25.149 | Beware The Evil Of Hypocrisy | Prov 26:22-28 | God’s Word for Today with Pastor Nazario Sinon

God’s Word For Today

Text: Prov 26:22-28 ESV

22 The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body.

23 Like the glaze covering an earthen vessel are fervent lips with an evil heart.

24 Whoever hates disguises himself with his lips and harbors deceit in his heart;

25 when he speaks graciously, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart;

26 though his hatred be covered with deception, his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.

27 Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and a stone will come back on him who starts it rolling.

28 A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin.

-Prov 26:22-28 ESV

BEWARE THE EVIL OF HYPOCRISY

Gossips are described as "juicy," suggesting they are especially tempting. Gossip is one of the sins to which almost all people are naturally tempted (Proverbs 11:13; 16:28). The idea of learning some secret, scandalous information about others is alluring. However, it's also spiritually deadly and a source of intense conflict.

Like the glaze covering an earthen vessel, the person with "fervent lips" is glossing over his evil intent. [see vs. 24 and 25] He is one using intense, passionate language or flattery. The meaning is similar to "hypocrisy", that is, to say one thing while believing something else. Here, it specifically means a person who disguises evil intent using clever words. In Matthew 23:25 Jesus condemned hypocritical scribes and Pharisees. He said, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence." Their outward appearance misrepresented their foul, inward spiritual decay. They also give the impression of being calm, or kind, or reasonable. A classic example of this is Judas. His kiss, which appeared to be friendly, but was an act of betrayal, was it not? (Luke 22:47–48). In vs. 25, his heart is full of abomination, which has reference to what Prov 6:16-19 says.

But, he will be discovered someday in the assembly. [see v.26 and 27] The "assembly" in this verse refers to any group brought together for some purpose. In this case, it might mean a courtroom setting, where the guilty person is being judged. Accountability certainly applies to our relationship with God. Galatians 6:7–8 assures us that "God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh [the sin nature] will from the flesh reap corruption." Psalm 7 refers to the retribution God will execute on the wicked as a righteous judge (Psalm 7:11) The same psalm promises, "If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow" (Psalm 7:12). This ends in assurance that the wicked man's "mischief returns upon his own head and on his own skull his violence descends" (Psalm 7:16).

Those who plan evil can expect to suffer as a result (Proverbs 5:22; 15:27; 19:16). The imagery here is drawn from a hunter's efforts to trap an animal. Not all evil acts are punished in this life but they will be noticed and judged by God sooner or later. (Prov 8:34–36; 24:16, 19–22). God "has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man [Jesus] whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead." [Acts 17:31]

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