Day 488: Ill gotten gains - Proverbs 21 vs 5 - 8

5 The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes  only to poverty. 6 The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapour and a  snare of death. 7  The violence of the wicked will sweep them away, because they refuse to do what is just. 8 The way of the guilty is crooked, but the conduct of the pure is upright. Proverbs 21 vs 5 – 8 English Standard Version

There are many ways in which the world has changed since the days King Solomon and other wise contributors wrote the book known as Proverbs. The invention of steam engines, printing presses, jet-planes and space ships, as well as television and computers, have all made the world a very different place. But today's reading in Proverbs shows some things that were common in those days that are still with us in our generation. What would you say is a modern version of the haste he speaks of in vs 5?

The fact that he contrasts abundance and poverty suggests that this haste referred to those who were in a hurry to be wealthy. They were people who were inventing, or falling for, get rich quick schemes. There’ve certainly been an abundance of such schemes today. One of these is known as a 'pyramid scheme' where masses of people are told they can make lots of money fast, and shown examples of people doing just that. The problem is that, like the shape of a pyramid, it's only those at the top making money from the wide base of people at the bottom. Solomon says it's far better to have a business plan that requires diligence – i.e. time in thought as well as patience and hard work.

Verse 6 takes this desire for quick wealth a step further in the wrong direction. What’s the danger he warns against there?

It's what we today refer to as 'ill gotten gains.' It's when people deceive others into parting with their money. Some have tricked pensioners into 'investing' their savings into a plan which was 'guaranteed to yield big returns', and then disappeared with the cash. The apostle Paul warned Timothy of such people when he wrote: “There will be terrible times in the last days.  People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money . . . the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women.” (2 Timothy 1 & 6) And who of us hasn't received similar invitations from online scammers to give our personal details so that they can 'share a huge fortune' with us? Notice what Solomon said of such deceivers. And in the list of sinners who Revelation 22:15 says will never enter heaven will be “everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”

Can this lust for riches get any worse? According to vs 7 it can. What does Proverbs condemn in that verse?

It speaks of those who resort to violence to achieve their ends. Very often those ends involve money! From the everyday muggings of petty thieves, to the sophisticated bank robberies planned by crime syndicates, violence has often been an easy way to obtain wealth. But vs 6 spoke of such treasures as 'vapour' – and vs 7 now says that those who use lies and violence will be 'swept away'. In fact, it’s their very own violence that does the sweeping. Because they reject the concept of justice they often end up as victims of the violence of others.

Verse 8 sums up the above by stating what ought to be obvious. Guilty people choose crooked paths – but those who desire a pure conscience choose ways that are honest and true. Proverbs isn’t saying here that our good behaviour gets us to heaven. There's still the problem of sin that needs to be dealt with – and that can only be done through Jesus Christ. But it is teaching that the way of uprightness leads to blessing, not least of all, the blessing of a clear conscience. The apostle Paul was able to write to fellow Christians near the end of his life: “I thank God,  whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.” (2 Timothy 1:3)