“The Way to Death”

January 31, 2026January 29, 2026Todd R Leave a comment

Is everything a matter of life and death? In Deuteronomy 30:19, Moses said to the people of Israel about God’s law: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live.” This idea of things being a choice between life and death also shows up in wisdom literature, like the Proverbs, and elsewhere. Paul wrote in Romans 5:12, “as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.” These verses don’t mean that every time you sin lightning will come down from heaven and strike you dead. They also don’t mean that whether you choose to have corn or peas with dinner is a life-or-death decision. But they do mean that, absent God’s grace, the necessary, inevitable consequence of sin is death.

Paul also wrote, in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Because of this gift, our bad choices and bad intentions don’t have to lead to eternal death, but we still make bad choices, and the verse(s) I’m going to highlight today is(are) a good reminder that we get tricked into bad choices.

In response to a reader suggestion, I’m writing a series about the verses I’ve quoted the most on this blog. Today’s post is #4 of the series, covering the verse(s) quoted the 4th least out of the 10 most quoted:

“There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way to death.” – Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25

Yes, Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25 say exactly the same thing, as if the point being made was so important that it needed repeating. This Proverb tells us that we make bad choices because they seem right. Here I’ve used this verse a few times and in a few different ways, which I’m listing below:

Sometimes what “seems right” is physically bad for us
In one post, I explained the famous “Marlboro Man” advertising campaign begun in 1954, where a cigarette with a red filter designed for women was changed overnight into a cigarette for “manly” men, who usually had a cowboy hat and a horse. I wrote “To make Philip Morris money, the ads declared that smoking was not a “way to death,” but that it was “right to a man” to be like the Marlboro Man.” However, smoking can literally kill you. Not a very spiritual point, but still true!

What’s right is not always what we’ve always done
I’ve also written about the dual Proverb that what “seems right” might be keeping us stuck in a rut and not progressing in life or in holiness. Rather than do what’s actually right, “It’s easier to do what others have done before, or to continue what you’ve already done before, especially if repeated for a long period of time.” While what’s comfortable may be the easy thing to do, 1 Peter 1:14-16 says (quoting Leviticus 11:44), “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”” Since none of us are holy yet, getting there requires change, and therefore staying where we are can be “the way to death.”

What’s right is not always what’s popular
In most (maybe all) cultures there are popular assumptions and ideas that just go unchallenged. Anyone who speaks against them suffers some kind of consequence, from being shunned to even being killed in some places. I wrote a list of quotes called “Popular Orthodoxy” about this, which included today’s Proverbs. Popularity and peer pressure can be powerful things, giving us constant signals about what “seems right to a man”, but I’ve also written that “Sometimes wisdom flashes a red light while others are flashing green.”

What’s right is not always what we think is in our own best interest
For this one, I used an extreme example, where Herod ordered the killing of every child under 2 that lived where Jesus was born. He didn’t want any rivals to his rule, and he didn’t want a populist uprising, so as I wrote: “Herod saw [the killings] as in his own best interest, and in the interest of Rome, but this is one of many examples of “a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.”” As I said this was an extreme example, but if you study economics, you usually learn that it assumes that people are “rational,” meaning they act in their best interest. So, the economic theory of what “seems right to a man” is self-interest.

However, the Bible teaches us that what’s best for us is to defer our judgement of what’s best to God. Too often we’re wrong, and Proverbs 1:7 declares:

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

This “fear” doesn’t mean we are afraid of God, but that we feel a reverent awe toward Him. This fear leads to wisdom and leads us to choose the way that is right to God, not what “seems right” to us. Only the omniscient God has the perspective needed to know what’s right. Psalm 25:12 says:

“Who is the man who fears the LORD?
Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.”

As Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25 tell us, we are easily misled to believe there is a better path than the one God chooses for us. It’s so important that Proverbs tells us this twice, and I agree, which is why it/they make my list of most-quoted verses.

Godly Offspring Aren’t an Accident

January 30, 2026January 29, 2026Todd R Leave a comment

“And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’” – Genesis 1:28
“Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth.” – Malachi 2:15

The first recorded words that God spoke to man and woman were “be fruitful and multiply”. So, as close to man’s beginning as you can get, God created the family. If God’s intention from the start was to build His kingdom, it needed people in it for Him to love. Malachi confirms: “what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring”. He wanted a family for Himself, and for each other.

After this early command, one might expect the Old Testament between Genesis (the first book) and Malachi (the last) to be an instruction manual on having a Godly family, and many are only familiar with the “hero” stories learned in Sunday School. In total though, it’s difficult to find examples of good parents in the Bible. There are plenty of examples of bad parents, but the most striking story is perhaps that of Judah in Genesis 38. (And here I feel I should provide a warning that this story has a lot of sexual content. The full Bible is not a PG movie)

The story[1] starts with Judah taking a foreign (Adullamite) wife, named Shua, against God’s guidance to only marry Israelites so as not to be tempted by foreign gods and religious practices[2]. Judah fathers three sons by Shua, named Er, Onan, and Shelah. Judah takes Tamar to be Er’s wife, but Er died before having children. Preserving the family line through descendants was extremely important in ancient Israel, and a brother would marry his fallen brother’s widow to bear children in his place[3]. Therefore, Judah told his second-born, Onan, to take Tamar, but Onan would “waste the semen on the ground” because he selfishly didn’t want the children to belong to his older brother. Onan also died before having children. Having lost two sons, Judah sent Tamar to live with her father instead of giving the last son, Shelah, to her. Judah claims that the reason was that Shelah was not old enough, but it’s implied in the story that Judah thinks Tamar is somehow responsible for the two son’s deaths. Judah had created his own narrative to explain his misfortune as Tamar’s fault, when it was really God’s judgment for the sins of Judah and his sons. Genesis makes it clear that God was displeased with Judah marrying a foreigner, that Er died for his own wickedness (verse 7), and that Onan died for avoiding his responsibility as a brother (verse 10).

When Judah’s wife died, he waited a while, but then decided to seek a prostitute. Tamar, having never been wed to Shelah even though he was now old enough, sought offspring by disguising herself as a prostitute and soliciting Judah. He did not recognize Tamar, and she conceived a son by him. Prostitution was common in the land then and was often associated with cult fertility rituals for local gods. Not only did Judah commit a sexual sin, but he was probably also worshiping other gods. Later, when Tamar is clearly pregnant, Judah accused her of immorality, but she was able to prove that Judah was the father by producing items he left with her when she was disguised. Ashamed of being discovered, he “did not know her again”.

In just one chapter, we have the command to produce Godly offspring violated by: foreign marriage, wickedness, refusal to conceive, refusal to offer the third brother, and prostitution. God must be frustrated with His struggling family, but He does not give up.

In the last chapter of Malachi, shortly after the “Godly offspring” reference and before going silent for 400 years, God ends the Old Testament with:

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” – Malachi 4:5-6

A restoration of proper family relations is the promise that ends the Old Testament. “Elijah the prophet” is later revealed as a reference to John the Baptist, also spoken of in Isaiah 40:3 as the one who would prepare the way for the Lord Jesus. The same Jesus who is announced in the genealogy that opens the New Testament in the gospel of Matthew:

“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.…and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram” – Matthew 1:1, 3

Here is the miracle of the grace of God: the children born of Judah and Tamar were twins named Perez and Zerah[4]. Matthew could have chosen only those “heroes” of the Bible taught in Sunday School to show Jesus’ superior lineage, but instead chooses to highlight the story of Genesis 38. Why include these people? Because there is no other kind.

God’s purpose in creating His kingdom, populated by His family, will not be thwarted by sin because sinners are the only people available to join His family and to raise His family on earth. Isaiah 53:6 declares:

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Through the death of His only begotten Son on the cross, God became Father of His people through adoption into His eternal family.

But if God’s purpose is inevitable, then why should we bother to be good parents and people?

In the movie Tenet, released in 2020 during the pandemic, there is a scene where one character sacrifices himself for another. The movie revolves around a technology called “inversion” which allows objects and people to be reversed in time. Near the end of the story, two characters have a conversation “before” one character travels backward to sacrifice himself to save another character, but “after” the other character has been saved. They both realize the sacrifice was essential to victory, but also that in the “before” character’s timeline, it hasn’t happened yet. Can the sacrifice be avoided? Then comes one of the best quotes of the movie: “What’s happened, happened. Which is an expression of faith in the mechanics of the world. It’s not an excuse to do nothing.”

In God’s view from eternity, “what’s happened, happened”, but He has taken into account all the sins and successes of mankind. The choices we all make, including the mistakes, are part of the “mechanics of the world”. All the mistakes will be borne in judgment either by the sinner, or on the cross with Christ. But we also know “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10). Doing God’s work is His will, is our purpose, and will be rewarded in heaven. Doing nothing is not an option.

[1] The following two paragraphs summarize Genesis 38
[2] Deuteronomy 7:3-4
[3] Deuteronomy 25:5-10
[4] Genesis 38:27-30

When Our Seeds Only Grow Thorns

January 29, 2026Todd R Leave a comment

Sometimes we feel like we’re putting in a lot of effort but getting no results from it. We’re sowing good seeds but not reaping any harvest. At times, it seems disappointment is our only reward. Often this can just be the way things are at the time – we’re doing nothing wrong but it’s just not obvious what God is doing at that time. We don’t need to change anything. But there may be times where we’re not reaping good things because we’re deceived that what we’re sowing is what we’re supposed to be sowing.

According to the prophet Jeremiah, the nation of Judah had this problem and as a result they ended up in exile. In the first half of Jeremiah 12:13, the prophet says of Judah:

“They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns;
they have tired themselves out but profit nothing.”

The nation of Judah thought they were sowing good seeds, but they weren’t and there are several examples in Jeremiah’s book.

First, Judah thought they were on the right side politically, with powerful friends and therefore secure.

The nation of Judah allied itself alternately with Egypt and Assyria, who they thought could protect them from Babylon. Surely these powerful nations could keep Judah from doom at Babylon’s hands. However, in Jeremiah 3:36 the prophet says:

“How much you go about,
changing your way!
You shall be put to shame by Egypt
as you were put to shame by Assyria.”

Because Judah had trusted these nations, other than God, for their salvation God would put them to shame by His own hand, from which there is no escape. While there are many good ways to work with others, we should never trust anyone with the help that only God can provide.

Next, Judah thought they had the right cultural heritage.

The people of Judah wouldn’t listen to Jeremiah’s prophesies of doom for the nation because they thought God wouldn’t destroy what they saw as His own nation. Israel had been taken into captivity by Assyria, but Judah thought it could never happen to them because they were the heirs of Jewish culture. The people would repeat the phrase, “This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD,” to remind themselves that they were special because they had the temple, but Jeremiah says in Jeremiah 7:4,

“Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’”

The temple was provided as a way to approach God, but Judah thought of it like a magical talisman that would keep God happy so they could do their own thing. However, God doesn’t want us to follow a checklist – He wants us. All cultural and political institutions – including ones provided by God – are useless outside of God’s purpose for them. What He provides He can take away if we abuse it. When Judah was taken into captivity by Babylon, the temple was torn down and burned.

Last, Judah thought they had the right religion and were diligently practicing it

Judah’s religious leaders and people were diligent in observing the practices laid out in God’s ceremonial law. They faithfully made the morning and evening sacrifices, observed the three main Jewish festivals, and followed many other ordinances, but in Jeremiah 7:22-23, the prophet said:

“For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’”

Because Judah was putting observance above obedience to God, He would therefore discipline them. The sacrifices were not the objective – the relationship was the objective, but the people made their religion about the sacrifices themselves, not the relationship they were designed to restore.

Do we sometimes practice similar things in the modern church? Of course we do.

The modern-day equivalent of Judah’s first mistake is when we expect from a political party what only God can give. Our expectations of them become idolatrous, and we become more likely to compromise God’s principles to support them. We commit the second mistake when we are convinced our denomination has it all right – the right history, traditions and doctrine – and therefore God will always favor us. The last mistake happens when we put external religious observances ahead of internal devotion to God. We may be executing the acts and rituals our religion requires of us, and our peers expect from us, but not giving ourselves fully to God. We may go to church, but when we leave the church building we don’t take Jesus with us.

Sometimes we think through our political, cultural, and religious activities we should reap wheat, but what is happening when we keep reaping thorns? Sometimes we need to check that we aren’t repeating Judah’s mistakes.

“They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns;
they have tired themselves out but profit nothing.
They shall be ashamed of their harvests
because of the fierce anger of the LORD.”

The God Over All Government

January 28, 2026Todd R 2 Comments

We’d all like to live under a better government, but the only perfect, Godly government we’ll ever see is a monarchy under Jesus in heaven. Until then, like it or not, we all have to live under imperfect governments. We hope and pray for our government to be more Godly, more like the perfect government, and we should, as Paul wrote:

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” – 1 Tim 2:1-2

In addition to praying, there are many ways we try to influence our government. In a democracy, we can seek to do this: by voting, by contributing money to political candidates, by working on a candidate’s campaign, by donating to lobbying organizations, by convincing others to vote differently, etc. God may lead different people to participate politically in any of these ways, not at all, or in other ways.

However, none of these actions will be effective unless God is behind them, and the outcome we seek is what He also wants. Only He can decide what are the right actions for us to take, and only He can decide which outcomes are best for His people, who He seeks to make perfectly Godly by His own definition of the word. His purposes are to purify His people for eternity, not to bring about a perfect government in this broken world. His purposes may not be our purposes, and where our influence is limited, His is unlimited. Proverbs 21:1 tells us:

“The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD;
he turns it wherever he will.”

Therefore, regardless of whether we think our government is Godly, our government is actually Godly in one way: that He is in charge behind the scenes regardless of how it looks to us.

There are a couple of verses in the book of Ezra that acknowledge this, but first just a little background. Ezra was a priest and scribe who likely wrote the Old Testament book bearing his name, in addition to Nehemiah, 1 and 2 Chronicles, and possibly Psalm 119. It is also thought that he helped compile the Old Testament canon (the list of which books do and don’t belong).

Ezra lived at the end of the Babylonian captivity of the nation of Judah, an exile that ended not because of the vigorous efforts of Judah to break free, but because God used foreign kings to free them, and later to pay for the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem.

After returning to their own land, the people of Judah were thankful for King Cyrus and King Darius, but ultimately, they knew God was behind it, and they determined to worship only Him, not Cyrus, Darius, or any other gods or men. Ezra 6:22 says:

“And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the LORD had made them joyful and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, so that he aided them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.”

Ezra repeats the point in Ezra 7:27, referencing the principle from Proverbs 21:1 –

“Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the LORD that is in Jerusalem”

Our government is always in God’s hands, and He can do whatever He wills with it. Pray that He will use it to bless God’s people, but also praise Him for all the benefits we may have, even under a hostile government. Remember that God was behind Israel’s defeat by the Assyrians and Judah’s by Babylon, not just the return from exile. It is by worshipping only God, not particular people or forms of government, that God’s people find their joy and peace.

“The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD;
he turns it wherever he will.”