<i>Veritas est Immortalis</i>: Postings on Proverbs 12:19

Veritas est Immortalis

"If the Church is not in possession of truth, truth as an understanding that corresponds exactly to what is in reality, and...exactly to what is in the will and character of God, then it has been left speechless. It has nothing to say" (David Wells). But never forget: "Divine Truth is immortal, and though it may long be bound, scourged, crowned with thorns, crucified and laid in a grave, yet on the third day it will rise again victoriously and will reign and triumph eternally" (Hubmaier).

Friday, March 28, 2014

Postings on Proverbs 12:19

"Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment" (ESV)

How do truthful lips endure forever? Millions of truthful lips have come and gone. Maybe "lips" is a metaphor for what they say because truth is truth no matter the time or place. Maybe it's that "truth endures forever, and lies last for a moment." So, why bring up lips? Maybe because you can't have truth and lies without lips to propagate them.

Who? Anyone

What? endure forever vs. last for a moment

Where? Anywhere

When? Anytime

Why? Truthful vs. lying lips

How? ???

The wisdom here, at first, was hard for me to see (Proverbs don't give up their gems easily -- 3:13-18), but were some obvious things that helped me out. First, that telling the truth is better than lying. This is seen in that lasting forever is better than lasting for a moment. Second, as a chiasm, the emphasis in this couplet is on the time duration, not the type of lips.

The wise person tells the truth because she understand that telling a lie may benefit her for a little while, but it won't in the long run. It won't last forever. It will be found out eventually, and she'll be exposed as a liar.

Truth, on the other hand, has no expiration date. There's no reversal of fortune for truth. There's no 'Ah ha!' moment where someone's caught. Truth stands while all the lies have their day and then cease to be. My former pastor, John MacArthur, used to tell us "Time and truth go hand in hand; given enough time the truth will come out" and he may have deduced that idea from this proverb.

If that's that case, then what are you lying about right now? Wouldn't it be best if you exposed it rather than someone else? Avoid being exposed; tell the truth.

I hope that helps! TII!!!