Postings on Proverbs...13:1

"A wise son hears his father's instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke" (ESV)

There is nothing worse in Proverbs than the "scoffer" (Waltke, I:114), someone who hears truth, hears its benefits, hears its blessings and doesn't just reject it, but arrogantly determines that God's wisdom is absurd.

He is a "genius for invective and denigration...[wearing] a perpetual sneer...who supposes that it is his mission in life to promote the corrosion of the values by which individuals and society lives" (Walkte).

Few reading this would consider themselves a "scoffer," but you may be one regardless. The question you need to ask yourself is not "Am I a scoffer?" but "Do I rebel against being corrected by God's Word?" If yes, then you're probably a scoffer, whether you want to admit it or not.

Who? Wise vs. Scoffer
What? Hears = listens to his father's instruction vs. Does not listen to rebuke
Where? Anywhere
When? Anytime
Why? Doesn't say, but I think it's humility vs. pride
How? Doesn't say

The wise and the fool (here, the scoffer) are distinguished by his response to truth that confronts him. Someone shows him he's morally wrong (Waltke, I:551), that he's sinned, and immediately what he is -- wise or fool -- is revealed. The wise listen; the fool will not.

I think the reason for the difference boils down to humility. The scoffer is arrogant, so he despises correction and only listens to himself and those who agree with him.

The wise knows she's prone to mistake, has blind spots and doesn't have all the answers. She'll seek out advice and trust the correction of those who are smarter and have walked with God longer than she has.

This proverb hits home to me as a new dad. My son is 12 months old now, and I'm doing this blog because I want to be wise and I'm doing it for him (and any other kids God may graciously gift us with).

I trust this book, that we all start out naive, unskilled, foolish about life and how it works; therefore, success and failure is determined by the application of wisdom, the skill needed to live a good life.

This book is God's wisdom in written form, so I hope my kids want to be wise and will read Proverbs and this blog, but they might not. They might be fools and scoff at the God their mom and I love so much.

I pray almost nightly that that is not the case and when I bless him before he goes to bed that's one of the things I'm praying God blesses him with, wisdom, the skill to live a life that God considers beautiful, successful, blessed.

And, because we're naturally foolish, ignorant and in need of wisdom, the goal of achieving a good life starts with proverbs like this one, so, what's your response to being told you're wrong or in sin? Do you pout? Do you slander the person who corrects you, either out loud to others or in your own mind? Are you always right and no one better dare correct you? Do you think you know better than people who truly know more than you do?

Postings on Proverbs...12:28

"In the path of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death" (ESV)

This can't be saying that those who live righteous lives never die, or that they're never killed for being righteous. Jesus was perfectly righteous, in every thought, word and action (1 Pet 2:22, 1 John 3:5), and He was killed for His righteousness. So, what does this proverb mean?

Who? Anyone

What? Life, and no death

Where? Anywhere

When? Anytime

Why? One's life ("path") is righteous

How? ???

This is what I call a summary proverb. It takes all the details of every individual proverb, which only give a slice of all the minute details of life, and bottom lines all proverbs with "Which path do your actions say you are on?" and then adds "Because your actions reveal the destination you're headed to." Waltke says this proverb "expresses in the most creative and intensive way that the righteous retain a relationship with God forever, clinical death does not separate them from a relationship with the Lord" (I: 543).

Many will disregard the statement about actions revealing our current destination and answer that question with "I'm on God's path," mainly because we don't think our sins are all that bad. We see ourselves in the best possible light and also evaluate ourselves based on our intentions, not our actions, something we then assume God will do too -- wrong!

Here's our logic: our intentions are good (another a lie we tell ourselves) so we're good. Sadly, this dooms us to self-blindness and self-deception, keeping us from ever seeing the truth, that we aren't even close to good so we will not get on God's path by being good. Jesus put it this way:

"Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death" (John 8:51).

"I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25-26).

In other words, you receive the benefits of "there is no death" (Prov 12:28) and "shall never die" (John 11:26), not by being good, but by faith in the only One who was good:

"the righteousness of God [read, being right with God] has been manifested apart from the law [meaning, apart from good works to earn it], although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it [see Genesis 15:6 and Habakkuk 2:4 for instance]—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe" (Romans 3:21-22).


We find the ultimate expression of the "righteousness" talked about here in Proverbs in the Good News of Jesus Christ, His righteousness, His perfect life of no sin, given to those who give their sin-filled lives to Him. At that point, they begin down the "path of righteousness," where they are becoming in their actions what they are, namely, righteous (see Romans 6:13).

The "path" metaphor compares everyone's lifestyle to a journey from wherever it is we start out to our final destination.

I leave you with the question Jesus asked Martha "Do you believe this?" Your answer to that question tells you which path you're on right now.