Proverbs 27:11 ¶ My son, be wise, and make my heart glad,
that I may answer him that reproacheth me. 12 ¶ A prudent man foreseeth the
evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.
Here is a
father who wants his son to do right and be wise that no one may be able to
tell him, “you didn’t raise him right.” Two types of people are referenced
here; the prudent and the simple. We’ve already seen that a prudent person is
wise by the Bible’s own way of defining words in 16:21 and18:15 by parallel
phrasing. The simple are inexperienced, young, and naïve as in 1:4; 7:7 and
don’t know anything in 9:13.
This verse
was repeated word for word in 22:3, too. Now, evil has several different
meanings in the Bible. It is the opposite of good in the very second chapter of
Genesis. It carries with it the thought of intended malice and violence in
Genesis 37:20, Amos 6:3, and Jonah 3:8, again shown by contrast and parallel
phrasing. It is trouble, calamity, and disaster in Isaiah 45:7; Matthew 6:34;
and I Timothy 6:10. So, it is a general term that doesn’t always mean simply
sinful iniquity. To render it to mean only that would blaspheme God in Isaiah
45:7 and make Matthew 6:34 a joke. However, here it can obviously be trouble
and sinful iniquity, which go hand in hand.
In this
verse, a prudent or wise man looks ahead and sees trouble or sin and avoids it
but the naïve and inexperienced walk right into it and suffer the consequences.
Christians are warned first;
1Thessalonians
5:22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.
And
comforted with;
1Corinthians
10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God
is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but
will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear
it.
For these
reasons prudent Pastors do not counsel women alone. For these reasons there is
no such thing as Christian dating, where a couple is getting to know each other
alone, without the company of other Christians. For these reasons, a Christian
isn’t going to be passing out tracts at the local public swimming pool or in
the bar on the corner.
For these
reasons a Christian isn’t going to have movies in his or her home with sexual
or gratuitously, as in having no point but to excite, violent content,
remembering;
Psalm
11:5 The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence
his soul hateth.
(Admit it, guys. You love violence. You love feminine
beauty. There is about a millimeter distance between gratuitous violence and
sex, and violent pornography which is what most horror and action/adventure
movies are, anyway. I heard a British movie reviewer even say that The
Passion of the Christ was a sadomasochistic thriller for gay men. Keep this
in mind the next time you watch a movie not based on an actual historical
event. All leading women in thrillers and romances are a type of the bride of
Christ, all heroes are a type of Christ, and all villains or “the other guy”
are a type of Satan, the flesh, or the world. Now, tell yourself if the movie
you’re watching presents it correctly or perverts it for your flesh.)
For these
reasons, on a side note, Christians should be careful and cautious about
acquiring credit cards and unnecessary debt.
Romans
13:8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another
hath fulfilled the law.
If you are
wise and not simple, you’ll see trouble ahead and avoid it like the plague; you
know, like you do the boss at work.
Go into
everything with your eyes open. Never expect anything for nothing and don’t
think that you are so spiritual that you’re going to be the one to defy the
odds and walk right into a trap of Satan or your flesh and walk right back out
unscathed.
It’s the
simple and unwise who get ambushed, not the wise.
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