March 15, 2024

Passage Read: Nehemiah 4-7
Meditation Verses: 4:4-5

Thought

This, of course, flies in the face of "pray for those who persecute you," but Nehemiah didn't know about Jesus. Yet there is one God, one Lord; Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. So how does this jive with Matthew 5? God does send sun and rain on the evil and the good, but Jesus also said that anyone who would not listen to the Gospel should be left to themselves, with the dust of their town kicked off the feet as a testimony AGAINST them. God loves the world, yet all of us are children of wrath before we are saved. Paul didn't seem to be praying for the false teachers who were leading the Galatians or other believers astray; more like he was praying against them!

Application

I do not fully understand the heart of God in these things. But I know that He knows the plans He has for every person on earth, both the evil and the good. He is good, and He condemns men for their evil deeds. I can do good to the wicked, even pray for them, but I too can condemn their evil deeds. I can't send anyone to Hell, but I can call on God to forgive a sinner or remember his sin. Which should I do? Perhaps it depends on who they are harming: If just me, who am I that it matters? But if others, especially many others, like these men demoralizing the workers, or false teachers leading believers astray, then may God remember their evil deeds and pay them back into their laps. Unless they repent, if such is possible.