The Word for today:
Proverbs 13.1-14.21
Proverbs 13.1-14.21
mark this: Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.
If a Bible verse were to be hung over the gates of hell, it would almost surely be this one:
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. (Proverbs 14:12)
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. (Proverbs 14:12)
God doesn't want us to miss that verse, so he repeats it, verbatim, a couple pages later:
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. (Proverbs 16:25)
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. (Proverbs 16:25)
God doesn't want us to miss this crucial concept, so he devotes the entire book of Judges to the same idea, which is summed up in this verse:
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. (Judges 17:6)
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. (Judges 17:6)
God doesn't want us to miss the idea summed up in Judges 17:6, so he repeats it, verbatim, in the very last verse of Judges:
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. (Judges 25:21)
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. (Judges 25:21)
God doesn't want us to miss the idea he repeats in both Proverbs and Judges, so he phrases it this way in the book of Matthew:
Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. (Matthew 7:13)
Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. (Matthew 7:13)
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There is a way that seems right to a man…in his own eyes…but that way leads to destruction.
The way that seems right is the way of self-righteousness, of standing before God on our own merits. No one will stand in God's presence based on his own life, his own works, his own character. Self--no matter who you are--will not suffice.
So God provided Him-self as the Way into His presence. Way back in Genesis he said he would:
And Isaac said to his father Abraham, "My father!"
And he said, "Here am I, my son."
He said, "Behold, the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"
Abraham said, "God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So they went both of them together. (Genesis 22:7-8)
And Isaac said to his father Abraham, "My father!"
And he said, "Here am I, my son."
He said, "Behold, the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"
Abraham said, "God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So they went both of them together. (Genesis 22:7-8)
The only way into the presence of God is through the blood and merit of Jesus Christ. God doesn't want us to miss this crucial concept, so Jesus expressed it with all the blunt force that language can summon:
"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6)
"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6)
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