WWUTT 1604 The Righteous Falls Seven Times and Rises Again (Proverbs 24:15-34)

We must not envy the wicked, or be jealous of how sometimes evildoers will prosper, because judgment will come upon them.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus, and He will sustain you, when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible commentary to help encourage your time in the

Word. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we feature New Testament Study, an Old Testament book on Thursday, and our

Q &A on Friday. Now here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. And being Thursday, we're doing our

Old Testament study, still in the book of Proverbs. We've got to finish up chapter 24 yet, so I'm going to start reading in verse 15, and we'll go through verse 34.

This is the word of the Lord. Do not lie in wait, O wicked man, against the abode of the righteous.

Do not destroy his resting place. For a righteous man falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked will stumble in calamity.

When your enemy falls, do not be glad. And when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice, lest Yahweh see it, and it be evil in his eyes, and turn his anger away from him.

Do not fret because of evildoers. Do not be jealous of the wicked, for there will be no future for the evil one.

The lamp of the wicked will go out. My son, fear Yahweh and the king.

Do not associate with those who change, for suddenly their disaster will rise, and who knows the upheaval that comes from both of them.

These also are sayings of the wise. To show partiality in judgment is not good.

He who says to the wicked, You are righteous, peoples will curse him, nations will be indignant with him.

But to those who reprove the wicked it will be pleasant, and a good blessing will come upon them.

He kisses the lips who responds with right words. Establish your work outside, and make it ready for yourself in the field, and afterwards you shall build your house.

Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause, nor deceive with your lips.

Do not say, As he did to me, so I shall do to him, I will render to the man according to his work.

I passed by the field of the sluggard, and by the vineyard of the man lacking a heart of wisdom, and behold it was completely overgrown with thistles, nettles have covered its surface, and its stone wall has been torn down.

And I beheld, I set my heart upon it, I saw, I received discipline. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, then your poverty will come as a robber, and your want like an armed man.

Perhaps you notice the clear theme going on here in this succession of Proverbs as we come back to verse 15, this is picking up where we left off last week.

The statement here is not from a father to his son necessarily.

As we've been reading through Proverbs, we've heard from a father, namely

Solomon, speaking to his son and passing on wisdom. But here in verse 15, somebody else is being addressed here, it's the wicked.

Do not lie in wait, O wicked man, against the abode of the righteous. Do not destroy his resting place, for a righteous man falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked will stumble in calamity.

Now, even though this appears to be an address to the wicked, is the wicked going to listen to the wise man?

No. We've heard that over and over through Proverbs. The fool is not going to listen to the wise. So this is still something from a father to his son, but giving him an understanding of the way of the wicked.

The wicked cannot strike down a righteous man. The righteous man's going to get back up.

And using the number seven there, notice, for a righteous man falls seven times and rises again.

In other words, the righteous man is complete. The number seven in the Bible is

God's number. That's one way that we think of it. It's a number of completeness. So the righteous man has everything.

And though he falls seven times, talking about like a complete life, over the course of his life he stumbles, yet he gets back up again, because he knows the right way to go.

If this stumble might happen to be temptation, then he knows what he's done wrong, corrects himself, and then walks the path of righteousness, according to the word of God that's been given to him.

The wicked man, though, has no such correction. When he falls into calamity, he lives in that calamity.

And eventually it will overtake and destroy him. So the righteous will not be destroyed by the ways of the world.

He will get back up. He will look to Christ, continue to walk in his way. The wicked has no such fixed point.

Everything is subjective. He goes his own way. So he lives in calamity. He walks in calamity.

He will die by his own foolishness. Again, the father saying this to the son, so that the son understands the way of the wicked and instead will walk in the way of the righteous.

Verse 17, when your enemy falls, do not be glad. And when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice.

Now here's the interesting turn of the coin, right? Previously, verses 15 and 16, a wicked man do not come up against the righteous.

And here, who is the address to? To the righteous man, do not take vengeance out on the wicked.

When your enemy falls, don't be glad. Don't gloat over him. Don't think to yourself, ha ha, look how much better I am because my enemy fell and I'm doing just fine.

You think too highly of yourself and you might be the one to stumble soon if you do not watch your own steps.

When God was giving the promised land to the Israelites in Deuteronomy chapter nine, he said to them, don't think to yourself that the reason why you're getting this land is because you are righteous.

It's not because of your righteousness that God is taking the land from the Canaanites and giving it to you.

It's because of the Canaanites wickedness. So the judgment of God is coming upon the

Canaanites because of the evil that they've been doing for centuries and taking the land away from them and giving it to the

Israelites. Not because the Israelites were better people, but because the Canaanites were wicked. So here it says, when your enemy falls, don't be glad.

When he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice. Don't think that you're great and he's terrible, lest Yahweh see it and it be evil in his eyes, that you're gloating and your pride becomes evil in God's eyes and God will turn his anger away from them.

Now this doesn't mean that God will not judge the wicked just because you do something stupid.

Rather, it won't, it'll no longer be a difference of the wicked will perish, but you, the righteous will be upheld.

You've become prideful. You think too highly of yourself. So what's happened to you? You've become among the wicked.

Will God judge the wicked and save you? No, you will perish right along with the wicked. So that's the picture that's being painted there.

May we humble ourselves before God. The Lord says, vengeance is mine, I will repay.

So we don't even gloat over those who do wickedly. We leave it in the hands of the

Lord. Let us keep our eyes and our attention focused on Christ before whom we humble ourselves and at the proper time, he will exalt us.

We find that both in James and Peter talks about that. First Peter chapter five as well, verses 19 and 20.

Do not fret because of evil doers. Do not be jealous of the wicked for there will be no future for the evil one.

The lamp of the wicked will go out. Don't fret. So don't be in despair. Don't be filled with anxiety.

Do not lose hope or confidence because of what you see evil doers doing, whether that's to you or just the evil that you see continuing in the world.

Do not be jealous of the wicked. Do not think to yourself, man, I wish I had what they had. They seem to prosper.

They seem to do well. Maybe I should join in with them and my situation would be easier than it is right now.

Verse 20 says, for there will be no future for the evil one. You may see them prosper for a time, but they will come into judgment.

The lamp of the wicked will go out, whereas we who have the light of Christ, our light will never go out.

The wicked come into judgment. The righteous will be upheld. And though there is a time in which we may see evil doers do fine in the present age, we should not envy them or be jealous of them or fret because of them.

Let our confidence be in the Lord Christ who will judge the wicked and he will save us.

As Jesus said in Matthew chapter five, and this goes with everything we've looked at so far. So verses 15 through 20 here,

Jesus said in Matthew five, God causes the sun to shine on the wicked and the righteous, and he causes his rain to fall on the wicked and the righteous alike.

So let not anybody think because of their circumstances that God has forgotten me or that he's showing favor to the wicked.

As Peter says in second Peter chapter three, the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise.

As some count slowness, he will judge the wicked and deliver the righteous. Verses 21 and 22, my son, fear

Yahweh and the king. Do not associate with those who change for suddenly their disaster will arise and who knows the upheaval that comes from both of them.

So we fear God first, but then we must also be in submission to the governing authorities that have been placed over us.

Do not be looking for ways that you can rebel against the governing authorities. Do not associate with those who change those who are subjective.

Those who decide I'm going to be a law keeper one day and a lawbreaker the next for suddenly their disaster will arise.

They will receive judgment from God. As Paul says to the Galatians, the Lord will not be mocked.

I will repay, says the Lord. So whatever one sows, that's what he is also going to reap.

The consequences that we suffer as a result of our actions are consequences that God brings upon a person, even through the governing authorities.

If it is the king that brings judgment or consequences upon a particular person.

So suddenly their disaster will rise. And who knows the upheaval that comes from both of them, from both

Yahweh and the king and the king doesn't necessarily have to be a God fearing king. We're not talking about a president that loves

God or a governor or a sheriff, a police officer or somebody like that. This could simply be somebody who is an instrument in the hand of God to enact justice and keep peace on the earth, whether or not he fears

God. And because that judgment is being done through those governing authorities that God has established

Romans 13 one, then he is bringing those consequences upon the wicked. In first Peter two,

Peter says to the church to fear God and honor the emperor. I've talked about this before, but back in 2020, when

COVID restrictions started going into effect, I was pastoring in Kansas at the time and the governor of the state of Kansas said that we could not gather in public groups of more than 10 people.

Now what she was doing was unconstitutional. That was in opposition to the constitution of the state of Kansas.

I did not obey the governor's order. I was still in keeping with the law because I was obeying the law and she was not.

But even so, I didn't make a public case out of it. I didn't stand up in public and say, we defy this governor and we are going to continue to gather in church.

And we just continued about our business quietly. I told the church, hey, doors are still going to be open on Sunday.

We still need to gather for worship. And there were people who were still there. We always exceeded 10.

So the governor probably wouldn't have been too happy with us if she knew what it was that we were doing, but we wanted to obey

God rather than men. And we went about our business quietly because that's the instruction that the

Apostle Paul gives to the church even in 1st Timothy 2, that we pray for kings and all who are in high positions that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.

This is good and it is pleasing in the sight of God, our savior. And that was all we wanted to do. We wanted to obey

God. If we if we get a reputation of being troublemakers and at every turn, we're just disobeying whatever the governing authorities are saying and we start making a big deal out of it.

Well, then we're there are going to be some consequences for that behavior. And we need to be wise and discerning and recognize where the right times and places are for us to defy those orders and even say,

I'm defying the order. And here's why I'm going to obey God rather than men, just like the disciples did in Acts chapter four.

So we need to know when the right circumstances are to do that and when to be in submission and when to simply go about our business quietly.

We go on to verses 23 to 26. These also are sayings of the wise to show partiality and judgment is not good.

James 2 one tells us to show no partiality. God does not show partiality.

There will be judgment that will come upon the wicked and salvation that will be given to those who are righteous, who have been made righteous by faith in Jesus Christ, who died on the cross as an atoning sacrifice for sins, who rose again from the grave so that all who believe in him will not perish under the judgment of God, but we will have everlasting life.

As it says in Romans nine, he will have mercy on whom he has mercy and he will have compassion on whom he has compassion.

But for those who will be under judgment, God is going to judge the wicked. For those who are righteous, we receive the same inheritance with Christ and his heavenly kingdom as our reward.

When God gave the law to Israel, he said not to show partiality, but the same law that exists for the rich is the same law that exists for the poor.

Show no partiality in judgment. He who says to the wicked, you are righteous, peoples will curse him, nations will be indignant with him.

And of course, we see that even among unbelievers, there's a sense of right and wrong.

They may be totally subjective in how they decide what's right and what's wrong, but you can still see it even within a pagan culture that people understand there are some things that are good and some things that are bad.

And when what is wicked gets called good, then the rest of the people around are going, no, what are you doing?

What are you thinking? People will curse him. Nations will be indignant with him. But to one who reproves the wicked, it will be pleasant.

The law is upheld. Peace is maintained, order within a nation, within a people.

And a good blessing will come upon them. He kisses the lips who responds with right words.

Verse 27, establish your work outside and make it ready for yourself in the field.

And afterwards, you shall build your house. So work and earn something for that labor.

And then you have something to pay for materials that you may build your house. Don't establish your house first and then go out and try to find work, but rather work that you may have money to build your house.

And then the house will even be, you know, it will be according to the wages that you receive.

So that way you're not going out and buying a million dollar home when you're making $30 ,000 a year, you know, something like that.

Do your work first. And even here in the present, we are laboring, we are working for the

Lord. And then we receive a mansion in glory, right? It's almost like the work that we're doing now here on earth.

This is storing up for us treasure in heaven above. It's not almost like that.

It is like that. That's exactly what Jesus said. So when we get to heaven on that day, we will see this place that Christ is preparing for us.

But for now, in the meantime, obey God, continue to work faithfully for Christ.

Keep yourself holy, love the Lord and love one another. Verses 28 and 29, do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause.

So if you're going to be a witness against your neighbor, it needs to be because your neighbor has actually done something wicked.

Don't be looking for ways that you can blame people for stuff that they haven't done. First Timothy six,

Paul said to Timothy that people who leave sound doctrine, the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, they are puffed up with conceit and understand nothing.

They're filled with evil suspicions. So they start to become suspicious of one another, accusing people of evil who have not.

There's not really evidence of of of injustice that they have done.

Do not deceive with your lips. Verse 28 goes on to say, do not say, as he said to me, so I shall do to him,

I will render to the man according to his work. Because what has God said? Vengeance is mine, says the

Lord. So we leave it in the Lord's hand. This goes back to do not fret because of evil doers.

Do not be jealous of the wicked. And when your enemy falls, do not be glad or let your heart rejoice.

As we read back in verse 17 verses 30 to 34 here, all of this goes together as we finish up Proverbs 24.

I passed by the field of a sluggard and by the vineyard of the man lacking a heart of wisdom and behold, it was completely overgrown with thistles.

Nettles have covered its surface and its stone wall has been torn down.

So this is a person obviously that's lazy. They're not doing their work. They have. They're showing no fruitfulness.

There's been no produce, nothing to show for any work that they've done. Even the stone wall has been torn down.

So they have not maintained their property and enemies have come in.

Outsiders have come in and torn down the wall and have invaded a space that does not belong to them.

They've stolen, they've destroyed. And I beheld, I set my heart upon it,

I saw, I received discipline. So a person was observing this, the vineyard of a sluggard that was completely overgrown, the walls had been torn down, no fruitfulness was coming from this.

And the wise man beholds this and he gets discipline from it. He realizes by what he's observing,

I need to work hard. I need to labor. Verses 33 and 34, a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, then your poverty will come as a robber and your want like an armed man.

Now I think we can recognize the practical implications of this, right? Let's do spiritual implication.

The spiritual implication of this is that if you are not diligent to continue to work and grow in the

Lord, reading sound doctrine, setting your eyes upon the word, reading what is said and doing what is said, gathering together with the church in worship, sitting under the preaching of the word of God, learning how we can serve one another and build one another up in the

Lord, how we can be a benefit and edify the whole church. When we do not apply ourselves to these things, what will happen to us?

We become spiritually lazy and the enemy will come in and we will be overtaken by weeds and thorns and thistles and the enemy will steal and kill and destroy and there will be nothing left of us.

Our poverty will come in as a robber. Want will take us over like an armed man and we will get to the end of our days and stand before God and not hear him say, well done, good and faithful servant.

You cared for that which I gave to you, but rather such a person who has become lazy in their spiritualness and has fallen away from it, they will stand before God in judgment on that day and they will hear him say, depart from me, you worker of lawlessness.

I never knew you, not a worker of faithfulness, but a worker of lawlessness.

I just saw a testimony recently of a guy who was a well -known Christian actually met him 20 years ago.

This is somebody who had a particularly public platform and he just recently released a video in which he has said he's walking away from God.

He doesn't believe anymore, no longer a Christian, 30 years he's applied himself to the

Christian faith and he's not in it anymore. It's heartbreaking to see that, but this is a man who became lazy in his spirituality.

He did not continue to know God according to his word, to draw near to Christ and draw near to his people and the enemy got him and he was overgrown and overtaken and on the day that he stands before God, God is not going to say to him, hey, congratulations on those 30 years that you applied yourself to me.

He's going to say to him, you did not endure. You are not my disciple. Depart from me, you worker of lawlessness.

I never knew you. So let us be like the wise man here in Proverbs 24 verses 30 to 34.

I beheld, I set my heart upon it, I saw and I received discipline.

Let us be disciplined that we continue in faithful service for our

Lord Jesus Christ. Heavenly father, thank you for the goodness that you show to us in Christ our

Lord. And because you have blessed us with so many good things, let us be faithful with those things and continue in labor faithfully unto your name, unto

Christ until the day of his return. When we will be with you in glory and we will hear the savior say, well done.

Keep us Lord Jesus. In your precious name we pray, amen. This has been when we understand the text of Pastor Gabriel Hughes.

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