144. To Establish A Nation (Proverbs 16:12)

9/3/2023

Turn with me to Proverbs 16:10-15. These are our verses to continue studying and memorizing this week.

Proverbs 16:10-15 A divine decision is in the lips of the king; His mouth should not err in judgment. 11 A just balance and scales belong to the LORD; All the weights of the bag are His concern. 12 It is an abomination for kings to commit wicked acts, For a throne is established on righteousness. 13 Righteous lips are the delight of kings, And he who speaks right is loved. 14 The fury of a king is like messengers of death, But a wise man will appease it. 15 In the light of a king’s face is life, And his favor is like a cloud with the spring rain.

Introduction

In the first part of this chapter the focus has been on the bedrock truth of God’s sovereign authority over everything. Having laid that out in the previous verses there is a continuation of that theme in relationship to human government in verses 10-15. We see both the king’s responsibility to God’s authority, as well as the citizens responsibility to their king’s authority.

Last time we looked at verses 10 and 11. Verse 10 highlighted God’s perfect design for the way human government is supposed to be run. It is supposed to be guided by His wisdom. Since that is His purpose for it, that is the way that kings, rulers, and authorities are to oversee their domains. Verse 11 reiterated that God has determined what is right and wrong, and nothing escapes His attention. God will hold both rulers and citizens accountable.

Verses 12 and 13 now turn and focus on the importance of righteous living and speaking. Then finally, verses 14 and 15 focus on wisdom for one’s relationship to a king.

With that background, let’s take a look more closely at verses 12 today.

12 It is an abomination for kings to commit wicked acts, For a throne is established on righteousness.

Wickedness in a nation is a destructive abomination. Righteousness is what builds and preserves it.

This verse can be translated and taken two ways. It could refer to a declaration that it is abominable when kings carry out wicked acts (as the NASB, ESV, and KJV do), or it could refer to kings viewing the wicked acts of others as an abomination (as the CSB, NIV, and Waltke¹ do). The NET Bible, meanwhile probably has the best translation that could be interpreted both ways. It reads:

Proverbs 16:12 Doing wickedness is an abomination to kings, because a throne is established in righteousness. (NET)

The doing of wickedness is thus translated in a way that could refer to either the king or others. This broader understanding of it matches verse ten where we saw that verse encompassing both the picture of God’s ideal standard of the way He designed things to be as well as the goal that kings in this sinful world should pursue. That same broad pattern of being applicable both ways is continued here.

In a perfect scenario, kings and rulers would view all wickedness as abominable. They would work to stop it and to bring law-breakers to justice. They would hate evil. They would hate it knowing that the only way for their kingdom or government to truly be established would be if it conducted itself within the righteousness of God’s design. That is the only way it would have the favor and blessing of God. Wickedness (immorality, rape, murder, abuse, lying, stealing, defrauding, etc.) always undermines, destroys, and ruins. It ruins lives, families, governments, and nations. Eventually the corrosion gets bad enough that they will either be destroyed from the inside out, or God’s justice will come due and His judgment will fall. Righteousness is the only way that leaders and nations will truly flourish and endure. Knowing this, righteous rulers work hard to exalt righteousness and remove evil from among their people.

In reality, though, kings and rulers frequently commit wicked acts themselves. Power all too often leads to corruption. It simply becomes an opportunity to carry out and get away with the evil desires of their sinful flesh. That is an abomination before God and all righteous people. It will not lead to that kingdom or government’s lasting establishment. Only righteousness will do that. Thus both sides of the double meaning of this proverb ring true.

All of this highlights the importance of righteousness in a nation. Righteousness is essential to its continuance and thriving. Because of that, wickedness must not be tolerated. The leaders need to live in righteousness and they need to root out wickedness within their nation. It must not be allowed to gain a foothold in the leader’s lives, or in the lives of the people of the nation. Wickedness in either one leads to their downfall. Even if a ruler is righteous, if the people are not and a blind eye is turned to wickedness then the corruption will still bring destruction. Likewise, if many of the people remain righteous, but their leaders are corrupt then that corruption will still bring consequences. The decisions of the leaders will be foolish, corrupt, and dangerous and bring ruin to the nation. We see this happening over and over in Israel’s history, and in the history of nations throughout time.

Scriptural Example: In Scripture we see a positive example of this proverb at the beginning of Solomon’s reign as king. David charged him to walk righteously according to God’s Word as well as to deal with some individuals who had not yet received justice for their wicked behaviors. David knew that this wickedness left undealt with would cause problems for Solomon and the nation later on.

Joab, David’s general, had twice deceptively killed other generals in times of peace. Likewise, Shimei the Benjamite had never received justice for the way he had treated David during Absalom’s revolt. Beyond that, Adonijah, Solomon’s brother who had also tried to take the throne from him near David’s death, became a further danger when more plotting was uncovered. After Solomon took care of all those outstanding situations 1 Kings 2:46 declares that “the kingdom was established in the hands of Solomon.” Justice upon the wicked needed to occur first for the kingdom to be established.

Jehoshaphat, a later king of Judah, provides another helpful positive example.

2 Chronicles 17:3-9 The LORD was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the example of his father David’s earlier days and did not seek the Baals, 4 but sought the God of his father, followed His commandments, and did not act as Israel did. 5 So the LORD established the kingdom in his control, and all Judah brought tribute to Jehoshaphat, and he had great riches and honor. 6 He took great pride in the ways of the LORD and again removed the high places and the Asherim from Judah. 7 Then in the third year of his reign he sent his officials, Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel and Micaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah; 8 and with them the Levites, Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah and Tobadonijah, the Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram, the priests. 9 They taught in Judah, having the book of the law of the LORD with them; and they went throughout all the cities of Judah and taught among the people.

What is really intriguing about this situation, was that Jehoshaphat was not just content with doing what was right himself. He also was not just content in pulling down the high places and idols.
He wanted to make sure that all the people themselves knew the Word of God and followed the Lord. He did not just want to stamp out wickedness in Jerusalem. He wanted the nation as a whole to walk in righteousness. So he taught them God’s Word and the Lord established his throne and kingdom. As the next verses express, the dread of the Lord was on the surrounding nations. They dared not fight against Judah. The Philistines even brought tribute payments to Jehoshaphat.

On the negative side of things, we see a clear example of the abomination of wickedness in the reign of Rehoboam, Solomon’s son.

2 Chronicles 12:1-9 When the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and strong, he and all Israel with him forsook the law of the LORD. 2 And it came about in King Rehoboam’s fifth year, because they had been unfaithful to the LORD, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem 3 with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen. And the people who came with him from Egypt were without number: the Lubim, the Sukkiim and the Ethiopians. 4 He captured the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. 5 Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the princes of Judah who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and he said to them, “Thus says the LORD, ‘You have forsaken Me, so I also have forsaken you to Shishak.’” 6 So the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The LORD is righteous.” 7 When the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, “They have humbled themselves so I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some measure of deliverance, and My wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by means of Shishak. 8 “But they will become his slaves so that they may learn the difference between My service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.” 9 So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king’s palace. He took everything; he even took the golden shields which Solomon had made.

Rehoboam allowed wickedness to permeate his rule, and God judged him for it. It was an abomination which undermined his rule and hurt the whole nation greatly. This same pattern occurred with so many other rulers in Israel’s history. Saul disobeyed God, and treated David wickedly. He lost his throne, life, and dynasty. In the northern kingdom of Israel Jeroboam instituted the worship of golden calves so that the people would not go to the temple in Jerusalem and end up reunited with Judah. Because of his wickedness God took the kingdom out of his family’s hands and all his descendents were wiped out. The same thing happened to Ahab and Jezebel’s dynasty. They were cut off and destroyed.

Allowing wickedness to take hold of the lives of rulers and nations has a way of undermining and destroying them. Yet, in God’s grace there is space for His mercy upon those who turn from their wickedness in true repentance. We see this in the book of Jonah with the Ninevites.

Jonah 3:4-10 Then Jonah began to go through the city one day’s walk; and he cried out and said, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” 5 Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. 6 When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth and sat on the ashes. 7 He issued a proclamation and it said, “In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat or drink water. 8 “But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth; and let men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands. 9 “Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish.” 10 When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.

Empty words were not enough. It says that “When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, THEN God relented…” (emphasis added). God does have mercy, but repentance is required.

Proverb in Comparison: When we compare this proverb with the rest of Scripture we see that God is planning to establish an eternal throne on righteousness. Last time we noted this in Isaiah 9:6-7 where God would establish Messiah on the throne of David and uphold it with justice and righteousness forever. But this is definitely not the only place this was prophesied. In the context of discussing Moab’s judgment by God He says this about His future plans in Isaiah 16:5—

Isaiah 16:5 A throne will even be established in lovingkindness, And a judge will sit on it in faithfulness in the tent of David; Moreover, he will seek justice And be prompt in righteousness.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, also received this promise in Luke 1:31-33:

Luke 1:31-33 “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32 “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”

The only earthly throne that will truly endure forever will be the one that Jesus establishes when He reigns on the throne of David in righteousness. All the other thrones and governments of man, like the rest of us as individuals, end up being corrupted by wickedness. It is a plague which has gone on unchecked throughout history and continues to repeat itself. Wickedness is an abomination in governments and nations that God will judge and will not leave unchecked. Oftentimes they end up falling apart from within or getting destroyed from without. But even if they continue to limp along in some form or other for a time, when Jesus returns to this earth to sit on this throne of David there will be a final reckoning. Matthew 25:31-46 pictures what will happen.

Matthew 25:31-46 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 “All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ 41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ 44 “Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ 45 “Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

On that day all the wicked abominations of the nations and of individuals will be fully and completely dealt with. Jesus will then reign in complete righteousness and justice.

Truth in Connection: As we apply this to our lives and situations now in history we face a sobering situation. God’s standard for what He expects from kings, governments, and rulers is a high and perfect one. Wickedness is to be rooted out and appropriately dealt with according to God’s justice. The reality is, though, that every government, every ruler, and every nation has failed, is failing, and will fail at this. Even in David’s government, or Solomon’s, or Uzziah’s, or Jehoshaphat’s, or Hezekiah’s, or Josiah’s there was always still something which ended up falling short of God’s perfect standard. Some injustice occurred. Some sinful flaw in leadership or in the people existed where wickedness was pursued or tolerated or not dealt with in an appropriate way. In God’s grace and mercy there was forgiveness and mercy when there was repentance. But it still always left a stain on the nation. It made a crack that later rulers and people exploited and made bigger as they departed from what was right and just.

Thus, when we come to our nation and situation, we must realize that we are no better. Nor will we face any different fate than all the other nations before us. The more we tolerate, pursue, and celebrate wickedness in our nation the faster we will come to falling of the cliff in front of us that we are running towards. Actions will have consequences. Our nation will not escape them unless we all repent and turn from our wickedness like Nineveh did.

What then can we do? What should we do? Thankfully Scripture has the answer both for how we are to live and what we are to actively pursue. As we read last week in Romans 13:1-7 we are to live in subjection to our government and to render taxes and honor where it is due. Apart from where they might command us to do something wrong or to not do what God’s Word commands us to do we are to be model citizens. We are to live peaceably with all men as much as depends upon us as Romans 12:18 says. We are to continue to live righteously not returning evil for evil, but blessing. We are to always be ready to give an answer for the hope that is in us and to be willing to suffer. Peter says all of that in 1 Peter 3:8-22. We are to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, Matthew 6:33. We are to be the salt of the earth. Our light should shine before all men and glorify our Father in heaven as Matthew 5:13-16 declares. Beyond that we are to actively pursue making disciples of Jesus as Matthew 28:19-20 says.

People are set free from their slavery to sin and the destructive corruption of wickedness by the truth about themselves and Jesus Christ. An election will not save this country from God’s judgment on our sin. Your preferred candidates, and every other candidate, will prove to be a failure to truly turn this country around unless they lead people to faith in Jesus Christ and people follow Him. Apart from Jesus there is no hope for this country. Apart from Him there is no hope for your life. People must realize that they are sinners who have defied God and brought ruin and destruction upon themselves by their wickedness. Our leaders must realize this. We all must realize this. Then we must humble ourselves like the Ninevites, acknowledge our sin and trust in what Jesus Christ did on the cross on our behalf to pay the penalty for our sins. We must trust in the life that He alone can give. There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Jesus alone is our hope in this country and in every other country. Our wickedness has overtaken us in our personal lives and as a nation. We are hanging but by a thread awaiting the justice that is due us. Whether that is personally, or as a nation. Unless we are born again and transformed by God’s Spirit in us we have no hope.

What then can you do in our nation and in our community? Trust in Jesus as your only hope and savior. Let Him cleanse you from your wickedness. Turn from it. Turn to Him. There is nothing that we can do to earn His forgiveness or deserve it. We must stop trusting in all the other things that we are pursuing and trust in Him like a little child trusts in their loving parents. Trust in Jesus.

Then, by God’s grace, walk with Jesus righteously and point others to Him. Redouble your effort in doing that, not in falsely exalting some political candidate or leader who cannot save anyone or truly fix our nation. Do not speak more about some political candidate to other people than you do about Jesus! If you do, that declares where your hope truly is. Every four years in our country it is frankly quiet sickening to see how some Christians exalt some person as if he or she were their hope for our country. They seem to act and talk as if that person were nearly infallible. Their wickedness is seemingly swept under the rug and ignored by the ringing unqualified endorsements that are often given on social media. Meanwhile the wickedness in opponents is magnified and mudslinging commences. This is not how it ought to be. We have no right to exalt any person into God’s place. He alone is perfectly righteous. He alone is our only true hope. He alone will bring true justice, peace, safety, security, and righteousness.

It is an abomination for kings to commit wicked acts, For a throne is established on righteousness. Ignoring our leaders or potential leaders wickedness’s will not exalt or establish our country. It will just lead us into compromise and keep us from carrying out the one thing that could save our nation: making disciples of Jesus Christ. Our testimony will be so ruined by our exaltation of sinful people that others will not want to hear the gospel from us on the grounds of our hypocrisy.

We have the amazing privilege of electing leaders in this country, but we must be careful that the way we decide our vote, carry out our endorsements, and talk about opposing candidates is completely different than the way that the world does it. As Christians, we must not support or promote any kind of wickedness. It must not look like we idolize or place our hope in any candidate or ruler. We must not cover over or ignore any wickedness—whether it is in someone who would support some of our views, or someone who seems to oppose just about all of them. It does not matter whether the person is a Republican, Democrat, Independent, or even a pastor. Sin is sin and it will lead to God’s judgment. If we compromise on that anywhere it ruins our testimony and groups us with evil which God finds abominable.

We must be careful that we exalt Christ and righteousness in every situation and do not compromise our witness for Him in any way. We must work hard to live at peace with all men. We must work to do what is truly best for other people. That is how people will know we are disciples of Jesus, by our love.

Our ultimate citizenship being in heaven should be clearly visible by our lives, pursuits, and words. Philippians 3:14-21 gives us what should be our driving force in life.

Philippians 3:14-21 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; 16 however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained. 17 Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. 18 For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, 19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. 20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; 21 who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.

Our hope, purpose, and true investments should not be in a ruler, a government, a political candidate, a country, a stock market, or even our physical life. It should be in Jesus Christ and His eternal kingdom. Is it? Is Jesus Christ in actual reality your hope, purpose, and focus more than anything else? Is He the one you are living for? Is His kingdom the one you are exalting and looking forward to?

If you have not trusted in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then that is what you need to do to start. If you have trusted in Him, work very hard to keep your focus on Him. Set your mind on things above. Continue to examine your heart, life, and actions. Do not let yourself become like the world around you with its idols, focuses, hopes, pursuits, and wickedness. Do not let the world taint you with its evil, and do not pursue being like them and gain the appearance of evil yourself.

Conclusion

If you have any questions on any of this or want help in coming to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior please come talk with us. We are available. Let’s pray.

© 2023, Kevin A. Dodge, All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible^® (NASB),Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org