Evil Incarnate
Scripture Reading: Proverbs 2:6-15
We tend to think of evil as a force or a power. A spirit, so to speak. And we are not wrong because evil is embodied in ideas and philosophies. Paul refers to doctrines of demons. This Psalm speaks of being delivered from “the way of evil.”
But after saying that, the writer shifts to describing evil “men of perverted speech, who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil, men whose paths are crooked, and who are devious in their ways.” So, evil is and can be described as an ideology or philosophy, but it is important to realize that it usually presents in human flesh. That is when it is most tempting and has the greatest power over our lives.
Wisdom is important, not to make you smarter than the next guy, but to deliver you from incarnate evil. The wisdom that is from above is, naturally, divinely sanctioned and blessed. It makes us “understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path…” It will make us discerning. It will act as a guard over our hearts. And it will “deliver you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech.”
Wisdom not only helps us sort through and have discernment between the truth and error. It delivers from people who have given themselves over to evil and have become so depraved that they “delight in the perverseness of evil.” It delivers us from evil not only in its philosophical forms, it delivers from evil in the flesh too.
