Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.
The verse is a call to mark and watch the perfect, upright person in contrast to the wicked, so as to see the difference in their course of conduct and in the principles that govern them. The end and final outcome of the perfect and upright person is peace, a lasting and peaceful end. That same peaceful end is illustrated in Jacob, whose final years were tranquil after a life of sin, suffering, toil, and sorrow, because the discipline he endured had yielded the peaceable fruit of righteousness.
In contrast, the wicked may flourish, prosper, and appear in great power spreading like a luxuriant green bay tree for a time, but he passes away, disappears, and cannot be found. Apparent power, prosperity, and outward success do not last and are not the measure of a life's outcome. The wicked end in destruction, with transgressors destroyed together and cut off.
God, who sees the end from the beginning, gives confidence that He will bring order out of confusion and carry out justice and judgment. God ever commends obedience with such a peaceful end, as shown when Enoch was translated to heaven and Noah was saved from the flood because of obedience. The wicked spread by selfishly grasping property, wages, and goods without regard for God's glory, but God scatters faster than they can gather. The upright is safe because he acquires money only as God directs and uses it in channels God can bless, with an eye single to God's glory, to bless himself so that he may bless others.
The upright person's lasting peace belongs with a faith that works by love and purifies the soul. The verse prepares for eternal life by calling for faithfulness, steadfastness to principle, and missionary work in the spirit of Christ. The verse sets peace before human desire as an object worthy of the best effort, showing the pleasure-seeker the path of peace and joy, directing the aspirations of the ambitious, and pointing those who desire wealth to unfailing, imperishable treasure.
The verse is a call to mark and watch the perfect, upright person in contrast to the wicked, so as to see the difference in their course of conduct and in the principles that govern them. The end and final outcome of the perfect and upright person is peace, a lasting and peaceful end. That same peaceful end is illustrated in Jacob, whose final years were tranquil after a life of sin, suffering, toil, and sorrow, because the discipline he endured had yielded the peaceable fruit of righteousness.
In contrast, the wicked may flourish, prosper, and appear in great power spreading like a luxuriant green bay tree for a time, but he passes away, disappears, and cannot be found. Apparent power, prosperity, and outward success do not last and are not the measure of a life's outcome. The wicked end in destruction, with transgressors destroyed together and cut off.
God, who sees the end from the beginning, gives confidence that He will bring order out of confusion and carry out justice and judgment. God ever commends obedience with such a peaceful end, as shown when Enoch was translated to heaven and Noah was saved from the flood because of obedience. The wicked spread by selfishly grasping property, wages, and goods without regard for God's glory, but God scatters faster than they can gather. The upright is safe because he acquires money only as God directs and uses it in channels God can bless, with an eye single to God's glory, to bless himself so that he may bless others.
The upright person's lasting peace belongs with a faith that works by love and purifies the soul. The verse prepares for eternal life by calling for faithfulness, steadfastness to principle, and missionary work in the spirit of Christ. The verse sets peace before human desire as an object worthy of the best effort, showing the pleasure-seeker the path of peace and joy, directing the aspirations of the ambitious, and pointing those who desire wealth to unfailing, imperishable treasure.