Proverbs 1:13-19
Greedy of Gain
Introduction
1. The author EXPECTS that the young man WILL be enticed. (vs.10)
2. “Come with us!” (vs.11) They offer “membership”!
3. vs.11 – Let us lay wait for BLOOD—The “draw” here appears to the sport of shedding blood!
4. vs. 12 – Let us swallow them up alive—and whole!
a. Leave no clues behind so we won’t get caught!
b. The implication seems to be that there are no consequences to crime! You won’t get caught if you join with us! We’re smarter than the authorities! They will never catch us!
The Motivation Behind Their Crime: Greed
13We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:
1. First they invite the young man to “Come with us”. Then they make their crime sound like a sport… like going hunting. Then they put the finishing touches on their enticement: you will be RICH if you come with us!
2. Find = acquire; obtain… not just find, but find and take!
3. Precious = valuable, prized, weighty, rare,
4. Substance = wealth, riches, substance; (double emphasis on the value)
5. Their real motivation is greed… stealing.
a. The crime described here is highway robbery.
b. They planned to hide behind the rocks along the road, and wait for some innocent, unsuspecting travelers to come by. (vs.11)
c. They plan on killing them, and leaving no clues behind so they won’t be caught. (vs.12)
d. And then they expect to get away with all their wealth! (vs.13)
6. They expect to obtain enough to make the whole band of crooks rich!
a. They will FILL their houses with the spoil… the wealth…
b. And if this young man comes with them, he too can expect to receive a whole house full of riches. They include him in the “we”.
7. These crooks make their crime quite appealing… enticing… by painting a rosy picture of the results—a house full of riches!
a. They do NOT tell this young man what they expect of him!
b. No doubt they will be putting this young man—if he comes with them- in harm’s way!
c. If they are like most crooks, they will ensure that if anyone gets caught, it will be the rookie!
d. But of course, they don’t tell him that! They don’t tell him the chances of getting caught… nor do they tell him the penalties under the law for getting caught… they do not describe to him what life is like in the dungeon… nor do they mention the guilt and shame… just the riches!
8. Our enemy always presents the rosy side of sin!
a. There IS a pleasure to sin—Hebrews 11:25
b. Sinners don’t always get caught right away.
c. And the fact that sinners are not judged for their sins right away gives them a sense that they can continue in sin without any consequences… (Ecc. 8:11) a heart fully SET to do evil!
d. But the wise man knows that eventually our sin IS exposed! Either in this life or the life to come… always! (Num. 32:23) Be sure your sin will find you out!
e. As this band of professional thieves seeks to recruit this young boy, they give him only one side of the picture! When all you have is one side of the picture—WOW is your thinking lopsided and off base!
f. So far they have made highway robbery sound fun, like a sport, and profitable! And there are no consequences… at least if you hear only the crooks side of the story! (everything to gain; nothing to lose—what a lie!!!)
g. That is the way the devil presents all kinds of sin to us!
· Like the beer and whiskey commercials on TV—they are all young, tan, well off, beautiful people!
• They don’t show you the wino sleeping in his vomit on their commercials!
• Sin is presented as glamorous, exciting, fun, profitable!
• But after a while it bites like a serpent! Sin is a trap… a snare!
• That’s how I catch woodchucks. I put something very appealing to them in the mouth of the cage… and conceal the fact that once they go for it, they set of the trigger that results in disaster for them!
• That’s how men catch fish—the attractive bait conceals the real result—the deadly hook!
14Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:
1. Once again, they appeal to this young man to join them. “You can be one of us! One of the cool guys! We are accepting members—and we don’t want just anybody, we want you!”
2. And note the next appeal: let us all have one purse!
a. We will share all our wealth equally! You can be an equal partner!
b. We will be like one big happy family! A commune!
c. Do you know life is like in a community of crooks? They are all dishonest… and nobody trusts anybody!
d. Crooks also usually fight over the distribution of goods too!!
15My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:
1. Now Solomon gives more fatherly advice… an exhortation to his son.
2. The crooks will be saying, “Come with us!” (vs.11)
• Solomon’s advice is, “Don’t go!” Don’t walk with them!
• Refrain they foot from their path! Stay away!
• Refrain: to withhold, hold back, keep back, deny
3. Solomon is trying to give his sons words of wisdom that will protect them the rest of their days.
a. This wisdom and discretion will KEEP them from evil doers.
b. Prov. 2:10-15 – discretion will deliver a young man and keep him off roads that lead to trouble and destruction.
c. A parent has a responsibility to steer their children in the right direction.
d. Ps.1:1 – Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly… nor standeth in the way of sinners… nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful!
e. The young person who listens to his parents, and avoids walking with trouble makers will be blessed… happy in the long run. There is nothing cool about prison.
16For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
1. This verse is Solomon’s assessment of the band of crooks.
a. Evil men seem to have a sense of urgency about their evil… they are in a hurry to sin!
b. They are not just walking down the wrong road; they are running!
c. They seem to be infatuated by sin!
17Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.
1. There are two interpretations to this verse. It is hard to tell for sure which one the author intended.
FIRST INTERPRETATION…
a. Here Solomon compares the criminals to birds about to be trapped in a net… a snare.
b. Birds have a bad reputation in the Bible. They are spoken of as foolish, silly creatures… stupid! (Ephraim is like a silly dove without heart)
c. Here Solomon states that even a stupid bird seems to have more sense than these criminals!
d. Criminals must KNOW that there are consequences to their sin… they must know that eventually they are going to get caught… yet they STILL not only commit crimes, they make HASTE to run to evil and shed blood!
2. It would be vain to spread a net or a trap in the sight of a bird. If an animal knows he is going to be trapped, he will avoid the trap!
a. As silly as birds might be—they have enough sense to avoid a trap when they see it.
b. Not so with the criminals. They KNOW that their crime is a trap ready to catch them at any moment, yet they RUN to evil!
SECOND INTERPRETATION…
3. It also possible to understand vs.17 another way. Some see vs.17 as a comparison of a bird not to the criminals but to the son Solomon is warning.
a. In this view, Solomon has just warned his son about the TRAP that the criminals have set for him. They have allured the young man into a life of crime… but a life of crime is a snare… a trap. They have used sport and riches as bait to lure him into their trap.
b. The point would be that Solomon’s son has been warned about the trap that is being set for him.
c. Even a silly bird wouldn’t walk into a trap if he knew it was a trap… therefore, Solomon expects that his son will NOT follow these criminals and enter the trap they have set for him!
d. In other words, Solomon is saying: Son, you have been warned! You know full well that their enticing words are nothing but a trap which will destroy you! Don’t enter it!
18And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives. 19So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
1. vs.18 – The point is clear: evil men reap what they sow!
a. These criminals were seeking the blood of others. They were actually laying in wait for their OWN blood!
b. They were lurking privily to pounce upon their victims. In reality, it is their own lives that will be taken! Ambushers will be ambushed!
c. While these evil men set traps for others… for young recruits and for their victims—THEY will be the ones to be ensnared eventually!
d. A life of crime leads to ruin! Crime does NOT pay!
2. This is a conclusion to the whole section – vs.10-19.
a. This is the conclusion: every one who is greedy of gain and murders to obtain wealth will fall into their own trap!
b. Those who love money and are greedy of gain fall into a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts! (I Tim. 6:9-1)
3. I Tim. 6:11 – The son has been duly warned. Now he knows the ways of those who are greedy of gain… who are willing even to KILL in order to obtain their wealth.
4. Solomon’s desire, of course, is that if his son KNOWS the ways of the sinners and what they are really up to—that he will avoid them… that he will WANT to avoid them!