The Merciless Messenger Sent to the Rebellious - and His Terrifying Message - Proverbs 17:1110/17/2010 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.
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A just balance and scales belong to the LORD; All the weights of the bag are His concern. Proverbs 16:11
When it comes to how we live - and how we do business - God is concerned with how we proceed in integrity. Thus we find today's proverb. It deals with the call for a just balance and scales. Since this was an agricultural society, most if not everything was sold by weight. Thus the scales that a person used was the most important part of the transaction, since a false weight and scales would be a deceptive business owner who was trying to cheat his customers. God desires a just balance and scales. The Lord wants us to be honest in business - to be fair and equitable. The "weights" mentioned later were actually rocks that were a standard of measure. These rocks needed to be a certain weight. The way that they maintained measurements was by having the temple regulating them. This is why the statement is made about all the weights of the bag being God's concern. There was the shekel of the sanctuary - as well as the various weights that were used there. These weights were considered the official weights of the society. If someone thought that a weight was being skewed in its true weight - the official sanctuary weights would be the place where they would be checked. If there was cheating going on, they would be punished for their unjust and ungodly standards. What we are told here though goes beyond that. We are told that all the weights of the bag are not just kept at the temple - they are kept in the thoughts of God Almighty. They are his concern. That takes the whole idea of integrity in the workplace to another level. The Lord is keeping track of our weights and measurements. He knows the work ethic that we seek to maintain - and He knows every time that we use an unjust weight or measure. Surely in our society as well as in theirs, there were men who sought to bend the rules to their adantage. And, like in our society, we cannot catch everyone who seeks to be unjust in their business dealings. But we do have a God who can see eery transaction - every time we weigh out our time, our efforts, and our produce. He sees and knows what we are doing - and He also realizes that in the end - the place of judgment will be His throne. Oh that we might learn this - and walk through this world with the appropriate fear of God - and respect for His commandments. Yes there will be those who think they can "get away" with it as they cheat others. But the reality is that those who do such things never get away with it. The Lord holds all the weights of the bag - and the judgment for not just religious works - but for how we operate in business as well - will be before Him. The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, But He loves one who pursues righteousness. Proverbs 15:9
We need to seriously sit down from time to time and ask ourselves two very pointed questions. The first is this, "What way am I going?" That describes the path that we are walking. There is a way that we are going - a series of choices that is slowly but surely making a way for us. Another way to put it is where is my "lifestyle" going. A choice yields a consequence - a series of choices leads to a habit - and a way of choosing will lead to a lifestyle. Where are our choices leading us? We read here that the way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord. God looks at the consistent choices of the wicked - and He hates it. He considers it an abomination to Him. The word used here for wicked means the guilty or the transgressor. This is the man who looks at God's law - God's Word - and just walks over it on his way to doing whatever he wants. He is a transgressor - one who steps over the line - who ignores the rules - at least the rules of God. We learn from this proverb that God considers this way of living an abomination. It is a little comforting to see that God says it is the way of the wicked that is an abomination - not the wicked person himself. But God is not at all shy in saying how much He hates the wicked way - the wicked lifestyle. The word abomination means that God sees the lifestyle choices of the wicked and finds them disgusting, abhorent, and abominable. This is something I think we've had a tendency to shy away from in recent years. We don't call sin what it is - an abomination. Sin absolutely disgusts God. He abhors it! There is wrath that is being stored up for the wicked - and we need to see this because too often we tend to want to mollify how God feels about sin. But the cross should solve for us once and for all that God hates sin. If this is how He had to punish His Son for becoming sin - believe the Scriptures when they say that God hates sin! But before this proverb becomes just about how God considers sin an abomination - we need to see the second half of this proverb. It holds great promise and hope for the one who pursues what is right. The Lord loves the one who pursues righteousness. What a great promise this is for us. Note does not say that the Lord only loves the one who achieves righteousness. It says pursue! Thus, we may not always live as righteous as we want - we may not always be the perfect example of godliness and holiness - but when we pursue it (or pursue Him) - God loves it! The word "pursues" here means to chase after or to chase down. This is not just a casual pursuit of righteousness, it is a dedicated and passionate pursuit. God absolutely loves it when we pursue righteousness. He delights in one who says that he wants God's ways - not wicked ways. Since we are talking about a true understanding of righteousness - we also must include that he chases after righteousness the right way. He does not seek it by works - but realizes that faith-based righteousness that is found only in the Lord Jesus Christ is the only way to become righteous. As he embraces this righteousness he also wants to learn how to cooperate with the Holy Spirit as the fruit of the Spirit is produced within him. He cooperates by dying to self and living only to please God in what he does. There are two ways presented before us in this proverb. There is the way of wickedness that rejects God and rejects His holiness and truth - and there is the passionate pursuit of righteousness. This is not a pursuit of our own righteousness obtained by the Law - but a pursuit which is by faith from first to last. This pursuit is eventually set upon the Lord Jesus Christ. We pursue Him - a relationship with Him and a passion to serve and to love Him with all our hearts. The house of the wicked will be destroyed, But the tent of the upright will flourish. Proverbs 14:11
The Bible calls us to be aliens and strangers in this world - while we live for a world that is to come. As you read this verse, you might wonder how it relates to this particular proverb. It has everything to do with it - because how you are directed - and where you look to receive directions will radically affect your decisions, and will in the end, decide whether you are among the wicked - or the upright. That decision in turn will have very serious consequences on whether what you do will flourish - or eventually be destroyed. The wicked settle down in this world. This is seen in the fact that they are spoken of as being in a house. They are very comfortable in this world and comfortable with how this world operates. Thus this world has a great deal to say about what their values are and how they will live. When we "settle down" and become comfortable with the world and its ways - we are headed for trouble. James tells us that anyone who is a friend of the world is an enemy of God. The world and its ways should make us uncomfortable. We are looking for the city whose architect and builder is God. We live for the Jersusalem that is above. Do you walk through this life comfortable with the ways of the world? One of the dangers I see in my life regularly is that through television and the various forms of media - there seems to be a constant push for me to adopt the values of this present world. If I am not careful I will become so comfortable in this world I will forget spiritual reality (which by the way IS reality itself). As I become comfortable with the world and its thinking, I will in turn become comfortable with this world and its actions and lifestyles. Before long, I will begin at first accepting the ways of the wicked - and if I am not careful - acting like them as well. We are told the opposite in this passage too though. The tent of the upright will flourish. Note here that the upright man is spoken of as living in a tent rather than a house. The tent was the choice of those who did not choose to "settle down" in one place. They saw themselves not in the light of settling down - but as strangers and aliens who were just passing through this present world. As a result they do NOT settle down in this world - nor do they adopt its ways. There is no great need to accumulate the wealth or the things that this world values - because they are transient. They will pass away - actually we ourselves will pass away - at least in these human bodies of ours. Therefore we should not seek to get too comfortable in this world - nor become too comfortable with its ways. Our hearts need to be firmly set on heavenly things. We need to be living with heaven in view - and realize that our ultimate inheritance is there. Therefore we also look to heaven and to the Lord who is enthroned there for our values and for what we should seek. Please do not see these comments on this proverb as an endictment on buying a house - or as a commentary on how it is better to be a Bedouin than an American. We are speaking of spiritual realities. These things represent an attitude - a choice of a lifestyle. So the question we must answer is not whether we live in a physical house or a tent - but rather whether we are settling down in our minds so that this world is our home - rather than seeing our home in the world to come. Why is this important? I guess in a crude sort of way I can refer to a cross stitch I once saw to explain this. It said, "Home is where the Heart is." There is the crux of the problem. If your home is in this world - that is what will most influence your heart. If your home is in the world to come - where God will reign in righteousness - your heart . . . your values . . . and your lifestyle will reflect it. Oh, and one last thing . . . if you live for this world - you are living for a world that will be destroyed in the end. If you live for the world to come - even now God is preparing a place for you - so that where He is - there you will be also. Through insolence comes nothing but strife, But wisdom is with those who receive counsel. Proverbs 13:10
Today we are going to learn about the danger of the sin of presumption. I know that this one rarely comes across our lives - or at least we rarely talk about it. Can't really remember a time when anyone dealt with this in a teaching or a sermon. But, since that is where we are in Proverbs - let's take a look today. The Bible calls this sin "insolence," and we are warned that nothing comes through it except strife. The word for insolence here is the Hebrew word "zadon" and it means presumptuousness or pride. The idea here is that of a willful decision that has not consulted with God - or doing something without really knowing whether it is the will of God or not. We presume that we can do something or say something and we have no real idea whether the Lord is in it or not. But rather than back up and check - we push ahead. Suddenly the sin of presumption seems much closer to our world and lifestyle than we first thought. This was actually the original sin in the garden. Eve presumed that it would be OK to partake of the fruit - even though it was clearly NOT the will of God for her to do so. When she heard the arguments of the serpent, she presumed that the rules had changed. The sin of presumption comes in so many ways. It comes when we decide that we really don't need to study and read God's Word. Our ignorance of the Bible only radically furthers our presumption. Some mistakenly lump presumption with initiative. But initiative considers what someone wants - or what they need - and rather waiting to be asked to do something - takes the initiative to do what is right. Presumption doesn't know what is right - doesn't ask - and goes ahead with the plan and action without finding out. Through presumption comes nothing but strife. We first have strife with God because ultimately He is the One upon which we are presuming. We just figure that He approves what we want to do - and we do it. Later when we learn that it is sin - we justify ourselves and our actions claiming ignorance. Our most ignoranct moment was going ahead with our plans before we ever knew His will. Presumption draws upon pride for its strength. Pride tells us that we know what is best for ourselves - and we ought to be able to do some things without asking. We "presume" that we are free agents, able to do what we want without consequences. Yet, the consequences come - and come hard in the end. We also wind up with strife among people. Take 5 selfish people and put them in an organization. Each is prideful about their ability to lead - and each thinks their ideas are wonderful! Let them loose without any kind of restraint upon them - especially any when it comes to seeking the face and heart of God. Soon you will have more strife as they push forward with their "ideas" without any thought of their consequence (except the consequence of them being noticed, advanced, honored, etc.). They presume that because they think it is a good idea - it ought to be done - and done now. Oh, the battles, the strife, the infighting, and the grief that the sin of presumption causes. You sometimes watch entire churches set aflame with anger, broken relationships, and pride as they splinter due to the sin of presumption. How do we keep presumption from creeping into our thinking and our lives? The second half of this proverb tells us that the cure for presumption is to receive counsel. But wisdom is with those who receive counsel. First, we receive the counsel of God. The Lord told Joshua at the beginning of his leadership over Israel, "This book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night. So that you may be careful to do all that is in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success." There is the key - to know God's Word. We receive counsel when we make sure that what we are doing is in accord with the Word of God. We are wise when we make it a priority to seek His face and know His ways. Then we make certain that what we are doing is what He wants. No presumption - but careful seeking and careful ordering of our lives according to His direction for us. The same is true when we take the time to ask for counsel from others BEFORE we launch out into an endeavor. The Word tells us that in an abundance of counsellors there is victory! How much better we do when we take the time to ask someone - and hone our ideas through the wisdom and eyes of others. We are resuced from our own extremes - and learn to live to serve one another - even in how we push forward with what we are desiring to do. Before we end today's proverb I would like to give one memorable Biblical example. When Joshua led Israel, the people of Gibeon came to him and the leaders of Israel deceptively. They wore worn out clothes and took crumbled provisions to make them think they were from a far country. They were from Canaan - and were not to be a people with whom Israel entered into any covenant. But Joshua and the leaders believed their eyes - and presumptuously decided to enter into a covenant with the Gibeonites. The Scriptures tell us that, "they did not seek the counsel of God." The end was a horrible decision - one that would cost them dearly. It happened all because they presumed to know what to do - and decided that they did not need to ask God about it. Oh the grief that would be spared if we would seek to destroy this sin of presuming upon God. The strife that would be avoided if we would only make it a lifelong practice to turn to Him and ask Him what should be done. Make it a point today to turn to the Lord - make it a point to turn to Him in every situation to ask His heart and His will. Learn from Joshua - that we need to meditate day and night upon the Word of God - so that we will do the will of God and prosper. That is how we can begin to see this little known - but often practiced sin removed from our lives. A righteous man has regard for the life of his animal, But even the compassion of the wicked is cruel. Proverbs 12:10
Finally, a proverb dealing with animal rights! Now we can blast all those who choose to wear fur as a covering for themselves! Oh, but wait a minute - God covered Adam and Eve with the skins of animals. Oh, snap - we've got another problem because John the Baptist wore a leather girdle - the hide of a cow. So, what exactly is God speaking about here when He advocates having regard for the life of his animal? A righteous man regards the life of his animal. He is concerned for it - and cares for it. Even though we cannot biblically justify the extreme of the animal rights movement - we can see that God is not pleased when we treat animals cruelly. Yet in the worship of God Himself - there were required sacrifices of animals. But there is a difference between rearing animals for the purpose of meat and clothing - and someone just being cruel to an animal while it is alive. God does not forbid us to eat meat. Many of the men He used greatly were shepherds. Their purpose and job was to work with livestock and raise it to be a food source for their family and for other families. So we can rule out the idea that God is against all killing of animals for the purpose of eating meat - and creating clothing. But, we cannot look at this passage and justify someone treating their animals with cruelty and indifference. Someone who would beat an animal just because they want to - or because they are angry - will not find justification for their actions from the Word of God. God desires for us to treat our livestock as well as our pets with the kind of compassion and kindness that is indicative of His own nature. When we become cruel and unkind to animals - that displeases God. What we read about the wicked though, is that even their compassion is cruel. This is an interesting oxymoron. Compassionless compassion is what we can expect from the wicked man. The wicked don't care about animals - and will whip them mercilessly. It is a sad thing to watch a wicked man abuse an animal. I remember when we were given a beautiful Labrador Retriever. We did not know the people who gave it to us - and were truly grateful for the dog. But soon after receiving him, we could tell that they were abusive toward the dog. Any time we would even approach him, he would cower and yelp - fearing that he was about to be hit. We loved him - and eventually he knew that we were not going to strike him. Still it broke my heart to think how cruel someone had to be to get a dog to respond like that. The true believer realizes that all creation belongs to God. Thus as we walk through this life we want to treat what is God's respectfully. That does not mean that we don't use nature as God intended (which means that hunting and fishing, and raising livestock is not evil). It does mean that we are not cruel and evil with it. Those kind of actions are reserved for those who are wicked, and who do not fear God. When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, And when the wicked perish, there is joyful shouting. Proverbs 11:10
What kind of leader do people love having rule over them? According to this proverb they love a righteous leader. They rejoice when it goes well with this kind of man - but when the wicked rule, it is a completely different matter. A godly leader is a blessing to a nation. If you have one, rejoice - because the reality is that due to sin and the fall - there are very few of them that come in the course of human history. When they do exist - the whole city rejoices over them. They are just because God's sense of justice rules in their hearts. They are not prone to abuse their power, because they know that ultimately they are ruled by heaven. They are wise and they bless a city by using the wisdom of God Himself to govern their actions and their choices. In the end, their godly ways are a blessing to the entire area - and makes way for God's prosperity to reign in a town. The Lord loves to bless His Ones who lead - and who hold positions of authority. He loves it because they desire to honor Him in how they give leadership to others. The wicked are a curse upon a city. When you look at the history of Israel and Judah - you see this time and time again. Kings rose up whose hearts were given to themselves and to their own desires. As they rule they abuse the people. Their desire is for their power - and they can use it ruthlessly to put out any kind of complaint or lack of support among the people. Many godless kings and leaders have brought destruction and devastation to their land because of wickedness and sin. In the end, when these wicked leaders die, the people break forth into rejoicing and praise. They shout for joy in knowing that their land will be no longer ruled by a fool. All throughout history horrible leaders have come and have gone - and every time they died or were killed - the people of their land wanted to dance in the streets. They did so because a wicked man would not longer rule over them. They would have the opportunity for a righteous and godly man to rise up and bring blessing to them by a much more godly rule. Here is a little tidbit of wisdom since at the time I write this - we are only a month away from a major election. Choose your leaders according to wisdom - God's wisdom. If you do not - you might choose someone who is a tyrant. Voting for those who will lead you is a precious and awesome responsibility. We need to choose righteous men who will lead us in God's way - and who will see the need for God to do a work in our land. May He gives us men of wisdom and character. May He gives us men who will stand up and be counted for our Lord Jesus Christ. This is what God desires for us to enjoy - a life ruled by men whose greatest desire is to please God. Oh, that we would look closely at each candidate and base our decision on a close examination of his character, choices, and whether or not he is a godly man. If we begin doing this - we will find great reason for rejoicing - because God will bless us once again with citizen legislators whose desire is for the longterm best that God can give our nation. "Counsel is mine and sound wisdom; I am understanding, power is mine.
Proverbs 8:14 Here we find wisdom speaking to us - calling out to us to learn and to live by wisdom. At this point in wisdom's statements, we see wisdom stating what is hers - that there are certain things that wisdom possesses and offers to those who will learn from her. Today let's take a look at four of these things. COUNSEL - Wisdom says that counsel belongs to her. If we want godly counsel, we will have it if we learn wisdom. Counsel refers to a plan or advice. Here it would refer to godly counsel - or counsel that would help us to walk in the will of God. Want to please God in your life? Want to walk in this life in a way that honors and glorifies God? Then learn wisdom - because with wisdom - with seeing the world as God does comes counsel to do what is right. SOUND WISDOM - This word means a wisdom that guarantees continuing success or continued advancement. When we learn from Wisdom, we will learn how to stay on the right path - recognizing what path it is God desires for us to walk upon - and thus we will have the truest measure of success - and that is knowing that we are pleasing and honoring God. UNDERSTANDING - Wisdom next tells us that she is understanding. Wisdom helps us comprehend and discern the right kind of action and choices to make. It is the ability to take the raw data about God - the very rudimentary understanding of Who He is and what He likes and dislikes - and take it and begin to distinguish when sitautions pose different things to us. We know which way is in accordance with God's will and thus take it. POWER - Wisdom also gives us power. The word here means might, power, and strength. It speaks of God's strength and power. Wisdom has the blessing of placing us in a position that God will grant us His power. Thus as we endeavor to do things that glorify Him - we can know that they will succeed, not due to us and our great knowledge - but rather due to wisdom's promise of the power of God to accomplish what He desires. These are definitely four things that every man desires. They are the fruits of wisdom - and of cultivating a lifestyle where we listen closely to God. That will not only bring blessing, but it will bring victory and joy to our hearts. May we embrace wisdom and enjoy this four-fold blessing that God promises to us. 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 more criminal 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. A wise principle to follow in this is to seek to imitate God's speech - so that holiness is our goal rather than just being better than the world around us. 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 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. When it does come - it will be devastating and will be in keeping with 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 a terrifying 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, God has something important to say. 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 punishment due for his words, plans, and actions will come suddenly. So let us, unlike those to whom Revelation 22:10-12 is addressed. Let us 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. |
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