“Brother to Those Who Destroys?”
Proverbs 18:6-9
“A fool’s lips bring strife, and their mouth calls for blows. A fool’s mouth is their ruin, and their lips are the snare of their soul. The words of a whisperer are like dainty morsels, and they go down into the innermost parts of the body. Those who are slack in their work, is the brother to those who destroys.”
Most of us detest the disgusting images of those who would strap a bomb on their bodies, walk into a crowd of innocent people and blow themselves up, along with causing destruction to innocent individuals, yet amazingly, we may have unwittingly brought such a judgment upon ourselves. Proverbs 18:6-9 reveals that the aggressive, passive-aggressive and neglectful or lazy person could be “a brother to him who is a great destroyer.” (KJV). In other words, the aggressive, passive-aggressive and neglectful or lazy person is culpable in the act of destruction, with their words and actions.
The word “destroyer” in this scripture is from the Hebrew mashchiyth (Strong’s #4889) whose verb, shachath (Strong’s #7843), denotes “to corrupt, spoil, ruin, mar, destroy.” This verb appears 150 times in the Old Testament, and mashchiyth, twelve times, including describing the angel of death, “the destroyer,” that God sent to devastate Egypt’s firstborn (Exodus 12:23).
Sin and evil have an active and a passive component, often referred to as “sins of commission” and “sins of omission.” The first two of the capital sins listed in Revelation 21:8, “cowardly” and “unbelieving,” are sins of omission calling for execution in the Lake of Fire. Likewise, Jesus warns in Luke 9:61 of the person who begins the conversion process but then reconsiders: “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62).
As much as we may dismiss them, aggressive, passive-aggressive and neglectful activities can destroy relationships with the Father and Jesus Christ, relationships within the church and relationships outside the church, as thoroughly an active terrorist, in a crowd of innocent people. With the use of words, it is in the nature of some to argue, while the nature of others could be to demonstrate behavior in a pattern of indirectly expressing negative feelings instead of openly addressing them or neglecting to say and do anything at all.
Overcoming is an active process. As a true Christian, we are called for constructive work, in all our relationships. Constructive work could be viewed as the law for a true Christian in their human life and progression to a Spirit-Born child of God. By using aggressive, passive-aggressive and neglect words and actions, as a potential child of God, we can sabotage our spiritual futures, as well as damage others along the way.
