“Extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart.” ECC 7:7
Psalm 53
The fool says in his heart,
"There is no God."
They are corrupt, and their ways are
vile;
there is no one who does well.
God looks down from heaven
on the sons of men
to see if there are any who
understand,
any who seek God.
Everyone has turned away,
they have together become
corrupt;
There is no one who does good
not even one.
Will evildoers never learn--
those who devour my people as
men eat bread
and who do not call on God?
They were, overwhelmed
with dread,
where there was nothing to
dread.
God scattered the bones of those
who attacked you;
you put them to shame, for God
despised them.
Just this week the Illinois legislature is taking up the matter of impeaching Governor Blagojevich; and the 50 billion dollar Madoff Ponzi scheme rip-off surfaced, we can catch a glimpse of the situation as God does. What about these “sons of men who, have turned away and together have become corrupt?” these evildoers whose who “devour God’s people like bread?”
In Matthew 15:7 Jesus excoriates the Pharisees and teachers of the law for their obsession with cleanliness and meticulous rules “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: what goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean, but what comes out of his mouth makes him ‘unclean’.” The Illinois governor’s tape could not be played on television uncensored; his wife’s foul rivaling his.
Jesus says, “The things that come out of the mouth come from the heart and these make a man ‘unclean’. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.”
Many people in the Bible were corrupt using bribery and manipulation to achieve their goals including Judas, Herodias, wife of Herod the tetrarch, and even King David, the great Jewish monarch who sent the husband of Bathsheba into the front lines of battle to kill him, so he could marry Bathsheba who he had taken in adultery.
Judas conspired with the chief priests against Jesus, asking “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” and was paid 30 silver coins which he returned with great remorse after Jesus’ crucifixion.
The priests decided because it was “blood money” and used it to buy a potters field which to this day is called the Field of Blood.
Herodias manipulated King Herod into killing John the Baptist by having him acquiesce to her daughter Salome’s request for John’s head on a platter after her seductive dance of seven veils, when she was offered anything she might desire by the King because her dance had been so entertaining to his guests.
Judas’ conscience was so heavy, he committed suicide. Herodias and Herod the tetrarch were exiled to Gaul (France) there in 39 A.D. in a conspiracy against the emperor Caligula. They died in exile.
God rebukes King David by taking away his firstborn with Bathsheba. The Prophet Nathan delivers God’s message to the King in 2Samuel 12:10 “You killed him (Bathsheba’s husband) with the sword of the Ammonites. Now therefore, the sword will never depart from your household.” Three of David’s sons died violent deaths.
God always offers a hammer and hand—King David truly repented for his sin. He became the great Monarch of Israel and ruled for 41 y ears. From his family line the House of Jesse, a Savior was born many years later. We call him Jesus. He is the Christ, the Messiah, all praise and honor to the Father who sent Him!
