Complications of Understanding

(Pro 12:21 KJV)  There shall no evil happen to the just: but the wicked shall be filled with mischief.

We need a moment to consider how to read and understand scripture because this is a frustrating verse.  The first step is understanding what the verse actually says which means understanding the vocabulary.  If you don’t have any tools then compare translations to get an insight.  Since I work in the NASB and KJV let me give you the one not shared above,

(Pro 12:21 NAS77) No harm befalls the righteous, But the wicked are filled with trouble.

Notice that the NASB says “harm” (205) and the KJV says “evil”.  That should indicate that we are not just talking about stubbing your toe or catching a cold.  This is something with soul destroying potential.  One of the potential problems with a verse like this is to take it as an absolute law and understand it the way you want it to read instead of the way it is meant.  All you need to do is look at the life of David to know that bad things can happen to people that God loves greatly.  Or consider what God allowed Job to go through.  Why should you be better?  

So?  This tells us that whatever befalls us it will not be enough to destroy us.  When you consider all of the Bible this has an eternal sense.  It does not mean there will never be hard times.  We will look at the idea of the “righteous” (6662) or “just” some other time.