Proverbs 10:25 Commentary and Bible Study

The KJV translates the first part of this verse as a comparison. Rather than making the whirlwind the means of the destruction of the wicked, it finds a similarity between the whirlwind and the wicked. It would be contrary to experience and Scripture to say that the whirlwind picks out and destroys only the wicked, while leaving the righteous untouched. The whirlwind resembles the wicked in that it is full of destruction while it is in progress, but it does not last long. The whirlwind is unpredictable, almost invincible, it destroys or hurts everything in its path. It is all sound and fury and commotion, and it is no respecter of anything before it. You can see this as a picture of some evil rulers, or evil regimes. They seem to have tremendous force and power, and they impose their will on a country, or even an empire, and then eventually they are spent, and they are gone. While it is ascendant it makes much noise, but afterwards comes tranquillity. The calm that follows would be hard to imagine while the storm is still raging for it seems to dominate everything, but this is an exaggeration. The wicked storm their way through life as if there is no other cause but their own. They give the impression that nothing can stand in their path and all must yield to them, but their strength will be exhausted, and by faith the Christian sees they will not last. Viewed from the perspective of eternity they are a passing phenomenon, whose effect is soon forgotten. Therefore God’s people should not be intimidated by them. But neither should they be like them. The whirlwind pictures the unprincipled person who is lawless, who just marches through the earth grabbing what he wants. He is driven by his impulses, and his whims. Is it possible that even a Christian may be doing everything according to his present whim, completely indifferent to whose feelings he hurts, what damage he or she causes? Such a person will be short lived. The energy and everything will soon be spent, and then that person will go off into backsliding. How do you become a backslider? Well, you begin by abandoning being ruled by principles, the principles of the Lord. This sudden desire has come upon me, and I am going to fulfil it and everything goes flying in the way. But very different are the righteous, for in spite of their apparent weakness, lack of worldly influence, poverty, simplicity, and powerlessness, they are like an everlasting foundation. The verb must be supplied in the second half of the verse, and some suggest ‘has’ – ‘has an everlasting foundation’, but the comparison is with what the wicked are, not what they have. The righteous are like a solid foundation, strong and stable – a foundation which they and others can build on. On the one hand a whirlwind, rushes down the peaceful valley, and tears up everything, but over here there is a nice valley or hill which is a permanent foundation for people to build in, where you can construct a community, where positive work can be carried out. It is a picture of a person who is stable, and predictable, and operates according to principle, who follows God, who puts these principles into operation in the life, and therefore other people can come and make a home there. Other people can be influenced for good; there can be constructive maintenance of order.