Proverbs 6:12-15
Body Language
12 A naughty person, a wicked man,
1. In this section, Solomon is describing an evil person… a particular KIND of evil person.
2. He introduces this person with two adjectives
a. Naughty = worthless, good for nothing, unprofitable, base fellow; (sometimes translated “man of Belial”)
b. Wicked = trouble (troublemaker), wickedness, sorrow (one who causes sorrow and grief)
3. This person is introduced in a less than flattering manner: a worthless, good for nothing trouble maker!
a. Perhaps you have met such a person—we probably all have at one point or another.
b. The world has no shortage of good for nothing troublemakers! Sometimes the church has no shortage either!
4. There are lots of ways for a troublemaker to cause trouble. Solomon is going to highlight demonstrate how a talented and experienced troublemaker is able to use every part of his body to cause trouble!
Walketh with a froward mouth.
1. The most obvious way for a troublemaker to cause trouble is with his mouth. James says that the mouth is a “world of iniquity!”
2. Froward: crooked; distorted
a. A froward mouth is one that distorts the truth…
b. A froward mouth is one that speaks in such a way so as to distort another person’s character… or motives… or put a person in an evil light.
c. Vs. 14 – frowardness is in his heart too—that’s why it eventually comes out of his mouth!
d. Prov. 17:20 – his heart is distorted; his words are distorted; and the end result is mischief—he is a mischief-maker—a first class troublemaker!
e. Prov. 24:2 – he dwells on ways to cause mischief and destruction—and then proceeds to use his mouth to accomplish it!
3. All kinds of trouble has been stirred by troublemakers who have a big mouth.
a. Prov. 16:27-28 – the troublemaker has a froward mouth… and stirs up strife, trouble and controversy which separates chief friends!
4. Note that this naughty person WALKS with a froward mouth: walk = one’s whole manner of life… a lifestyle of such behavior!
13 He winketh with his eyes,
1. The naughty person uses his mouth to cause trouble… but he doesn’t stop there! He uses his eyes too! And the rest of his body!
2. The eyes are in a sense the windows to the soul… (In fact, Solomon speaks of our eyes as windows in Ecc. 12:3 – windows be darkened = losing vision)
3. We can speak with our eyes…
a. Lots of messages can be communicated with our eyes…
b. We can communicate suspicion… surprise… disgust… disbelief…
c. We can smile approvingly with our eyes…
d. But eyes can also scowl… glare… and say “I hate you!”
e. Today a wink can mean several things:
• It can expression flirtation… making a pass…
• It can also mean, “I’m not telling the truth…”
4. In different cultures and in different time periods, there were no doubt different kinds of signals sent… (example: a signal in one culture might be a sign of friendliness, but a huge insult in another culture!)
5. But regardless of the exact meaning of a wink in Bible times, it was a means of communicating a message…
• Ps. 35:19 – winking with the eye = something malicious
• Wink = to narrow or squeeze the eye—it could have the sense of a glare…
6. The naughty person used a wink of his eye for evil purposes…
• With the wink of an eye he might be communicating that Joe is a liar… that Joe is a fool… that Joe is hated…
• We can say a lot without opening our mouth.
7. Wise parents will deal with the messages sent by body language from their child as if it were vocalized—it is the same thing. He is communicating a message…
a. The glare… the rolling of the eyes…
b. He doesn’t have to say “I hate you” or “You’re stupid”—but the eyes may say it.
c. That is rebellion just as much as if it were vocalized.
He speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers…
1. It is unclear to me how a person would communicate with his feet—but in that day in that culture, there may well have been some widely understood customs… (Shuffling of the feet; a little kick into the dirt; etc.)
2. Teaching with his fingers—
a. While we do not know for sure exactly what the signs were in those days, we use our fingers to communicate messages.
b. Thumbs up; thumbs down; middle finger; high five; OK sign; etc…
3. There are all kinds of ways we can speak without opening our mouth.
a. Some are subtle… some less than subtle…
b. These body language signs might be done behind someone’s back… or to their face.
c. It could even be the TONE of one’s voice…
d. Solomon doesn’t even mention facial expression here—facial expression can speak volumes! Pleasant countenance; sourpuss; grumpy face; happy face or an ‘I hate this’ face…
e. In all of this, it is demonstrated that we can use every part of our body as an instrument of unrighteousness… OR of righteousness.
1. Solomon’s point is that the naughty person has a 1001 ways to do his dirty work… without saying a thing.
2. Frowardness is in his heart…
a. Thus, it will eventually be expressed outwardly… through his froward mouth or through more subtle body language…
b. Either way, it WILL be expressed!
c. Whatever comes out of the mouth first resided in the heart.
d. Whatever is expressed through body language first resided in the heart.
e. His outward countenance might be a façade of sincerity… which only covers up the heart full of frowardness… deception… a clever liar!
3. He deviseth mischief continually…
a. This naughty person is on a mission—to stir up trouble and mischief!
• What a contrast between the sluggard in vs. 6-11 and the relentless diligence of the naughty person in performing evil!
b. It is continual… it is the nature of this kind of person… and thus his/her wheels are always in motion…
c. Prov. 2:14-16 – forwardness is the PATH… the course of life for this person. He rejoices in his evil! He loves stirring up trouble! That’s how he gets his kicks.
d. Prov. 20:3 – It is an honour for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling.
• A godly man may try to stop mischief… that is an honorable pursuit.
• But the naughty person… the fool will not give it up… he devises mischief continually… he won’t stop his meddling… stirring up the pot…
He soweth discord.
1. This is the ultimate goal of the naughty person described here: to sow discord! To cause division… to stir up trouble and controversy!
2. 6:19 – he might even use lies to sow discord… he may send out lies by means of his body language… to lie about a person…
3. Some people just aren’t happy unless they are stirring up trouble.
1. Solomon reminds his son that the naughty person… the one who stirs up trouble will not be able to do so forever…
2. Eventually, his calamity shall come… he shall be broken… without remedy.
3. It may not even be in this life… but eventually, troublemakers will have to face the music before the Lord.
4. They may think that nobody saw their wink… or their body language… or the subtle messages they had been sending out… which caused so much trouble.
5. BUT—God knows! God sees it all. He not only understands English and Hebrew—He also understands body language. (Heb. 4:13)
6. For every idle word we say we shall give an account one day. The same is true for the words we say with our eyes… our fingers… our facial expression… they are all manifestations of what is going on in our heart…
7. And the Lord looks at the heart… He knows it all before we even express it!