Posts Tagged: Proverbs 14:11

“Of Flourishing Tents and Destroyed Houses”

On September 21, 2020 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

“The house of the wicked will be destroyed,

            but the tent of the upright will flourish.”

(Proverbs 14:11 English Standard Version)

I’ve lived in both houses and tents, and I can make the following statement with great confidence: Houses are definitely more stable than tents.

When I was about eleven years old, I went through a camping phase. “Camping” meant my dad throwing one of his good tarps over the wooden fence that separated our yard from the pasture, and anchoring the tarp with ropes and wooden pegs. This worked well until it didn’t. One morning I woke to find that the cows had eaten the ropes on the pasture side of the tent and a good chunk of the tarp. (I thought that it felt a little cooler than usual, but I was a hearty sleeper back in those days.)

Needless to say, I wasn’t very happy about the ending of my roughing-it career. Neither was my dad, since that was his best tarp. The cows, however, were fine and never asked forgiveness.

I have to say, though, that I was glad to be back in my own bed. No mosquitoes, and evener temps. So, I decided—even at that early age—that houses were a lot more stable than tents. Cows generally don’t eat houses.

However, Proverbs warns that houses are not always preferable to tents. Apparently, it is the inhabitant that makes a dwelling place stable or unstable. To be wicked is to be unsubstantial no matter how sturdy your house. A tent can be a place to flourish, if the tent-dweller is living an upright life. And I am not convinced that, even if you’re upright in a tent for a long time, God is going to upgrade your tent to a house necessarily.

What does this verse mean by speaking of the tent-dweller as “upright”? The Hebrew word yashar suggests a person who is fair in his/her dealings, a person who is not twisted in character or behavior. Such a person is consistent and trustworthy.

A stable dwelling isn’t primarily a matter of a house that is built solidly. Nor is it mainly about paying off your mortgage. A stable dwelling is about being the right kind of person.

Even if the cows eat part of your tent!

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