Pro 27:12 | KingComments | STEP | The contrast is between “a prudent man” and “the naive” ( ). The first is the mature person who has developed prudence. The second are the inexperienced and untrained youth who are easily deceived because they are headstrong. The test that clarifies who is a prudent man and who are the naive ones is their response to the evil of judgment that is coming. To escape announced evil, we must see the evil, recognize the evil. This is what a prudent man does, while the naive may also see the evil, but may not recognize it and may even ignore it or believe that it will all be fine. The reaction reveals whether someone takes the coming evil seriously or does not care. Indeed, a prudent man seeks a place where he can protect himself from evil, while the naive will have to pay the penalty. David escaped Saul several times because he foresaw what Saul wanted. He hid himself and therefore stayed out of Saul’s hands. Noah is also a prudent man. He hid himself in the ark, while all the naive did not let themselves be warned and went on with their lives and had to pay the penalty for that (cf. ). Impending evil should not make us nervous and lead us to an over-hasty action, but to a calm consideration of what to do to escape it, for it will surely come. A prudent man will hide in the right place, in a place that truly offers protection from evil. He will not seek to protect himself from the evil of God’s judgment by hiding in a wrong place or in a wrong way, such as by clothing himself with the works of the law. After Adam and Eve sinned, they covered themselves with homemade loin coverings of fig leaves, a picture of their own righteousness ( ). But this covering or hiding did not work. They remained naked before God ( ). God provided the proper covering, that of an animal skin, meaning that an animal had been killed in their place ( ). This points to the only place of hiding from the judgment of God, and that is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ ( ). He who accepts Him in faith is perfectly protected from evil. He who rejects that hiding and continues with his life will have to pay the penalty for his sins himself.