Proverbs 24

The father warns his son not to be “envious of evil men” (verse 1). He should not “desire to be with them”, for they are bad company (cf. Pro 1:10-19; 3:31; 23:17). The envy here goes beyond a mere feeling or expression. It involves a desire to be with evil men because of their apparent prosperity. That is not something the son should be envious of or would like to have. Envy is a hateful, resentful awareness of another’s prosperity.

Feeling or expressing bitterness or indignation over ( supposedly) unfair treatment may be the result of envy: why does he have that prosperity and I do not? In any case, it is dissatisfaction with one’s own circumstances, a dissatisfaction that results from comparing oneself to others while excluding or keeping God out of the circumstances. Envy is a characteristic of people who suffer from shortsightedness.

The word “for” with which verse 2 begins indicates that now follows the reason for the warning of verse 1. Evil people are obsessed with violence. “Their minds” go out to “violence”, which is devised there. “Their lips” express what is in their mind, which is nothing but “trouble”. They speak words that wish someone only doom, misfortune. They owe their apparent prosperity to the violence they have devised in their minds and the words of doom they have spoken. When the son realizes this, surely he will not be so foolish to be with them.

These verses form a unity. They are about the building of a house, its foundation and what to fill its rooms with. To build a good house, to do so on the right foundation and to furnish it with taste requires successively “wisdom”, “ understanding” and “knowledge”. At the same time, the use of these words indicates that it is about more than building a stone house, with rooms that are furnished with furniture.

By “house”, then, we may think here primarily of a household living in that house. It takes “wisdom” to establish a family (verse 3). The happiness of a family depends more on the relationships between them than on the bricks and mortar. Only through the wisdom of God can there be good relationships among family members. A house is then established that is well built.

“Understanding” is important for the foundation. This means that God’s Word is the foundation of the functioning of each family member. Understanding that each member of the family is different from every other member and what the differences consist of – such as gender, age, ability – allows each member to be himself or herself. There will be no need to pretend to be better or an exercise of compulsion to make someone do things our way. This also avoids tensions.

The “knowledge” that there is of the capacity each has received from God will encourage the use of those capacities (verse 4). As a result, each can make his or her own valuable contribution and be encouraged in it. As a result, “the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches”. Precious and pleasant possessions include love and solidarity, safety and security, acceptance of who you are and being there for others. Children who grow up in an atmosphere of love and security grow up to be loving and peaceful individuals.

We can also apply this to the local church, which we can also see as a family. Wise believers with understanding and knowledge will make every effort to have each believer take the place in the church that the Holy Spirit has assigned to him or her (1Cor 12:4).

Building the family spoken of in verses 3-4 requires the strength of wisdom (verse 5; Ecc 7:19; 9:15-16). In the natural life, a wise man by certain means knows how to carry a load many times heavier than one man can carry. In the spiritual life it does not come down to bodily strength, but to the strength of wisdom. That strength is present in those who live with Christ, the Source of wisdom.

“A wise man” is also “a man of knowledge”. When it comes to the deployment of the power granted by wisdom, its use, knowledge of circumstances is necessary. “A man of knowledge” knows the will of God and wants to do it. He knows how to properly handle his powers and deploy them in the right place. Wisdom for making the right choice and knowledge of the will of God go hand in hand (Col 1:9-11).

The word “for” with which verse 6 begins indicates the importance of the power of wisdom and knowledge. We must realize that we are living in spiritual war zone and are engaged in a spiritual battle. That battle rages especially for the families of believers. More than ever, wise counsel is needed for this spiritual war.

A wise man is not stubborn and does not figure out everything on his own. He knows the meaning and value of “wise guidance” from others, with an “abundance of counselors”. Misplaced self-confidence or reliance on his own resources or strength are not an issue with him. God has given us to one another as members of His people. We ask Him for counsel, and we also seek counsel from brothers and sisters who live with Him, which we see by their obedience to and knowledge of God’s Word.

After we have sought guidance, we must “wage war” for ourselves. In everyday life, we are surrounded not by our brothers and sisters, but by a God-hostile world. The world wants to take away from us everything we want to set apart for God, such as our family and possessions. All kinds of obstacles will be put in our way to break down our family, to seize our children. This can happen, for example, through lessons in school and/or decisions of politics that go against God’s Word. Impulsiveness, naivety and indecision lead to defeat. A victorious life results from profound consultation, good thinking and wise fighting.

The haughty, hardened fool cannot obtain any wisdom. All wisdom, in any field, is unattainable for him. Wisdom is far beyond his ability. He will never be able to give any wise counsel, and we should therefore never consult him. Therefore, he should also never be given the opportunity to open his mouth in the gate. The gate is the place where city officials discuss problems and make decisions (Pro 31:23; Rth 4:1). There the fool must not be given the opportunity to let his folly be heard.

“One who plans to do evil” (verse 8) is doing the work of the devil, who cannot do anything but plan to do evil. The devil can rightly be called “a schemer”. He who is not a child of God is a child of the devil (1Jn 3:10). All children of the devil have his nature. He inspires them to plan to do evil; they are “inventors of evil” (Rom 1:30). Not everyone does this to the same degree, but the principle is in the thinking of all the children of the devil. In particular, this refers to the cold, calculating person who is active in planning to do evil.

Not only the committing of folly is sin, but even all “the devising of folly is sin” (verse 9). The folly of a scoffer is indeed the height of folly. This type of person tramples on all morality. Even people who want nothing to do with God, but who still maintain a certain morality, get disgusted with him at some point. A scoffer is one who not only rejects what he should believe, but laughs at and ridicules and despises what he should believe. He does the same to those who believe.

“The day of distress” is not a literal twenty-four-hour day, but any day or period of difficulty and trial that can make life distressing. Those who then become slack and discouraged and want to give up life with the Lord show little strength. There is no strength of spirit and the hands hang limp (cf. Heb 12:12-13). It is precisely in a day of distress that it becomes clear whether a person possesses the strength of wisdom (verse 5), so that his eye remains focused on the Source of wisdom (Isa 40:31).

Solomon uses a play on words here to emphasize the connection between the two lines of verse. The Hebrew word for “distressed” is sarah and the word for “limited” (literally: narrow) is sar. It is good to strengthen ourselves in God in days of distress (1Sam 30:6; Psa 84:6). Then God’s strength will be perfected in our weakness (2Cor 12:9).

God gives His people the responsibility to deliver people who are in mortal danger (verse 11). These are people who are “taken away” and face a certain death, without any possibility of delivering themselves from that situation. The words “death” and “slaughter” indicate the seriousness of the situation. These people are innocent victims of gangs of robbers or circumstances beyond their control. They are about to be killed, slaughtered. “Staggering”, exhausted, they are driven toward death. If deliverance does not dawn very soon from an unsuspected side, it is over with them.

The assignment is clear. We must do everything possible to deliver them from death. An impending “Oh” sounds if we stand aside, if we remain aloof and passive. The Hebrew midwives did not throw the baby boys into the Nile against Pharaoh’s command, but saved them (Exo 1:13-17). Esther risked her life to save her people who were doomed (Est 3:6-13; 4:13-16; 8:4-6). They saved and did not remain aloof. Even the prophet Obadiah who served in Ahab’s court saved prophets from death by hiding and providing food for them (1Kgs 18:4).

The spiritual application for us is that we tell the people of the world that they “are being taken away to death”. Because of sin, they are handed over to death. Here there is no question of being innocent, but rather of lacking any ability to save themselves. Our responsibility is to tell the people of the world that they can escape the judgment of God by confessing their sins and believing in the Lord Jesus. If we fail to do so, an impending ‘woe’ sounds for us. Paul understood this and said: “For woe is me if I do not preach the gospel” (1Cor 9:16).

We will be held accountable for all those instances where we have known of eternal death to which people were headed and that we have not pointed out the possibility of escaping it (Eze 33:1-33). We cannot come up with “see, we did not know this” (verse 12). Ignorance is not an excuse when we have deliberately closed our eyes to an evil. It sounds like the excuse Germans used after World War II regarding the Holocaust, which has become a winged word: ‘Wir haben es nicht gewusst’ (‘We did not know it’).

With the excuse of ignorance you can sometimes get away with people, but not with God. He constantly tests the hearts and notices without mistaking whether truth dwells in them. He watches the soul, sees how life is lived and what drives it. Heart and soul are under His constant supervision, and no motive escapes Him. He therefore knows perfectly whether the claim not to have known is true or whether it is a lie.

Based on His omniscience, He will “render to man according to his work” (Rev 22:12), whereby it is impossible for Him to err. Rendering to man according to his work means that man is measured by the measure by which he has measured. Those who have not shown mercy will not receive mercy. He who could have saved the lives of others and failed to do so will die.

The father exhorts his son to eat honey (verse 13) because he wants to apply the eating of honey to the knowing of wisdom (verse 14). What honey does to the body is similar for the soul to know wisdom.

The father urges his son to eat honey (verse 13) because he wants to apply eating honey to knowing wisdom (verse 14). What honey is to his body, is knowing wisdom to his soul.

Honey is good for it is healthy (verse 13). Honey from the comb is the best of honey. It is the honey that separates from the honeycombs by itself, without pressing, without human action. It is the purest. It says several times of the land of Canaan that it is a land flowing with milk and honey. Honey is a special blessing from God for His earthly people.

To “know wisdom” (verse 14) has the health and sweetness of honey. It has the added quality of a delight that lasts forever (cf. Psa 19:10; 119:103; Eze 3:3). The father speaks of it to his son that he must seek it, for he must find it. He promises him that his efforts will be richly rewarded. He will enjoy the sweetness of it now, and for the “future” he will have “hope”. Attached to wisdom are future and hope. Wisdom gives a hope that is not cut off, a hope that does not shame.

Those who have tasted honey need no further proof that it is sweet. They will not be able to be convinced by any argument to the contrary, for after all, they have tasted it themselves. The same is true in spiritual application for those who have experienced the power of the wisdom of God in Christ. All the atheists in the world, with all their fallacies, cannot reason away that taste or take away its enjoyment.

Honey is the product of bees working diligently together and not of whoever collects the honey. There is a richness attached to knowing wisdom that is obtained by feeding on what others have already gathered. The honey from the comb we enjoy when we engage directly with the Source of wisdom, with Christ, by reading in God’s Word. The honey that we take to ourselves when we are with brothers and sisters and the honeycomb that we take to ourselves when we read God’s Word are enjoyed by us personally.

The wicked, possibly the wickedly behaving son, is commanded “not to lie in wait ... against the dwelling of the righteous” (verse 15). The purpose of lying in wait is to watch for an opportunity to break in and steal, for example, when the righteous leaves his dwelling. He may even want to cause so much mischief that he wants to destroy the “resting place” of the righteous. The word for “resting place” is also used for the stable of the sheep, where they go to lie down. It draws the righteous as a sheep that is defenseless and innocent. He who lies in wait against that resting place and sets out to break in and destroy the resting place is a wolf, a symbol of the devil.

It is senseless and also works its own destruction, to mistreat anyone of God’s people, for he always survives (verse 16). The wicked, on the other hand, perish in the mischief they do. To attack a righteous person is to attack God, and it will always prove impossible to overcome Him (cf. Mt 16:18). A righteous man may fall a number of times, he will rise again (Psa 37:24; Mic 7:8; Job 5:19). Conversely, the wicked will not survive. Without God, they have no power to survive misfortune. In the end, the righteous will triumph and those against them will stumble in their calamity.

“Seven times” means a rounded number. God allows the righteous to experience as much discipline as He sees fit. Those disciplinary actions serve to his purification, not his ruin. The righteous overcomes even a severe fall, while the wicked merely stumble, after which it is over and done with them. Peter fell many times, but rose again and again. Judas stumbled in calamity and remained down.

Solomon prohibits his son from gloating when his enemy falls (verse 17). He must not even be glad in his heart, that is, have any inner satisfaction over it, if his enemy stumbles. These are personal enemies, people who make our life difficult. It is perhaps understandable to be thankful when something happens to our enemy because it frees us from a tormentor, but rejoicing over it is something else. Here it is about rejoicing over the fall of an enemy with the thought that he is getting his due. Gloating plays a role in this. Such rejoicing is forbidden.

David did not rejoice over the fall of Saul and also called for ensuring that others would not do so (2Sam 1:20). A former bodyguard of the cruel Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein who managed to escape from his grip and then came to know Christ said he did not rejoice over the dictator’s death. The thought of this cruel man being in the place of pain did not give him joy, but sorrow. The Lord Jesus says we should love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Mt 5:44).

In verse 18 we are told why we are advised not to rejoice in a gloating way over the fall of our enemy. God allowed our enemy to harass us because He had a purpose in doing so. If He causes the enemy to be eliminated and we gloat over that, we are offending a creature of God. That is evil in the eyes of God. Then He can turn His wrath away from our enemy, causing him to act like our enemy again, perhaps in a different guise. We are then not rid of him.

Verse 19 looks like a quote Solomon copied from his father David, who said the same thing (Psa 37:1; Pro 23:17; 24:1). It is foolish to “fret because of evildoers” and to be “envious of the wicked”. Verse 20 gives the reason for this, which can be seen by the word “for” with which the verse begins. The future fate of the wicked should keep the son from becoming envious of their present prosperity. Their prosperity has an expiration date. After that, it is finished. He must also realize that God in His providence still allows evil-doers and wicked people to have their way. They are under His control, even though it seems as if they can go about their business undisturbed.

What they do can make us angry in some cases and envious in others. It just depends on what they are doing and how we view or have to do with it. If we only look at them and their behavior, we get to such feelings. Then we show a very short-sighted view of them. We need to be aware that evil has no future, but will be judged and locked in hell for eternity, with no prospect of deliverance. The lamp of wicked people, that is, their light of life, will not shine forever. Their life will be extinguished, as happens with an oil lamp that is blown out. Nor will their lamp ever be lit again (Job 18:5-6; 21:17).

Solomon addresses his son very directly (“my son”) to hold out to him that he must fear both God and the king (verse 21). He tells him to have reverence for the highest authority in the universe, that of God, and the God-established authority on earth that represents Him, the king (1Pet 2:17b; Rom 13:1-7). He can do this by submitting to it and obeying it.

Opposed to fearing God and the king is “being given to change”. By “change” is meant here the abandonment of God’s authority and that of His representative on earth. These are people who no longer want to be obedient to Him, who rebel against His authority. They want to overthrow His authority and that of the king. Such people want to make changes in the God-given authority structures and bend them to their own will.

These are people who bend God’s Word to their will and thereby cast it aside. Certain authority structures, such as that of husband and wife, are declared time-bound. What God’s Word says about them is declared obsolete and thus outlawed. We see this in politics, in society, in families and also in churches. Authority has become a ‘dirty’ word.

Verse 22 gives the reason for the previous verse’s warning. We see this in the word “for” with which the verse begins. If the son engages with these rebels against the authority of God and the king, the changemakers and innovators or new-lighters, he will share in the ruin that will suddenly loom before them. God and the King – by Him is ultimately meant the Lord Jesus – will “both” assert their authority. What that will bring about in terms of tribulation for the rebels remains a question for a while. That only makes the warning all the more threatening.

The reward for those who live in peace under the authority of God in the world is the escape from the calamities that will come upon the rebellious. Those who are under authority and respect it will not harm one another. They are kept from envying and even striking one another (cf. Mt. 24:48-49). A positive effect of recognition of authority is the presence of rest and peace.

Here a new section begins, but clearly in close connection with the preceding one (Proverbs 22:17-24:22). This is evident from the words “these also are sayings” (verse 23a). The now following sayings or proverbs – in verses 23-34 – are “of” or “for the wise”. They are meant for those who are already wise, but who want to become even wiser. Wisdom is demonstrated precisely by a person’s desire to grow in wisdom.

This section begins by condemning partiality in judgment (verse 23b). The point is that a judge must clearly distinguish between righteousness and evil (Pro 18:5; Lev 19:15; Deu 16:19). He must not confuse the two and apply them to the wrong person out of partiality.

For example, he must not say to a wicked person: “You are righteous” (verse 24). If he does, not only will God judge him, but he will also bring upon himself the curse of the peoples and the abhorrence of the nations. This is not just any opinion, nor is it just anyone saying this. Here is someone speaking who speaks justice in public and does so in the Name of God. This is a gross violation of justice and also a great dishonor to the Judge of the whole earth. A judge who is so partial as to pronounce such a verdict is cursed and abhorred by everyone everywhere on earth.

When justice is done by condemning the wicked and acquitting the righteous, it is a delight to those “who rebuke” (verse 25). Over judges who uphold justice and over those who rejoice in it will come a good blessing. God finds in them the characteristics of Himself. There is always blessing associated with doing and standing up for justice.

In order for justice to be upheld and for a judge to make the right judgment in a case, it is important for a witness to give “a right answer” (verse 26). It may also be about the judge making a proper decision in a case. A right answer is a valuable contribution to peace and rest in the land, which we may apply to the local church. He who does this does not receive curses (verse 24), but expressions of love.

Kissing the lips is a recognition of the value of the right answers given. Such words do not bring separation, but connect in love. A kiss is also a sign of reconciliation (Psa 2:12). One who gives a right answers works reconciliation.

This verse is about setting the right priorities in life. It tells us to do the things that need to be done first. First one thing, “afterwards” the other. We must keep the right order in our pursuits. If we do not, our life becomes chaos and ends in failure.

The application can be made to forming a family. Before a person can begin that, he must be able to support his family. Therefore, he must first have an income. He can get that by working for it. From what he earns by working, he can start building his house, that is, forming a family and also maintaining it.

Verse 28 is a warning not to be tempted to testify against a neighbor without a clear reason. We may find ourselves in circumstances where colleagues or people close to us ask our opinion about the behavior of someone with whom we work or who lives in our neighborhood, with the intention of denouncing such a person. If we personally have not had a particular experience with the person in question, we should not let ourselves be misled and not be a witness in that matter. The message is that there must be very solid reasons before anyone should ever go against a neighbor as a witness.

Nor should feelings of revenge play any role in a lawsuit (verse 29). Still less should anyone take the law into his own hands. If someone has wronged us, we might use either option, but they are both wrong. We must not repay someone for the evil he has done to us. We may not even say it, out loud or in our hearts.

To have this mind requires that we trust God. It does not escape Him that evil has been done to us. Nor does our reaction to it escape Him. He knows how we may react. If we want to repay someone, we take the place of God as Judge (Rom 12:19). Injustice done to us, we may, as the Lord Jesus did, surrender “to Him who judges righteously” (1Pet 2:23). This was also the attitude David took toward Saul. He did not want to be his own judge, but surrendered Saul to God and waited to see what He would do with Saul. In doing so, he did not come out of that ashamed.

In these verses, the wise Solomon tells of a walk he took and what he noticed. To this he connects a lesson for himself and for his son. It happened that he “passed by the field of the sluggard” (verse 30). He did not seek out that field, but simply passed by it. Yes, that field had been a vineyard, at least he got that impression, but there was nothing left of it.

That was because its management lay in the hands “of the man lacking sense”. Only such a man, without the slightest sense of responsibility, could let his vineyard run wild like this. This is not someone without a spine, but someone without a brain, without a mind, literally without a heart. He lacked not the strength, but the will.

“And behold” (verse 31), as he walked by there, he observed some things. The wise man was not daydreaming or sleepwalking, but taking in the situation around him. In the field there were not just a few weeds here and there, no, “it was completely overgrown with thistles”. There was no longer a patch of soil to be seen, for “its surface was covered with nettles”. Where grapes should have grown, there was an abundance of thistles and nettles. These do not appear overnight. No work had been done here for a long time.

Thus a similar situation can arise in the life of a believer who is unfaithful to the Lord and forgets Him more and more. The good fruits of faith that gladden the heart (the vineyard speaks of joy) disappear and in their place come nettles and thistles that hurt and injure. The consequences of sin in creation have made their way into the believer’s sphere of life.

The wise man also saw that “his stone wall had broken down”. All protection was gone. The property could be entered by anyone. If the house of the sluggard were also located there, any burglar could reach it with the greatest ease.

We are talking about a field that was previously a vineyard. Israel is compared to a vineyard (Isa 5:1-7). The vineyard is to yield wine. Wine is a picture of joy (Jdg 9:13; Psa 104:15). God wanted to rejoice in His people, but His people did not bring Him that joy. The vineyard had become a field through laziness, on which the symbols of sin (Gen 3:18), the works of the flesh, were rampant.

We can make an application here. If we are spiritually lazy, “nettles” and “thistles”, that is, sinful things, will overgrow the vineyard of our life. God cannot then rejoice over our life, for nothing in it reminds Him of the life of the Lord Jesus. And if we allow the wall of separation from the world to crumble, the world and worldly thinking gain entrance into our lives and we will become victims of destruction.

After the observation in verses 30-31, the wise man draws a lesson for himself and shares it with us (verses 32-34). What he saw, he reflected upon in his heart. It held an instruction, an instruction without words. One of the best learning methods is to behold something, that is, to look at something with intense attention, and take it to heart. Then we really learn from it. If we see the evil consequences of an act or attitude, it will warn us not to do such acts nor adopt such an attitude.

What Solomon saw, which was an instruction to him, will keep him from laziness. It starts with a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest. It is all just “a little”, but all those little bits are like the robber who also does not run fast, but steadily continues his way. And all those little bits together are like an armed man. All the bits sleeping and slumbering and lying with folded hands result in poverty and lack (Pro 6:10-11).