Introduction

In Matthew 6:24, Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” However, there are those who think that they can do both. Even the Israelites thought they could intermarry with foreign wives and still be loyal to God.

This is not to say that mixed marriages are condemned but, rather, they were not to marry with idolators who would turn their hearts away from God. Even before the flood, this was an issue…

Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. And the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:1-5)

Going back to Proverbs 6 and verse 18, God hates the heart that devises wicked plans. Here we’ll explore this subject.

Definition of Wickedness

As used in the Old Testament: The state of being wicked; a mental disregard for justice, righteousness, truth, honor, virtue; evil in thought and life; depravity; sinfulness; criminality. (ISBE)

As used in the New Testament: Wickedness, malignity, evil in thought and purpose is presented by the word poneria: But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why make ye trial of me, ye hypocrites?” (Mt. 22:18). Jesus points out the origin of all wrong: “For from within, out of the heart of men, evil thoughts proceed …. wickednesses, deceit, lasciviousness …. all these evil things proceed from within, and defile the man” (Mk. 7:21-23). (ISBE)

Bible Example from O.T.

One example of this, that we find in the Old Testament, is King Ahab’s wife, Jezebel (1 Kg. 16:31). She was a wicked individual from the word, “Go”.

After Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal in 1 Kg. 18, and had all 450 of them slain, this was the result, And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. (1 Kings 19:1-3)

But her tyranny doesn’t stop there. Turning to 1 Kings 21, we read of King Ahab’s desire to own Naboth’s Vineyard. The man refuses, even though Ahab plans to buy him a better vineyard. The king returns home and, essentially, has a temper tantrum over it.

His wife devises a plan as we see in verses 8-10, And she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who were dwelling in the city with Naboth. She wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth with high honor among the people; and seat two men, scoundrels, before him to bear witness against him, saying, “You have blasphemed God and the king.” Then take him out, and stone him, that he may die.

The plan is executed and carried out, So the men of his city, the elders and nobles who were inhabitants of his city, did as Jezebel had sent to them, as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them. They proclaimed a fast, and seated Naboth with high honor among the people. And two men, scoundrels, came in and sat before him; and the scoundrels witnessed against him, against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth has blasphemed God and the king!” Then they took him outside the city and stoned him with stones, so that he died. (vs. 11-13)

The reason why King Ahab was considered a cruel king is explained in verse 25, But there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the LORD, because Jezebel his wife stirred him up. Fortunately, justice was served against Jezebel which can be read in 2 Kings 9:30-33.

Bible Example from N.T.

In the New Testament, we have numerous examples, such as the pharisees wanting to destroy Jesus, the Jews who wanted to do away with the apostle Paul, etc.

For this article, we’ll look at Herodias and the last days of John the Baptist. We open the scene with John’s arrest, For Herod had laid hold of John and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. Because John had said to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” And although he wanted to put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet. (Matthew 14:3-5) You can imagine how Herodias must have felt about this as well as, I’m sure, Herod told her of what transpired between them.

In the next few verses, she got her vengeance on the prophet, But when Herod’s birthday was celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod. Therefore he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. So she, having been prompted by her mother, said, “Give me John the Baptist’s head here on a platter.” And the king was sorry; nevertheless, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he commanded it to be given to her. So he sent and had John beheaded in prison. And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. (vs. 6-11)

Encouragement for the Christian

Jesus said, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45) This goes along with what He said in Mt. 6:22-23, “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”

In addition, read all of the beatitudes (Mt. 5:3-12) and the qualifications of elders (1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:6-9). Even though you may not be qualified to be an elder, these attributes should be necessary for all Christians.

Finally, the apostle Peter writes, But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. (2 Peter 1:5-7)

Conclusion

If your focus is on good things, then your heart will not be able to produce wicked plans. Keep your nose in the scriptures and your eyes on Jesus.

**Announcement**

Beginning May 6^th, Monday’s articles will move to Tuesdays. I will be starting a new concept called “Monday Memes” where I’ll look at some religious memes and discuss their application.