Take Away The Wicked
The point of Prov 25:4-5 is very plain and is thoroughly demonstrated in scripture. Before a silversmith can make a silver vessel, he must heat the silver and remove the dross so that he is working with pure, unblemished material. Likewise, for a king’s throne to be established in righteousness, he must take away the wicked.
A perfect example is Ahasuerus in the book of Esther. His right hand man was Haman, who made a decree to kill all the Jews in the kingdom. When this plot was revealed to the King by Esther, she said, “The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman.” So the king removed Haman and he was hanged. Later a decree was made that the Jews could defend themselves and “the Jews smote all their enemies”. Even Haman’s ten sons were killed and the next day they were hanged on the gallows. Thus, the throne of king Ahasuerus was established in righteousness.
Other examples include kings who removed idols [2 Chr 14:2-3, Asa], sodomites [1 Ki 15:12, Asa], uncleanness in the temple [2 Chr 29:16, Hezekiah], conspirators [2 Chr 33:24-25, who killed Amon], Sabbath breakers [Neh 13:19-21], strange wives [Neh 13:23-30], etc. The point is plain; the throne of the king cannot be established in righteousness without removing the things that aren’t right from around it.
Problems with countries around the world are connected inseparably to their moral problems. When they refuse to take away the wicked from before the throne, they cannot be established in righteousness.
However, when Jesus comes to rule the world from his throne of glory, he is going to establish his throne in righteousness, in part, by removing the wicked. The throne cannot be established in righteousness any other way. Jesus will take away:
Idolatry – God said that we are to have no other gods before him. People worship sex, money, movie stars, athletes, false gods, prosperity, and the like. These will all be taken away. Jesus will establish his throne in righteousness when he returns by taking away all idolatry [Rev 21:8].
There won’t be a Mormon prophet in Utah, a Watchtower society in New York, a Pope in Rome, an Imam Mahdi in Islam, a witch doctor in Africa, or any other god-like figure like these. They are all idolatrous and they will all be taken away.
War – wars come “even of your own lusts that war in your members”, Jas 4:1. William Tecumseh Sherman said, in an address after the Civil War, “War is hell”. And though all the countries of the world should know this by now, war continues without abatement. And it will because of the wicked lusts in our members. When Jesus returns, he’s going to put a stop to all war. Ps 46:9 says, “He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth”. Read Is 2:4. His throne will be established in righteousness and the warmongers will be taken away.
Adultery – adultery and all sexual perversion will be taken away. These sins have infiltrated homes, schools, churches, governments, etc. Jesus will establish his throne in righteousness when he returns by taking away all adulterers [Rev 21:8]. There will be no more sex trafficking under his rule. Some of the very best kings in the Bible fell prey to sexual sins. This won’t be a problem when King Jesus is on his throne of glory.
Theft – corporations steal, individuals steal, preachers steal, government officials steal, and so forth. In some countries, bribes are the way of accepted business. You just need to know who to pay and how much to pay. All this will be gone when Jesus rules.
When Jesus went into the temple he said to the exchangers and to those who bought and sold that they had turned his Father’s house into a den of thieves. Jesus will establish his throne in righteousness when he returns. You won’t be able to bribe King Jesus or any of the rulers he has under his authority.
Lying – lying is so common place now everyone expects lying in the government, in the witness stand, on the news, in the pulpit, everywhere. Jesus will establish his throne in righteousness. Jesus is the truth, Jn 14:6. His word is the truth, Jn 17:17. And all things will be run on the truth.
After his millennial reign, all liars will be cast into the lake of fire to burn for ever and ever [Rev 21:8].
Covetousness – consumer economies run on covetousness and greed. Businesses can’t get enough, governments can’t get enough, people can’t get enough. We’ve borrowed ourselves nearly into bankruptcy. Jesus is not covetous. Covetousness, Paul wrote, is idolatry. A covetous man is an idolater. Jesus is God in the flesh and he glorifies God in the flesh. There will be no covetousness in his kingdom and among those who rule under his authority.
Conclusion: unfortunately, you are not going to see an end to these sins in any country before the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. He’ll put an end to these things that under his authority. But men won’t succeed in getting any of these out of their countries before that. They should but they won’t.
Hence, as long as we only concern ourselves with politics, the economy, education, health, etc., we will continue to slide hopelessly downward under the weight of these sins in our country.
On a personal note, judge yourself and make sure that you aren’t involved in any of these sins. You wouldn’t want Jesus to have to take you away from before his throne in order to establish it in righteousness. Of course, if your are a soldier, you will be involved in war. But make sure that you aren’t fighting and warring and killing in personal “wars”, Jas 4:1-2.
Get your own act together. And then clean up your family’s home. Get this stuff out of your house. In the church, judgment begins at the house of God. Get these things out of your life. That’ll be good for you now, and it will prepare you well to rule with Jesus in his kingdom later.