{"id":74809,"date":"2020-05-17T17:38:16","date_gmt":"2020-05-17T14:38:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=74809"},"modified":"2020-05-17T17:38:16","modified_gmt":"2020-05-17T14:38:16","slug":"victory-%e2%89%a0-righteousness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/victory-%e2%89%a0-righteousness\/","title":{"rendered":"Victory \u2260 Righteousness"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"74809","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":64460,"related_cahpter":"482","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"The winner might just be the evil one - even when it's us\r\n\r\n","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One could be forgiven for assuming, after reading many passages in the Bible, that there is an easy correlation between worldly success \u2014 especially in matters like war \u2014 and divine favor. Again and again, God\u2019s being \u201cwith Israel\u201d is portrayed as a guarantee that they will prevail over their enemies. Kings go to prophets to seek the divine imprimatur for their plans of attack. This raises a difficult question, though \u2014 if it is true that Israel prevails when God wills it and is defeated when God decrees their defeat, what are we to make of those who triumph over the Israelites? Often the characters who enjoy such triumph are apparently quite wicked, and surely we are not meant to assume that they enjoy God\u2019s favor. But if we cannot assume so, then the simple equation between success and righteousness would seem to be broken.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some passages in the Bible seem to suggest that God specifically employs <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">wicked<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> actors to carry out divine justice. In Ezekiel 30, for instance, we hear of God\u2019s judgment against the Egyptians and their Pharaoh: \u201cA sword shall pierce Egypt, And Nubia shall be seized with trembling, when men fall slain in Egypt And her wealth is seized and her foundations are overthrown\u201d (30:4:). The instrument of this havoc, though, will not be the Israelites: \u201cI will put an end to the wealth of Egypt,\u201d Ezekiel declares, \u201cthrough King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon\u201d (30:10).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is the same Babylonian king who destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem, and who in turn (in the Book of Daniel) was punished with madness for his failure to acknowledge the God of Israel as the true sovereign of the world. It is to such men as Nebuchadnezzar that the verse in Proverbs can be applied: \u201cThe LORD made everything for a purpose, even the wicked for an evil day\u201d (Proverbs 16:4). Although the King of Babylon may think his success in Egypt is a sign of his own gods\u2019 favor, the text from Proverbs suggests that he and other such men are victorious precisely because they are wicked.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Such thoughts may be comforting, to the extent that they promise that those who have the unwelcome distinction of serving as the instruments of God\u2019s justice will themselves be given their just deserts one day. More disturbing, perhaps, is the pall that is cast over our own moments of success. If the simple equation between triumph and righteousness is no longer possible, might it be that there are also moments, in the midst of our triumphs, when <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">we<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are the wicked to whom the work of the evil day is allotted? This possibility should encourage humility in those moments when we are sure that we are in the right, and cause us to always consider carefully and long before concluding that our undertakings in the world have been blessed by God.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":74810,"id":74810,"title":"ez30-victory","filename":"ez30-victory.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez30-victory.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/victory-%e2%89%a0-righteousness\/ez30-victory\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ez30-victory","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":74809,"date":"2020-05-17 14:37:51","modified":"2021-02-07 21:25:57","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1920,"height":1264,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez30-victory-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez30-victory-300x198.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":198,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez30-victory-768x506.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":506,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez30-victory-1024x674.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":674,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez30-victory.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1011,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez30-victory.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1264,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez30-victory-1200x790.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":790,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez30-victory-638x420.jpg","home_baner-width":638,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Victory \u2260 Righteousness","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"The winner might just be the evil one - 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