”He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: And the rod of his anger shall fail.“
Proverbs 22:8
It appears at least one idea presented in this passage is to aid us in making decision by extrapolating where that decision leads.
To be specific, allow me to begin at the end. “Shall fail,” is the extrapolation or prediction for the future. This term does not necessarily mean fail as in, “not achieve your goal.” Instead it leans closer to, “will run out or come to an end,” akin to an automobile running out of fuel.
Next, we hunt for what ran out of fuel. We find, “the rod of his anger,” which is an interesting way to build a phrase. Rod in this place can be an implement used for force as in a club, shaft, or tree branch even a staff. It could also refer to authority or a symbol of authority. In essence, this rod is a force multiplier. Then we see this force multiplier is employed in rage, fury, outbursts of passion, or excessive and overflowing – as in emotion.
So far we see – the person using a force multiplier to be excessive or overbearing and employ rage will have their fury eventually falter.
As we back up into the first section of the passage we witness an agricultural word picture painting a scene of sowing and reaping. What is being sown, or planted? Iniquity, and in this sense it can be defined as, “violent deeds of injustice.” As injustice has been a term tossed around loosely, we will take a moment to explain the idea.
Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines injustice as:
1. Iniquity; wrong; any violation of another’s rights, as fraud in contracts, or the withholding of what is due. It has a particular reference to an unequal distribution of rights, property or privileges among persons who have equal claims.
2. The withholding from another merited praise, or ascribing to him unmerited blame.
Iniquity has been planted and has grown up and gone to seed. What is being harvested? Vanity. Vanity in the strictest sense is nothingness but is also used to express ideas of wickedness, exhaustion in pursuit of an unworthy goal. Often selfish or emptiness, so that reaping or harvesting vanity implies you work hard for zero reward.
At this point we have worked our way through the ideas laid out in the passage and a summary in entirety looks like this:
When a person plants violent injustice their work brings in an empty harvest and when they use a force multiplier or are excessive and overbearing with their rage, their burning fury will run out of fuel leaving them and their ideals stranded.’
Watch the long term outcome of those sowing iniquity. Keep track and see how the rod of their anger tends to fail and leave them stranded in a desolate position