Sad men

Proverbs 28:5
Evil men understand not judgment: but they that seek the LORD understand all things.

What do you think of when you hear or read the term “evil men”? I tend to think about people like Timothy McVeigh, Hitler, and Saddam Hussein. I think about people who have done terribly evil things in their lives. What about you?

I find it interesting that the Bible would say that evil men don’t understand judgment. I would say the opposite. Are we to believe that Saddam Hussein didn’t understand, when the courts found him guilty and sentenced him to death, that he was going to die? Surely he must have understood the consequences of his actions. He had to have understood the sentence was death.

Even Hitler understood judgment. He killed himself before he could face judgment, because he knew what it was. He knew it was coming for him; he understood that it would carry a sentence of death. He just beat it to the punch.

Let me be clear: I’m not disputing the Bible in any way. I’m actually getting to a point here. That point is this: the word for evil does, in fact, mean evil as we understand it today, but it also means sad. If you replace the word “evil” with “sad” then the statement would read “Sad men don’t understand judgement: but those who seek the LORD understand all things.” When read like this, it makes a lot more sense.

Back to our first list of people, Hitler, Timothy McVeigh, and Saddam Hussein. These three men without a doubt understood their judgment, but did they understand God’s judgment? If not, I would say they were “sad men”. And as sad men, they could be lumped into a category with anyone on the face of the earth who does not understand God’s judgment.

I’m not talking about the hell fire and brimstone judgment that fundamentalist preachers assault the masses with from the pulpits on Sunday mornings. No, I’m talking about God’s righteous judgment and subsequent execution of sin at the cross.

You see, sad men (and women) don’t understand judgment. They think little of it, make light of it, and set it aside as though it hasn’t been made. Even Christians can fall into this category, not understanding the fullness of God’s judgment in Christ on the cross. Christ’s death and subsequent resurrection wasn’t just a way for God to get us into heaven. It was God’s holy judgment of sin. It was God’s punishment of sin in Christ so that we could be His sons and daughters.

Those who seek the LORD, translated from the name Yahweh which is further translated to Jesus the Savior, understand all things. This includes judgment. The more you seek Jesus, the more you understand judgment. The more you understand judgment, the more you understand God’s love for you. And the more you understand God’s love for you, the more you love Jesus.

Happy are those who understand the price that was paid for their salvation. Even happier are those who understand the fullness of God’s judgment in the body of Christ on the cross. He was beaten, scourged, humiliated, cursed, crucified, made poor, and died so that we could could be blessed, loved, and highly favored sons and daughters of God Almighty!