Proverbs 29.8
“Scoffers set a city aflame, but the wise turn away wrath.”
The word used here for “set aflame” means to blow on a fire to fan the flames. In this verse it describes people who make a great effort to stir up trouble. Serious trouble. Solomon is talking about agitators who fan the flames of division, anger, and violence in a society.
Needless to say, this verse speaks directly to what is happening in cities throughout America. As we saw last week in Minneapolis, the scoffers and agitators literally “set the city aflame.”
In any nation, there will always be groups with differing interests and conflicting ideologies. In countries both ancient and modern, the potential to stir up trouble and fan the flames of division and anger has always been present, and it is easy to turn one group against the other and cause differences to be inflamed.
This verse gives a name to the agitators who stir up trouble: scoffers. This is not the first time we have read about these hardhearted agents of conflict and chaos. Proverbs 21.24 described them very clearly: “Scoffer is the name of the arrogant, haughty man who acts with arrogant pride.”
Scoffers are agitators who love pick fights. They are selfish, combative, and arrogant. They think they are smarter than everyone else, and they believe their ideas are the only worthy ideas. They don’t solve problems, they cause problems.
Because they like to argue and quarrel, it is often necessary to get rid of the scoffer in order to solve division and resolve conflict. When the scoffer is gone, the contention stops. There is no one left to fan the flames of controversy and division.“ Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out, and quarreling and abuse will cease.” (Proverbs 22.10)
Since the scoffer thinks he is smarter than everyone else, he will not be corrected; he will not listen to counsel. “A scoffer does not like to be reproved; he will not go to the wise.” (Proverbs 15:12)
In our time, the Antifa group is a prime example of scoffers/agitators who fan the flames of controversy, conflict, and violence. There are other scoffer/agitators, of course. As we are witnessing and experiencing, this is no minor problem, and unless our nation addresses and resolves the root causes, we will continue to be a nation divided.
Proverbs tells us that godly wisdom is needed in order to turn away wrath, and that will be the focus tomorrow.
