Lesson 2 ~ First Week March
WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS
ABOUT THE WICKED
Background Reading:
Psalm 7:11; 36:1; 10:3-18; Jeremiah 17:9; Proverbs 10:20; 15:6; 21:27-31; Isaiah 48:22
Devotional Reading:
Psalm1:1-6
Central Verse:
“The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.”
Psalm 9:17, KJV
“The wicked will go down to the grave. This is the fate of all the nations that ignore God.”
Psalm 9:17, NLT
Key Terms:
Folly – Lack of good sense or ordinary prudence and foresight.
Cunningness– Being very good or clever at using special knowledge or skills or getting something done.
Tumultuous– Marked by disorderly agitation: loud, excited, and emotional.
Introduction:
Wicked means to be morally and unbelievably wrong. It means to be evil, fierce, vicious, disposed to, or marked by mischief; dishonest. It also means to be disgustingly unpleasant; vile, causing or likely to cause harm, distress, or trouble; it means going beyond reasonable or predictable limits: of exceptional quality or degree. In layman’s language, wicked does not mean good. Older adults used to say a wicked person is terrible through and through.
God does not desire His children to be wicked. He is a good God and desires His children to be like Him. God is love; He is loving, kind, and merciful, and these are some of the attributes that His children should have.
Discussion:
It should be the desire of every believer to try to be like God and shun the very appearance of evil. A wicked man will use everything that he must to execute his wickedness. He uses his hand to do mischief, his feet to run to do mischief, his mouth to say ugly things, and his mind to think of wicked things to do. He is a sower of discord; it gives him delight to see calamity among the brethren.
A wicked person breaks up and destroys relationships and friendships because his motives are not good. A wicked person does not have a fruitful prayer life because prayer is not a position that he desires. God tells the believer that the wicked man shall be turned into hell along with all those who do not recognize God and His kingdom (Psalm 9:17).
God says wicked people are found among His people (Jeremiah 5:26). He wants the believer to understand that everybody who comes to church and says they are saved is not. The believer has the responsibility to stay alert and to be watchful. He must remember that when the sons of God came to present themselves before God, satan came also (Job 1:6). Satan has his representatives ready to invade everything that the believers do. Still, it is the believer’s responsibility to watch out for the devil. The Apostle Paul said that believers must be aware of the cunningness of satan, or they will be taken advantage of (1 Corinthians 2:11).
The question was asked: how long shall the wicked triumph? How long will they speak hard things? How long will they become workers of iniquity, boastful, breaking people into pieces, afflicting the heritage, slaying widows and strangers and murdering the fatherless? It seems like God is unaware, but believers know that God has a day of reckoning for His people, The Lord will not forget His people, nor will He forsake them. He shall send judgment unto His people. The believers must remember that if they do what they are supposed to do; humble themselves and pray, turn from their wicked ways; then God will hear from heaven, forgive their sins, heal their land.
Paul warned the believers that they live in the last days when wickedness will run rampant throughout the land. He let the believers know that wicked men would become more sinful and they would have no regard for the things of God. The Word of the Lord reminds the believers that men’s hearts will be wicked, and out of the heart flows the issues of life. Whatever is in the heart will be manifested in the deeds of men. The believer must be careful and remember that he is responsible for his deeds and actions. There will always be the temptation to join in with the activities of wicked men; however, the believer must also remember that his sins and iniquities will limit what he can receive from God (Jeremiah 5:25).
The Word of the Lord tells the believer that if he wants to be blessed, he must stay away from wicked and evil men and make the Lord his portion. His delight must be in the law of the Lord and he must delight in doing the Lord’s will. He cannot stand in their way and he must stay away from the places that sinners delight in. He should not allow himself to get so happy that he becomes comfortable sitting and enjoying spending all his time with wicked men telling jokes and joining in their folly.
Conclusion:
The believer can rejoice because he knows that the Bible is true. One day, he will go where the wicked shall cease from making trouble, and the weary shall be at rest (Job 3:17). He will no longer have to look out for the deeds of the wicked. He knows that if he lives right, heaven will belong to him. He knows that the wicked shall be turned into hell and all the nations that disregarded God. He recognizes that the fools say there is no God, but the God of the universe will one day judge all souls, and the souls of the wicked shall die. He knows that the desires of the wicked shall perish (Psalm 112:10). The wicked shall not go unpunished, but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered (Proverbs 11:21).
Believers must hold fast to their profession of faith. Faith is the secure anchor that will hold them firm throughout tumultuous tempests when the wicked are raging. The believers must stay focused on God’s promises concerning them and the wicked.
Questions:
1. What makes a person wicked?
2. What will happen to wicked people?
3. What should be the relationship between the wicked and the righteous?
Essential Thought:
“The wicked shall reign
for a season,
but the righteous shall reign
throughout eternity.”