Expert: Mel and Guyna Horne - 9/20/2011

Question
Given these verses:
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BIBLOS:AKJV:MATTHEW04[4But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.]
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BIBLOS:AKJV:PROVERBS01[25But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: 26I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; 27When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. 28Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: 29For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:]
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(1) From Proverbs 1:26, Should Christians laugh at the calamity of others rejecting God's Council?  (2) From Proverbs 1:26, Should jews before Christ's first arrival, or jews since Jesus' first arrival, laugh at the calamity of others rejecting God's Council?
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(3) In Proverbs 1:26, Is this the way of the LORD, or of Solomon teaching of God's Ways, or a human corrupted passage not to be taken literally as God's Way, Solomon's Way, Jews Way, or Christian's Way?  (4) And if Christians should not laugh at the calamity of others rejecting God's Council from ((1)), is this Proverbs 1:26 of God, a case of "follow what God says, but not what God does", because Christians in some cases, follow a different law than the laws that God has?

Answer
Hi Shawn,

You asked, "(1) From Proverbs 1:26, Should Christians [(2) or any Jews ] laugh at the calamity of others rejecting God's Council?"

We are told in Proverbs to not rejoice at the problems of others. "Rejoice not when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles:" (Pro. 24:17).

Who is our "enemy"?  Those whom we hate?  No, because we are not to hate anyone.  "If a man say, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar: for he that loves not his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loves God love his brother also." (1Jn. 4:20-21).

Our enemies are those who hate us because they hate God and his way of life.  "These things I command you, that you love one another.  If the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love his own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." (Jn. 15:17-19).
"Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets. But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,  Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you." (Lk. 6:26-28).


You asked "(3) Is this the way of the LORD, or . . . ?"

In Num. 22 (and following), there is the account of Balaam, a prophet of the true God, but a prophet who wanted to profit from his divine gift.  The princes of Moab offered to hire him, if he would "curse the Israelites."  In trying to work both sides, (and angering God in the process) he participated in three sacrifices that the Moabites thought would result in a curse on Israel, but only resulted in blessings on Israel.  As he explained to the Moabites, ". . .Must I not take heed to speak that which the Lord has put in my mouth?" (Nu.23:12).
Part of what the Lord put in his mouth was, "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: has he said, and shall he not do it? or has he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" (Nu. 23:19).

This is an important principle to remember when studying. We cannot properly understand scriptures if we are viewing God or his motives as though he had human nature.  "God is not a man." He does not have the human nature that we have to fight against to become like God (Jer. 17:9, Gen. 8:21, Jas. 4:1-5, Mat. 15:19).
The Greeks, and others, created their gods in their own human image, to be petty, jealous, treacherous, deceitful, vain, greedy, selfish, lustful, and even murderers.  

God explains the difference between himself and mankind, "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.  For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord.   For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isa. 55:7-9).

You asked, "(4) And if Christians should not laugh at the calamity of others rejecting God's Council from ((1)), is this Proverbs 1:26 of God, a case of "follow what God says, but not what God does", because Christians in some cases, follow a different law than the laws that God has?"

There is only one law [although it is explained by all the other laws of God] and that is the law of God, which is the law of love (Mat. 22:36-40).  The law of love is the nature of God.  "And we have known and believed the love that God has to us. God is love; and he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him." (1Jn. 4:16, also 15).

When reading Pro. 1:26, out of context, we could imagine a movie scene where gang members are beating a man to death. The man sees a cop watching, and begs him for help, but the cop just laughs and keeps on watching, because (pick a reason: he's on the take, he has a grudge against the man, he's a fake cop, etc.)   In these imagined scenes, the cop is evil, perhaps cruel and sadistic.

From Christ's statement, we know that God is good (Mat. 19:17), and Christ did not sin by lying (1Jn. 3:5).  There is no double standard because that would be hypocrisy which is condemned (Mat. 24:51, 22:18).

Many of the Proverbs are from the "wisdom of Solomon" (Pro. 1:1-3), which was given to him by God (1K3:4-12, 1K4:29-34, 1K10:1-9).   Therefore, it is God's wisdom.

In Pro. 1:7, we are told that a proper fear of God (awe and respect, not terror), is the beginning of knowledge, "but fools despise wisdom and instruction". Verses 10-19 give examples of the lack of wisdom.

[It has been said that "knowledge" is facts, "understanding" is knowing the difference between good and evil, and "wisdom" is making the choice to do good rather than evil.]

Verses 20-21 tells us that wisdom is easily available, all around us. (Paul explained part of this in Rom. 1:20).

Verses 22-25 is a judgment against the whole world, which, since Adam, has almost entirely ignored God to worship idols or imaginary gods, or, has had "a form of godliness", but without substance, "ever learning but never coming to the knowledge of the truth." (1Tim. 3:5, 7).

Verse 26 (will be covered below).

Verse 27, God says that when (not if) "fear, anguish, distress, desolation and destruction", come upon you, (upon them, the disobedient, the disbelieving, because of they rejected God)" . . .
Verse 28,  . . . that he will ignore their prayers.

Major examples include the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, the Holocaust of WWII, and the impending war in the Mid East today.  However, the verse also applies to individuals, including all who claim to be Christians, but who do not actually imitate Christ in their daily lives.  God gives the reasons in verses 29-30.

Verse 31, Therefore they have brought their suffering upon themselves. [Notice that death is called the "wages" of sin.  We have to "work" to not be in his Kingdom.  And, those who are not allowed into it, will have "earned" that penalty.]

Verse 32, "For the turning away of the simple [things of God, wisdom, knowledge, understanding] shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools [distraction of wealth, pride of life, lust of the eyes] shall destroy them.

Verse 33, "But whoso hearkens unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil."

Regarding verse 26, does God take pleasure in suffering or death?  No, according to Eze. 18:23, 33:11, and Eze. 18:32, "For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dies, says the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live you."

Job, suffering greatly, but still feeling self-righteous, accused those who were trying to help him understand, of "mocking" him (Job 21:1-3).

The Pharisees, Priests and others who caused Christ to be killed, thought that they were righteous and protecting the people from another leader of a rebellion against Rome. They "mocked" Christ as he was dying (Lk. 23:11, 36).  When Jerusalem was later destroyed, they prayed for deliverance, thinking that they were righteous.  To them, God seemed to be mocking them by ignoring their prayers.  In WWII, the Jews prayed to God for deliverance, thinking that they were righteous and, as they were taken away to die, that God was mocking them by refusing to answer.

Verse 26 is addressed to those who have ignored God's warnings, or will ignore them today.  Since they are rejecting his knowledge and distracted by lusts of the flesh, eyes and mind, they are not going to understand that their suffering is because of their own mistakes, but will believe that God is mocking them by refusing to answer.   
"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap." (Gal. 6:7).

In Pro. 1:26, God is addressing those who are not listening, prophesying that they, in their continued spiritual ignorance or deliberate disobedience, will blame God as being like a man, mocking and laughing at their suffering.  They think they are righteous now, and they will still think it then.  They misunderstand God now, and they will also misunderstand him then.

In Mat., Christ said, "Not every one that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven.  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out devils? and in your name done many wonderful works?  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity."

Christ is talking about those who claim to be Christians (calling on the name of the Lord), who taught "in" his name, performed exorcisms "in" his name, and who did "many wonderful works" also "in" his name.  Christ promised that he is going to reject them from his kingdom in spite of all they did, --because-- they work "iniquity" (Gk. anomia, "contempt for, and violation of the law of God").

Their response will be, "You've got to be joking!"  "You are mocking our righteousness."

Their response will be like Job's.  Rather than repentant, they will be defending their own righteousness, their self-righteousness (Job 32:1, 34:5).  
To this, God responded, "Will you also disannul my judgment? will you condemn me, that you may be righteous?" (Job 40:8).


The lessons of Job are lessons that we can apply to our daily lives, always examining ourselves (1Cor. 11:28, 2Cor. 13:5), in our efforts, with God's help, to perfect our character (Mat. 5:48, Jn. 17:23, Eph. 4:13, Phil. 3:12, 2Tiim. 3:17, Jas. 1:4).   "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." (2Cor. 7:1).


One of the keys to correctly understanding scripture is "line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little" (Eze. 28:9-10), allowing the Bible to explain itself, and to understand what it is saying through the help of God's holy spirit, the spirit of a sound (self-controlled) mind (2Tim. 1:7), the spirit of understanding (Isa. 11:2, 29:24).

We hope that this will be of some help.

If you have further questions, feel free to write anytime.

Sincerely,

Mel and Guyna