Principles from Proverbs #12 - Proverbs 13:22 – ^“A good person leaves an inheritance for their children.”

    I’m not just talking about money or an estate, but a heritage of knowledge and wisdom; a heritage of giving back to God; of love and pride in family; a priceless knowledge of Christ and the salvation and freedom that only he can provide. These are a true inheiritance. The following comes from a reference on GotQuestions.org website;

“Question: "What does the Bible say about parents leaving an inheritance for their children?"
Answer: “Inheritance was the gift of honor and support given by a patriarch to his sons (and sometimes daughters). It was meant for the provision and status of the family. Most of the occurrences of inheritance in the first half of the Old Testament refer to God bestowing the Promised Land on the Israelites—the Heavenly Father providing for His sons and daughters. Because the land was given by God to the individual families, the people were not allowed to dispose of their land permanently. If they needed to sell it, it was to be returned during the year of Jubilee. (Leviticus 25:23-38) The Bible laid out specific guidelines for inheriting family property: the eldest son was to inherit a double portion. (Deuteronomy 21:15-17); If there were no sons, daughters were allowed to inherit their father's land (Numbers 27:8) In the absence of direct heirs, a favored servant or a more distant kinsman could inherit the land. (Genesis 15:2; Numbers 27:9-11) At no time could the land pass to another tribe. The point of passing on the land was to ensure the extended family had a means of support and survival. Inheritance was assumed, and only Proverbs13:22 speaks of it as a particular virtue.

    The New Testament does not speak of a physical inheritance but rather a spiritual inheritance. In fact, in Luke 12:13-21 Jesus spoke to the people and said this in The Parable of the Rich Fool:

¹³ Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

¹⁴ Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 

¹⁵ Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

¹⁶ And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 

¹⁷ He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

¹⁸ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 

¹⁹ And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

²⁰ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

²¹ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

    Jesus downplays the importance of an earthly inheritance, explaining that it can lead to greed and an obsession with wealth. It is far better to store up treasures in heaven. Our inheritance, like the Israelites’, is from God (Acts 20:32; Ephesians 1:11, 14, 18) and, like Abraham (Hebrews 11:8, 13), we will not receive our spiritual inheritance in this lifetime. (1 Peter 1:4) What is this inheritance? Psalm 37:11 and Matthew 5:5 say it’s the whole earth. James 2:5 says it’s the kingdom of God, and Hebrews 11:16 calls it a heavenly country. First Corinthians 2:9 says it is so wonderful, that "eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him." And Revelation 21 describes a new heaven and new earth where God will dwell among His people and “take away tears, mourning, pain, and death.”

    In regard to inheritance, it's the example of parents ensuring their family is cared for after their death. In modern times, this doesn't necessarily mean land, or even material possessions. It can include imparting a good character, ensuring children have an education, or training them in a profession. But, when most people think of parents leaving an inheritance for their children, it has to do with material possessions. The Bible definitely supports the idea of parents leaving their material possessions/wealth/property to their children. At the same time, parents should not feel obligated to save up everything for their children’s inheritance, neglecting themselves in the process. It should never be a matter of guilt or obligation. Rather, it should be an act of love, a final way of expressing your love and appreciation to children. Most important, however, is the parents’ responsibility to make sure children are aware of the inheritance they will receive if they follow Christ. Parents are to teach their children about God's expectations, (Deuteronomy 6:6-7; Ephesians 6:4) and bring their children to Christ (Mark 10:14). In this way, parents can provide for their children in the greatest way possible.”

Sixth, is “A False Witness Who Pours Out Lies”.

    Once again, we go back to the root of all sin:  Pride.  A prideful person is quick to lie about others in order to make themselves look better.  If they accuse others falsely, they can blame others for something they did or something that they should have done.  I have heard this occur many times in the workplace.  Some will constantly be blaming others at work for their own lack of responsibility.  When things go wrong, they are always quick to point the finger.  It is what one co-worker of mine said: “They threw me under the bus.”  This means that they got blamed for something that they did not do and they were not responsible for in order for the lying person to look like a better worker.  They fail to shoulder the blame for something that they should have done or actually did do in order to accuse an innocent person who is not present to defend themselves. 

    A false witness will lie in court, perhaps even at the risk of perjury, just to get out of a crime that they committed, while assessing the blame on an innocent party.  A person who “pours out lies” loses all credibility in time and eventually, people will tend to not believe anything they say.  Lies catch up with a person because they have to speak other lies to cover up the first one and many times they become so entrapped by their many lies that they become like a fly ensnared in a web.  Their web gets so tangled up with their many lies that they often forget them all and it comes back to bite them.

    This is a very hurtful and disgusting way of lying to make someone else look bad, or to damage their character or their honor or honesty in order to accomplish a sinister goal.

Related to this is number seven, “one who stirs up conflict in the community”.

    Finally, this sin is one that has divided many churches.  Gossip is one way to stir up conflict and divide even the closest of friends.  A person who stirs up this conflict is like a person who throws gas on a fire that others are trying to put out.  It’s like dragging up old issues that might have been resolved but a person stirs up the issue over and over again.  When they are constantly stirring it up, like coals of a fire, it becomes hotter and hotter, and eventually erupts into a bonfire. Or, a person who deliberately grabs a stick and stirs up a bee’s nest. The person who is continually stirring up conflict is also a person who is full of pride.  They want others to get stung, while they are considered to be a person above reproach.  It will destroy a church and a community.

    These are the things that should not be any part of a Christian’s life or lifestyle.

I would suggest going back and reading all seven once again, lest we forget that these are things God hates!

Things God hates;

Fourth, "hands that devise wicked schemes."

    Anyone that plans ahead of time (premeditation) to do evil is a hand that devises wicked schemes.  This would include burglarizing homes knowing when the occupants leave, or a burglary after a store closes, sabotaging someone’s car with a bomb, waiting in a dark alley to rob someone, or stalking a woman in order to rape or kill her.  Anyone that plans ahead of time to do harm or evil to someone is a person that God is personally opposed to. Someday they will give an account for every evil deed they do in their lifetime (Matthew 12:36, Romans 2:6).  For those who are born-again, they have already had their judgment and have been declared innocent due to Christ’s atoning sacrifice.  God sees them as having Jesus’ righteousness imputed to them.  Those who have not believed in Jesus Christ and trusted Him as their Lord and Savior will face the Great White Throne Judgment and give an account for all their lifetime deeds (Revelation 20).

Fifth, “feet that are quick to rush into evil.”

    If their feet are quick to run into evil, they are already predisposed, or already of a mind to want to rob, murder, hurt, lie, or cheat others.  They don’t have to think about it. They instantly run to do something where they see an easy opportunity.  They quickly jump to their feet to take advantage of someone in a vulnerable position, like someone leaving their purse on a restaurant table or finding someone’s wallet on the floor and rushing to pick it up and quickly taking it for themselves.

    A person that doesn’t even have to think about doing something wrong is always quick to do it. They rush ahead, not even thinking of the consequences, so they are likely not a Christian and they have no conviction from the Holy Spirit about thinking twice about it.  Their only goal is easy money or an easy target.  They don’t stop and ponder about it – they run swiftly to take advantage of a situation.  The human heart, without the Holy Spirit, is desperately wicked and thinks nothing of jumping at the chance to do something wrong (Jermiah 17:9).  A Christian has to battle their conscience because God’s Spirit is restraining their behavior and making them think about the consequences first, tends to not jump at the chance to do something that they know is inherently wrong.

Third, is “hands that shed innocent blood”;

     God alone is the author and giver of life and only He has the right to take a life.  Here again, pride is a root cause of murder.  Anger and rage involve someone else doing something we don’t like or we want to take from others who have more than we do. James equates murder’s motives quite well in saying, “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures“ (James 4:1-3).

    When do you think that the first murder took place? Most people would guess that the first murder was when Cain killed Abel. However, there was an earlier murder. When Satan took the form of a serpent and tempted Adam and Eve to sin, he caused them to sin and with that sin, they died (Genesis 2:17). This is why Jesus called Satan a murderer from the very beginning. (John 8:44).

    Murder is something that is easy to understand as being wrong. God has always opposed murder. It is listed as one of the things that God finds abominable in Proverbs 6:16-19. The word abominable has an interesting meaning; it literally means something that makes you sick to your stomach. God is not a physical being who has a stomach to be made ill, but the word conveys the idea that God finds murder a very disgusting concept.

    Many sins that men commit carry appropriate punishments for the sins. Even before Moses brought the Old Law to the Israelites, God gave mankind a command that murderers were to be put to death. “Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind.” (Genesis 9:6)

    Some people think that killing murderers, called capital punishment, is a silly holdover from more primitive times that modern, civilized people should no longer practice. However, since God has commanded capital punishment, it would seem that a culture that does not kill its murderers shows a disrespect for the wisdom of God.

    To some people, killing a murderer is just another form of murder. To these people any taking of a life is wrong. Often, Exodus 20:13 is quoted, "You shall not kill." Some translations do render this verse in this way, but most good translations render the verse, "You shall not murder." The Bible makes a distinction between killing and murder. There are times when killing must be done, as in times of war, however the key word here is “innocent” blood.