Devotion 460

“Reward For The Wicked”

Reference: Job Chapter 24

The wicked is the man or woman who refuses God’s way of the blood sacrifice.

Like Cain, there is a reward for the wicked.

Genesis 4:6-8 “And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? [7] If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. [8] And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.”

Cain knew about God just like Abel.
Cain believed in God just like Abel.
Cain built an altar unto God just like Abel.
Cain was religious just like Abel
Cain worshipped God just like Abel

But Cain will not go the way of the faith in the blood sacrifice. Cain wanted to come to God in another way.

Abel’s altar was covered with blood
Cain’s altar had no blood

The wicked may believe in God just like the righteous
The wicked may belong to a church, a denomination, or a religious group
The wicked may pray and fast just like the righteous.
The wicked may worship, sing, and talk about God just like the righteous.

But the wicked will not go the only way of God which is Calvary. The wicked refuses the only way of the blood sacrifice.

Any way outside the way of the blood sacrifice is the way of the wicked.

Like  Cain, the way of the wicked produces wicked actions, and has its reward.

Job writes.

Let’s read:

Job 24:1-2 “Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days? [2] Some remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed thereof.”

Wickedness is a spirit. It’s a spirit of rebellion. A spirit that originated from Satan. It’s not the man or woman who is wicked but the spirit in that man or woman. The same spirit that was in Cain.

We continue our reading:

Job 24:3-12 “They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge. [4] They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselves together. [5] Behold, as wild asses in the desert, go they forth to their work; rising betimes for a prey: the wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children. [6] They reap every one his corn in the field: and they gather the vintage of the wicked. [7] They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that they have no covering in the cold. [8] They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter. [9] They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor. [10] They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry; [11] Which make oil within their walls, and tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst. [12] Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly to them.”

God is patient with the wicked. The reward of the wicked is not always immediate.

We continue our reading:

Job 24:13-17 “They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof. [14] The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief. [15] The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguiseth his face. [16] In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light. [17] For the morning is to them even as the shadow of death: if one know them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death.”

The wicked lives in fear.

Genesis 4:13-14 “And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. [14] Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.”

The wicked lives in guilt, a spirit which does not come from the Lord.

2 Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

The wicked is afraid of death. The child of God in Christ has passed from death unto life.

John 5:24 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”

The child of God in Christ therefore has nothing to fear.

We continue our reading:

Job 24:18-23 “He is swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards. [19] Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so doth the grave those which have sinned. [20] The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him; he shall be no more remembered; and wickedness shall be broken as a tree. [21] He evil entreateth the barren that beareth not: and doeth not good to the widow. [22] He draweth also the mighty with his power: he riseth up, and no man is sure of life. [23] Though it be given him to be in safety, whereon he resteth; yet his eyes are upon their ways.”

Nothing escapes the Lord. He sees every way of the wicked and of the righteous. He rewards them both accordingly.

We conclude our reading:

Job 24:24-25 “They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all other, and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn. [25] And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?”

We know the end of Satan, the wicked one.
We know the end of Cain, and any one with the spirit of the wicked.
We know the end of any rebellious spirit that refuses the way of the slain lamb.

Let the Word of God bring us to the way of the blood sacrifice. BELIEVE and confess Christ the Word as we’ve revealed Him from the First Adam. There is only one way to God. It’s the way of the Blood Sacrifice, in Christ!