Posted on 02/21/2022 10:41:34 PM PST by Pilgrim's Progress
“The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all. A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished” (Proverbs 22:2-3).
“The rich and poor meet together.” When do the rich and the poor meet together? They meet together in death. They meet together in judgment. Everything is brought to the same plane. The rich man and the poor man die just alike. They go out the same way they came in—naked. There wasn’t any difference between the rich man and Lazarus—they both died and they met together in judgment.
The poor man that rejected Jesus Christ goes to judgment and the rich man that rejected Jesus Christ goes to judgment. “For there is no difference; for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:22-23). They meet together. They may never have spent an instant of time together here in this life or have anything in common—but they will have a great deal in common at the judgment.
There is another place where they meet together. They meet together in the Tribulation. In the Tribulation, the Antichrist’s system is going to be a great leveler. Both rich and poor, bond and free were made to take that mark in Revelation 13:16. They will have a great deal in common.
“the LORD is the maker of them all,” so, the Lord makes folks poor, and when the government tries to make poor folks rich folks, it is going against the will of God. And when they try to make rich folks poor through taxation, they are going against the will of God.
“Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God” (Ecclesiastes 5:19).
If you are not rich, it is God’s will. Just submit to the will of God. If you are rich, God gave it to you, use it for His glory. Submit to His will in all things.
Again, the rich and the poor meet together in judgment: “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works” (Revelation 20:12).
“A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself,” that is a cautious man fearful of judgment and reaping, and careful about the future. He refuses to involve himself in something that is evil, because he already knows what the end result will be for him. He isn’t going to sow the wrong crop.
“. . . but the simple pass on, and are punished,” this is the crowd that Proverbs begins with back in chapter 1: “How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?” (Proverbs 1:22). Some folks are just simpletons. They are fools and just won’t believe the truth, and the laugh at the judgment. “Ha! Ha! It won’t come! There is no God to judge!” And then they die and go to hell.
“. . . but the simple pass on, and are punished,” it just goes to show us that there are a lot of simple folks in this world, because the way is broad and wide that leads to destruction according to Matthew 7:13-14.
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