For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
The running feet describe sinners who eagerly, urgently and determinedly pursue wrongdoing and violence, even to shedding innocent blood. The feet stand for a person's actions and path of life, and those who choose this course are fools who reject wisdom and the Lord's counsel and walk in darkness away from the light of His word, bringing danger upon their own lives. Because their violence is so eager, the wise response is to refuse their invitation, stay off their path, and resist the first temptation before being quickly drawn into error, shame, or crime. Safety especially requires heeding wise parental counsel and keeping clear of bad company and appealing worldly attractions that start a downward course toward ruin.
Meaning and Context
For their feet run to evil and make haste to shed blood means sinners pursue wrongdoing and violence eagerly, urgently and with determination, rushing quickly toward evil and even the shedding of innocent blood. The haste belongs to those who entice others toward violence, eager to do evil and quick to commit it. The feet are actions and paths of life. The people so described are fools who reject wisdom and the counsel of the Lord and face destruction.
Their chosen course of wrongdoing leaves them walking in darkness, away from the light of God's word. Their violent greed for gain ultimately brings danger upon their own lives. A ruined young man whose hands are stained with crime shows the outcome of refusing instruction and rejecting the path of wisdom and life.
Warning and Application
The eager rush toward wrongdoing and the readiness to shed innocent blood are themselves the reason to refuse the enticement of wrongdoers and to stay off their path, for those who invite others to violence are quick to do evil, and their greedy violence at last endangers their own lives. Satan's appealing promises and the attractions of the world can draw a person into ruin, so safety lies in keeping away from the path of sinners and in refusing the first temptation to step onto it. Ignoring wise parental counsel and entering bad company can begin a downward course, in which temptations carry the tempted further toward ruin.
The image of running feet shows how quickly a person can be drawn onto a path of error and shame and crime, so resisting means stopping oneself before following it. Haste can serve evil, as seen when gold and pleasure are pursued by dishonest methods with disregard for consequences, producing appalling results. The same danger to the young appears when children are deliberately lured into liquor use and then used to entice other children, drawing little feet into a destructive path.
Feet that hasten toward evil and bloodshed represent actions and paths of life that must be cleansed before they can serve God acceptably. After confession of sin the whole person is placed in Christ's hands for consecration, including desires and mind and heart and hands and feet.
The running feet describe sinners who eagerly, urgently and determinedly pursue wrongdoing and violence, even to shedding innocent blood. The feet stand for a person's actions and path of life, and those who choose this course are fools who reject wisdom and the Lord's counsel and walk in darkness away from the light of His word, bringing danger upon their own lives. Because their violence is so eager, the wise response is to refuse their invitation, stay off their path, and resist the first temptation before being quickly drawn into error, shame, or crime. Safety especially requires heeding wise parental counsel and keeping clear of bad company and appealing worldly attractions that start a downward course toward ruin.
Meaning and Context
For their feet run to evil and make haste to shed blood means sinners pursue wrongdoing and violence eagerly, urgently and with determination, rushing quickly toward evil and even the shedding of innocent blood. The haste belongs to those who entice others toward violence, eager to do evil and quick to commit it. The feet are actions and paths of life. The people so described are fools who reject wisdom and the counsel of the Lord and face destruction.
Their chosen course of wrongdoing leaves them walking in darkness, away from the light of God's word. Their violent greed for gain ultimately brings danger upon their own lives. A ruined young man whose hands are stained with crime shows the outcome of refusing instruction and rejecting the path of wisdom and life.
Warning and Application
The eager rush toward wrongdoing and the readiness to shed innocent blood are themselves the reason to refuse the enticement of wrongdoers and to stay off their path, for those who invite others to violence are quick to do evil, and their greedy violence at last endangers their own lives. Satan's appealing promises and the attractions of the world can draw a person into ruin, so safety lies in keeping away from the path of sinners and in refusing the first temptation to step onto it. Ignoring wise parental counsel and entering bad company can begin a downward course, in which temptations carry the tempted further toward ruin.
The image of running feet shows how quickly a person can be drawn onto a path of error and shame and crime, so resisting means stopping oneself before following it. Haste can serve evil, as seen when gold and pleasure are pursued by dishonest methods with disregard for consequences, producing appalling results. The same danger to the young appears when children are deliberately lured into liquor use and then used to entice other children, drawing little feet into a destructive path.
Feet that hasten toward evil and bloodshed represent actions and paths of life that must be cleansed before they can serve God acceptably. After confession of sin the whole person is placed in Christ's hands for consecration, including desires and mind and heart and hands and feet.