For a long time, I jumped on this verse...sounds AWESOME doesn't it and it is. I heard it preached and used in bible studies and it was presented with something like a building program or a future plan for a church and it just works. Where there is no vision, the people perish. It's a great verse to inspire people to a cause...and I'm sure there's an element of that interpretation that is true, but after looking at it and studying the Bible around it, I'm not sure that's what the verse is talking about here. If we take the verse simply as that, there are some weird shoots that can spring off the plant and give us some trouble down the road.
Funny, but a lot of people who would quote this verse might balk if someone said "I just had a vision". "Vision" has become a term for an ability to see where things must go, such as what an project, organization or movement could be when it hasn't even started yet and then making it happen. Is that what the Bible is saying here? If you can see where things are supposed to go, then you have a vision and if you don't, those involved will perish?
It makes sense...I've seen lots of aimless people with no plan just wander around and waste their lives away, so there's some wisdom in that area...but you have to come back to this. Is that what the WORD is saying there? If you are going to quote something, even if the principle you pull seems wise, the passage you quote needs to say what you are attributing to it...good or bad. I think of it like "showing your work" in math. I was GREAT at coming up with the right answer early on in Math...hated showing my work, but sometimes, my "processes" only worked for the problem I was on and if I had not been made to show HOW I was coming up with something, so the teacher could correct my logic, then I would have not solved many other problems. The point is, life is not about just getting the right answer all the time and neither is studying the Bible. What is the WORD saying here?
If I say, "Look out! It's a dog!", that means LOTS of things from "hey, take a picture" to "run for the hills", depends on the context. Let's look at the context of the verse...a lot of the time, you sharpen the point of a verse when you understand the rest of the "conversation". I usually choose things before and after. Here is the same passage in the NIV...
15 The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.
16 When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increaseth: but the righteous shall see their fall.
17 Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.
18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
19 A servant will not be corrected by words: for though he understand he will not answer.
So we've got "correction" for a child, how the "wicked" thrive in going against God and breaking His law (sin)...how "discipline" is good for your son to give him peace...and then we have "no vision" and "people perish", but the end of the verse doesn't really talk about a plan does it? It says "he that keepeth the law, happy is he." Then it's about correcting again...
Let's look at another translation of the Bible...NLT...here is what it says...
18 Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint;
but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.
Or the NIV...
18 Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint;
but blessed is he who keeps the law.
Before we go on, you might ask: Why another translation? That's because as you translate something, a lot of the time, there's not a "one word" in the other language that carries the EXACT same meaning. Sometimes a concept in one language is communicated in another language by a series of words...so let's take a look at another one...one of my favorites. When you look up a Hebrew word or a Greek word (the languages the Bible was written in), you find several words (like our dictionary) to give the full nuance of what is trying to be communicated. Because of grammar or context or because it's a recognized colloquial phrase or some construction/textual clue, you choose the meaning. The Amplified Bible (AMP) is a bible that tries to throw all those words in...sometimes, it can be confusing, but most of the time, it helps focus us in on "what the writer is trying to say"...let's read this verse here.
18Where there is no vision [no redemptive revelation of God], the people perish; but he who keeps the law [of God, which includes that of man]--blessed (happy, fortunate, and enviable) is he.
Without the revelation of God to people of who He is, His law that shows the need for mercy and grace and Jesus, people will cast off all restraint...and ultimately, that way will lead to death and they will perish....that's what the writer is trying to say. It's the validity of following God, not the microcosm of having a grand plan for something.
Now hear me out here...STUDY the bible
1) Yes, purpose is good for people and an unfocused people DO not fare well in life...but we have a purpose and that purpose is folded into the fact that we are looking emulate and honor Christ in everything we do (1 Peter 2:21-24), we are to make disciples as we go through our lives (never off mission - Matthew 28:19-20)...that's our purpose. We should not need to supplement that with a building program. Remember the micro is the brush with which God paints the macro picture.
2) It's not bad to have a plan. God gives plans and "visions" all the time...all I'm saying is to use this as the proof-text for any plan you state is wrong, because that's not what it says. We see life prove out God's plan all the time....God is a planner, he planned all my days before I was born (Psalm 139) and God has had a plan for the world since before He ever created a thing (John 1, 1 Corinthians 2:7 - all over the Word)...good grief, plans are fine.
What I am saying is that when you handle the Word, handle it with care... strive to understand it, when you read it, read it again and again, then in another translation that is GOOD (some aren't), read about the historical context in which the passage was set and above all, do this...read the Bible as a WORK...one Work...it doesn't contradict itself, it expands upon itself, it helps explain itself...sola Scriptura is a Latin term that means "the whole of Scripture" and that is where you see the conversation with God grow...don't miss it. Show your work...read the context...talk to other believers you trust and most of all, listen to God as you read...have a conversation.
I hope this little Bible Study helped. Please pray for us as we continue to try to be a church in Palm Bay that shows Jesus to all around us.
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