What is the meaning of Proverbs 11:4? Riches are worthless in the day of wrath Proverbs 11:4 opens with a sober warning: “Riches are worthless in the day of wrath.” • Money can buy relief from many earthly troubles, yet it cannot purchase God’s pardon or avert His just anger when judgment falls (Zephaniah 1:18; Psalm 49:6-9). • Earthly wealth is temporary. It erodes, is stolen, or is left behind at death (Matthew 6:19-20; 1 Timothy 6:7). • The “day of wrath” points both to sudden temporal calamities and, ultimately, to the final judgment seat of Christ (Romans 2:5-6; Revelation 20:11-15). • Jesus illustrated this truth with the rich fool who laid up treasure for himself but was “not rich toward God” and died that very night (Luke 12:15-21). • James echoes the proverb by telling the wealthy, “Your riches have rotted…you have stored up treasure in the last days” (James 5:1-3). Bottom line: no amount of material success can shield us when God’s righteous justice is revealed. but righteousness brings deliverance from death The verse concludes, “but righteousness brings deliverance from death.” • “Righteousness” is living in right relationship with God—first by faith, then evidenced in obedient, godly conduct (Genesis 15:6; Romans 3:22; Titus 2:11-12). • This righteousness is not self-generated but ultimately fulfilled in Christ, “who became to us…righteousness” (1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 5:21). • Because Christ bore the wrath our sins deserved, His righteousness delivers believers from eternal death and grants everlasting life (John 3:16-18; Romans 6:23). • Even in present trials, a life marked by integrity and trust in God often spares us from consequences that destroy others (Proverbs 12:28; Psalm 34:19). • Thus, while wealth fails, righteousness—received by faith and practiced daily—triumphs over both temporal peril and the grave itself (Proverbs 10:2; 1 Thessalonians 1:10). summary Proverbs 11:4 draws a sharp contrast: material riches collapse under God’s judgment, but righteousness, secured through faith in Christ and lived out in holiness, rescues from death. Invest where the return is eternal. |
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