SINNERS DESTROYED OUT OF THE EARTH.
By William Covert
As THE earth was not made for wickedness, it follows that the wickedness must be rooted out of it. The transgressors cannot glorify God. They will not accord with that which was intended to give them happiness, and as there will only be room in the earth for the righteous to dwell, it will therefore be necessary to remove the wicked from the earth. But there is no place in the universe for them to remain, and in order for them to get out of the world they must go by the way prepared for the devil and his angels,—the lake of fire. This will be done when the righteous are called to take possession of the kingdom. Matt. 25: 34, 41. "Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies; thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee. Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger. . . . Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men." Ps. 21: 8-10. Elsewhere the statement is made that the saints "are preserved forever; but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off." Ps. 37: 28. And again: "The upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it." Prov. 2: 21, 22. By another writer the assertion is made that "he shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world." Job 18: 18. David prayed that the wicked might be consumed out of the earth and be no more. Ps. 104: 35. This places them in a condition as to place and existence as though they had never existed. The reason the Lord assigns for their destruction is that they destroy the earth. Rev. 11: 18. Their sins corrupt and ruin the earth, because the curse that follows their transgressions makes the earth a barren desolation. Their presence as well as their course is but a detriment to the very purpose of God, therefore they must be destroyed. The completeness of their destruction is forcibly stated by the apostle where he says they "shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe." 2 Thess. 1: 9, 10. Another writer says the effect of that burning day will be so complete that it will leave them neither root nor branch. Mal. 4: 1. And yet another word of inspiration decides their end as the consuming into smoke of the fat of lambs. Ps. 37: 20. John the Baptist compares their destruction to the burning up of chaff with unquenchable fire. Matt. 3: 12. Another scripture says, "They shall be devoured as stubble fully dry" (Nah. 1: 10), while Obadiah in verse 16 says, "They shall be as though they had not been." Solomon uses the following language in his presentation of how it shall be: "The righteous shall never be removed; but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth." Prov. 10: 30. But no language can be more positive than the following in Rev. 20: 9: "And fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them." Thus the matter will be forever ended597with the wicked. Upon this earth they have spent their time in folly, shame, and sin, a burden to themselves, and a trial to others, a blight upon the handiwork of God with their corruptions, a curse to the earth itself. They have been offered salvation from sin and death; but they have chosen the ways of unrighteousness because it, offered to them the gratification of self. They have sown to the flesh and of it have reaped in sorrow. They have remained with their sins and utterly perished in their own corruption. 2 Peter 2: 12. The earth will then be rid of the wicked, and when they are gone, to return no more forever, it will only remain for the Creator to undo the work that sin has wrought in the earth, that his original purpose may be carried out.