Proverbs 10:6-12 (KJV) Blessings are upon the head of the just: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked. 7 The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot. 8 The wise in heart will receive commandments: but a prating fool shall fall. 9 He that walketh uprightly walketh surely: but he that perverteth his ways shall be known. 10 He that winketh with the eye causeth sorrow: but a prating fool shall fall. 11 The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked. 12 Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.

Those who are “righteous”, that is, those saved by faith in Jesus, born again children of God, are generally blessed if life. However those who follow their own path, who reject the Word of God in order to be their own gods, in time these people are cursed.

Proverbs 10:6 (KJV) Blessings are upon the head of the just…

God told Israel before they went into the Promised Land,

Deuteronomy 28:1-2 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: 2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.

The way to blessing is to heed the Word of God, and to DO what He has said. In the ancient world, blessings were always passed on from father to sons by placing his hand upon the head of the child. As Jacob – now called Israel – prepared to die, he called for his sons. Joseph came, bringing his sons Ephraim and Manasseh. The Bible says:

Genesis 48:14-19 (ESV) Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands (for Manasseh was the firstborn). 15 And he blessed Joseph and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day, 16 the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.” 17 When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18 And Joseph said to his father, “Not this way, my father; since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head.” 19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.”

Jacob (Israel) led of God, crossed his arms so that he put his right hand of blessing on Ephraim, and not Manasseh. He did this knowingly. Ephraim would be the largest leading tribe of Northern Israel. While Ephraim followed God, it was blessed in this life. The second part of this proverb states:

Proverbs 10:6 (KJV) … but VIOLENCE covereth the mouth of the wicked.

God puts His blessings on those who are “JUST”, that is, they are “justified by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). But those who reject the Word of God, the fruit of their lives is “VIOLENCE”.

Word Study: What is very interesting about this verse is that the word translated “VIOLENCE” is the Hebrew ḥāmās, which is eerily like the spelling of the terrorist organization Hamas. Hamas is an acronym of Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya, a Palestinian Sunni Islamist terrorist group dedicated to the destruction of Israel. The wicked are characterized by God as those who “cover their mouths with ḥāmās (pronounced khaw-mawce’)”, which means “cruelty, injustice, oppression, wrongness, unrighteousness”. Life is sacred, because “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:27). All human life is made in God’s image, and God despises the shedding of innocent blood. It was an evil gunman that climbed on a roof just the other day in an attempt to assassinate President Trump. It is evil newscasters and pundits that mocked the attempt, crying out that it was a shame that the man missed.

Such people are purely evil!

Regardless as to your political leaning, the way of righteousness is the way of Christ, the way of peace. The “god of this world (Satan) blinds the minds of those who will not believe in Christ, lest His Gospel, the Gospel of Christ, the Image of God, shine into their hearts” (2 Corinthians 4:4, AP).

Proverbs 10:7 The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.

Those who are evil will get their just reward. The “name of the wicked shall rot”. The man who evilly attempted to kill President Trump, twenty year old Thomas Matthew Crooks, did kill firefighter Corey Comperatore (pronounced com-PER-tore). Mr Comperatore, on hearing the gunshots, threw himself over his family to protect them. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro stated in a press release:

“Corey was a firefighter. Corey went to church every Sunday. Corey loved his community. Most especially, Corey loved his family.” His wife Helen said, “He’s my hero. He just said, ‘Get down!’ That was the last thing he said.”

Though everyone knows the name of Crooks, he has departed this life to a place of everlasting torment, a place where those who hate the Lord of Life go. But Corey Comperatore departed this life protecting life and love. By all indications he is in glory with the Jesus that he loved enough to worship on Sundays. But the man who with murderous intent killed a righteous man, this fellow named Crooks, in time his name will rot and be forgotten. People remember the names of the righteous, like George Washington or Abraham Lincoln. But the murderous and evil are assigned to hell, and their names are retired.

Has anybody named their child “Adolf”?

The Fruit Of The Tree Proves It’s Salvation

Proverbs 10:8 The wise in heart will receive commandments: but a prating fool shall fall.

Those who are “WISE IN HEART” are those who are “just”, that is “justified” by God through faith. Justification before God does not come by keeping His Commandments, His Law. The Bible says:

Romans 3:20 (ESV) For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

The Law of God is like a spiritual CAT Scan or an MRI. The Law is diagnostic, proving we are sinners in need of the Savior. We are:

Romans 3:24, 28 (ESV) … JUSTIFIED BY GOD’S GRACE, through the redemption that is IN CHRIST JESUS … 28 JUSTIFIED BY FAITH apart from the works of the Law …

We are JUSTIFIED by God Himself, once we repent and call upon the Name of the Lord Jesus. Once JUSTIFIED, we become children of God, willing to KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS.

Proverbs 10:8 The wise in heart will receive commandments: but a PRATING fool shall fall.

The “WISE IN HEART”, those who are born again by faith in Christ, will “RECEIVE COMMANDMENTS”. We who are saved will heed what God says. We do this out of love for the God Who saved us. Our Lord Jesus said:

John 14:15 (ESV) If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

John 15:10 (ESV) If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.

The willingness to receive God’s Words and DO them is the fruit of the Christian life. In incomparable C.H. Spurgeon preached:

“The man whose spirit is selfish has not the spirit of Christ and, “if any man have not the spirit of Christ he is none of His. The man whose spirit is that of envy and contention is evidently no follower of the lowly and loving Jesus—and those who do not follow Jesus are none of His. They that are Christ’s are filled with His love. “Everyone that loves is born of God, and knows God. He that loves not knows not God; for God is Love.” God is the center of the Believer’s love. The saints are an inner circle specially beloved and all mankind are embraced within the circumference of the ring of love.”

Those who are saved, the “JUSTIFIED” or “WISE IN HEART” receive the commandments of God because we know them to be life. We are told in Proverbs 19:16 (AP), “Whoever keeps the commandment keeps his life; he who despises {God’s} ways will die.” The justified of Christ heed God’s Word. But …

BUT a PRATING {śāp̄â} FOOL shall fall.

Word Study: The word translated “PRATING” is the Hebrew śāp̄â (pronounced saw-faw’), which means “the one who mouths foolishness, who speaks godlessness”. There are many in our world today who mock God and His Word, who reject His Commands and His Wisdom. God says that these shall ultimately “FALL”. God knows what is best – ALWAYS. God’s commands bring life.

In the Old Testament King Nebuchadnezzar, the second King of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, let the sin of pride lift him up. God let madness come on Nebuchadnezzar, and the Prophet Daniel told him:

Daniel 4:25 (ESV) … you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. You shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and you shall be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.

Psychiatry calls this state Boanthropy, a psychological disorder where the sufferer believes they are a cow or an ox. God caused Nebuchadnezzar to graze in the fields like an ox for seven years, after which the King repented and honored God. The King said:

Daniel 4:34-35 (ESV) At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation; 35 all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and He does according to His will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay His hand or say to him, “What have you done?”

Sadly, the King that followed Nebuchadnezzar was not as repentant. This “PRATING FOOL” was known as King Belshazzar, the last King of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. God sent a hand to write on the wall, and Belshazzar called for Daniel to interpret the words that were written. Daniel reminded the King that his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar was humbled by God for his pride, and warned Belshazzar to repent and turn from the false gods that he served. Rather than repent, Belshazzar had a drunken party, though he celebrated Daniel for interpreting the words on the wall. The Bible says:

Daniel 5:30-31 That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed. 31 And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.

The “PRATING FOOL” will always, in time, fall. But those who receive God’s Commandments will live!

Proverbs 10:9-10 He that walketh uprightly walketh surely: but he that perverteth his ways shall be known. 10 He that winketh with the eye causeth sorrow: but a prating fool shall fall.

These verses could be summarized as “Honesty is the best policy”. To “WALK UPRIGHT” is the Hebrew tōm (pronounced tome), which means “to live your life in integrity and simplicity”. We who are saved are to live what we believe. We are to be

Ephesians 4:15 …. speaking the truth in love …

Those who “PERVERT THEIR WAYS”, that is, say they believe one thing, but twist and do the opposite, in time they will be found out. Our Lord Jesus tolerated the Scribes and Pharisees hypocrisy only so long before He lowered the boom on them, exposing them for what they actually are. In Matthew 23 Jesus called out the Scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy.

“WINKING WITH THE EYE” is a clue to insincere speech or behavior. It is always best to say what you mean, to be sincere and truthful. There is coming a judgment day for all. Jesus tells us not to be fearful of the hypocrite, but to trust that God will bring all to light. Jesus said:

Matthew 10:26 (ESV) have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.

Proverbs 10:11-12 The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked. 12 Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.

Believers are to speak the Word of God, to be wells of living water. Jesus said:

John 4:14 … whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

Our words are not to corrupt, but to lead others to Christ. When King Saul sought to kill God’s man, David, David went to Nob to Ahimelech the Priest. Seeking help and provision, David got Ahimelech to give him and his men the Show Bread and the Sword of Goliath.

Doeg the Edomite saw the priest help David, and reported this to King Saul. When Saul ordered the death of the priests for helping David, none of his soldiers would do so, as they were priests of the Lord. But

1 Samuel 22:18-19 (ESV) Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests, and he killed on that day eighty-five persons who wore the linen ephod. 19 And Nob, the city of the priests, he put to the sword; both man and woman, child and infant, ox, donkey and sheep, he put to the sword.

The evil that Doeg did was written of in:

Psalm 52:1-7 Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The steadfast love of God endures all the day. 2 Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit. 3 You love evil more than good, and lying more than speaking what is right. Selah 4 You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue. 5 But God will break you down forever; he will snatch and tear you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah 6 The righteous shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him, saying, 7 “See the man who would not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his riches and sought refuge in his own destruction!”

God watches what we do. Thus we are to speak life, not hatred and strife. Believers are to be wells of grace, ministering the Gospel through our lives to others.

Ephesians 4:29 (ESV) Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

The Apostle Peter quoted the last line of this proverbs when he wrote:

1 Peter 4:7-10 (ESV) The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace…

May God bless and keep you as you serve Him Who saved you by His Blood. Amen and Amen.