wicked men think that they are doing their own will when in reality the LORD is the One who has been systematically and habitually allowing them all to do His will, all things good and evil.

This absolute control of God brings fear and trepidation to God's enemies but peace of heart and assurance of soul to all obedient children of God. The latter have nothing to fear even in the face of the greatest injustice. They can say with godly confidence like the three friends of Daniel before they were cast into the fiery furnace: “…O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up” (Dan 3:16-18). King Nebuchadnezzar had no power to cast them into the fiery furnace if the LORD had not moved his heart to desire such. Did not the LORD stop the fiery furnace (though heated seven times more than before) from touching Daniel’s three friends? “And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them” (Dan 3:27). All things answer to the LORD before and after they are done on earth! This includes the “pandemic” year of 2020. The LORD is the Maker of 2020.

Food for Thought -- Psalm 76:10: “Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.”