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He who is steadfast in righteousness will attain to life, And he who pursues evil will bring about his own death. Proverbs 11:19
Here we find life gained and life lost. Both life gained and lost have to do with what we pursue and steadfastly desire in our walk on earth. It is no shock to us to learn that those who are steadfast in their desire and pursuit of righteousness are those who receive life. The word "steadfast" here means to set something up so that it will be firm and established. Here it refers to how someone views righteousness - and pursues it in their lives. Are you building a life whose foundation is laid in God's view of righteousness - or more simply put, in what God says is right? That is the life Christ referred to in Matthew 7 when He spoke about foundations. The one who hears the Word of God and heeds it - he is the man who has built his foundation on a rock. When the winds and storms of life come upon that man, as they surely will, his house will stand. That is why the steadfast in righteousness will attain to life. The life lost is the one that is actively pursuing evil. Consider King Ahab in the Old Testament, along with his wicked wife, Jezebel. They pursued evil together. They were the poster couple of pursuing wickedness and sin. They excelled in it - and ran after it with an ever-growing lust for more. They worshipped false gods, stole, killed, and plotted their way to the top. When at the top they continued in their ways of evil - and heartily encouraged all of Israel to follow their foolish example. It is no wonder then that they both brought about their own death. Ahab foolishly ignored the prophetic statements of Miciah, who warned him that God had allowed a deceiving spirit to move among Ahab's false prophets - so that he could be lured to his death in battle. Ahab's response was to imprison the prophet - and have him fed with barely enough bread and water to survive until he returned from battle. Miciah's fateful last words to him were, "If you return, the Lord has not spoken through me." In another desperate but foolish move, Ahab then disguised himself and did not wear his royal robes into battle. Thinking he had cheated death and God - he went into battle feeling safe. We read in Kings that a random archer shot an arrow into the air - and God guided that arrow so that it hit a joint in Ahab's armor. Badly wounded, he retreated to watch the battle from a distance until he died in his chariot. Jezebel, having learned of a plot to destroy her family and their legacy in Israel, painted herself and called to her executioner from a tower. Thinking herself safe there - her executioner called for the men in the tower to throw her down. They did so and Jehu crushed her beneath his horses and chariot wheels. These two who pursued evil so passionately both brought about their own death because of their rebellion against God. In Deuteronomy God reminded Israel that He put before them life and death. There was a choice for them. If they pursued evil and rebellion against God - they needed to know that their sin would find them out. They would be pursued by the very One against whom they rebelled. They would learn that He was not impotent as they thought. They would learn that the One they defied is God - and that He will prevail. They will also bring about their own death with the evil they think frees them from His authority. But life is also available to us. It is received by pursuing righteousness steadfastly. What is amazing to those who receive that righteousness is that to pursue it, one must pursue by faith. The just (righteous) man lives by faith. Their steadfastness is gained by rejecting their own works - and turning to God who Himself will declare them righteous as a gift. They will learn that the only way of being steadfastly righteous, is to steadfastly cling to God's gift of righteousness which comes only through His Son, Jesus Christ. That, dear ones, is the only way we can be steadfast in righteousness - and thereby know life.
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The wicked earns deceptive wages, But he who sows righteousness gets a true reward. Proverbs 11:18
There are those who spend their entire lives chasing money and riches. They think that they are receiving good wages for their work and their pursuit. The sad thing that many do not realize until it is too late is that they are living their lives for something that will disappear the moment they die. As Proverbs 11:18 warns us, they are earning deceptive wages. They are placing their hope in something that moth and rust will corrupt, and thieves can break in and steal. If they were wise, they would seek to sow and reap in a way that would bring them a real return for their labor and their efforts. We read in today's proverb that the wicked earn deceptive wages. It is imperative that we recognize immediately that we are dealing with the wicked here. There are many godly men who are working hard, earning money, and providing for their families whose wages are true and real. But the wicked are those who reject God - who reject His moral compass - and who reject any authority except their own. They do not work to bring glory to God - they work to bring glory to themselves. The wicked play by their own set of rules - and those rules often mock the moral standards that God calls us to follow. They tend to be ruthless in business. They cheat and steal and use what God calls, false scales, that deceive those who buy their wares or use their services. We are told that the wicked is earning deceptive wages. These men think they are getting rich, but they are actually going in greater and greater debt every day. Their money and wealth is an illusion. Their bank account may look wonderful outwardly - but since money is worthless at the judgment seat of Christ - all that remains is the "way" they got it. That trail is filled with lying, cheating, and the strewn corpses of all those they trampled upon as they clawed and scratched their way to the top. Unfortuantely for them the view from the pinacle of their success is the view of hell. They have received their "reward" on earth in the things of this world and the praise of men. They have not stored up treasures in heaven - and all those they had on earth are gone in that moment. Their money has deceived them - and their wages are now being paid in full as they learn the horrible truth that they shall stand before God miserable, blind, naked, and poor. The second man revealed to us in this proverb is the righteous. A wonderful picture is painted for us of this man's activities. He is a man who "sows" righteousness. He was not looking for a "quick fix" or a wage that would add to his riches. He knew that the "wages" of sin is death. Therefore he knew he needed to "sow" as unto the Lord. Sowing refers to planting things. Sowing involves taking what you have and letting it die as you place it into the ground. But when you do this, it will grow over time into a plant. You wait and look forward to the time of harvest where you will reap 30, 60, 100 fold what you planted. The righteous man knows that life is a distance run and not a sprint. He knows that every day you need to sow according to God's Word. You sow godly choices and a godly lifestyle that is defined by God's Law - and lived out by Christ's presence and power within. When you do this you plant in such a way as to harvest for God's glory and honor. You do not sow to the flesh and the world. You sow righteousness - and you reap the fruit of the Spirit as God works in and through you. The man who does this received a "true" reward. The word "true" here is the Hebrew word "emet" which means true, faithful - and is frequently connected with the idea of lovingkindness. This is important because the word lovingkindness refers to God's covenant love. This man is wanting the reward that comes from knowing and loving God. He wants the reward that is promised by God in His covenant with us. He is investing in a relationship with God - sowing obedience and submission to Him. That is why he receives exactly what he has sown. It is a true reward. It is a covenant reward. It is a Scriptural reward. It is God's reward to the ones who live for righteousness and - for His glory. A gracious woman attains honor, And ruthless men attain riches. Proverbs 11:16
Two types of people are contrasted here. There is the gracious woman and the ruthless man. They are viewed from what they attain in life. The word "attain" is important here for it refers to what a person grasps or holds. The gracious woman seeks for honor, while the ruthless man is seeking riches. The rich man is called "ruthless." This is the Hebrew word "ariys" which means to be ruthless, strong, and violent. The word usually refers to a ruler, kind, or master who behaves ruthlessly toward those under him like a tyrant. This person is insolent, proud, haughty, and violent. As a result the general attitude toward him by those around him is fear. This ruthless man does not care about true honor or respect. He rules by fear, intimidation, and an overpowering hand and demeanor. What he wants is not repect - but riches. And what we read here is that he grabs all he can get - and attains those riches. Anyone who follows politics and those who wield power in the financial world knows that there are a myriad of men who get their riches by less than favorable means. They dominate others and often do dispicable things. In the process they get a lot of money. What is not told often enough is that even though they have the money - they do not have peace, joy - and often cannot sleep because their lack of character costs them dearly. They wind up as the typical rich, lonely, miserable old man - whose only friends are the sycophantic ones who stay only to feed on the corpses of his corporations and bank accounts. There is little love lost or tears shed when he dies. The gracious woman is seen in stark contrast to this rich, ruthless man. One of the best pictures of this gracious woman is Ruth. She faced an uphill battle her entire life. When her husband died, she was left with nothing - except a sister-in-law who was a widow too - and a mother-in-law whose life was shattered. Ruth chose to be gracious every step of the way. Her daily existence in Israel, when they moved back, was spent gleaning in fields that were not hers living on the kindness of others. In the midst of all this she was the most gracious of women - not complaining of her circumstances or of the back-breaking work she endured for an entire harvest. She and her mother-in-law endured a very meager existance that entire Fall - yet no griping was heard from Ruth. She was the picture of a gracious, godly, quiet-spirited woman. She worked hard and was grateful for everything she received. In the end, Ruth was seen as a woman of honor. Even though she was a foreigner and a Gentile, she was seen in the community as a highly honorable woman. She followed customs that were not her own - being obedient to a mother-in-law in the process. Her graciousness was honored in the end though. She was given a new husband - a godly, wealthy, wonderful man named Boaz. Although starting at what had to be the very bottom of society in Israel - God gave her honor in two ways. There was her new husband Boaz - who was a gift from God. There was even a greater honor - and that was her great grandson. His name . . . David. Honor comes to a gracious woman - and that lasts much longer than the riches of the ruthless man. If you do not believe that - just ask Nabal, the rich farmer or the rich man in the gospels. Their ruthlessness gained them great riches - for a short season - followed by an eternity in punishment and pain. He who is guarantor for a stranger will surely suffer for it, But he who hates being a guarantor is secure. Proverbs 11:15
There are at least six different times when Proverbs warns us against being either an guarantor or against surety. Here we are warned against being a guarantor for a stranger. The warning we are given by Solomon (and by the Lord) is that we will surely suffer harm for such an action. When you guarantee another's debt - you are responsible for their action or their inaction. If they pay their debt on time, you will have no problem. If they do not - then you have to pay their debt. The reality though is that a person who has to ask for a guarantor is usually someone that a bank or a business considers a higher risk. We should learn from their concern that we too, should be concerned as well. This is why so many who become a guarantor regret it dearly. The high risk the bank is unwilling to take - becomes the risk of the guarantor. It is no shock to learn then that more often than not - the guarantor pays the money in the end. But what do you say to someone who comes to you asking for surety - or for you to be their guarantor. First, you graciously decline citing your desire to be their friend longer than the terms on the loan you are being asked to sign. When you become a guarantor your relationship with that person changes. It changes either for the length of the loan or, in the case of those who default on the loan, possibly forever. Your friend may not like hearing this at first - but they will appreciate that you view a friendship as more important than a loan. Second, you graciously decline citing Scripture. You explain that your refusal to become a guarantor is being done because you want to obey God. In this case their frustration will be with God more than you. Third, you can encourage them lovingly that desiring something they cannot afford is eventually going to be harmful to them. Those who take this path consistently pay a much higher price in the years to come. It is better to control our desires, and keep them within the means that God has given to us. We may not get whatever we want when we want it - but - honestly, has that ever worked out well for anyone? The Scriptures counsel us to be those who "hate" being a guarantor. The reason God tells us this is not to make us stingey. He says it for our protection, for the protection of the friend or family member who asks, and for the protection of relationships we want to keep far into the future - so we can be of long-term encouragement and blessing to those we love. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who is wise wins souls. Proverbs 11:30
It is interesting that long before we knew what it meant to be a "soul-winner," God blessed those who brought others to Christ. He spoke of the wisdom of taking God's message of redemption to others. There is so much imagery in this proverb that it is difficult to take it all in unless you step back and see each picture. The first picture we see is that of the "tree of life." The fruit of the righteous one is a tree of life. What is amazing here is that the tree of life is seen very early in Scripture. The tree of life is in the garden of Eden - but is overshadowed by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because of the first couple's sin. The tree of life is seen again at the end of Scripture in heaven where its leaves provide healing for the nations. I believe that the tree of life is a type of Christ. The only place the righteous can become righteous is in partaking of that tree - partaking of the righteousness of Christ. So, it should not be shocking to learn that the fruit of the righteous is the very life of Christ. It is that tree that brings life. When the righteous partakes of the life of Christ consistently - they will seek to give that life to others. That is why we read the second half of this verse and do not find it at all odd that the wise man wins souls. This was why Jesus, the original tree of life , came to earth in the first place - to seek and to save that which was lost. When His life is moving through a man or woman - they will seek to win souls. Consider Jesus' first call to His disciples, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." Wisdom is doing all that we can as we live our lives to see men and women come to Christ. Wisdom is so partaking of Christ, the tree of life, that our fruit is apparent. When we do not grasp this - when we do not realize that God's ultimate act was to give His Son for the sin of mankind - we miss that it is wisdom's greatest passion to see the love of God passed on to those who desperately need it. Truly, saints, if we are wise - if we have the fruit of Christ Himself flowing from our lives - we will take the gospel to those who are dead in sin. When we do, we will watch once again our Lord be the Tree of life - and bring the very life of God to those whose soul's we win! The merciful man does himself good, But the cruel man does himself harm. Proverbs 11:17
There is a way to live that will guarantee that we will be greeted with good from others. There is also a way of living and interacting with others that may give us an advantage in the short term, but in the long term will do us tremendous harm. The difference between these two lifestyles is found in how they treat others - especially when someone has done something wrong to them. Our proverb begins by introducing us to someone called "the merciful man." This is the man who is gracious to others when they wrong him. He is called the "merciful man" because he delights in showing mercy to others. Mercy is best described this way. Not getting what we deserve. That may not sound all that great until you realize that the context for mercy is when you do something wrong, or act in a way that merits punishment. The man who shows mercy to others is willing to endure beging wronged. He does not always demand "fair" treatment when it comes to himself. He does not demand his pound of flesh whenever he is wronged. By doing this the Bible says that he does himself good. The literal Hebew here reads, "he does good to his own soul." There are actually two benefits to being a "mercy-man." The first benefit is that others who receive mercy from you are far more likely to show you mercy as well. Jesus, in the Beattitudes, said this same thing. "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy." When we show mercy, others are more apt to show us mercy as well. The second benefit is one we receive inwardly. The passage says that we do our souls' good. When we react with anger to every supposed slight and wrong, our spirit and our emotions are in a constant turmoil. That is not healthy for us - because stress levels will be elevated all the time. But when we learn to show mercy (and not take ourselves so seriously in the process) it will do wonders for our stress level. The end of today's proverb deals with the problems that the "cruel man" brings upon himself. We read that the cruel man does himself harm. The Hebrew word for "cruel" here means someone who is fierce and who lacks any kind of sensitivity, compassion, or mercy towards others. Since we have an example from our news, I will use it to illustrate this. Ghadaffi was the leader of the nation of Libya. He was a living example of a "cruel man." He ruled with an iron fist over his people. He was not known for his wonderful acts of mercy, but rather for his horrible acts of cruelty. The day came when he no longer had an army to protect him. The media informed us of his last moments on this earth. He hid in a drainage pipe, hoping to escape those who were hunting him down. When they found him they treated him just as he had treated others. I won't go into detail as to what was done to him, but it was a horrible end. His cruelty was the example that was set for the people of his country. No wonder when he was caught he was subjected to the same lack of compassion and kindness he was known to use upon others. The way we respond to others will prepare the way for our own treatment in life. That is why the man who chooses to show mercy will have good come upon him for his choice. The cruel man has a much different end. Having chosen a lack of compassion throughout his lifetime of interaction with others, he has nothing except the overflow of his own cruelty awaiting him in this life - and the full measure of God's wrath in the next. Where there is no guidance the people fall, But in abundance of counselors there is victory. Proverbs 11:14
How do you make good decisions in life? Even better said, "How do you make decisions that will not end in you falling on your face? That is what is addressed in the proverb for today. There is a way to be confident that your decisions will not come back to haunt you later. Let's take a look at what God's wisdom has to teach us today about this. This proverb is all about being willing to seek and take advice. This does not mean that we cannot know what to do ourselves and do it, but it does warn against the person who thinks in all matters that what is in his own mind will suffice. This man does not seek counsel at all. When we read the passage it speaks of having "NO" guidance. The problem here is that we have a decision maker with an excessive amount of pride in his own thinking. The willingness to seek and accept advice is a plus - because godly counsel is a must if we are going to walk in God's ways. We even need to be able to hear and consider advice that we don't want. Some think that anyone they consider inferior to themselves is unable to offer counsel. That is a sure way to fall. It is when we have an abundance of godly counsellors in our life that we will have victory. The word for victory is "tesuah" and it means to have deliverance, safety, or victory. It speaks of a military context, of course, but goes beyond that one to also speak of deliverance from sin and from making foolish decisions that harm us later. When thinking about this verse two examples come to mind. The first is that of Balaam. He sought after and received God's counsel (even though he did it by divination). But after receiving God's counsel - he decided after seeing the possibility of a huge payday from Balak, to ask God if He had any other ideas concerning cursing Israel. When God allowed Balaam to go (but only speak what God says) Balaam took it as far more freedom to do what he wanted (which was to make a lot of money from Balak). Since he would not take counsel from God - the Lord intended to kill him. Were it not for the counsel of his donkey - he would have been killed that next day. Balaam had what he wanted to do in his mind - and would not listen to God's counsel. Fortunately for him the advice the donkey he had just beaten got through to him for a while. Unfortunately for him - his donkey was not able to speak a second time to keep him from counselling Balak to send his women among the Israelites to get them to commit sexual immorality with the men - to get God to curse Israel. In the end, Balaam's desire for money and power cost him his life - and eternity in hell. The second example is that of king Nebuhadnezzar from Babylon. His pride and arrogance was leading him down a very destructive path. He felt "he" was sovereign over his own life - and that all his power and authority had come from himself. First God sought to counsel him by giving him a strange dream - then Daniel interpretted it. Daniel let Nebuchadnezzar know that if he did not repent of his pride and arrogance, admitting that God alone was sovereign, he was about to experience life as a beast. Nebby listened, but did not take the advice. He fell from being king to being an ordinary beast of the field for 7 years. He ended that time by lifting his eyes and finally taking counsel to admit that God alone was sovereign. It took a while, but he learned that in the abundance of counsellors (God and Daniel) there is victory. Where are you? Are you one who thinks that your own understanding is sufficient? Do you shun the offer of advice and counsel of godly men and women? If you are, I would encourage you to seriously consider today's proverb. It warns of a fall that is coming your way. It also gives you advice about having an abundance of godly counsellors to help you know wisdom - know victory - and know the favor and blessing of God. A wise man would take this counsel. A foolish man would seek no other guidance than that which his own mind produces - oh - and he will fall flat on his face eventually. The lips of the righteous bring forth what is acceptable, But the mouth of the wicked what is perverted. Proverbs 10:32
Our culture is coarsening. I see it every day in the way that we talk. The use of perverted language has grown a hundred fold in the last 20 years - and unfortunately - it looks like things are getting worse. It would be one thing to see this among the lost because - well let's just admit it - they are lost. But what I am seeing is that there is also a coarsening in how Christians speak. Things that would have horrified us just 25 years ago - are now becoming more common in everyday conversation. Before you think that I am taking the place of the ultra-righteous who is shocked at all the wicked sinners - I have noticed a coarsening of my own language - and have begun a concerted effort to speak in an acceptable manner before a holy God. The righteous bring forth what is acceptable with their lips. That means the things they say are acceptable. At this point is would be good to define the word, acceptable. Acceptable to Whom? That is the question we need to answer. Our society seems to think that acceptable to the current standards of society is the rule of the day. By saying this I am not saying that their language equals that of the world, but rather that we set our idea of what is acceptable by a comparison with the world. Let me give you an example of what I am saying. I want to put a disclaimer here - because I will have to use a word that is not acceptable to many to help illustrate my point. The world's language is completely out of control. The amount of foul language allowed on prime time television and movies is astounding. When you consider that Rhett Butler's, "Frankly Scarlett, I don't give a "expletive," was met with shock and horror in the theaters of the day, you can see that we are out of control. Frank Butler's remarks might not even merit a drop to a PG rating in our day. Certainly his remarks would be shrugged off, even by Christians, in our day. Yet, the sensibilities of that day were horrified by the outrageous language used. Fast forward to today and we learn that men who are considered conservative Christian preachers are using worse language than Frank Butler from our pulpits. Words I would have been reprimanded for saying out loud - are now widely accepted by Christian circles. That is why we need to realize that having our lips bring forth what is acceptable means bringing forth what is acceptable to God. We should note that in just two verses God says that He is greatly offended by things which are perverse. Here we read that while the godly man speaks what is acceptable - the wicked man says things that are perverse. The idea of being perverted is not just a reference to those who speak sexually perverted things. It goes further to include any way that God's ways are perverted - which means to twist or make them something that they are not. To say that we can come to God based on our own works is to pervert the gospel. To say that God is too loving to judge the wicked is perverting His holiness. So we see that there are ways to pervert the truth God has reveled to us. The wicked speak these things - and thus perversity comes out of their mouths. That is why we not only need to address the foul language that comes from Christians with this verse, but we also need to address the ways people pervert the truth to make the gospel more palatable to the wicked. May God help us each day to have our language pleasing and acceptable to Him. I will admit that the only reason I began to adopt some words and ways of expressing myself that were unacceptable was to look cool to younger people. This is a horrible reason to let how you speak be coarsened. We should seek to be holy as God is holy. We should have a heart that desires to honor God in every conversation that we have with others. As the Psalmist said, "May the words of our mouth and the meditations of our heart be acceptable to the Lord." Then and only then can we know that what our mouths bring forth is godly and acceptable to God Himself. The mouth of the righteous flows with wisdom, But the perverted tongue will be cut out. Proverbs 10:31
One of the topics that the book of Proverbs touches on a great deal is that of our tongues and the benefit or damage that they can do. Here we have another of those proverbs that counsel us on having a tongue that honors and glorifies God. The mouth of the righteous is described here liks a fruitful tree. The word "flows" is the Hebrew word "nub" which speaks of something that flourishes. It means to bring forth or to bear fruit. It is also used in the Old Testament to speak of someone who is experiencing prosperity. We are told that the mouth of the righteous has an abundant harvest of wisdom. The words that the righteous man speaks are like a tree laden with fruit. That fruit when eaten will lead us to wise, godly choices. The reason this is true is because men speak out of their mouths what resides in their hearts. The righteous man can speak forth wisdom because the Word of God dwells in his heart. Therefore as his heart gives his lips the substance of his words - those words will be in accordance with the Word of God. Truly then, you will get wisdom from the things that he says. Not only is the mouth of the godly man mentioned in this proverb, but also the perverted tongue as well. Perverse as used here means something deviated and distorted. It describes deceptive and corrupt speech. Here in Proverbs it refers to one who intentionally distorts what is straight and right. Thus, this man is not sharing God's wisdom, but a perversion of it. This kind of tongue will be cut out. This may sound gruesome at first, but the idea is that of cutting something out of the ground. It referred to uprooting a plant that was not productive - or one that was counter productive. The picture that we have from this proverb is an agricultural one. We have a mouth that is like a fruitful tree - and a tongue that is like a harmful weed. One is a blessing, the other is a curse. One will be welcomed as wisdom flows forth from it, while the other will be viewed as a weed that disrupts the production of a garden. The difference between these two is very simple. One comes from a man who loves with is right in the eyes of the Lord, while the other comes from a man who distorts what is right and true. He does so because he values having his own desires fulfilled, rather than doing what is right and good for all those around him. The righteous will never be shaken, But the wicked will not dwell in the land. Proverbs 10:30
My brother was a missionary to the Philippines where he experienced his first earthquake, which came in unison with the eruption of Mount Pinatubo. We grew up outside Chicago, so earthquakes were something we knew nothing about. Wind we knew, snow we really knew - but earthquakes were foreign to us. My brother's explanation was amazing to me. When the earthquake hit, he thought the house was collapsing, and that was what was causing the shaking. But when he ran outside, the ground there was shaking and rolling too. For him and his family, this was a very disturbing thing. They took for granted that the ground was firm. Now it was shaking, and that was very disconcerting to them. What they thought was stable, was being shaken. This describes the hearts of many who are relying on things that can be shaken - as if they could not be shaken. When the shaking starts, everything that they thought they could rely on became "shake-able." But this is not the only thing shaken in these circumstances. When it seems that everything can be shaken, your confidence in anything and everything is shaken as well. Is there anything in this world that cannot be shaken? That is what today's proverb is going to address. What we are told as wisdom is that the righteous will never be shaken. Now, this promise does not speak of being exempt from earthquakes or other natural occurances where the earth around us is shaken. What it does address is an even more wonderful promise - and that is an inner spiritual stability that cannot be shaken by anything - either earthly or unearthly. Note that the group who will not be shaken is the righteous. These are those who stand before God and are viewed as righteous in His sight. That cannot happen biblically except by faith. There is no man who can ever stand before God as righteous on the basis of his own works. Our works reveal us not as righteous, but as sinful and fallen. If we are righteous, it is by faith in what God has done for us. This He did through Jesus Christ at the cross. But when we put our faith in Jesus Christ - God declares us righteous. These are the ones who cannot be shaken. This is something we need to grasp - spiritually. The Bible presents the physical world as shadows - with the reality being the spiritual. Therefore, the ultimate shaking will be when we face our ultimate spiritual test - the judgment at the end of the age. It is in this moment that many will learn that althought they thought they were unshakable in life - in death they will truly be shaken. The word for shaken in Proverbs 10:30 is the word "mot" which means to be removed or to fall. It was used often in the Old Testament to refer to the shaking and removing of things previously thought to be unshakable. What shook them was the fierce judgments of Almighty God. This shaking is promised for the wicked and the ungodly. This is the term that is used when it is said that God will remove the mountains - and also of Him removing the entire earth. Indeed there will be a shaking of eternal proportions that will come to the earth. But after the earth is destroyed by fire, there is an even more terrifying event to come. All mankind will stand before the judgment bar of God Himself. This is the ultimate accounting - and the sole basis upon which our entire eternity will be based. Oh what a shaking will come for all philosophies, all worldviews, and all religious beliefs. They will be tested - and all but a faith in Jesus Christ will be found wanting. The righteous do not have to fear in that day - for the righteousness given to them by God on the basis of faith will stand. It will not be shaken for it rests on the person of Jesus Christ as well as His death, burial, and resurrection. It was the blood of Jesus that paid the debt of sin and paved the way for God to make us righteous by faith. But for every other religious or non-religious view - this will be a day of horror. It will be a day to be terrified as they learn that their self-made, man-made, or demonically-inspired religious and philosophical views will not remain. We are promised that the wicked will not dwell in the land. They will not stand, nor will they know an eternity in God's presence. They will be judged and eventually cast into the lake of fire. This will be their ignoble end - for they held an ignoble faith. Their beliefs did not honor God or give Him thanks. Their view saw god as something or someone they could manage by their own thoughts and philosophical positions. Thus the land God is preparing for us will not be where they will dwell. They will dwell in the outer darkness where there will be weeping and knashing of teeth. They will dwell in a place where the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever. Let me the thoughts for today with a quote from the book of Hebrews. There we read of this day of shaking with the following description. "See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven. And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, 'YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN.' This expression, "Yet once more," denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire." (Hebrews 12:25-29) There is a shaking coming and it will shake anything and everything which can be shaken. Heaven and earth will be shaken on that day. But there will be a kingdom on this day that cannot be shaken. The context of this shaking is the judgment of God. God warns of this day from heaven. He also works that anything created will be shaken, and even more than shaken, they will be destroyed. Therefore we are urged to prepare for a shaking that will also involve standing before God, Who in that day, will be a consuming fire. Are you ready for that day? Do you have something, beyond things in this life and this world, that will not be shaken when they all are shaken? Are you ready to stand before God as a consuming fire - and have what it will take to make it through the shaking and through the fire? There is only one thing that will stand in that day - it is what God has given to us through His Son, Jesus Christ. On that day only a righteousness gained by faith in Jesus will stand. May both you and me prepare for THAT DAY, so that when it comes - we will not be shaken. |
 Proverb a DayEach day, we'll take a look at a verse from the chapter of Proverbs for the day. Our hope is to gain wisdom each day - and from that wisdom - to have understanding to make godly decisions in the throes of everyday life. 
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