Proverbs - Chapter 29

The Difference Between the Righteous and the Fool. A verse-by-verse study on the 29th chapter of the Book of Proverbs. Believersbibleschool.com

Book of Proverbs

Chapter 29

1 He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck, will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.

The one who hardens his neck is often referred to in Scripture as a hard neck, meaning one who is stubborn and disobedient, refusing rebuke of any sort. A time will come, however, for a hard neck when things will begin to change and life will start to fall apart, and then, without realizing it - suddenly destruction is in his path with no hope of escape.

2 When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when a wicked man rules, the people groan.

This is a repeat of a verse from the lst chapter regarding what happens when a wicked ruler governs over people versus one who is a righteous ruler.

When a righteous leader is in authority, the people rejoice. It is a benefit to all the people. Everyone is blessed because the one in authority is looking out for the welfare of the populous under him.
When the wicked govern over the people, however, lawlessness increases and freedom diminishes. Those in control are wicked people using the office of their authority for their own interests. As such, the people groan and yearn for righteousness to return.

3 Whoever loves wisdom makes his father rejoice, but a companion of harlots wastes his wealth.

No parent wants to raise a child only to have him end up as a fool. Our Bibles tell us we are raise our children in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. If we raise our children in the wisdom of the Lord, and the child grows into adulthood living a life in the wisdom of the Lord, how proud a parent will be. Children of any age bring happiness to their parents when they love and live wisdom.

In the opposite extreme, someone who chooses to befriend prostitutes and others like her, is a fool. Only a fool would spend his money on prostitutes and all that that kind of lifestyle would cost him. Like this verse says, he is wasting his wealth.
A father who would have this kind of fool for a child would be very sad as he watches his son deteriate in this kind of lifestyle.

4 The king establishes the land by justice, but he who receives bribes overthrows it.

This verse seems to be associated with verse 2 regarding righteous and wicked leaders in authority. When good rulers govern over the land with justice, the nation is blessed. Justice is served, and the people rejoice.

Evil leaders are often devious and dishonest, using their office of leadership as a means of promoting themselves. When bribes come their way, it often comes with riches gained, however, true justice is often abused, laws changed to accommodate the evil leader, and good people can get hurt in the process.
When the people see these evildoers restrained and punished, the people will begin again to see fairness in the legal system, and justice restored.
That is why God has given us 2 Chron. 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
God desires, even more than us that we have an honest government over us. For when we don't, all the people suffer under their dishonest rulership.
Right now, we need to pray for our land. And it starts out with God's people to humble themselves when they come to pray, seeking God, and then turn from their wicked ways.
Again, just as we have learned throughout the Book of Proverbs, God wants His people to lead righteous lives. There is no room for carnality in anyone of us. Not only are our individual lives at stake, we have a whole nation that needs to change. And it begins in us.
2 Chron. 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

5 A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet. 6 By transgression an evil man is snared, but the righteous sings and rejoices.

We are all called to edify one another. That means to give a person honest encouragement or even praise to lift them up. That blesses them and you as well. Flattery, on the other hand, is not the same. A flatterer is one who gives excessive praise to someone with the hope of gaining influence or status with them and others around.

In the eyes of God, flattery is a lie and a sin because it hurts everyone. A time will come when that person will receive his just punishment because the sowing and reaping process works in all situations.

Evil comes from the heart and is acted out in sin through one's words and actions, which the Bible calls transgressions. When an evil man falls, the righteous are happy. They rejoice because the evil deeds are no longer affecting them.

7 The righteous considers the cause of the poor, but the wicked does not understand such knowledge.

One of the marks of a righteous person is they have a heart and compassion for the poor. They care about their welfare. The wicked, on the other hand, are selfish and self centered and have no compassion on those less fortunate. They can't even understand why anyone would care for those beneath them because it doesn't serve them.

8 Scoffers set a city aflame, but wise men turn away wrath. 9 If a wise man contends with a foolish man, whether the fool rages or laughs, there is no peace

Scoffers seem to be the worst of the fools because they think they are the wise ones, but instead, they make a fool of themselves for the whole world to see. They can be combative, cynical, and reject anything you would tell them about the wisdom of God.

The opposite of a foolish scoffer is the wise man who understands the knowledge of God, putting that knowledge into everyday practice. His godly wisdom demonstrates his character as the wise person lives a righteous life before God and men.

The wise man and the fool are polar opposites in character and behavior, having nothing in common. Therefore, whenever a fool is in the presence of a wise person, the fool (especially the scoffer) will cause contention, and peace will leave. The wise person, then is far better off staying away from a fool.

10 The bloodthirsty hate the blameless, but the upright seek his well-being.

The bloodthirsty and the blameless are also polar opposites. The bloodthirsty is given to violence, hatred and death, while the blameless purposes to bring forth peace, life, and love wherever he goes.

Neither can understand the mind of the other.
There is no way that the bloodthirsty would want to help the blameless, and they seek the bloodshed of destruction upon them.
The blameless, however, have a desire to see their bloodthirsty enemy come to Christ so that God can change them to become the person God intended them to be.
It makes it abundantly clear who is following Satan and who is following Christ.

11 A fool vents all his feelings, but a wise man holds them back.

The fool lacks self respect, self restraint, and kindness toward others. Its as if all of his filters have been removed from him. He vents his feelings out to everyone, and in the process inflicts pain on everyone in his path.

The wise person, when caught in such a situation will either walk away or try to hold such a fool back from his venting behavior force upon others.
The fool, will however, hate the wise person for trying to stop him in his vent.

This tells us something about how we vent our feelings, because we all get negative feelings from time to time. The wise man knows that there is a time and place to pour out those negative feelings that the fool has so openly displayed, especially if was displayed upon you.

The first place we vent should be in your prayer closet with the Lord, allowing Him to direct us what to do from that point on. If you need to privately vent with someone close to you, such as a spouse, then do so, but do it in private.
Venting in public should never be done because you would have then lowered yourself down to the level of the fool.

12 If a ruler pays attention to lies, all his servants become wicked.

When placed in a position of power and authority, there is a danger of using that position to advance himself. Then if he is dishonest, listening to the lies of dishonest servants, destruction comes to everyone.

Everything always starts from the top, whether it is the government over the people, a president over a corporation, a church, or even parents of children.
Since we have alreaddy talked about the government, let's look at corporations. If you have a dishonest president/CEO, any employee under him who has the heart of advancing himself at the expense of others, including lying to its president will do whatever to get ahead, and iet could destroy the company. If, however, the president is wise and righteous, he will have a handle on everything that goes on in his company. He knows the buck stops with him, and he is responsible for everything that goes on in his company. He will then lead with authority, and the employees will follow him because they know he is honest and fair.
Even in a church - the pastor must know and protect his flock and his church. His honest righteous leading will be demonstrated in his life, and the congregation will follow him because he is setting an example for his congregation to lead. The church will thrive, and the people will grow in the Lord.
Now take a parent. A parent has the leadership and authority and responsibility over his children. That is why it is so critical to lead your children by example. Our children watch us and more than likely will become like us in mannerism, morals, and values. Again, we are to train up our children in the way they should go. We do that by teaching them by our example when we lie down, sit up, taking a walk, or wherever we go - be that living example to our children so they can grow up to be godly Christian adults.

13 The poor man and the oppressor have this in common: the Lord gives light to the eyes of both.

The poor man and the oppressor again are polar opposites. Regardless, both are created in the image of God, and God put within each of them a knowledge of Who He is.

Everyone was born with a knowledge that God is!
Everyone is born with a conscience to know right from wrong.

One may reject God's revelation, still knowing deep within that they are rejecting God, and the other willingly receives what God is showing them. Both make decisions on who they will choose, obey and follow. It is up to them. We each actually choose to be wicked or righteous. The choice is up to us!

14 The king who judges the poor with truth, His throne will be established forever.

A king during the Old Covenant times often had to be a judge over his subjects - rich or poor. The king had to be careful not to show partiality in any sort of way. Sadly, often the poor were treated unfairly, thus having to suffer needlessly.

Those kings who were wise and judged all his people fairly, could expect a long reign because the blessings of God would have been upon him and he would be received graciously by his people.

Could this verse be a prophecy of the Millennial Kingdom when Jesus will come down from heaven at His 2nd coming to rule the earth for 1000 years?

Jesus will sit on the throne over the earth
Jesus will be a righteous king and judge
The people, as a whole, will rejoice and be protected by their king who is ruling over them.
Jesus' kingdom will be established forever.

Nice thought, and one to consider. The important thing to take from the verse is that people enjoy sitting a righteous leader because peace comes to the land and the people are happy.

15 The rod and rebuke give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.

Part of training up a child in the ways he should go, as we have learned from Proverbs 22:6, is correction. Part of correction could be the rod. As was brought out previously, we are definitely NOT talking about any sort of abuse, but a rod given to where it will be effective on the child.

Yes, we live in a society where the rod is considered abusive, and we now have laws to come against it; however, we have seen three times that the use of a rod is effective in the disciplining of a child. Again, whenever we see the same thing multiplied, it is multiplied for a reason. So then, disciplining of the child is critical to the training of a child.
- I grew up under the fear of my father's belt and my mother's wooden spoon. While my father never used the belt, I felt the sting of the wooden spoon many times while growing up.
- I reared my children under the wooden spoon on the top of the back of their thighs up until they were maybe 10 years of age. It was never done hard, but just enough to feel the sting.

The use of the rod is definitely dependent on the age of the child. The rod could be a little slap on the hand of a young toddler, to a wooden spoon up to the age of 10 or so. Taking a rod against the back of the child is abuse and terribly wrong. Anything that would leave a mark is questionable.

As a child gets older, the discipline changes because the use of a rod could become abusive the older the child would get.
Always, and I repeat always, a child should be corrected with love, giving out only what would be effective for that child. I had one child where all I had to do was give him what my kids called the eye of mother, and he would fess up to whatever he did and give out his own punishment, and it was always harsher than I would have given him. But then I had another child who was strong willed, bordered on rebellion all of his growing up years. I had to use different discipline to him as well. Praise God, through prayer and discipline, he turned out to be a wonderful, very responsible adult.
If a parents doesn't start discipline until the child becomes a teenager, it will be too late. The child will then rebel against your discipline.
But then, this verse also says that a child left on its own will bring shame to his mother.

Children have to be disciplined, and it needs to start at a very young age - long before the child even sits up. Just as soon as the child catches on how to do something he shouldn't, it is time to correct. But always, let the discipline fit the misbehavior of the child. Never harsh, but always loving - disciplining just enough to be effective.

Speaking of disciplining of a rod reminds me of when Jesus will come back to earth to rule and reign for 1000 following the Tribulation Period.

The Bible is clear to say that Jesus will rule with a rod of iron. Exactly what that means is a little unknown. Jesus' correction, however, will be harsh to where people will submit to His authority or die. His discipline will be that severe. Jesus will make sure that He keeps peace on the earth for the full 1000 years, and then at the end, God will then punish in the Lake of Fire those who turn against Him.

16 When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increases; but the righteous will see their fall.

Right now, wickedness is increasing upon the earth rapidly. And yes, it does seem to multiply as we watch evil behavior take over - not just in our nation, but across the world. I think back only ten years ago in how our nation has changed - not for the good, but evil has taken on so many forms.

This is where we, as Christians, need to know what is going on, and most of all trust in the Lord at all times.
We will continue to see evil take over, but we must always remember that Jesus has our back. We have read that countless of times throughout Proverbs.
As New Covenant believers, Jesus pours out His favor upon His children. We never have to be afraid because Jesus is always with us, and will never forsake us. And lastly, God pours out His blessings upon His children.

So then, regarding the evil ones - while we watch them fall, we know they are operating on their own strength. Remember, their own strength can only go so far - the sowing and reaping process is in motion.

God is not protecting them. In fact, He is ready to pour His judgment upon them, but in His timing, for only God knows when that is. He wants to give them every opportunity to change and come to Him in repentance.
Never fear, the wicked will fall. A promise from the 91st Psalm says that we WILL see the recompense of the wicked.
God will never allow the wicked to triumph in the end. They WILL fall.
We simply need to trust in the Lord.
Then eternal judgment awaits them on top of everything else.
How sad!

17 Correct your son, and he will give you rest; Yes, he will give delight to your soul.

Back to the discipling of a child, we see that it is critical to discipline a child. When we do, we can have that kind of rest knowing we have done what God has required of us and what is best for the child.

If we fail to discipline or children, they will turn into undisciplined adults, living in their own troubles throughout life.
For a parent of an adult child, that will bring sadness to you the rest of your life unless the Lord allows the child/adult to fall on his own, with the prayers and hopes that that kind of falling will bring that child/adult to his bottom to change his ways. That fall, however, will probably be some sort of crisis. But the truth of the matter, people do not change unless they survive a crisis and make the decision to change. That's where our prayers come in.
Wouldn't it be nice if God could intervene and simply speak to the person to change? That however, rarely happens. It generally takes some ugly life experience to change a person.
Why? Because God gives us the right of choice. He never forces Himself upon us - just allows us to fall on our own and then it will be up to us to say "yes" to the Lord.

18 Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but happy is he who keeps the law.

Another version says about this verse that where there is no knowledge, the people perish. Again, that brings us right back to the beginning to if we ever want to be successful in life God's way, we must first gain His knowledge. Get into His Word, then seek to understand by studying and meditating on it, and then we can operate in the wisdom of God. That's when revelation comes.

So then, how are we ever going to get God's revelation if we don't attain His knowledge in His Word.
And when there is no revelation from God, the people will perish.

Happy are those who keep the Law - under the Mosaic Law, that meant they had to learn the law, understand the Law, and then obey and follow after the Law.

King Solomon has been emphasizing that strong throughout his proverbs.
Without a vision of God's knowledge, the people perish.
Without godly leadership, the people will reject God and eventually perish.

Under King Rehoboam, King Solomon's son, Israel split in two, making Israel into Judah and Israel. The country of Israel never had a godly king and went into exile in 722 B.C. Judah was up and down with godly and wicked kings. They also went into exile in 583 B.C. and for the next 70 years, the country of Israel and Judah was no more. It was destroyed. All because of wicked rulership.

Although God later blessed Israel to later become a nation again, they lost it again in 70 A.D. when the temple in Jerusalem was conquered and destroyed by the Romans.
It then took 1900 years for Israel to come back to be a nation again.

Israel's territory under King Solomon's reign was vast, however, today, it only covered a portion of what it was.

So when King Solomon claimed that when the people don't have a revelation of God's truth, they will perish - he meant it. That very thing came upon Israel

For us, as New Covenant believers, we not only have the Mosaic Law, which is found in Genesis - Deuteronomy, but we have all 66 books to rely on. Then we have the Gospels, the writings of the Epistles - which is written and meant for the Church, and the rest of the New Testament writings. We have it all.

For us, we have no excuse. I have over 50 Bibles in my house of every version out there. I would be willing to say that you have a number of them as well.
Are you reading and studying God's Word to get His knowledge on the inside of you? We all need to be continually renewing our minds to the Word of God.

19 A servant will not be corrected by mere words; for though he understands, he will not respond.

During the time of King Solomon, people had slaves. Slaves were forced to do manual work, and often they had to be disciplined in such a way that they will submit to their authority. It isn't that they didn't understand, they were simply fighting for any sort of rights of freedom.

Sadly, servanthood can be a harsh life, with many of them having slave-like mentality. It is the ones who fight against the discipline will life become worse by defying his master.
I was recently horrified to learn that today we have more slaves in the world than during the time of King Solomon. In other words, there are many in this world that live under forced labor. That is sad!

20 Do you see a man hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Proverbs often teaches us that a mark of a fool is that they don't control their tongue. They just simply blurt out from their mouth things that have not been thought through first. This is another version of a fool who doesn't have the common sense to keep his mouth shut when he needs to do so.

21 He who pampers his servant from childhood will have him as a son in the end.

If a master became too friendly with a servant from childhood, chances are he would become like a son to the owner. He would end up treating him more like a son than a servant.

The servant, however, could then demand the rights and privileges of a child, which could include an inheritance when the master dies.

22 An angry man stirs up strife, and a furious man abounds in transgression.

Anger begins in the heart. The heart of an angry man stirs up strife wherever he goes. As such, he tried to include others in his strife.

Now multiply that anger into furry. A furious man's behavior will be seen and experienced by those around him and often to the extreme. This is where is can become dangerous - especially those whom the furious person is targeting.
The answer then - stay away from people who have deep seed anger within them. Their behavior is unpredictable.

23 A man’s pride will bring him low, but the humble in spirit will retain honor.

God hates pride. In Jms 4:6 and 1 Pet 5:5, God tells us that He resists the proud. Satan roams around in pride seeking whom he may devour. He is still hanging on to the belief that one day, he will take over the throne of God, and in doing so, he is gathering as many followers as he can.

We also know that He will be defeated. Our Bibles tells us so.

As shown in these same verses, while God resists the proud, He gives grace to the humble, meaning He pours out His blessings upon those who humble themselves before God.

24 Whoever is a partner with a thief hates his own life; he swears to tell the truth, but reveals nothing.

For anyone to be partnering to a thief is foolish, being just as guilty as the thief. Greed is the heart motive to where not only will you become an accomplice to the thief, you too will become guilty in a court of law.

In a court of law, the accomplice could become a false witness, but guaranteed, the thief will turn on him in a moment's notice - pushing all the blame on the accomplice.
In reality, the thief you befriended does not care about you. You then are a means to an end.
He will steal from you in a moment of time and turn on you where you then will take all the blame.

25 The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.

So many people live in the bondage to the fear of man.

What will people think of me if I do this or that?
Will they like me?
Am I trying to get a person to like me - but then do I have to do things I don't like?
Will they hate me?
I'll be embarrassed!
Oh, I may offend them.

Have you ever been in a position to where you will not defend someone because you are afraid of how it will affect you?

On a job, are you afraid to speak the name of Jesus?
To you school or college friends, are you willing to stand up for Jesus? Or do you cower under and not say a word?
Are you around evil company and you have to make a choice what to do. Do you do the right thing and risk alienation, or do you again cower under and maybe even deny God in order to look like everyone else in the crowd?
Those kinds of fears affect people's behavior to do things that may violate their own conscience just to appease others.
They are afraid of man!
What a trap!

Sometimes we just need to say to ourselves - "what is the right thing to do here?" What would Jesus want me to say or do?

That's where trust comes in.
We've been taught to trust in the Lord, but when the rubber hits the road, do we?

That's where we need to remember, Jesus will never leave us nor forsake us.

Jesus blesses those who live righteously and follow after Him.
Jesus has our back at all times as long as we keep following after Him.
But, we must never forget - when we choose to do things our way, we are on our own, and we step out from under God's protection - I don't like being in that place.

Again, my favorite verse comes right out of Proverbs - Proverbs 3: 5-6. Trust in the Lord with all my heart, and lean not on my own understanding. In all my ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct my path.

Jesus will take care of me - that's His promise!

26 Many seek the ruler’s favor, but justice for man comes from the Lord.

There are many who seek the favor of those over them, whether they are the ruler, boss, or leader. They want the benefits that come with those favors, or they fear they could lose favor, which could affect their security and prosperity if they speak up for what is right.

When we depend upon man for our justice, position in life, or even our security, we will be sorely disappointed. Our trust MUST come from the Lord in order for us to prosper according to the ways of God.

27 An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, and he who is upright in the way is an abomination to the wicked.

An unjust, or wicked man and the godly righteous person are polar opposites in their thinking and in their behavior. Watching the righteous life is a constant rebuke to an evil person, and because they are controlled by Satan, they will hate the righteous person. They will have a sense of being watched over and judged by the righteous person.

The righteous person is also uncomfortable being around the evil person; hating their choices in life, even to the point sometimes of feeling the demonic spirits surrounding them. The righteous person, however, will tend to have compassion on the evil doer knowing they will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire. As such, believers are more apt to follow Christ's command to go into all the world and preach the Gospel.

This now concludes the extra unpublished books that King Hezekiah had found and added to King Solomon's collections in his Book of Proverbs.

Pastor Joyce Erickson
Believersbibleschool.com

Written by Pastor Joyce A. Erickson

Believers Bible School, Founder https://believersbibleschool.com/