WARNING: Long, worth the read of course, article ahead. I quote from Matthew Henry's Commentary On The Whole Bible (let us shorten this up for future reference to MHC), since he captures perfectly 1) the essence and intentions of bad men; 2) what bad men daily experience as a result of their malevolent ways and; 3) what becomes of their kind, according to God's righteous judgment.
We need to know, dear reader, about inner workings that show up as outcroppings of the blackened hearts of men, that are hell bent on destroying. Keep in mind that Matthew Henry astutely wrote what you are about to read, if you dare stay for the time it will take to absorb evident truth, starting in 1704 and ending ten years later, in 1714 (clearly you will only being reading a snippet from that great tome of 2000 pages). For a more robust history of the man and his godly work, I invite you to go to the internet, or better yet, get his commentary for a page turning understanding of who God really is, according to sacred scripture as revealed to his saints, via the wisdom bestowed by the Interpreter, the Holy Ghost.
Let us now go to page 547 of MHC, the first column at the very bottom. For reference sake, this study is in the book of Job 15:17-35. I now begin quoting verbatim, and will let you know when it is me talking/writing, rather than Matthew Henry ... I will highlight his writing, and I will not be the least bit offended if you choose to read his work, and skip over my thoughts entirely!
1) The essence and intentions of bad men
Sinners in general, run from God; but the presumptuous sinner, who sins with a high hand, runs upon him, fights against him, and bids defiance to him, and it is easy to foretell what will be the issue. [2.] He wraps himself up in security and sensuality (v.27): He covers his face with his fatness. This signifies both the pampering of his flesh with daily delicious fare and the hardening of his heart thereby against the judgments of God. Note, The gratifying of the appetites of the body, feeding and feasting that to the full, often turns to the damage of the soul in its interests. Why is God forgotten and slighted, but because the belly is made a god of and happiness is placed in the delights of the sense? Those that fill themselves with wine and strong drink abandon all that is serious and flatter themselves with hopes that tomorrow shall be as this day, Isa. 56:12. Woe to those that are thus at ease in Zion, Amos 6:1, 3, 4; Lu. 12:19. The fat that covers his face makes him look bold and haughty, and that which covers his flanks makes him lie easy and soft, and feel little; but this will prove poor shelter against the darts of God's wrath.
Me again dear reader. We are witnessing men and women ~ who teach their children to do the same ~ fighting against God, and daring to defy him, as they wrap themselves in food and drink, and earthly pleasure that make them plump and then fat. Seeking the security and comfort that comes from indulging the senses is a way of life for most, and they dull their souls by pampering and softening their bodies. I will add here that plastic surgery, drastic body change adjustments via scalpel, syringes and powerful potions in pill form, are measures humans take to stave off the suffering of disliking self on the inside, and desperately trying to alter the outside as a compensatory solution. The thinking is flawed of course, because we change daily, and we simply cannot repeat our most perfect day, if ever we had one. Woe to those who are so at ease in the body, that they think not one moment about the spirit residing within, or the God that created them for the express purpose of glorifying him as their Father in heaven. God's wrath is more powerful than any shelter bad men presume they can run to, when they are finally held to account for thumbing their nose at the Almighty.
[3.] He enriches himself with the spoils of all bout him, v. 28. He dwells in cities which he himself has made desolate by expelling the inhabitants out of them, that he might be placed alone in them, Isa. 5:8 Proud and cruel men take a strange pleasure in ruins, when they are of their own making, in destroying cities (Ps. 9:6) and triumphing in the destruction, since they cannot make them their own but by making them ready to become heaps, and frightening the inhabitants out of them. Note, Those that aim to engross the world to themselves, and grasp at all, lose the comfort of all, and make themselves miserable in the midst of all. How does this tyrant gain his point, and make himself master of cities that have all the marks of antiquity upon them? We are told (v. 35) that he does it by malice and falsehood, the two chief ingredients of his wickedness who was a liar and a murderer from the beginning, They conceive mischief, and then they effect it by preparing deceit, pretending to protect those whom they design to subdue, and making leagues of peace the more effectually to carry on the operations of war. From such wicked men God deliver all good men.
Man alive, if the above description doesn't scream world leaders to you right now, dear reader, then I just don't think we can continue together on this page of writing! If you are still with me, I ask: Why do they get called, world/global leaders, pray tell? My answer: Because they are leading the people that do not know God, straight to hell, and since Satan is their grand director of ceremonies and seances, they are strategically placed as commissioners, to destroy all that God has provided mankind, for their own personal, albeit it temporary, gain. They willingly do the bidding of the wicked one out of compulsion, since the hardening of their hearts has caused deafness to the voice of God. They hear and heed the devil's bidding, and don't give a damn who gets stolen from, harmed, or murdered, as they march forward to their own doom, dragging whomever is willing to collude with them, to the pit of eternal despair. War, what is it good for? absolutely nothing, except of course, to kill, and line pockets with blood soaked filthy lucre. Let us not envy bad men, or be anything like them dear one.
2) what bad men daily experience as a result of their malevolent ways
(2.) Let us see now what is the miserable condition of this wicked man, both in spiritual and temporal judgments.
[1.] His inward peace is continually disturbed. He seems to those about him to be easy, and they therefore envy him and wish themselves in his condition; but he who knows what is in men tells us that a wicked man has so little comfort and satisfaction in his own breast that he is rather to be pitied than envied. Firstly, His own conscience accuses him, and with the pangs and throes of that he travaileth in pain all his days, v 20. He is continually uneasy at the thought of the cruelties he has been guilty of and the blood in which he has inbrued his hands. His sins stare him in the face at every turn. Diri conscia facti mens habet attonitos-----Conscious guilt astonishes and confounds. Secondly, He is vexed at the uncertainty of the continuance of his wealth and power: The Number of years is hidden to the oppressor. He knows, whatever he pretends, that they will not last always, and has reason to fear that they will not last long and this he frets at. Thirdly, He is under a certain fearful expectation of judgement and fiery indignation (Heb. 10:27), which puts him into, and keeps him in, a continual terror and consternation, so that he dwells with Cain in the land of nod, or commotion (Gen. 4:16), and is made like, Pashur, Magormissabib-----a terror round about, Jer. 20:3, 4. A dreadful sound is in his ears, v. 21.
Switching to my synopsis:
There is a miserableness we can see in the restless souls that directly go against God's commandments to love him, and love our neighbours as ourselves. Here I list descriptions (lifted of course from the wise writings from Matthew Henry), of the state of the condition of wicked men; the them they have to face everyday reflected in the morning mirror, just before they go out and do the dirty deeds of their father the devil:
❌ no comfort or satisfaction
❌ conscience continually accusing
❌ pangs and throes of guilt that cause pain all his days
❌ continually uneasy at the thought of the cruelties he is guilty of, and the blood he has shed with his own hands
❌ his guilt stares him in the face, and no matter where he turns, there it is directly in front of him; he is conscious/aware, and it astonishes and confounds him ... there is no escape
❌ he is vexed, having put his confidence in worldly wealth, he is uncertain and insecure, about its continuance. He hasn't a clue how long his money and power will go on, and whatever will he do when he loses both?
❌ he knows, and pretends otherwise, that lives do not last forever, fortunes can be found and lost in the same day, and he is fearful, and rightly so, that what he has he will not be able to hold on to ... and so he frets, daily
❌ he fearfully expects judgment and fiery indignation
❌ he lives in terror and consternation, and joins his brethren Cain, the first murderer, who feared that where ever he travelled, he would be killed for the innocent blood that he shed, when he killed his brother Abel, who was favoured by God because of his faithful heart
❌ imagine what the wicked hear ... it is dreadful ... perhaps the cries and screams of their victims, or the continual shrieking of demons that relentless torment ... imagine
Dear reader, Cain was marked by God, and all those around him were forbidden to kill him. He lived his days perpetually, and fretfully, looking over his shoulder, wondering when he would get what he deserved, as eternal punishment for what he had done to his unsuspecting brother. The same is true for bad men and women that obey the devil, and openly deny God as deity, Christ as Saviour and Redeemer, and the Holy Ghost as the third person of the trinity. All those that do the will of their devilish father will be marked, and looking over their shoulder too, unless they repent; there is no peace for them so long as they continue on their course of destruction. Let us go back to MHC, shall we?, for our big finish;
3) what becomes of their kind, according to God's righteous judgment
He knows that both heaven and earth are incensed against him, that God is angry with him and that all the world hates him; he has done nothing to make his peace with either, and therefore he thinks that everyone who meets him will slay him, Gen. 4:14. Or he is like a man absconding for debt, who thinks every man a bailiff. Fear came in, at first, with sin (Gen.3:10) and still attends it. Even in prosperity he is apprehensive that the destroyer will come upon him, either some destroying angel sent of God to avenge his quarrel or some of his injured subjects who will be their own avengers. Those who are the terror of the mighty in the land of the living usually go down slain to the pit (Eze 32:25), the expectation of which makes them a terror to themselves. This is further set forth (v, 22): He is, in his own apprehension, waited for of the sword; for he knows that he who killeth with a sword must be killed with the sword, Rev. 13:10. A guilty conscience represents to the sinner a flaming sword turning every way (Gen. 3:24) and himself inevitably running on it. Again (v. 23); He knows that the day of darkness (or the night of darkness rather) is ready at his hand, that it is appointed to him and cannot be put by, that it is hastening apace and cannot be put off. This day of darkness is something beyond death; it is that day of the Lord which to all wicked people will be darkness and not light and in which they will be doomed to utter, endless, darkness. Note, Some wicked people, though they seem secure, have already received the sentence of death, eternal death, within themselves, and plainly see hell gaping for them.
NOTE: Some wicked people, and I am confident you do not have to mentally work too hard to think of more then a few popular in the press bad men and women, though they seem secure in their positions of power, prestige, and privilege, have already received the sentence of eternal, unremitting death, in themselves, and they can plainly see hell gaping before them, ready to receive them mind, body, and spirit. That, is the righteous judgment of God, dear one ... as time marches on, the end draws near to the drama known as humanity.
Where, pray tell, will you spend your eternity? I abruptly end here, knowing you have endured with me, and we have travelled through time past, present, and future, together. I pray that our eternity is together too, in the magnificent presence of the King of kings, Lord of lords, Jesus Christ, our heavenly Redeemer.
