In chapter 6 of Proverbs there are three voices that the father warns will pull at the son. They are the voices of the borrower, the bum, and the insurrectionist (I couldn’t think of another B word).
They are all voices of futility. Each sees the value in reward. The “borrower” sees the value in the reward of funds (necessary perhaps). The bum sees the value in the rewards of hard work. The insurrectionist certainly knows the value of community. However, all of these voices see no value in the legitimate pursuit of such things. Neither do they see the inherent value of these things. They only have value with respect to their whims.
The idea of placing someone in the position of being “security” for you would seem highly audacious to any westerner due to what was at risk. The creditor would take on a debtor. He would then demands or is owed some sort of surety for the debt. An individual steps forward and volunteers himself as a surety for the debt, meaning that if the debtor does not pay the debt the surety becomes responsible for the weight of the complete debt. He became responsible for the debt and was liable to seizure if the debtor defaulted on the payment. The father sees this individual and, more to the point, the situation he generates as a decisive threat to the son’s life.
Laziness has been demoted to an almost innocent character trait in our culture. We laugh at it. roll our eyes at it, and set it aside as a phase, which it could be. We even televise charlatans that use the Bible to invest a definitive theological laziness into its patrons. The bum never pursues the path to the reward the he appreciates. Far from being innocent, laziness is a moral issue that leads to a number of other restraining issues. The bum has immanent confidence in his abilities, though they do not seem to exist. He is filled with uninformed opinions and lack of experience. He is to lazy to exert the effort to eat. It is natural, normal, and fixed that he is in bed (indolent sleeper). He sleeps when he is never supposed to do so. His house, garden, and home bear the marks of his laziness. He makes things up to keep from exerting effort for a normal life. He is completely incompetent and provides nothing but an irritant for his superiors. He is a shame to his parents. He and his family eat (or don’t eat – more to the point) the fruit of his labor. His cravings and desires are abundant but completely unfulfilled, in fact, they are the very things that kill him.
Due to the pejorative manner in which people view church discipline, the insurrectionist has become a permanent fixture in most churches. They are not spoken of as those from which the church must be shielded. Rather, they are spoken of as equals with pastor and elder. They are considered a legitimate voice within the congregation. They are not. There is little to nothing legitimate about this voice. This voice generates raw insurrection in the context of covenant community. Among other characteristics, they are revolutionaries against God and his godly ones (Deut 13:13), rebels against his anointed king (1 Sam 10:27; 2 Sam 20:1), justice (1 Kings 21:10; Prov 19:28), community solidarity (Deut 15:9; 1 Sam 30:22; Psa 101:3), social property (Judges 19:22), even life itself (2 Sam 22:5).
The father warns the son that these voices will call to him. They will advocate the reception of reward without the discipline, wisdom, and prudence that marks the pursuit of reward. This type of “easy living” is devastating. It robs its carrier of wisdom and sight. The borrower, bum, and insurrectionist wanders off the path to life with God into the death that belongs to all fools.
Posted in Biblical Theology, Christianity, Church, Old Testament, Proverbs
