Genesis 38:7 (NKJV)

“But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord killed him.”

There are verses of scripture I don’t understand. And this is one of them: that God saw Er’s wickedness and killed him. But the question I ask is: “Wickedness had always filled the earth. Even after the days of Noah, evil had continued unabated. So why did God choose to kill this one?” I don’t know, and it’s dangerous to postulate. We see the same thing repeated with Onan in verse 10 where God also killed him because He was displeased with him. Why did God select these to kill in their generation? And how did God kill them? I don’t know.

But the lesson for me is simple: evil does not pay. Whether God chooses to kill, you now or later, the price of evil is always dire. Maybe there is a threshold of sin they reached that it became paramount for them to leave the earth? I don’t know, but I know I do not desire to continue in any sinful act that could release the uncommon wrath of God against me.

“I am a child of life and death is not my portion because I have crossed over from death to life. I thank You, Lord, for giving me Your life and I know You will not kill him in whom the life of Your Son dwells. I am safe and secure in the arms of Christ. I fear no evil. Amen.”