Coffee, Code and Candor

The king by judgment establisheth the land: but he that receiveth gifts overthroweth it. (Pro.29:4)

God’s word is truth (Jn.17:17; Psa.119:128,142,151,160) and his righteous judgments endure forever (Psa.119:160). The statement of Proverbs 29:4 hit me this morning, especially the part about the land being overthrown by the king that receives gifts.

Judgment is good for a land, to ward off evil and evildoers and establish laws by which the people are governed. Generally speaking, the harsher the penalties for doing evil, the less of it there will be. In modern day America, judgment is not scarce. The judgment, however, is tending much more against good than it is against evil. Those who believe God and his word which condemns evil for what it is are judged offensive, intolerant and evil themselves.

The Bible even talks about this. “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isa.5:20) Such people preach the gospel of tolerance: we must be tolerant of others, including those who believe and do differently than ourselves. This gospel, however, is ripe with hypocrisy, for it will not tolerate any who do not tolerate some.

The person who believes that God is Almighty, that he is sovereign over men and his law is supreme is not tolerated because God’s law does not tolerate evil. Such a person views evil for what it is and may not be afraid to say it (and God certainly has no problem with a person speaking ill of evil). Since that person is not tolerant of that evil he violates the gospel of tolerance and is himself judged evil by those who ascribe to that gospel. The likely accusation would be in this vein, “You should not judge another.”

The gospel of tolerance is a gospel of hypocrisy.

Judgment is made one way or another. We should judge, but we should judge according to the law of God, calling evil evil and good good (Lev.19:15; Dt.25:1; Jn.7:24). Such judgment establishes the land. When gifts (of money, power, possessions, etc.) are given to the rulers of the land it is the judgment that is sold. Evil begins to run rampant and then the land is overthrown.