Warning Against the Enticement of Sinners
December 13, 2019
Commentary
Now we find a solemn warning against having evil companions. The world is full of evil men who will seek to lure their potential victims from the path of honor and virtue (vv. 10-13). Solomon warned his son not to “consent”. When we lived in youthful ignorance, our gut instinct was always to follow the crowd and choose the path of least resistance. That is why it is so critical for parents to place their children in guarded environments when they are developing, so they can naturally go with the “good” crowd and thus learn to be good. But once they get out into the real world, the battle becomes a matter of the will. Are you going to consent to the will of the world or will you follow the wisdom of the Spirit of Christ dwelling inside you no matter what others may do around you?
We must realize that the way of sinners (1) hurts the innocent (v. 11), (2) is lazy – looking for a get rich quick scheme (v. 13), (3) while also lacking individual responsibility (v. 14). (4) The end of sin is death, for the victims but also for the wicked themselves (vv. 16-19). “For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36). The only safe course is to stay away from them. If you start to walk with them, you will soon be running with them. “Come out from among them, and be ye separate,” is the command of God.
Application
Am I walking with the wicked today? If not physically, do I walk with them through the TV programs I watch or the books I read? What are the better alternatives I haven’t considered?
Proverbs 1:10– 19 (NET)
10 My child, if sinners try to entice you, do not consent!
11 If they say, “Come with us! We will lie in wait to shed blood; we will ambush an innocent person capriciously.
12 We will swallow them alive like Sheol, those full of vigor like those going down to the Pit.
13 We will seize all kinds of precious wealth; we will fill our houses with plunder.
14 Join with us! We will all share equally in what we steal.”
15 My child, do not go down their way, withhold yourself from their path;
16 for they are eager to inflict harm, and they hasten to shed blood.
17 Surely it is futile to spread a net in plain sight of any bird,
18 but these men lie in wait for their own blood, they ambush their own lives!
19 Such are the ways of all who gain profit unjustly; it takes away the life of those who obtain it!