Sunday, November 4, 2018 – Proverbs 22:10

Rightly Drive Out Those Who Are Abusing The System

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yl_y2vQiXmk
Grace Fellowship Church
Pastor/Teacher, Jim Rickard
www.GraceDoctrine.org
www.facebook.com/GraceDoctrine

Proverbs 22

1. The wise discipline themselves to follow God in everything, vs. 1-16.

2. Wisdom tells us when to speak and when to be silent, vs. 17-21.

3. The wise ones care for and protect the poor, vs. 22-29.

Vs. 10

Prov 22:10, “Drive out the scoffer, and contention will go out, even strife and dishonor will cease.”

In vs. 1, we are exhorted to have a good reputation; in vs. 2, to have good community relationships; in vs. 3, to have good avoidance of evil; in vs. 4, to have a good relationship with the Lord; in vs. 5, to have good in our soul by guarding it from sin through humility; in vs. 6, to have good training in the precepts of God; in vs. 7, we are to have good management of our finances, in vs. 8, we are to have a good temperament wielding our authority, in vs. 9, we are to have goodness in our giving; and now in vs. 10, we are to rightly drive out those who are abusing the legal system.

Like vs. 6, the condition of this synonymous parallelism expressed as a command, “drive out the scoffer,” is followed by the motivating result, “strife will cease.”

This verse begins with the words “drive out,” which are the Hebrew Verb GARASH, גָּרַשׁ that means, “drive out, cast out, expel, or banish.” It is in the Piel Imperative. The Piel stem is the intensive active and the Imperative is for a command. This is one of the few directive or imperatival proverbs, cf. Prov 22:24f. The same thought underlies, Prov 26:18f.

“Drive out” denotes to interrupt forcibly an existing relationship in order to deprive those being chased away from a situation they cling to, cf. Gen. 3:24; 4:14; Exod. 23:29, 30; Josh. 24:18; Ps. 78:55. It means that we are to break relationship with those who are abusive to any system, especially the legal system, as we will see. This proverb does not advocate the suppression of conflict, only the illicit abuse of a system. Whereas many conflicts can be worked out with attention to proper detail and process, not all are due to abusiveness or revenge motivation. But when there is abuse, we are to take the appropriate matters in hand to drive out the abusers.

Next, we have the object of the command, “the scoffer,” which is the noun LEITS that means, “mocker or scoffer” that also can be called the foolish or arrogant. This term is used to indicate those who have disrespect for YHWH, His laws, and His Word, Prov 1:22; 3:34. It includes those who do not follow God’s laws of Divine establishment, the laws of the land, or the rules of a system or engagement. These people are to not be trusted and should be pushed out of power, along with your disassociation with them. God’s people are warned not to associate with them, Psa 1:1.

Psa 1:1, “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers!”

Scoffers or mockers have made a number of appearances toward the end of this collection, Prov 19:25; 20:1; 21:11, 24, but they, like folly, Prov 22:15, should not be accepted or tolerated, because mockers are said to be unable to learn from the warnings, reproof, or punishment of those who are wiser, Prov 9:7f; 13:1; 14:6; 15:12; 19:25. As Psa 1:1 and our verse indicate, the wise, (those with Bible Doctrine applied from their soul), are not to associate with them and are to drive them out of their presence, so that their negative mental attitude and sin towards the weak or poor and God does not rub off on them.

Since the mocker clings to feeding his ego by debunking and taking advantage of others, and shaming them, an authority must forcibly expel him. That authority can be higher powers like a king, as alluded to in the next verse, or in a system of election like we have in the United States, they can be elected out of office.

As we have noted above, those who act proudly are also called scoffers, Prov 21:24, and they are an abomination to all, Prov 24:9. They will eventually be brought to nothing and utterly consumed, Prov 19:29; Isa 29:20. In addition, wine is also called a mocker, and those who become deceived by it are not wise, Prov 20:1.

And, as our verse also indicates, a good way to remove “contention” from a group is to evict the scoffer. That is noted in the phrase, “and contention will go out,” which the Qal Imperfect verb YATSA, יָצָא for, “to go out,” with the future tense impact of the Imperfect for “will go out,” and the Noun MADON, מָדוֹן that means “dispute, contention, strife.” This is the benefit of “running them out of town.” The contention and other negative things they bring to a society or relationship will be removed as they are removed. It is the concept of “removing the one bad apple so that the others do not rot too.”

The Proverbs speak of those who spread strife, Prov 6:14, 19; 16:28, and those who stir up strife, Prov 10:12; 15:18; 28:25; 29:22, as being foolish and headed for judgment. Therefore, if we continue to associate with them and leave them in our midst, we too will be negatively affected by their judgement or discipline.

Prov 29:22, “An angry man stirs up strife, and a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression.”

Prov 15:18, “A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but the slow to anger calms a dispute.”

Prov 28:25, “An arrogant man stirs up strife, but he who trusts in the LORD will prosper.”

These passages remind us of the man from vs. 8, who is the hot tempered, arrogant lender who wields the “rod of his fury.” Therefore, the contentious scoffer we are to drive out, or not get involved with, is the immoral lender / rich man who is abusing his power and authority. When we do, things will calm down and harmony will come back to the community. Therefore, in this second half, it personifies “contention” as a twin that departs with the evicted “mocker.”

Bringing peace and harmony back to the community and between individuals, is noted in the last phrase, “even strife and dishonor will cease.” In the Hebrew, it starts with “and it will cease,” which is the Qal Imperfect of SHABATH, שָׁבַת that means, “to cease, to stop, to come to a standstill, or to rest.” We noted this word in Prov 18:18, “The cast lot puts an end to strife and decides between the mighty ones.” In addition, this word is where the “Sabbath” rest comes from. So, we see the ceasing of or resting of hostilities within the community that returns peace and harmony back to you and the community.

The thing that will “cease” or be “put to an end,” includes first “strife,” which is not the typical word for “strife” that is MADON. It is actually the Hebrew Noun DIN, דִּין‎ that means, “a case, legal claim, or lawsuit.” It  is a general term referring to a “legal matter.” Proverbs often reminds us of our responsibility to stand up for the “cause or rights” of the weak and poor, Prov 29:7; 31:5, 8. When we do, our verse tells us the contention in the form of legal matters will cease. This verse has the assumption that the immoral and abusive rich and powerful lenders are the ones bringing the legal contention into the society. Yet, God desires none of it to be amongst His people.

The other thing we see that will cease is “dishonor,” which is the Noun QALON, קָלוֹן‎ that means, “shame, dishonor, disgrace, etc.” Its root indicates the lowering of a person’s or the community’s social status, Isa 22:18. It refers to a feeling and condition of shame, of being put on display in mockery, Job 10:15; or of being dishonored, Psa 83:16. The characteristics of fools make a show of dishonor; it clings to them, Prov 3:35. Yet, a wise man conducts himself circumspectly and prudently, avoiding careless pride which leads to disgrace, Prov 11:2.

Prov 11:2, “When pride comes, then comes dishonor, but with the humble is wisdom.”

“If in a company, a circle of friends, a society (LXX ἔκβαλε ἐκ συνεδρίου), a wicked man is found who treats religious questions without respect, moral questions in a frivolous way, serious things jestingly, and in his scornful spirit, his passion for witticism, his love of anecdote, places himself above the duty of showing reverence, veneration, and respect, there will arise ceaseless contentions and conflicts.” (Keil and Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament, Volume 6: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon.)

As such, the righteous, especially those in leadership positions like a king, as the context of our next verse indicates, are commanded to remove this person from society. As such, leaders or kings should evict mockers because they disrupt the community’s peace, but are to welcome the pure because they promote peace.

As you know, mockery alienates friends and destroys relationships, especially since it is often malevolent. The only cure is to root it out. It is better to have peace without whatever the scornful person brings to the relationship, than to have those benefits but ruined fellowship, Prov 26:20ff. And, as the Proverbs tell us, if the mocker were teachable, we could endure his antics temporarily in the hope of improvement, but since he is not, Prov 9:7f, he must be banished to protect the community from his destructive effects. Then, there will be rest from strife and disgrace; of the strife which such a one brings forth, and the disgrace which he brings on the society.

So, we see that there is not be an abusive use of the legal system of the rich and powerful over the weak and poor, or vice versa. If there is abuse, the one producing it, with its subsequent turmoil, conflicts, and dishonor, should be removed from the process and society. But the one who acts righteously, should find favor within the system and those running it, as our next verse indicates.