“Do not envy the violent or choose any of their ways.”
The word violent in this verse is literally “man of mischief”. This is not the mischief my five-year-old grandson gets into. This is a dark evil. The caution is against worshipping or wishing to be like those whose works are evil and are successful because of their lack of integrity. It cautions against desiring their success. It recognizes that if we envy it we desire it and that’s the heart of the danger. It also clearly recognizes that all of their plans and projects are bad, not just some of them. There is nothing good or admirable about them. You cannot parse their lives between good and evil. Solomon wants us to know that everything done from a dark heart, no matter how it may appear on the surface, is ultimately dark. Scripture is clear that good fruit does not grow on a bad tree, ever. I have seen business leaders stay away from seemingly good opportunities not because of the way business was being done in that particular situation, but because of the person doing the business and their history. I have never seen them regret that decision later on. Today, walk in the light, reach those in the dark, but do not be connected to them. #BeTheEdge
“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” 2 Corinthians 6:14 NIV
