He
layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous (Prov 2:7)
Wisdom: Warnings For Our Benefit Prov 4:14-17
14) Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of
evil [men].
15) Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.
16) For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep
is taken away, unless they cause [some]
to fall.
17) For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of
violence.
INTRODUCTION:
These proverbs deal with
the need to avoid submitting to the leadership and examples of the wicked…
EXPOSITION:
14) Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of
evil [men].
As
we live among the wicked of this earth we are to:
1.
Not follow the well-trodden path of those who habitually break the laws of God. Many have taken their path and have joined
them in their travels. Despite the number
of their followers, we are not to be persuaded their ways are profitable.
2. Do not follow in their footsteps, nor copy
their lifestyle. They are characterized
as those who are harmful and destructive (to themselves and others).
“I have not sat with vain
persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers. I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the
wicked.” (Psalms 26:4-5)
15) Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.
The
four different aspects of resisting the temptation to follow them:
1. we are to expose and then refuse it…
In
other words, we are to see the true nature of their lifestyle (law breakers,
harmful to self and others) and allow this to motivate our avoidance of it.
This is seeing
things as they really are, not as they may be presented to us.
2. we are to walk around it…
We
are to be constantly watching where we tread and willfully walk over it, much
like walking over a bump on the sidewalk.
This is consistently
keeping our minds on what we are doing.
3. we are to look ahead and turn to avoid it….
We
are to be always thinking ahead noticing where our current path will take us. Then change direction immediately if we see
we are headed for troubles in the future.
This is thinking
ahead and recognizing the results of our actions before they are performed..
4. we are to turn our back on it and walk away
from it….
We
are to purposefully shun any temptation for evil doings and walk away from it
without partaking of it.
This is exercising
our will to refuse the wrong path.
“He that walketh
righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions,
that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from
hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;” (Isaiah 33:15)
16) For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep
is taken away, unless they cause [some]
to fall.
To
follow in their materialistic, greedy ways results in a unrest due to their obsessive
selfishness and the resultant guilt :
1. break in pieces the lives of others giving
the wicked great gain at the expense of the broken.
2. bring down others by trying to put a
stumblingblock in their way, tempting them to follow their ways. Why do they try to get others to join in their
ways…. One possible reason to sooth their conscience by knowing there are others
joined with them in their greed and abuse of others.
“But the wicked [are] like the troubled sea, when it
cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.” (Isaiah 57:20)
17) For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of
violence.
Their
greed for gain and their destructive ways to satisfy that greed results in them
bringing spiritual and physical harm upon themselves:
1. through their own actions they feed
themselves with actions that are in disobedience to God and deserving of
eternal judgment.
2. their harm of others causes them to drink of their
own harm at both the hands of man and God.
“Have all the workers of iniquity no
knowledge? who eat up my people [as] they eat bread, and call not upon the
LORD.” (Psalms 14:4)
SUMMARY:
In
these verses, Solomon not only advised against choosing the path of the wicked,
but he explained how to avoid falling into their trap, as well as supplying
motivating reasons to oppose following their example. Because the wicked reject the ways of God as
well as bringing harm upon others and themselves, they are to avoid their
temptation at all cost.
The
four principles we can use to oppose their enticements are: seeing things as
they really are, not as they may be presented to us; consistently keeping our
minds on what we are doing with our lives; think ahead and recognizing the
results of our actions before they are performed; and finally, making the right
choice by exercising our will to refuse the wrong path.
By
God’s grace, let us all study these proverbs diligently, giving them the value
that they deserve.
May the
Lord bless us as we receive this sound wisdom and then “Think On These Things”.
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