Proverbs 14:34 Commentary and Bible Study

We could take this proverb at face value and certainly it is applicable literally to nations on earth. The work of salvation is a work in the hearts of individuals, for only a single man, woman or child can repent, believe, and be born again, receiving pardon and eternal life through Christ. For this reason, we may be inclined to think that the individual is the only unit that God deals with. However, Scripture shows this is not the case, for the prophets also speak to nations and pronounce judgments and blessings on them by name. There is such a thing as a national characteristic, and God recognises collective responsibility; thus whole nations are judged and those who belong to them. At the same time God’s justice operates at another level, and he is able to make exceptions of individuals within a nation even while dealing with the nation as a whole, for his providence is able to operate at multiple levels at the same time. Rahab was therefore saved while her fellow citizens all perished. Korah, Dathan, and Abiram perished in an exceptional manner, though Israel was preserved in the wilderness. We should therefore not be surprised to read that righteousness exalts a nation, and understand that the exaltation spoken of comes from the Lord. Nevertheless the principles by which God deals with the nations also apply to churches and to individuals. Here is a nation with great resources of oil. Does that exalt it in the eyes of the surrounding nations? Maybe a little, from the point of view of those who wish to trade with it, but it does not cause great admiration for that nation. Another country has great sporting prowess or military power, or gold reserves, and yet has a human rights problem. Those who observe that nation are not very impressed with these things. They may be the accidents of history, but what is far harder for a nation to achieve is righteousness. People look for justice in the legal system, care of the poor, lack of corruption, and discretion in the way foreign policy is conducted. These things are harder to achieve and they exalt a nation, because they are evidence of real character in the people and their leaders. But here is another nation with very evil practices, such as the Canaanites who sacrificed their children to their gods. God determined to destroy them and used his people Israel to do it. Sin was a reproach to them and caused them to become a byword for depravity and rightly so. God, who, whether men admit it or not, judges the nations judged the Canaanites and in this exceptional case used his people on earth to execute that judgment. This is a picture of the final judgment in which the saints will judge the world, and trample Satan under their feet (Psalm 91:13; Romans 16:20).