“A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth. He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers; Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord. Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy” (KJV, Prov. 6:12-15).
“A naughty person, a wicked man”
At the outset, knowing what is at stake in the text is essential. The Hebrew word for naughty is beliyaal which can also be translated as without profit or worthless. To be labeled by God in His Word as worthless should cause great attention from the reader. God is not shy in calling it like it is.
The Word of God exposes the harsh realities of the world in which we live. Many are living a worthless life. Many have no value to the life in which they live. The cost is too high to continue in such a fashion. The Christian must be made aware of what constitutes a worthless life.
First, the Bible tells us that a worthless man is a wicked man. Wickedness is closely connected with sinfulness. Therefore, the worthless man is the one who habitually and joyfully commits sin. The Hebrew word translated as wicked is aven, which is a relatively abnormal usage to depict wickedness in the Bible.
The word carries the meaning of someone striving for something only for his efforts to come to naught and nothingness. Thus, we can see the worthless man depicted in the wicked man yet again.
“walketh with a froward mouth”
As we move forward, we see that the worthless man is the one who walks with a froward mouth. When the KJV speaks in this manner, what is at stake is one who speaks crookedly. To have a forward mouth is to have a crooked or perverse mouth. The book of Proverbs can help us understand the Scripture at hand.
Proverbs 2:12 tells us that wisdom will guard the Christian against men of froward speech. The Bible goes on to say to us that those of froward speech are ones “Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness; who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked; Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths” (Prov. 2:13-15).
Thus, the one with the froward mouth will also have his life characterized by crookedness and delight in crookedness.
At this point, it can help to return to the worthless person. The original Hebrew tells us that the naughty/worthless person is also a man of Belial. A man of Belial is a term that is also used to describe the Devil.
Scripture says, “And what concord has Christ with Belial…” (2 Cor. 6:15). Here we see that there is no connection between Christ and Satan, between Jesus and Belial. Therefore, when we think of Satan as the epitome of a worthless person, we can see what it means to be crooked.
“He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers”
The worthless person is full of deception. Once again, the imagery of Satan is helpful. Satan is the father of lies and full of deceit. The worthless person lives a life of lies and deceit. He is characterized by cunning and hiding his true motives and objectives.
In the east, when a man would deceive another, he would often do so with an accomplice. The accomplice would be in on the plan, and there would be signals communicating various messages to the accomplice. The historical context of the passage places us in Israel many years ago. In doing so, we are shown the man who would wink with his eyes, speak with his feet, and teach with his fingers while telling lies with his mouth.
The accomplice would notice the winks, the foot motions, and the finger signals, while the worthless person would deceive the man in front of him with his words.
“Frowardness is in his heart”
When someone is worthless, it is not simply a matter of behavior; it is a matter of the heart. The heart determines behavior. It is out of the heart of man that the mouth speaks. The heart is the wellspring of life; as a man thinks in his heart, so he is. Man cannot rise above his own heart.
Much like the ark in the deluge, when the water rose, so did the ark, but when there was no water, the ark remained on the earth’s surface.
The heart of man needs God’s divine intervention. This is why God tells us in the Book of Ezekiel of His plan to take out the heart of stone and give man a heart of flesh. God must perform the surgery for man to be delivered from his worthlessness.
“he deviseth mischief continually”
Here we double back to the habitual nature of sin in the worthless man. Solomon tells us that the worthless man devises mischief continually. This would be the same as saying that the worthless man continues in sin. But the Christian should know that continuing in sin is not an option.
Paul has already asked us if the Christian should continue on sin. He has already answered his question when he stated that the Christian should not continue in sin because the Christian has died to sin.
To continue in sin is to live, abide, and remain in sin. The worthless man is the one who devises mischief continually and without restraint.
“he soweth discord”
Not only does the worthless man devise mischief continually, but he sows discord. To sow discord is to cause quarrels among people. Here we are given the imagery of a farmer. Israel was an agrarian culture and loved the imagery of sowing and reaping. The imagery can be seen throughout the Bible, and we reencounter it here.
The word picture is telling. The worthless man is portrayed as planting a seed of discord. The seed could be words or actions that cause two parties to oppose each other. The worthless man could plant one seed, or he could plant many. The seed could shoot up quickly or take time to rise to the surface.
Either way, the worthless man delights in the animosity between others. It could be said that the worthless man is far from being a peacemaker.
“Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly”
While the worthless man strives for his sinful purposes, his name will be made manifest in the end. The worthless person is the wicked person who strives for naught. But, instead, calamity will come upon him suddenly.
Mark the words of God in this passage. There can be a tendency to abuse the grace of God when it seems as though God is not doing anything about sin. When someone believes he can get away with sin, he may continue to sin. However, the Bible tells us that calamity will suddenly come upon the worthless man. Heed the warnings of Scripture; there will be suddenness to the calamity of the worthless man.
Nobody is without sin, but many are without repentance. Herein lays the key.
“suddenly shall he be broken without remedy”
Not only will the worthless man’s calamity come upon him suddenly, but he shall be broken without remedy. What a demise for the one who lived a life of deception and trickery, who carried himself with crooked speech because of his crooked heart.
Do not take the warnings of the Lord lightly. If a worthless man does not repent, justice will be swift, and there will be no remedy. We have been given the Remedy, and His name is Christ Jesus. Justice will be served in Christ for those who repent of their sin. But there will be no remedy for those who persist before the God of heaven.
Therefore, turn to the Lord this day and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of sin. Heed the warnings of Scripture and seek the Lord for forgiveness. He will be found by those who seek Him.
Final Prayer
Father, I thank You for the warnings of Scripture. Convict my heart this day and cause me to honor You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.