Facts we need to know
[Proverbs 28:21-28]
One day at the early Morning Prayer meeting, I meditated on the words in John 11 about the miracle of Jesus raising the dead Lazarus. As I meditated on those words, I especially meditated based on verses 5-6: “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.” In these words, I came to think that the meaning of the time of Jesus and others (Lazarus, Martha, and Mary) was a little different. I think the meaning of the time of Lazarus and his two sisters, Martha and Mary, was very precious. The reason I think so is because Lazarus got sick and that disease eventually killed him, and until that time each hour would have been very precious to Lazarus before he died. And from the point of view of his two younger sisters, Martha and Mary, I think how important, precious, and desperate the meaning of time was to them when their beloved brother Lazarus was dying. The place where I can feel it is when Martha said to Jesus after hearing that Jesus was coming to Bethany (vv. 1, 18) after Lazarus died four days ago (v. 39): “Lord, … if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (v. 21). Mary also said something similar to Jesus: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (v. 32). Both of these words indicate that Martha and Mary thought that if the Lord had come a little bit sooner, their brother Lazarus would not have died. As such, the time was tight for Martha and Mary. That is why they sent a person to Jesus and told Him, “Lord, the one you love is sick” (v. 3). However, despite being told that Lazarus was sick, Jesus stayed where he was two more days (v. 6). Why didn’t Jesus quickly go to Bethany and heal Lazarus, who was sick, but rather stayed where he was two more days? Although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus (v. 5), why didn’t Jesus go to their house quickly and heal Lazarus, the one Jesus loved (v. 3) even though He knew that Lazarus was sick (vv. 3, 6)? Rather, Jesus knew that “Our friend Lazarus” was dead (vv. 11, 14) and said to His disciples, “Let's go back to Judea” (v. 7). Why did Jesus do that? Why did Jesus stay two more days where he was even though he heard the news that Lazarus was sick? The reason is that Jesus said in verse 15: “and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe.” Jesus did it for His disciples. Jesus stayed two more days where he was to make His disciples to believe in Jesus more (v. 6). As I meditated on these words, I was instructed that we must believe in the Lord, even though we don’t have the time for that “two days” (v. 6), and we are at the crossroads of life and death in which we cannot wait for a day. Even though the Lord's work does not appear as we prayed and expected, we must wait patiently with faith in Him. We must believe that “it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it” (v. 4) even though the situation is getting worse and we don’t see any work of the Lord. The reason is because the heart of the Lord is always for us (v. 15). I was strengthened when I realized the Lord's heart toward me even a little through the fact that the Lord is always for us. In this way, the word of God gives me and you strength.
If we look at Proverbs 28:22, the Bible says, “A man with an evil eye hastens after wealth And does not know that want will come upon him.” While meditating on this word, especially “And does not know that want will come upon him,” I think there are facts that we need to know. So I would like to receive a lesson given by meditating on Proverbs 28:21-28 in eight different ways.
The first thing we need to know is that we can do wrong with bribes.
Look at Proverbs 28:21 – “To show partiality is not good, Because for a piece of bread a man will transgress.” One of the books I read while in seminary was Saint Augustine's Book of Confession. In that book, I remember reading Augustine's confession about the sin of stealing bread a long time ago because he was hungry. At that time, as I read the contents, I was a little puzzled, ‘Is it a great sin for stealing one bread?’ And in fact, I think he might be able to think that it was just one bread and forgot about it. But when I think about why and how Augustine considered stealing a piece of bread in the past as such a great sin in his book and confessed it, I think the reason is ‘God's presence.’ In other words, I think that Augustine is living in God's presence and thus has a greater awareness of his past sin. In other words, I think that holy God’s presence brought him deeper awareness and realization of the magnitude of his sin. The reason I think so is because I heard a sermon about the apostle Paul through our church retired pastor long time ago. In a word, the content of the sermon was that the apostle Paul became more humble as he realized his sins deeper, greater and more painfully in the holy presence of God in his spiritual journey with the Lord. As a basis, there are three Bible verses from the apostle Paul's letters quoted by the retired pastor in his sermons: (1) (1 Cor. 15:9) “For I am the least of the apostles …,” (2) (Eph. 3:8) “Although I am less than the least of all God's people …,” (3) (1 Tim. 1:15) “…sinners--of whom I am the worst.”
What does it mean when the Proverbs writer says in Proverbs 28:21, “To show partiality is not good, Because for a piece of bread a man will transgress.” What do you think “To show partiality” mean? Where do we usually see the unfair treatment of showing partiality? We see in court. For example, what would happen if the judge shows partiality instead of judging fairly? He will never make a right judgment. Why is this happening in court? The reason is because of 'bribery'.
In this world, it seems that there are more people than expected with the idea that 'Money can do everything.' They seem to believe that ‘Money is power.’ So they aren’t hesitant to bribe other people to achieve their selfish purposes and ambitions. An example is found in Ezra chapter 4. When the Israelites returned from captivity in Babylon to their hometown of Judah to rebuild the temple of God, “the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard” that news (v. 1) and came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the families (v. 2). Even thought they told Zerubbabel and the heads of the families, “Let us help you build” the temple (v. 2), Zerubbabel and the heads of the families refused to do so: “You have no part with us in building a temple to our God. We alone will build it for the LORD, the God of Israel” (v. 3). From that time on, “the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building” (v. 4). One of the ways they prevented the building of the temple was bribery (v. 5). The Judah's adversaries “bribed officials to act against them to frustrate their plans throughout the reign of King Cyrus of Persia and until the reign of King Darius of Persia” (v. 5, Christian Standard Bible). In Nehemiah 6, Tobiah and Sanballat, the enemies of the people of Judah, bribed Shemaiah to make Nehemiah false prophesy. The content of the prophecy was, “They will come to kill you. Let us go to the house of God, stay in the outer room, and close the door, and they will surely come at night to kill you” (v. 10). Upon hearing that, Nehemiah responded to Shemaiah: “Should a man like me run away? Or should one like me go into the temple to save his life? I will not go!” (v. 11) Nehemiah learned that Shemaiah didn’t receive the word of God at that time, but instead received a bribe from Tobiah and Sanballat and made this prophecy to him (v. 12). Why did Tobiah and Sanballat, who opposed the people of Judah, bribe Shemaiah and made such a false prophecy? Look at Nehemiah 6:13 – “He had been hired to intimidate me so that I would commit a sin by doing this, and then they would give me a bad name to discredit me.” In the end, the purpose of the bribe was to frighten Nehemiah, the leader of the people of Judah, to sin against God.
What if the judges of the people of Judah were bribed? Then the judge will not only do injustice, but will never be able to. However, in fact, the Bible records that in the Old Testament times, the leaders and judges of the people of Judah received bribes: “Your rulers are rebels, companions of thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts. They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow's case does not come before them” (Isa. 1:23), “Both hands are skilled in doing evil; the ruler demands gifts, the judge accepts bribes, the powerful dictate what they desire-- they all conspire together” (Mic. 7:3). As a result, the judge who received the bribe “justify the wicked for a bribe, And take away the rights of the ones who are in the right!” (Isa. 5:23). In other words, he harmed an innocent righteous man (Ps. 15:5). The judges who received bribes in this way perverted justice (1 Sam. 8:3). As a result, he deprived the poor of justice in the courts so that the poor suffered unjustly (Am. 5:12). Think about it. How unfair the judge's perverted judgment would be from the perspective of the suffering person (Prov. 28:21). So the Bible Proverbs 18:5 says, “It is not good to be partial to the wicked or to deprive the innocent of justice.”
A bribe blinds those who see (Exod. 23:8, Deut. 16:19, 1 Sam. 12:3) and corrupts our hearts (Eccle. 7:7), making us forget God (Ezek. 22:12), and perverts justice (1 Sam. 8:3). As a result, the bribe makes us to show partiality and to do bad things (Prov. 28:21). Bribes turns us aside (Job 36:18). Therefore, we must not accept bribes. We must imitate God who doesn’t accept bribes (Deut. 10:17; 2 Chron. 19:7) and must not show partiality (Prov. 28:21). We must keep in mind that we can make a mistake for a piece of bread. To that extent, bribery can make us sin against God (Neh. 6:13). Therefore, we must not accept bribes.
The second thing we need to know is that a greedy man is unaware of poverty coming upon him.
I am sure you know the Christmas children story “Scrooge”? This story, written by British novelist Charles Dickens, is about Scrooge, the protagonist and a cold-hearted miser who met a ghost of his business partner Marley the night before Christmas, and repented his sins by seeing his past, present, and future and found his human heart (Internet). I am sure I heard this Christmas children story when I was a child and have learned its teaching. But I remember more the Korean fairy tale “Heungbu and Nolbu” that I heard when I was in elementary school in Korea. At that time, after listening to this fairy tale at that young age, I was taught that I should be a good person like Heungbu, not like a greedy Nolbu. But now, when I look back on my life after so many years, I think that I am living like a greedy Nolbu on the contrary to the lessons I learned when I was a child. At least Scrooge later repented of his sins and found a human heart. But I'm still struggling with myself because I can't find my heart right. So I am fighting against myself. In particular, I am fighting the “covetousness” in me. Like the enlightenment given in 2 Samuel 12:14, it reminds us that we must be very alert and vigilant that covetousness that leads to adultery, murder, and theft, because if not then we will give occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. Even now, the leaders of the church are greedy and are committing the sin of idolatry to God because they love money, honor, and women more than God (Mic. 1:7, 2:2; Col 3:5). We have to pray and ponder how we can resist the temptation of covetousness. The lesson that Acts 20:33-35 gives is to always remember Jesus' words, "Giving is more blessed than receiving," in order to resist the temptation of greed.
If we look at Proverbs 28:22, the Bible says, “A stingy man is eager to get rich and is unaware that poverty awaits him.” This is Darby Translation (DARBY): “He that hath an evil eye hasteth after wealth, and knoweth not that poverty shall come upon him.” Here, “an evil eye” refers to ‘the eye of the covetous one’ (Park). In other words, the eye of the covetous one is evil. The Bible tells us that the selfish person with such evil eye is in hurry to collect wealth (v. 22). Here, the word ‘to be in a hurry’ means that the covetous person with evil eye quickly wants to get rich or that he is in a hurry to become rich (v. 20). Look at Proverbs 28:20 – “A faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.”
If this covetous and selfish man wants to get rich quickly, he will want to get rich in the wrong way rather than in the right and legal way. And the wrong way, the Bible says, is lying and violence. Look at Proverbs 21:6-7: “A fortune made by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare. The violence of the wicked will drag them away, for they refuse to do what is right.” The Bible says that the use of lying and violence to accumulate wealth in order to quickly get rich is the pursuit of death. It is like a fleeting vapor. These who are quick to accumulate wealth with deceitful words don’t know fact that they are wicked, and they refuse to act with justice (v. 7). That is why they are accumulating wealth even by using the wrong methods of deception or violence. What is the result? The result is poverty. The problem, however, is that those who are eager to get rich quickly don’t know that poverty will come to them (28:22). At first, they seem to succeed in accumulating wealth in an unrighteous way because they have more than their hearts could wish, they increase in riches and are prosper in the world (Ps. 73:7, 12). But when Asaph, the psalmist who wrote Psalms 73, went into the sanctuary of God, he realized the end of the wicked. What is the end of the wicked? Look at Psalms 73:18-20: “Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.”
This is what 1 Timothy 6:9-10 says: “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” We must not be money lovers like the Pharisees (Lk. 16:14). We shouldn't love money. The reason is because the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. If we covet money because we love it, we will be deceived and turn away from the faith. Therefore, we must keep in mind that those who are eager for money will fall into temptation, a snare, and various foolish and harmful greed that cause them to fall into ruin and destruction. Therefore, we should not love money. Also, we should not store up for ourselves treasures on earth. What is the reason? The reason is because there is moth and rust will destroy them and thieves will break in and steal (Mt. 6:19). What does it mean? It means that if we store money or wealth on this earth, it is one of the two. Either all of that money or wealth is destroyed or a thief steals it (MacDonald). In a word, the reason why we should not stock up on money or wealth on this earth is because it will be gone. So the apostle James said in James 5:2-3: “Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.” We must not accumulate wealth on this earth in these last days. Rather, we must store treasures in heaven as Jesus said (Mt. 6:20). Dr. Yoon-sun Park summarized the method as follows: ‘The way to store treasure in heaven is to sacrifice for the Lord all my good things (not only material but also effort and talent and everything else)’ (Park).
We must live on this earth while building up treasures in heaven. In order to do that, we must sacrifice our own things for the Lord. We must put the Lord as our top priority not only in our material but also in our time, body, and family, and sacrifice for the Lord, His church, and the ministry of the gospel. And we must share ours in loving our neighbor (Lk. 18:22). This is what it means to storing up our treasures in heaven (v. 22).
The third thing we need to know is that rebuking a person is more loved later than flattering with our tongues.
How would you feel if someone who loves you points out your mistakes? I still remember when I was in college, I had a discipleship with with some seniors and a pastor who taught said ‘James is still hot-blooded youth.’ In Korean, it has some negative connotation so I felt a little bad. Also when I was in college, I remember saying to my friend ‘You are arrogant’. I feel sorry when I think about his feeling and heart.
Personally, I find it difficult to obey the words of Proverbs 27:5. In other words, whenever I deal with this word, I worry: “Better is open rebuke than hidden love.” I am having hard time rebuking someone on his face. I think the reason is not only because of my personality, but also maybe I don’t love the other person enough to reprove him with the love of God. Since not only that I'm not even able to do the hidden love properly, but also I'm not getting better at open rebuke in love, whenever I encounter this word, I am worried and feel remorse. Particularly in the pastoral ministry, if I truly love the flock whom God has entrusted to me, there are times when I feel uncomfortable because I didn’t obey the word of Proverbs 27:5 when I should have obeyed it. Who do you think of people who rebuked face to face in the Bible? I remember the prophet Nathan who rebuked King David face to face (2 Sam. 11). In this biblical story we are well aware of, King David lies with Bathsheba, Uriah's wife, knows that the baby is conceived, and attempts to cover up the sin, even by committing the murder of killing his loyal soldier Uriah. Because “the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the Lord” (v. 27), God sent the prophet Nathan to David for taking the wife of Uriah by the parable of the rich and the poor in a city (12:1- 4). At that time, David became very angry and said to the prophet Nathan, “As the LORD lives, surely the man who has done this deserves to die” (v. 5). David didn't know that he was the one who deserve to die, maybe because as he tried to cover up his sins, he also covered his conscience. At that time, the Prophet Nathan rebuked David directly: “You are the man!”(v. 7) How shocking was this to David? David himself apparently didn’t think he was the one who deserved to die. But how surprised it would have been when the prophet Nathan rebuked him, saying, “You are that man!”? Wouldn't our conscience be shocked when the holy God reveals that the things we have done are sins after not considering sins as sin?
This is what the Bible Proverbs 28:23 says: “He who rebukes a man will in the end gain more favor than he who has a flattering tongue.” This word is asking who we are. The word of God is asking each one of us whether we are “He who rebukes” or “he who has a flattering tongue”. What do you think? Who are we? This word urges us to be the one who rebukes. What is the reason? The reason is because he who rebukes a man will afterward find more favor (v. 23). But in fact, I think our instincts don’t want to be loved more later than to be loved more now. And the way we're more loved by the other person right now is to buy the person's favor or to flatter, rather than rebuking him for his wrongdoing. For example, some of us seem to be doing it to a person who is in a higher position than us in the workplace. Although sometime we know our superior has done something wrong, we even flatter to him rather than rebuke him in love. In my case, it seems that there is many times where I just cover it up rather than rebuke the person in love. Perhaps the biggest reason I do this is because I don't want to hurt the other person's heart. And another reason is because I am afraid that our relationship will become awkward and cut off after I rebuke him. I don't know if there is a concern in this fear that the person will hate me. When I just cover it up and just pass over it, I think my excuse might be Proverbs 17:9 – “He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.” Obviously, the Bible says, ““He who covers over an offense promotes love” (17:9), and at the same time, the Bible says, “Better is open rebuke than hidden love” (27:5). There is many times how I can obey these two words of God. What do you think? Should you cover the offense of the people you love or should you rebuke them? What do you think you should do? When should you cover their offense and when should you rebuke them with love? My personal thought is that even thought we who promote love should cover their offense in order no to separate close friends by repeating the matter (17:9), we should rebuke them if they repeat the matter so that it doesn’t lead to more serious sins (27:5).
This is what the Bible Proverbs 27:6 says: “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.” The reason why the Bible says “Better is open rebuke than hidden love” (v. 5) is because even though the open and face-to-face rebuke from our friend hurts our hearts, the wounds from that rebuke are trustworthy (v. 6). The Bible says this is better than the enemy's false kisses. Why? The reason is because the enemy hates us and wants to destroy us even through the false kisses, whereas our friend wants to build us up with a sincere rebuke because he loves us. There is a similar saying in Ecclesiastes 7:5 – “It is better to heed a wise man's rebuke than to listen to the song of fools.” Here, “the song of fools” refers to ‘the false comfort of the wicked’ (Park). The Bible tells us to beware of the false comforts of the wicked. Why should we be wary of the false comforts of the wicked? The reason we should guard against the song of fools, the false comfort of the wicked, is because it is in vain (v. 6). The Bible teaches us that what we need to hear is not the song of fools, but the rebuke of the wise. We must keep in mind that the whipping of the wise is better than the praise (encouragement) of the fool
In Psalms 118:18, the psalmist says: “The LORD has disciplined me severely, But He has not given me over to death.” I don't know how badly he was rebuked by God, so he said, "He has not given me over to death." But at least we can know from this verse that God always disciplines the children of God whom He loves. But the Bible also says that God doesn’t “always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever” (103:9). And when we see the apostle Paul said to his spiritual son Timothy, “… correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction” (2 Tim. 4:2), we cannot deny that we should rebuke our loved ones with the word of God. Let’s not forget the fact that rebuking a person is more loved later than flattering with our tongues.
The fourth thing we need to know is that a person who steals from his parents and says it is not a sin is no different from a robber.
Have you ever stolen something from your parents? I am. I still remember vividly. When I was in elementary school, my mother put a coin purse in the kitchen cabinet. However, the kitchen was dug a little deep and the cabinet was a bit high, so it was not easy for me to open the kitchen cabinet door on the top of the cupboard and take out my mother's wallet and steal coins. Haha. Now that I think about it, I remember at that time I was almost like a Spider-Man, clinging my body to the kitchen cabinet, and opened the top door of the cabinet, and took out my mother’s pursue and the money. I think I stole a 100 won coin which worth less than 10 cents. The reason I stole that money was because I really want to buy a cracker that costs 100 won at the corner shop on the street in front of our house. Haha. Although stealing my parents' money like this is of course stealing, I think it's also stealing that we don't give our parents what we should give them. Look at Matthew 15:5-6: “But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God,' he is not to 'honor his father' with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.” This word was spoken by Jesus to the Pharisees and scribes, who at that time violated God's commandment by their own traditions. Specifically, how did they violate the God's commandment? Although God's commandment said, "Honor your father and mother," the Pharisees and scribes taught that they didn’t need to honor their parents as long as they give to God what they suppose to give to their parents. If we think that we don't have to give money to our parents as long as we give it to God, I think this is stealing from our parents.
If we look at Proverbs 28:24, the Bible says: “He who robs his father or mother and says, "It's not wrong"-- he is partner to him who destroys.” Why is the Bible talking about robbing “his father or mother” among so many others? Like the tenth of the Ten Commandments, why doesn’t the Bible talk about coveting a neighbor's property and stealing it but talking about stealing our parents’ things? Perhaps the reason is because those who have the evil eyes, that is, those who are greedy and who is eager to get rich (v. 22) can commit an unthinkable sin of stealing their parents’ things instead of honoring their parents and practicing filial piety. And I think it is because “A greedy man” (v. 25) is capable of stirring up dissension by stealing their parents' wealth. A robber who has no remorse in his conscience and doesn’t even consider the sin of stealing his parents a sin is the robber and such robber can be in the home. Why can't a child steal from his parents and not think it's theft? Why can a child steal a parent’s property and say that stealing is not a sin? I looked for the reason in Proverbs 14:8-9: “The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the folly of fools is deception. Fools mock at making amends for sin, but goodwill is found among the upright.” According to this word, the reason that the child steals from his parents and says that it isn’t a sin is because he mocks at sin (14:9). And the reason why he mocks at sin is because he is deceiving himself (v. 8, Jam. 1:22). The reason we are deceiving ourselves is because we don’t have knowledge (Prov. 14:7). And the reason we don't have knowledge is because we are arrogant (vv. 3, 6). And the reason we are arrogant is because we despise Him (v. 2). After all, when I was a child, I thought it wasn't a sin to steal my mother's money because I was despising God. Someone who was despising God like this is also found in the Bible. That person's name is "Micah" in Judges 17. He stole his mother’s 1,100 pieces of silver and then returned to her because out of fear of being cursed by his mother, his mother said to Micah as follow: “"Blessed be my son by the LORD. I solemnly consecrate my silver to the LORD for my son to make a carved image and a cast idol. I will give it back to you” (vv. 2-3). How could the mother bless her son who stole her money? Shouldn’t she rebuke him? I can’t understand Micah’s mother. Indeed, it is a broken family. Neither the son Micah nor his mother regarded sin as a sin. The reason is because they were despising God (Prov. 14:2).
We should not take all our sins lightly, including stealing. Rather, we should take our sins against God seriously. Although those who despise God take their sins lightly (Prov. 14:2, 9), those who fear God take their sins seriously. It is a sin against God's commandments if we don’t honor our parents and don’t give our parents what they deserve, but give to God. In a way, I think it's stealing from my parents. We must not honor our parents only with our lips (Mt. 15:8). Instead, we must honor our parents with our hearts. Those who honor their parents with heart will give them what they should give them for the benefit of their parents with joy and gratitude. By doing so, I hope and pray that all of us can please our parents (Prov. 23:25).
The fifth thing we need to know is that a greedy man stirs up dissension, but those who trust in the Lord will prosper.
Why do quarrels arise in relationships? Look at James 4:1-2a: “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. ….” The Bible says that the reason we quarrel is because of our desires that battle within us and because we want something and are greedy. Are we not quarreling and fighting because of our desires that battle within us and because we are greedy? If there is greed within us, we can never be satisfied. I remember the word of Ecclesiastes 1:8 – “All things are wearisome; Man is not able to tell it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor is the ear filled with hearing.” There is no satisfaction in seeing with eyes and hearing with ears means that even as the sea cannot be filled with water that always flows (v. 7), even the greed of a person has no satisfaction (Park). Indeed, there seems to be no end to man's greed. To satisfy that endless greed, he pursues this and that in this vain world, but he isn’t satisfied in the end. As for how much King Solomon was, Ecclesiastes 2:10 says, “All that my eyes desired I did not refuse them I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased.” He saw and enjoyed everything his heart wanted. He thought it was his reward for all his labor (v. 10). But he confessed: “Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun” (v. 11). If there is greed within us, we rather complain and grumble in dissatisfaction like the Israelites at the time of the Exodus. Dissatisfaction makes us complain. Why are we dissatisfied and complaining? The cause is greed. Like this, greed is scary and very dangerous. But satisfaction and contentment make us grateful. And peace overflows with gratitude. The heart of gratitude is a generous heart. And grateful heart isn’t greedy. We must live a life of gratitude to God by counting all the spiritual blessings we have already received in Jesus Christ. Meanwhile, like the apostle Paul, we must live with satisfaction with Jesus alone. In the midst of experiencing poverty or abundance, we must learn the secret of being satisfied with Jesus alone. Then we will be able to avoid complaining in dissatisfaction.
If we look at Proverbs 28:25, the Bible says, “A greedy man stirs up dissension, but he who trusts in the LORD will prosper.” The Bible contrasts “A greedy man” with “he who trusts in the Lord.” First of all, when we think of “A greedy man,” we can think in relation to the one with evil eyes (the one with the greedy eyes) that we already talked about in verse 22. In other words, the reason why the greedy man stirs up dissention (v. 25) is because he is eager to accumulate wealth in his greed (v. 22). This greedy man will try to get what he wants even by using his flattering tongue (v. 23). He can even quarrel with his parents. This is because the greedy man is a person whose conscience is paralyzed by stealing even the things of his parents (v. 24). That’s how much a person's greed can paralyze the conscience so that he doesn’t regard sin as a sin. That’s why he may quarrel even with his parents in the process of stealing his parents' things.
Greed is harmful to us. The reason we fall into foolish and harmful greed is because we aren’t content with what we already have. It is also because we only know this truth with our heads: “As he had come naked from his mother's womb, so will he return as he came He will take nothing from the fruit of his labor that he can carry in his hand” (Eccle. 5:15). Therefore, the greedy man loves money and eagers to get rich (1 Tim. 6:6-10). And in the process, he causes quarrels with others (Prov. 28:25). In Genesis 16, there is a story of a woman's greed that moves her husband to get the result she wants, and makes him do what he shouldn't do in the sight of God. That story is the story of Abram and Sarai. Sarai had borne Abram no children (Gen. 16:1). So she said to her husband Abram, “The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her” (v. 2). At that time, Abram should not have obeyed Sarai. Rather, he should have rebuked and guided her in love, believing that God would give her Isaac as God had promised to them. But Abram agreed to what Sarai said and slept with her maidservant Hagar (vv. 2-4). As a result, when Hagar became pregnant, she became arrogant and despised her mistress Sarai (v. 4). And Sarai said to her husband Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me” (v. 5). Isn't it funny that Sarai told her husband Abram to sleep with her maidservant, Hagar, and then said to Abram “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering”? (v. 5) In this way, Sarai's greed even used her husband as a tool to satisfy her greed. But I think the result was an opportunity for Hagar to despise Sarai and for Sarai to blame her husband Abram for her suffering.
We must be wary of greed. The reason is because greed causes quarrels, which leads to sin against God. Greed is a shortcut to unhappiness, so we must be on the lookout for greed. Rather, we must become the ones who trust in the Lord (Prov. 28:25). Those who trust in the Lord obey His word as they rely on the word of God. A good example is Simon Peter in Luke 5. On the shore of Lake Gennesaret (Lk. 5:1), Jesus sat in Simon Peter's boat and taught many people (v. 1) who came to hear the word of God from Jesus (v. 3). When he finished speaking, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch” (v. 4). Simon Peter, who worked hard all night and hadn’t caught anything (v. 5), came out of his boat and had already washed the nets (v. 2), answered Jesus, “because you say so, I will let down the nets” (v. 5). As Jesus had said, he went out into the deep and let down his nets (v. 4). As a result, he caught such a large number of fish that his nets began to break (v. 6). In the end, Simon Peter became prosperous because he relied on the Lord and obeyed His word (Prov. 28:25). I hope and pray that we will all be able to enjoy abundant grace by laying down all our desires in front of the cross and relying only on the Lord to obey His word.
The sixth thing we need to know is that we must not trust ourselves and act wisely.
Have you even seen a person who says ‘I absolutely don’t trust in other people. I only trust myself’? I remember one of my friends in high school, who claimed to be an atheist, told me that he believed in no gods, no one, and only believed in himself. At that time, I thought that there could be an atheist who denies and doesn’t acknowledging the existence of God. However, I went to seminary to study John Calvin's interpretation of the words of Romans 1 and came to believe that there could be no atheists in this world from Calvin's point of view. The basis for this is Romans 1:19-21: “since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.” Obviously the Bible says they know God. How do they know God? They know God because God has clearly shown and made known His attributes, that is, the eternal power and divinity of God, through all things He has created. But they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him. But their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Do you think we can trust such a foolish heart? Although it's hard for us to trust others, I don’t think it's easy to trust our own hearts as well. Why? The reason is because we have greed in our hearts (Prov. 28:25). Since we have such greed in our hearts, we are eager to get rich with a selfish heart (v. 22). So such a man even steals the things of his parents (v. 24). In a word, our heart cannot be trusted because “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure” (Jere. 17:9). How deceitful and corrupt are the hearts of men? Jesus said this in Mark 7:20-23: “He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.’” Also, the Bible says in Genesis 6:5: “The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.” Can you believe this heart?
In Proverbs 28:26, the Bible says: “He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe.” The Bible says, “He who trusts in himself is a fool.” The Bible tells us not to trust in our own hearts. The Bible says that if we trust in our own hearts, we are fools. Isn't that obvious? Isn’t it true that a man who trusts in his foolish heart (Rom. 1:21) is a fool? (Prov. 28:26) The Bible tells us that the foolish heart of the fool claims to be wise, but in fact he is a fool (Rom. 1:22). So the fool doesn’t serve God who lives forever but rather worship idols (v. 23). Also, the fool worships and serves the creature more than the Creator by exchanging the truth of God for a lie (v. 25). As result, God gave him over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done (v. 28). The Bible says that there will be woe to such a man (Isaiah 5:21). The Bible says, “Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil” (Prov. 3:7). Therefore, we must not be wise in your own estimation (Rom. 12:16).
Rather, the Bible tells us to walk in wisdom (Prov. 28:26). In order to do that, we must pay attention and listen to the sayings of the wise (22:17). And we should keep them in our hearts (v. 18). Then we will be able to trust in God (v. 19). So the Bible Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Instead of being wise in our own eyes (v. 7), we must act wisely with the wisdom that God gives us. Here, acting wisely means to shun evil by fearing God (v. 7). Just as when we love God and love the truth (3:3), we shun hatred and lies, when we fear God we can shun evil which we consider ourselves wise (v. 7). If we don’t trust in God and don’t acknowledging Him in all our ways, then this is an evidence that we trust ourselves and acknowledge ourselves. This is also the evidence that we are wise in our own eyes. This is the vain faith of the fool who doesn’t fear God (14:16). And the cause of this vain faith is in mind (Rom. 12:16). Why are we haughty in mind? The reason is because we don’t know the great God intimately. When we don’t have the intimate knowledge of God, we consider ourselves wise (Prov. 3:7) and is wise in our own estimation (Rom. 12:16). When we fall into this arrogance, even though we know God, we don’t glorify Him or give thanks to Him. On the contrary, our thinking will become futile and our foolish hearts will be darkened, claiming to be wise but actually we are fools (Rom. 1:21-22). Therefore, we must not be wise in our own eyes. Rather, we must fear God and shun evil. As we fear God, we should not set our minds on high things, but rather set our minds on low things. In a word, the wise who fear God are humble. Because we fear God, we must shun evil and be humble. God will lift up these humble ones and use them on high. Why does the Bible tell us to walk wisely? The reason is because “he who walks in wisdom is kept safe” (Prov. 28:26).
The wise only listen to the word of God. The wise who hear the word of God will live in safety and will be ease, without fear of harm (1:33). In addition, the wise will trust in God, who is a strong tower (29:25), and run to God and is safe (18:10). I hope and pray that you are safe. I hope and pray that we all can enjoy God's salvation and safety by walking wisely with the wisdom that God gives us.
The seventh thing we need to know is that those who give to the poor will lack nothing.
Have you ever heard of the term “relative poverty”? There are two types of poverty. One is absolute poverty and the other is relative poverty. “Absolute poverty is when household income is below a certain level, which makes it impossible for the person or family to meet basic needs of life including food, shelter, safe drinking water, education, healthcare, etc. … Relative poverty is when households receive 50% less than average household incomes, so they do have some money but still not enough money to afford anything above the basics” (Internet). Until now, I had only thought of the concept of absolute poverty when I thought about “poverty”. But one day, I heard about relative poverty through a Korean radio broadcast. The news said that there are more and more people living in relative poverty in this southern California, where I live now. As I remember, the news I heard at that time was a little shocking to me because, for example, even if we earn $3,000 or $4,000 a month, if we spend $5,000 a month, we are in relative poverty. The reason this news was a bit shocking to me was because I only knew the concept of absolute poverty until then. So, I was a little surprised because even though people who made 3 or 4,000 dollars a month, if they need $5,000 expense a month, then they are in poverty. However, since then, more and more through the news or through people, I heard that the price here in California is too expensive, especially apartment rentals, but the labor cost doesn’t rise as much. As a result, many people are suffering with relative poverty.
The lesson for the “poor” has been learned over and over as we have already meditated on the Book of Proverbs. The most recent lesson we learned was Proverbs 28:18 – “He whose walk is blameless is kept safe, but he whose ways are perverse will suddenly fall.” If we translated this in the original Hebrew, it goes like this: ‘He who works purely will be saved, but he who deceives twice will fall at once’ (Park). Who is the one who deceive twice? A good example is “he who is crooked though he be rich,” which we already meditated on in the second half of Proverbs 28:6. In Hebrew, it is translated “a rich man who deceives in two ways” (Park). Who is the rich man who deceives in two ways? He only pretends to walk on a good way while walking in an evil way (Park). One of the evil ways of the rich who walks in two ways is to oppress the poor (v. 3). For a more specific example, James 2:6 says: “But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court?” The rich man who walks in two ways not only despises them in oppressing the poor, but also torments them, and causes harm by even taking them to court. Can’t you imagine? On the outside, the rich man seems to do good deeds in front of people. But on the inside when nobody sees him, he oppresses the poor (skillfully). The rich, who deceive in two ways, accumulate wealth through their inconsistent actions in front of people and behind people. And they seem to be collecting wealth very well.
If we look at Proverbs 28:27, the Bible says, “He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses.” Looking at the Book of Proverbs we have meditated on so far, the Bible says about “the poor”: (1) (14:31) “He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker …,” (2) (17:5) “He who mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker …,” (3) (21:13) “If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered,” (4) (22:16) “He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and he who gives gifts to the rich--both come to poverty.” These words say that if we oppress or mock the poor, we are showing contempt for God who made the poor, and we will come to poverty. By the way, in the second half of Proverbs 28:27, the Bible says “… he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses.” Here, ‘to close his eyes to the poor’ refers to refusing to respond to the needs of the poor (MacArthur). This is what Proverbs 14:31 says: “… but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.” Since the Bible says that he who is kind to the needy honors God, then we can say that he who closes his eyes to the needy (28:27) isn’t honoring Him. But ‘a man of kind eye or of merciful eye’ (22:9) “is kind to the poor” (19:17). That is lending to the Lord and He will repay him for his good deed (v. 17). The Bible says that those with such kind eye or of merciful eye will be blessed by God (22:9).
This is what the Bible 1 John 3:17-18 says: “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” If we say we love God, when we see poor brothers and sisters in Christ, we need to help those members with the material we have. We should not just tell others that our brother and sister in Christ are having a hard time. We must love our poor brothers and sisters in Christ sincerely, not only with words, but with deeds. The Bible Proverbs 11:24 says, “There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, And there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want.” The Bible says that those who give to the poor will not be in need (28:27), but will get richer. If we have seen the poor with faith in this word, I hope and pray that we will be able to reach out and help the poor rather than ignore them.
The eighth and the last thing we need to know is that when the wicked rise to power, people will hide themselves, but when they perish, the righteous will increase.
On the afternoon of November 7, 2017, President Trump of the United States gave a speech at the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea as the first President of the United States in 24 years in front of 550 members of the ruling and opposition parties and diplomatic envoys in Korea. President Trump's 35-minute speech was mostly about North Korea, and about 24 minutes of it was about condemning the North Korean system. He started by referring to the Korean War and the history of the Korean-US alliance on June 25, and even sent a warning to North Korean leader Jong-un Kim (Internet). After the speech, foreign media evaluated President Trump's speech, which included the following: ‘Also, by introducing the human rights situation in North Korea through the mouth of our ally, the US President, rather than President Moon, the suffering and cruel reality of the North Korean people was introduced to the South Korean people. It has also been of great help to anti-communist education.’ I watched President Trump's speech again in order to see the pain and the terrible reality of the North Korean people again. He said: ‘North Korean workers work unpaid work under conditions that cannot stand horribly long hours. Recently, orders were issued to the entire workforce to either work 70 days in a row or pay for a day's rest. Families live in houses without plumbing, and fewer than half have electricity. Parents hand over a token of good will to teachers and hope their children will be regulated in forced labor. More than one million North Koreans died of famine in the 1990s, and many more continue to die even after the famine of the 1990s. Nearly 30% of children under the age of 5 suffer from stunting due to malnutrition. Nevertheless, in 2012 and 2013, the North Korean regime spent an estimated $200 million, nearly half of what it allocated to improve the standard of living of its people, to build more monuments, towers, and statues to idolize the dictator. The marginal harvest of the North Korean economy is distributed according to loyalty to the crooked system. Far from treating its inhabitants as equal citizens, this brutal dictator scales and scores them and ranks them so selfishly for their loyalty to the country. Those who score high in loyalty can live in the capital, Pyongyang. Those with the lowest scores will starve first. One small violation, such as accidentally staining a picture of a dictator printed on discarded newspaper, can affect the social credit rating of the person's entire family for decades. And an estimated 100,000 North Koreans are subjected to forced labor in labor camps, enduring torture, starvation, rape and murder. In one known case, a 9-year-old boy was sentenced to 10 years in prison. This was the reason the child's grandfather was accused of treason. In another instance, a student was beaten at school for forgetting a detail about Kim Jong-un's life. Soldiers kidnap foreigners and make them work as language teachers for North Korean agents. Although it used to be a stronghold of Christianity before the war, now Christians and other religious people, if caught praying or practicing religion, face detention, torture and, in most cases, even execution. North Korean women are forced to abort fetuses considered racially excluded. When these children give birth, they are killed as newborns. A baby with a Chinese father was dragged in a basket. The guards say the child's blood is impure and not worth living. So why should people feel obligated to help China? Life in North Korea is so terrible that people say they bribe government officials and sell them into slavery abroad. They have rather be a slave. Attempting to run away is a crime punishable by death. The man who managed to escape said: ‘Thinking about it now, I was more like an animal than a person. It was only after I left North Korea that I realized what life was like’ (Internet).
The Bible Proverbs 28:12 says, “When the righteous triumph, there is great glory, But when the wicked rise, men hide themselves.” Isn't North Korea like that now? Aren't the North Koreans hiding because the wicked have seized power? The Bible Proverbs 29:2 says, “When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, But when a wicked man rules, people groan.” In fact, people in countries such as North Korea and Syria, where the wicked have taken power, are groaning. This is what the Bible Proverbs 28:28 says: “When the wicked rise, men hide themselves; But when they perish, the righteous increase.” We have already meditated on a similar verse, Proverbs 28:12: “When the righteous triumph, there is great glory, But when the wicked rise, men hide themselves.” Here the Proverbs writer contrasts the righteous with the wicked. First, the meaning of the word about the righteous is that the righteous are happy because God uses the righteous. And the reason is because God gives great grace and blessing to the righteous (Park). In particular, when God makes the leaders of a nation the righteous and allows them to rule the nation, the citizens are bound to rejoice because there is order and justice in that nation (Walvoord). Look at Proverbs 11:10 – “When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, ….” However, when the wicked arise, that is, when the wicked come to power, people will live in hiding (28:12b, 28a). The reason is because the wicked, who have seized power, are arrogant and oppress the people (Park). Look at Proverbs 28:15 – “Like a roaring lion and a rushing bear Is a wicked ruler over a poor people.” Imagine “a roaring lion and a rushing bear”. Why does the lion roar? The reason is because the lion is hungry and look for something to eat (Park). In Proverbs 17:12, the Bible says, “Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his folly.” The Bible tells us not that it is better to meet the bear robbed of her cubs than the fool in his folly. How is that? How is the fool more dangerous than the female bear whose cubs have been robbed? The reason is because when the fool is angry, he is more irrational than the bear robbed of her cubs (MacArthur). Therefore, when the foolish and arrogant wicked man comes to power, citizens have no choice but to hide. But when the wicked perish, the righteous increase (Prov. 28:28). When the foolish and arrogant wicked who have come to power fall, the righteous will multiply and prosper. The reason is because when the number of the wicked increased, the number of sins increased (29:16), but as the wicked perish, the number of sins decreases and of course there will be more righteous people who have lived in hiding. For example, in the time of the Judges, when the wicked rise (when they come to power), as the Israelites took refuge in caves and safe areas in the mountains because of the cruel Midianites who were wicked people (Judg. 6:2) are forced to live in hiding (Prov. 28:28). But after God appointed Gideon as a judge and his 300 men defeated the enemies of Midian, there was peace in the land for 40 years while Gideon lived (Judg. 8:28). In such calm time, people no longer have to live in hiding. The reason is because in such a time of peace the righteous will increase. This is what the Bible Proverbs 28:12a says: “When the righteous triumph, there is great glory ….” And this is what Proverbs 11:10a says: “When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, ….” What does it mean? When the wicked perish and the righteous triumph and prosper, all people (all citizens) rejoice and rejoice.
When I personally pray, I think of the people dying in Syria's civil war, and I pray that the dictator of that country will step down or that the citizens of that country will be free one day. The same goes for North Korea. I pray that one day the dictator will step down and that our brothers and sisters in that country will no longer suffer from poverty and persecution while living a life of faith. Frankly, sometimes I hope and pray for the destruction of the wicked leaders in power, like the psalmist. Therefore, I hope and pray that the citizens of those countries will not only die, but also that they will not suffer and be able to rejoice.
There are the facts that we need to know. We received lessons while meditating on the 8 facts we need to know, focusing on the words of Proverbs 28:21-28: (1) The first thing we need to know is that we can do wrong with bribes (v. 21). (2) The second thing we need to know is that a greedy man is unaware of poverty coming upon him (v. 22). (3) The third thing we need to know is that rebuking a person is more loved later than flattering with our tongues (v. 23). (4) The fourth thing we need to know is that a person who steals from his parents and says it is not a sin is no different from a robber (v. 24). (5) The fifth thing we need to know is that a greedy man stirs up dissension, but those who trust in the Lord will prosper (v. 25). (6) The sixth thing we need to know is that we must not trust ourselves and act wisely (v. 26). (7) The seventh thing we need to know is that those who give to the poor will lack nothing (v. 27). (8) The eighth and the last thing we need to know is that when the wicked rise to power, people will hide themselves, but when they perish, the righteous will increase (v. 28).