Proverbs 27:1-13 -- This is why the day of evil is approaching.
1 Do not boast of tomorrow, for you know not what a day may bring forth. 2 Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.
I have seen a lot of indoctrination about giving encouragement and not speaking criticism. I was in a professional development where we were told that words like "but", "however" and "should" are hurtful words. What has happened that we have become so fragile? Consider Steve Bannon, he has been vilified, insulted, slandered, mocked and made fun of for the last two years because he was running a show called “War Room Pandemic” where the fundamental premise was that the pandemic was a bioweapon created in the Wuhan laboratory. Yet now, everyone, Wall Street Journal, even Bill Maher have come to the conclusion that they were wrong to mock him and that the evidence is piling up that he was right. How is it that two years ago they were able to jump to the conclusion that Bannon was a nut case, and that the doctors from both China and the US coming forward about this threat should also be slandered? This is how you get praised from a stranger. Bill Maher is a left wing liberal and Steve Bannon is a right wing conservative. They are on opposite sides of the political spectrum and yet Bill Maher, a “stranger” praised Steve Bannon. No one would be praising Steve Bannon today if he had curled up and sulked at the first negative word he heard. He is praised that despite that He stood firm and continued to push for the truth.
3 Stone is heavy and sand weighty, but a fool’s wrath is heavier and more intolerable than both of them.
Critical Race Theory is a fool’s unreasoning wrath. Some people confuse this with the history of slavery (it isn’t) or with the history of the Civil Rights movement (it isn’t that either). Rather this theory says that Blacks are and have always been victims and whites are and have always been oppressors. It is insulting and demeaning to everyone. It says that all decisions should be based on the color of the skin going so far as to even say the more melanin someone has in their skin the more morally upright they are. The proponents want to “burn the US constitution”. Think about that, what government on this earth do they think is better? It turns out they support communism. Russia, China and Venezuela are the models they wish to emulate. That is a fool’s wrath.
4 Wrath is cruel and anger is an overwhelming flood, but who is able to stand before jealousy?
Before you start praying for the Lord to come in and judge let’s examine ourselves. God says that idolatry provokes Him to jealousy. Do you worship the dollar? You can be sure the dollar will not be able to stand before God’s jealousy. This vaccine mandate is a test, are you trusting in the Lord or in your paycheck?
5 Open rebuke is better than love that is hidden.
This is the problem with that professional development. They are labelling all rebuke as hate speech. Not being allowed to rebuke someone is the same thing as requiring love to be hidden. Rebuke is like applying the brakes to someone’s life when they are about to crash. Done correctly it is an act of love.
6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are lavish and deceitful.
We are seeing lavish and deceitful kisses. Kamala Harris said if you elect her she would put an end to the human rights abuses at the border. That was a “lavish kiss” that was deceitful. Not only has she not put an end to the abuses she clearly has no intention of putting an end to them. Interestingly she is named after an Indian goddess famous for being deceitful.
7 He who is satiated loathes and treads underfoot a honeycomb, but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.
The world right now is about to enter a time of testing and trial, and the result will be that all those who are satiated are about to become hungry souls. The prophets say that they will seek up and down looking for someone to speak a word from the Lord to them, even a rebuking word, but they won’t be able to find it.
8 Like a bird that wanders from her nest, so is a man who strays from his home.
The church is our home. Have you strayed from the church?
9 Oil and perfume rejoice the heart; so does the sweetness of a friend’s counsel that comes from the heart.
TV is not counsel that comes from a friend. The Lord called us friends. His counsel is sweet and rejoices the heart. The world wants to cut you off from that counsel, replacing it with their trivial garbage.
10 Your own friend and your father’s friend, forsake them not; neither go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity. Better is a neighbor who is near [in spirit] than a brother who is far off [in heart].
The day of calamity is coming. What do you do? Don’t forsake the Lord Jesus. Remember what the Lord said, those that hear His words and obey them are His mother, and brother. He said to love your neighbor as yourself. A person who is obeying that word is better than a brother according to the flesh.
11 My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him who reproaches me.
I am a teacher and some students get paranoid as though the teacher is out to get them. Teachers are judged based on kids passing, we have to give account for every student that fails, it is never true that we want a student to fail. I have had some very difficult students, if they fail I will have them again the next year, you can be sure I don’t want that.
12 A prudent man sees the evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished.
We can see the day approaching if we are awake and are watching. How do we “hide”? We hide ourselves in the Lord. We immerse ourselves in the Triune God. We flee into the Lord who is a strong tower.
13 [The judge tells the creditor] Take the garment of one who is security for a stranger; and hold him in pledge when he is security for foreigners.
The US has made themselves security for a stranger. We have given an exemption from lawsuits to tech giants. Why would we do that? They can harm the US as much as they want and no one can seek compensation. This is why the evil is coming. We allowed them to lie and censor with impunity.
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