Proverbs 17:23, Beware of Mammon!
November 21, Proverbs 17:23
Acts 24:24-27; Rom. 3:8; 1 Thes. 5:22 “No man can serve two masters.”
Beware of Mammon!
In Proverbs 17:8 it was the importance of one’s motive in gift giving that was stressed. If it is an attempt to influence a decision, then clearly it is a bribe. We say, “money talks,” or “money makes the mare go!” God’s Word takes a different view of the place of money in verses 15 and 23. In a nutshell, it says, “money burns many. It is the servant of the wise, but the master of fools.”
1. Its Hideousness! A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment. Bribing takes many forms. “Gold or silver is the best bait to fish for men with, but is the creature which is thus taken worth the catching?” asks Spurgeon. We have had a number of Proverbs on this theme. Wicked judges and officials still accept bribes (Ex. 23:8; Mic. 7:3). Many countries are openly known to operate on the basis of bribery. It is virtually accepted as “a fact of life.” Little can be done without “greasing the palm” of an official, and this is not only in the so-called Banana Republics or Third world countries. Evidently, the frequency of this warning in Proverbs is as much needed today. This evil is still among us, still as hideous, still as pervasive, still as corrupting as ever! To pervert, literally, to stretch or bend, the ways, or paths, of justice is everywhere its aim! It is, therefore, always a crime, against both God and man, by whomsoever it is done. It amounts to the sacrifice of truth and justice to satisfy the briber’s own ends. Both the giver and the receiver of the bribe are equally guilty, but the receiver sells his soul for a piece of bread (28:21)! There is nothing more hideous than to be “paid off” to deliver a false verdict! Bridges said, “Not even a good cause will justify the evil practice.” Matthew Henry put it, “The greatest wrongs are done under the colour of doing right.” How many otherwise fine careers have fallen and been forever ruined in this moment of weakness!
2. Its Hiddenness! A gift out of the bosom means “from the folds of the garment [at the breast] in which it [the bribe] had been concealed; denoting the stealthy action either of the suitor who proffers, or of the judge who receives, the bribe” (Perowne). It represents “a hidden reward concealed in the bosom” (BDB), giving rise to the Hebrew word for bosom! Thus, it became symbolic of something given in secret by evil men for their evil designs. Even this sinful world must conceal it. Men try to hide it, not only from their fellow men, but even from their own consciences, if they could. How much greater is their folly when they think they can hide it from God! “He that repels a temptation to gain, gains by the temptation!” Yet one day all their secret bribes will be revealed before the Judgment Seat of God. Therefore, let us not minimise the power of money, and ever pray to be delivered from this deadly virus. Paul gives this practical admonition, Abstain from all appearance of evil (1 Thes. 5:22), but long before that God told Abraham, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect (Gn. 17:1).
Thought: “No honest man (or woman) ever repented of his honesty.”
Prayer: Lord, give me an honesty that can be trusted before men and God.