A sorely neglected task 🙂 When men hide...

Proverbs 28:28

“When the wicked rise, men hide themselves; But when they perish, the righteous increase.”    

First, I want to point out the word “man” means “mankind” or people.

And the phrase: when the “wicked rise” refers to wicked people being promoted into public power which can also include those who are popular so they are able have influence on people.

Now, the word Men "hide" means to avoid being seen publicly, that they disappear from view so they don’t become prey to the wicked, they hide themselves, and this may be so that they are not put to death, but it can also mean they stay out of view, they’re inconspicuous. 

The word “perish” can mean they either die or it can mean they no longer have authority and power.

Now today’s proverb is dealing with what happens when the wicked come into positions of public power and influence.

Like the case when wicked King Ahab and his wife, Jezebel ruled over Israel.

The godly men began to hide themselves, they knew that under Ahab and Jezebel's rule godliness would not be tolerated and so the prophets of God hid in caves.

Even Elijah eventually ran from the death threats of Jezebel and hid too. 

Now let's be honest about this word, "wicked."  Because it’s a word that we usually use to describe the evilest of people.

However, in God’s Word it typically refers to those who are disobeying God's law or who are opposing God by their actions.

God has a much broader meaning for the word “wicked.”  

“The righteous” in today’s scripture, are those who follow a moral and an ethical path in agreement with God and His Law. 

So, in today’s proverb we learn that the wickedness of those who rise up is defined by how they view God's Law and submission to God's way.

In any society where, ungodly choices are exalted and even protected by law...

Those who hold to what God calls right, begin to hide themselves by not speaking out publicly. 

Either by choice or by force.

It is can become difficult to write or speak on what God calls sin and what He calls righteous because to do so often brings about almost instant criticism from so many who no longer view what is taught in the Scriptures as right or even relevant.

And we see the condemnation of many righteous believers removed from teaching potions, coaching potions and even online dialog has been relegated to silence by removing their ability to speak.

So, as biblical righteousness becomes increasingly more difficult to speak about publicly, we must not forget the value of private, one on one conversations and building honest and real friendships with those who disagree with us. 

And then share the truth with your friends over time. Allowing God’s Spirit to work in their heart.

Wisdom must be the rule and as the scriptures tell us we are to "speak the truth in love," we are to always speak with "kindness and respect.”

We must always be mindful that our conversations are to be motivated by love.

It is so easy to find ourselves in a combative, political conversation. But we must remember that we are to be "gospel-centered people" first!

Why would we want to win an argument over political views and but lose the honor of introducing the gospel to someone?  

We’re living in time where there is little public support for morals and ethics based from Scripture. 

But this gives us even more of a reason to tell of the hope that is in us. God bless!