Proverbs 16:30
Bringing Evil to Pass
1. In vs. 27-29, Solomon speaks of different kinds of evil men:
a. vs. 27 – the ungodly man
b. vs. 28 – the froward man
c. vs. 29 – the violent man
2. In verse 30, Solomon continues to speak about the evil man… with a different warning for us all.
a. In vs. 27 we are warned of the ungodly man’s propensity towards gossip and slander.
b. In vs.28 we were warned of the froward man’s desire to separate chief friends.
c. In vs. 29 we are warned of the violent man’s tendency to lure the simple astray… down his evil pathway.
3. Now, in vs. 30, we are given additional warnings about evil men… something else to be aware of… and alert to.
a. They have lots of different ways of carrying out their evil intentions and deeds.
A. He Shuts His Eyes
1. Shuts his eyes = winking with his eyes.
a. This word “shut” is only used once in the Bible.
b. This is not the same term as is used of winking elsewhere in the Old Testament.
c. But it seems to be a synonym in this context for “wink.”
2. He shuts his eye (winks) in order to communicate something.
a. Today, winking has several meanings: “I’m kidding”, flirting, “go along with what I’m saying even though it is a lie…”
b. Lots of messages can be communicated with our eyes: suspicion… surprise… disgust… disbelief… mocking…
c. Evidently, winking had a similar meaning in ancient times.
d. Thus, it can either be quite innocent or evil.
e. Solomon obviously had an evil wink in mind here: (context)
3. Solomon spoke earlier of winking in an evil sense.
a. Prov. 6:12-14 – the froward or evil man.
• Vs. 12 – The wicked man has a wicked mouth! He says evil things.
• Vs. 13 – But his ability to communicate his evil intentions is not limited to his wicked mouth: it extends to his eyes, feet, and fingers!
• He has lots of ways to communicate evil.
• He uses body language…
• Vs. 14 – frowardness is in his heart… and it works its way out through many different channels: mouth, eyes, feet, fingers…
• He is able to communicate evil even without opening his mouth!
• Vs. 14 – he is continually devising mischief and sowing discord. (same context as chapter 16)
• The whole BEING of the wicked man is utilized in carrying out his evil deeds: not just his words and deeds… but much more subtle means… are utilized: his eyes, feet, fingers, etc…
b. Prov. 10:10 – he causes sorrow.
• This is obviously another evil result of winking.
• This man winks… and the end result is that people are hurt… it causes sorrow to someone…
• It was designed to make fun of someone… to lie to someone… to harm them in one way or another.
• Winking involves two or more people. One person winks AT another person… or perhaps at a group of people.
• It is done behind the back of someone else… to deceive them…
• It is a way of making division… us against him or against them.
• It involves some folks who are “in” on the deception, and others who are left in the dark.
• There is the one who winks and his accomplices AND the one who is being deceived.
c. Ps. 35:19 – the psalmist also spoke of the evil intentions that are often associated with winking.
d. Shutting one’s eyes… or winking is one way to communicate intentions… good or bad.
e. Solomon is warning us that evil men have many tricks up their sleeves in order to carry out their evil plans.
f. They cause sorrow to someone…
B. He Moves His Lips
1. “Moves” defined:
a. Strong’s: to narrow; form; nip; pinch; squeeze; wink.
b. Interestingly, this word “move” is the word usually translated “wink.” (as in Prov. 6:13 and 10:10)
c. It means to pinch… squeeze…
d. It can be used of the eye or the mouth.
e. With the eye it is what we call a “wink.”
f. With the mouth it is more like “puckering” the lips… squeezing them together.
2. Today we don’t think of moving the lips as we do of winking.
a. Everyone knows what a wink is today.
b. But even though we don’t use the term, we DO use our lips to silently communicate… without saying a word.
c. Twisting our lips… or puckering up our lips can communicate that we don’t believe a person… or we doubt the truthfulness of what he is saying.
d. It can even communicate that we think what he is saying is foolish or ridiculous.
e. The expression Solomon used “moving the lips” or squeezing the lips might be open to interpretation…
f. But the context here seems to imply he is speaking about something similar in meaning to winking.
g. And it has the same evil result: bringing evil to pass.
3. The warning is clear: evil men use facial expressions to communicate.
a. Have you ever seen the wise guy in school make a facial expression to the class after the teacher tells the class to quiet down?
b. He communicates to the class: “Who does she think she is? or “Yeah, right!” or “That’s what she thinks!”
c. That school wise guy grows up to be a leader of the punks hanging around on the corner… and does the same thing when the policeman tells them to move on…
d. He later advances to become a drug dealer… and is able to communicate and give orders to his street dealers… right in plain sight… without saying a word.
e. Or maybe he gets a job and is able to demonstrate the same kind of sarcasm in the office… that he did in the classroom. Only now instead of behind the teacher’s back, it is behind the boss’ back.
f. The videos coming from Al Qaeda are studied carefully not only for the verbal messages, but also for the non-verbal messages sent out… (wink; hand gestures; etc.)
g. Of course, facial expressions can also be used for good. Solomon is not saying that all facial gestures are evil.
h. But he is warning us that evil men USE them for their evil purposes – so beware!
i. Learn to read not only the words, but the mood, the gestures, and other subtle, non verbal forms of communication.
A. To Devise Froward Things
1. Devise: to think; plan; esteem; calculate; invent; make a judgment; imagine; to regard; to invent; to consider.
2. Evil men wink as they think, plan, and invent evil designs.
3. They can use winking to recruit, to identify themselves, to cover a lie, and even as a sign to send someone out on an evil deed.
4. He seeks to devise froward things. (Cf. vs. 28 – the froward man sows strife and separates chief friends…)
5. He can sow strife with a wink of the eye! He can separate friends with the wink of an eye!
B. To Bring Evil to Pass
1. Here Solomon speaks about the evil that can be brought to pass by means of winking with the mouth… or puckering or contorting the lips.
2. cf. 16:27 – the ungodly man digs up evil… and seeks to bring evil to pass.
3. Without saying a word, the evil man can bring evil to pass… and cause all kinds of heartache and grief for others… with mere facial expressions.
4. They use subtle facial expression to carry out deception, fraud, and other forms of evil.
5. They are as subtle as serpents…
6. What makes these facial gestures evil is the INTENT behind them.
7. They can be used jokingly in good fun… or innocently. But they can also be used for evil… that’s Solomon’s point here.
8. Therefore: BE DISCERNING! Observe more than just the words in a conversation. Take note of other subtle forms of communication… especially with evil men!
OTHER POSSIBLE INTERPRETATIONS:
A. He shuts his eyes in meditation and planning evil and he then moves his lips to carry out those evil plans.
1. He shuts his eyes to shut out all distractions and to concentrate on his evil designs…
2. Then he moves his mouth to order his plans into being.
B. He shuts his eyes to evil that he sees and says nothing about it to prevent it from occurring.
1. He shuts his eyes to the evil that he sees around him… and squeezes his mouth shut… he doesn’t say anything either.
2. In other words, this evil man sees no evil, hears no evil, and says nothing about it… he ALLOWS evil to thrive all around him… and is thus complicit with the evil.