Proddatur (LGBT-GR-TYP-BIN)
(Picture Source: heartofashepherd.com)
Never Desire Their Friendship
‘For their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief. Proverbs 24:2’
Never envy wicked men; never desire their friendship (Pr 24:1). God knows appearances will tempt you to admire them, but there are strong reasons against it. Here is one of those reasons – their character is perverse and their goals evil. If you love God, you will hate their ambitions and intentions. Their opinions are the opposite of godly wisdom.
This verse is the second half of a proverb. The first half reads, “Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them” (Pr 24:1). Solomon warned his son here and elsewhere to not envy the wicked or to fret at their apparent prosperity and pleasure (Pr 24:19-20). David had taught him this (Ps 37:1-2).
God allows pleasure and success to some wicked, for this world is the only heaven they get (Ps 17:14). Such blessing is the prosperity of fools, and only fools are tempted by it (Pr 1:32). It is the favored lifestyles of the rich and famous, now promoted much more than ever before, that can tempt good men.
But the warnings of God and Solomon ring loud: Do not envy them! Do not fret because of them! Do not desire to be with them! Ignore appearances; be wise; think more deeply than fancy clothes, fast cars, large homes, luxurious vacations, and lots of cash. There are other things to consider that are far weightier and also the great future reversal of fortune.
The world is perverse and getting worse. Society has not had a profitable moral thought in generations. Why envy them? The whole world and everything in it will soon melt with fervent heat by God’s righteous vengeance for its profane rebellion. But even more than their certain destruction drawing near, why would you be tempted to their corrupt and abominable thinking on every subject? Learn to hate every false way (Ps 119:128)!
Godly men want nothing to do with a mentality and lifestyle of destruction and mischief. They instead want to be constructive and noble. Rather than destroy, they would save. Rather than plan mischief, they seek to profit others. They hate dysfunctional anything, so they are disciplined and structured in life to follow wisdom, truth, and righteousness. There is no reason to envy men that live a lifestyle opposite your holy goals. Reject them!
Why not envy the wicked? Because God hates them and will judge them (Pr 3:31-32). Because they will be destroyed rather than rewarded (Pr 24:19-20). Because only the righteous will realize their hopes (Pr 23:17-18). Because the wicked will be cut off in this life and sent to hell in the next life (Ps 37:1-2).
Do not measure success by circumstances or the things you can see (Luke 12:15). God’s love for a person is not usually reflected by their possessions, especially in this life (Jas 2:5). A man rich today will be dead tomorrow and in the torments of hellfire, but a poor man today could easily be in Paradise tomorrow, just as Jesus taught (Luke 16:25).
Do not desire to be with them, for they will corrupt your good manners of godly sensibility and its noble conduct (I Cor 15:33). Companions of fools will be destroyed, but those associating with wise men will be wise (Pr 13:20). The constant bent of worldly men toward mischief will drown you in the dysfunctional problems of their ignorance. Get away from them! Do not envy them! Despise them and their toys instead!
There are reasons now to despise wicked men rather than envy them, but there is also a day coming when the prosperity and pleasures of the righteous and wicked will be totally reversed. Do not think only of this life, which can leave you hopeless – for Christianity is primarily a religion of the next life (I Cor 15:19). Good men will soon have transformed bodies and enjoy a new earth and heaven for eternity (II Pet 3:10-14).
Jesus Christ never envied the wicked or wanted to be with them, unless they were repentant sinners. He valued heaven’s joys and pleasures, so even a crucifixion death did not discourage Him (Heb 12:1-2). When Satan offered the world’s kingdoms, they did not entice Him (Matt 4:8-10). Will you, like Moses, flush the pleasures and riches of this world for even affliction and reproach with God and His people (Heb 11:24-26)?
(Source: LGBT/PIB/GR/TYP/BIN/USPA/WN/IAIJ)