12/10/2023
Turn with me to Proverbs 16:25-30. These are our verses to continue studying and memorizing.
Proverbs 16:25-30 There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death. 26 A worker’s appetite works for him, For his hunger urges him on. 27 A worthless man digs up evil, While his words are like scorching fire. 28 A perverse man spreads strife, And a slanderer separates intimate friends. 29 A man of violence entices his neighbor And leads him in a way that is not good. 30 He who winks his eyes does so to devise perverse things; He who compresses his lips brings evil to pass.
Introduction
In Proverbs 16:16-17:6 we are looking at wisdom for living on the highway of the righteous. The introduction to this section (16:16-19) proclaimed that the value of wisdom is much better than gold and silver. It also highlighted the need to depart from evil and live in humility. Now, here in the meat of this section Proverbs 16:20-16:30 turns to the mouth and words. Verses 20-24 picture the words that the people on the way of the upright pursue and have. Then the middle verse, verse 25, highlights that there is a way of life which can seem right when in reality it is “the way of death.” It transitions from the positive side of things that should be pursued to the negative side of things which bring destruction. Verses 26-30 fill that picture out with some examples of the evil mouths of people on that “way of death.”
Since we looked at verse 25 last time we are now moving into examples which help us unpack what exactly was meant there. It is very important to know that there are ways which can seem right but which actually lead to death. But the challenge is, if we think a way is actually good when it is not, how are we to tell the difference? How are to protect ourselves and others from getting off of the highway of the upright and onto these ways of death? Examples help, and that is exactly what we are given in the next five verses.
However, before we get into those negative examples of people that we should avoid and avoid becoming, we need to remind ourselves of the first five verses of this section. Why? Simply knowing what to avoid will not be enough to protect us and to keep us on the highway of the upright. We also need to be intentional to pursue the right way of life. Before this passage turned to showing us what to avoid and negatively learn from, that right way of life was first outlined in Proverbs 16:20-24. So, as we study these negative examples, do not forget what Proverbs 16:20 framed out for us: “He who gives attention to the word will find good, And blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.” We must make the central focus of our lives to know and live out God’s Word. On our own staying on the highway of the upright is impossible. That is why we need to trust in God and His way of redemption from our sin and we need to daily trust God in our new lives with Him. We need to trust Him that His way is always right and best. It is His wisdom that will keep us on the highway of the upright. As we keep this reminder at the forefront of our hearts, these verses will then provide guidance on some dangerous pitfalls to beware of that can get us off the highway of the upright and destroy our lives.
These five verses give us warnings about four dangerous ways of life.
- Verse 26 talks of the one who simply follows the words of what his heart, appetites, and feelings lead him to do.
- Verse 27 talks of the one who uses words as weapons to attack others.
- Verse 28 talks of the one who uses words to divide people and destroy good relationships.
- Verse 29-30 talk of the one who uses words to lead people towards violence and sin. He is the one who is governed by anger and revenge. He plots and carries out evil.
All these kinds of uses of words will lead us and others to destruction if we follow their pathways of life. With that overview, let’s now take a closer look at the first two warnings from verses 26-27.
26 A worker’s appetite works for him, For his hunger urges him on.
Physical desires are powerful motivators. They can make one work when there is no other desire to do so.
The word “appetite” here is the same one generally translated as “soul” (Nephesh). It refers to the animating essence or life-force that makes up someone. It is what makes someone, someone. As such, at times it also refers more specifically to the desires, pursuits, or appetites that someone has which characterizes them, motivates them, and energizes them. The second half of the verse refers to the urges of one’s mouth pressing him on. Because of that it makes the best sense to see the reference to the soul in the first part of the verse as referring to the life-force, hunger, desires, or needs being what drives the laborer to labor. Being alive, with the desire to stay alive and experience something better than what is currently being experienced is a powerful motivator which pushes people along to actions.
Now, at face value this would seem to be a good thing, not something to be warned about. It even goes along well with the New Testament command in 2 Thessalonians 3:10 that
2 Thessalonians 3:10b …if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either.
In that verse one’s hunger was supposed to be used to motivate the lazy to work and provide for their needs. They were not to be allowed to continue to sponge off of other people or the church. And that would be a fine application of this proverb. However, the context of the verses around Proverbs 16:26 shows us that its meaning goes farther than just that.
Proverbs 16:26 is also an extension of the verse that comes right before it (“There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.”) in at least two ways. First, it could seem to be a right, convenient, and easy way to live to just continue to rely on one’s parents or other people to provide your food and needs. But in the end that is a very foolish and dangerous way to live. How? It trains you to be unproductive. It trains you to be selfish and gives you more opportunities for sinful living. It keeps you from being able to help others who really need it.
Then what happens? Under most circumstances your parents and other people will eventually stop paying for your needs and wants. Then that way of life will prove to be dangerous, foolish, and possibly even deadly. If you do not learn to work for yourself and meet your own needs you will put yourself into a dangerous situation when others cannot or will not. In this case, your hunger and desires will drive you on to desperately search for a way of providing for your needs. In a good way that could cause someone to get a job and learn how to provide for themselves in the legal and right way. That would be ideal. However, in way too many situations cravings end up pushing people into doing things illegally and immorally. When people who have been trained to be selfish get desperate enough they will often do whatever it takes to get what they feel they need. Stealing, robbery, assault, murder, and immorality all can enter into the picture. People living in this way quickly destroy themselves.
Secondly, another side of this is that physical hunger for food is not the only motivating appetite that works for people driving them on. The principles of this proverb apply much more broadly to all of our strong physical and mental desires which motivate us. The self-focused desires for fun, pleasure, immorality, possessions, and power are all very strong pulls on people’s hearts which can seem right to them. As many people have said, “if it feels so good, how can it be wrong?” Nonetheless, instead of being right and good for us following that kind of thinking will only destroy us.
The multi-fold desires that people have lead them in all kinds of directions. If a desire for improvement, food, or something better is harnessed in line with God’s moral standard of what is right and wrong and seeking first His kingdom then great good could come of it. On the other hand, all too often the desires of the heart are not harnessed by God’s moral standard. People are simply driven by the powerful urge to have their desires and pleasures immediately fulfilled by any means necessary. When that occurs this hunger will only produce the way of death. Following what our hearts tell us to do is a very dangerous way of living that leads so many people far off of the highway of the upright. We must beware of it and not let it become our guide. Instead, we need to steadfastly hold on to God’s Word and trust that His way is always right and best. God’s way of joy, contentment, and pleasure is best.
Scriptural Example: In Scripture we see an example of this in the life of Esau. He lived driven by his pursuit of pleasure, the momentary enjoyment, and what felt good. He did not consider or really care about the long range consequences of his actions. He followed his physical appetites which urged him on. We see this vividly when he sold his birthright to Jacob. Normally the firstborn received a double-inheritance from what the rest of the children received. But Esau did not care about that as long as he got what he wanted right now.
Genesis 25:29-34 When Jacob had cooked stew, Esau came in from the field and he was famished; 30 and Esau said to Jacob, “Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished.” Therefore his name was called Edom. 31 But Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.” 32 Esau said, “Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?” 33 And Jacob said, “First swear to me”; so he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
His appetite urged him on and he let that guide his actions. It was a way which seemed good at the moment, but hurt him greatly in the long run. The same thing occurred in his choices of wives. We see this in Genesis 26:34-35.
Genesis 26:34-35 When Esau was forty years old he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite; 35 and they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.
Esau apparently did not consult his parents well about who he married, or look into their character very well. His wives were a source of grief to his parents. He was more concerned about what looked and seemed good than what truly was good.
In Hebrews 12:16 Scriptures gives its final assessment of Esau in a section where he is held up as the kind of person that we are not to be like.
Hebrews 12:15-17 See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; 16 that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.
Many people live lives controlled by their physical appetites and desires. They do not carefully think through God’s standards of what is right and wrong. They do not carefully think through the long range impact of their choices. They just want the next pleasure. They want something better or different than what they have now. So they strive for it and pursue it. They get it and want more. It is an endless pursuit of the next pleasure, the next high, the next purchase, the next achievement. It is a way which seems right to them. But the end of it is not blessing and life. Instead, it leads them into sin and its consequences. It leads them to defy and ignore God. Ultimately it brings death, and God’s judgment.
That is not how we are to live. That is not the kind of life that God designed for us in creating us. Nor is it the kind of life God would have for us after our ruin of this world through our sin. On our own we could not redeem our lives or fix our situation. So that is why Jesus came. He came to make a way of redemption.
He added on humanity to His deity. He lived perfectly, and then bore our punishment upon Himself on the cross. He was buried, and then the third day rose from the grave conquering sin and death. He ascended to heaven to make a place for us and will return to judge this world and to restore all things to the glory of God’s original purposes. In the meantime, all those who repent of their sin as they trust in Jesus as their Lord and Savior have this amazing grace of God that we are told not to come short of.
That phrase about coming short of the grace of God is a sobering reminder that we all should heed. It highlights how close people can seem to come to salvation and God’s redeemed way of life without actually having it. People can know the truth about God. They can know about Jesus and His redemption through His work on the cross. They can grow up like Esau in a God-fearing family. Yet, in the end, despite all of their head knowledge and even mental assent to facts as true, they can fall short of truly trusting in the grace of God for their salvation from sin. They can think themselves true followers of God, but not have the reality in their lives. What a sad fate that would be, to arrive before God’s judgment seat and have Him say (as Matthew 7:23 warns about) “I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.” If there is no change of life, if there are no results from our so-called “belief,” then there is no salvation from sin. There is no true saving faith. Instead, there was just a way which seemed right to man, but its end was the way of death. When we live by our sinful desires and allow them to be what motivates us to action we are on a way of death.
There are two main pitfalls that seem to be prevalent in relation to people’s thinking about being saved from their sins. One is that people think that they can work for it. They think that they can earn it, or that somehow they can outweigh their bad by their good. But the reality is that we do not receive God’s grace and forgiveness by working and earning it. No matter how much good we supposedly do, it does not erase any of our sin. It is all still there awaiting God’s judgment. We must trust in the work of Jesus Christ alone in His paying for our sin. (Acts 4:12, John 14:6, John 3:16, Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5-7)
The second pitfall is that people think that they have faith in Jesus, when it is in reality an empty faith like James 2 talks about. The reality is that we do not receive salvation by an Esau-like selfish, manipulative, fake repentance that is simply the sorrow over consequences or some other empty emotion. that the world has (as 2 Corinthians 7:10 talks about). Rather true repentance is a godly sorrow that sees the evil of our actions against God, recognizes our inability to make things right, and turns from that to trusting in Jesus alone as the only way of forgiveness and salvation for one’s own life personally.
2 Corinthians 7:10 contrasts this fake repentance with a genuine one.
2 Corinthians 7:10 For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.
Are you trusting in what your feelings and desires lead you to do? Or are you trusting in Jesus for His forgiveness and life? Do not let yourself be deceived by this way of living which leads to death. Turn from it in godly sorrow to trusting in Jesus alone.
Proverb in Comparison: When we compare this proverb with the rest of Scripture we see the emptiness of this desire-led way of life. Ecclesiastes 6:7 captures that succinctly.
Ecclesiastes 6:7 All a man’s labor is for his mouth and yet the appetite is not satisfied.
Living for the pursuit of our appetites is an endless hamster wheel of vanity. You will get nowhere and accomplish nothing except to tire yourself out and waste your life. At the end of your life you may have accumulated riches and had a plethora of pleasurable experiences. But it is all a waste. It will have been done all while ignoring God and His purpose for you. It will have been done in the pursuit of pleasure and sin. It will have been done living as if you were the god of your life. In living apart from God here in this life you will doom yourself to eternally living separated from Him under His just judgment in the lake of fire.
God has a better way for us, in Christ. Turn in faith to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Then take the wisdom of God’s Word as your guidance for all of life. Romans 6:12-14 describes what our new perspective as a new creation in Jesus Christ is to be like:
Romans 6:12-14 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
Many other passages of Scripture then show what this looks like in our daily lives as we turn from living as appetite drive, pleasure driven, feeling driven people to being Holy Spirit driven people. For instance, Ephesians 4:28 says:
Ephesians 4:28 He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need.
Ephesians 6:7 gives the broad perspective view:
Ephesians 6:7 With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men,
We ought to have as our consideration not what will benefit us the most, nor even what others will be most pleased with. Rather, we should do all that we do to please our new Lord and Savior: Jesus the Messiah.
Truth in Connection: Where are you with all of this? Do you need to hear this warning about this way of life which can seem so right but which leads to death? Are you living for your appetites and desires? Is that what drives and motivates you? America has imbibed this way of life and is drunk on it. It is a governing philosophy that is leading millions straight towards their death, to eternal separation from God, to an empty, destructive way of life. Do not be deceived by it. Turn from it. Turn to Jesus as the only Savior. Trust Him. Then, continue to trust His wisdom about the purpose of your life. Trust Him about what is right and wrong. Do not turn back and again let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts. Rather, present yourself day by day to God as those alive from the dead. Take up your cross daily and follow Jesus. His way is true righteousness, goodness, and holiness. His way is true life.
Our next proverb turns from warning us about the internal, lying words of our desires to warning us of the person who uses words externally as weapons to attack others.
27 A worthless man digs up evil, While his words are like scorching fire.
The one who searches out evil to destroy others with his words is a depraved scoundrel.
This is a person who looks for opportunities and ways to attack others with their words. They are trying to attack, destroy, hurt, demoralize, beat, and batter people with their words. We see this quite often in our country with politics and the media. Every time an election season comes up, or any new person comes on the scene who seems to be a threat to people’s pet political views we see this happening. An effort seems to be made to look up every past speech, tweet, or interaction which can be used or twisted in such a way to make them appear as evil, wicked, or weird as possible.
For some people this seems to be the default way of dealing with issues or discrediting people. They dig up something, reframe it in its worst possible light, and then blast it with as much witty rhetoric, mockery, insults, and hate as they can. They burn them as bad as they can. Then they promote it on social media, put it in news articles, on CNN, NBC, or Fox News and try to influence as many others as they can with it.
Now, at face value, this can be a very tempting way of life to pursue. Other people do it to us or to those holding our viewpoints. And it seems to influence so many people. So why not? Let’s give them a taste of their own medicine and show the world how foolish they are. So when someone else does something wrong, evil, or hurtful towards us we let them have it. They become our enemy and we look for ways to really get back at them. When they espouse some view which we view to be dangerous it is so satisfying to be able to take what they said or did, expose it, highlight it, make some snarky, witty, sarcastic, clever, or even insightful comment, and put them in their place.
Our proverb tells us that this way of living and using our words is not good at all. It actually is a way which leads to death. And, it makes us into worthless people. The term for a worthless man is literally “a man of Belial.” That is a term which seems to highlight someone in whom there is no redeeming value. They deserve the death penalty.
Scriptural Example: In Scripture we see quite a number of examples of these men of “Belial.” The first time this word is used is in Deuteronomy 13:13 in reference to anyone coming up in Israel trying to lead the people into worshipping false gods. When that happened the Israelites were to carefully search it out. If it was true they were supposed to put them and any that followed after them to death.
This descriptor of “worthless men” is then later used to describe the men in Gibeah who wanted to immorally abuse the travelling Levite who was passing through their town in Judges 19:22 and 20:13. It is used in 1 Samuel 2:12 of the two sons of Eli that God sentenced to death for their sinful behavior. It is used of the men who refused to acknowledge God’s appointment of Saul as king over Israel in 1 Samuel 10:27. It is used of Nabal who unjustly insulted David, despised his help that he had given, and ended up being killed by God in 1 Samuel 25:17ff. In 2 Samuel 21:10, 13 it is used of the men who falsely accused Naboth of blasphemy so that he could be stoned and killed so that Ahab could have his vineyard.
These are people who have no true regard for God and His law and what is right. Instead, they are willing to say whatever is necessary to get what they want. When we allow ourselves to go on this pathway of searching for ways to attack and hurt and get even with other people and put them down and burn them with our words we end up going down a pathway of life that leads to death. Why? Because when we live this way we are consumed with the goal and purpose of hurting someone else. It starts off small. But it grows and gets worse and worse. Our consciences are seared. We go farther and farther, saying and doing more and more hurtful things. Anyone who crosses us gets blasted.
The result, though, is not good. It is deadly. It will indeed bring harm on our “enemy,” but in so despising God by taking vengeance into our own hands we ourselves earn God’s judgment as we try to usurp His role. We make ourselves worthless, unfit for any good thing. We repay evil for evil. In the end we sow the wind and reap the whirlwind.
Proverb in Comparison: When we look to the rest of Scripture we see that Solomon gave a picture of this person’s way of life, what happened to them, and how God viewed them back in Proverbs 6:12-17.
Proverbs 6:12 A worthless person, a wicked man, Is the one who walks with a perverse mouth, 13 Who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet, Who points with his fingers; 14 Who with perversity in his heart continually devises evil, Who spreads strife. 15 Therefore his calamity will come suddenly; Instantly he will be broken and there will be no healing. 16 There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: 17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, 19 A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.
This person is wicked. They twist words. They continually devise evil. Strife follows their wake. That is what they end up becoming like. What will happen to them? Their calamity will come suddenly. They will be broken beyond healing. And how does God view them? He finds their lying tongue, their wickedly devised plans, their twisted, false representations, and their spreading of strife to be an abomination. If God is against you, you have no hope of anything good ultimately. There is only a fearful expectation of judgment.
Truth in Connection: So then, as we apply this to our lives, we must be careful that we do not fall into this trap with our words. It can seem so good to dig up just the right thing to throw back into someone’s face and burn them with our carefully crafted words. Yet, it does not lead anywhere good. It only leads to death. Do not delight in the way that others use their words like this in the news media, in politics, in movies and TV shows, on talk radio, on Facebook, or on Twitter/X. Do not imitate them. See it as the evil that it is. Even when it supports something that we believe and tears down those who are promoting evil of some kind it is still not good. Repaying evil with evil will only make us evil too. This is extremely prevalent in biased news reports (which seems to be most sources these days). This is extremely prevalent on social media. It appears to be the main way that people are handling disagreements these days in the public square. Realize the deadly danger that this poses according to God’s Word and evaluation. Do not engage in it. Do not secretly delight in it.
On an even more individual level, this is a behavior which ruins marriages and relationships all the time. One person says something publicly mocking or belittling another person. That it turn leads to them looking for ways to similarly get back at the other person. That will destroy both of you. Do not mock, belittle, make fun of, or shame your spouse like this. It may feel good in the moment to get back at them for something they did or said or did not do, but holding grudges and retaliating against each other like this will only destroy you and ruin your relationship.
God’s way is the opposite of this. We should always speak the truth and do what we can to help build each other up. We should work through disagreements and problems one on one wherever possible. That is how people who love each other should handle things. We do not ignore problems. But neither do we try to dig up issues in a way to hurt people. When it is not possible to deal with things privately we still must not speak the truth out of hatred, anger, or vengeance. Sin needs to be dealt with, but the way we deal with problems in our relationships or with other people’s sin matters. If we are not careful we can drag ourselves into sin in the way that we deal with it. This proverb highlights how it can seem like a right thing and yet still be so deadly.
Therefore, whether it is in our personal life with our family, or issues that are in the public square we must never let ourselves indulge in the deadly game of scorching people with our words. Rather, we should remember God’s way of mercifully dealing with our sin in Jesus Christ and humbly point all people to His way of redemption and His ongoing righteous way of life which His Word proclaims.
If you find yourself guilty of going down this pathway of life, Scripture gives us the remedy. Repent. Turn from it. Recognize it as sin which leads to death under God’s just and holy judgment. Turn to Jesus as the only way of salvation. He is the only one who can free us from our slavery to sin and give us His righteousness. He is the only one who has conquered death and can give us life. Trust in Him that His death, burial, and resurrection was for you. Trust Him. Then continue to run to Him each and every day when you are tempted to go back to your old way of life with your words. We will still have temptations, but the difference now is that God is for us and with us. With His power all things are possible. Trust Him. Walk with Him. Abide in Him.
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
English (US) · 