Proverbs 1:24-33, Still at the Crossroads – Part III
January 13, Proverbs 1:24-33
Psalm 2; Luke 13:24-35 “Verily, he is a God that judgeth in the earth” (Ps. 58:11).
Still at the Crossroads – Part III
- The Perished: How dreadful is the end result of rejecting the call of Wisdom! Every verse, from 24 to 32, bears testimony to this tragedy. It’s the old story. The sinner won’t face the fact that there is something seriously wrong with him. Why should he leave the exciting crowd, the in-group, for the killjoy minority on the narrow road? But if only men could see their end, as brought out in these awful words, they would not be so brazen or so reckless with God’s call while it is still the Day of Mercy. The contrasts between the fear of folly (v.32) and the faith of wisdom (v.33) set the plan for the rest of the book.
a. They are Culpable! God calls, stretches out His hand, counsels, reproves, “but,” God says, “they would none of my reproof.” What was the response of these sinners? “No man regarded” (vs.24-25). They all exercised that much boasted free will! They did what those “dead in trespasses and sins” always do. They refused God’s call. Again, God says: They set at nought all my counsel. Wisdom called, “Turn to me” but you turned from me. This is not backsliding (as in RV) since they never believed in the first place. They were guilty of wilfully living in sin. Thus they were digging a put out of which they cannot free themselves, but that does not make them any less culpable for remaining in their sins! They would not choose the fear of the Lord because that required a spiritual renewal that they lacked. God must open their hearts as He opened Lydia’s (Acts 16:14).
b. They are Censurable! Fear and desolation come to all rejecters (v.26-30). God says when their time of trouble comes, then comes fear and destruction. A father laughing at his child in anguish! How horrible! How much more to be laughed at by God! They will pray then, but He will not hear! They will seek Him then, but not find Him. They said to God, Depart from us. Now God says, to them, Depart from Me! O most dreadful condition! We are reminded of that “great and bitter cry” of Esau, but the time was past and the door was shut (Heb.12:16-17). Here is retribution indeed! Sow the wind; reap destruction and the whirlwind! “They would not hear God in the day of mercy; in the day of vengeance God will not hear them” (Arnot). Wisdom rejected leaves only the blackness of darkness!
c. They are Condemnable! What bitter fruits folly reaps (vs.31-32)! Filled means eating until stuffed, but who wants to gorge on the poisonous weeds they harvested? Now, sinners can’t have enough of the poisoned cup. Give me one round more, they cry! But one day they will have to drink it to the bitter dregs, reaping what they sowed (Gal. 6:7). Prosperity is used here in a bad sense. It means false peace. Fool’s success becomes their undoing. Carefree living and careless living are not the same! God justly destroys His enemies, but their ruin can be laid at their own doorstep.
Thought: “This life is the springtime of our immortality; the harvest is eternity.”
Prayer: Lord, open my eyes and ears to receive Wisdom’s words.