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Solomon said, “Truly this only have I found: that God made man upright but they have sought out many schemes” (Ecclesiastes 7:29). And “All the schemes of the schemer are evil; he devises wicked plans to destroy the poor with lying words…” (Isaiah 32:7). Jezebel schemed to steal Naboth’s vineyard (1 Kings 21:5-16). A scheme is a plot to do evil against someone just as Saul plotted against David (1 Samuel 23:9; Proverbs 24:8). Sometimes the Wicked schemes of man go according to the plan of the schemer as in the case of Jezebel. Sometimes they fail like Saul’s schemes against David.
Perhaps the greatest scheme of mankind is the one mentioned in Psalm 2 where the people, the kings, and the rulers plot against the Lord and against His anointed. Indeed, the chief priests and the Pharisees plotted to overthrow God’s plan. They schemed and said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.” They enlisted the king through lies and trickery and they solicited the people to shout “Crucify Him!” But God laughed at their schemes (Psalm 2:4) for the evil schemes of men cannot defeat the plans of God. Jesus arose from the dead and brought salvation to mankind.
Alton Norman
Owingsville church of Christ
Owingsville, KY