How Evil and Wickedness Is the Path to Sickness Proverbs 6:12–15
Does the Bible reveal behaviors that open the door to sickness and disease? Proverbs 6:12–15 describes the characteristics of a wicked and worthless person—crooked speech, deceptive signals, a perverted heart, and continually sowing discord. These actions ultimately lead to calamity described as being “broken beyond healing.” In this Light on Life podcast, we explore the meaning of this passage, examine the Hebrew word connected to healing, and learn why Scripture warns believers to avoid the patterns of wickedness that destroy health and life. Understanding these biblical warnings helps believers pursue righteousness and walk in the wholeness God desires.
This Week: Discover what Proverbs 6 reveals about wickedness, strife, and why pursuing righteousness leads to life and wholeness.
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Each week's podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put into operation.This weeks call is:
Build yourself up with healing scriptures from the Word of God. Think about these verses. Quote them to yourself. You can find a link to a healing scripture list here. "Healing Scripture List"
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About Emery
Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 40 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. Both he and his wife Sharon of 35 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is both the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.
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Podcast Notes:
Proverbs 6:12–15 (ESV) — 12 A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech, 13 winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger, 14 with perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord; 15 therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.
Last week, we began to take a look at Proverbs 6:12-15.
We arrived there by looking at some of the healing words used in the Old Testament.
We looked at the Hebrew word 'rapha'.
You know as in the name of God 'Jehovah-rapha found in Exodus 15:26.
And now, we are looking at the word 'marpe' which is the noun form of 'rapha'.
Which is how we arrived at Proverbs six, because in verse fifteen we have the English words 'beyond healing' which is en-marpe.
And so, last week we dived into this list of what a wicked, worthless man is.
Because this passage shows us one group of reasons why incurable diseases come upon the wicked.
Now, if you are in Christ Jesus, you are not counted among the wicked.
This is the marvelous power of the new birth found in Christ Jesus.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV) — 17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
But, there are some lessons we can learn by observing those who are not in Christ Jesus.
It's obvious the Lord wants us to know it.
Why else would He put verses like these passages we've read in Proverbs six?
The scriptures say concerning Israel.
1 Corinthians 10:5–6 (NKJV) — 5 But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. 6 Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted.
The reference here is Israel's behavior during the wilderness wanderings.
So, the negative stuff is in the Bible to help you as His child to know what not to do.
So, from a scriptural standpoint, observe the wicked.
And learn and know that you can't get away with wickedness just because you came to Jesus.
Learn their end so that you don't fall into the same error.
Notice what I said, observe the wicked from a scriptural standpoint.
I said scriptural, not experiential.
We have Bible for that.
Listen to it.
Romans 16:19 (ESV) 19 For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.
Here it is again in Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 14:20 (ESV) — 20 Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.
And again in Jermeiah.
Jeremiah 4:22 (ESV) — 22 “For my people are foolish; they know me not; they are stupid children; they have no understanding. They are ‘wise’—in doing evil! But how to do good they know not.”
Here you can see that Israel got it backwards.
They were wise in doing evil and, according to this translation, they were stupid concerning good.
So now that you understand this let's get back to Proverbs six.
We covered 'crooked speech', now let's look at the next thing on the list.
Proverbs 6:12–15 (ESV) — 12 A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech, 13 winks with his eyes...
Winking with the Eye
What is this 'winking of the eye' business?
What does that mean?
Well it's in the Bible in a couple of other places let's read those verses and see what they tell us.
Proverbs 10:10 (ESV) — 10 Whoever winks the eye causes trouble, and a babbling fool will come to ruin.
Psalm 35:19 (ESV) — 19 Let not those rejoice over me who are wrongfully my foes, and let not those wink the eye who hate me without cause.
You can see from these three verses that the winking referred to in scripture carries a negative connotation.
It's probably a cultural piece for that time.
People in different parts of the world use different signals to tell someone they are displeased with them.
I know when I went to visit Hungary, I was driving with my Uncle and someone cut him off and he made this motion with his hands that I had not seen before.
I thought to myself, 'What does that mean?'
I'm sure in the context of the situation, he was telling them off Hungarian style.
So these people in Old Testament times signaled evil intent by winking with the eye.
Ultimately it meant that trouble or evil or hatred was close by.
It doesn't mean that winking at someone in our day is wrong.
Because symbols like this and their meaning change with time.
In our day, a wink is a facial expression which is an informal mode of non-verbal communication usually signaling shared hidden knowledge or intent. [1. Wikipedia]
Two people wink at each other and there communicating in a something that only those two people know.
What exactly was hidden in an Old Testament wink between two wicked people?
Well in all three of these verses which reference this, evil intent, trouble, and hatred are what is being communicated.
So when these people in the Old Testament are winking at each other they were communicating evil intent.
If we fast forward this concept into modern times, for example, a lady is walking in the mall.
She has her purse hanging off her shoulder.
Two guys, they are part of a gang.
They are a crew with evil intent in their heart.
They know each other.
The winking between them is a signal.
A signal that they are going to rip this woman off.
They are going to take her purse.
That's one example of what this might have been.
Once again, this is all wickedness.
And wickedness opens the door to incurable diseases.
In close connection to winking with the eye comes the next two items which also show evil intent; that's signaling with the feet and pointing with the fingers.
The Body Language of Evil
Together with winking the eye, these three together form the 'body language of evil.'
That is, in Old Testament times, in the time frame of Solomon, the writer of Proverbs, when he penned these proverbs in chapter six, in that day there were certain types of body language signals which evil men used to communicate evil intent.
They winked with the eye.
And they pointed with their feet, that is they made some kind of sweeping motion maybe with their feet.
They pointed with their fingers, you know, maybe some kind of hand signal.
Their whole body was into evil, into sin.
They didn't just think it with their minds.
Their whole bodies were into it.
It wasn't just that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Their actions were premeditated.
When sin is refined to the extent that your body communicates evil, when you have the body language of sin, that's an open door to en-marpe, incurable diseases.
Now, no one has to be this way.
Instead of having your whole being wired for evil, you have can have your being wired for good.
You can have it wired for righteousness.
How do you get there?
It starts with coming to Jesus.
It begins with having a new nature.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV) — 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
I'm glad you asked... I was going to tell you anyway.
The old sin nature has passed away.
This is called the new birth or being born again.
But, the new birth is just a start, it's just the beginning.
You can grow in your walk as a believer where your whole body is wired for good.
Where you have the body language of righteousness.
Where the very pores of your being emanate the holiness unto God.
Hebrews 5:14 (KJV) — 14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
Strong meat, did you get that?
Full age; did you hear that?
Full age means you've grown, you've developed.
You've put the Word of God in action.
You're experienced.
The strong Word of God, constantly feeding on it, hearing it, thinking about it, and then using it...,
Do you see that?
Affects your senses, it impacts your soul to such a degree that your soul can discern good and evil.
It can differentiate between what's right and what's wrong, your soul can.
Not just your spirit, your soul.
You understand man is a three part being; spirit, soul, and body.
Your spirit, your inner man knows when you have done wrong.
Your conscious is the voice of your spirit.
It's your spirit's way of communicating with you.
You get that check inside you, that negative kind of 'feel bad' kinda thing going on inside of you, that's your spirit communicating with via your conscious.
If you feed on God's Word on regular basis, your conscious can guide you through the mine field of what to do and what not to do.
But Heb 5:14 is not talking about your spirit.
It's talking about your senses, your faculties.
So, your whole being is now trained in righteousness.
You're mature.
Your body is a weapon for good and for God.
Again, we are looking at things which open the door to incurable diseases.
We are looking at Proverbs six.
Let me read it again in your hearing.
Proverbs 6:12–15 (ESV) — 12 A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech, 13 winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger, 14 with perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord; 15 therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.
Heart Perversion
So now we are looking at a perverted heart.
What is that?
What is 'heart perversion?'
The Hebrew word 'perverted' means the characteristic of deliberately deviating from what is good.
Deliberately, not accidentally, deliberately.
Did you get that?
Don't get it confused.
James 1:2 (KJV) — 2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
The words 'fall into' means to come across or meet a hazardous or negative situation by accident.
You didn't plan it.
It was an accident.
You fell into it.
The picture is of a person falling into an open manhole cover.
You didn't see it.
You stepped right into it.
But, these 'perverted heart' people, with them their evil deeds are no accident.
They deliberately deviate from what was good.
On purpose they do it.
Matthew 15:19 (KJV) — 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
The Hebrew word 'devise' means to plot, to plan secretly, usually something wicked.
I don't think we have to go much further on this line.
The point is evident, a perverted heart opens the door wide open to sickness.
Strife's Connection to Illness
But, did you realize that strife does the same thing?
Look at the last in our original list from Proverbs six, 'continually sowing discord'.
Discord here is the same as strife.
What is strife?
Strife is fighting with other people.
It's contention or a battle or an open clash between two opposing groups.
It is translated as 'fightings' in some places in the New Testament.
2 Corinthians 7:5 (KJV) — 5 For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears.
The words strife and its various forms in the English occurs seventy-two times in the King James Bible.
Strife is one of those camouflage sins.
It's like worry.
People don't think of worry as a sin but it is.
In fact, the very much don't think so.
We've already done some podcasts on worry.
Strife is another one of those sins which people don't assume is a sin.
They think it's just, 'I'm just getting my point across.'
Or 'I have a right to my opinion.'
At times, this roots in the dogged determination to correct people to your viewpoint.
Sometimes strife situations become highly contentious.
The Hebrew word 'discord' in Proverbs 6:12-15 means strife or conflict, often bitter, often heated, often violent dissension.
The book of James gets to the ultimate root of strife.
James 4:1 (KJV) — 1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
The word 'lusts' here means desire.
It is the feeling which accompanies an unsatisfied state.
You're not satisfied with how a discussion went, for example, so you go back to the person trying to change them to your viewpoint.
When you realize that strife is one of the things which opens up the door to sicknesses, you just have to sit back and ask yourself, is it really worth it?
Is it really worth having your way?
📖 Light Notes
If this teaching encouraged you, read “Challenging the Monumental and Mammoth Enemy of Weariness.” — a short reflection on recognizing spiritual weariness and confronting it with the truth of God’s Word.
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