The wise and foolish children
[Proverbs 10:1-32]
A few days ago, I saw the news of the death of the son of Jung Yoon-hee, who was in the ranks of the most popular stars along with Yu Ji-in and Jang-hee in the 70s and 80s in South Korea. And yesterday's news revealed that the cause of death was acute pneumonia caused by drug use and alcohol consumption. I read this article with interest because it was the son of the popular star who was famous before. And when I saw that her 22-year-old son was a student at the University of Southern California (USC), a private university in Los Angeles, I thought this and that. Not long ago, I heard that there were students from South Korea who were the children of rich families and who came to US to study abroad and wander about alcohol and drugs rather than stick to their studies. It was bitter as it seemed to be confirmed. And I also thought about the feelings of Jung Yoon-hee who is now 57 years old and her husband. What is the heart of parents who lose their children?
If we look at Proverbs 10:1, the Bible says, “The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother.” In other words, the wise son brings joy to his parents, but the foolish son is grief to his parents. Today, I would like to receive a lesson as we think about who are the wise children who bring joy to their parents and who are the foolish children who are grief to their parents under the heading “The wise and foolish children”.
First, the wise children seek righteousness, while the foolish children seek ill-gotten gains.
Look at Proverbs 10:2 – “Ill-gotten gains do not profit, But righteousness delivers from death.” Not long ago, after the whole family had dinner, we played a game called “Life” by our youngest child, Karis. One of the reasons I got to play the game is because I heard from my wife that it was a very materialistic game, and I wanted to know a little while playing with my children so that I can teach them a lesson about material. Actually, when I play that game, no matter how much it is, I think that I made the game materialistic as I watched the bills of thousands, tens of thousands, and even hundreds of thousands of dollars going back and forth on the game board. So I told my children, 'You shouldn't love riches more than God's, and then they answered 'I know'. The truth that we as Heavenly Father's children should know is that ill-gotten gains doesn’t profit (v. 2). Here, “Ill-gotten gains” means wealth obtained through covetousness (cf. 1:19; 28:16) unjustly (cf. 16:8), but especially by theft and deceit (Walvoord). A good example is found in Proverbs 1:11, 13. The evil ones tempt us, who are God's children, to say, “come with us, Let us lie in wait for blood” (v. 11) and “We will find all kinds of precious wealth, We will fill our houses with spoil” (v. 13). Of course, we won't actually kill any innocent person and take that person's wealth (of course, there are a lot of them in the world). But we're tempted to become slaves of greed and fill our bank accounts. The problem is that if greed permeates our hearts, we can say that we will make money and collect wealth for the right purpose, but the way to achieve that purpose is the wrong way out of the word of God. If we try to accumulate wealth by tricking the other person and even by stealing, the Bible says we are fools. Today's Bible says that foolish children who are a grief to our Heavenly Father are those who use unrighteous methods to obtain unrighteous wealth. We must keep in mind that such unrighteous wealth is useless (10:2). Furthermore, we must not forget that God will reject the craving of the wicked (v. 3). Another thing to keep in mind here is that, as the verse 16 says, “The income of the wicked, punishment.” What does it mean? It means that the wicked's income is rather punishment for him. Isn't this interesting? It would be nice if he had a lot of income, but the income of the wicked would rather punish him. God surely judges the wicked. Even through their income, God can judge them. But with their wealth, He can make them a snare. After all, the important thing here is not whether we have a lot of wealth or not, but whether we do righteousness or not. That is why the Bible says in Proverbs 10:2, “But righteousness delivers from death”. What does it mean? It means that unrighteous wealth is useless, but righteousness is beneficial. There is one thing we need to point out here. That's the word “righteousness”. When it comes to “righteousness,” we may think of “the principle that humans should obey”. But the word “righteousness” refers to “righteousness”. Here, there are interpreters that “righteousness” refers to love that sympathizes with others (Deut. 24:13). But Dr. Park Yoon-sun thought it was ‘a righteous life to keep the commandments of God’ (Park). I think there is a point in Dr. Park's interpretation. The reason for this is that “Ill-gotten gains” is wealth obtained through theft or fraud, which is an unfair method, and it is not the method taught in God's word. And I think that “unrighteousness” loves wealth, but “righteousness” loves God and therefore keeps His commandments.
But what does the Bible say is the benefit of this “righteousness” for us?
(1) God delivers the righteous from death.
Look at Proverbs 10:2 – “Ill-gotten gains do not profit, But righteousness delivers from death.” What does it mean here that “righteousness delivers from death”? It means that if a person obeys his righteousness, it will finally reap good fruit even though there are times when it is difficult to observe it (Park). When we live the right life to keep God's commandments, even though we may face difficulties and adversities, in the end God will work together to achieve good and bring forth beautiful fruit. God justified us who believe in death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We have been justified and delivered even from death through the righteousness of Jesus imputed to us, so that we can enjoy eternal life. The benefits of righteousness for us are eternal.
(2) God will not allow the righteous to hunger.
Look at Proverbs 10:3 – “The LORD will not allow the righteous to hunger, But He will reject the craving of the wicked.” The Bible clearly says that God doesn’t allow the righteous become hungry. Whether it is physically or spiritually that we are in need due to trouble, our God feeds us our daily bread who are justified by the death and resurrection of Jesus. Not only that, but God trains our faith to come out like pure gold even in the midst of that trouble and in need.
(3) God blesses the righteous.
Look at Proverbs 10:6-7: “Blessings are on the head of the righteous, But the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. The memory of the righteous is blessed, But the name of the wicked will rot.” The blessing that God gives to the righteous from above is the blessing of prosperity. Although there are times when there are some difficulties and adversities along the path that the righteous walk, it means that at last God will make the path prosper (Park). And God is saying that the name of the righteous will be remembered as a person who is to be praise for future generations. Perhaps a good example of that is Joseph in Genesis. The Bible says that because God was with Joseph, God made him prosper, and eventually appointed him as the prime minister of Egypt to preserve the lives of Jacob and all his family members, and to multiply the people of Israel in Egypt. He made him to be remembered as an ancestor to be praised for future generation.
We must be wise children of Heavenly Father and please Him. We will never become foolish children of God and cause our Heavenly Father to grieve. As wise children of our Heavenly Father, we must pursue the righteousness of Jesus Christ. We must love Heavenly Father. Therefore, we must live a proper life of faith to keep the commandments of God. By no means should we be blind to this world and live a life of pursuit of useless and unrighteous wealth. We must never be foolish children who are grief to Heavenly Father.
Second, the wise children are diligent, but the foolish children are lazy.
Look at Proverbs 10:4 – “Poor is he who works with a negligent hand, But the hand of the diligent makes rich.” Let’s imagine. How would we the parents feel when we see our children sleeping late and waking up late, not doing anything and wasting each day? Wouldn't we explode? Would we feel sad when we see our children lying in bed, eating, sleeping, and living lazy? In Proverbs 6:6-11, we have already thought about a lazy person who is worse than an ant under the heading “A person worse than an ant”. We have learned that the lazy person is a habitually lazy and inactive person who has no discipline and no plan, has moral failure, and is an unrighteous person before God, an unrighteous person, who is worse that the ant. So, when we see that the lazy person who is worse than the ant works lazy even if there is a supervisor, there is no voluntary work, no cooperation (6:7), and no preparation for the future (v. 8). If our children are worse than the ant, how will our hearts be? If we look at Proverbs 10:4, the Bible says, “Poor is he who works with a negligent hand ….” What does it mean? It means that even though he works, he will become poor because he works lazily. The lazy person hates working with his hands (21:25). Rather, the lazy child is busybody (cf. 1 Tim. 5:11-13), which is a grief to his parents (Prov. 10:1). More serious than this is that the lazy children of God neglect God's work (Jere. 48:10). How much are these children of God grief to Heavenly Father? Jeremiah 48:10 says that such ones will be cursed. Also, the Bible says that the lazy person sleeps in harvest (Prov. 10:5). This seems to be God’s rebuke to us, God’s children, because we are sleeping spiritually and are neglecting to preach the gospel to many souls to harvest in this world. It is said that these children of God are children who act shamefully to Heavenly Father (v. 5). And if you look at Proverbs 10:26, the Bible says, “Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, So is the lazy one to those who send him.” What does it mean? It means that the lazy person is disgusting to its owner (Park). In other words, when the owner sees the lazy person, he feels sickly or dislikes it. Think about it. Parents are also worried about their lazy children. How much will we feel when we see a lazy employee from the perspective of the owner? When we see the employee's laziness, how annoying the employee in the eyes of the owner? No wonder his owner wouldn’t like such employee.
Ptah-Hotep, who was called the Egyptian sage in ancient times (about 4,500 years ago), said this about his correct attitude toward work: “The wise rise early to start to work, but fools rise early to worry about all there is to do”(Matthews). How about us? Do we wake up in the morning and start working diligently, or are we worried about our tasks all day long? King Solomon, the world's most wise, says in Proverbs 10:4 that in contrast to the lazy person, the diligent person will become rich (10:4). In other words, those who are diligent are those who work diligently and don’t sleep, especially in the summer of harvest, but work diligently to harvest (v. 5). The Bible speaks of such a person as “a son who acts wisely” (v. 5). And the Bible says that such a wise son makes his parents glad, not the grief (v. 1).
Third and last, the wise children receive commands, but foolish children speak without care.
Look at Proverbs 10:8 – “The wise of heart will receive commands, But a babbling fool will be ruined.” In Matthew 21:28-31, there is a parable that Jesus tells the chief priests and the scribes about a man who had two sons. When the father said to his first son, “Son, go work today in the vineyard,” the first son answered, “I will not”. But afterward he regretted it and went (vv. 28-29). The father went to his second son and said the same thing. And the send son answered, “I will, sir” but he didn’t go (v. 30). Having said this parable, Jesus asked the chief priests and the scribes: “Which of the two did the will of his father?” (v. 31) They said, “The first” (v. 31). When he heard the answer, Jesus said to them: “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him” (vv. 31-32). In this parable of Jesus, the second son who heard the father's command and said he would obey but disobeyed refers to the chief priests and the scribes. And the first son who repented and obeyed his father's command after saying I will not” refers to the tax collectors and prostitutes whom the chief priests and the scribes despised. What matters here is whether we actually obeyed or disobeyed rather than listening to Heavenly Father's voice and answering “yes” or “no”. Whenever I think about this parable of Jesus, I sometimes wonder how good it would be to have a third son, beside the first and the second sons, who says “yes” to his father and obeys his command. But Jesus talked about only two sons. I think the reason is because the third son is of course the best in Heavenly Father's eyes, but such a son is the only begotten Son, Jesus. And we, as adopted sons of God in the Lord, at least, like the first son in the Jesus’ parable, respond to our Heavenly Father's command, “I will not” but afterward he regretted it and obeys His command. I think the important thing here is to repent and obey.
If we look at Proverbs 10:17, the Bible says that wise-minded children listen to the instruction of their parents. And that wise children obey the commands of his parents (v. 8). As I meditated on these words, I thought about what the parents' command toward wise children would be. In today's text, we looked up their command in four ways:
(1) The parents command their children to walk in integrity.
Look at Proverbs 10:9 – “He who walks in integrity walks securely, But he who perverts his ways will be found out.” Which parents would like their children to walk in the perverted way, the way of sin? Isn't it the parents’ hearts that their children don’t walk in the way of sin, but in the right way? What is walking in the right way or in integrity? Isn’t it referring to a righteous (clean) life? Those who live righteous (clean) life, first of all, are free of conscience. Therefore, their hearts are peaceful. And even after hardships, God's blessing is there, so they enjoy peace in their hearts (Park). I am sure all the parents in this world want their children to enjoy this blessing from God. But the problem is that the children disobey their parents and go astray. However, even so, the hearts of the parents will pray, expect, and wait, desperately wanting to see their children walk in integrity, the right way, the way of life (v. 17) again, even if their children are disciplined.
(2) The parents command their children to love and not hate.
Look at Proverbs 10:12 – “Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all transgressions.” Which parent would like to see their children quarrel, fight, and hate? On the contrary, don't parents' hearts want to see their children love each other? The love of neighbor that Heavenly Father commands us is love based on knowledge (v. 14). It's not just love that's unconditionally driven by emotions. What kind of knowledge? It is the knowledge of God. In other words, the more we get to know the God of love, the more He loves us to the point that He gave His only begotten Son on the cross and covered all our transgressions with His blood, we will be able to love each other by covering each other’s transgressions. However, the foolish children prefer to reveal the other person's transgressions rather than cover them. The reason is because the foolish children's hating heart is prejudiced against the other person, so they think that there are also faults even thought they aren’t (Park). These fools tend to hide their hatred toward the other in their heart. Proverbs 10:18 says about such a person: “He who conceals hatred has lying lips, And he who spreads slander is a fool.”
(3) The parents command their children to restrain their lips.
Look at Proverbs 10:19 – “When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, But he who restrains his lips is wise.” I have nothing to say when I think about this. The reason is because I often talk a lot to reveal my faults. So, I'm trying to control my lips, although I can't even get a gagged on my mouth. King Solomon says in Proverbs 10:20, “The tongue of the righteous is as choice silver.” What is the reason? The reason is because the lips of the righteous feed (instruct) many people (v. 21). When I thought of this tongue of the righteous that is like choice silver, I thought of Ezra in the Old Testament. Ezra was the priest, the scribe who learned in the words of the commandments of the LORD and His statutes to Israel (Ezra 7:11). He was a scholar who had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel (v. 10). He also had the tongue of disciples for which the prophet Isaiah prayed to God (Isa. 50:4). Shouldn't we, like Ezra, have the tongue of disciples to study and obey the word of God and teach others believers?
(4) The parents command their children delight in wisdom.
Look at Proverbs 10:23 – “A fool finds pleasure in evil conduct, but a man of understanding delights in wisdom.” From the parent's point of view, what will the parents feel when they see that their beloved children are foolish and take pleasure in their evil conduct? Now, Heavenly Father is commanding us, His children, not to find pleasure in evil conduct, but delight in wisdom. God wants us to love the truth and make it our delight. And God commands us to live by obeying the word of God's truth because we fear Him. What should we do?
These wise children obey the commands of their parents. But the chattering fool comes to ruin (vv. 8, 10). What does it mean? This means that the person with foolish mouth chatters and suffers calamity because of that word (Park). Why does the fool suffer calamity by chattering? The reason is that the fool doesn’t store up knowledge like the wise men (v. 14). In other words, the fool has no knowledge (v. 21). Therefore, the mouth of the fool speaks what is perverse (v. 32). As a result, the perverted tongue of the fool will be cut off (v. 31). Also, the fool dies for lack of knowledgeable (v. 21).
The wise children of God are joy to their Heavenly Father (v. 1). They seek seek God's righteousness (v. 2) by fearing God (v. 27). And they do the way of the Lord righteously (v. 29) diligently (v. 4). Also, the wise children of God obey Heavenly Father's commands (v. 8). Therefore, they will never be shaken (v. 30). However, the foolish children of God are a grief to Heavenly Father (v. 1). Because they don’t fear God, they seek useless ill-gotten gains (v. 2). And they are lazy (v. 4). Also, they suffer calamity because they chatter (vv. 8, 10). Are we the wise children of Heavenly Father or the foolish children?