The sapiential books such as the Book of Ben Sira warn men about the need to follow the path of righteousness, the path of God; because righteousness heals, educates, edifies, and liberates.
But in a world where men make fun of spiritual matters in secret, foolishness and the fight for power and riches prevail. And this is where the problem of apparent goods appears, because whoever builds on them builds on clay. On the mud Goliath built, who, trusting in his own strength, was defeated by the courage of David. On the clay built Sennacherib, the ruler of the Assyrian empire, who after being defeated in the siege of Jerusalem by King Hezekiah, was murdered by his own sons. When people are foolish and selfish, it becomes impossible to predict the arrival of a destructive unforeseen event.
That is why the teacher Ben Sira wrote in his book about the false security that is born from insisting on the path of error:
"Do not rely on your wealth,
or say, ´I have the power.´
Do not rely on your strength
in following the desires of your heart.
Do not say, ´Who can prevail against me?´
for the LORD will exact punishment.
Do not say, ´I have sinned, yet what has happened to me?´
for the LORD is slow to anger!" Ben Sira 5:1-4.
The Lord is merciful and willing to forgive, Ben Sira also taught, but on the other hand, in the Lord there is also the punishment for those who are slow to convert and change their path. Those who wait until the last minute to repent of their sins do not achieve divine forgiveness; and there are many teachings about this in the Bible, such as the repentance of Antiochus IV, Epiphanes, who died after a long pain, according to the narration in the Second Book of Maccabees, in the Bible.
That is why teacher of wisdom Ben Sira taught about God's forgiveness of sinners:
"Do not be so confident of forgiveness
that you add sin upon sin.
Do not say, ´His mercy is great;
my many sins he will forgive.´
For mercy and anger alike are with him;
his wrath comes to rest on the wicked.
Do not delay turning back to the LORD,
do not put it off day after day.
For suddenly his wrath will come forth;
at the time of vengeance, you will perish" Ben Sira 5:5-7.
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