The Choice Before the Youth – Ungodly Influences 1:10-19

10 My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. 11 If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: 12 Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit: 13 We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: 14 Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse: 15 My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: 16 For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood. 17 Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird. 18 And they lay wait for their [own] blood; they lurk privily for their [own] lives. 19 So [are] the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; [which] taketh away the life of the owners thereof.

Godly parents seek to instill in their children a sense of right and wrong with regards to associations. Companionship can be a powerful influence in one’s life to pursue good ways or evil. The young one must be taught to discern the difference and to guard himself from evil influences.

Notice the overall flow of this paragraph. The general command is found in verse 10 where the youth is commanded to refrain from the enticements of sinners to participate in their wicked deeds. Verses 11-14 gives a description of their invitation. Verse 15 has another warning for the young. Finally, verses 16-19 speak of the consequences of the sinner’s actions.

Verse 10 speaks of sinners enticing the youth which may reflect the subtle nature of their methods, however, the word means "to allure, persuade, entice, or seduce" which may not necessarily carry tones of subtlety, but merely persuasion. Here, the persuasion is wrong because of the nature – they are persuading others to do evil. What we see in the following verses, however, is not so subtle. And enticements to sin are not always so upfront and obvious. Therefore, we should not necessarily understand vv. 11-19 to be showing a consistent pattern, or the exact content of temptation, but merely the character of their seductions.

Verses 11-14 describe the invitation of the sinners. In verses 11-12 the evil plans to attack the innocent are discussed. Their plans are to lay wait and lurk privily so that they might swallow the innocent. Verse 13 contains the temptation proper: to do such wickedness will yield profit. The wicked are financially motivated. By attacking the innocent they will increase their possessions. Greed and covetousness are powerful motivators to commit acts of violence, we witness this same thing today in our society. EBCOT says: “The criminals assure the novice of swift success: they will swallow up victims who are in the vitality of life (tamim meaning "full of health," "whole") as surely and swiftly as death opens and swallows its victims…” The idea is that the sinners assure the novice that their task will be “easy pickings” and will not endanger them, thus the temptation is not only for financial gain, but for financial gain that has no risk. Sinners who seek financial gain at the expense of others are deceived into thinking that they are invincible.

This “no risk” venture (vv. 11-13) is that which makes the temptation to throw their money in one common pot seem like such an insignificant thing (v. 14). The temptation is found in the fact that this young man’s small “investment” in this company of rogues will bring fast, easy and profitable dividends.

Understanding their methods of deception should cause the young man to be wary of the sinners’ temptations and thus be on guard. But the instruction is not merely to be on guard but to disassociate with those who lure a person into such a lifestyle. This can be seen in verses 15 and following where the ultimate consequences of their actions are discussed. Verse 15 contains the warning to keep away from these associations. Verses 16-19 discuss the reason why. The reason why is assumed: sinners will be caught, those who choose to associate with them will be caught and there will be no escape.

The reason to disassociate is because the sinner’s purpose is one of bloodshed and violence. But God is a just God and the divine retribution will make sure that his blood thirsty purposes will bite him back. EBCOT states:

There are two ways to interpret v. 17 within the context. One is to see a comparison with the folly of birds who fall into a snare even though forewarned--likewise the wicked fall into the snare God lays because they are driven by lust. The other is to see a contrast between the natural behavior of birds when forewarned and the irrational greed of robbers. In other words, it is futile to spread out a net for birds that are watching, but these men are so blinded by evil that they fail to recognize the trap (v. 18). The blind folly of greed leads to their doom--retribution is the law that will take away their lives…

The temptation in verses 11-14 focused upon the temporal benefits of walking in the way of sinners, but the youth must understand the ultimate consequences should he choose to associate with the likes of these. Often times, one merely thinks of the temporal gratification which can be gained through wicked actions and fails to look into the future to imagine the consequences of such behaviour. God gives the youth ample warning as to what he can expect beyond the temporal benefits. The wise youth will heed the warning and admit that the consequences are not worth the little pleasure his disobedience will bring. God ensures that ultimately, sin has its full “reward.” Should the youth decide to go along with an attractive “business agreement” to share in financial gain with sinners, he will also share in their demise.