The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked, But He blesses the dwelling of the righteous. Proverbs 3:33

In order to represent God in a balanced Scriptural way, we need to see both the grace and mercy of God as well as His wrath and justice.  When we turn too far toward one without the balance of the other we can make God either a tyrant - or an indulgent parent.  He is neither.

Here we read of God - and see Him in balance.  First we see that the curse of God is on the house of the wicked.  The wicked are those who are enemies of God and His people.  They do not want to learn righteousness, but choose instead to actively pursue wicked ways.  At first we may be a little shocked by these words - that God has a curse for those who live this way - but the fact is that this is true.  It is a proper representation of God, and one that we should be alert and aware of in life.  Too many want to make God out to be an indulgent parent who winks at sin.  God has never winked at sin.  What was poured out on the Lord Jesus Christ is God's final statement about sin.  He poured wrath and judgment out upon His Son, when He became sin.  What God shows to the wicked is both patience and mercy.  He is patient with them in that He does not bring judgment upon them immediately upon their first sin.  But His mercy goes far beyond a "first sin," to the point where God is withholding His wrath on billions of sins every day.  He does this because He loves us - and because He loves to show mercy.  But that mercy will not last forever.  There will be a day when God's mercy will end - and then the wicked will face a judgment unlike anything we can ever imagine.  Though His judgment is awaiting the wicked - His lack of immediate action is not due to anything except His infinite mercies that are allowing the lost, the wicked to receive another day to hear the gospel and repent.

The righteous though - are blessed.  Their dwelling place will know the blessing and goodness of God.  What we may fail to see is that the only way we can be righteous in God's sight is to believe the gospel - to be made righteous by faith.  But oh how the blessings are released upon us when we respond to the gospel and receive what God has to offer.  First, He gives us the very righteousness of Christ as a gift - and then blessings flow freely to us.  Ephesians reminds us of the richeness of these blessings in the entire first chapter.  God has indeed blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus!  What is even more wonderful is that this passage reminds us that these wonderful blessings are passed to our entire household or dwelling place when we receive them.  There is a blessing in the home of the godly - just as there is a curse on the house of the wicked. 

Let me close today's comments with a question.  What are you bringing on your home with your choices spiritually?  Are you a conduit of blessing because of your submission and obedience to God, or are you something much different?  Does your family and friends rise up and call you blessed because of how God's grace is evident in you - and even evident to the point of blessing others around you?  That is what the truly wise person brings to their family and friends.  They bring blessing because of God's blessing in their lives.  May God make us a wonderful blessing to those around us!

There is a kind of man who curses his father And does not bless his mother. There is a kind who is pure in his own eyes, Yet is not washed from his filthiness. There is a kind—oh how lofty are his eyes! And his eyelids are raised in arrogance. There is a kind of man whose teeth are like swords And his jaw teeth like knives, To devour the afflicted from the earth And the needy from among men. Proverbs 30:11-14

Today's proverb is a four verse description of the hateful, wicked man.  The way this passage refers to this is with the phrase, "There is a kind."  The word "kind" is actually the Hebrew word for generation.  When you have a generation of people who are like this - you have a very difficult time coming upon the earth.  It is an interesting list of things that make for a wicked generation.

Verse 11 describes the first godless characteristic - which is having graceless, ungrateful children who dishonor their parents.  This generation curses their fathers and does not bless their mothers.  They disobey the one commandment with a promise - Honor your father and mother.  The bedrock of any generation is their ability to learn from their parents.  When the family goes awry there will be a basic disfunction and rebellion that will pervade the entire structure of the society.  The basic unit for passing on wisdom is the family.  Proverbs makes it clear again and again in the first 9 chapters of this book that it is through a father and mother that wisdom flows to the next generation.  So, when they have basic disdain for their parents that wisdom is lost to an entire generation.  We watched this in the late 1950's and 60's as almost an entire generation cast off the morals and the wisdom of their parents and decided to start their own revolution.  They decided that their's would be a generation of love and peace.  They tuned out on drugs, turned their ears from hearing and honoring their parents, and did whatever they wanted.  It was a disastrous generation - and those who embraced this kind of lifestyle and living continue to wreak havoc on society today. 

The second godless characteristic of this generation is that they are pure in their own eyes.  The Bible considered this particular sin one that is very damaging.  Those who consider themselves pure in their own eyes are blind to the truth that they are fallen and sinful.  They will justify themselves no matter who disgusting and disobedient their behavior becomes.  It is as if they are deaf to anything God says - and decide that whatever their flesh wants is true and good.  Those who fall into this trap will find themselves hopelessly bound in their sin and wickedness - and will only be delivered by the sovereign goodness of God as He draws them and illumines them to truth that is outside of themselves.  The Word tells us that even though they are pure in their own eyes, they are still unwashed from their filthiness.  Just because we decide we are going to redefine sin in our own minds does not mean that we are not guilty of it in God's sight.  No matter how many times the world tries to redefine sin, God's Word stands as ultimate and absolute truth.  When the wicked disobey God's Word - and decide that their own thinking is what defines pure - they still wind up standing before God as sinners.  But the world in which they live is upside down - and as such it is a difficult place for believers and those who desire to lead holy lives to live. 

The third evil characteristic is that they are arrogant.  This is described as having "lofty" eyes.  This simply means that they look down upon everyone else.  They consider themselves awesome and wonderful, while everyone else is lower than them.  This makes them arrogant.  Arrogance is defined in the Bible as primarily a sin agaisnt God.  Psalm 119:21 speaks of the arrogant as those who wander from God's commandments.  They ignore and look down upon God Himself - and therefore think far higher of themselves and what they want to do than they do of the commandments of God.  Proverbs says this makes them embrace sin and be careless (Prov 14:16) as well as those who stir up strife (Prov 28:25).  An arrogant heart ultimately disregards God.  Such a generation will exalt their own thinking and reasoning above God's.  If anyone tries to instruct them or correct them - up will go their eyes and eyelids as they look down on the poor fool who has decided to oppose their perfect wisdom.  Problem is the fool is the one whose eyelids are lifted in arrogance against God and against those who walk in His wisdom.

Disregard for parents, purity in our own eyes, and arrogance will lead to a society where gentility is gone.  The last of these four evil characteristics is that this generation is one where their mouths are out of control.  Their teeth are like swords - their jaw teeth are like knives - to devour the needy and afflicted among men.  They have no regard for the poor and needy.  They only see them as someone to exploit for their own ends.  There is a complete lack of civility because there was never other characteristics built into their lives to encourage it.  They do not regard parents - who would have taught them obedience and selflessness.  They do not see anything as sin - because they justify their own actions - and would even justify treating the afflicted and needy badly.  Finally, they are arrogant - and view all others as beneath themselves.  This makes it far easier to have little or no conscience at all as long as they get what they want in the end. 

There is a generation that lives this way.  Before you think I am going to refer to a specific generation - think about what the Bible says about the heart condition of mankind.  This is actually what happens in every generation of men.  It happens because of the fall of man into sin.  It happens because we are in rebellion against God - and want to do our own thing.  The generation of which Solomon speaks is any generation from the fall to the end of the age.  Unless God intervenes with the gospel and the saving of mankind by His grace - we would all eventually gravitate in these four directions.  These verses teach us wisdom by helping us to understand where the sinful nature and the flesh will take us.  If anything these verses should make us very open to running to God for his grace and His transformation.  Because if we don't - this is most likely what life will look like.  A world filled with a disregard for parents, filth being called purity, arrogance, and a society filled with harmful and vicious words.  This is a generation to be avoided at all costs.  But the only way out is through the gospel of Jesus Christ - and the regeneration in Him that changes us from the inside out. 

There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers. Proverbs 6:16-19

What does God hate?  This is a good question to ask - because the Lord actually lists for us 7 different things that He hates.  Some think that God doesn't hate anything because He is love.  But when you realize that whereas He loves righteousness and holiness - it means that by nature He must hate the opposite - and that is sin.  This is a good list to remember because it reminds us of at least 7 things we absolutely need to steer clear of in life.  We do this because we do not want to incur God's wrath for loving something He hates.

#1 - God hates Haughty Eyes . . . The proud look is something the Lord really despises.  The eyes, according to Scripture, are the windows of the soul.  When the eyes are filled with a haughty look it is a sure thing that the heart is filled with that same haughtiness or pride.  We remember from the book of James that God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.  It is no stretch then to say that in hating haughty eyes God truly despises those whose look communicates an arrogance and pride that shows that they have no respect for God and His ways - just an utter disdain of them.

#2 - God hates a Lying Tongue . . . One of the 10 commandments is not to bear false witness.  That means lying is out with God.  He is a God of truth, and He wants us to speak the truth.  When a tongue is a lying tongue, God hates the lies that come from it.  Truth opposes lies at every turn - and we can be assured that God opposes the liar whose lying tongue promotes just the opposite of what God loves and is. 

#3 - God hates Hands that Shed Innocent Blood . . . Here is one that we need to remember.  Innocent blood is murder.  God hates murder.  Once again we find that one of the things God hates is listed in the 10 commandments.  You shall not murder is commandment number five.  Jesus goes further in Matthew chapter 5 when He tells us that even the thoughts and words that are at the core of a murdering heart - God hates.  There is an application of this we also need to remember.  The false god Molech required that his worshippers have their children pass through the fire as a child sacrifice to him.  God hated this worship - and made it clear that the innocent blood shed in this practice would pay dearly for their sin.  I believe we have a similar worship today in the practice of abortion.  This practice is an abomination to God.  We have decided that children (usually conceived due to sexual immorality) are too much of an inconvenience.  Therefore we've devised the most heinous ways of disposing of them.  We burn them alive through saline abortions or puree them within their mother's womb.  And if this is not enough, when we wait too long to decide to dispose of one's conceived immorally, we just birth them partially and kill them in a way that we would NEVER consider for a convicted murderer.  How God hates this shedding of innocent blood. 

#4 - God Hates a Heart that Devises Wicked Plans . . . There are hearts that are thinking of evil - and who begin to plan to do evil.  This is true even of us when we set our hearts on sin and want to do our best to keep it hidden.  But there are those whose plans involve far more than just one man wanting to sin without being caught.  These are those who devise a wicked plan either in business or in the government.  These plans will harm thousands - and possibly millions.  They do not consider that their wicked plans will do this - because they are consumed either by the acquisition of wealth or power.  God hates these people because of how their thinking harms others.

#5 - God Hates Feet that Run Rapidly to Evil . . . Here we have someone who is just itching to run to evil things.  There is no restraint in this one - because when he or she sees evil - they want to run "rapidly" to it.  When a society turns from God - there is a growing stupidity and spiritual deadness that causes them to become insensitive to the warnings of Scripture.  Thus they start to run to evil - rather than stop and think about the harm it will do to them and to others.  When people run rapidly to evil it is also a sign that self is so completely dominant in their thinking that they are deaf to any other voice except the one that is urging them to do what they want.  God hates this because it reveals that a conscience is dead to Him and dead to the warnings of both the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit. 

#6 - God Hates A False Witness Who Utters Lies . . . Here we have what seems to be a second time that lying is mentioned.  This second time though it is mentioned in the context of someone who is a false witness on a matter.  This first time is was just a lying tongue.  The false witness could be someone who speaks lies in a courtroom where the role of perjury comes into play.  This would mean a perversion of justice and God loves justice and righteousness.  It can also mean a false prophet or someone who lies about religious matters - thus causing some to put their faith in a god who is not God at all.  Either way God hates it when someone who lies as a witness on a matter.  They encourage people to make decisions based upon deception and lies.  No wonder He hates these things - because the very first sin was due to the work of the devil as he was a false witness to Eve about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  That lie, that deceit - when believed was the impetus that led to the fall of all of humanity into sin and rebellion against God.

#7 - God Hates One who Spreads Strife Among Brothers . . . The final thing in this list of seven is a person who is causing problems - actually who is spreading strife among the brethren.  This person is one who either learns of strife - or is causing it.  He is not content though we knowing it himself.  He becomes the ultimate evangelist for strife among the brethren.  He wants to see as many people upset and involved in this strife as possible.  It should be no small wonder to us then that God does not say, "Blessed are the strife-makers."  He says just the opposite.  It is the peacemakers who will be called the sons of God.  When God could have magnified the ultimate strife of the universe in sin - He did not.  He chose to make peace through the blood of the cross of Jesus Christ.  Therefore it really should be no shock to us that He also hates those who go the opposite way - and spread strife rather than spread peace among the brothers.  We might need to remember this the next time we have a choice to continue a situation of strife and conflict - when we have an opportunity to bring peace instead.

Seven things God hates . . . it is a very sobering list.  There are some things like murder and wicked plans that we would fully expect to be on this list.  But other things that we tend to minimize tend to shock us here.  Some call lying just telling a little fib - or a white lie.  Others might not see spreading strife by gossipping to be something that is not the best - but certainly something that everyone does.  The fact is that when God calls these things the seven things He hates - we need to remember them - and then learn to hate them in our own lives as well.  That, my dear saints - is wisdom.

A rebellious man seeks only evil, So a cruel messenger will be sent against him. Proverbs 17:11

When a man is in rebellion against God he is seeking only evil in his life.  What a fascinating statement this is - and yet, because it is Scripture, we know that it is true.  So let's learn some lessons from the rebellious man so that we will not find ourselves visited in the same way that he is visited in this proverb.

The rebellious man is the one who is obstinant - stubborn - and rebellious.  But there is one very important thing about his rebellion.  It is against God and His laws and ways.  The term was used often to describe the way that Israel was determined to go their own way - stubbornly refusing to obey the precepts and laws that God gave them in His Word.  It is used also of Saul's reusal to carry out the Lord's command concerning the Amalekites.  This man wants nothing to do with what God desires and calls for from us.  Thus he sets himself in a direction that only agrees with what he wants.  We read here that this man, while in this sad spiritual condition, seeks only evil.  Until he comes to the place where he will submit himself to God and to what God says in His Word - it matters not what he does - because it is evil.  Turn from God and you turn from anything that is truly good.  Turn from God and you will ultimately turn away from anything useful - at least in eternal matters.  And since everything in this life and this existance will be destroyed with fire in the end, anything not laid up in eternity will be first consumed by moth and rust - but in the end it will be destroyed by fire. 

A promise is given to the rebellious man - one that is pretty frightening.  God says that because of his rebellion, this man will receive a messenger from the Lord.  We read that a "cruel messenger" will be sent against him.  The word for cruel here is "akazarty" and it means someone whose cruelty is contrasted with a person who is merciful and righteous.  What God is saying here is that a messenger who knows no mercy is going to come against the rebellious man.  There is coming a day for the rebellious man - a terrifying day.  God refers to such days in the prophets of the Old Testament.  He calls such a day, "the cruel day of the Lord. 

Isaiah 13:9 tells us of such a day when God says, "Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, To make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from it."  In order to grasp what is said here - and what kind of things will come with this cruel day I want to take a few moments and exegete this verse for us.  The "cruel" day of the Lord is described for us in five ways here.  Each will help us understand better the cruel messenger that is going to be send against the rebellious man.

1.  Cruel - this day is going to be one that is "cruel" The Hebrew here - akazary - means lacking mercy or kindness.  This is the day - the day Jehovah removes mercy from the scene - in other words, man is going to receive what He deserves.  He has deserved such cruelty - but God has withheld it - even pouring it out upon His Son for forgiveness to be given - but now - only cruelty is left.  This word was used to describe the utter savagry of the cruel warriors of Babylong - now - that savagery is returning upon their head!

2.  Fury - Hebrew is "ebrah" meaning an overflowing fury, wrath, and anger.  God is overflowing with wrath.  He has withheld it for the most part - but now, no longer.  It is released - and like a dam breaking - it comes with power - crushing all that is before it.

3.  Burning Anger - The word here means a fierce anger that is like an uncontrolled fire burning and consuming all that is before it.  God is no longer holding back this fury and wrath - now it burns in all its measure upon the wicked.

4.  Desolation - The land is now a desolation - a waste - a horror to behold.  Those who would look upon it would do so with a sense of being appalled! 

5.  A Day of Extermination of Sinners - The end of this is to "exterminate" the sinners from it.  The word means to destory, eraditcate, exterminate - to totally or utterly destroy or wipe out.  That is what is awaiting those who grieve and anger the Lord of the universe!

When we read these words, the wise among us tremble in fear of God.  We also do all that we can to abandon any way that God would describe as rebellious.  We want nothing to do with the rebellious man - or his ways.  He is truly a stupid man for living in this way.  Some might accurately go as far to say that he is close to insane for living in rebellion against God.  Others (actually the rebellious themselves) will laugh all this off - rejecting God's warning and His holiness and justice. 

It is sad to say that the cruel messenger that will come to them to awaken them out of their spiritual lethargy and rebellion will be death.  In that moment they will move from rebellion to terror.  But in that day it will be too late.  God will have already sent His final message to them - and what a cruel, absolute message it will be.  No mercy will be available in that day.  Just the opposite will be true.  Having rejected God's mercy all their lives, these rebellious fools will have only the fiercest of the wrath of God as the reward for a life that sought only evil during the few brief years given to them.  May God give us grace that we will reject such a stupid and foolish choice.  May we look at rebellion and rebellious ways toward God as we would look at a vile of beubonic plague - as that which will bring certain death and destruction.

So she seizes him and kisses him And with a brazen face she says to him:
Proverbs 7:13

Here we have the continued description of the immoral, adulterous woman.  It is a description that warns us of the actions of a woman that should cause us to pause if a woman we meet acts in this way.  Some, after reading today's post will probably disagree with me, saying that I am taking this too far.  But the fact is that today immorality is running rampant in the church today.  We might be wiser to consider steering clear of the kind of behavior that is mentioned here.

The immoral woman is very forward in how she approaches men.  This woman seizes this guy and kisses him.  In today's society woman are encouraged to be more forward with men.  They are told that to sit idlely by and wait for a man to make the move is from the Victorian era - and it does not work any longer.  Those who say such things are those who also explain away the Scriptures.

The Word of God states that it is good for a man not to touch a woman.  In regard to the relationship between a man and a woman before they are married, when we ingore this statement, we do so to our own peril.  What usually happens is that touch leads to more.  When the barrier of kissing is breached, it will lead to more.  The next barrier is that of making out - which often also has sexual petting that goes with it.  One that barrier is breached it is only the mercy of God that keeps a couple from engaging in sexual intercourse.  That is why it is so important that unmarried young ladies (or any age for that matter) refrain from becoming bold in their approach to physical contact with a man.  When they do this - the man, who is stimulated much easier than her - will push the relationship beyond where she takes it. 

Note that Solomon states that it is with a brazen face that this woman speaks to the man whom she has seized and kissed.  The word "brazen" here means that it is a face filled with pride and indicates that she has seriously stepped beyond where any godly woman would go.  Her arrogance is at a very high level.  When you realize that she is about to propose sexual intercourse with this young man next - you see that she is truly a godless, immoral woman.  Her "forward-ness" is a warning that she is going to push this encounter all the way to sexual intercourse if she can.  It indicates to the man that she is a harlot, an adulterer, an immoral woman.  The warning given to the young man is serious - keep your way FAR from her.  If she gets this close - you are in grave danger. 

Today the film and television industry just about salutes such women.  They think it is great that women are grabbing life by the horns and pushing the envelope sexually.  But such a thing is not to be saluted - it is reason for grieving.  When the women of a society begin acting like this - the society itself is moving toward destruction.  The women are a society are meant to be ones who hold it back from destruction.  They are called the fairer sex.  This means that they are more spiritually astute - and tend to keep the society back from actions that would harm it.  But when they reach this level of degregation, things are moving fast toward a total breakdown of societal stability. 

I offer a word of encouragement to parents and to young women who desire God's best for themselves and for their future families.  Teach your daughters how to be chaste, godly, reserved women.  Help them embrace their femininity.  Teach them to wait on God for their husbands - and to reserve their purity and virginity for God and His glory - and the man God brings to them to be their husband.  This will require rejecting the forwardness of our society - and the push that feminism has made to make women just like men.  You will find with this choice that your daughters will be far more humble.  They will learn trust and reliance upon the Lord as they wait for God to bring them their husbands.  Oh, and it will do one other thing.  It will begin to bring our sexually crazed society back to godliness - at least as they see these young ladies.  What is amazing is as they see this - they will both mock and wonder.  They mock because doing so alleviates their own trashed consciences.  But they will wonder because deep down within themselves they will know that this is right.  There will even be a tinge of regret that they did not make the same decision.  May God give us grace to train up our daughters to be such women of holiness . . . and . . . may we also teach our sons to value such ladies - and become the kind of men who can become their husbands.

A worthless person, a wicked man, Is the one who walks with a perverse mouth, 13 Who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet, Who points with his fingers; 14 Who with perversity in his heart continually devises evil, Who spreads strife. 15 Therefore his calamity will come suddenly; Instantly he will be broken and there will be no healing. Proverbs 6:12-15

There are certain things that identify for us a wicked person.  Proverbs takes four verses and describes for us in an expanded way what a wicked person looks like - and what his future entails.  Let's take a look at this today in a a little longer version of our look at Proverbs. 

First of all a wicked person is described in two ways.  First he is called a "worthless person."  The word used here is very descriptive for it is the Hebrew word "beliyaal" which is one of the terms that is used to describe the devil.  His minions are described in Scripture as the sons of Belial.  The word means a worthlessness which has its major emphasis on the moral aspect of life.  Thus the word came to mean a wicked person.  The word is used to describe the hard-hearted in Deuteronomy 15:9 and 1 Samuel 30:22.  These are also those who promote rebellion against the authority of God.  The wicked therefore are those who hold a moral standard that is worthless for it encourages them and others to rebel against God's authority and choose to be hard-hearted toward the Lord and toward His commandments. 

The wicked is also described as being - well - wicked.  He is referred to as a wicked man.  The word for wicked (awen) means someone who is troublesome, who causes sorrow by his bent toward evil and mischief.  He seeks after nothingness and loves falsehood.  Strongly embedded in this word is the reality that this man or woman commits iniquity and intentionally misses God's mark of godliness.  Once it has been established what kind of person is being spoken of here - Solomon begins putting forth a list of things the worthless and wicked man does.  He is not called wicked due to some prejudice - but simply because of the choices that this man makes.  Because of the large number of descriptions of his actions, I will number them as we define them.

1.  He walks with a perverse mouth - He has a mouth that is filled with perversion and deceitfulness.  He has a mouth that speaks without integrity or truth, but rather embraces immorality and deception. 

2.  Winks with his eyes - This refers to a winking or blinking of the eyes which was always done with a mocking, malicious, or deceitful intent.  Proverbs 10:10 says that this is done to devise trouble, while Proverbs 16:30 tells us that a man does this to devise perverse things - and is usually done in combination with a mouth that is speaking of evil and seeking to bring evil to pass.  These are signals to others so that they will either join in an evil plan - or that they will know that they are not to interrupt as this wicked man is using his perverse mouth to bring scorn on the godly or upon godly, holy things. 

3.  Signals with his feet - This literally means he scrapes with his feet.  In the Middle East this was a sign that was given from one to another - and it was used among the seamy aspects of society.  This is clearly a sign used by the wicked so that others will join with them in some evil plot.

4.  Points with his fingers - Again a reference to a sign used for no good.  These are all the kind of things that are used by someone who is planning trouble.  The idea here is that this wicked, worthless man is up to something.  These things are done for some wicked purpose.

5.  He continually devises evil - This guy is always thinking of some scheme or some way to do his evil - or walk in some kind of evil plan of his own making.  Note also that this is done with "perversity in his heart."  This guy is always in to perverting situations, perverting people, or as I've seen in some - speaking of something perverse at all times. 

6.  Spreads strife - He is sending out strife - causing serious problems for people in how they relate to one another.  Wherever he goes - there seems to be relational problems that follow after him.  Paul warns us to stay away from a factious man - a man who spreads strife like this.  The mark of the sons of God is that we are peacemakers - not peace-destroyers.

I feel the need to offer a note at this point.  Twice in this passage it is said that the wicked are perverse.  There is a tendency among Christians, and it is a trap I've fallen into as well, to be tiptoeing around the edges of perversity in their speech.  It is unfortunately gaining more acceptance for a believer to have a more perverse mouth.  This is true even in pulpits.  This is not a good thing - but something that we need to gain control of individually in our lives.  Our society is getting more and more coarse in how they speak.  We in the church honestly do not need to follow suit by staying a few steps behind them (so that we are not as bad as they are in how we speak).  We should be those who shun perversity in our lifestyles, in our actions, and in our speaking.

What happens to the worthless/wicked man?  Well, it might surprise you to see that God does not promise that the moment he does these things that he will be judged.  There may be a period of time where he may even prosper.  We learn from Psalm 73 that at times the godly may struggle because this is so.  But just like we learned from this Psalm, we will learn here in Proverbs that trouble and calamity is coming.

What happens to the wicked man is that calamity comes suddenly upon him.  He may continue in his rebellion for years thinking that everything is fine.  He may even come to the false conclusion that God does not see his evil - or is unable to stop him in it.  Nothing is further from the truth.  What is happening is that this man is storing up wrath for himself - that will be revealed one day when his calamity comes - but will truly be meted out on the day of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God.

We learn here that in an instant this wicked/worthless man is going to be broken.  Jesus spoke of how men can either fall on the Rock and be broken before God - or - one day that Rock will fall upon them.  On that fateful day they will not be just broken, they will be crushed.  Here we read that this instant breaking will be one from which this worthless/wicked man cannot be healed.  He will face destruction that will bring terror to him. 

Saints of God, know this for certain.  The wicked will continue to act wickedly, the godless will continue to be godless, and the judgment of God will continue to build until its breaking point.  The reason I say this is because God said this after revealing Himself in one of the most terrifying books in the Bible.  Revelation 22 closes the book with this warning.  After men have read about the judgment of God - after they have read of a day where earth and heaven will flee from God in all of His glory - as He is revealed in His mighty, terrifying judgments.  After all of this - John knows by the Spirit of God most will continue in their wickedness.  They will not heed the words of warning given in this Revelation of Jesus Christ.  So he says these words which he hears from the angel of the Lord, 

"And he said* to me, 'Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. "Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy.  Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.'" Revelation 22:10-12, NASB

The worthless/wicked man will continue in his perversity.  He will continue to speak his perverse words, make his perverse plans, create strife with his perverse ways.  But there will be a moment - an instant when the judgment of God and the due for his words, plans, and actions will come suddenly.  So let us, unlike those to whom Revelation 22:10-12 is addressed, take heed - and order our ways so that the reward we receive is the one given for those who are good and faithful servants of the Lord who shun perversity, perverse words, perverse plans, and a perverse lifestyle. 

He who sows iniquity will reap vanity, And the rod of his fury will perish. Proverbs 22:8

The other day something truly amazing happened.  I had planted a batch of tomato seeds, and after a couple of months I went out and harvested a whole bucket full of orages from the vines that grew there.  Now if you are someone who is even the least bit familiar with agriculture, you know that this last statement was false.  If I planted tomato seeds into the ground - the only thing I will harvest from them is tomatos.  There is an unbending principle at work here - whatever you sow is what you will reap.  That principle is what is at the core of what is taught in today's proverb.

Here we have a man who is sowing iniquity.  The word used here is a pretty tough word.  It means unrighteousness, injustice, or wrong.  This doesn't sound too bad until you begin to look a little deeper into the word and its usage.  It is used to describe violent injustice and outright wickedness.  Keil and Delitasch state that this word means, "unsympthizing tyranny, cruel misconduct toward a neighbor."  It describes the actions of one who wants the person who feels his wrong to feel the fury of his anger.  The second half of this proverb makes that clear.  The iniquity that he is sowing is manifest in the "rod of his fury," which is felt by those unfortunate enough to be his victims.  These kind of actions are usually those of a despotic king - or a person who is misusing their authority. 

When one sows like this - they are going to reap vanity.  The word for vanity here is the Hebrew word "aven" which means emptiness or nothingness.  It can also mean sorrow, trouble, evil, or mischief.  The idea here is that this despotic individual thinks he is going to reap the power of his authority - when in reality he is going to reap nothingness.  The thought behind this nothingness is that of utter destruction.  We've watched as this has happened right before our eyes.  Saddam Hussein thought he was building an empire - but what he received in the end was a rude awaking in a hole - and the end of a hangman's noose.  The Word of God warns in Galatians 6:7 that God will not be mocked - whatever a man sows he shall also reap.  If he sows to the flesh, as he is here, he will from the flesh reap corruption.  No one can outrun the hand of God and the principles upon which the Lord has founded this world. 

The wicked man thinks that the rod of his fury will make others bow down and obey him.  He rules only with fear - and trusts that fear alone will bring him the results that he desires.  But the proverb tells us that this man - after all his furious tiraids - will perish.  All his fury will do for him is ensure that his place in history is set as a terrible ruler or leader.  His memory will not be blessed - men will curse it and use it as a byword.  They will remember him not as a wise man - but as a fool.  There lies the man who thought he could rule the world through wickedness and through fear.  No one fears him now - and what awaits him is the utter vanity for which he worked.  Having spent his life living for himself and for his own arrogant pursuits - he will die facing the fury of the One before Whom he will stand and give an account for his actions.  Having rejected His love and His offer of mercy and grace through Jesus Christ, unfortunately for him, the fury of God will never cease.