Proverbs 24:21-34

PROVERBS 24:21-22

Verse 21 begins with an exhortation to “fear” Yahweh and the king. Fear involves respect and honor, but also includes an element of what we call fear. To fear Yahweh is to recognize that He is the one who has power to send both soul and body to hell, to recognize that He is the judge. In associating Yahweh and the king, Solomon is expressing a common biblical link. At various places in the Bible, rulers are called “gods” (Exodus 22:8-9; Psalm 82), using a word (elohim) that is also used of God Himself. Further, the law prohibits, in the same breath, cursing Yahweh and cursing the king (Exodus 22:28). The logic behind this link is twofold: First, that Yahweh is king, and human kings and rulers are images of Yahweh; second, that Yahweh is the one who establishes the powers that be, and therefore dishonoring rulers is tantamount to dishonoring God (Romans 13:1-7).

Two points can be drawn from this.

First, the Bible suggests that our attitude toward human rulers and authorities is a good gauge of our attitude toward God Himself. If we ignore and resist human rulers, we are likely rebels against God as well. To paraphrase John, how can we submit to the God whom we cannot see unless we submit to the “gods” that we can see? Second, and more specifically, this applies with particular forces in the political situation we find ourselves in since the 2008 election. Christians opposed to the Clinton administration did not show the honor due to rulers, and the religious right made itself odious as a result. If we oppose the policies of the Obama administration, we have to make sure that we do it with the proper respect for his office.

Verses 21b-22 are a connected exhortation to avoid association with people who are given to change. The verb “associate” is the same verb translated elsewhere as “pledge” or “be surety for,” so the association in view is specifically a financial and business arrangement. Solomon warns us not to act as guarantors of loans for certain kinds of people. The people are those who are “given to change,” and the reason is in one sense obvious: If you enter a business arrangement with someone who is unstable in his commitments, you’re not going to succeed. He’ll commit himself to something for a time, but then drift off to something else, and you’ll be left holding the bag. The reason given in verse 22 is that changeable, unstable people are heading toward ruin, and if we are wise we’ll avoid an association that will lead us into ruin as well.

Though the specific association in view is a business partnership, the principle applies more broadly. Paul warns us not to be blown about by every wind of doctrine, every new fad in religion (Ephesians 4:14), and says that instability in faith is a mark of immaturity. Adults don’t dart here and there in their commitments and beliefs, but settle and move in a particular pathway. Change is inevitable for creatures. We are changing constantly in all sorts of ways – physically, spiritually, intellectually, socially. The issue is not whether we are changing, but whether there is a direction and a trajectory to our change. Do we dabble in orthodox Christianity for awhile, and then get attracted to Eastern spirituality, and then lurch toward Mormonism? Do we slip from one church to another without settling? Or, do we settle in, and seek to mature in a particular direction?

The trick of verses 21-22 is to understand how the exhortation to fear Yahweh and the king is related to the warning against being surety for unstable people. The link seems to be that avoiding association with unstable people is one expression of fear of Yahweh and of the king. And that perhaps gives a more political tone to the exhortation against association with unstable people. That is, the “pledge” is not first of all a business pledge but a political one. Solomon is warning his son not to enter into seditious political alliances, to enter into alliance with people who are given to change (even if it is change we can believe in!). The calamity then may come from the king himself. Solomon is saying, If you join yourself with a revolutionary group that wants to dismantle everything and start over, you’re going to find yourself at the pointy end of a smart bomb.

PROVERBS 24:23-26

This section is a connected series of exhortations concerning judgment and rebuke, introduced by the comment that there are “things of the wise” (v. 23; the Hebrew is literally “these [are] to the wise”). The wisdom of Solomon is a wisdom in judgment (1 Kings 3:9), and so the things that belong to the wise in this section are things that have to do with passing judgment.

The first statement is a truism of biblical justice. Literally, the Hebrew says “to be acquainted with faces in judgment is not good.” The “face” is a key biblical image of political life. When a king shows favor to one of his courtiers, he shines his “face” upon him. When he gives a courtier a higher position, he “lifts his face.” A face of wrath is an expression of displeasure; Yahweh threatens to set His face against Israel if they sin. Knowing faces in judgment means taking note of favorites and allies; being acquainted with faces in judgment means judging not on the basis of the right but on the basis of one’s personal preferences and connections. The Torah gives a specific thrust to this, warning judges not to favor the rich (the great) or the poor (the small) in deciding cases (Deuteronomy 1:17). Justice should be faceless.

The standard for judgment is given in verse 24. Judges should ignore faces – social standing, wealth, personal connections – and pass judgment on the basis of righteousness and wickedness. Judges ought not to justify the wicked by pronouncing them righteous (cf. Deuteronomy 25:1; 1 Kings 8:32-33). Judges should condemn the wicked and exonerate the righteous. Solomon’s temple dedication prayer shows what this means: Condemning the wicked means not only making a pronouncement but causing the wicked to suffer the consequences of their wickedness; justifying the righteous means not only pronouncing them righteous but giving him the reward of his righteousness. A king who fails to do this will be universally cursed, abhorred by the nations.

Does God violate His own instructions? Doesn’t He “justify the ungodly” (Romans 4:5)? One response would be to say that Yahweh isn’t bound by these standards, so He can do what He forbids human rulers to do. That is a bad answer, both because of what it says about God and because it breaks any connection between human and divine justice. Another answer is that “ungodly” in Romans 4 ref
ers not to sinfulness but to Abram’s status as a non-Jew. He was “ungodly” by Pharisaical standards. But that doesn’t seem to fit with the following verses in Romans that speak of the forgiveness of sins. Paul says that God treats sinners as if they had not sinned, and that’s the “justification of the ungodly.” Paul’s overall point in Romans is that through the cross God shows Himself to be both just and the justifier of those who have faith in Jesus. God the Judge doesn’t simply cancel sin; He deals with guilt and sin by taking it upon Himself. He pronounces us righteous because, in Christ, we are righteous; the declaration of justification is rooted in the fact that Christ’s righteousness belongs to us by faith.

On the other hand, verse 24 might be more directly applicable to the gospel than that. Solomon doesn’t say “don’t justify the wicked,” but rather “anyone who justifies the wicked will be abhorred.” That is precisely what happens in the gospel story: Jesus welcomes the “wicked” and “sinners” to His table, heals them, cares for them. And He is indeed despised. God’s mercy to the unrighteous is always an offense to the self-righteous.

Verse 25 contrasts to verse 24. Verse 24 warns that a king who clears the wicked will be abhorred, while verse 25 says that someone who rebukes the wicked will be a delight. When we rebuke the wicked, we expose their sin to public notice and make it clear that their wickedness is not tolerable. We might also arrest the wicked in his wickedness, turning him to the way of righteousness.

Verse 25 doesn’t seem to hold in reality, however. Today, there are many who rebuke wickedness and are met with public scorn and jeering. Think of how Jerry Falwell was portrayed for his opposition to abortion, homosexual rights, and other forms of institutionalized wickedness. Think of how the Jews treated Jesus when He rebuked the Pharisees and other leaders of Israel. We can see the truth of verse 25 only if we take a longer term view. For a time, those who rebuke the wicked may be despised; but ultimately, in the longest of the long run, they will receive blessing, a crown of righteousness. According to verse 26, a straight or right answer or response is like a kiss on the lips. That straight answer may be a rebuke, rather than an encouragement, but it still brings pleasure like a kiss.

PROVERBS 24:27, 30-34

These two sections work together, both of them having to do with the nature of diligence. Verse 27 says that our work should have priorities. It is reminiscent of a historical pattern that recurs throughout the Old Testament. Kings first wage war and conquer, and then build their houses. That is what David does. And kings do this in imitation of Yahweh, who first wages war on Egypt, plunders the Egyptians, and then gives Israel instructions about building His house. Houses are places of rest after labor, and according to Solomon the labor must come first. Sabbath comes at the end of six days of labor.

The more general point is about timing and priorities in work. We can’t do everything at once, and there are some things that have to be done before others. The sluggard doesn’t really have priorities, and what priorities he has are backwards. Instead of working his fields first and then taking his ease, he lets his fields become overgrown while he sleeps away the day. Solomon is saying that a sluggard’s sluggardliness is visible, evident in the nettles and thistles that cover his fields. The sluggard lacks “heart” (v. 30). He doesn’t have the drive or the commitment to get done what he should be getting done.

There is an allusion here to the “thorns and thistles” that grow up after Adam’s sin; Adam was the first “sluggard.” The context also suggests that Solomon is making a political point. As in Richard II, gardening is an image of rule. One of the first priorities of a king (or a father) is to weed out the thorns and thistles.

PROVERBS 24:28-29

Verse 28 reiterates the demands of the ninth commandment: We are not to become false witnesses. Solomon goes further, however. He not only warns against false witness, but warns against becoming a witness at all. We should not be quick to condemn our neighbor, and to testify to his wrongs and sins. If we bear witness against a neighbor, it has to be for cause.

It is common for people to witness against a neighbor out of vengeance. We charge a neighbor with wrong because of some wrong he has done to us. Like Paul (Romans 12), Solomon warns against testifying against our neighbor out of vengeance. This is equivalent to becoming judge. Interestingly, Solomon’s phrasing echoes other parts of Scripture that talk about God’s judgment of everyone “according to his work” (Romans 12:17). God is the judge, and He does render what everyone deserves; God is Judge, and Avenger. When we take vengeance, we are pretending to take the place of God. As Barth emphasizes, one of the fundamental manifestations of original sin is our refusal to accept God’s judgment and our desire to take His place and become Judge of all the earth.