Opposites Attract || Proverbs 14:22 || Manna for the Mind #21

Welcome to Day 21 of my “Manna for the Mind” devotional series! This series takes a passage of scripture (typically 1-3 verses) and builds its understanding through its context and connecting scripture. Doing this helps us understand what the Bible truly teaches us. 

Proverbs 14:22

22          If you plan to do evil, you will be lost; if you plan to do good, you will receive unfailing love and faithfulness.

Today will be about building on the concepts talked about in this verse: evil, lost, good, love, and faithfulness. I will talk about the history of the word, the scripture it’s used on, and how we can rebuild the concepts of this verse instead of reading them at face value.

Evil is the Hebrew adjective ra’ (rah), which means adversity, bad, or evil. This describes something evil or wrong or an injury. This descriptor is used 667 times in the Old Testament. The Proverbs 14 passage uses the same word we read in verse 22 two other times, with two meanings. Let me show you:

• Proverbs 14:19 – refers to bad, evil, or wicked people.
• Proverbs 14:22 – refers to evil, injury, or wrongs.
• Proverbs 14:32 – refers to evil, misery, and distress.

It’s interesting to see how the same word can be used differently within the same passage. When this happens, we must focus on the commonalities in the understandings. For us, we need to understand what “evil” means. Evil describes (because we’re focusing on the adjective) something bad, sinful, or morally reprehensible.

These are things that aren’t from God or of God. God doesn’t cause bad things. God doesn’t do sinful things. God doesn’t live a morally reprehensible life. (I’m switching to shameful instead of reprehensible because we don’t use the word “reprehensible” often.) God isn’t bad or sinful and doesn’t have shameful morals. These are the things that the culture around us teaches us to do that go against the teachings of God. These things teach us to focus on ourselves egotistically and pridefully. These are things that often hurt the people around us. We will be lost if we plan on doing something like this.

Lost is the Hebrew verb taah (taw-aw’), which means to err. It refers to making an error that affects our ethics and leads to an absolute way of thinking. This action is used only 50 times in the Old Testament. We can commit evil many times, but God responds to us with forgiveness and guidance more than we commit the error permanently. It’s comforting to think about it like that, but that’s for a different blog.

If we plan to do something that’s bad, sinful, or shameful, then we are making a mistake. It’s not just a simple mistake that’s easily forgiven. We are making a mistake that affects our ethical being. It affects the boundaries we have with each other and how we treat each other. It builds a new foundation of how we live that should never have been there from the start. Doing bad things sets us down an unethical life path. What if we did good, though?

Good is the Hebrew verb AND adjective towb (tobe), which means beautiful, pleasant, agreeable, or good. It refers to doing something good for the benefit of something or someone. This word shows up 562 times in the Old Testament. It refers explicitly to doing or describing something as ethically good. Specifically, describing yourself.

What are you doing that is good? What are you doing to benefit those around you or those in need? These things might be a beautiful act of kindness, such as paying for another family’s groceries. These things might be a pleasant gesture towards your community, such as donating your time or resources to clean up your city park. These things might be getting together with someone to get back on agreeable terms through tough conversations and sharing forgiveness and mercy with each other. If we do these things, what happens? We’ll receive unfailing love and faithfulness. For something to be unfailing, it means something without error or fault. It’s constant, dependable, and endless. His love and faithfulness to us are always present, always reliable, and never ends.

Love is the Hebrew noun cheched (Kheh’-sed), which means favor, goodness, or kindness. This form of love shows up 247 times in the Old Testament. It refers explicitly to kindness that we extend to the lowly, needy, and miserable. God will give us a type of kindness that is caring. God will give us this type of love that is compassionate. God will lift us up, meet our needs, and cure our misery. God loves us so much that he wants the best for us. He will provide us with what we need for a happy and healthy life. When we feel alone, we know that God will never leave us, which means we are never alone. This is just one-half of what we receive when we do something beautiful, pleasant, and good.

Faithfulness is the Hebrew noun emeth (eh’-meth), which means firmness, faithfulness, and truth. It refers to the people’s mercy and faithfulness. This shows up 127 times in the Old Testament. Specifically, we’re talking about mercy, reliability, AND truth. We receive love that is kind to us. Plus, we receive God’s mercy, reliability, and truth. What is mercy?

Simply put, it’s God’s forgiveness. God cannot punish us for our sins but continuously forgives us. His mercy exists even when we don’t feel like we deserve it. God is reliable. He is always there. God never leaves. He never walks away from us. God is a source of love, trust, and comfort we can always obtain if we learn to seek it. God will tell us the truth, regardless of if we want to hear it. God’s truth differs from what our parents or society might teach us. God’s truth may cause us to rethink all kinds of things about our lives. God is one of the best sources of truth to turn to. All we have to do is make the truth.

If you plan to do something morally wrong, it will set you down an unethical path of life and an unsteady foundation to build life. If we do something beautiful, we will receive God’s kindness, mercy, reliability, and truth. Amen.

Father God, thank you for being our heavenly father. Thank you for teaching us the proper ways of living instead of what society teaches. We may stray away and be tempted to do evil and bad things towards ourselves, You, and others, but you are always there. You never leave. You never turn your back on us. Please help us to turn to you and stay turned in your direction. Amen.