Bread that Turns to Gravel - Proverbs 20:17

Bread obtained by falsehood is sweet to a man, But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel. Proverbs 20:17

Imagine chewing on bread and having it slowly turn from a warm, soft, wonderful taste to cold, hard gravel in your mouth.  This is the picture that the Lord wants to give us concerning the con-man's game - or any way that we seek financial gain through deceiving others.  This proverb centers around the word "falsehood."  This is the Hebrew word "sheqer" and it means a lie, a deception, or a treacherous statement.  The word has the idea of a liar and his lying statements.  Yet here there is an end that is sought - and that is obtaining bread.  There is a financial gain sought in the lie - which is the sweet taste of bread obtained through the false dealing and lying of the con-man.

Once again though, the Bible points us to a long-term view of things.  The fleshly view is that of getting the bread and enjoying it.  This is the short-term, ends-justify-the-means mindset that prevails in too many parts of the world around us.  Who cares how you got the bread - you've got it and it tastes wonderful.  The problem comes in that there will be a price to pay - even if you cheated someone out of the bread for free.  The price is a mouth filled with gravel.  There is a slight Hebraism in this idea of a mouth filled with gravel.  The idea is that though bread tastes sweet at first - the bread obtained by ungodly means will weigh down the one who deceived in the end.  Though sweet at first, the bread will break the teeth of the deceiver - and the bread will weigh like stone in his stomach. 

This takes into account God's moral law.  That law teaches us two things we should consider when deceiving others.  First, God's moral law says, "You shall not steal."  When we deceive others about what we are offering to them, we are thieves - taking their goods without a fair exchange of goods or money in return.  Second, we are told by God's moral law that we are not to bear false witness - which basically means, "do not lie."  No matter how sweet the bread may taste initially - it will be like teeth-breaking rocks on the day that we answer to God for our deceit and con-game.  The wisdom offered to us here is to make decisions based not on our immediate pleasure in the flesh.  We should make decisions based on God's moral law and upon principles of righteousness.  Though we may not gain as much quickly and unrighteously at the beginning, the blessing in the end is worth it.