Like a roaring lion or a charging bear
is a wicked ruler over a poor people.
A ruler who lacks understanding is a cruel oppressor,
but he who hates unjust gain will prolong his days.
If one is burdened with the blood of another,
he will be a fugitive until death;
let no one help him.
Whoever walks in integrity will be delivered,
but he who is crooked in his ways will suddenly fall.
Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread,
but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty.
A faithful man will abound with blessings,
but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.Proverbs 28:15-20
The picture in 15 and 16 of lawless rule is graphic and to the point and, for the oppressed, reassuring for, ruthless and merciless as it is, it promises to be short-lived, as 16b implies. The RSV rendering of 17, 'He that is burdened with the blood of another’ makes the meaning clearer than AV, as referring to one who has committed a crime. We may think the injunction 'let no man help him (RSV)' heartless and scarcely in line with New Testament ethics, but this would be to misunderstand what is being said. The context is law and order, and the meaning is that we must not interfere with the course of justice. To help a murderer is to become an accessory after the fact, and this inevitably brings punishment. There is no doctrine of salvation by works in 18; rather, the reference is to the believer's walk. The meaning is that he will be delivered from much that he would otherwise have to endure if he took his own way. To follow one's own way is to court disaster, and some people have to learn this the hard way. The emphasis in 19 is on the reward of diligence. Hard work is a necessary ingredient of real success. Since this is so, it is silly of believers to imagine there can be any short cut to integrity and maturity in Christian character. We today are far more prone to think like this than an older generation, bred on Christian ethics, was wont to do. It is the philosophy of the world, not of the Christian faith - get rich quick, get on quick, short cuts to everything, instant success, like instant coffee. This attitude is being absorbed into the thinking of Christian people, with disastrous effects. One of these results is underlined in 20b, in relation to money. There are unhallowed, carnal desires for ‘getting on' which are simply wrong and sinful, not to say illegal or criminal; and once on to the band-wagon and into the rat-race, a momentum develops that could lead to ruin.