Meditationen am Gnadenstuhl: Thursday, July 28, 2022, Proverbs 6:12-15

Thursday, July 28, 2022

Proverbs 6:12–15

[12] A worthless person, a wicked man,

goes about with crooked speech,

[13] winks with his eyes, signals with his feet,

points with his finger,

[14] with perverted heart devises evil,

continually sowing discord;

[15] therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;

in a moment he will be broken beyond healing. (ESV)

Proverbs Chapter 6:1-19 Four Character Flaws Which

Lead One Away From Wisdom

Proverbs 6:12-15 Disaster Follows Dishonesty

Proverbs chapter six comprises four sections containing wisdom from a father to a son concerning character flaws that will lead one away from the path of wisdom. In this section, the father describes someone who is always hatching schemes and involving others in them.

The worthless person described here, the man the father is cautioning his son not to be, is wicked because of his habitual dishonest behavior. He describes the parts of the body which perform these acts: mouth, eyes, feet, fingers. All of these are, in turn, driven by a “perverted heart.” He then sows discord by involving others in his dishonesty, which is the message he is sending. This person seeks to destroy the reputation of others and uses those who are willing to listen to him to spread his false innuendo and persuasion. There are two other passages in Proverbs that describe a worthless person, and both of them also speak of harming the reputation of others (Proverbs 16:27; 19:28).1 Notice that Solomon is saying one can harm the reputation of another not only by what is said but by our body language toward another.

The father cautions that such a person will meet sudden destruction without any way to extricate himself from the calamity he has forged for himself. In an instant, Solomon says, he will be broken beyond his ability to recover from the consequences of his false witness against his neighbor. The father is warning his son not only to not be the worthless man he is describing but not to associate with devious people who gossip and spread rumors about others. Therein lies the danger: we may get sucked into the circle of such a devious person by their words and actions, adopt their sinful behavior as our own, and be dragged down alongside them.

St. James also addresses this: “[11] Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. [12] There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?” (James 4:11–12 ESV). One who behaves in this manner is making himself out to be God. Judging others is the lawgiver and judge alone. God will also judge him. Luther, in his explanation of the eighth commandment from the Large Catechism, explains further:

“Whatever is done with the tongue against a neighbor, then, is forbidden by God. This applies to false preachers with their corrupt teaching and blasphemy, to false judges and witnesses with their corrupt behavior in court and their lying and malicious talk outside of court. It applies particularly to the detestable, shameful vice of back-biting or slander by which the devil rides us.… It is a common vice of human nature that everyone would rather hear evil than good about his neighbor. Evil though we are, we cannot tolerate having evil spoken of us; we want the golden compliments of the whole world. Yet we cannot bear to hear the best spoken of others.

To avoid this vice, therefore, we should note that nobody has the right to judge and reprove his neighbor publicly, even when he has seen a sin committed, unless he has been authorized to judge and reprove. There is a great difference between judging sin and having knowledge of sin. Knowledge of sin does not entail the right to judge it. I may see and hear that my neighbor sins, but to make him the talk of the town is not my business. If I interfere and pass sentence on him, I fall into a greater sin than his. When you become aware of a sin, simply make your ears a tomb and bury it until you are appointed a judge and authorized to administer punishment by virtue of your office.”2

1Andrew E. Steinmann, Proverbs, Concordia Commentary (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2009), 170–171.

2LC I 263-66.