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Seek the Paths of Uprightness

Proverbs 2:13 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
¹³from those who forsake the paths of uprightness
to walk in the ways of darkness,

Remember 2:7-8, which reads, “He [God] stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his holy ones.” Here we are told that some stupid ones will foolishly “forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness.” Some stupid ones have chosen to live a life of darkness, covering, or concealing their sin by being obscure (cf. John 3:19). Yes, the way of wisdom is to avoid the wrong paths that lead to destruction and to seek the paths of uprightness. The thinking of this world means death. The thoughts of God mean life. “The world is passing away, and its lusts; but the one who does the will of God remains forever.” (1 John 2:17) Seek the wrong paths and such will last only a short time. The paths of uprightness will continue forever. Seek the paths of uprightness and enjoy life forever.

More in-depth Insights

The enemy in the previous verse, Proverbs 2:12, is spoken of as an evil man, but here the enemy is many. These have not only forsaken the paths of righteousness to walk in the ways of darkness, but they work in opposition to those on the paths of righteousness. These were formerly our brothers. They are now tools being by Satan. Their mental disposition is in opposition to that which is good. They work toward the ruination of God’s people by speaking out against them. They make every effort to make what is good bad and what is bad good. They are enemies of God and seek to persuade anyone not to accept him. They are advocates for Satan, arguing for Baal. They distort the image of God to others that the right paths to God are depraved. How foolish one must be to argue on behalf of sin while disparaging the Word of God! The wisdom of God, his Word, the Bible will restrain us from befriending such wicked ones and from being ensnared by them as we share the Word of God with others that they have influenced. We need to recognize when one is a minion (tool) of Satan influenced by these former fallowers that can be evangelized and those who are apostates who stand-off from the truth but knowingly attack it. The latter is frequently the evilest and dangerous enemy of God, our enemy too.[1] They forsake the paths of uprightness. They were on the path to eternal life, trained in the Word of God, who shook of their education that God had given them, to walk in the ways of darkness. They now hate the light as they are blinded by Satan and make every effort to lead others into the darkness. The life of a sinner is the way of darkness, unpleasant, painful, difficult, and dangerous. What a fool one must be to forsake the simple, pure, pleasant, well-lit paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness! – Psalm 82:5; 1 John 2:11.

[1] A modern-day example of this would be Dr. Bart D. Ehrman. He was a strong conservative evangelical Christian, who ‘forsook the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness.’ He is an American New Testament scholar focusing on textual criticism of the New Testament, the historical Jesus, and the origins and development of early Christianity. He has written and edited 30 books, including three college textbooks. He has also authored six New York Times bestsellers. He is also an atheist hiding the clothing of an Agnostic, who has misled many from the Christian faith. It could be in the thousands to the tens of thousands. Many so-called “Christian” scholars actually co-author books with him, treat him in a way that makes churchgoers believe he is a trusted scholar. He is anything of the sort. He misleads, misinforms, misrepresents the information. The apostle Peter said, “There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.” – 2 Peter 3:16.