Wisdom of God through the pen of Solomon, whose name was from the Hebrew word, “Shalom” (“Peace”).
Two imperatives are given:
1) “Deliver” – Rescue those who are being carried toward death.
2) “Hold back” – Actively persuade those who are stumbling, as if intoxicated, towards their own demise.
Certainly, this instruction might be applied to the gospel ministry, wherein we are to both care for the physical needs of the poor and at the same time, proclaim the good news about Jesus to them. But the application that seems most relevant to our day is that of the young woman with an unplanned pregnancy. How can we “deliver” the unborn child from being carried to death through abortion? The child’s mother and father are being “drawn toward death” by what the culture calls an inconvenience. Yet Scripture calls us to help rescue the innocent victim of this modern insanity. However, the baby isn’t the only victim, for the mother is the one “stumbling to the slaughter.” She has come under a strong delusion that abortion isn’t murder, but only a medical procedure. The truth is, she will be wounded by this choice in body and soul for the rest of her life. She needs someone to lovingly “hold her back” from “stumbling” towards death as her best choice. Wisdom chooses life. Folly draws us toward death.