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¿Qué tiene que ver conmigo? por Teófila Gottfried
Lo que leemos en la Biblia tiene que ver con todos los seres humanos, sean cristianos o judíos, ateos o agnósticos, budistas, musulmanes o adherentes a alguna de las filosofías o nuevas religiones que surgen en el mundo. ¿Por qué? Ver mayor información sobre este interesante libro.
Scripture of The Day - St. John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Escritura del día - San Juan 14,6
Jesús le dijo: Yo soy el camino, y la verdad, y la vida; nadie viene al Padre, sino por mí.
Bibelstelle des Tages - Johannes 14,6
Jesus spricht zu ihm: Ich bin der Weg und die Wahrheit und das Leben; niemand kommt zum Vater, denn durch mich!
Commentary on Proverbs 20:8-9: A King that Sitteth on the Throne of Judgment
This commentary on Proverbs 20:8-9 not only opens our eyes to the message of the passage with which we're dealing in this article, we also begin learning how to study the biblical book of the Proverbs as a whole.
We read, "A king that sitteth in the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his eyes. Who can say, I have made my heart clean; I am pure from my sin?" (Proverbs 20:8-9).
At first glance, the passage we've just read does not appear to make sense. It also does not appear to be true. Why? Because we know well that there have always been very evil kings. Monsters. How can an evil king "scatter away all evil with his eyes"? First of all, when we study the biblical book of the Proverbs, it's imperative to keep in mind a very important truth: The Proverbs often intertwine two types of truths. One truth applies to spiritual things. The other applies to the natural world. But they're combined into one. And its teachings often deal with two realities. One describes a particular situation in the kingdom of God. The other describes that same situation in the kingdom of Satan. Such is the case with this passage...Proverbs 20:8-9. Let's break it down into parts.
A King that Sitteth in the Throne of Judgment...
When we read, "A king that sitteth in the throne of judgment...", we know the author is refering to when the king passes judgment, or rules, because the king is on his throne of judgment in this passage. And the king judges according to his own righteousness...according to his own personal opinions. Or he judges according to God's righteousness. Man's righteousness is not the righteousness of God (Romans 10:3). This is why kings often call evil what is good in God's eyes. And they often call good what is evil in God's eyes. So then, if the king that sits on the throne of judgment submits to God's righteousness, he will judge right. Otherwise, his judgment might be evil. Whenever the king has his own righteousness, he might do what is evil in God's eyes, but call that evil good. And he might deem what is good in God's eyes as evil. This is why many kings have ordered the death of God's servants for preaching the gospel. And in their eyes, they were right in doing so. Hence, "scattereth away all evil WITH HIS EYES." Evil, in his own personal opinion...viewpoint. Our viewpoint is how we SEE something through our own EYES.
Now then, the King of kings, the Son of God also sits on His throne of judgment. And of Him we read, "For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son." (St. John 5:22). That means, the righteous King Jesus, God's Son also "scattereth away all evil with his eyes." That's why we read in the same passage, "Who can say, I have made my heart clean; I am pure from my sin?"
Jesus will judge all according to His righteousness. And whoever does not have His righteousness will be sentenced to punishment and death. They will be scattered away...sent away. St. John 5:29 says, "And shall come forth, they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." This is scattering away all evil in the case of Jesus, King of righteousness. Did not Christ say to the wicked in the day of judgment, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire..."? (Matthew 25:41). Let's not forget that in the case of Jesus, we're talking about good and evil according to God's righteousness. In other words, according to what's good and bad in His eyes, not in man's eyes. That's why Proverbs 20:8-9 reads, "Who can say, I have made my heart clean; I am pure from my sin?"
The reason no one can cleanse himself from his sin is because we have no righteousness of our own in God's eyes. The only and true righteousness we can have has to come from God. What do we do to have God's righteousness? We submit to Him, to His ways. We read: "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word." (Psalm 119: 9). "Take heed to" means obey. So, we cleanse our sins through obedience to God's Word.
Summary of this Commentary on Proverbs 20:8-9
1. "A king that sitteth in the throne of judgment" refers to an evil king in Satan's kingdom as well as to the King of kings of God's Kingdom. Both sit on their thrones.
2. "Scattereth away all evil with his eyes" refers to evil kings as well as to King Jesus. Both judge according to their "viewpoint", or to what is good or evil in their eyes. In other words, according to their righteousness. Mortal kings who have their own righteousness are evil, and will pass evil judgment. They might kill God's servants, as many have done down through history. In their eyes, that is "scattering away all evil", again, in THEIR eyes. On the other hand, Jesus has God's righteousness, and He has power to kill the body, and to kill and punish the soul in this world and in the hereafter...eternity. This is also "scattering away all evil."
3. Verse nine of Proverbs 20:8-9 refers exclusively to King Jesus, because we read, "Who can say, I have made my heart clean; I am pure from my sin?" We don't need a clean heart to be in good standing with people, or to be okay in the natural world. Nevertheless, it's impossible to be in good standing with God in the spiritual realm without a pure heart.
Proverbs 20:8-9 is one of many passages of the book of Proverbs that refers to earthly kings of the natural realm as well as to the eternal King of the spiritual realm. They both sit on thrones and judge according to the righteousness of God, or to the "righteousness" of man. This is why God warned Israel in the Old Testament books of Samuel against being ruled by a mortal king instead of accepting Him as their King. Their rejection of the righteous King brought much suffering upon them at the hands of mortal kings who judged not according to the righteousness of God, but rather according to their own evil "righteousness."
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Based on true events, The Third Man by Angela Sheffield, brings the Bible up close and personal as the characters face real issues of life: Betrayal, deceit, romance, bitterness, anger against God, hopelessness, will power, perplexity, triumph, unforgiveness, mental illness, and the "Alcohol made me do it" excuse. Read chapter one FREE now.
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