Proverbs 21 (Continued)

July 6, 2011

• Get rich quick schemes don't work, it leads to poverty. Hard-working thought through plans. A good old "a honest days work for a honest days wages," is what leads to profit. 
• Wealth, achieved by telling lies, vanishes like a mist and is a deadly snare.
• Accountability happens. The violence of the wicked will end up destroying them because they refuse to do right.
• Guilty people live in dishonest and devious ways.
• The conduct of the innocent is upright.
• A wicked person craves evil. They can't let it rest. They must try to get revenge and harm others. Mercy is a word and action they do not understand.
• God, the Righteous One, the one who is always right—watches! He watches the house of the wicked. He takes note of their actions and He brings them to ruin.
• If you don't show compassion you will not be shown compassion when you need it.
• When justice is done it brings joy and happiness to the righteous and ruin and terror to those who do evil.
• "A man who strays from the path of understanding comes to rest in the company of the dead."  (Verse 16)
• You will never be satisfied with earthly desires. True wealth and happiness comes from who you are in Christ not from what you can obtain.  
• What happens to the wicked is the exact opposite of what they think will happen. Instead of being the victor, they become the ransom for those who are upright and faithful.  

Ransom. It took me a while to wrap my thoughts around that thought. The KJV and the NIV both use the same word—Ransom.

The Webster Dictionary definition of ransom says this:

1. The redeeming (see redeem) of a captive by paying money or complying with demands.  
2. The price thus paid or demanded.  

v.  to obtain the release of (a captive, etc.) by paying the demanded price.
n.  redemption money, compensation, expiation
v.  release, rescue, deliver, free (see free)

Redeem—recover, pay off debt, ransom, deliver, make amends, atone, to restore
Free—not under the control or power of another, having liberty, not burdened by obligations, debts

Proverbs 21:18 - "The wicked become a ransom for the righteous."

The very thing they planned for others (Psalm 140) is what happens to them. The NCV says it this way: "Wicked people will suffer instead of good people, and those who cannot be trusted will suffer instead of those who do right." The result of what happens to those who pursue wickedness.

• Pursue righteousness and love and you find life, success, prosperity and honor.
• Guard your mouth and tongue, it keeps you out of trouble.
• The proud and arrogant are called "mockers." They act with stubborn pride, making fun of and mocking those who stand against them.
• Good people (righteous) give of themselves (money and time) freely, without holding back. The selfish only take, craving for more, wanting things to be given to them without having to earn them honestly.  
• The LORD hates sacrifices brought by evil men for selfish purposes. It is detestable to Him.
• False witnesses will perish. Following him leads to destruction. A truthful persons testimony lives on.
• A wicked person puts up a bold front, but that is all it is.
• There is nothing! No wisdom, no insight, no plan or advice that can succeed against the LORD. Nothing! Period!
• You can get the horses ready for battle, but it is the LORD who gives the victory!!! The NIV says it this way, "The victory rests with the LORD. Hallelujah!  

That is our prayer! That it will be obvious to EVERYONE that it was/is the LORD who secured justice and saved us from "the storm"! Not us. Not a lawyer. Not a judge. Not luck. Not a technicality! Not happenstance. The LORD! Blessed be the NAME OF THE LORD.  

I will call upon the LORD; Who is worthy to be praised. So shall I be saved from my enemies; I will call upon the LORD. The LORD liveth and blessed be the rock, And let the God of my Salvation be exalted.

Like I wrote earlier, it took me awhile to grasp the meaning of Proverbs 21:18 - "The wicked become a ransom for the righteous." You normally think of being ransomed/redeemed/freed from the wicked. But this verse says the wicked become a ransom for the righteous. It's Psalms 140:9–12 - "Let the heads of the those who surround me be covered with the trouble their lips have caused. Let burning coals fall on them. May they be thrown into the fire, into the miry pit never to rise. Let the slanderers not be established in the land and may disaster hunt down men of violence." When Psalms 140:9–12 happens the upright are ransomed by the consequences the wicked suffer because of their actions. Because of the choice they made to pursue the very things that God calls evil and wickedness. Proverbs 21:18 - "Wicked people will suffer instead of good people, and those who cannot be trusted will suffer instead of those who do right."

God's words—not mine. God's battle—God's Victory.


Next Entry: Proverbs 22