Day 376: A dead-end road – Proverbs 17 vs 10 - 16

10  A single rebuke does more for a person of understanding than a hundred lashes on the back of a fool. 11 Evil people are eager for rebellion, but they will be severely punished. 12  It is safer to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than to confront a fool caught in foolishness.

13-14 If you repay good with evil, evil will never leave your house. Starting a quarrel is like opening a floodgate, so stop before a dispute breaks out. 15 Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent - both are detestable to the Lord. 16 It is senseless to pay to educate a fool, since he has no heart for learning. Proverbs 17:10-16 New Living Translation paraphrase. (English Standard Version link)

Sometimes people make a mistake in their journey and end up in a dead-end street. Some Sat-Nav directions have even led to that happening! But how foolish if someone saw a sign saying it was a dead-end street, but still insisted on using it. Today's verses in Proverbs show that there are people who do that on the journey of life. Being obstinate, stubborn, and just plain foolish, brings them to dead-end situations. We see that, for example, in vs 10.

Parents may have noticed that in their children. One child may only need a look from mon or dad to stop doing something naughty, but even strong discipline seems to have no affect on the other. Such a child needs much prayer that God would bring them early to Christ so they don't end up as verse 11 warns.

If we neglect loving but firm discipline of children, with much prayer, they can grow up with a rebellious spirit that gets them into all manner of trouble later. What does vs 12 warn the consequences of a rebellious person who has never learned to control their temper could be?

The verse implies that, in short, such people can be dangerous. Those who can't control their temper and their tongues usually can't control their fists either. And that is another dead-end street to be in. Apart from making many enemies in this world, violent people will still need to stand before the Lord who said to His followers ‘blessed are the meek, and the merciful, and the peacemakers.’

What are the foolish actions verses 13-14 warn us about?

There are people who have such an 'anti' attitude in life that even when others do them good they don't return the favour. They are ready to start an argument or fly into a rage at the slightest offense. Proverbs says that can be like a dam wall breaking and a valley being flooded. In other words, quarrels and rage can cause a lot of destruction. Relationships can be broken forever. If we are people who struggle with our temper we need to work on that with much prayer and obedience to God. The fruit that the Holy Spirit causes to grow in our life includes gentleness and self-control.

Verse 15 reminds us that, sadly, the foolishness that Proverbs is talking about is sometimes found even at the highest levels and the most important places in society. When the wisdom of God's word is ignored then even justice gets perverted. We are seeing this more and more in the world today. Things that God says are wrong are now declared right by those who make the laws, and people who try to live by God's word are being found guilty for not agreeing with evil legislation. In that context verse 16 is true of the money wasted educating people for important roles in society if they have no desire to hear what God's word teaches!

If someone who reads this post has chosen to go through life keeping Jesus Christ at arm's length – the writer of Proverbs on two occasions says: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” There are roads in life which may look exciting, but they are dead-ends. For Christians reading this, it's a reminder how God doesn't only bring us to eternal life beyond the grave, but even in this world His word helps us to avoid choices and behaviour that would've brought much misery. Jesus is indeed the way, the truth, and the life.