Proverbs 17:11-15 English Standard Version 11 An evil man seeks only rebellion, and a cruel messenger will be sent against him. 12 Let a man meet a she-bear robbed of her cubs rather than a fool in his folly. 13 If anyone returns evil for good, evil will not depart from his house. 14 The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so quit before the quarrel breaks out. 15 He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the LORD. These verses focus mostly on the evil person and the natural and divine consequences he or she will face. The evil man is in rebellion against God and His Law. It is a willful choice on their part to be disobedient and rebellious. God will send warnings to such people to "turn or burn," but that message may not always be delivered in a gentle spirit because of how urgent and important it is for them to hear the severity of judgment and wrath that they are in danger of (which is actually kind to warn someone away from judgment).
With that said, expect to get attacked worse by the evil person you are calling to repentance than the attack you would expect from a mother bear if you got between her and her cubs. The evil person loves their evil deeds even more than the she-bear loves her cubs and will fight for that wickedness so that they can continue to live as a fool. The LORD will take care of anyone who returns evil for good. God will make evil never depart from them and their household (the members of their family will be affected by their bad actions, not just them). Sin does not just affect you personally but will affect everyone around you too. Solomon says that the just like it's hard to stop the flow of water once the damn breaks, so it is with a quarrel once we lose control of our emotions and allow anger and rage to be in control. Then strife breaks out like a flood of water that has been dammed up. Instead, we should be careful to put an end to the conflict before quarrelling breaks out. The one who calls evil good and the one who calls good evil are both abominations to the LORD, especially if they are doing so to pervert justice from an official position. We will see many messages of the LORD to the kings and judges of the people of Israel about how angry He is that there is no justice for the poor and the widows because they are taken advantage of by the corrupt justice system. It favored the rich and powerful and there was no justice for those that could not pay the bribes the government officials demanded. Proverbs 17:6-10 English Standard Version 6 Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers. 7 Fine speech is not becoming to a fool; still less is false speech to a prince. 8 A bribe is like a magic stone in the eyes of the one who gives it; wherever he turns he prospers. 9 Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends. 10 A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool. Solomon realizes the great "wealth" that there is in being a parent or grandparent and that it is a crown of glory that everyone should respect and honor. It is one of the most important jobs in the world, if not the most important job in the world, as discipleship starts in the home and children look to their parents and grandparents for role models and to learn lessons about character and virtue that the world cannot and should not teach them. God cares very much for children and says that He will harshly judge anyone who leads one of them to stumble and fall.
A foolish person is more likely to use course words, vulgarity, cursing, and the like than refined words. That's not to say that there aren't highly intelligent fools, but as a rule of thumb Solomon is saying you can learn a lot about whether a person is wise or foolish by the words that they and their group of friends they associate with use. Just as you shouldn't expect refined speech from a fool, you also shouldn't expect lies and deceit from kings, princes, and those in authority. They should rule with honesty and integrity. On the subject of honesty and integrity, The LORD hates those who give or receive bribes to pervert justice. The person giving the bribe thinks it is a magic charm that will magically make things turn in their favor so they get the outcome they desire (as if they can manipulate the hand of God). They think that if they can just bribe the right people, they can make everything in their lives go great without the need to even be concerned with the LORD or His sovereignty. We are to forgive in the same way that we wish to be forgiven, and we are to forgive out of a heart of love. There should be no ledger that we keep of offenses that have an haven't been forgiven. We are to keep short accounts and to forgive others completely and quickly, even if they don't receive that forgiveness or ask for it. Forgiveness is something we do because we are in a right relationship with God and He has forgiven us. Jesus told us many times in His parables that the one who holds a grudge and won't forgive does so because he or she doesn't really understand forgiveness and is in danger of hell because God will forgive or not forgive that person in the same way and by the same measure that they forgive or don't forgive other people. These are some of the hardest words to read and teach in the entire Bible because there is the expectation that if we have been forgiven, we must forgive others--especially our brothers and sisters in Christ whom He has already forgiven. We cannot say that we love God and harbor hate in our hearts for our brothers and sisters in Christ. The one who holds a grudge ruins even the deepest and best relationships and friendships. A wise man will learn from rebuke and course-correct so as to learn from his mistakes, but you a fool will refuse to admit his mistakes and learn from them, even with the use of corporal punishment to try to teach him a lesson. Even children usually learn not to do the things that will earn them some kind of punishment, but the fool seems to have not learned this lesson and continues to make bad decisions and "take the beating" for making them without having the awareness that if they didn't do the foolish thing, then they wouldn't have to suffer the consequences of their foolishness (whether those consequences are natural or imposed consequences). For example--stop speeding if you don't like having to paying speeding tickets, court fines, and higher insurance prices. A wiser person would probably learn the first time this happened and not make that same mistake again. Proverbs 17:1-5 English Standard Version 17 Better is a dry morsel with quiet than a house full of feasting with strife. 2 A servant who deals wisely will rule over a son who acts shamefully and will share the inheritance as one of the brothers. 3 The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the LORD tests hearts. 4 An evildoer listens to wicked lips, and a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue. 5 Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker; he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished. "Godliness with contentment is great gain." I think that's what Solomon is going for in the first verse here. It is better to live a quiet and godly life with little than to be a socialite that is always going to parties and throwing parties, living the life of someone rich and famous, and to have constant conflict with both God, man, and self.
While the son was supposed to be ruler over his father's household, there were good and wise servants who were entrusted to be caretakers of their master's son. The wise servant who guarded his master's most treasured possession and treated his master's child as his own (or better) would be rewarded in the day his master died and he received an equal part of the inheritance to the son that he watched over (or half as much if it was the firstborn son who got a double portion, as he received an equal part as the "other brothers"). Even the most precious of metals are tested by fire so that their dross can be consumed and/or removed, leaving only the purest of gold or silver remaining. So it is with us that the LORD tests us to refine us like skilled refiner purifies silver or gold. No one likes going through the fire, but it is necessary to make us into the people that God wants us to be. The evil person listens to other wicked mischievous people. They are not only quick to listen, but quick to go along with and participate in all kinds of evil which is described in places like 1 Corinthians 6, Galatians 5, and some other passages that talk about the things that are abominations to the LORD. Romans 1 tells us that the wicked person is not content just to do evil, but they must get others to applaud the evil they do and try to teach others do evil and ask others to celebrate this. That looks and sounds a lot like our fallen, broken world of today. The wicked also look at people as being valuable only for what they can get out of a person. If a person is "poor" in their eyes--of little to no value in their value judgment--then they despise them and mistreat them, often without guilt or shame. However, that person no matter their net worth or any other measure of value is made in the image of God and therefore has an intrinsic value that can't be calculated with accounting formulas and ledgers. God will not let such a person who mistreats the poor go unpunished. He has sinned not only against the man, but against God who made that man in His image. The man who is made glad by the destruction and downfall of others (especially the godly) will also be punished by the LORD. This is one that is especially hard if you've been on the receiving end of being mistreated and you want to pray for the LORD to punish the wicked people who have mistreated you, but you should not take delight in their downfall. Pray for them first and foremost to repent and be restored to the LORD. "Do not repay evil for evil, but overcome evil with good." "But I say to you, bless those who curse you and pray for those despitefully use you." We entrust such things to our Father in heaven who loves and protects His children, and we allow Him to deal with things in His way and in His time and to the praise of His glory. Proverbs 16:27-33 English Standard Version 27 A worthless man plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire. 28 A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends. 29 A man of violence entices his neighbor and leads him in a way that is not good. 30 Whoever winks his eyes plans dishonest things; he who purses his lips brings evil to pass. 31 Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life. 32 Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. 33 The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD. There are two main subjects in this last passage in this chapter. There is a section on the "worthless" man from verses 27-30, and then a portion about a man who is self-controlled, wise and understands the LORD's Providence. Let's start off with the person who is the poor example--the worthless person. That person uses their tongue as a weapon to harm others. Solomon compares their speech to a scorching fire. James says that the tongue is set on fire by hell itself. It is hard for a man to control his tongue, but the Spirit helps us to be self-controlled and not revile or curse even when we are reviled, and people curse us. The dishonest man spreads strife and discord. They are unhappy when other people are happy. They also gossip and spread rumors to try to separate close friends. They wish to steal, kill, and destroy with their words, just like their father the devil.
The worthless man does not value the life of anyone else and is a man of violence to his neighbor. Where he should be loving his neighbor as he loves himself and watching out for his neighbor, he instead does violence towards his neighbors and sets a bad example for them--leading them in the way they should not go. This is especially harmful to children who look to others for examples and follow the paths laid out for them by the wicked among them. God says he's going to hold everyone responsible who causes one of the children who are precious in His sight to stumble and fall into temptation or sin. The worthless man also calls evil good and good evil. He gives a free pass to his own evil acts and to those who are like him and do the same evil he does. When he daydreams, he is doing so to plot evil against someone. Now e change gears and look at the ones that God has blessed with long life and wisdom. Their grey hair is to be seen as a crown that adorns their heads. It should be accompanied by years of experience that bring wisdom to share with the next generation. Solomon seems to indicate that at this time those who lived long enough to have their hair turn grey were blessed by God with long life as a reward for right living for many years. I would say this is one of those general principles that is not necessarily factual for everyone. In general, the LORD allows the righteous to live longer lives, but we all know of some wicked people who have lived a long time (many times they hang on because this life is all they hope for as they have no hope of heaven). The righteous man who is controlled by the Spirit will not be given to fits of rage and be controlled by his emotions. While it's only natural for sin to make the righteous man angry, our anger does not work the righteousness of God, and it is not our place usually to punish evil. When we are in a position to punish evil, we should not do so to seek our own vengeance or to try to bring the wrath of God on someone through our own hands. Vengeance belongs to the LORD and He will repay in His way and His time whether that is in this life or in the judgment to come after this life. "It is appointed man once to die, and after that the judgment." The man who can control his anger is strong in spirit and be honored above the man with physical strength. The one who is self-controlled is more honorable than the one who conquers cities in military battles. Finally, there are many things in life that seem like they are left up to random chance, but in reality, the LORD controls even the outcome of these "random" events to work His purposes and will. There is no such thing as the Fates, and the people of God should be careful to not speak in Fatalistic terms. Instead, we should always be speaking of the LORD's Providence as we recognize that He is in control of everything in all places at all times. While He does not tempt people to sin or cause them to sin, He does allow them to be tempted by their own flesh and by the devil, and He knows how they will respond to that temptation, but He has always made a way of escape for those of us who are His children so that we need not be caught up in that temptation. Every decision is from the LORD. The wise man will recognize this and give glory to the LORD in the "good" and "bad" times like Job did. "The LORD giveth, and the LORD taketh away. Blessed be the Name of the LORD." Proverbs 16:22-26 English Standard Version 22 Good sense is a fountain of life to him who has it, but the instruction of fools is folly. 23 The heart of the wise makes his speech judicious and adds persuasiveness to his lips. 24 Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body. 25 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. 26 A worker's appetite works for him; his mouth urges him on. I'm sure you have heard people joke that common sense is not so common anymore. Well, even Solomon is saying that good sense comes as a gift from God. There isn't really anything "common" about it. It is like a fountain of life (a source of water for the person who has it and all those around him who need it in a place that is dry and thirsty). However, the fool has no instruction but the folly they listen to. Foolishness somehow brings about even more foolishness.
The wise man is careful about what he says and guards his tongue. He lets the Spirit control what he does and does not say. When he does speak, the wisdom the Spirit gives him leads to persuasive arguments (though the fool who has no sense may even reject these arguments). As the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. The words of the wise man are gracious and sweet. They are pleasant desirable like honey from the honeycomb. The wicked and foolish person does what is right in their own eyes, and the end of this is destruction. Think of the promise given by the LORD to Adam about The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, "In the day you eat of it, you will surely die." Also, the words of Paul in the book of Romans, "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord." The wickedness that seems right to our flesh is opposed to God and His will for us. and leads not only to physical death, but spiritual death (eternal separation from Him in the Lake of Fire that was prepared for the devil and his angels). We all would be lost and without hope if God had not predestined to redeem a people unto Himself by taking sin and death upon Himself (Jesus, the Second Person of the Trinity) when He clothed Himself in humanity and veiled His glory, lived a perfect life and died in our place so that we might have the blessings that belong to Him and once again be image-bearers of God and citizens of the kingdom of God. Our salvation is not based off of who we are, or what we have done, but who He is and what He has done! The last point here that Solomon makes is that the good desires that God gives to the people who are wise will work for them to encourage them to do good work. The worker wants to achieve a goal and is willing to work hard to save for that item or to work hard to have the extra money to have a family, or to work hard to get the promotion that he desires. He speaks words of encouragement to himself to remind himself of why he is doing what he is doing when the work is hard, challenging, or difficult. His desires may not even need to be selfish. He may be working for the good of others (especially those who are in service jobs or in ministry), and he may remind himself that his job is to serve those around Him and to serve the LORD with gladness. Proverbs 16:16-21 English Standard Version 16 How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver. 17 The highway of the upright turns aside from evil; whoever guards his way preserves his life. 18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. 19 It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud. 20 Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD. 21 The wise of heart is called discerning, and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness. Once again, we see that wisdom is to be valued above gold--even much fine gold. Understanding is to be valued above the choicest of silver. Those who have wisdom and money will know how to use the money that has been entrusted to them correctly. The one who lacks money, but has wisdom will know how to live within his means and work for his wages, but the one who has money without wisdom will quickly end up with neither as he will foolishly spend that which is in his possession to try to buy things that money can never buy you--happiness, peace, security and contentment, just to name a few.
There are only two paths to walk--the highway of the righteous or the path of destruction that the wicked are on. Those on the highway of the righteous clearly read the warning signs, stay within the guardrails of the Law and turn away from evil. A man who obeys God is rewarded with preservation of his own life (both now while the LORD has good work for him to do and ultimately with the everlasting life that the LORD bestows on those who belong to Him). Not so for the proud who walk in the ways of their father the devil. The road they are on leads to destruction, both here and now and for all eternity. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Pride is an abomination to the LORD, and it will lead to destruction because the proud person refuses to call on the LORD for help and refuses to give glory to the LORD, as the proud man seeks their own glory instead of the glory of God. It is better to be humble and be content with a few things than to be proud and rich. That doesn't jive with worldly wisdom, but that is what God has been telling us by His wisdom that He imparted to Solomon all throughout this book of Wisdom literature. The one who is humble has the LORD as his portion forever. That is more than enough! The one who is proud and rich will never be satisfied. We are also to give much thought to the Word of God and meditate on it day and night. We should learn to trust the Word of the LORD and rely completely on Him for all of our needs including provision and protection. Through the wisdom of His Word, the LORD will add discernment to those who are wise so that they are able, by His Spirit, to know the paths of righteousness that they should follow. He also gives the wise the ability to control their tongue. He puts His words in their mouths and causes their arguments they make to be persuasive as they are arguing in accordance with the LORD's Word, revealed will, and His nature, character, and Law. Proverbs 16:10-15 English Standard Version 10 An oracle is on the lips of a king; his mouth does not sin in judgment. 11 A just balance and scales are the LORD's; all the weights in the bag are his work. 12 It is an abomination to kings to do evil, for the throne is established by righteousness. 13 Righteous lips are the delight of a king, and he loves him who speaks what is right. 14 A king's wrath is a messenger of death, and a wise man will appease it. 15 In the light of a king's face there is life, and his favor is like the clouds that bring the spring rain. These verses mostly have to do with God's wisdom for kings and those with power and authority. When the king's mouth is busy speaking the words of the LORD, his mouth cannot be speaking things that would be sinful and lead him into judgment.
The "scales" which the LORD uses to judge by are fair-He does not use fake weights that given an inaccurate reading that is to the advantage of either party. He speaks the truth and the consequences that are given will fit the crime that was committed. We sin against the king of heaven, not only our own government authorities when we do evil. The LORD's throne is established in righteousness and therefore He is required to do justice and punish the wicked. The same should hopefully go for all kings and those with authority that was delegated by the LORD. The purpose of government is to promote and reward righteousness and discourage and punish evil. Laws don't necessarily make wicked people moral, but the punishment required by the Law might make them think twice before engaging in evil activities that could be punished by fines and/or imprisonment. The king therefore hates those who do evil and make his life harder. He has a hard enough time governing the righteous without the wicked making life difficult for him. The wicked will fear the king because he must punish them, but the righteous will love the king who rewards and protects them. Those who speak right things with their lips have good hearts from where those words come. James reminds us in the New Testament that from the abundance of the heart, the mouth overflows. If the king governs a people who are in control of their speech and their speech is righteous, it will bring a smile to the king's face. It makes his job easier to govern a good and godly people that are already self-governed by the Law of God. However, a man that speaks curses because his heart is evil as a thorn in the side of the king because the one whose heart is full of wicked words will also more likely give into wickedness and commit wicked actions. The king is just in executing his wrath to punish the wicked to give them a warning of the kind of consequences and punishment that await them in the judgment that comes to the wicked after death. There is still a chance for them to repent while they are still alive, and the king justly executes capital punishment on those who are threat to others he reigns over to put the ultimate judgment and justice in the hands of God. The wise man will do what he can to live in such a way to appease the king's wrath and never have to personally experience it. Only a foolish man wants the king's anger to burn hot against him. When the king (and specifically God) turned his face towards someone, that was an idiom related to showing that person favor and having blessings poured out on them. It is only by the blessings and favor of God (His mercy) that we live day after day. If He were to execute justice and judge us rightly for the sins we commit every day, we would all be under a death sentence each and every day. Jesus took the penalty for our sins for those of us who are in Christ, and He mediates, makes atonement, and intercedes on our behalf in front of the Father as our Great High Priest. Even His general, unmerited favor like the rain that falls on the righteous and the unrighteous is something that we should recognize as part of his lovingkindness and mercy. For it is the rain from these storms that makes the plants grow and the wind from these storms that makes their roots strong. So too are the storms of life that we endure that actually cause us to grow and deepen our faith. These too are good thins that come from the hand of the LORD. |
Daniel WestfallI will mostly use this space for recording my "journal" from my daily devotions as I hope to encourage others to read the Bible along with me and to leave a legacy for others. Archives
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