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To sum up the last few weeks: actively seek wisdom and you'll be given it by God. Solomon reaches the final conclusion here, and it's a solemn reminder to us.

'So you will walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous. For the upright will inhabit the land, and those with integrity will remain in it, but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the treacherous will be rooted out of it.' (Proverbs 2:20-22)

This passage is essentially split into two: the upright, and the wicked.

The upright

We've looked at this at some depth in the past few weeks so we won't go massively over it again, but the upright here are not simply 'good people'. The upright are those who have been humble enough to ask God for wisdom; in His grace He always gives wisdom to those who genuinely ask for it as a gift. Practically speaking, this wisdom is imparted to Christians through Jesus of Nazareth's perfect life, death and resurrection in our place. 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us 'For our sake he [the Father] made him to be sin who knew no sin [Jesus], so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.' Jesus became our sin, and we become his righteousness. What a great exchange! The same is true for our folly and his wisdom; by faith in Christ he takes our folly and gives us his perfect and infinite wisdom.

The wicked

In contrast, the wicked are not simply 'bad people'. As much as it grates with non-Christians, an unrepentant charity worker is biblically defined as wicked whereas a paedophile who has repented and put his faith in Christ is biblically defined as righteous. It's a tough message to bring to people who think they're basically doing alright, but God must be just. His standard which we must reach in order to qualify for entry into 'the land' (more on that in a minute) is not based on anything whatsoever that we have done, said, or thought. It doesn't matter how good we are, or how bad we are. All that matters is where we have placed our faith. Have we thrown ourselves into Jesus' mercy? If we have rejected that mercy, the Bible defines us as wicked.

The land

But at the end of the day, what is this 'land' that Solomon's mentioned? Well, this one's a bit abstract. The people of Israel followed Moses towards the Promised Land in Exodus, but by Solomon's time it was clear that simply being in a particular geographic location had not solved their issues. Under the judges the people 'did what was evil in the sight of the LORD' (Judges 2:11), and the first kings had also fallen short; Saul ended up effectively going mad and trying to kill David, and David was an adulterous murderer. This land that Solomon is talking about is not a physical place but a spiritual one. God was speaking to His people about a future kingdom in which anyone who would mess it up would be excluded.

This isn't God being mean. Some people don't like the idea that the Kingdom of God is so exclusive, but it's biblical, and on top of that it's simple logic. Christians are adopted sons and daughters of God, so the Kingdom is God's famiy home. If I were a father, I would do everything in my power to prevent evil people from getting close to my children. If someone approached me, saying that they would refuse to obey me or even acknowledge my existence, but that they wanted to hang around my children, I would not be mean to shut the door in their face, I would be sensible and loving. God is the same.

So, key questions today are: (1) are you upright or wicked? (2) If you're wicked, will you put your trust in God? (3) If you're upright, what will you do about those around you who are wicked?

"Refreshment in Refuge" from Gina Burgess

Manifestations of the Spirit