The Wisdom of Solomon – Chapter 19

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19:1 As for the ungodly, wrath came upon them without mercy unto the end: for he knew before what they would do; 2 how that having given them leave to depart, and sent them hastily away, they would repent and pursue them. 3 For whilst they were yet mourning and making lamentation at the graves of the dead, they added another foolish device, and pursued them as fugitives, whom they had intreated to be gone. 4 For the destiny, whereof they were worthy, drew them unto this end, and made them forget the things that had already happened, that they might fulfil the punishment which was wanting to their torments: 5 and that thy people might pass through a wonderful way: but they might find a strange death.

Harold Kushner once wrote: “God does not cause our misfortunes. He gives us the strength to cope with misfortunes when they strike.”

And Solomon agrees. Chapter 19 shows us that יהוה doesn’t author the bullet, but He splits the sea. He doesn’t plot the grave, but He makes a way through grief.

The Judgment on the Wicked (v1–4) comes into view

The text says: “As for the ungodly, wrath came upon them without mercy unto the end.”

Egypt had buried their children. They had mourned their dead. They’d begged Israel to go. And yet — in their grief, they doubled down. Verse 3 says: “They added another foolish device and pursued them as fugitives.”

Evil does that! Evil forgets its scars. Evil refuses to learn. Evil digs its own grave.

Psalm 7:14 Behold, the wicked travails with iniquity,
and he conceives mischief, and brings forth falsehood.
He makes a pit, digging it out,
and falls into the hole which he made.
His mischief shall return upon his own head,
and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own crown.

The text turns: “That thy people might pass through a wonderful way; but they might find a strange death.”

The same sea. The same night. The same water.
For Egypt: strange death.
For Israel: a wonderful way.

That’s the paradox of grace isn’t it? יהוה doesn’t always remove the danger, but He re-writes its meaning.

Never Forget, The Power of Memory

Here’s the difference. Egypt forgot. Israel remembered!

Verse 4 says Egypt was “made to forget the things that had already happened.” 

That forgetfulness was itself judgment. But Israel remembered — remembered the covenant, remembered the promise, remembered the Passover blood. And their memory gave them courage to step forward.

Remember; I said over the past few weeks: One Night, Two Outcomes.

One night. One sea. One Elohim.
But two outcomes.

For Egypt: wrath without mercy.
For Israel: mercy without measure.

Harold Kushner put it best: “Pain makes some people bitter and others compassionate. The difference is what you remember and how you respond.”

Let’s not let tragedy make us bitter. Let it drive us deeper into mercy. Deeper into memory. Deeper into hope.

The same sea that swallowed Egypt will carry you.

Don’t stop walking. Don’t stop remembering. Don’t stop trusting. The Elohim who opened the sea is still opening a way today!

Solomon’s Wisdom from just the first few verses jumps out: 5 things: 

1. Evil forgets its scars, so it keeps walking into the same wound.
2. The hole dug for others is the hole the wicked fall into. (Ps 7:15)
3. Unrepentant power rots from the inside out — first in the conscience, then in public, that’s exactly what we witnessed this week in our nation.
4. יהוה doesn’t need to chase evil — evil destroys itself.
5. The same Word that heals the righteous burns the wicked.

6 For the whole creature in his proper kind was fashioned again anew, serving the peculiar commandments that were given unto them, that thy children might be kept without hurt: 7 as namely, a cloud shadowing the camp; and where water stood before, dry land appeared; and out of the Red sea a way without impediment; and out of the violent stream a green field: 8 through which all the people went that were defended with thy hand, seeing thy marvelous strange wonders. 9 For they went at large like horses, and leaped like lambs, praising thee, O Lord, who hadst delivered them. 10 For they were yet mindful of the things that were done while they sojourned in the strange land, how the ground brought forth flies instead of cattle, and how the river cast up a multitude of frogs instead of fishes.11 But afterward they saw a new generation of fowls, when, being led with their appetite, they asked delicate meats. 12 For quails came up unto them from the sea for their contentment. 13 And punishments came upon the sinners not without former signs by the force of thunders: for they suffered justly according to their own wickedness, insomuch as they used a more hard and hateful behaviour toward strangers. 14 For the Sodomites did not receive those, whom they knew not when they came: but these brought friends into bondage, that had well deserved of them. 15 And not only so, but peradventure some respect shall be had of those, because they used strangers not friendly: 16 but these very grievously afflicted them, whom they had received with feastings, and were already made partakers of the same laws with them. 17 Therefore even with blindness were these stricken, as those were at the doors of the righteous man: when, being compassed about with horrible great darkness, every one sought the passage of his own doors.

Evil regimes and assassins forget history — they “forget their scars” (Wis 19:4). They repeat Pharaoh’s mistake, chasing after freedom voices only to drown in their own devices.

Harold Kushner said: “I no longer hold God responsible for the fact that bad things happen to good people. I have learned to see God’s role as helping good people through the bad things that happen.”

Wisdom 19 teaches us that creation itself participates in divine judgment and deliverance. Pharaoh’s rage after the death of Egypt’s firstborn represents the madness of men that cling to power through violence. 

History confirms the text: from prophetic martyrs to political assassinations, the blood of the righteous becomes the seed of movements that evil men cannot stop.

Pharaoh forgot his scars, and evil always does! He wept at the graves of his own children, but still chased after יהוהs  chosen people. That’s what evil does — it doesn’t learn, it doubles down! 

18 For the elements were changed in themselves by a kind of harmony, like as in a psaltery notes change the name of the tune, and yet are always sounds; which may well be perceived by the sight of the things that have been done. 19 For earthly things were turned into watery, and the things, that before swam in the water, now went upon the ground. 20 The fire had power in the water, forgetting his own virtue: and the water forgat his own quenching nature. 21 On the other side, the flames wasted not the flesh of the corruptible living things, though they walked therein; neither melted they the icy kind of heavenly meat, that was of nature apt to melt. 22 For in all things, O Lord, thou didst magnify thy people, and glorify them, neither didst thou lightly regard them: but didst assist them in every time and place.

• v.20–21: Fire forgot its nature when יהוה preserved manna and Israel’s flesh; water forgot its nature when it turned to dry land. Creation obeys its Maker, not Pharaoh.
• v.22: יהוה magnifies His people by commanding creation to serve their deliverance — judgment for the wicked, mercy for the faithful.
• Evil may bend history temporarily, but יהוה bends creation itself for His redemptive plan.
• Political violence blinds men (v.4 earlier) — assassinations that seek to silence truth only quicken judgment.
• Kushner reminds us, “The question is not why bad things happen to good people, but how good people can live after tragedy without losing faith in life or in Elohim”
• “Don’t pray for easy times, pray to get stronger.” The sea doesn’t part before the pursuit; it parts when you step in. You have to step in to whatever comes your way! 
• Romans 8:19–22 — creation itself groans and serves יהוה’s purpose of redemption

In Conclusion: Remember; The same creation that swallowed Egypt opened a path for Israel! Fire forgot to burn, water forgot to drown, manna forgot to melt — when יהוה says deliver, even the elements obey!