The eyes of the LORD  [YHWH] are toward the righteous and His ears are open to their cry.  The face of the LORD is against evildoers, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.  Psalm 34:15-16 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, and His ears attend to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.  1 Peter 3:12 NASB

          King David is the author of the 34th Psalm; Peter quoted King David in his first letter to the dispersed Israelites and Jews to whom Peter ministered.  In neither case did the respective authors use the phrase “the face of the Lord is against evildoers”–instead, these verses remain as examples of blatant translator bias, at the very least.  Worst of all, such a translation is a terrible libel against the nature and character, not to mention the wonderful plan, of God and against Christ Jesus as a co-conspirator. 

          Specifically, the verb translated “is against” is used often (literally, thousands of times) in the Old Testament, and never anywhere else as “is against”.  The translators of the King James version of the Bible rendered it so in the Psalm, then repeated it when they came to Peter’s reiteration.  Regrettably, nearly every translation and paraphrase have parroted this mis-translation in a stunning display of slavish unity.  See for yourself at www.biblegateway.com. 

          The Hebrew verb in question is ‘asah (Strong’s Concordance H6213).  It means to do, produce, accomplish and make.  It can also mean to deal with and to put in order.  In Exodus 31:4, the word was used to mean to work in gold and silver, to fashion it.  And to produce by labor, an altar in Genesis 13:4, and idols in Deuteronomy 4:16.  And to create, as in heaven and earth in Genesis 1:7.  And finally, to produce something from oneself,  as in Job 15:17.  A visit to Thayer’s Lexicon on this topic would be most helpful:    http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H6213&t=KJV

          Does this mean that God has created evildoers?  Yes, and He created the evil that goes with them.  We know this instinctively, because God has created everything, and created it out of Himself; at the end, all things will be summed up in Him.  (Dear reader, we realize that this can boggle the mind, but understand that no one goes from the first floor to the second floor except step by step.)  And we know this by scripture:

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD  [YHWH] do all these things.  Isaiah 45:7 King James Version (KJV)

Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD  [YHWH] hath not done it? Amos 3:6 KJV

          A bit more comparison, then we’ll be ready to see what meaning was actually intended by the authors.  Peter’s version was in Greek, so the word there used is epi, which simply means upon, as in “the eyes of the Lord are UPON”–same word.  The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, uses epi in place of ‘asah in the Psalm.  This means that Peter was trying to accurately quote the Psalm in Greek, and it helps us understand what the real meaning is.  So now we can, to use Peter’s words, say:  For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous,…but the face of the Lord is upon the evildoers.  So far, we have 1) God created them, and 2) His face is “on” them, whatever that means.

          Not far from our home is the Hewlitt Packard campus that used to be the world headquarters of Compaq Computers.  Some of the brothers used to work there and reported that a select group of engineers had the authority to go to the shipping department, where products were kept for immediate shipping to customers, and select at random finished products that were ready for shipping.  The selected products were taken to a laboratory where the engineers “injected fault” into the computers and try to make the computers fail.  The purpose for the injection of fault was not to “damn them to hell forever” merely for the sake of watching the product fail, but to produce a more durable and satisfactory computer, not only in the one tested but all others of its kind!  Don’t you think your Father in heaven is at least as wise as the engineers at Compaq Computers?

          The face of YHWH/Jesus is His full attention.  Evildoers are a work in progress, created out of Himself, who are being slowly and inexorably dealt with and put in order, fashioned into a precious metal although at first used in a disreputable way.  This use is viewed as unfair, if you are of the mindset that if one doesn’t “trust Jesus” he is doomed to hell forever; but if your view is of restoration, then you can see that God will restore all evildoers as the final product of the process which His face indicates.

          King David and Peter have announced the conciliation of God to man through the cross of YHWH/Jesus:  God is no longer angry with men, but intends a new covenant.  God has sworn by Himself, since there is no one higher:  Indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD [YHWH].  Numbers 14:21 NASB  Because of the harlotry of the Israelite people, God stated that He would indeed “hide His face”.  It was a dreadful prediction of the results of abandoning the true and living God in exchange for the false gods of the nations they were invading.

Now this people will proceed to go whoring after the gods of the foreigner of the land that they are entering in his midst, they will abandon me and violate my covenant that I have cut with them.  And my anger will flare up against them on that day.  I will abandon them and will conceal my face from them; (they) will be (ripe) for devouring, and there will befall them many and troubling ills.  And they will say on that day:  Was it not because God was not in my midst (that) there have befallen me these ills?  But I, I will conceal, yes, conceal my face on that day, because of all the ill that they have done, for they faced-about to other gods!  Deuteronomy 31:16-18 Schocken Bible

          Just as the concealment of God’s face was bad, so the focus of His face is benevolent and beneficial.  For God intends that the blessing which was commanded to be spoken over the children of Israel apply to all mankind:

The LORD bless you, and keep you; the LORD make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up His countenance on you, and give you peace.  Numbers 6:24-26 NASB

          In Messiah Jesus this has now been fulfilled.  See with new eyes:  God’s goal is change the evildoers and erase even the memory of all evil from the earth.  It has always been the plan of God and the purpose of Messiah.  God has the power to pull it off.  He has “injected fault” into mankind, not to destroy it, but to redeem it and to cut off the memory of evil from creation forever.

Blessed are You, O Lord, our wonderfuld God, for You will go forth like a warrior, You will arouse your zeal like a man of war.  Give voice to Your shout, yes, raise a war cry against evil, and prevail against Your enemies–transform them by Your holy love.  Baruch ata.

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