Proverbs 14:18
The simple inherit folly: but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.
We might classify some people as ignorant and shallow. Others we might consider intelligent and shallow. Either way, they are shallow people that do not recognize God their Creator, and they do not live their lives for His glory. Instead they dedicate their lives to serving themselves as conceited little gods, fulfilling their own desires for pleasure or acting as the very source of all truth, knowledge, and ethics. So whether they be the partying, go-for-the-gusto, self-centered pleasure seekers, or the intellectual replacement for God in the universities, they are all simple and shallow-minded people. According to this proverb, these folks will inherit folly.
Meanwhile, a prudent man may not have the most outstanding intellect as far as the world is concerned. He may be the fellow who installs tires at an automotive repair shop. But if he fears God and “looks well to his ways” (vs. 15), God will give him more knowledge, true knowledge that will keep him in the way.
The things we know are always connected to other points of knowledge to produce a complete system of thought. Some very smart man may think he knows something about the gravitational force equations that keeps planets revolving around the sun. But if he fails to connect this fact with the fact that God providentially sustains the order of nature, his system of knowledge is fatally corrupted and will eventually destroy itself. This is already happening to the field of science in our day. The simple will inherit folly, eventually.
Proverbs 14:19
The evil bow before the good; and the wicked at the gates of the righteous.
The story of Esther is probably the best illustration of this principle. It is important to remember that the Bible presents life as a story with many related events working their way out in serial or parallel connections. On the one hand, it is true that evil people do not always bow before the good, and evil will prevail for a time as man’s proud empires form. But in the end, God always vindicates the righteous. Those great empires that persecuted humble believers have always collapsed into piles of ashes. If you continue to read the accounts of these empires—whether it be Persia, the Soviet Union, or America—you will see, towards the end of the story, the Hamans of the world are bowing before Esther and Mordecai. Ungodly governments simply do not last.
1. How would you describe an intelligent, intellectual man? Would this be the same way the book of Proverbs would describe an intelligent man?
2. Compare Corrie Ten Boom and Adolf Hitler or Paul and Nero. Whom do you think enjoyed more honor in this life, not to mention the life to come?