Proverbs 29:18
“Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, but happy is he who keeps the law.”
During the time of the judges in ancient Israel, God’s covenant people, those who should have known God and should have been ready to do His will, but the Word of God was rare in those days, and the result was that every person was doing what was right in his own eyes (Judges 21:25). In other words, the people were not submitting to what they knew of God and His purpose.
The word vision means “revelation.” The sum of this shows that one’s attitude toward what has been revealed to them will determine what life will produce for them. The book of Judges exposes what the people’s attitude was toward what had been revealed to them through the prophets and judges God has sent to them. Since they did not have a good attitude toward what God had revealed to them, the Word of God was rare.
The very same word, “vision,” appears in Proverbs 29:18, where it says that, without revelation, people cast off restraint. The Living Bible’s translation gives a more accurate sense: “Where there is no revelation, the people run wild.” This does not mean that the people were running around like insane people, but that they move through their lives without direction or purpose.
I Samuel 3:1 and Proverbs 29:18 come from different settings. One is in the setting of God’s covenant people—people who should have known, and the other one describes people who are totally unconverted. Yet, what happens to the one is the same as what happens to the other. This is where the attitude, the understanding, begins to become so important. Whether it is with the unconverted or even with God’s people who are ignoring it, the result is the same: The people live aimless, purposeless, fruitless lives.
As Christians, we have entered in a covenant with The Father and Jesus Christ, our attitude toward what we have been given is extremely important to making use of our calling. It is inherent to the Father’s revealed will that blessings will come, as represented by the word “happy” mentioned at the end of verse 18: “Happy is he that keeps the law.”
Do we believe that God has given us a revelation? If we do believe this, what is our attitude toward it? The answers to these questions are very important. We need this revelation to create a sense of direction and well-being about life.
The times that we live in are oppressive and depressive, and it is not hard to allow them to give us a sense of hopelessness. However, we have the revelation from God of the most valuable knowledge that can be given to human beings anywhere regardless of their station in life. With the Father’s revelation of understanding and knowledge of His ways for our lives, and the example of living the Father’s ways, in the life of Jesus Christ, we are rich in what really matters regarding life and its purpose.
