GOD’S WISDOM FOR YOU
PROVERBS 21:20-24
The Wealth of the Wise
20 Precious treasure and oil are stored up in the dwelling of a wise man,
but a foolish man keeps using his up.
Oil was highly valued and was sometimes used the way we use currency (Hosea 12:1; Luke 16:6). A wise man holds on to his wealth and his earnings by being frugal. The fool squanders what he has.
There can be a spiritual side to this proverb. The wise man stores up his spiritual treasure, valuing the word of God and prizing instruction in the gospel, but the fool wastes his opportunities and lets the salvation offered to him slip through his fingers, like the foolish virgins in Jesus’ parable (Matthew 25:1-13).
21 He who pursues righteousness and mercy
will find life, righteousness and honor.
Although the Greek Septuagint and some manuscripts of the Latin Vulgate do not have “righteousness” in the second line, there is no reason for removing the word in our translations. There is an argument that most of the second lines of this chapter (and throughout many of the Proverbs) only have three metrical beats, establishing a regular rhythm, but this chapter has an exceptional number of second lines (a line of poetry in also called a stich, pronounced “stick”) which have more than three metrical beats, and even a few that have less.
The pursuit of righteousness and mercy is the pursuit of God’s will. Paul said, “He will render to every man according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life, but for those who are factious and do not obey the truth, but obey wickedness, there will be wrath and fury” (Romans 2:7-8). The pursuit of godliness never ends in perfection by human standards in any way. When someone shows their faith in Christ by striving to be godly, he has already succeeded because of the merits of Christ before God. Our pursuit to live godly lives is our way of thanking God for what Christ has done, not our way of achieving a special holiness or rating before God.
The Wise Man Versus Pride
22 A wise man scales the city of the mighty
and brings down the stronghold in which they trust.
This is the reverse of a passage in Ecclesiastes: “There was a little city with few men in it; and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. But there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city.” (Ecclesiastes 9:14-15). There, the rejection of the ‘poor wise man’ is explored with an application to Christ and those who reject him even after he won the victory over Satan. Here, the victory of the wise man is celebrated.
23 Whoever guards his mouth and his tongue
keeps himself out of trouble.
I have never been sorry that I held my tongue; but I have often regretted opening my mouth. At the same time, we are sometimes called to speak up. If we hold our tongues, we might avoid trouble, but God doesn’t tell his ministers to avoid trouble. He tells them to speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15).
24 The proud and arrogant man— “Mocker” is his name.
He acts with excessive pride.
This is a proverb that doesn’t need much explanation. However, the second stich (line) is an interesting trio of words. The first word, ‘oseh, is a participle which places the previous subject (“Mocker”) into the driver’s seat of all the action. This is followed by two nouns: be‘ebrat “with the overflow of” or “with fury of,” and zaron “pride, insolence.” Since Hebrew is adjective-poor, it uses nouns as descriptive words (adjectives) in cases like this. But should we take the adjective as “the overflow of pride” or “the fury of pride”? The passage doesn’t change in its meaning, but there would be a shift in the impact of the line.
The pride of the Sanhedrin would not allow them to see the Messiah when he was brought before them. They of all people in Israel should have recognized him for what he was. But John reports: “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him” (John 1:11). Their fury came to a head when Jesus answered “Yes” to the question, “Are you the Son of God?” “‘He is worthy of death,’ they answered. Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him and said, ‘Prophesy to us, Christ. Who hit you?’” (Matthew 26:66-68). They condemned themselves with their words and actions. But for everyone who hears the gospel and puts their faith in Jesus, there is forgiveness and everlasting life. This is precisely Jesus’ message for us: “He who believes has everlasting life” (John 6:47).
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Archives by Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel: http://www.wlchapel.org/worship/daily-devotion/
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota