Without a Vision people Perish
Now normally when Glen asks me to preach I hit the emergency panic button, and wonder what am I going to talk about! And every single time without fail, and I’m talking about well over a 100 times, God has given me something so special and something I’ve learnt so much about! But this time was different, I preached two weeks ago and didn’t really expect to preach again for another month or two. But on Monday this week, God dropped this thought into my mind about this proverb in 29:18 Without vision people perish, which delved into more and more, just chewing on the cud so to speak. So knowing Glen has not been feeling that strong these last few weeks I was not surprised when he phoned me on Friday to ask me to speak! So God had prepared me!
How many of you have heard of this verse: Without a vision people Perish? But this is only half the verse… how many know the next half….but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. This is the King James Version of the verse that we all seem to know so well (not the NKJ version).
Now this verse as it is written in the King James, must be one of the most misunderstood verses around… and I tell you I was one of them that missed the point of this verse! As you may know, Im’ one of those people that plan everything to the nth degree. In fact, I have to be careful I don’t get paralysis by analysis! Every year I set goals, which are of course broken into different categories, Physical, Spiritual, Financial, Social and so the list goes on. There are short term and long term goals, that I set which need to be measurable, specific, attainable etc etc. I record these on and excel spreadsheet and mark them off as I reach them! I have always being one of those people believe that a vision and a plan is essential to get anywhere in life. I always had Gen 15 in mind;
Genesis 15:3-5
3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”
4 Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring[a] be
So my saying became “Prayerise- Visualise- Actualise”- and I used to talk to my children about this often
Pray about your future-then get a vision, a picture of your goals/ambitions (like Abrahams stars)- then actualise it, in other words step out and go for it! BUT then I used to finish off by saying this proverb : Without a vision people Perish. Emphasizing the importance of setting those goals!
Now there is nothing inherently wrong with setting goals and planning ahead (maybe not as obsessively as I did!) and I still think my Prayerise- Visualise - Actualise is not a bad concept, but that verse “Without a vision people Perish”, has nothing to do with a horizontal vision and everything to do with a vertical vision! We do need a horizontal vision, but the vertical vision is sos much more important and that is what this verse is talking about. The difference is this, vertical vision is a supernatural experience and in the other we ironically set “SMART” goals. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time -bound. In reality without the supernatural spiritual vision, our SMART goals become worthless- misdirected- futile, because look what the Bible teaches us;
Proverbs 21:1- The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it whichever way He wishes.
You can plan what you like, but you better involve God, because He is directing the show!
So let’s look at this verse in the KJV more closely
Firstly, that word “vision” has as its root in a Hebrew word meaning to see by revelation. We see it used in 1 Sam 3:1
1 Samuel 3:1 NKJV
3 Now the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation.
In fact the NKJ does translate it like this, unlike the KJ
Proverbs 29:18 New King James Version
18 Where there is no [a]revelation, the people cast off restraint; But happy is he who keeps the law.
The foot note here is revelation= prophetic vision.
So very very different to personal goals or leadership vision. We’ll come back to this in a minute, but let’s just have a look at that word “perish” in Proverbs 29:18 in this verse we know so well.
This word “perish” comes from the word “loosen or uncover”. The same Hebrew word is used in Exodus 32:25 during the golden calf incident: “Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies” (NIV)
So, when people are let loose, they go their own way and show no restraint.
In some versions the concept of uncover or loosen has been translated as “nakedness”…. “Moses saw that the people were naked….” (KJV)
However the word perish in English today can either be taken either to die or alternatively for something to lose its normal qualities; rot or decay or go bad. The context here is
If people do not hear from God and where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint and go bad!
The second part of the verse confirms this
But happy and blessed is he who keeps the law [of God].
So the context explains it. When people ignore God and so do not hear from God, they run amok, there are no boundaries and they “decay/ go bad”, but when they follow God’s law, where there are restraints, people are blessed and happy.
So total freedom (where there are no restraints) does not bring about a happy and blessed society. From a simplistic point of view can you imagine, having no laws about speed limits, ignoring “Stop” signs, Red traffic lights, etc etc. But God’s word is filled with a multitude of life-signs, including “STOP” signs, “Wrong Way-Go Back” signs, “Yield” signs etc etc. Just think what would happen on the road if people could ignore all those signs, then think what happens when we simply ignore all the life “signs” put in His word. Someone once said “take the brakes off a car and it will run downhill- never uphill!”- same in life! Ignore God’s signage and things go downhill- fast!
Follow God’s word and there is order and blessing. To be truly free you have to acknowledge and submit to the authority of the mighty Creator. No longer your will to do what you like but “Father let your will be done”! That is freedom. Keeping God’s law is a blessing not a binding.
So just have a look at what’s happening around the world and especially here in Australia. People are rejecting God’s people, Antisemitism is a blight on our society, in doing so they reject God. We know from the Abrahamic covenant Genesis 12:3
Genesis 12:33 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you.
We see the rebelliousness on the east coast, lawlessness, the unsettling support of the people of hostage takers and not hostages, in the Palestinian situation. They have been let loose- there is no restraint. Gay rights, Transgender issues, abortion issues, euthanasia issues, immigration issues- there is no restraint. All in the name of freedom – that’s not freedom, that’s rebellion.
But let’s first look at the first part of this Proverb where there is no revelation (from God);
How do we hear from God?
Through His word. Its available to everyone to read. I’ts very clear what God has asked us to do, just read the Bible. People that reject it lose restraint- they lose their way
By His Spirit and in my experience by the Holy Spirit speaking through His word!
When the head cannot communicate with the body, the body does not function as it should. If we’re not listening and hearing God dysfunction follows. Just look what happened particularly in the book of Judges. The last verse of Judges sums it up.
Judges 21:25 NIV
25 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.
Has anything changed today?
So what causes people to lose restraint?
People become frustrated or dissatisfied and this together with a lack of respect of authority, leads people to run amok. You will do what you want, to get what you want.
Contrast this with Isaiah 53:7
Amplified Bible
He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth [to complain or defend Himself]; Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before her shearers, So He did not open His mouth.
Peer pressure. We will talk about that another time
No clear consequences. Where there is no God and you have weak leadership which does not take control or set limits, it inevitably results in a permissive society- permissive= giving permission to do whatever. If there are no consequences people run amok- nothing constrains them. The law of Entropy- the car runs downhill, people perish-go bad, run wild.
“The Bible teaches that actions have consequences, both positive and negative. The bible teaches that obedience to God's laws leads to blessings, while disobedience results in punishment or correction.”
Leviticus 26:14-16 NIV
Punishment for Disobedience
14 “‘But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands, 15 and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant, 16 then I will do this to you: I will bring on you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and sap your strength. You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it.
Make no mistake actions have consequences, firstly for those that run amok and secondly for those in authority, and dare I say it nations that allow blatant rebellion against God’s word and people.
Where there are no clear guidelines or rules people show no restraint.
Contrast this with Jeremiah 31:33 NIV
33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
This is part of the new covenant we have now, we know what is right and wrong. There are clear boundary lines that we live in. But those without this lack boundaries
Now in finishing lets look at the inverse of this proverb
Instead of
Proverbs 29:18 NKJV 18 Where there is no [a]revelation, the people cast off restraint;
But happy is he who keeps the law.
consider
Where there is revelation, (ie where God reveals Himself through His word and Spirit), people show restraint, And happy (ie blessed) is he who keeps the law (follow God’s ways).
What a difference in society between these two camps of the revealed presence of God and where there is not.
Then finally I think it would be remiss of me if I did not share another scripture that really became “rhema” to me this week and so closely related Psalm 118:25. In the context we are talking about now, restraint only happens when there is a battle of your will. The will to do what God wants and the battle to do what you want to do, what is pleasing or pleasurable to you or what is pleasing to God.
Psalm 118:27 NKJV (NIV quite different)
27 …Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.
We should be prepared to be that sacrifice, we should bind ourselves to the altar, go through the fire, and go through that burning and purification to eliminate every desire or will that is not of God. As it says in Timothy (2Tim 4:6), pour out yourself as an offering. And once you have done that there will be nothing left except the will of God and the challenge of restraint will be no more. Because now,
the love of Christ constraineth us; (2 Cor 5:14 KJV)
But once you have gone through this fire, and it will come, there will be nothing in this world that can shake you and there will be nothing more precious to you than the cross of Jesus through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
Free of the entanglements of this world is true freedom………. and its found in Christ!