Some wild and crazy dreams last night reminded me how naive I can be. So did a verse I read this morning, “A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished” (Proverbs 22:3).
The Bible describes some prudent people who avoided God’s wrath, like Noah who was warned by God and prepared an ark. He saved himself, his family, and two of every living creature from a great flood. Another one is Lot who was admonished by angels sent from God, fled out of Sodom and escaped fire and brimstone. These prudent people fled from God’s anger against wickedness that expressed itself in disaster for those who did not fear Him.
The Bible also speaks of His wrath yet to come. It clearly says that the only way to escape this fearful eternal, unmitigated wrath is by fleeing to Jesus. Otherwise, no one will escape, yet many are prudent and hide themselves in Christ. My devotional reading says that we do it because we feel our need of Him.
I realize that only God can make anyone feel that need. Even as a Christian, I’m very aware of my sinful nature that would totally ignore God and any warnings He might give. Without His power to get my attention, I would never flee evil.
God can also get the attention of those who are not His people. One example is the Egyptians at the time of the Exodus. God used Moses to bring plagues on them in order to persuade Pharaoh to release His people from bondage. As the seventh plague, hail, was announced, Exodus 9:19-20 says, “He who feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his livestock flee to the houses. But he who did not regard the word of the Lord left his servants and his livestock in the field.”
According to these verses, some prudent Egyptian people realized the power of God and the dangers of evil. These people had already seen the devastation of six plagues. Some of them were wise and took their livestock out of the open fields and into safety. Others were “simple” or naive, or foolish, or easily duped, and did not. Because of their simple mindedness, they suffered the consequences.
What is it about human nature that it can take a long time to make a connection between cause and effect, actions and consequences? Like the teenager racing his vehicle thinking he is invincible, I’ve gone ahead and done things that I knew were stupid, but in the back of my mind supposed that ‘nothing will happen to me.’
Pride, a stubborn self-will, gullible, simple-minded. Whatever God calls it, He is right and so is whatever punishment He doles out. Every time that I ‘pass on’ rather than ‘hide myself’ God brings disaster, mild or great. From that I must learn to be prudent, to think ahead, to lean on the Lord who will help me foresee evil and flee from it.
I used to think I was a quick learner, but more and more realize that also is a simple-minded notion. Without Jesus, I would never be prudent or figure out anything.
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