Proverbs 29:8 ¶ Scornful men bring a city into a snare: but
wise men turn away wrath.
The scorner is linked to the wicked man in
Proverbs 9:7. He is the opposite of the wise man by contrast in the following
verse. He doesn’t listen to rebuke in Proverbs 13:1. Even when he looks for
wisdom he can’t find it in Proverbs 14:6. He won’t go to the wise for advice
and he doesn’t like people who correct him as per Proverbs 15:12. He is proud
and haughty; arrogant, and his wrath, his constant anger, is a reflection of
his immense pride as well. See 21:24. In Proverbs 22:10 we see that he’s the
cause of contention and strife and reproach and when he’s kicked out all of
that goes with him. In 24:9 he thinks sinful, foolish thoughts and he’s an
abomination to men.
When scorners rule, a city or a nation are in
deep trouble. Democracies tend to be ruled by the men who can afford to run for
office, by the elite, highly educated, proud, and arrogant. They have no
problem sending someone else’s children to die for their failed diplomacies.
They have no problem causing someone else’s children to be killed for their own
personal plans or prejudices. Their main concern is not how they spend the
money the state extorts from its citizens in the way of taxes on virtually everything
but air but how they can dupe the public enough to get them reelected. The
system is set up that way and attracts those kinds of people.
The Scriptures say;
Daniel 4:17 This matter is by the decree of
the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that
the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth
it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.
Satan himself said to Jesus;
Luke 4:5 And the devil, taking him up into an
high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of
time. 6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the
glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give
it.
The 19th century viewpoint among
Christians was predominantly postmillennial. They were going to bring in the
kingdom of heaven on earth without Christ physically present but with them
ruling in his place much like the Catholic Church believed it had been doing
for 1500 years. That view began to die out when the horrors of World War One
and Two’s total war showed them that mankind was perhaps not capable of
building a better world. 150 million dead and displaced in the 20th century
knocked a hole in the “Glory, glory, hallelujah, His truth is marching on”
crowd’s belief in a perfect world run on Christian principles.
The fact is that Satan is the god of this world
(2 Corinthians 4:4) and rules over the kingdoms of this earth, including the
USA, until Christ returns to take control (Revelation 11:15). The best we can
pray for now, besides Christ return, is that we can push and pull the
government into occasionally doing right and holding it accountable for its
actions. But, it is important to not fall into the postmillennialist trap of
believing that mankind himself will do what God has said he will not and like
Lorenzo Dow, famed 19th century evangelist, believe that the very creation of
America was the fulfillment of prophecy as the stone in Daniel that smote the
feet of the world’s great powers and then grew to be a great mountain that
covered the whole earth. This blasphemy was commonplace until the 20th
century’s wakeup call.
Scornful, wicked rulers ensnare a nation. We need a wise man
and wise men to run the country. God’s wrath is on the nations of men.
Jeremiah 10:10 But the LORD is the true God,
he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall
tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.
Some people try to pretend that the world is a
wonderful place full of beauty, knowledge, wonderful architecture, arts,
learning, and goodwill. But you can dress a pig up in an evening gown and
makeup and it’s still a pig. In reality, the only thing that separates us from
savages in New Guinea is some nifty looking buildings.
Of course, our culture can hardly help the decay
it is experiencing because of who we hold aloft as admirable and worthy of
respect.
Psalm 12:8 The wicked walk on every side,
when the vilest men are exalted.
With scorners in power in either party, perhaps
God’s wrath has not come down full on America because there are still a few
wise men and women who know what a Bible actually is and believe it and keep
praying for mercy for the America that is today’s Babylon.
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