Proverbs 4:18
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But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
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Pay attention, reader! This proverb is for your life! God confronts every man with truth at a few crucial points in his life. Most men rebel and reject it, and He justly blinds them in perpetual darkness to some or all truth. Good men rejoice and obey the truth He offers, and He rewards them with further light and understanding. His light leads them ever onward to more truth, until they reach the day of perfect understanding in heaven.
Solomon in context warned his son against the path of the wicked (4:14-17). He told him not to enter it or pass by it; he told him to avoid it, turn from it, and get away. And after giving him the wonderful description of the path of the just in our proverb, he told him that the path of the wicked is darkness; they don't even know what trips them (4:19).
There is sufficient evidence in the visible creation to know there is a God with eternal power and a Godhead (Rom 1:18-20; Ps 19:1-6). Men are without an excuse. But when they become vain in their thoughts and reject this knowledge, God darkens their hearts and gives them up to ignorant thinking and conduct (Rom 1:21-23). This is the root cause and source of the perversion of sodomy (Rom 1:24-27). Quite a dark path!
Consider Pharaoh. He rejected the LORD, even though Moses had brought powerful signs and plagues upon his nation. Therefore God hardened his heart, and he foolishly took his chariot down into the Red Sea to his own destruction. What blinded him to the obvious danger of such a choice? The LORD blinded him (Ex 14:4,17)!
God also confronts men with truth from the Bible. If they reject the truth for any reason, He will blind their understanding and leave them to the deceit and delusions of their own hearts and other men. God promised to deceive prophets when men came to inquire of them with idols in their hearts (Ezek 14:4-11). Jesus spoke in parables to harden the hearts of the Jews (Matt 13:10-17). And God sends strong delusion to cause men to believe lies, when they reject the truth He offers (II Thess 2:9-12).
Is God the author of confusion? Absolutely and certainly! He owes no man the truth, and He will withhold truth and light from the man who squanders or rejects truth shown him. The Tower of Babel and the confusion there are not only true historical facts, but also an indication of His holy judgment on men pursuing their own agenda (Gen 11:1-9).
But the same sovereign God will bless just and good men. As our proverb declares, He will provide a shining light that reveals more and more truth, as they obey what He has already revealed. This is one of the greatest incentives to obey all truth that you are shown. He will either bless your obedience with more light, or judge your disobedience by taking away the light you think you have (Luke 8:18). Take heed, dear reader!
This light is not furnished to every man, for it shines only upon the path of the just. It is not for the backslider, the hypocrite, or the carnal compromiser. The spiritual light of God, which brings wisdom, truth, and understanding, is for the just - the man who turns from his own foolish thoughts to do the perfect will of God (3:33; 9:9; 11:9; 12:13,21; 14:14; 20:7; 21:15; 24:16).
How does a perfect day develop? It begins with a dull glow in the east, which seems quite weak in the blackness of the night. But the darkness soon gives way, as the glorious sun rises from the horizon to drive away all remains of the night. As it climbs powerfully into the sky, its light increases in intensity and angle until everything is bright and clear under a noonday sun. So is the LORD upon the path of the just; He shines more and more unto perfection, as a man does justly and walks humbly with his God (Micah 6:8).
Your car headlights only shine a short distance. But as you drive, they shine farther and father. When you leave a dark garage, you cannot see all the way home. You begin driving in the light provided, which shines a little way ahead. But as you trust your lights and drive forward, your lights shine farther ahead, until you reach your destination. Your lights guided you all the way home, as you trusted them each mile of the way. Solomon did not have car headlights, but he did have lamps for pathways (Ps 119:105).
Like these two pictures of a shining light, the blessed God sheds more light and reveals more truth, as we move forward in obedience to the truth He has already given (2:1-5; Job 17:9; Ps 84:7; Hos 6:3; II Cor 3:18). For this reason, Solomon warns over and over again in many proverbs for us to be attentive to instruction and obey it (1:23; 8:32-33; 10:17; 12:1; 28:9; 29:1). The consequences of disobedience are severe.
Wisdom and truth are not dependent on intellect or teachers. They are dependent on faith and obedience. Intellect and worldly education can be a severe handicap in learning God's wisdom (I Cor 1:19-20). A young man can easily exceed wise old men, if he fears only God and trusts Him completely (Job 32:6-9). You can easily exceed your enemies, teachers, and the ancients by trusting God's word (Ps 119:98-100).
Our blessed Lord taught our proverb in these words, "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself" (John 7:17). If we obey the will of God, we will know the true doctrine of God, for He will reveal more truth to us and confirm it in our hearts. Nathanael, the apostles, the eunuch, and Cornelius found much light after obedience (John 1:45-51; Luke 24:32; Acts 8:30-35; 10:6).
Many men have faced the truth of God and rejected it for love of tradition, fear of man, job security, and other snares (29:25). How many rejected Bible baptism and ended up in the infant-sprinkling brothel of Rome and her daughter churches? How many rejected sound doctrine and ended up babbling with silly women and effeminate men in white suits? How many loved rituals and ended up with baptismal regeneration? How many chose the altar of free will and ended up trusting emotional appeals for decisional regeneration and drowning in the carnal consequences of easy-believism? How many sought government assistance and ended up in a dead, national church?
The consequences on your soul, family, and church from how you react to this proverb are enormous. If you stubbornly choose your own way, the LORD of heaven will blind you. If you humbly submit to His word, He will bless you with light and truth. Dear reader, where are you rejecting truth and conviction in your life? Where are you holding on to tradition or fearing men more than you fear the Lord? What is wrong in your life, family, or church that you are not correcting? God will not be mocked!
Solomon warned, "The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead" (21:16). See the comments on this sober text. Most of the churches in our once glorious nation are now such congregations, for they have left the Word of God for fables and entertainment (II Tim 3:4-7; 4:3-4).
You may be saved from this horrible death of ignorance by taking careful heed to the more sure word of Scripture, which is as a light shining in a dark place, and which is more sure in its integrity than reports of hearing God's voice from heaven (II Pet 1:16-21). And by doing this you may be confident of a day of knowledge dawning in your heart through the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, both now and at His glorious appearing. So let us desire the sincere milk of His word (I Pet 2:2; II Pet 3:18).
The path of the just man extends beyond this life. A day is coming in which he will know with perfect knowledge. He shall be in the presence of the Lord Jesus, and he will know all things. Until then we trust in His shining light and obey what we see, and we pray for the Spirit of enlightenment (Eph 1:17-18). Thank you, Lord, for truth and light!
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