I have never met a snake that wasn’t ten feet long and deadly poisonous. I feel the same way about spiders.
Solomon, in his wisdom, tells us to think about the wicked the way I think about spiders and snakes.
Do not enter the path of the wicked,
and do not walk in the way of evildoers.
Avoid it; do not go on it;
turn away from it and pass on. (Proverbs 4.14-15)
In the videos that Rudy Ross and I are producing this week for Proverbs, we mentioned the number of imperatives that are used.
If you don’t mind marking in your Bible, you might underline some of these imperatives: Do not enter. Do not walk. Avoid it. Do not go. Turn away.
Treat the wicked like a deadly snake or a poisonous spider. Don’t go near them. Don’t handle them. Don’t touch them.
The Nature of the Wicked
If you look at what the Bible has to say about the wicked, it’s very clear: they are to be avoided at all costs.
Take a few minutes and consider these thoughts and corresponding Bible passages.
(1) They Reject God’s Authority: The wicked do not accept God’s authority and oppose it to their own destruction.
“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.
“Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools” (Romans 1:21-22).
(2) They Love Darkness Over Light: They hide from the truth because their deeds are evil. The light of God’s truth exposes their sin, and they recoil from it.
“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19).
(3) Their Hearts Are Deceitful: The wicked harbor deceit deep within their hearts, allowing it to guide their thoughts, words, and actions.
“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” ( Jeremiah 17:9).
(4) They Spread Discord: The wicked are like carriers of a spiritual disease. They sow seeds of strife, reaping a harvest of turmoil.
There are six things which the Lord hates,
Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him:
A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that run rapidly to evil,
A false witness who utters lies,
And one who spreads strife among brothers. (Proverbs 6.16, 18-19)
One of the things I have learned over the years is to ask myself when reading the Bible, “How am I like the bad guys?” As we consider the four thoughts about the wicked, we must ask ourselves if we are in any way similar to them.
Addicted to Wrongdoing
Solomon highlights the addiction of the wicked to wrongdoing. It’s as though they can’t go to sleep until they have planned a way to advantage themselves over another by oppression or misfortune.
For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;
they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.
For they eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence. (Proverbs 4.16-17)
Wickedness and violence are the ways these people sustain their lives. How do they express their wickedness and violence? They do so by oppressing people.
Psalm 14 offers an interesting perspective on this phenomenon.
The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds;
There is no one who does good.
Do all the workers of wickedness not know,
Who eat up my people as they eat bread,
And do not call upon the Lord? (Psalm 14.1, 4)
The wicked consume the lives of other people while eating the bread of violence. Terms such as oppression, injustice, dishonesty, and abuse describe how they consume others.
Notice that the first verse says, “The fool has said there’s no God.” It’s not that the fool doesn’t believe in God. Rather, the fool believes that there will be no accountability for their behavior.
As we consider the behavior of the wicked, we return to the initial verses of this proverb.
We hear the words: don’t go near them, don’t join hands with them, don’t touch the things they touch, and turn away from them.
This is life-giving counsel.
YouTube Video
Rudy Ross and I discuss this passage on YouTube today. It is on the Bob Spradling channel.
Real Voices 