"He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy."
Proverbs 29:1
Part 1
Today: How do You Respond to Being Corrected?
A man or woman who persistently wants their own way and refuses to listen to the warnings of God or anyone else is living on shaky ground!
“He, that being often reproved.”
We will see several ideas in our verse for today. One of the things that I bring away from this verse is the belief that God is fair. He does not just jerk the rug out from under a person in judgment without any notice. The individual described here has been warned more than once; in fact, they have been “often reproved.” Over some time, this person has been “rebuked, corrected, punished, and chastened.”[1] But what have they done with this caution? They have ignored all the warnings and reprimands, over and over. And please understand, this foolish person made a choice to remain stubbornly unyielding in their resolve. They have kept on doing what they wanted to do and did not change.
There are so many Bible illustrations of this principle. God gave Noah an immense task to accomplish. Noah and his boys worked for 120 years to complete building the ark. Noah had been given counsel by God, and he was shown what God was planning to do. God will destroy sinful man and all the air-breathing animals on the planet with a great flood (Genesis 7:22), only those in the ark will be spared! We learn that Noah was more than a carpenter; he was also a “preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5). While people mocked, Noah kept on working and faithfully preaching. Every hammer blow shouted to the scoffers, “repent, repent, repent!” Noah’s friends and neighbors, if he had any left, ignored his message for years! Had they been warned of God’s coming judgment? And haven’t they been given the way to avoid His judgment? Yes! “Come get on the ark!” But Noah’s family were the only humans saved from the floodwaters. They were the only ones who believed in what God said. When God’s judgment came, it was a surprise to the lost world when that first raindrop suddenly landed. You see, the Bible is correct, “He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed!”
Pharaoh is another one who learned this lesson the hard way. He ignored Moses’ words and God’s miraculous plagues, and suddenly it was too late for him.
Pharoah had many warnings!
“And He hardened Pharaoh’s heart, that he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said. And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh’s heart is hardened, he refuseth to let the people go” (Exodus 7:13-14).
“But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said” (Exodus 8:15).
And finally, Pharaoh’s judgment came:
“The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name. Pharaoh’s chariots and his host hath He cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea” (Exodus 15:3).
At one time or another, each of us has stiffened our necks to try to get our way. What does God think of anyone who will not hear Him? Come back tomorrow as we learn about “stiff necks.”
Quote: “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?” (Hebrews 12:6-7).
[1] These are some of the ways the ancient word for “reproved” was used. See BDB, Brown, Driver, Briggs. Brown-Driver-Briggs’ Hebrew Definitions, the electronic version in eSword.