Are You Still Sucking Evil From Your Own Thumb?

*Why think to yourself, *“I will pacify evil”? *Anticipate Yahweh with hope, *because it is he who saves you *from evil. (MAST)

Proverbs 20:22 (NKJV)

22 Do not say, “I will recompense evil”; Wait for the Lord, and He will save you.

*[Why think to yourself] literally, this is a verbal negation. It is not an imperative, but rather a question to consider a statement of the natural and common response to the effects of evil. But particularly, here, it is regarding an inheritance as the question is brought forth in response to the ‘spiritual’ condition of our present inheritance (or reality) as it was corrupted by evil (Gen.3:23-24; Rom.8:20-21). But consider that the punishment for this evil was returning the man to the unholy ground from which he was taken to be made holy in the presence of God. The presence of evil is the absence of holiness (Gen.3). So the man returns to his natural image in exchange for his holy image in God (Matt.16:26). That’s the “likeness” of the transgression of Adam (Rom.5:14) presented here. Sin is the image of the evil man (Lk.11:13).

We contemplate evil in our hearts naturally to create a scheme to avoid all kinds of evil (1Tim.6:10; Ps.64:6; 140:8; Ecc.7:29). The world is a risk to itself because of this evil (Isa.32:7). It believes wealth is the answer to solving the problems of evil (1Tim.6:17-19). Therefore humanity is a necessary evil, but he must seek wisdom to reduce the risk of his evil (James 3:13-18). However, the heart of evil must be stopped enough in order to be questioned about his path of destruction (James 4:1-6).

Apart from this negation, the statement gives itself over to the condition of this heart (Rom.1:22-23). It’s as if the sinner says to himself, “I will avenge myself from this evil.” So he seeks the inheritance, or at least the happiness of it, to rise above this evil, but doing so in denial of the need of God’s blessing. It’s like willingly saying, as far as I am paid with evil, I am going to pay it as far forward, evil for evil (Rom.6:23). And so he takes this inheritance with an evil heart, without any question of himself, in order to raise himself above his evil neighbor (his equal) in judgment (Matt.5:43-48), taking vengeance into his own hands as his own inheritance (Rom.3:10-19). The theme of his song is “I am on a highway to hell.”

Now there is a place for vengeance in God, but it is not to be in the heart of the Christian (Ps.8:2; 9:12; 18:47; 79:10; Lk.18:1-8; Rev.6:10; 18:20; 19:2). This is not what the Christian’s inheritance is to be used for (Rom.1:7; 1Cor.1:3; 2Cor.1:2; 6:1; 9:8; 12:9; Gal.1:3; Eph.1:2; 3:2; Phil.1:2; Col.1:2; 3:16; 1Thess.1:1; 2Thess.1:2; Phm.3; 1Pet.1:2,10; 2Pet.1:2; Rev.1:4). And so when a man discovers that he doesn’t have the blessing of God, he reverts to the thought that he is owed life for life, and therefore turns his creed into deeds by constructing a pyramid scheme of justice (Gal.5:4). He carries himself to the pinnacle but refuses to cast himself down (Lk.4:9,23; 23:37-39; Matt.27:40; 1Sam.31:4; Rev.4:10). He takes his life into his own hands rather than surrendering his life to God (Lk.23:46) by requesting his inheritance now as the wages due to his own self-estimation (Rom.6:23). He refuses to think evil of himself (Rom.12:3; Pr.29:24, Lk.15:26; Amos 5:15; Zech.8:17),but is always willing to pay it forward on his highway to hell (Mic.3:2; Matt.7:13-14; Lk.13:24; Dt.19:21; Matt.5:7,20-22,27-28,33-48).

The Hebrew verb stem is operating in the imperfective, which means the verb, to speak, is functioning as if one is talking to themself. But I believe, by use of the jussive negation in the second person, it is being posed as a question to oneself because the imperative isn’t introduced until the third verb stem with nothing conjunctive to join the three stems as one imperative. Therefore the command, to wait for the Lord, appears after the question, in answer to the evil he is ‘thinking’ within himself (Ps.140:1-13; Pr.6:12-19; Ps.36:1-5). Nevertheless, I don’t believe it changes the proverb's point or direction to treat it as a command as the original translators suggested. But rather, I just understand it to mean a call to self-question the motivation to act with a vengeance on your own behalf, which ultimately bears the image of its own evil (Rom.6:23).

*[I will pacify evil] literally, to serve evil for evil. It is like saying, yes, to evil. That is to say that he agrees with evil to make a use for evil (Rom.3:3-9). But this is based on the premise that it is the Christian’s responsibility to make an end of evil (Ex.19:12-13; Lev.24:16). But if God ordained and decreed a purpose for evil, why should a Christian think it's his purpose to make an end of it (Gen.4:7)? It’s not the purpose of the church to annihilate or eradicate evil but rather to purge it from those who love God and are called according to his eternal purpose (Rom.8:28-30; 1Cor.5:6-13; Heb.1:3; Ps.51:7; Isa.1:25; 4:4; 6:7; Ezk.20:38). Because God has a use for the evil, it will be God himself who makes an end of it (Rev.19:17-21; Rev.20:1-3, 7-15). Therefore, there is now a new covenant of faith, that is a distinction in the fulfillment of the old. In this new covenant, we find a separation of the mediation of mercy and grace from the power of government. While it is the mediatorial work of the cross of Christ to reconcile these mediatorial powers as one, there remains a separation and distinction of these powers of grace and mercy in the ministry of the church and the ministry of the State. It’s not the purpose of the State to pacify evil, but to administrate justice (1Thess.5:1-6; Rom.13:1-11). Therefore the State is a mercy serving as a necessary evil to reduce the risk of evil (2Thess.2:1-14). The church, however, is a grace serving as a necessary good to uphold justice and mercy (Rom.13:11-14:10; Mic.6:8; Matt.23:23).

This Hebrew verb is very difficult to define regarding its usage in many distinct contexts. According to the AV, it is used 116 times but rendered 16 distinct ways. 19 times it was rendered “pay,” 11 times “peace,” 11 times “recompense,” 10 times “reward,” 9 times “render,” 8 times “restore,” 7 times “repay,” 7 times “perform,” even 6 times it was rendered “good,” 4 times “end,” and the list continues on.

The Hebrew adjective unmistakably means evil, which is the state or condition of the Piel verb effect when the subject is in the first person. But there’s no object found in this stem unless the subject serves as both. And so, the action of the verb stem is cohortative to itself. In other words, the subject's conscience is volatile to pacify itself to fulfill its own purpose, which is some sort of evil. The subject believes he exists to serve his own ends.

In the context of the firstborn’s inheritance, this evil may have been a grumbling against the law of God (James 5:9; 1Pt.4:9; Num.14:2; 14:27; 1Cor.10:6-12), as the younger son was often forced to serve the older, in order to “uphold” the traditional inheritance passed down by the tribal fathers (Ex.16:2; 17:3), except in the cases of God’s own spiritual election (Rom.9:12). And so, depending upon the trust factor of the firstborn, there may have been a temptation to cash out of the investment of the deceased father of the tribe like a prodigal son (Lk.1:13). And so this would have been a great evil in the tradition of the fathers, to remove your position at the table of this inheritance, when the tribe depended upon the investment for protection and representation at the greater table of the whole nation (Mal.3:10-12; 1Chr.11:9; 1Kgs.12:16).

And so it follows, from this inner contemplation, that an imperative should arise for the sake of the victim of this evil, whoever he is, to trust the Lord to fulfill his promise, to the keep the inheritance, and to bless the honor and obedience of the covenant as was expected of Adam in his shared inheritance with God (Gen.1:27-31; 2:16-17). But that inheritance, however, was out of the peace that God provided (in the blessing), which drags us along to consider a greater understanding of the Hebrew verb’s definition.

The verb was rendered, to make peace, in 11 contexts of the Hebrew Scriptures. But that’s not the only understanding here for Solomon’s proverbial use. I believe he means, strictly here, to make a full end of evil in the exaltation of self above another by bypassing the mediatorial (the sacrifice) system of the Law. And so as this is cohortative in the imperfective, it is a making of peace with the intent to kill, like a murder in the first degree (1Kgs.21:1-16). But again, we do not have an object that describes this evil being applied here in the first clause. So murder is just exaggerated speculation at this time.

However, the context is about an inheritance, so it may be some kind of premeditated theft. You know, like tax penalties on early retirement, or opting out of some form of government solution to financial problems, or some kind of government grant for healthcare. In other words, it’s just another way to increase the burden of the inheritance, which was already a necessary evil apart from the blessing of God. Government, therefore, should be simplified in its business to render justice. In his first inner contemplation of himself, I believe the evil is some kind of opting out of the inheritance, regarding the previous context of the loathing or despising of the firstborn’s right to it. But again, that’s only speculation.

But what this really boils down to is making an agreement with the reality of Death (Isa.28:15) in denial of Yahweh (Lev.20:2). And so because of the covenant of grace, which demands the doctrine of the inability of man to please God and the inability to satisfy the demands of the inheritance according to the letter of the law, the firstborn, according to tradition, rules over the younger in an agreement with Hell to the destruction of the hope of the spiritual blessing. I believe that is what the Spirit is putting the finger on in this context. It’s like a new administration coming in and saying, “Let us eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die,” in denial of the hope of the resurrection (1Cor.15:32). However, it was still for these tribes regarding the land, which was a sign of the blessing of the inheritance (Isa.22:1-22). “Let’s have all our satisfaction in the material,” they say, “and in the physical aspect of the inheritance.” “Let us deny discipline and feed our thirst for death.” “Let us give our souls to the purpose of evil to receive the wages of our lusts.” That’s the pacification (or making of peace) being made here on behalf of self. “Yeah, I am evil, so what?” says the heart of Death (Ecc.8:8; Rev.6:8). His faith leads him to deliver himself from Death in denial of his own image (Pr.16:14, 25) by saying I’m above the law. There is no fear of Death in him to understand the wages of his retirement (Pr.14:27; 21:6; Rom.2:4-9). He is no friend to himself when he refuses to fear himself (Pr.13:14; 14:32; 24:11) by putting himself as head of himself (Pr.8:36; 10:2; 11:4), leaving the Book of Life in his rearview mirror (Pr.11:19; 12:28).

*[Anticipate Yahweh with hope] literally, to look expectantly. But it carries with it the understanding of waiting or lingering around something. Even more importantly, the anticipation is motivated by the surety of hope. But the burden of waiting is made easy because “the surety” of this hope produces patience in learning the Lord’s will in the purpose of the inheritance as the hopeful subject lingers around the promise with expectation (Eph.1:18; 1Pt.3:15; Jos.6:16-17).

Now there is a second part defining this Hebrew verb, as it stands in the Piel stem. It can also be interpreted to bind together or to collect. So there is an intertwining here to be among those gathered with this same expectation, this same waiting upon the Lord (in the same mind or Spirit). We are to be bound or tied together as one new man in the Lord by the Spirit of the Word (Hos.11:4; 1Pet.3:8; Phil.1:27; Eph.2:15; 4:24; Col.3:10; 1Cor.2:16; Rom.15:6).

In the waiting, we also occupy the time by collecting and preparing for the Lord’s return (Col.4:5; Eph.5:16; Lk.19:13; Matt.25:1-13). Therefore this waiting doesn’t mean idleness (Tit.1:10; 1Tim.5:11-13; 6:20; Matt.12:36). This waiting is not a sitting on our thumbs in a chair (Matt.20:1-16). We send out laborers to gather what can be harvested (Matt.13:36-43; Lk.10:2), that which has grown up into the good seed of the Word of God (Eph.4:15; Matt.13:24-30; Matt.7:15-20), by what was sown through the gospel of Christ (1Pt.1:4, 23; 3:4). But how does this do any good while serving under evil (1Pt.3:7)? That brings us to the next verb stem, which is the cause and effect of obedience to this imperative and the fulfillment of the promise for those who trust the Word of the Lord.

*[because it is he who saves you] exclusively, and he will deliver you. But under the imperfective, and as this conjunction connects with two other prepositions that are conjunctive to the verb stems, it observes this verb's action from its first cause to its end purpose (intertwined in the Lord) of the subject, which is salvation. Therefore it is the Lord who both causes the waiting and saves from evil. It is the Lord from beginning to end in the salvation of the object, or under-subject, concerning this present reality of evil, the inheritance of the children of the devil (Matt.6:9-15; Jonah 4:9).

Here, the verb stem is causative (the Hebrew Hiphil), but it is also a waw-conjunctive. Therefore this stem is joined to the original adjective, which was evil, in describing the object that motivates the imperative to anticipate the Lord's salvation (Jonah 2:9). But the emphasis of the conjunction isn’t on the evil as the object as much as it is on the condition, which is salvation in Yahweh as the cause and effect upon the object of evil, in that it is the prepositions, which are joined by the conjunction rather than the verbs, that describe a transfer (from) the state of evil to the state of salvation.

Now, as we previously defined the verb stem, “to wait,” as the external direction of the action of the object’s fight against the presumed evil by sowing and reaping the Word of God (1Cor.3:7), this verb stem, however, defines the previous verb action as fighting this evil internally, by cultivating the Word of God in the soul (2Tim.4:7). Therefore the action and direction of this conjunctive verb go against the desired meditation of the object’s original scheme, to merely war externally and to merely battle carnally with evil (2Cor.10:4), because the purpose of the imperative, this waiting for the Lord, is also to be an active internal fight to resist paying evil with evil (Rom.12:17), and because vengeance is the Lord’s to repay (Rom.12:19; 2Thess.1:6; Heb.10:30).

*[from evil] literally, from your evil. But because of the verbal conjunctive in the imperfective mood of the Hifil stem, it is the proposed state, described by the adjective, of the logical conclusion, of the original proud thought, of the subject in the Piel stem of the first clause, that is, his evil condition. In other words, the subject thought he could deliver himself from evil by the means or use of evil. But here, Solomon’s wisdom commands him to wait upon the Lord for the deliverance of both the evil committed against him and the potential evil within him. So from beginning to end, this man is evil in relation to sin (Rom.7:21), but in his relation to Yahweh, the promise of hope is salvation (Rom.7:24-25), in trusting and obeying the imperatives of the Lord (Rom.7:9-10, 13-22). Therefore we can anticipate Yahweh in the surety of hope, whereas the saints of old were looking for surety by the signs of the blessing. But we have the sign of the cross as the guarantee.