There is HOPE! Part 2

Job 14:7, “For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. 8 Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; 9 Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.”

The undermining issue is that sin is attempting to invade every area of human habitat. As I contemplate the evil around us and the blatant attack by Satan on the family of God, I struggle to find words to describe what I am feeling and what I feel God wants me to share. A single word comes into my mind, spoken as clearly as in any conversation you might have. The word is “nefarious.” I believe this word describes the moral climate of our world.

Merriam-Webster defines “nefarious” as: flagrantly wicked or impious : evil, not conforming to a high moral standard; morally unacceptable.
Synonyms black, dark, evil, immoral, iniquitous, nefarious, rotten, sinful, unethical, unlawful, unrighteous, unsavory, vicious, vile, villainous, wicked, wrong.
Related Words base, contemptible, despicable, dirty, disreputable, evil-minded, ignoble, ill, infernal, low, mean, snide, sordid; atrocious, cruel, infamous, nasty; blamable, blameworthy, censurable, objectionable, obscene, offensive, reprehensible; corrupt, debased, debauched, degenerate, depraved, dissolute, libertine, loose, low-minded, perverted, reprobate, scrofulous, sick, unhealthy; cu rsed (also curst), cussed, defiling, noxious, pernicious, pestilential, ugly, ungodly, unwholesome; banned, barred, condemned, discouraged, forbidden, illegal, interdicted, outlawed, prohibited, proscribed, unauthorized, unclean; disallowed; execrable, lousy, miserable, wretched; errant, erring, fallen, unprincipled, unscrupulous; improper, incorrect, indecent, indecorous, naughty, unbecoming, unseemly, vulgar; dishonest, dishonorable.

The connotation of this word describes the very essence of life in a disobedient and rebellious world. I truly believe that this is the way that God sees the hearts and conduct of fallen man. It reminds me of Genesis 6:5, “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.”

God saw that the wickedness of man was great. Every imagination and thoughts of his heart were evil continually. So, God determined that He would destroy the evil. To destroy the evil, He would destroy man from the face of the earth. God hated the evil so the evil had to go. Genesis 5:8, “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. 9 ...Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.” Noah stood out as different in an evil world. He was a just man and perfect in his generations and Noah walked with God. He was different because he walked with God. He did not fit the nefarious (evil, immoral) climate of his day therefore God prepared a way of escape from what was coming upon the world and also secure His plan to perpetuate the human race on earth.

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