The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.
Proverbs 3 belongs to practical instruction about moral and religious duties, teaching that God rewards the wise and righteous with glory and punishes evil, while folly ends in shame. Wisdom and folly are moral categories, for the wise are those who fear God, and foolishness is another name for wickedness. Wisdom is the principal thing, giving life to those who have it and marking the path of life, and happy is the one who finds wisdom and gets understanding.
Refusing instruction and reproof and breaking God's spiritual laws bring spiritual disease and death, as seen in a life ruined by crime and loss of manhood. The rich man in Jesus' parable illustrates such folly, for though outwardly upright he lived as if God did not exist, trusted in his wealth, and failed to show gratitude to God.
The glory the wise inherit is not worldly wealth, fame, or honor, but the splendor and beauty of God's own glory, shining as the brightness of the firmament. It is distinct from honor and immortality, though associated with those gifts. This glory will be fully realized when the Son of man comes, when the wise will dwell with God in the holy city on the renewed earth, where God and the Lamb are its light and the earth is restored to Eden-like beauty, filled with joy and with the knowledge of God's glory. The shame that is the promotion of fools is shame and everlasting contempt, being made ashamed before Him at His coming. The promise is connected with seeking glory through patient continuance in well-doing.
Proverbs 3 belongs to practical instruction about moral and religious duties, teaching that God rewards the wise and righteous with glory and punishes evil, while folly ends in shame. Wisdom and folly are moral categories, for the wise are those who fear God, and foolishness is another name for wickedness. Wisdom is the principal thing, giving life to those who have it and marking the path of life, and happy is the one who finds wisdom and gets understanding.
Refusing instruction and reproof and breaking God's spiritual laws bring spiritual disease and death, as seen in a life ruined by crime and loss of manhood. The rich man in Jesus' parable illustrates such folly, for though outwardly upright he lived as if God did not exist, trusted in his wealth, and failed to show gratitude to God.
The glory the wise inherit is not worldly wealth, fame, or honor, but the splendor and beauty of God's own glory, shining as the brightness of the firmament. It is distinct from honor and immortality, though associated with those gifts. This glory will be fully realized when the Son of man comes, when the wise will dwell with God in the holy city on the renewed earth, where God and the Lamb are its light and the earth is restored to Eden-like beauty, filled with joy and with the knowledge of God's glory. The shame that is the promotion of fools is shame and everlasting contempt, being made ashamed before Him at His coming. The promise is connected with seeking glory through patient continuance in well-doing.