The Ignorant and the Scorners

June 07, 2022

Proverbs 21:11 

When the scorner is punished, the simple is made wise: and when the wise is instructed, he receives knowledge.

The debate on capital punishment rages today between the “liberal” and the “conservative.” Usually, the “liberal” is the fellow who wants to be nicer than God, Who instituted the practice of capital punishment for the murderer by direct command in Genesis 9:6. But the conservative often takes the biblical stance on this without a direct appeal to the Bible. Instead, he will appropriately draw in this principle from Proverbs 21:11. It is the deterrent argument. When a murderer is hanged in the town square, others can’t help but take note. It does become a powerful deterrent to the “simple” folk. Of course, there will be other rebellious scorners who will ignore all instruction. Even the sight of some murdering wretch swinging from the gallows will have little effect upon them, because they are scorners. But we must remember that two things are accomplished when a murderer swings. The scorner is punished and the ignorant experience an important teaching moment. 

For related commentary, reference Proverbs 19:25. 

Proverbs 21:12 

The righteous man wisely considers the house of the wicked: but God overthrows the wicked for their wickedness.

The righteous man studies history through the eyes of a biblical worldview, always assuming that God is completely just and that He will accomplish His purposes in history. It is no secret that the wicked flourish for a while. Typically, when men gain wealth and power, they will ignore God and act in ways antithetical to God’s law. Gaining power, in the minds of these men, is tantamount to displacing God. They forget that whatever power they gain is allowed them by the hand of God. But how does the righteous man view the powerful families of the wicked, whether they be a Mafia family, or the Kennedy clan that ruled the United States during the latter half of the 20th century? 

First, he follows Psalm 37. He knows that they will soon perish like the grass. After a hundred years or so, you will look for the legacy of the Kennedy clan, and you will not see it. What happened to Al Capone’s family, descendants of the mob boss who terrorized Chicago in the 1920s? What evil are Napoleon’s descendants bringing down upon Europe, two hundred years after his demise? Or what happened to Ceausescu, the evil dictator in Romania who brought so much suffering to Christians like Richard Wurmbrand in the 1950s? According to this text, the righteous man takes a long-term perspective to everything going on in the present. He remembers that “the mills of God grind slowly, but very fine.” He knows that God is in control, and he muses over what He is doing in history. Of course, history is very complex, and it is doubtful we will ever completely comprehend God’s agenda. But this doesn’t preclude all interpretive analysis. We know that God is the ready Judge of the earth. We also know that He is quicker to act today than in the Old Testament era. This seems to be the thrust of Paul’s point in his message on Mars Hill, when he told the Athenians, “The times of this ignorance God winked at, but now He commands all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30). God may have put up with the rebellion, fornication, idolatry, and ignorance of the Roman Empire for 475 years. It is doubtful He will put up with the modern empires for that long. 

So as you consider the wealth and power of men who refuse to worship the true and living God, how will you react? Will you fear and fret? If some wicked warlord locked you away in his dungeon for twenty years, would you still be able to “wisely consider the house of the wicked”? Peering through eyes of faith, could you see the hand of God moving through history against the house of the wicked? 

Family Discussion Questions:

1. Why would you punish a scorner if he will not learn his lesson in the punishment? 

2. How should we view the success, power, and riches of wicked men?

3. What is the difference between God’s treatment of wicked nations in the Old Testament and His treatment of wicked nations in the New Testament era?