We come this morning to Collection IV of Proverbs. This is a short, pithy collection, that is heavy with prohibitions. Don’t do this. Don’t do that. And that might be a bit off-putting for us as Americans. We don’t like being told what not to do. We like the freedom to do anything we want to do, even if that involves something we shouldn’t. 

But I want to advocate this morning for prohibitions. I want to encourage you to embrace the power of prohibitions. When God tells us, “Don’t do something,” he’s telling us, “Don’t hurt yourself.” He’s trying to protect us. And he’s trying to empower us. 

When God tells us not to do something, he’s warning us that there are certain things in our world that will actually inhibit our freedom. These things negatively impact our joy and peace and vitality as a follower of God. So it’s a blessing to embrace prohibitions, not a curse. 

The author of Hebrews illustrates it this way, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (12:1). That is the power of the “don’ts” in the Bible. It’s like a runner running in a race that removes shackles. And then he removes an overcoat. And then he removes a cumbersome belt or an overshirt that is causing drag, keeping him from running at top speed.   

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So embrace the power of prohibitions. Let me give you four of these from Collection IV of this book. Write this down as #1 in your notes. 

1) Don’t show partiality (24:23–26)

Solomon says in verse 23, 

23 These also are sayings of the wise. 

Now let me pause here, so that we can find our bearings. We just finished up Collection III of Proverbs a few weeks ago. That was Proverbs 22:17-24:22. In that collection, there were these thirty sayings, that we distilled into thirty resolutions to live by. Well this section is kind of an addendum to that. We can see this by the word “also” (Hebrew: גַּם [gǎm]) in verse 23. 

23 These also are sayings of the wise. 

It’s almost like the collators of this book (the collators of Solomon’s sayings) are saying, “By the way, while we’re on this subject, let’s look at these also.” And so they add a few more “sayings of the wise” to those thirty. And we call this Collection IV. 

And that’s all you get for an introduction to this section. Because the second half of this verse is already getting into the sayings of the wise. And it says,

Partiality in judging is not good.

Literally what’s said here is “to recognize the face in judgment is not good.” “To recognize the face” is an idiom for “partiality.” For a judge to show partiality because they “recognize someone’s face,” that’s shameful. For you or for people in the church to show favoritism to some people over another, that’s shameful too. That’s a violation of justice. Lady Justice should be blind. 

Adding to that, Solomon says in verse 24.

24 Whoever says to the wicked, “You are in the right,” will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations,

Isaiah wrote similarly “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness” (5:20). This kind of injustice is an abomination to the Lord. But that’s not what is emphasized here. This says those who call the wicked righteous are actually cursed by peoples and nations. In other words, the people themselves will revolt against this evil. 

Do nations always revolt against injustice? No. Do nations put up with evildoing? Yes, sometimes. But they abhor it. Remember these are truisms, not promises here. Exceptions to this rule and anomalies can be found. But as a general principle, no nation, no group of people, no church for that matter, is proud of evildoing in their midst. It’s shameful. 

When murderers get set free, that’s shameful. When partiality is shown to those who are well-connected, that’s shameful. When jurors take bribes or are intimidated to rule a certain way, that’s shameful. When judges take bribes or are intimidated to rule a certain way, that’s shameful. When justice is perverted, the people abhor it. 

Solomon actually echoes the Pentateuch here. Moses said in the book of Deuteronomy. “You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God’s.” (1:17). Similarly he says later, “You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous” (16:18–19).

One of the great advantages that we have in a civilized society is the structure of law and order. We have judges and leaders with authority. And these are things that are derived from ancient Israel and the patterns of society that God set up there. And that’s good. It’s a good gift from God. The Puritan preacher Charles Bridges said many years ago, “There is no greater national blessing than a government that rebukes the wicked.”

I remember reading several years ago about the movement to anarchism that emerged in England in the early twentieth century. The goal of those anarchists was to eliminate all authority in the world. The problem with that is that anarchism is always self-defeating. It never gets off the ground, because the “leaders” of the movement keep cannibalizing one another. And also the movement is inherently self-defeating, because nobody truly wants anarchy in our civilized society. That’s terrifying to people, and rightfully so.

So what’s the best that we have to offer? We have judges and we have authorities. Are those authorities perfect? No. Is it better than nothing? Yes. Are those authorities sometimes guilty of partiality? Yes. And Proverbs says here…

24 Whoever says to the wicked, “You are in the right,” will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations,

But it also says in verse 25, 

25 but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight, and a good blessing will come upon them. 

If verse 24 was the stick, verse 25 is the carrot for impartiality. There’s a little divine incentive right here to do the right thing even if it involves rebuking someone that you love. In other words, if you resist the temptation to show favoritism towards a wicked person, you may be hated by that wicked person, but you will have delight. You will have a good blessing. 

A good blessing from whom? I assume from the Lord, because it’s never clearly stated from whom. But you might assume from the peoples and from the nations too!  

And here’s another added incentive. Look at verse 26.

26 Whoever gives an honest answer kisses the lips.   

Just so you know that was a good thing in ancient Israel. Some of you weren’t sure about that. This is a kind gesture, a kiss on the lips. It’s a token act of love and honor. In Genesis 41:40, Pharaoh puts Joseph over his entire house. And he says, “all my people will kiss your mouth.” 

A kiss on the mouth is a good thing. It’s a sign of love and respect. And even in the days of Jesus this was the case, which makes the kiss he received from Judas that much more ironic and sinister (Matt 26:49; Mark 14:45; Luke 22:47–48).

The kiss is likened here to an honest answer. Both of these are done with lips. You kiss and you speak truth with your lips. And speaking truth isn’t easy in this world where flattery and gas-lighting are more commonplace, and more immediately advantageous. 

But God wants us to live not by lies. God wants us to speak truth and pursue it. And God wants us to not let partiality be an excuse for dishonesty. 

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So, don’t show partiality.  Here’s a second prohibition. 

2) Don’t put the cart before the horse (24:27)

“I see your proverb in verse 27, Solomon, and I raise you a proverb!” Solomon says,  

27 Prepare your work outside; get everything ready for yourself in the field, and after that build your house. 

In other words, “First things first.” “Don’t put the cart before the horse.” This is a cryptic statement in verse 27. I admit that. But I think we can make sense of this.  

The idea here is don’t build your house when you don’t even have money to support yourself. In other words, make sure you are gainfully employed before you start building your house. You don’t start consuming until you start producing. Because how are you going to finance a house, if you don’t have money?

A few weeks ago, I told you that the word for “house” in Hebrew (בַּיִת) can be used to describe both a house and home. In other words it can be used to describe a person’s brick and mortar house. But it can also be used to describe one’s household including spouse and children. 

For example, in Deuteronomy 25:9, it says that a man should build up his brother’s house if that brother dies. What does that mean to build up his house (his בַּיִת)? Does he do it with brick and mortar? No. It means to provide an heir to that brother’s widow. This is what’s referred to as a “levirate obligation.”

Similarly Solomon said earlier in Proverbs 14:1, “The wisest of women builds her house (her בַּיִת), but folly with her own hands tears it down.” Is that reference to a woman taking a sledgehammer to the drywall of her home? Maybe? But it can’t mean just that. A woman destroys her “house” by doing more than that. 

And so when Solomon says בַּיִת here, he’s not just talking about a brick and mortar house. He’s also talking about a home. He’s saying, “Don’t build a house and don’t start a family until you are ready to support a family.” In other words, “Don’t put the cart before the horse.” 

What’s sad in our modern-day world is that we’ve removed the incentive structures for young men to marry, grow up, and start a family. Sex is an incentive for that. Having a family, and especially having children, is an incentive for that. A home away from parents is an incentive for that. 

But now we have free sex. We have free money from the government. We even have free housing sometimes. If you remember we had NINJA loans (No Income, No Job, and No Assets loans) available just a few years ago. No income. No job. No problem. Here’s $100,000 to buy a house. That just about wrecked our economy. And rightfully so. There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Why were we giving away free houses?

Now in fairness, that was several years ago. But the silliness continues. Now we are incentivized to go to school forever and never get a job. Now we are incentivized to pay a fortune for school. Don’t worry, the government will pay for it. And also, we are incentivized to stay single and not get marriend. There used to be tax advantages to getting married. Now the government will pay you to stay single. They will pay you to stay disentangled. They will pay you to put the cart before the horse. 

But what does the Bible say? The Bible says, if I could say it crassly, “Get a job, young man. And then start your family.” “Get a job, work hard, and then start building a house and a home.”

In ancient Israel, as a young man, you would marry young, and work with your father on the family holdings. And young men were trained early on to care for the family farm, work the fields, care for livestock, etc. And you could master that at age 16, 17, or 18 and then marry. And it was your responsibility to master that before you got married and started building your own home.

Let’s be real, though, the world that we live in today is radically different from that. Very few young men know how to cultivate a field. Very few young men know how to butcher an ox. Very few young men learn the professions of their fathers. And women work in our day too. That’s different. And very few men or women marry before age 21. I’m not saying that’s better or worse; it’s just different. 

But the principle still remains. Men need to prepare for work, whether by school or apprenticing or whatever. And men need to prepare their lives to take care of families. They need to steward their talents and their abilities and their resources for that important task. And when men don’t do that… when men don’t learn how to care for a family, they typically wander aimlessly. And that’s not good for society. 

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Here’s a third prohibition. Let’s change gears. Write this down too.

3) Don’t be vengeful (24:28–29)

Solomon says in verse 28, 

28 Be not a witness against your neighbor without cause, 

The statement “without cause” here is key. If you have cause, and if you have a truthful witness to bring to bear on an issue, that’s one thing. But this insinuates a deceitful, false witness.

28 Be not a witness against your neighbor without cause, and do not deceive with your lips. 

Here’s another reference to “lips.” We’ve seen that already with the kiss from verse 26. A kiss with the lips is sweet. An honest answer by the lips is sweet. Deceit with the lips, on the other hand, is repulsive. It’s like kissing a frog, but then the frog doesn’t become a prince.

Look at verse 29,

29 Do not say, “I will do to him as he has done to me; I will pay the man back for what he has done.” 

Okay, so now verse 29 adds something to verse 28. This isn’t just about dishonesty or deceit. This is about revenge. This neighbor has wronged someone. And now the person that has been wronged has an opportunity for payback. 

And what’s devious about this payback is that it requires underhandedness. He’s not just coming before a judge and giving a true recounting of the facts. He’s deceiving. He’s stretching the truth. He’s lying. Why? For vengeance! For retribution! 

Solomon has spoken already about vengeance. Proverbs 20:22 says, “Do not say, ‘I will repay evil’; wait for the Lord, and he will deliver you.” And this isn’t the only book in the Bible that speaks of these things. Leviticus 19:18 says, “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.” 

Also Paul says in Romans 12:19, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’” Paul was quoting Deuteronomy 32:35 in that passage, by the way. Paul says also in 1 Thessalonians 5:15, “See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.”

There’s a great moment in 1 Samuel, when David had a chance to kill Saul. He finally had a chance to end Saul’s wicked reign and establish his kingdom. David had been rightfully anointed the king of Israel. And Saul had been wrongfully persecuting him and chasing him throughout the Judean wilderness to kill him. And while Saul was in the wilderness of Engedi, he went into a cave to relieve himself. And David and his men were hiding in that cave. And he had the perfect opportunity to kill Saul. But he didn’t. He didn’t give into vengeance.

And later, David told Saul, “May the LORD judge between me and you, may the LORD avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you. As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes wickedness.’ But my hand shall not be against you” (1 Sam 24:12–13).  

What’s the moral of that story? Don’t be vengeful. Leave vengeance to the Lord. 

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And finally. One last prohibition.

4) Don’t be negligent in your work (24:30–34)

Solomon says in verse 31, 

30 I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, 

This is what we call a non-sequitur. Solomon just abruptly changes topics. But this is not a new topic for us in Proverbs. This is another reference to the oft-mentioned “sluggard” in this book. The עָצֵל in Hebrew. But this is the only time that the sluggard is called a “man-sluggard” (אִישׁ־עָצֵ֣ל). And I’m glad Solomon clarified that here. Because I’ve got a couple of sluggardly cats at my house that sleep all day. This verse doesn’t apply to them.

And what’s this man-sluggard’s problem? Well, he’s lazy. And because of that he’s also referred to as one who “lacks sense” or as one who “lacks heart.” We’ve seen individuals like this in Proverbs already too. But this is the first time that the sluggard is expressly linked with one who “lacks sense.” But that shouldn’t surprise us. These things often go together. In other words, it’s often the foolish person who is also the lazy person. 

And here’s the situation with this “man-sluggard” who “lacks sense.” His workspace is a mess.

31 and behold, it [his vineyard] was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. 

Stone walls were common in Israel to keep out robbers and to keep out vermin. And stone walls, like wooden fences, have to be maintained. If they are kept in disrepair, then the harvest could be ruined. 

So that’s the situation in this little parable of the sluggard. And here’s the conclusion. I like how this is framed in verse 32.

32 Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction. 

In other words, he looked carefully. He inspected the situation. And he got wiser for it. Some things are taught. And some things are caught. And this guy saw the situation. He observed the sluggard, and he learned a valuable lesson. 

And here it is in verse 33. 

33 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, 

34 and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man. 

In other words, “Laziness begets poverty.” I quoted this passage to one of my lazy cats verbatim yesterday morning. He was unmoved. He was literally unmoved. He slept the entire day away. 

But this proverb isn’t for feline sluggards. It’s for man-sluggards and woman-sluggards. It’s for “homo-sapien-sluggards.” And the essence of the proverb is something like this: “Don’t be caught sleeping, when there’s work to be done. Get to work.”

The Poet Robert Frost said once, “The world is full of willing people: some willing to work and the rest willing to let them.” Thomas Edison said this: “I never did anything worth doing by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident; they came by work.”  

Nobody really knows where the expression, “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop” came from. It probably dates back to the church fathers. But wherever it originated, it’s true. Idleness leads to sinfulness. Idleness is the opposite of industriousness. God wants us to work. 

And for those of us who do have work… and for those of us who are gainfully employed, God wants us to work as unto the Lord in those professions. 

You might say, “Well, Pastor Tony, I’m not an agriculturalist, and I don’t have fields or vineyards, so this passage doesn’t apply to me.” Well, I beg to differ. In the ancient world, everybody was involved, to some degree or another, in agriculture. That’s why the “thorns and thistles” judgment of the Lord was so meaningful in Genesis 3. But this prohibition isn’t really about agriculture. It’s about work. 

And God is saying here, “Don’t be negligent in your work.” Work hard. Take breaks, absolutely. Take a sabbath rest even. That was built into the OT ethos too (six days we work and the seventh we rest). But man was meant to work. And we need to do that. 

Martin Luther, the great Protestant Reformer, was adamant about establishing a strong work ethic in the church. He would castigate churches for allowing lazy and unproductive monks to receive money from the people. He wanted monks to work and earn their keep. He said once of monasteries that they were “filled with indolent, unprofitable, and idle monks, who, under the guise of holiness, live on the public alms in the greatest extravagance and voluptuousness.” 

And part of the problem in the sixteenth century, as Luther saw it, was the divide that was artificially created between the clergy and the laity. The clergy made it seem like their work was important, whereas the work of other people (the lowly laity) was second class. Luther hated that false dichotomy. 

He was of the mind of William Tyndale. William Tyndale, the English Reformer dealt with that too and said, “If we look externally, there is difference between washing dishes and preaching the Word of God, but as touching to please God, there is no difference at all.” The biblical view of work is that there’s no difference, when done to the honor of the Lord, between preaching and washing the dishes. In both cases, God wants us to work hard and to work for his glory. 

Now here’s the objection. Here’s what people will say. “But Pastor Tony, work is a curse. It’s a curse! Haven’t you read Genesis 3? God cursed man and made him work by the sweat of his brow! Work is a curse, and I want to reverse that curse by not working!” 

Um, No! Work is not a curse. Work is both a pre-Fall and post-Fall institution. Adam worked in the Garden of Eden before the Fall. And even before that, God was working. He was working to create the world! He was taking dirt and creating Adam, and then later, Eve. So, if work was a curse, why did God do it?

And this is actually something that differentiates the Bible from all other origin stories. If you remember Pandora’s box, Pandora lives in paradise and everything is great, and everything is perfect. And the gods tell Pandora, “Don’t open that box.” 

But, of course, she opens the box, and all the miseries of this world come out of that box including sickness, disease, aging, and also work. So work, according to that Greek legend, is a curse. But in the Bible, God works, and he called Adam to work. It’s a good thing!

Similarly, there’s this Babylonian creation myth called Enuma Elish. And in that myth, after the gods create the world, they create human beings to serve them, because the gods didn’t want to work. So they create human beings to be a bunch of slaves, so that the gods can be served.  

But that’s not why God calls us to work. He doesn’t need us to serve him. He’s perfectly self-sufficient on his own. Instead, God wanted us to share in the joy of work. In fact, work is intrinsic to human dignity and human fulfillment. 

There’s even evidence that we will be working and worshipping God in eternity. We see evidence of that in the book of Revelation. 

So if work is a blessing and not a curse, why would you avoid it? Why would you sleep when it’s time to be working? I love this little jingle at the end of this passage. It’s so memorable.  

33 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, 

34 and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man. 

It’s like a little bedtime lullaby for a lazy person. “Go to sleep… little sluggard…” But this lullaby is a ruse, because there are monsters under the bed. And when the sluggard wakes up, he will be stuck in a state of crippling poverty.    

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33 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, 

34 and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man. 

1) Don’t show partiality (24:23–26)

2) Don’t put the cart before the horse (24:27)

3) Don’t be vengeful (24:28–29)

4) Don’t be negligent in your work (24:30–34)

And in objection to this last point, you might say, “But Pastor Tony, we’re not saved by work. Don’t you know theology?” Actually that’s not precisely true. We are saved by work. We’re just not saved by our own work. We’re saved by Christ’s work on our behalf. Christ wasn’t lazy, when God called him to work. If he was, we’d all be lost in our sin. 

And what’s our motivation to work? We’re not saved by it. We’re saved by Christ. So why work at all? Or why abide these prohibitions: “

1) Don’t show partiality, 

2) Don’t put the cart before the horse, 

3) Don’t be vengeful, 

4) Don’t be negligent in your work?” 

Here’s why. Here’s the reason. 

Paul says very clearly in a memorable section of Scripture, that we, as Christians, are not our own. Why? Because “[we] were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” That’s 1 Corinthians 6:19–20. 

And we weren’t bought by Christ to live a life of sin and wickedness and partiality and laziness and vengefulness. We were bought by him to become, as Paul says elsewhere, “slaves to righteousness” (Rom 6:15–23). 

And that’s not a sad or depressing thing. It’s a glorious thing. We actually can be righteous now in ways that we couldn’t be righteous before we came to Christ. We actually can defeat patterns of sin now in ways that we couldn’t before we had the Holy Spirit living inside us. We can actually put to death the deeds of the flesh. We can actually live out the prohibitions of Scripture. 

So you’ve been bought with a price, Christian. You are actually a child of God, Christian. And God wants us to obey his commandments. And God wants you to become more like Jesus. So, 1) Don’t show partiality, 2) Don’t put the cart before the horse, 3) Don’t be vengeful, and 4) Don’t be negligent in your work.