Issue: The Silence of God?

The book of Proverbs is the master example of alternatives:

Wisdom vs. Folly

Prudence vs. Rashness

Teachability vs. Hardness of Heart

Faithfulness vs. Betrayal

Humility vs. Hubris

The list could go on and on. But there’s an issue that’s in Proverbs 1 that is terrifying in its teaching: There are times when God laughs at human sin and anguish and distress. Yes, it’s true. Stick with me for a moment.

Verses 20-25 of Proverbs 1 all stress one theme: The wisdom of God calls out to all. She (it’s literary personification) “cries aloud in the street” (Pr 1:20a) She asks, “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?” (Pr 1:22).

Here’s the Rub: God sometimes gives people over to their folly as just judgment for our refusal to listen to God’s wisdom.

Here’s what Scripture teaches:

24Because I have called and you refused to listen,
    have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,
²⁵ because you have ignored all my counsel
    and would have none of my reproof,
²⁶ I also will laugh at your calamity;
    I will mock when terror strikes you,
²⁷ when terror strikes you like a storm
    and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
    when distress and anguish come upon you.
²⁸ Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
    they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
²⁹ Because they hated knowledge
    and did not choose the fear of the Lord,
³⁰ would have none of my counsel
    and despised all my reproof,
³¹ therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way,
    and have their fill of their own devices.
³² For the simple are killed by their turning away,
    and the complacency of fools destroys them;
³³ but whoever listens to me will dwell secure
    and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”

God sometimes appears to go silent. Why? As judgment for our folly. Verse 26 should shake us to our core. Why? Because it teaches that God actually laughs at our calamity, that He mocks us. And in verse 28, He says He will not answer. But we don’t have to wonder why. It’s right there in the text. Verses 29-30 read, “Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD, would have none of [His] counsel and despised all [His] reproof.”

Connection and Encouragement: Sometimes when I look around at our culture, I think to myself, “Surely, we cannot get any dumber. Surely, Lord, we’ll come to our senses. Surely, we’ll not embrace further madness,” but then clown world continues to play out. It is truly madness run amok, day in and day out, and the forces of darkness are running roughshod. Wisdom seems to have been rejected and folly embraced. And we are told by ‘leaders’ to call light darkness and to call darkness the light. And for those who care, we go, “Why? What’s happened?” I think the answer is right here in Proverbs 1. We’ve rejected God, rejected wisdom, and instead embraced nihilism and sheer folly.

Take hope in this: God invariably preserves a remnant of people through the storms. His purposes will be fulfilled. And He calls out still, just like in Proverbs 1, “but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster” (Pr 1:33).