In Isaiah, chapter fifty-seven, verses one through two, “The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.”
Righteous believers were being mistreated at the hands of Judah’s cruel and corrupt leaders and were perishing. But by their death, these righteous ones were spared the terrible horrors of God’s judgment that would soon come upon the nation. The righteous are delivered from the sting of death, not from the stroke of it. The careless world disregards this. Few lament it as a public loss, and very few notice it as a public warning. They are taken away in compassion, that they may not see the evil, nor share in it, nor be tempted by it. The righteous man, when he dies, enters into peace and rest.
Jesus Christ came upon the earth to save the world from destruction. He went about doing good and righteous things to save the people in the world. Jesus was rejected at Nazareth in Luke four, verses twenty-eight through twenty-nine. Stephen, in Acts seven, addresses the high priest. After his reply, the people were irate in verse fifty-four. “When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.”
Why do the righteous experience these things? Well, the presence of God is with those who serve and love the Lord. Especially, the obedient servants, the light within them gets brighter and brighter. However, those who are corrupt and do not follow God’s Word, their light become dim. The enemy knows the people who are serious about their relationship with the Lord.