My dear readers,

Moving House?

Proverbs 10:30: “The righteous shall never be removed but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth.”

House moving is a most dreaded experience for many. It begins with packing and it ends with unpacking! Everything else in between is an exercise of patient waiting and a feeling of temporal uncertainty. One may have to stay somewhere temporary that is rented. The condition of the temporary home cannot be touched because it belongs to the owner and not the tenant. The mentality begins to change the longer one stays in rented premises. A deep sense of unease and foreboding creeps in until one gets used to the idea of finding some easing of the mind.

To some who live in cardboard boxes, under flyovers or derelict condemned buildings, this uncertain life can last a lifetime. The feeling of vulnerability grips the psyche. Ostracism and unwanted rejection characterise their life since they are homeless. They wake up not in a safe abode till they lay down to sleep again at the end of every day. What a tragic life for the vagabond.

What is worse than a vagabond's life is when one is forced to move from home, like during a war! Everything dear to the heart is forcibly taken away. The violence that ensues destroys everything as if they are useless and worthless. Helplessness to protect everyone and everything precious devastates the soul. Anger, frustration and resentment fill the heart.

However, no matter how tragic and hopeless the above situations may be, there is still a glimmer of hope. As long as the world remains, there is some place he can go to for help, or someone who might show mercy and provide. No matter how his heart trembles and his mind sways, he still sees hope in humanity.

But Proverbs 10:30 describes none of the above scenarios. The verse describes the "house moving" in terms of the earth! The wicked will undoubtedly be removed from the EARTH! The identity of the wicked is all humanity, for all are born in sin. The original sin is found in all man when he begins to exist in his mother's womb at conception. That is the reason why babies can die inside the mother’s womb! The Bible says in Romans 5:12-14, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men,for that all have sinned: (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.” As the newborn grows older, he will commit wilful sins. This truth adds to the incontrovertible evidence of his absolute depravity before God and man . . . leading to the fact that man dies. Now that God has given the Ten Commandments, man can never deny that he is indeed wicked before God.

"The wicked shall not inhabit the earth" is emphatically stated by the LORD. The strength of emphasis is the same as for the Ten Commandments in terms of its certainty. The wicked shall definitely not live on the earth. Can they not hide? Who will be able to find and identify every wicked person on earth? The omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent God will take all sinners (evil men, women, and children) out of the earth! He knows every one of them all the time and at the same time. Not a single wicked person has the means and power to stop Him. There is no hole so deep or mountain so high that He is not there and cannot reach. There is no one more powerful than God to stop Him when He removes the wicked from the face of the earth! God has the right to remove anyone as He wills, as He is the Creator of heaven and earth.

Where will God take them? The wicked will be cast into hell! The absolute holiness of God demands this righteous justice.

“The righteous shall never be removed” from the earth. God has always wanted every corner of His creation to be dwelled by the righteous only, where the righteous will not sin, and where God’s creation remains holy and good. Diseases and death are destroyed. Everything in it lives forever. Goodness, holiness and righteousness characterise the heavens and the earth. This indeed is paradise. The moment one sinner is allowed to live, paradise will be destroyed. Paradise will be like the present evil and wicked world. No man would want to live forever in this sin-filled wicked world.

Who are the righteous? The only righteous ones are the ones who are righteous today. These are the ones who have truly received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. Professing believers will not inherit the kingdom of God, for they are not righteous within. External forms of apparent righteousness include all Christian activities such as preaching, teaching the Bible, worshipping God in church, serving in the church, evangelism, studying the Bible, etc. These are acceptable to God only if they are done by one who is righteous. If these professing believers have not been made righteous by God in Christ, then sadly they will remain as sinners still bound for hell.

The life of a born-again believer should be like salt that prevents decay. His life stops others from sinning and does not encourage them to sin. His life is like a light that drives away the darkness. His life repudiates sin and does not succumb to sin. He is sensitive to sin and hates it. The vices of the world that will corrupt his testimony in Christ will be rejected with heartfelt conviction. He does all things good according to Holy Scriptures.

These are the righteous ones that God says will dwell on His earth forever!

Death is the passage to heaven for the righteous. Not even death can snatch him from the omnipotent grasp of God's almighty hand. Death removes a believer from this present earth but not the world to come. This heaven and earth have been stained badly by sin for thousands of years since man’s fall into sin. God will destroy this present heaven and earth. He will recreate a new heaven and earth where only the righteous live.

Conclusion – The righteous knows that he is righteous within. He lives in righteousness. He loves righteousness. This righteousness is according to Holy Scriptures. He obeys the Bible that is like the light that lights his pathways in life. The one who is not righteous is not neutral. God says he is wicked! God will certainly remove him from His earth! The house of the wicked will be forcibly moved by God when Christ returns. It will be during the separation of the wheat and tares! The parable of the wheat and the tares highlights this truth. Matthew 13:37-43: “He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”