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Strike a scoffer and the naive may become shrewd, But reprove one who has understanding and he will gain knowledge. Proverbs 19:25
Punishment and reproof are interesting things. They are necessary in a society for that society not to become completely godless. Without it the wicked will overwhelm everyone else. But from what we learn in today's proverb - there are two ways of receiving discipline and correction. One will stop irreligious men from their godless behavior - but will not change them at all. The other way of receiving correction and discipline is that one that will bless us. It will not just stop outward actions - it will yield to us in ward understanding and knowledge that will help us address our heart issues. In the end, only the second of these two ways to receive correction and discipline will bring about lasting change from God. The first man, the scoffer, is a fool who delights in his ungodly thoughts and ways. Often men and women like this are at least verbal bullies, if not physical ones as well. The scoffer seeks to trash his enemies - and those who hold to views different than his own. He is especially a bully when it comes to the topic of religion and God. An example of a scoffer in today's world is Bill Mahr. His programs usually include one conservation or Christian whom he does his best to bash and run over rough-shod. He bullies them with half truths and with red herring arguments. Bill Mahr is not interested in truth - or even in truthful debate. He is only interested in airing his own views. Talking to such a man does little or no good. The passage here says that a scoffer needs to be struck to get through to him. Now, in the case of a verbal scoffer, this should not be done - but in the case of a bully things are different. The only way to deal with him is to confront him - and if necessary show him you will stand up to him. There is a problem though with this - and it is the difference between what the government is to do, and what the church should be doing. The government is to strike scoffers - especially those who scoff at the law. They are to be confronted and punished for scoffing at the law of the land. To chase a rabbit for a moment, this is what should be done with the Occupy Wall Street protestors who are breaking the law. They should be punished to the full extent of the law when they do. The more we let them alone and not confront their disregard for the law - the worse it will eventually be when we do. A bully - whether verbal, physical, or political - MUST be confronted. But . . . the problem is that all that will happen is that the scoffer will be stopped - and the naive will become more shrewd. The scoffer will be stopped in his tracks - and made aware that such scoffing comes with a price. The naive who watch this will become more shrewd in how they live their lives. They see that it will cost them to act or speak this way - and therefore they will not do so outwardly. The shrewdness mentioned here is a shrewdness to avoid consequences - and it will help a society maintain basic order. That being said though, it will not "transform" a society into a better one. That requires a work in the heart. It will require something more than just shrewd living. It requires wise, godly, understanding and knowledge. Here is where the work of God, His Spirit, and His Word come into play. When we come to Christ we leave our basic foolishness and begin to walk in understanding. We grasp in that wonderful redemptive moment that there is more to life than just what we are currently wanting - there is God and His will. His will is always best. The wise man is one who does not need to be struck - just reproved. Words alone will do the job for him. He hears godly reproof - and honestly at times - even the ungodly kind. He hears and listens - then takes to heart what has been said. He is called a man of understanding, which means that he has taken the time to think and to ponder more than just his own throughts and desires. When he hears he learns and gains knowledge. This kind of knowledge helps him to deal with situations wisely - and without need for bullying with words or in any other way. The state may be able to keep the peace by dealing with scoffers and helping others to make more shrewd choices, but to bring about real change in a man's heart requires a work of God. This work will bring peace to more than just an outward situation - it will bring peace to a man's heart. And that peace will spread and last for more than just as long as it takes the police to leave. This peace is internal and will last for entire generational cycles. It is a peace and stability not based on the strength and numbers of law enforcement present on the street, but based in what rules in our hearts.
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The naive inherit foolishness, But the sensible are crowned with knowledge. Proverbs 14:18
This verse in Proverbs is based on what has been said in the previous three verses before it. It has to do with the simple or naive person (whose simpleness is due to being foolish) as opposed to one who is sensible. Let's look at these two today - not just in light of this verse - but in light of the previous ones as well. We are told that the naive or simple inherit foolishness. This is because they act like and think like fools. Going back to verse 15 we see that these people "believe everything" and do not consider where their actions and choices are taking them. Verse 16 reveals that the naive one is both arrogant and careless. They do not practice proper caution but walk headlong into evil and godless choices. They do not consider what God says about these things, either ignoring Him or arrogantly thinking that they know more than He does. Finally we see that they are quick-tempered - and because of their quick temper they act foolishly in the midst of their uncontrolled passions. They resort to evil plans and deeds - and are hated because of these things. When you consider the full picture of the simple, naive one who bases their life not on God's Word, but rather their own flawed reasoning, you see why God says that their inheritance will be foolishness. They do not take the time to think - to consider the end of the matter - to calm themsevles and think rationally about the actions they are about to take. Thus they are fools - and what comes to them is the fruit of their own foolishness and stupidity. We are also sold though that the sensible one will be crowned with knowledge. Some call Christians simpletons and people who have a low I.Q. This is not the case - at least with the Christian who adheres to Scripture and who has gained wisdom over time. The true Christian does not shun study or knowledge - they embrace them. As they spend more and more time in the Scriptures - and specifically the book of Proverbs - they will become very wise, discerning, and knowledgeable. The word "sensible" here is the Hebrew word "arum" which means to be prudent. The idea here is that this one "takes careful thought" before doing things. He takes careful thought of his ways according to Proverbs 14:8. He takees careful thought before he acts according to Proverbs 14:15. In Proverbs 22:3 and 27:12 we are told that a man like this sees danger before it happens and avoids it. Thus this man walks with God in a way to where God's counsel is received and understood. This protects him from many things that would harm him. The promise here is that the prudent/sensible man will be crowned with knowledge. The word knowledge is the familiar word in Proverbs that deals with our lifestyle from the standpoint of the choices we make. The word is "daath" which means to have a knowledge that gives us discernment, insight, and a notion about what we are doing - and how it will end. The word spoke of a way of living and choosing, thus it was known as the word that meant a person's chosen lifestyle. This points us to the reality that when we live by a prudent, biblical thinking and reasoning way - we will be filled with a knowledge that grants us discernment and insight. We will even have the function of "notion" as well - which simply means that over time we will just sense at times that something is right or wrong. All this is said with the idea of being crowned with this blessing. Thinking and reasoning biblically will crown our minds with both wisdom and discernment. We will be able to know the difference between two choices - two ways of doing things - the simple idea of right and wrong. The world wants to blurr these lines of distinction. They want there to be little of no way of knowing truth of error, right or wrong. The world wants us to think everything is relative to a situation. But God's Word is true. God's Word is right. God's Word is sufficient to not only guide us in the big decisions of life, it will be what the Holy Spirit will use to guide us through every day. As we are guided - we will note that we are often crowned with the right choice - the right discernment - the right notion of which way to go. That is the blessing of being sensible and reasoning according to God's ways. The naive believes everything, But the sensible man considers his steps.
Proverbs 14:15 There is a way that some proceed in life that is very foolish. The wise man considers his steps - and thinks about the actions he is about to take or the words he is going to speak. He considers them to make sure that he does not enter into an evil path or make an evil statement. Let's take a look at this wise man and hopefully learn a little wisdom ourselves. The naive man who is the focus of our verse today is one who is foolish and simpleminded. He is someone who is very naive when it comes to the complexities and challenges that a person faces in life. He does not think about these things - considering the best path to take or the proper thing to say. This leaves him open to make serious mistakes and missteps in his life. The passage here says that this man "believes everything." This kind of trust is misplaced in a fallen world. I remember early in my adult life that I just took it as a given that I could trust everyone. It did not take long to be burned enough times to change from trusting everyone to being wise knowing that mankind is sinful and fallen. What had happened was that God was taking me from being naive - to being a sensible man who considered my steps. To be a sensible man is to be one who is prudent. He considers what is before him and thinks ahead enough to see what is coming. He looks not just at the instant gratification or the instant reward - but the long term effects as well. This is what happens when we consider our steps. We are taking the time to seriously think about what WILL happen immediately, short-term, and long-term with our decisions. The naive will be suckered into numerous problems and traps that are laid by unscrupulous men. The wise man will look, think, pray, examine things from the point of Scripture - and eventually seek to make a wise decision that will bless in the long-term - even if things look a little more difficult in the short term. "For the waywardness of the naive will kill them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them. Proverbs 1:32
Never will you understand the necessity of a negative message, a message of warning - than you will when you see the latter end of someone who ignores then when they are given. That is the case here as we look at this next to last verse of chapter one of Proverbs. This verse lets us know that the unwise moral and spiritual choices of the fool cost him dearly at the end of his life. Actually, here we learn that these choices may be what ends his life. The first thing of which we are warned here is imitating the "waywardness" of the naive. To be wayward is to be one who turns away from God and His Word. The Hebrew word here is "mesubah" and it means to turn away, to be apostate, or to backslide. What it refers to is someone who is constantly fluctuating or vacillating in their views. This describes the ones who turn away from the Word. Their "open-mindedness" that describes their naive thinking will constantly change and morph as society itself does. In time, they will have one view - but change to another. This accurately describes the reason that the morals of society seem to constantly be in flux. But the part of this that is frighening is that we read here that it is these very tendencies that will kill them. Their naivete is that they can order their own lives and have no real consequences from such choices. The truth though is that by turning away from the Lord, they will face judgments and severe consequences, the most severe of them being what will happen to them after they die and face the final judgment before God. The second thing we see here is that the complacency of fools will destroy them. Complacency here is the Hebrew word, 'salway" and it speaks of a sense of security and quietness in one's prosperity. There is no anxiety or concern. There is only an excessive easy and prosperity. They take the lack of trouble as a sign that everything is fine and there is no need to even be concerned about eternal matters. The problem for them is that there is very real trouble in their future - but their attitude toward God's Word keeps the from knowing the danger. There is a need for messages that warn and correct us. If we could guarantee that we would life perfect lives that never need correction, we could blow off these kind of things. But the fact of the Biblical worldview is that we are fallen, sinful people who are prone to rebellion and disobedience. This necessitates that we have to be warned of the consequences of unbiblical choices. We need to be reminded that there are very real, very negative results that come with walking apart from God's revealed will in His Word. Hopefully, such warnings will turn us away from ungodly choices and lifestyles. Hopefully we will hear such things and not trust in ourselves - but in God who guides us into paths of righteousness and blessing. "Whoever is naive, let him turn in here," And to him who lacks understanding she says, Proverbs 9:16
We continue to look at the call of foolishness and how to discern it. So far we've primarily looked at the place where foolishness dwells - the company that she keeps, and the way that she is sitting on the spiritual sidelines calling out to those who desire to live godly lives - being a dangerous distraction to them. Today, we see what she says - we see the actual call of Folly to those who will make the mistake of listening to her. There are two things that foolishness says to us as she attempts to get us to turn our gaze from the path in front of us. The first is a simple call to come to where she is. "Whoever is naive, let him turn in here." We have seen this word "naive" (which is the Hebrew word "pethi") before. The thing that we need to see here is that the simple or naive is one who does not yet fully understand God's Word. They are deficient in seeing the world from God's perspective - and as a result their moral maturity is lacking. The call of foolishness to such a person would most likely involve a call to be open-minded to seeing things other than how God sees them. Foolishness does not usually say this outright - but the call nevertheless is for someone to listen to "another" view of morals and righteousness. Foolishness calls out to those who are lacking "understanding." The word here is "leb" and it means heart. The reason foolishness calls to such a one is because they lack a fundamental growth in their inner man. They are lacking a heart for God - and as a result - they lack a true devotion to the Lord and to what He teaches. This is why they are a prime target for the evil one. He knows that they have yet to fully embrace God's ways and God's Word - therefore they can be picked off easily by a call to be broad or open minded. This call for an open mind is one of the most dangerous things in the arsenal of the wicked one. It is not that God does not want us to think - but that He desires for us to first submit ourselves to His Lordship and His Word. The original sin in the garden was a rebellion that was centered in wanting to make up our own minds concerning the knowledge of good and evil. When Adam and Eve partook of that fruit - far more than just a new taste was in their mouths. God desired for them to partake of the tree of life and live according to the life that God would grant them in Him. But because they listened to the devil and believed his lie - they decided to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They wanted to decide for themselves what "living" was about - and it yielded to them and their posterity - death. This lie continues to this day - and is still effective among the sons of men. God has given us His Word - which shows us the way of life. It reveals to us all that we need to know to develop morally and spiritually. We can know life and life abundantly! The problem is that we hear another call - the call of foolishness. "Come on!" Folly says to us. "Have an open mind about these things." Folly would have us think that morality - righteousness - holiness is not just what God says. We should think for ourselves - determine our own right and wrong. God even knows that in the day that we determine these things for ourselves - we will be like Him knowing good and evil! But the lie kills - it killed in the past - and it will kill today. Hold fast to God's Word - and hold fast to how God defines life. Do not listen to the call of foolishness. Remember that the man is blessed who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, stand in the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of the scoffers. The man is blessed who meditates on the Word of the Lord - day and night - so that he may do all that is according to that Word. If we want to know Who to listen to in life - we should listen to God as He speaks by His Spirit through His Word. That is the way of life - and those who partake of this fruit will know life indeed. She sits at the doorway of her house, On a seat by the high places of the city, Proverbs 9:14
Where do we find foolishness calling to us - offering us an invitation to partake of her harmful food? We read here that she is sitting at the doorway of her house. If we remember the counsel of Psalm 1, this is not a good thing. Psalm 1 counsels us, "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of the sinners, not set in the seat of scoffers." This woman, folly, is among the scorners - those who scoff at the things of God and prefer a self-directed life rather than a life directed by the Spirit and the Word. We get an idea that Folly is a lazy woman from this as well. The wise woman of Proverbs 31 is not often sitting at the doorway of her own home calling out to others - but rather is working hard for her family. Those who call to us from sedentary lifestyles are probably calling us to a life that lacks diligence and hard work. This will not end well for us if we listen. Since this passage is directed to sons by their father, we would do well to consider our own society in this. One thing that I believe is robbing us of hours of our lives is our penchant for entertainment and games. Consider the hours daily devoted to television, movies, online gaming, and gaming on consoles like Xbox and other video outlets. I've seen young men waste not just hours, but days wanting to master games. I've known of young men who have wasted the better part of their teenage and young adult years laboring to be the best and have the highest score on these games. And since they produce new ones as well as update old ones - a young man can waste 10-15 years of his life doing little more than exercising his thumbs as his mind is numbed to the real world around him. Indeed foolishness calls to us from the lazy position of staying in the doorway of her home. The second place we see Folly is on a seat by the high places of the city. This is an interesting location because it corresponds to places of false worship. God warned about worshipping in the "high places" because they thought due to the height of the place they were closer to God. The problem with the "high place" worship, is that it was usually not guided by the Old Testament Law. They would worship various deities there - and often would mix the worship of Jehovah with these false deities. Often the high place would involve a grove of trees for privacy - but these would also be used for the purpose of hiding the immorality and ungodly sexual practices that would happen there. Therefore God commanded the people to stay away from such places - and worship Him at the temple He established or the Tabernacle when the temple was not yet built. This would ensure that God's priests would be there to guide their worship so that it would be scriptural. The "high places" of this present evil age are where Folly calls to us. These places do not honor God's Word or a proper worship of Him. They are filled with false teaching and errant theology. Folly sits there and calls to us to turn from the Word and from a lifestyle of worshipping God aright. Instead we are called to embrace a far more supposedly tolerant religious and moral life. God is presented as mean and oppressive in such places. We will find later in this passage that the counsel Folly gives is dangerous because it calls us to abandon God's ways and embrace worldly ones. When we look at Folly's call we see that where this call is issued should give us pause to listen. Bad company will corrupt good morals - and often the place where such counsel is given should serve as a severe warning to us to turn away from it before it is uttered. A wise man notices where ungodly counsel congregates and tends to avoid such places - unless he or she is going to witness to them there. As the fools sit in places of laziness and ungodly doctrine offering their advice there - we should prefer to be in places where we know godly men and women meet - and where the Word of God is honored and God is worshipped in Spirit and truth! The woman of folly is boisterous, She is naive and knows nothing. Proverbs 9:13
For the next several days we will look at the call of the foolish. Solomon, inspired by God, gives us a fascinating look as he personifies the way that fools are called to the stupidity of following after their own lusts and the ways of this present evil time. He does this by making the call of the foolish into a person. Let's take a look at this portrait of the fool's call and seek to learn from it so that we will not be caught by her siren sounds and find our faith shipwreck on the rocks of flesh and the worldliness that it embraces. We see that our nemisis here is described as "the woman of folly." This term is less than flattering because the word folly here is the Hebrew word "kesiylut" which means foolishness or stupidity. Thus we have here a stupid, foolish woman who is going to call to us. The word kesiylut coes fro the adjective kesiyl which means "a fool." Kesiyl is a very descriptive word in that is speaks of soeont who is unable to deal with life in a successful or practical way. It is used in Proverbs 1:22,32 to describe soeone who lacks any spiritual understanding. The fool here hates knowledge - loves waywardness (in regard to God's commandments) and is utterly complacent when it comes to spiritual things and any sense of accountability to God. Ecclesiastes 2:14 speaks of one like this as being someone who walks in spiritual darkness with a haze preventing the from seeing truth or righteousness. Therefore, when we read that this woman of folly is boisterous, naive, and knows nothing, it is easy for us to agree with this assessment. Folly is boisterous. The word used here is "hamah" and it means to murmur, growl, roar, and howl. In this context we get several pictures of the one who will call us to a foolish lifestyle. They roar and howl as they live it up in their lifestyle. They see no consequences to their actions so they howl in their pleasures. I will probably sound too much like a puritan when I say this (but since I have great respect for the puritans, I would consider this a compliment) but they love their loud, rambunctious parties and revel in their wickedness. The one who loves his or her sin to the point of bathing themselves in it - is someone we should ignore. We see another picture with this word of how this one will react to righteousness and a call to a holy lifestyle. They murmur and growl at such things. We hear them complain and snarl at one who has the audacity to say that there is absolute truth - and that truth is God's Word. They hate it when the standards of God are lifted up - and even despise it more when those standards speak out against their chosen lifestyle of rebellion. We would be wise to recognize such things and keep our ears closed to the call of such people to "live it up" when the truth of their words is that they want us to "death it up" instead. Folly is naive. The word used here is "petayyut" which means to be simple or naive. It has the idea of one who really is not aware of that their actions have true implications and do impact their future. The reason for this is as was stated at the beginning of this post - they are foolish and stupid. They really don't want to be bothered with the facts of where their lifestyle is taking them. They are the proverbial ostrich with its head stuck in the sand. The problem is that as they naively pursue their ungodly, unscriptural choices, the consequences of their actions are piling up for them. They cannot escape the judgments of God - because He has set it up so that rebellion has consequences. Folly knows nothing. The statement here is about as plain as any made anywhere in Scripture. The word for know is "yada" and it is pretty much the basic word for knowledge in the Hebrew language. Folly is unable to learn, perceive, or discern. The call that is going to be issued to us - the call of the foolish - is one that is unable to discriminate between good and evil - between right and wrong. It is a deadly call because it is a spiritually ignorant call. Worse than that, it is a spiritually darkened and rebellious call. When we embrace the call of the foolish - we are embracing what is diametrically opposed to what God desires in our lives. Oh that we would learn to discern and recognize this call in all its various forms as it comes to us. This is what the writer of Hebrews says in chapter 5 verses 13-14. We read there that there are those ". . . who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. If we turn from folly's call and turn instead to wisdom's call, we will be able to grow in such discernment. That should be our worthy goal. "How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded? And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing And fools hate knowledge? Proverbs 1:22
If they only knew . . . this is the way that a lot of statements begin about those who reject Biblical truth and the Biblical world view. But this statement assumes that the only problem that is present is a lack of information - a lack of education. Yet today's proverb seems to present a different picture. There are those who even if educated would persist in their worldview and ignorance. Could it actually be that there is a deeper problem in the human race than a lack of education? Three descriptions are given here about how people view their world. The first is the person who is naive. According to what is written in this proverb, the naive ones actually love their naivete. They enjoy their simple-mindedness. The word used here is "pethi" which means to be naive. The picture that this paints for us though is of someone who is very open minded. In fact to them the greatest character trait that you can have is to be as open-minded as possible. The root for this word means to be wide open and spacious. It refers to someone whose mind is as wide open as can be - to everything - to every view that is out there. The only thing this person cannot tolerate is a view that is considered narrow in its focus. The naive person thinks that everyone would be able to get along - if we would all just accept each others views as equally valid. This is the case even when the views in question are diametrically opposed to each other. This is the post-modernist whose most valued idea is tolerance. They love their open-mindedness so much that they will pretty much gut the real truth of any position so that everyone can have their opinion, be right for themselves, and never a threat to each other. The writer asks, "How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded?" The fact is that all views can't get along with each other. There has to eventually be a right and a wrong. There are some worldviews that are just flat out wrong. Look at Mao in China. To say that his view of communism, which was responsible for the murder of over 50 million people is ludicris! To say that Hitler's position is equally valid with that of Mother Theresa is insane. Yet the naive want everyone's view to be equally valid. They love their naivete so much that they will frontal lobotomize themselves when it comes to thinking to have every view just as valid. Europe took this view as Hitler rose to power - and each and every step along the way, Hitler took advantage of it to Blitzkrieg his way accross most of northern Europe. He wouldn't have been stopped except that at some point the naive ones realized that their open-mindedness could not fit him and his views of the world. The second group are the scoffers. These are the ones who scoff and mock at the things of God. They belittle them as subpar thinking and subpar reasoning. They don't know how to build up - just tear down. They love their own scoffing, delighting in it every step of the way. They see it as a great thing when someone denigrates Christ, the Bible, or the church in some way. But their scoffing becomes such a lifestyle that they can offer nothing positive in reply. They only become bitter, self-centered critics who have nothing to offer anyone - except a constant cry to destroy and level anything related to God. The third group are the fools. These are the spiritual dullards and dupes who don't want to be bothered by the facts. According to this passage they hate knowledge. This word speaks of knowledge, knwoing, learning, discernment, and insight. They do not want God's wisdom in their lives and will reject it when it is offered. Now here is the amazing thing about this passage. None of these three types can have their lack of wisdom repaired by education alone. Their problem is not a lack of information. It is that they don't want the information. They enjoy their simple-mindedness, their scoffing, and their foolish worldview. They need something more than just information and knowledge. They need a change in their heart as a result of a work of God's Spirit in their minds. How do I know this? Because of the very next verse in chapter 1. These three groups are encouraged to "turn to God's reproof. They will have to see their views as wrong, and be willing to turn from them to God's correction. They need the Holy Spirit to be poured out upon them where they will then be able to receive the words that are spoken to them. Their problem is a heart level problem - not just an education level one. They delight in their views - and reject anything that would threaten them. Until there is a heart change - there will be no embracing of any kind of educational outreach to them. This is actually the view of classic Christianity. The problem with mankind is not just one of proper education. We can educate someone for decades and unless there is a heart change wrought by the grace of God, they will continue to reject the truth. As Romans chapter one puts it, God's wrath is revealed against the unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness. They want their sin. They want their foolishness. They want their unrighteous ways. No amount of education that leaves their hearts unregenerated will do them any good whatsoever. There must be repentance and a change initiated and completed by the work of God's Holy Spirit. If that does not happen - they will simply continue to reject the truth and embrace their unrighteousness - whether it is dressed up as naivete, scoffing, or foolishness. What we see here is that only the grace of God can take a man and change him from a fool into a wise man. Oh, that we would pray that God's grace would touch the hearts of men to convert them from darkness to light - and from the foolishness of this world to the wisdom of God. When the scoffer is punished, the naive becomes wise; But when the wise is instructed, he receives knowledge. The righteous one considers the house of the wicked, Turning the wicked to ruin. Proverbs 21:11-12
Ecclesiastes 8:11 says, "Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil." Punishment is not just for the one who does the evil deed. Society at large also receives instruction when punishment is handed out for crimes and evil deeds that are done. Today's proverb helps us understand this. The scoffer is the first person we see in this proverb. We see him being punished for something he has done. It is important to see that while others are instructed and given wisdom from this punishment, the scoffer is not one of them. A scoffer is incorrigible in his evil. He mocks God and does not care or concern himself with wisdom. He himself is the beginning and end of what little wisdom he desires. When this scoffer eventually breaks laws in his quest to poison society against God, he receives the punishment due for his crime. It is sad to see though that by the end of this proverb - and even the following verse - the scoffer learns nothing. He will continue in his scoffing behind bars - living to curse God and in so doing - have a curse upon his own life as he continues in his patterns of self-destruction. But there is help for others in seeing this fool's punishment. The naive or simpleton watches and learns wisdom. This is not the typical word for wisdom here, but is the Hebrew "sakal," which means to be prudent, show discernment, and to be instructed in a way to go. The naive watch the actions of the scoffer receive their due punishment and consider his end. As a result they learn not to walk in those ways - if only to avoid the punishment. The truly wise man though watches and receives real instruction - and as a result receives knowledge as well. Knowledge is "daath" which means a knowing that gives him practical wisdom and knowledge as to how to walk each day. The righteous is the last type of person who watches the punishment of the wicked. He looks and considers not just this one action that is receiving punishment, but he looks at the entire life of the scoffer. He considers his entire house (family, business, children, etc.). The Hebrew here is a little difficult to translate - and here is it rendered "turning the wicked to ruin." That gives the idea that the righteous man is out to destroy the wicked here. The Amplified Bible though, gives the best sense of the Hebrew here when it translates this passage, "The [uncompromisingly] righteous man considers well the house of the wicked—how the wicked are cast down to ruin." The righteous man can and should work to make sure that the laws of the land reflect the laws of God. In that way he does work to see the house of the wicked turned to ruin. That is what is ultimately best for a society. But what is being communicated here is that what the righteous man does is note that the entire household of the wicked comes to ruin because of his ungodly behavior and his attitude of scoffing at God. When we watch the demise of the wicked on television and in the news we need to receive instruction from it. Our hearts should not be drawn to such stories for the juicy gossip content. That is the attitude of the world, who learns very little from such things. We should watch and grieve the destruction from the standpoint of seeing that a lifestyle of arrogant scoffing and derision of God leads to destruction. We should also receive the instruction that God means for us to receive. Honoring and glorifying God is the wise man's lifestyle. As the house of the wicked crashes to the ground we should remember that Jesus Himself taught us that the foundation of a man's house - whether it is founded on obedience to God's Word or not - will be the deciding factor on whether it stands or falls. A prudent man sees evil and hides himself, The naive proceed and pay the penalty. Proverbs 27:12
What do you do when you see evil or sin coming toward you? Your answer might be that you don't often have evil coming in your direction. But the fact is that temptations come in two basic types. There are temptations that we will most likely not be able to avoid in life. They are going to happen so quickly that we do not have time to flee from them in advance. But there is a second type of temptation that is mentioned in this proverb. It is the temptation that we see coming - or the one that we just do not avoid or hide from in life. We just walk right into it. Those kind of temptations are the ones that we will most likely fall into - and pay the penalty in the process. The prudent men sees evil - and hides himself from it. He sees that there is a situation where temptation and testing is coming - and he makes choices to avoid it altogether. The alcoholic knows when he is being invited to a party or to a restaurant where liquor is being offered to him. He knows this and avoids the situation. The man struggling with sexual temptation is smart enough to hide himself from the R or PG13 rated movies - and avoids situations when he will be exposed to sights that will only cause him greater temptation. There are numerous temptations that we can avoid by simply being wise enough to hide from them. Rather than proceed into situations that pose us with choices that we would rather not make, we stay away from them. The proverb warns us what will happen when we do not make these kind of "choices-in-advance-for-righteousness." We read that the naive proceed and pay the penalty. I love the word for naive here. It is the Hebrew word "pethi" and it means to be simple or open-minded. The idea here is one who is so open-minded that they are naive about the evil that is in the world around them. They are simple in that they do not see the consequences of actions they are about to take. Contrary to this is the one who is spiritually mature. Hebrews 5;14 tells us about this person when it says, "But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil." Here is the wise man. His senses are trained due to exposure to the Word of God. The passage tells us that this man is feeding on the meat of God's Word, not just the milk. As a result, he has his senses trained from reading the "word of righteousness." Thus he knows what is right and wrong. That is why he can discern good and evil. He does so through God's Word, the Bible. And as he does - he makes sure that he avoids situations where evil is present. Jesus taught us to pray, "Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil." That phrase has within it this same passage. There are times when we will have to face evil - when we will have to face temptation. But our heart is not to be led into it. When we have to face temptation we long for God to deliver us from evil. But in some cases, God desires for us to learn enough wisdom to avoid tempting situations altogether. That is where we learn to see the evil and hide ourselves - rather the walk into it thinking we can handle it - and find out we cannnot. |
 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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