Proverbs 20:21 Commentary and Bible Study

An inheritance comes into our hands by means outside our control as a result of others dying and leaving their possessions to us, so it is surprising that it is described as being gotten hastily. This can only mean that it is eagerly welcomed and regarded as a transforming event which will make all the difference to the life of the receiver. It is treated as having power to remove worries and sorrows, and to bring security. The receiver of the inheritance in the illustration receives it greedily, avidly, or as the KJV says, hastily. The Hebrew word means ‘to get by greed’ and has more to do with the attitude of the one who inherits than with the speed which they acquire the inheritance. His mind gets to work on all the things he will now be able to afford, and this becomes his main source of optimism for the future. Any thought of God’s direction in his life is eclipsed, and the Lord’s power seems to diminish in his estimation. He has set his heart on his inheritance. The inheritance stands for all kinds of sudden enrichment and the warning is about the deceitful influence of such changes of fortune in our lives.The end of it will not be good. The receiver of the fortune has looked at life naïvely as if riches had power to give ultimate satisfaction. He has credited them with powers they do not have. He has said, ‘To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: whereas ye know not what shall be on the morro’ (James. 4:13-14). God will frustrate those who set out to obtain satisfaction for themselves without him. He notes their foolish optimism, and he will not let it stand. He will not allow any to disprove the Scripture that man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord (Deuteronomy 8:3). The person who thinks that earthly riches are sufficient in themselves does not know himself. He does not recognise the parts of himself which are not capable of being uplifted by the physical.