The eye that mocketh at his father

The eye that mocketh at his father,

and despiseth to obey his mother,

the ravens of the valley shall pick it out,

and the young eagles shall eat it.

(Proverbs 30:17)

 I imagine my loyal readers are wondering, “Why are you posting about such a gruesome scripture?”  Well, I know what you mean because I thought it was pretty gruesome too and condemning as well.  It sounds like a curse without any logic to it.   

But I then I started thinking about it a little more. 

I thought to myself, “This is written by a desert people.  There is usually a reason behind the imagery the ancient Israelites used.”  I asked myself, “Under what conditions would the birds be eating someone eyes?” and myself answered, “If the person were dead in the wilderness.  Think of vultures around a carcass.”  Then I asked myself, “Why are the person dead in the wilderness?” and myself answered, “Because they refused to listen to their parents who warned them about different dangers.  They wandered off and they got themselves into trouble and there was no one to help them.  No one knows where they are, which is why they haven't been buried.” 

So what sounds like a really gruesome statement is actually an important lesson about dire natural consequences of being disobedient to parental instruction.  This is something that we can understand, and now that verse is actually helpful.

So, let's say you had to come up with a modern equivalent for this warning. What would that warning be? 

Who can find a virtuous man?

Proverbs 31:10-31 has a pretty great description of the ideal virtuous woman, whose price is far above rubies.  It seemed to me that we need a male counterpart, so I took it upon myself to write one, though considerably modernized. ;-)

Who can find a virtuous man? For his price is far above emeralds.

The heart of his wife safely trusts in him, so that she will have no fear of betrayal, neglect, abuse, or pornography.

He will do her good and not evil all the days of his life.

He seeketh resources and worketh willingly with his hands.

He is like the merchants ships; he bringeth home the best deals from afar.

He riseth while it is yet night, and repaireth the broken appliances.

He considereth the yard, and moweth it.  With the tools of his garage, he trims the bushes and the trees, and planteth a garden.

He girdeth his loins with strength, and strengtheneth his arms at the gym.

He layeth his hands to the hammer, and his hands hold the nails and the screwdriver.

He stretcheth out his hands to the poor; yea, he moveth families with the elders quorum and passeth along job opportunities.

He is not afraid of the weather for his household: for all the house is in good repair.

He picketh out coverings of cotton and fine knit; his clothing is denim or a spiffy black suit and tie.

His wife is known in the city, when she sitteth among the women to talk.

He starteth a business and buildeth it.  He delivers excellent goods and services to his customers.

Strength and honour are his clothing; and he shall rejoice in time to come.

He openeth his mouth with wisdom; and in his tongue is the law of kindness and integrity.

He looketh well to the ways of his business and employment, and eateth not the bread of idleness.

His children arise up, and call him awesome; his wife also, and she praiseth him.

Many sons have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.

Favour is deceitful, and rugged good looks are vain, but a man that feareth the Lord, he shall be praised.

Give him the fruit of his hands; and let his own works praise him on the news.

What would you add?

Proverbs re-examined for meaning for modern times

I love how the wisdom of Proverbs is so timeless.

“Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox.” (Proverbs 14:4) I had to think a little about this one, but I realized that it could be easily translated into modern terms by saying “You have to feed your oxen for them to work for you, and you have to feed them well. If you don’t feed them enough, then they die and you will have no way of getting your work done.” Or, it could be applied to corporations. “You have to pay your workers well for them to work hard for you, then they will make you a profit. If you don’t pay them well, soon you will have no one who will want to work for you.”

Here’s one that hasn’t lost a bit of relevance: “A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.” (Proverbs 28:20) You see? They had people with get-rich-quick schemes even back in Solomon’s day! This says to me that people who try to get rich quick will break the law to do it, so in any get-rich-quick scheme you will always find lawbreakers.

Or how about this one? “The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.” (Proverbs 10:22) I think this one is a very beautiful way of saying that the Lord’s blessings are the best in the world, and they have no strings attached to them.

How’s this one for a statement about governmental policy? “In the multitude of people is the king’s honour: but in the want of people is the destruction of the prince.” (Proverbs 14:28) The king feels honored if people flock in from everywhere to be part of his kingdom. But if everyone leaves a country at the prospect of a prince ascending the throne, you know something is terribly wrong with that prince and he won’t last long. (Someone may even assassinate him.) Net immigration into a country is a pretty good indicator about quality of life there.

I even found the cause of “big government.” “For the transgression of a land many are the princes thereof…” (Proverbs 29:2) There you have it. When the people are righteous, government can be small, the princes and judges can be few, the prisons can be few. But when people are wicked, government has to grow big enough to handle them.

Now here is a confirmation of a simple diet: “When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee: And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.” (Proverbs 23:1-3) What is the “deceitful meat”? It is food that has been so processed and so refined that there is not much nutritional value left in it. Evidently ancient royal cooks thought plain, simple food was not good enough for kings and cooked the healthy bejabbers out of it all to make something dainty and sumptuous (and which would cause royal indigestion..)

Here’s a good one for the modern day.. “As a mad man who casteth firebrands, arrows, and death, so is the man that deceiveth his neighbor, and saith, Am I not in sport?” (Proverbs 26:18-19) This one is for all those people who pull practical jokes, who pull April Fools jokes, who say something horribly mean and then say “Just Kidding!” or “Can’t you take a joke?” No, it is NOT a joke, not funny, not a laughing matter. It is damaging a person’s psyche and destroying a person’s trust in humanity.

Or how about this one? “Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.” (Proverbs 16:3) This says to me that if we commit to do the Lord’s work, then He’ll give us ideas of what we should do, and He’ll help us do it and we’ll see those thoughts become established in reality as we make those righteous dreams come true.

I think this one is very beautiful: “Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye. Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart.” (Proverbs 7:2-3) In particular, I like “keep…my law as the apple of thine eye.” I found out that the apple of our eye refers to the pupil of our eye. So when we are told to keep the law as the apple of our eye, it means to always be looking at it and reading it, to have the scriptures in sight and always read them. It also means that just like we see through our eye’s pupil, we should always look at our lives through the lens of the scriptures. It’s telling us to keep the eternal perspective.