𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐬 𝟐𝟖:𝟏𝟎 𝐖𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐰𝐧...

This long proverb has a very sober warning and a wonderful promise. Examine yourself to make sure you are not misleading any child of God toward sin, and at the same time commit yourself to personal integrity and virtuous conduct as God defines it in the Bible. Worldly persons that pressure or seduce Christians to sin will be destroyed by their own folly. Godly men who help Christians live holy lives in a wicked world will be blessed. False teachers and compromising preachers are doomed. They will fall into the carnal cesspool they create for their hearers and be destroyed (Pr 26:27). But the upright, who lead others to righteousness, will be satisfied with prosperity both here and in heaven. God loves the righteous, and He comforts them from evil seducers by promising retributive justice. He specifically condemned the efforts of some to get others drunk to gaze on their nakedness (Hab 2:15). Let every man and woman think soberly about their influence on the other sex. But contrary to His judgment of dangerous brethren, He will bless the righteous with good things that cannot be uttered or thought (I Cor 2:9). You live in the fulfillment of this proverb’s warning, as the perilous times of the last days have arrived (II Tim 3:1-7). The compromising and effeminate brand of Christianity now sweeping the world is being exposed for the profane sham that it is (II Tim 3:8-9). Though persecution and seducers will get worse (II Tim 3:10-13; 4:3-4), the righteous have the cure – faithful preaching of God’s inspired Scriptures (II Tim 3:14-17; 4:1-2). The proverb certainly applies to modern education, entertainment, and the media – where the common goal is to spread as much evil as possible, from Darwinism to soap operas, from rap music to salacious reporting. These extremely influential institutions in modern society have caused many righteous to go astray, and God will judge the world for it. But many individuals do the same, even Christians, by their sinful abuse of social media. But the more subtle danger is false religion, where men compromise with evil as fast as they can to increase churches and followings. The seeker sensitive movement of mega-churches is a perfect illustration. They downgrade every aspect of worshipping God and Bible holiness to attract and keep the unregenerate. Vulnerable believers, who are snared by this profane appeal, are often lost down the drain of carnal Christianity with the rest. God and righteousness will not be mocked. Jesus rebuked and judged the Pharisees for using religion as a means for financial gain (Matt 23:14), so He will do the same to these imposters. It is a profane crime that modern Bible versions protect these thieves by removing that verse. Paul also warned Timothy to stay away from these growth-at-any-cost gurus and their ignorant religion as being totally contrary to Christ (I Tim 6:3-5). Jezebel stirred up Ahab to evil (I Kgs 21:25), and the church at Thyatira had a false teacher with the same name that promoted fornication and idolatry, whom Jesus promised to destroy (Rev 2:18-23). And the church at Pergamos had an emulator of Balaam (Num 31:16), the money-grubbing false prophet that taught Israel to commit fornication and idolatry, whom Jesus promised to fight against (Rev 2:14). The proverb’s lesson is true. God blasted Israel’s priests after the Babylonian captivity for their profane compromise (Mal 2:1-9). As Israel had such false men, Peter warned that similar men would wreck havoc in Christ’s churches (II Pet 2:1-19). These false ministers promise their hearers liberty for loose living, though they are servants to sin. And Paul warned of false apostles that would serve Satan with a false Jesus, gospel, and Spirit (II Cor 11:3-4,13-15).