What does this really mean? It’s a proverb. Proverbs 28:1 says that the wicked flee when no one pursues but the righteous are bold as a lion.
If a believer is told to have meekness then how can we reconcile this with the fact that the righteous are bold as a lion? Easy. Meekness is simply gentleness with authority. That’s it.
So why is it that the righteous are bold as a lion…and that is bold. It’s because they have the authority to be bold…the obligation to be bold. When you are right and holy and in step with God, He gives you the authority to be bold as a lion. Why? It’s because only the the meek are given this authority! A proud man is not a righteous man. He hasn’t been given the authority to be bold as a lion. He’s proud. He stumbles at his own self assertion. His thoughts are not right or he wouldn’t be proud. He runs when no one pursues. Biblical pride is this: disobedience to God. Period. That is God’s definition of pride. How can we spot it? If you do not have His discernment you won’t be able. You will call authority, pride. But if you do have discernment, you’ll spot it because it will be right. Your spirit will say, that’s right.
Now consistent with this thought are other proverbs that tell us that it is an abomination to treat the wicked with honor. Can we hear that? It is an abomination to treat the wicked with honor.
Why? First of all it’s a lie. God hates lies. It is deceptive to treat a wicked person with honor. What are we doing when we do such a thing? We are lying. We are elevating wickedness. We are honoring wickedness. Being kind to your enemy is love, it is not honor. God says he hates the evil doer, the wicked. If He hates the evil doer why would anyone honor him? They also hate God, that’s why . The one who honors the wicked, hates God.
This is all we see today. It is in government, schools, churches, all institutions and in the home. It is with extreme ignorance that the church is today honoring wicked social movements and calling them good. God won’t over look it. He hates the evil doer.
God doesn’t use any comparison loosely or lightly. Look at a lion. His boldness comes with authority. He bows to no one. Why? Look at him. He’s a lion. He’s bold. What gives him the authority? His creator has. He has made him such. Everything about that lion that makes him bold, his God formed it in him. It is God’s work, therefore it stands. He has authority because of it. Look: “The spiritual man judges all things yet is rightly judged by none” ( 1 Corinthians 2:15). The spiritual man in the Bible is the righteous man. He has Christ fully formed in him; sanctified.
Now the wicked are bold in their wickedness but that too, is easily spotted. They are not right. Look at what they are being bold about and that will reveal where their boldness comes from.
Lastly, the righteous have the authority to be bold because good is bold. Good is not half way. It’s good. It’s all good, at all times. These are glorious rewards in the here and now but are foreshadows of the up and coming. Righteousness comes with amazing righteous authority. It shines forth as light.
Thank you Lord Jesus,
Amen