With their mouths the godless destroy their neighbors,
but through knowledge the righteous escape.
Summary: What was true in Solomon’s time is still true today. Especially when it comes to the deeds of the godless.
If I had to pick one Bible verse, to sum up our modern-day situation, this one would be it.
We seem to be caught in a kind of invisible war. Not a war with guns and bombs, but a war of words and evil deeds between the godless and everyone else.
The problem with godless people, aside from the fact that they don’t believe in God, is that they don’t believe that there will be any judgment, either. Without the accountability imposed by a fear of God’s judgment, they are free to do anything that they want. Not in a good sense, mind you. Rather, they are free to use their mouths to destroy their neighbors.
If I truly believed that there was no God and death brought only nothingness, I would have no concern about lying to my neighbors. If I wanted their property and didn’t want them around, I would be free to trick them into going to their death.
Perhaps you think this could never happen?
It does, and it has. The Bible itself has a vivid example in the story of Naboth’s vineyard (1 Kings 21).
The story takes place in Samaria, the land of the northern tribes of Israel. (Israel split into two parts after the reign of Solomon.) The king was a man named Ahab who was married to a Sidonian named Jezebel.
Jezebel did not fear God and when her husband, Ahab, was denied a piece of property that he wanted, she promised to get it for him. Her method was simple and insidious. All it required was the mouths of the godless to destroy their neighbor.
The owner of the property Ahab wanted was called Naboth. He lived in a city some distance from the Ahab’s palace. Jezebel sent a letter to the city elders with these instructions:
“Proclaim a day of fasting and seat Naboth in a prominent place among the people. But seat two scoundrels opposite him and have them bring charges that he has cursed both God and the king. Then take him out and stone him to death.” (1 Kings 21: 9-10)
And that is what they did. Naboth never knew what hit him. One minute he is sitting among friends at a feast, the next minute he is accused of a high crime with the penalty of death. Boom.
Doesn’t the same thing happen today?
But wait! What about the rest of the verse? Why didn’t Naboth escape? Wasn’t he righteous enough?
The answer to that is I don’t know. What we know is that God cared enough about what happened to Naboth to pronounce judgment on Ahab (1 Kings 21:19). We also know, from the Biblical record, that the prophetic judgment was fulfilled (2 Kings 9).
If knowledge is needed for the righteous to escape, it is in our best interest to be faithful to God in all things, and to acquire as much knowledge as we can, both about God’s will and about the world we live in.
Application: Strive to live a righteous life before God and pay attention to what his Spirit teaches you.
Food for Thought: What kinds of knowledge might be helpful when it comes to escaping the godless?
God’s knowledge. God’s truth in God’s word. We need to hear His voice above others that would try to take us captive to lies. As we are rooted in Him, built up in Him and strengthen in Him, we can stay clear of hollow and deceptive philosophies. Colossians 2: 6 – 8. We can also help others to do the same.
Rich,
Discerning God’s Voice from all of the other voices is a critical life skill. Thank you!
05-21-2022, Proverbs 11:9, What kinds of knowledge might be helpful when it comes to escaping the godless?
Knowledge, deals with knowing the facts. People with knowledge can collect, remember, and access information, but they might not know what to do with it. Human knowledge can cause pride and grief, and is often opposed to biblical truth. The Bible teaches a person can be knowledgeable without being wise. Godly knowledge comes from fearing the Lord, being in awe of Him and submitting to Him as He leads believers by His Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 8:1, Ecclesiastes 1:18, 1 Timothy 6:20-21, Psalm 19:1-2, Proverbs 1:7, 9:10, John 16:8-15
Believers are instructed to examine and meditate on the Word of God, because the knowledge God wants us to know is from Him. Real knowledge, is from God the Father, God’s Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.
James 1:16-18, John 14:6, 1 John 2:20-27
Understanding, is the ability to translate meaning from the truths revealed. Those with understanding can extract the meaning out of information seeing the what, how, and why—enabling a person to produce life principles.
Psalms 119:130, Proverbs 3:5-7, 18:2, Philippians 1:9-10
Wisdom, knowing what to do next is the understanding of the facts and circumstances. A person with wisdom knows which principle to apply in a given context, the right thing to do.
Ecclesiastes 8:1, James 3:17
Godly discernment and wisdom must be added to knowledge. As believers learn to fear God, the knowledge of the Holy One brings understanding
Proverbs 9:10
Peter encouraged believers to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus. Certainly, daily Bible reading, study, and meditation are a good starting point. Also, just as Christians can ask God for wisdom, they can also ask Him to guide them to books, sermons, podcasts, etc., that can boost their growth in spiritual knowledge. God created our intellect. His Word and the Holy Spirit will help believers develop the mind of Christ. But it is the Believers responsibility to embrace, not ignore, the Lord’s means of gaining knowledge of the Holy One.
2 Peter 3:18, James 1:5, 1 Corinthians 2:16
Ron,
I love how you point out that knowledge by itself is almost worthless. Only when knowledge is guided by discernment from God’s Spirit and Word can we derive value from it. Great point!
Currently we are all in this together,..godly and godless,..believer’s and un-believer’s. From what I understand the only escape from the godless and unbelievers is when Christ comes back for judgement day. I may be wrong,..but one thing I know is the knowledge of the saving grace of Jesus and by the power of His blood I shall see escape when He returns to take me home with Him into everlasting paradise.
There again,..my take on it
John,
I appreciate you sharing with us! You have a great point; from a certain perspective, there is not a lot of difference between those of us here on earth. It is interesting how a change in perspective can change our understanding, too.