Proverbs 14:17 "He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly: and a man of wicked devices is hated."
Life in our world is incredibly social. According to the Bible, our world has only entertained the presence of just one person for a matter of hours. Before Eve was created out of the rib of Adam, mankind lived a relatively simple and easy life. Before the creation of Eve, there is no recorded temptation by the serpent. Before the existence of human relationship, there is no recorded spiritual struggle. Before the institution of marriage, there is no recorded moral failure. In addressing man's loneliness and need for companionship, God introduced a spiritual challenge to our world. From the beginning, social interaction has been the ongoing revelation of the moral condition of man. Social interaction reveals our spiritual condition. Marriage exposes our character. Friendship tests our virtue. Partnership shows our integrity or lack thereof. God gave Eve to Adam for more than someone to love and to be loved by; He gave a woman to a man to prove his level of love for God. Marriage exposed Adam's spiritual weakness and failure.
Unlike in the Garden of Eden, we have billions of people to interact with today. But like the Garden of Eden, our heavily populated social garden is a daily test of character and a constant revealer of spirit. People make it harder to be holy and to do right. People make it harder to please God because people can be cruel, especially if that cruelty causes you pain. People also make it harder to please God simply by being beautiful and caring, especially if that type of person is not your spouse. Early in life, parents appropriately push your spiritual buttons and reveal your rebellious nature. Soon, an appropriate appetite for sexual interaction exposes an internal spiritual struggle. For many, marriage then becomes the ultimate test of character. Finally in full social circle, children bring out the best and worst in parents. Social interaction is how God shows us who we are and in most cases, it's how we show God who we are. Take away any social component from the Ten Commandments and you're only left with four commandments.
Like many others, this proverb addresses the spiritual revelations that come from social interactions. More specifically, it addresses both how we respond to people and how we approach people. In the first part of the proverb, the social interaction is present because of the word, "dealeth," which is a transactional word. Someone who "dealeth" does so with another person. Dealing anything requires someone to deal with or to. To deal is to be social. We can deal with someone kindly or unkindly, wisely or foolishly, righteously or unrighteously. The second part of this proverb is very clearly social since the primary person is hated as a result of their devices. This proverb teaches us that how we deal with people reveals the nature of our mind and soul. It also reveals that how people feel about us often reveals the character of our heart.
On one side of this insightful proverb, the INSTINCTUAL NATURE of a foolish man is exposed by social interaction when he gets so easily and quickly angered. If people easily anger you, they're not the problem. If children easily raise your blood pressure, children aren't the problem. If a particular person easily gets under your skin, he or she is not the problem. According to this proverb, if someone stirs up angry in us quickly, they're exposing foolishness within us. If a person in our life can cause us to get angry with relative ease, they are God's flashlight shining on our foolishness. Someone who gets angry easily is foolish because no one is going to feel comfortable around that person. Someone who gets angry easily isn't going to have people in their life and it would be foolish to push people out of their life since we know that "it is not good" to be alone (Genesis 2:18). Wisdom instructs patience, temperance and grace with people for the sake of facilitating and growing relationships. Wisdom knows the necessity and value of relationships. She tempers our expectations, frustrations and reactions. She teaches us that people are wildly imperfect and as such, need to be tolerated with love and grace. The failure to see that is the presence of foolishness.
On the other side of the proverb, the INTENTIONAL NATURE of a wicked man is exposed by social interaction when he eventually finds himself hated by others. The wicked "devices" that Solomon speaks of in this proverb are not mechanical or technological devices - they're intellectual and spiritual devices. In Scripture, devices are the outcome of devising, or deeply thinking with great creativity. Devices are devised just as advice is advised. In Esther 8:3, the queen begged the king to stop Haman's plot, or "his device that he had devised against the Jews." When the Bible speaks of devices, it speaks of thoughts, ideas and intentions, not iPhones, drones and weapons. Social interaction creates opportunities to get angry quickly as well as opportunities to slowly conjure up revenge over time. Marriage presents an opportunity for a foolish wife to be soon angry with her husband but it also presents the same opportunity for a wicked husband to develop an evil idea about his wife. Parenting presents an opportunity for a foolish mother to get easily angry with her children (and husband) but it also presents the same opportunity for a wicked father to think terrible thoughts about his disrespectful children (and wife).
When a man or woman thinks wicked thoughts about a particular person as a result of some social interaction, those thoughts eventually are revealed by words or actions. When those wicked thoughts are sensed, that person is disliked, avoided and even hated. No one likes a cruel man. No one wants to be around a nasty woman. A man who hurts others with cruel words is hated. A woman who hurts others with harsh treatment is disdained. Whenever we hear, read or learn of someone's cold cruelty towards another person, especially a just person, we know that the cruelty was calculated and that really bothers us. Premeditated murder is punished more harshly than the heat-of-the-moment crime of manslaughter. We avoid those who foolishly get angry easily but we hate those who calculate their cruelty. We struggle with those who foolishly don't realize they're pushing us away with their lack of temperance but we loath those who wickedly pre-meditate their evil words and actions towards others.
Social interaction reveals our spiritual condition. God uses people to see what we're made of and He uses people to show us what we're made of. If you get easily angry with people, you've revealed your foolishness to God, to others and to yourself. If people want nothing to do with you, perhaps it's not because they're selfish or lazy but instead because they've realized how evil your thoughts are. If people treat you like the plague, maybe God is using that social interaction to show you that you have a wicked plague within your heart. What does dealing with people do to you? What does marriage, parenting or friendship reveal in and about you?
Unlike in the Garden of Eden, we have billions of people to interact with today. But like the Garden of Eden, our heavily populated social garden is a daily test of character and a constant revealer of spirit. People make it harder to be holy and to do right. People make it harder to please God because people can be cruel, especially if that cruelty causes you pain. People also make it harder to please God simply by being beautiful and caring, especially if that type of person is not your spouse. Early in life, parents appropriately push your spiritual buttons and reveal your rebellious nature. Soon, an appropriate appetite for sexual interaction exposes an internal spiritual struggle. For many, marriage then becomes the ultimate test of character. Finally in full social circle, children bring out the best and worst in parents. Social interaction is how God shows us who we are and in most cases, it's how we show God who we are. Take away any social component from the Ten Commandments and you're only left with four commandments.
Like many others, this proverb addresses the spiritual revelations that come from social interactions. More specifically, it addresses both how we respond to people and how we approach people. In the first part of the proverb, the social interaction is present because of the word, "dealeth," which is a transactional word. Someone who "dealeth" does so with another person. Dealing anything requires someone to deal with or to. To deal is to be social. We can deal with someone kindly or unkindly, wisely or foolishly, righteously or unrighteously. The second part of this proverb is very clearly social since the primary person is hated as a result of their devices. This proverb teaches us that how we deal with people reveals the nature of our mind and soul. It also reveals that how people feel about us often reveals the character of our heart.
On one side of this insightful proverb, the INSTINCTUAL NATURE of a foolish man is exposed by social interaction when he gets so easily and quickly angered. If people easily anger you, they're not the problem. If children easily raise your blood pressure, children aren't the problem. If a particular person easily gets under your skin, he or she is not the problem. According to this proverb, if someone stirs up angry in us quickly, they're exposing foolishness within us. If a person in our life can cause us to get angry with relative ease, they are God's flashlight shining on our foolishness. Someone who gets angry easily is foolish because no one is going to feel comfortable around that person. Someone who gets angry easily isn't going to have people in their life and it would be foolish to push people out of their life since we know that "it is not good" to be alone (Genesis 2:18). Wisdom instructs patience, temperance and grace with people for the sake of facilitating and growing relationships. Wisdom knows the necessity and value of relationships. She tempers our expectations, frustrations and reactions. She teaches us that people are wildly imperfect and as such, need to be tolerated with love and grace. The failure to see that is the presence of foolishness.
On the other side of the proverb, the INTENTIONAL NATURE of a wicked man is exposed by social interaction when he eventually finds himself hated by others. The wicked "devices" that Solomon speaks of in this proverb are not mechanical or technological devices - they're intellectual and spiritual devices. In Scripture, devices are the outcome of devising, or deeply thinking with great creativity. Devices are devised just as advice is advised. In Esther 8:3, the queen begged the king to stop Haman's plot, or "his device that he had devised against the Jews." When the Bible speaks of devices, it speaks of thoughts, ideas and intentions, not iPhones, drones and weapons. Social interaction creates opportunities to get angry quickly as well as opportunities to slowly conjure up revenge over time. Marriage presents an opportunity for a foolish wife to be soon angry with her husband but it also presents the same opportunity for a wicked husband to develop an evil idea about his wife. Parenting presents an opportunity for a foolish mother to get easily angry with her children (and husband) but it also presents the same opportunity for a wicked father to think terrible thoughts about his disrespectful children (and wife).
When a man or woman thinks wicked thoughts about a particular person as a result of some social interaction, those thoughts eventually are revealed by words or actions. When those wicked thoughts are sensed, that person is disliked, avoided and even hated. No one likes a cruel man. No one wants to be around a nasty woman. A man who hurts others with cruel words is hated. A woman who hurts others with harsh treatment is disdained. Whenever we hear, read or learn of someone's cold cruelty towards another person, especially a just person, we know that the cruelty was calculated and that really bothers us. Premeditated murder is punished more harshly than the heat-of-the-moment crime of manslaughter. We avoid those who foolishly get angry easily but we hate those who calculate their cruelty. We struggle with those who foolishly don't realize they're pushing us away with their lack of temperance but we loath those who wickedly pre-meditate their evil words and actions towards others.
Social interaction reveals our spiritual condition. God uses people to see what we're made of and He uses people to show us what we're made of. If you get easily angry with people, you've revealed your foolishness to God, to others and to yourself. If people want nothing to do with you, perhaps it's not because they're selfish or lazy but instead because they've realized how evil your thoughts are. If people treat you like the plague, maybe God is using that social interaction to show you that you have a wicked plague within your heart. What does dealing with people do to you? What does marriage, parenting or friendship reveal in and about you?
Posted in Proverbs Commentary
Posted in Solomon, Social, Friendship, Partnership, marriage, Parenting, Anger, Foolish, foolishness, wicked, evil, Premeditated, Devices, thoughts, Ideas, children, husband, wife, Hatred, Interaction, Esther, Haman
Posted in Solomon, Social, Friendship, Partnership, marriage, Parenting, Anger, Foolish, foolishness, wicked, evil, Premeditated, Devices, thoughts, Ideas, children, husband, wife, Hatred, Interaction, Esther, Haman
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