Proverbs 29                                                                                                             

Good morning son,

It is awesome when you know that the condition that you are in at the moment is not the person you are for real. I woke up this morning and looked in the mirror. I did not like the body shape and size that I saw. See over the last three months I have packed on the weight and by that I do not mean muscle. But its been over two years that I have looked like this, and since I have been a whole lot more healthy for an extended period of time – when I look in the mirror and see me now, I know that I am not really seeing me.

Proverbs 29:1 “A man who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed – without remedy.”

Proverbs 29:20 “Do you see a man who speaks in haste? There is more hope for a fool than for him.”

Proverbs 29:23 “A man's pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor.”

Proverbs 29:25 “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.”

I don't like the word “suddenly” when it is attached to destruction, especially if it could be me. The idea of being “stiff-necked” is more than just being stubborn it is being directed and determined, looking in only one direction, . . . almost like a bobble head which when slapped in one direction comes right back to the same position . . . unfortunately in this context, the direction that I may be bent on is the wrong direction. So God tries to turn my head to go one way, but my neck is too stiff to be moved, instead I continue to go the way I want to no matter how much pressure is put on me to turn.

Ever had a stiff-neck? Really. I mean physically. See it only feels good facing in one direction. If you force it to go in another direction you experience extreme pain. If you go by the pain you are feeling you will assume that you are doing something wrong and abnormal if you try to correct it. You will think that the normal and correct state of things is to have a stiff, unmovable neck. But that is NOT the normal and healthy state of things! What is normal is to have a movable neck.

Now here is the point I am getting to . . . If you try not to loosen that neck, if you do not agree to go through and accept the pain necessary to get the neck flexible again, to get out of that state of having a stiff-neck, then you will remain in a state that is not healthy at all for you. Point: It will not feel good when God is working on your stiff-neck. It will hurt. But if you do not allow him to do so, if you resist and refuse to accept the correction, the rebukes, then you will suddenly be destroyed.

When we have a stiff-neck we often tend to do and be in the condition of the other verses, with the noted consequences:

vs. 20 We speak in haste because we feel so sure of our position, where we stand – that stiff-necked stance. We have no need we think to ponder or examine a matter. And where we know and are experiencing a rebuke from God's word or are grieving His holy spirit within us we don't really want to think and ponder before we answer – we want to just answer, to stand bold and strong, not to consider the consequences. So the writer notes our hope to be in line with the sudden destruction from the stiff necked – “there is more hope for a fool” - point: you will be destroyed.

vs. 23 When we are acting out of our pride we can not be told anything. We know. We know all that we think we need to and of course, anything that would correct or rebuke us, or cause us to have to change our course, embarrass us in our decisions, make us humble ourselves to act in obedience to God and His word, well . . . well . . . that we will not do. Our pride supports our being stiff-necked, indeed is part of it, so we don't change. Being so stiff-necked in our proud state we will be brought low – i.e. we will experience destruction. It is only,as the writer notes, when we are in a lowly or humble state that we gain honor, that we are lifted up.

As a side note humbleness is not beating yourself up, and saying I have no value, I am such a worm, etc. NO. Being humble or lowly is acknowledging and accepting what God says about you, that you are fearfully and wonderfully made, that you were made to be in relationship with Him. To be humble is to accept and follow in obedience His direction for your life, His way, knowing that He loves you like no other and better than anyone; that He knows you and wants the best for you. It is accepting His rebuke and correction and following on the path He sets for you which will lead only to fullness of life. It is this lowly state the writer is noting. To act out of pride will lead to sudden destruction. To act humble before the Lord will lead to being honored.

vs. 25 When we are afraid of man more than we are afraid of God, more than we trust in God we are also in a state of being stiff-necked. Think about it. Why do we choose to be stiff-necked? Is it not partly because we are afraid of man more than God. See it appears that God is silent. He seems to let us go along our way. He seems to just sit there and watch us do what we want to. We hear the preacher, we read the word (or not), and we feel and suppress the holy spirit within us, speaking sometimes through our conscious. We ignore all rebukes because we are afraid of what will be though of us if we say no to man and yest to God. See we see man. We don't see God. We can feel man's rebuke directly. We do not feel God's that quickly, indeed we do not even attribute the consequences of our disobedience to Him. We take His being long suffering from our hands of disobedience to His not really caring and as to His not going to do anything about it. We are wrong and He does care. He gives us a warning and a promise.

What's a snare? I thought I knew, until I looked it up. Webster's defines a snare as: “ 1) a device, as a noose, for catching birds or other animals; 2) anything by which one is brought into trouble or caused to sin.” So fearing man is a trap, a noose, put around your neck to cause you trouble, to make you sin. If you are set on fearing man, if you are not trusting and obeying God you are stiff-necked, you are bent on going your way versus God's – you, like I would too, will experience destruction – suddenly (remember “the payment for sin is death” look it up, its not life). But if we trust in God, obey Him, we will be safe.

I stood in the mirror this morning and saw myself. What I didn't say was why I paused so long to look at myself. See yesterday, I began having pain in my lower leg like someone was pressing against it with a fork. Only problem was, there was nothing pressing against my leg. There was only the pain. For Diabetics this is called “neuropathy” or the destruction of your nerves. It comes about “suddenly” when you have gone a long time without properly taking care of yourself, abiding by diet and exercise restrictions. It is a sudden destruction which results from a long time being “stiff-necked,” - from hastingly answering yes to the next piece of cake – from ignoring being a diabetic, but standing proud in that I am a man and my body will do as I tell it to; of not relying on humbling myself before God and his dictates in the care of my body and mind – from being more afraid of man and what he would think if I were a vegetarian, did not accept the food offered, or appeared to be some type of exercise fanatic, food evangelist and not fearing God more in believing in Him and trusting in Him and believing in Him as to the healthy state He says I can be in, and simply following His orders. Sudden destruction from a long time of being stiff-necked. So I hurt.

I don't know if you noticed but with respect to Proverbs 29:1 I did not finish my exegesis (remember this word means the work in finding out the intended meaning of the passage in its original context).

Proverbs 29:1 “A man who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed – without remedy.”

It is the “without remedy” portion of this verse that concerns me the most. If we remain stiff-necked, refusing to accept his rebukes, going headlong by our way – lying, stealing, murdering, committing adultery or fornication and any manner of sexual sins, in ignoring caring for our bodies as we were designed, abusing our bodies which the word says is the “temple of the holy spirit” – we can only expect sudden destruction and without remedy.

Thing is we do not know if the next time we go against God's word it is that time that we have put fully into play that sudden destruction without remedy. God seems to be ever mindful of His love for us even when we are not loving Him. So is my pain in my leg sudden destruction without remedy? Or will it be as follows:

“If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves, seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land. . .” (look it up)

Do I want to forever have ghost pain in my legs? Would you?

I suspect that your answer would be no just as mine is. Would you wish to experience the pain of “whatever” forever? Without remedy?

Like you, I do not know whether I have entered the land of sudden destruction without remedy. What I do know is that there is a path that His word sets out for me that I can follow, a path that I am taking today . . . that I am not waiting to tomorrow to follow. I am humbling myself before God and doing what He says as to my diet and exercise. I am seeking His face as to how best to do this. I am turning from my wicked ways. I am asking His forgiveness for my sinning against Him. I am doing what I am supposed to do, and praying for mercy.

Today look at your life and ask yourself what it is that you are doing or believing that you know is against God's way. You know, that thing that is so easily tripping you up. Write it down. Confess it before the Lord. Humble yourself before him by agreeing with Him that what you are doing is wrong and has tremendous consequences. In fact write the possible consequences down. And when you think that you are through doing that, realize that those are only the beginning of the pain you will experience if you remain stiff-necked to His rebuke. Wrote those down? Now seek the Lord. Write down what you believe God says about the matter. Now write down what He says you are to do in turning from your wrong actions . . . specifically, not generally . . . real actions. Commit to do them before the Lord, asking for His strength, and asking for His forgiveness. With God, doing what God requires, is more than possible-- success is assured.

Being stiff-necked is not to be your normal state. Neither is sudden destruction to be the life you experience. It is not mine in Christ. It is not yours either. In Him, let's get healthy as we were designed to be spiritually first.

Got it?

Love yah,

dad