Proverbs 28:15

The book of Proverbs gives us a lot of instruction on a lot of different subjects. One subject that can keep us in God’s wisdom is Godly Follower-ship. Who we follow; where we follow; how we follow are all spoken about in Proverbs. Here is one of them about the fool:

Proverbs 28:15 (ESV)

Like a roaring lion or a charging bear

is a wicked ruler over a poor people.

I've only seen the two animals mentioned in the above proverb in a zoo.   In all zoo cases the lion and the bear were mostly sleeping.  I have seen TV footage of them as described above, but find it frightening to simply watch.   I can't imagine the feeling of having a roaring lion run at you or a bear, walking or rushing, toward you.  I would run.   At least faster than the guy next to me.   As bad as these two beast may be in their pursuit of their prey, there is something worse.  It is far worse if you have to work for a wicked person, especially if you are powerless (Solomon uses "poor people" to illustrate this).   What Solomon is telling us is that it is far worse than facing physical destruction than to be in a bad spiritual environment.   We might feel the physical pain greater but the spiritual aspect of the wicked leader is far worse.  The wicked who rule over poor people is a picture of ruthless power and dominate reign.   The poor have no ability to fight the wicked.   The wicked persecute the poor because the poor can't defend themselves; they can't buy off the leadership; they can't hire advocates; they can't afford weapons to defend whether those weapons are brawn or brain.   It is like a lion or bear ready to eat you, if you are poor and lead by a wicked leader.