The Economics of Smoke: A Deadly Vapor Text: Proverbs 21:6
Introduction: The Devil's Get-Rich-Quick Scheme
The book of Proverbs is intensely practical. It is not a collection of ethereal platitudes for the stained-glass set; it is inspired, divine wisdom for the street. It is for the marketplace, the home, the court, and the conscience. And here, in this sharp, concise verse, the Holy Spirit gives us a lesson in the economics of eternity. We live in a world that is obsessed with gain, with treasure, with the bottom line. Our entire civilization is a frantic scramble for more. But God, the ultimate economist, here pulls back the curtain on the balance sheet of all dishonest gain, and He shows us that the devil's ledger is cooked. The profit is imaginary, and the liabilities are fatal.
This proverb is a direct assault on the foundational lie of all godless ambition. The lie is this: that you can build something solid and lasting on a foundation of falsehood. The lie is that the universe is a dumb machine that can be tricked, that reality is a lock that can be picked. The lie is that you can speak lies and yet live in the truth, that you can sow deceit and reap prosperity. Every Ponzi scheme, every fraudulent advertisement, every bit of political spin, every flattering word designed to manipulate, every fudged number on a tax form, is built on this sandy, sinking lie.
Solomon, under the inspiration of the Spirit, tells us that this is not just a bad business model; it is a form of suicide. It is not just foolish; it is fatal. The man who builds his life on the shifting vapors of his own deceit is not actually pursuing wealth. He has been duped. He is, in fact, chasing death. He thinks he is filling his pockets, but he is actually digging his own grave. This proverb, then, is a mercy. It is a bright, flashing warning sign on a road that leads off a cliff. It is God's gracious intervention, pleading with men not to trade their immortal souls for a puff of smoke.
The Text
Working for treasures by a lying tongue
Is a fleeting breath, by those who pursue death.
(Proverbs 21:6 LSB)
The Crooked Method (Clause 1)
The proverb begins by identifying the means of acquisition.
"Working for treasures by a lying tongue..." (Proverbs 21:6a)
Notice the juxtaposition. We have "working" and "treasures," two things that God affirms in their proper place. God is not against work; He commanded it in the Garden before the fall. He is not against treasure; He promises rewards and riches to the faithful. The problem is not the goal (treasure) or the effort (working), but the instrument: "a lying tongue." The tongue is the tool being used to build this particular estate.
A lying tongue is the native language of the kingdom of darkness. Jesus tells us that the devil "was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44). To use a lying tongue is to employ the devil's own tools, to work according to his business plan. It is to speak unreality into existence, or rather, to attempt to. God speaks, and reality is. Man, in his rebellion, speaks, and unreality is his aim. This can be the outright falsehood, the clever half-truth, the misleading silence, the spin, the exaggeration, the flattery. It is any use of words designed to create a false impression in order to gain an advantage.
This is the essence of what happened in the Garden. The serpent came and, with a lying tongue, promised treasure. "You will be like God" (Gen. 3:5). He offered a promotion, a treasure, through the instrument of his lie. And our first parents bought it. They took the deal. And all of human history since has been a tragic replay of this same crooked transaction. Men believe they can get ahead, secure their future, and build their little empires by manipulating reality with their words. But they forget that the God who created the tongue is also the God who created reality. And He will not be mocked.
The Vaporous Reward (Clause 2)
Next, Solomon reveals the true nature of the "treasure" obtained by such means.
"Is a fleeting breath..." (Proverbs 21:6b)
The Hebrew word here is hebel, the same word that echoes like a funeral bell throughout the book of Ecclesiastes. "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." It means vapor, mist, smoke, a puff of air. It is something that appears for a moment to have substance, but when you reach out to grab it, your hand closes on nothing. This is God's assessment of all ill-gotten gain. The world sees the big house, the fancy car, the burgeoning bank account. God sees a puff of smoke.
This is a profound statement about the metaphysics of sin. Because the lie is unreal, anything built upon it is necessarily unreal. It has no substance. It cannot last because it is not attached to the God who is the source of all that is real and lasting. The wealth may be physically present for a time. The numbers in the bank account are there. But it is spiritually insubstantial. It provides no security, no peace, no stability. It is like trying to build a house out of fog. The slightest wind of adversity, the slightest breeze of divine judgment, and it is gone without a trace. "Wealth obtained by fraud will dwindle," another proverb says, "but whoever earns it through labor will multiply it" (Proverbs 13:11). The universe has a grain, and a lie always goes against that grain. It is an attempt to swim upstream against the current of God's created order, and it is exhausting, and ultimately, impossible.
The man who lies to get rich is like a child chasing a soap bubble. It is shimmering, it is beautiful, it seems real, and he runs his little heart out for it. But the moment he grasps it, it pops, and all he has is a bit of wetness on his hand. That is the end of all treasures gained by a lying tongue.
The Real Pursuit (Clause 3)
Finally, the proverb delivers its stunning, terrifying conclusion. It reveals what the liar is actually doing, regardless of what he thinks he is doing.
"...by those who pursue death." (Proverbs 21:6c)
This is the great reversal. The man with the lying tongue thinks he is pursuing life, security, and happiness. He thinks treasure is the ultimate good. But God says, "No, you have misidentified your goal. You are not pursuing treasure; you are pursuing death." The verb is active. This is not someone stumbling into death by accident. This is a determined, energetic pursuit. He is chasing it down.
How so? First, he is pursuing spiritual death. By aligning his tongue with the father of lies, he is cutting himself off from the God who is life. He is hardening his conscience, searing it as with a hot iron. He is becoming the kind of creature who is comfortable with unreality, which is another way of saying he is becoming a citizen of Hell, which is the land of ultimate unreality. He is choosing the fleeting breath over the Bread of Life.
Second, he is often pursuing physical death. A life built on lies is a life of instability. It creates enemies. It invites lawsuits. It leads to high-stakes risks that often end in disaster. A web of lies is a fragile thing, and when it collapses, it often brings the weaver down with it. Think of Ananias and Sapphira, who laid their treasure at the apostles' feet with a lying tongue and were struck dead on the spot (Acts 5). That was a dramatic, compressed example of the principle this proverb teaches.
Most importantly, he is pursuing eternal death. The final destination for all unrepentant liars is the lake of fire (Revelation 21:8). This is not an arbitrary punishment. It is fitting. The one who spent his life loving and making a lie will be given over to the ultimate Lie forever, separated from the God of all Truth. He chose smoke, and he will get smoke, the smoke of torment that rises forever and ever.
Conclusion: The Solid Treasure
This proverb forces a choice upon us. We can either build our lives on the solid rock of God's truth or on the shifting smoke of our own lies. There is no third option. You cannot have a lying tongue and a truthful life. You cannot serve both God and Mammon, especially when Mammon's wages are paid out in deceit.
The application for us is therefore intensely personal. We must examine our own speech. Where do we shade the truth to get an advantage? Where do we flatter? Where do we remain silent when the truth is required? Where do we manage our reputation with carefully crafted falsehoods? We do this in business deals, in resumes, in relationships, and even in our religious talk. We are all tempted to believe that a little lie, a small compromise with reality, will get us a treasure we could not otherwise obtain.
But this proverb calls us to repent. It calls us to turn away from the fleeting breath and to turn toward the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Jesus Christ is the ultimate treasure, and He is obtained not by lying, but by believing the truth. He is the Word made flesh, the ultimate reality. The riches He gives, forgiveness, righteousness, eternal life, are not a puff of smoke. They are an "inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading" (1 Peter 1:4).
The gospel is the great reversal of this proverb. In our sin, we pursued death by means of our lying tongues. But on the cross, Christ pursued us, speaking the ultimate truth of God's love and justice. He purchased for us a solid, eternal treasure, not with a lie, but with His own precious blood. Therefore, let us be a people whose speech is marked by the truth, whose work is honest, and whose treasure is not the fleeting breath of this world, but Christ Himself, our solid, everlasting portion.