The one who commits adultery with a woman is lacking sense; He who would destroy himself does it. Proverbs 6:32
This passage deals with the stupidity of committing adultery, plain and simple. Several years ago Randy Alcorn wrote a book called, "The Purity Principle." In it I felt that Alcorn made a statement that is one for the ages. "Purity is always smart, impurity is always stupid." That is what the Holy Spirit is trying to tell us today in Proverbs. "The one who commits adultery with a woman is lacking sense." This is a very genteel way of saying what Alcorn said. We could restate his principle by saying that faithfulness in marriage is always good, adultery is always stupid. The actual words used here are the ones that are used often in Proverbs. The one who commits adultery with a woman lacks heart. We are being told that adultery shows that we have a heart problem more than anything else. We've allowed our hearts to be captured by lust and sexual immorality rather than by God. While reading a series of purity prayers I've run into the statement again and again where the puritans asked God to capture their heart so that they would not be satisfied by trifling affections. The heart can be captured in this way - and given to things that are so far less than what God wants to give us. The truth is what He wants to give us in Himself. We settle for so much less and so less fulfilling things than Him. And that is what the fool has done - he has settled for adultery rather than finding in God and in His provision of his wife true fulfillment. We are also warned in this passage that, ". . . he who would destroy himself does it." The literal Hebrew says that the destruction is in this man's soul. He finds his mind strangely drawn and lied to by the enticements of the adulterous woman. He finds his emotions stimulated by a false love and false promises of intimacy and pleasure. As he foolishly begins to embrace these thoughts and these concepts he also begins to lose the war within his will to continue in God's ways and in God's path. Soon he gives in to the onslaught that is coming toward his soul. He no longer lives out of his spirit - where the Spirit of God would give him strength to resist and overcome temptation - but instead allows himself to be taken over by his body and its lusts. As he does this He submits himself to the adultery - and in so doing he "destroys" himself in the process and the sinful choice. Destroy here is the Hebrew word, "sahat" and it means to spoil, ruin, destroy, pervert, or corrupt. When you look at these ways of translating this word they all fit this passage - and all take place as this man acts foolishly by committing adultery. For the next several days we will look at the terrible consequences and the wise warnings that God gives us in this area. Remember that this entire conversation is one that takes place between a man and his sons. How wise we would be to have this kind of conversation with our sons as they get older and begin to face the temptations of this present world. How wise we would be to also have these kinds of conversations with our adult sons who are married, as well as with our brothers in Christ with whom we share fellowship in God's church. Since these things are written about so many times in Proverbs - it is a reminder that the wise also warn one another with the very warnings given to us by God.
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The Life and Times of the Drunken Fool, part 5 - From the Mouth of Fools . . . Proverbs 23:354/28/2011 "They struck me, but I did not become ill; They beat me, but I did not know it. When shall I awake? I will seek another drink." Proverbs 23:35
The life and times of the drunken fool comes to an end with this last verse. Yet this last verse as much as any of the others describes perfectly what alcohol can do to someone. It makes them a fool. The problem is that they do not know it - nor do they really care. Their life is spent going from one drunken episode to another - or as we see in today's world - they live from one party to the next. They are unaware of the real damage that is being done to their lives - and even when it is evident it is worn more as a badge of honor than as what it is - the marks left on a fool in the midst of his pursuit of more and more sensuality. When this drunken episode and party is over - his thought when he awakens is the next party, the next time he can drink, the next time he can act the fool. This last verse is the drunken fool speaking to himself. He is remembering some of his most recent party experiences. He remembers that someone hit him - but the inebriated deadening of his senses did not remember it. His thought is that he was not badly injured - or at least not injured enough to be incapacitated. That is the idea behind the word "ill" here. It speaks of being ill enough to be weak or incapcitated. It speaks only of a severe wounding. Since this drunken fool was not so badly injured that he was laid up for days - he doesn't even consider the fact that he was struck. Even worse he repeats this again when he says, "They beat me, but I did not know it." The first statement was a single blow received from someone. This second statement speaks of being beaten with multiple blows. His answer to this is that he did not even know he was being beaten. I've actually met people who were beaten badly - but did not realize it until someone else told them the next day when they were questioned as to why they had bruises on their body. What is truly sad is that they laughed about the situation, finding it funny that they were in a serious fight and didn't even know it. At this point I must also mention another sin of the drunken fool - and that is that some of them beat others. What I refer to is those drunken fools who beat their wives and their children. Some of them do not even remember the pain their inflicted on their loved ones while in the midst of their drunken stupor. The point here is that these fools are so drunk that they do not know what is happening during their beatings. The last statement here is the worst of all. "When shall I awake? I will seek another drink." As the drunken fool falls asleep after his binge - he knows that he will wake up eventually. Does he awaken to seriously consider what he as done - the damage that is in the wake of his indulgent lifestyle? He does not. In fact, most alcoholics will blame everyone else for their choices and the havoc that follows in their wake. Their thought when they awaken is getting another drink. The literal statement here is this, "I will yet again drink." His thoughts are dominated by the next party, the next binge, the next over-indulgence, his next drunk. His life has become his drunkenness - and his desire to drown his miserable life in another bout of partying. I know that some of you who read this may be thinking that I am too hard on the drunken fool. In fact you are pretty offended that I use that term to describe this man or woman. You prefer calling them an alcoholic - referring to their situation as a social disease rather than a series of foolish choices. You almost cringe at the strong statements that have been made in this post. God desires to deliver the drunken fool - and He loves him as He does any other sinner. But God makes it clear here and elsewhere that drunkenness is not funny, neither is it something we should treat lightly. God would not spend seven verses in a book that promotes wisdom unless this lifestyle was a breeding ground for fools. Having been a drunken fool in my past also gives me a pretty clear perspective on this sin. I know first hand the damage that comes from living this way. I also know that since I was in high school and college things have gotten progressively worse. Living in a college town and ministering to college students has made me aware that drunkenness on our campuses is running rampant. We don't even blink any longer - nor do we weep and pray for those who are caught in these lifestyles. We just say that they're kids and that is the way that kids act these days. We shrug our shoulders and walk away. Yet the damage increases every weekend. I know because I often deal with the young men and women who ache from it. Maybe instead of just winking at this - we should begin to fall to our knees and pray that God would so revive His church and restore us. Maybe we should not just complain and vote for dry counties - but also wade into the world of these young men and women who desperately need Jesus Christ in their lives. Maybe we should fight drunkenness with the greatest weapons we have in our arsenal - the gospel of Jesus Christ - and the truth of God's Word. Maybe then we could begin to see a harvest - not of drunken fools - but of redeemed ones who have turned to Jesus Christ and, as a result, have become wise! The Life and Times of the Drunken Fooll, part 2 - A Little Truth Helps a Lot! - Proverbs 23:31-324/25/2011 Do not look on the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it goes down smoothly; At the last it bites like a serpent And stings like a viper.
Proverbs 23:31-32 As we continue our look at the dangers of alcohol abuse we are warned that wine will look good when we see it. There is a certain asthetic beauty to a beautiful glass with wine in it. We see its color and note that it sparkles in the cup. The alcohol industry does everything that it can to enhance the look of their product. Beer is sold to us with people pouring it into a glass where we watch the foam grow along with the beer itself in the glass. Everything is done to make sure that we are enamoured with the sight of this drink. Consider as well that every commercial that seeks to sell these things is filled with skinny people who all look amazingly good - and voila - they are all drinking what we are supposed to be buying as well. The secret message to us is that we can look that good too if we drink their beer, wine, or whiskey. But, the proverb warns us that there is a different experience awaiting us when we actually drink this stuff in abundance. We are told the truth here - that alcohol bites like a serpent and stings like a viper. What we are being alerted to is the effect of the alcohol on our system as we become more and more inebriated with it. We will find ourselves experiencing a type of poisoning of our system. Just like a snake and a viper bite will affect our vision and our ability to speak and walk - so also does the imbibing of alcohol. We will find ourselves strangely affected as this stuff hits our bloodstream and begins inhibiting our brain and physical functions. I find it somewhat disingenuous that we hear over and over again that alcohol can actually enhance our health. But what we are NOT told is how alcohol can poison our system and destroy our bodies. The amount of alcoholic drink we can have to make us healthier (and this is not in every case) is rather small - a small glass of wine often being used as the example. The problem is that in our party society we are not drinking for our health - we are drinking to party - to lower our inhibitions and help us do things we normally would not do. But the problems come not just to our mental state - but there are damages that happen to our brain, our kidneys, and our liver when we poison ourselves with too much alcohol. As I've said earlier, I was a weekend drunk before I was saved. That also means that I have had the unfortunate situation of not only being drunk - but also of having a hangover and of being very sick when I poisoned myself wth alcoholic drinks. To describe what happens when you do this is difficult because it is hard for some to grasp what it might feel like to have multimple sledge hammers converging on the sides of your head while having a stomach ache and a feeling like you are going to throw up. It is difficult to describe how someone's whisper can sound like someone shouting in your ears. Yet these things are signs that you are poisoning yourself with the venom of alcohol abuse. Oh, before I leave this aspect of our current proverb I would like to regale you with what it looks like when someone abuses alcohol for a lifetime. They die of something called scirosis of the liver. I was able to lead a man to Christ who had been a drunk his entire life. He was in his late 40's but looked like he was around 70. He came to Christ just as he was learning of his condition. His alcohol abuse had effectively destroyed his liver, which was in the process of shutting down. He told me to use his situation to warn others to stay away from alcohol and drunkenness. His body began to turn yellow as it also swelled to about twice its normal size. As his liver shut down he was blinded by the impurities that were in his blood. They also began to kill all the other organs in his body. It was not a pretty death that he died. That was the lifetime effect of someone who literally drank themselves to death. The Word of God is trying to warn us of the dangers of alcohol. If we are wise we will approach alcoholic drinks in a similar way that we would approach drinking Draino or some other kind of known poison. Just because alcohol will poison us slower than these things is no reason to treat it any less cautiously. We live in a culture that glories in its alcohol abuse - and does not let us know the backside of this lifestyle. I've always wanted to cut one commercial for a Super Bowl that would present alcohol truthfully. It would involve people who are not pretty - drinking alone or even at a party. We would watch as they drink themselves into a foolish stupor - but the commecial would continue to follow them as they began throwing up uncontrollably. Then the commercial would end with them waking up the next morning as the sound track would distort with the sound of people talking to them - yet sounding like a bullhorn being used to deafen them. The tag line on the commercial would be something like this, "People who tell you to drink promise a good time." At this point the commercial would review the people throwing up uncontrollably and say, "Does this look like a good time?" A quick shot of someone dying of liver disease in all its horror would come next with the final statement, "Yeah, good times." That would at least begin to balance the scales just a little with wisdom when it comes to drinking alcoholic drinks and the truth. Will it ever happen? What do you think? Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger long over wine, Those who go to taste mixed wine. Proverbs 23:29-30
We are about to read one of the most amazing sections of Proverbs that there is. These next seven verses are one of the most poignent commentaries on alcohol and drinking that there is in Scripture. It is also one of the most plain statements against getting drunk. I am not one who states that the Biblical view is complete abstinence from alcohol - simply because Scripture itself does not state that. The Bible teaches us to steer clear from getting drunk. It also warns against lingering long over wine - and I would also argue that the Bible militates against the whole "party culture" that exists in our society today. My own personal stance is complete abstinence from alcohol. The reason for this is because I've led at least two men to Christ who were alcoholics. If I were to drink - and they were to follow my example - there is good reason to be concerned that they would be ruined by my abuse of my freedom in Christ. Therefore, rather than make my brothers stumble, I will renounce my freedom to have anything to do with alcohol. This passage though is about abuse of alcohol. It asks a series of questions that are all rhetorical in nature. They are this way because they have to do with the consequences of alcohol in someone's life who is abusing it. Who has woe? The answer is the alcohol abuser. Woe means to have a horrific distress. Take a close look at the drunkard and you will find plenty of woe and sorrow in his life. There are so many ways that this happens - through broken relationships - through wasted lives - through the regret and horror of the aftermath of a drunken driving accident or arrest. There is so much sorrow from the immediate consequences - as well as the long term ones that come out of drinking and drunkenness. But too often men want to make it look as if these are rare consequences rather than the norm of alcohol abuse. The next set of two questions here deal with the issue of contentions and complaining. Unfortunately, before I came to Christ, I was often in parties where the abuse of alcohol was frequent. I can tell you from experience that the contentions and complaining are very much true. Guys would break out into fights and would have major altercations when they were drunk. I remember one friend who not only had a fight, but was beaten bloody and shot before the night was over. He survived, but the gunshot wound is still in his body to this day as a monument to his stupidity and drunken lack of sense. The complaining usually comes from those who have to deal with the drunk. Their wives complain of their actions. Their children complain of their actions. Their employer complains of their alcohol abuse. They all feel the effects of the lack of self-control - and in some cases the anger that comes with a drunk stumbling into the home. It is a sad but true fact that many men return home to beat their wives and children in their drunken state. Their complaining is testimony to a man who has lost all self-control and who is slowly ruining his life. The next couplet here has to do with questions about wounds and redness of eyes. The wounds come from stumbling around drunk - running into things and injuring oneself. They may come from fights and their aftermath. The redness of eyes comes in the morning when the drunk gets up and faces the difficulty of recovering from the previous evening's activities. Not only is there redness of eyes - but there is also a pounding headache - and at times a stomach that is sick from the alcohol of the previous night. These things are all said of those who "linger long over wine." This speaks of someone who drinks - and stays at a place where they serve them. These are the men who stay at bars well into the night. They may start at happy hour and not finish his drinking until after midnight. The drunk may have 5 to 10 drinks as he pours out the problems he has with the bar tender. He lingers long over a beer or a hard drink - and has another when he is done. The passage here also says that there are those who go to taste "mixed wine." Mixed wine refers to ways that men would mix wine with other things to make it better - and often to make it more intoxicating. It would in some ways refer to the way that men mix drinks in bars today. We are going to get a pretty good picture of the drunk over the next several days. We are going to see his actions as well as the consequences of them. We are going to hear warnings against the things that he does. We will hear warnings about alcohol and the way that it can lure someone into its trap. We will hear about how alcohol promises one thing, yet delivers something quite different. We will also see that when we give ourselves over to this habit and this abuse, we will find that it is a trap that shuts over us and does much to bring great destruction in our lives. The wise man knows that wine and strong drink are deadly and deceptive. That is why he stays away from them. So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way And be satiated with their own devices. Proverbs 1:31
We come to the close of this passage in Proverbs with two very sobering verses of warning. These verses are not being used to issue innocuous threats, but to warn of very real consequences for rejecting the wisdom and the Word of God. They were put here to help us see that a lifestyle that values its own wisdom and rejects God's is one that is filled with regret and destruction. We are warned that if we choose to spurn God's Word - and this is in regard to the negative aspects of it - we will eat the fruit of our own ways. Let me once again take just a moment to define what I mean by the negative messages of God's Word. There are those who want nothing but positive, happy, you're OK - I'm OK messages from God's Word. The problem with this view is that it completely ignores the fall of man and our inherent sinfulness and selfishness. There is no way to gloss over these things - and unless they are confronted from time to time - we will sink into the mire that they create in us individually and corporately in our lives. What we are warned of is the danger of learning too late the fruit that will come from this way. In Galatians chapter five we are told of fruit. But before this fruit is introduced to us we are also introduced to the works or workings of the flesh. "Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. " We see here that when we live in the flesh, which should be seen as embracing our natural state - rejecting God's Word and wisdom and instead choosing our own way, that the consequences of our choice are pretty disgusting. These are the kind of things we see as the problems in our world. They are also the natural consequences of rejecting the fear of God and living for ourselves instead. What is described for us in verses 22-23 of Galatians chatper five is the fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are the consequences of embracing the Holy Spirit of God in our lives. By the way, the Spirit is the One who teaches us God's Word - and will urge us to embrace God's wisdom and way. What I hope you see here is that there is fruit either way we go. When we embrace the Spirit of God, the Word He teaches us, and the wisdom that comes with it - we experience wonderful fruit. But if we embrace a rejection of God's wisdom - which also means we are rejecting His Word and His Spirit - there will be fruit corresponding to these choices. That fruit is not good. The other warning given to us here is that we will also be "satiated" with our own "devices." The word "devices" here is "moesah" which means counsel and intrigue. It refers to godless advice and counsel that will result in a wicked type of intrigue - one where we are seeking to escape the bad effects of following our own bad counsel. Reality though, is that the judgments of God are inescapable. When we choose moral paths there are moral consequences. These cannot be outrun or negated. What we are warned of in Proverbs is that we will be "satiated" with these consequences. The word here means to be filled to the full - to be sated. To help you grasp what this means - it refers to the feeling you get when you've had way too much to eat. It is that sick feeling that you've eaten way too much and now you just sit their miserable. The godless man has the unfortunate future of one day being sated with the moral conseqeunces of his own moral intrigue. Having decided to test God to see if rejecting Him has consequences - he learns the hard way that every consequence God says will happen - just like He said it would happen. A wise man knows that his choices have consequences. He knows that as he does things, says things, and lives a certain way - it is like he is planting a crop for his future. If he plants properly (honoring God's wisdom) the harvest he will gather will be a pleasant one. But if he chooses the reject the wisdom of God - he is only making sure that he will be satiated with the consequences of his foolish choices. Staying Positive is Not Always Staying Wise, Part 5 - When God Rejects and Why - Proverbs 1:28-304/5/2011 "Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but they will not find me, because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD. They would not accept my counsel, they spurned all my reproof."
Proverbs 1:28-30 There is a time when prayer will not reach God - not will it do a person any good at all. That may sound like a strange thing to say - but it is true biblically. God warns those who reject His counsel and who turn away from His reproof that there will be a time when they pray and find that no one is listening. Proverbs tells us that when our lifestyle is one that rejects God's Word and wisdom that there will be a time when due to the lack of it we will call on God and even seek Him diligently. The problem is that the reason they do this is because they want to be rescued from their bad decisions and from the consequences of their actions. Their call to God is not made out of any desire to repent and change how they are living. This kind of prayer will not receive God's answer - although it will receive His rejection. The reason God rejects these kinds of prayers is because of the state of their hearts. These are the one who hated knowledge. They are not ignorant in human terms. In fact often those who hate knowledge are brilliant in the world's eyes. They just hate the knowledge that God has to offer to them. They hate the Word of God - and they hate the things that God has to say about the true state of humanity and the true state of this world. What I refer to is the worldview that sees mankind as fallen and sinful. There are scholars who absolutely reject that worldview. They see man as basically good. In their estimation what mankind needs is not salvation from sin - but to be resuced from those who make us feel bad about ourselves and tell us that we are sinful. They believe that if mankind was just educated properly and kept from the negativity of the Biblical view of mankind. If mankind were not told that anything was sin - but that man could claim their basic god-ness once again - then mankind would prosper and climb to a whole new level of evolution. This was the view at the turn of the century as mankind pretty much rejected the biblical view of sin. The world thought it would rise to a whole new existance without war and without anything to hinder it. What we received from this new enlightened man was a century like no other in its ability to kill one another, make war, commit genocide, and perpetrate horrors upon one another in ways that seemed previously impossible. When men reject God's knowledge - they also choose against the fear of God. They do not honor or respect Him - and they also do not tremble at His Word. When men do not believe God's Word - they are destined in every negative way to fulfill it. They truly will show the work of the fall of man in ways that will astound future generations. Actually future generations, just as blind as their fathers, will say that these things happened because they didn't quite do it right - or because they need an even more God-rejecting philosophy. In so doing they fulfill what verse 30 says. They would not accept God's counsel and they spurn all His reproof. Even as they watch the truth of God come to pass and His worldview upheld again and again, they reject it. Blind guides of the blind, they reject the existance of the very pit into which they lead one another as they continue in their rebellion. Please understand that I know that such writing as this is very depressing. But it is only depressing if we continue to reject God's Word and the counsel, knowledge, understanding, and truth that comes from it. For those who accept God's counsel there is an answer to the futility of mankind and the stupidity of his ways. There is the grace of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is a savlation that God grants us and offers to us through His Son. There is a hope that when we embrace God's ultimate worldview - we not only see our sinfulness - but we are also allowed to see our Savior as well. God graces us with forgiveness, regeneration, and His ongoing work of sanctification. We are redeemed, literally bought from the slave market of sin and given the glorious hope of heaven and fellowship with God for all eternity. There have been and will continue to be those who scorn the negative message that MUST come to mankind for there to be hope. They will say that it is the negative message itself that is the problem - and that if we would just rid ourselves of it - all would be well. But they do not understand that the so-called negative-ness of that message is absolutely necessary in order for us to get the most glorious message of the ages - God's salvation through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ! You cannot have one without the other. If you reject the message that we are sinners - and choose instead to spurn God's truth and counsel - all that awaits you is deception, destruction, and ultimately death. If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, And if you scoff, you alone will bear it. Proverbs 9:12
One of the interesting aspects of wisdom is that there are what you could call "selfish" benefits for walking wisely. We all know that selfishness is not wise - so these are not actually benefits for being selfish - but there are some very real blessings for ourselves when we choose to live according to the wisdom of God rather than according to the ways of the world. It probably reads funny to many Christians that if we are wise, we are wise for ourselves. But this is not saying that our fundamental drive is to be selfish and self-centered. That would not fit at all with the previous statement that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. What it is saying is that a lifestyle that makes consistent wise choices is one that will be very beneficial to the one making them. Emphasize the "if" here - because after all that has been said in chapter 9, the "if" is the choice that we have to make. Are we going to be wise? Are we going to choose the way that is in agreement with God's ways? IF we are wise - we will be wise for ourselves - blessing us - blessing our family - blessing our friends - and blessing those around us. There is the truth in a very straight forward way. Make wise choices - it is the best thing you can do for yourself! The second half of this proverb is given as a warning. Scoff at what God says - and you alone will bear the consequences of your actions. In the end - YOU will pay for unwise decisions. We know from many other verses in Proverbs as well as the rest of the entire Bible that unwise choices will affect others. But most of all, they will affect the one making them. The word scoff here is very descriptive. It is the Hebrew word "lits" and it means to deride, to make a mockery. an to scorn. What is being scoffed at is God's wisdom and ways. The one who hears God's wisdom here is laughing at it - mocking it - and deriding it as utterly useless. He is not just refusing it - he is making fun of it. This one will, in the end, bear the consequences of his own actions and attitudes. The term bear here gives a picture of someone who is putting a load on themselves. As they reject God's Word - they are just adding to the burden of their sin - and the burden of their ungodly lifestyle. They alone will have to carry the load they are adding to with their mocking. This is even more telling in light of Jesus' own invitation to come to Him and rest - for He promises to make our load easy and our burden light. Those who resist and mock Him will have as a consequence the increased burden of their sin and rebellion - and they alone will have to carry it. We have a choice every day in Christ. We have a choice to learn from and benefit due to God's wisdom. We can be wise with a wisdom from God - and experience the beneifts of it ourselves. It requires a choice to fear God - distrust self and this world's wisdom. But in the end its blessings far outweigh its liabilities. The other choice is to mock and deride God's wisdom - choosing instead the wisdom of this present world and of our own thinking. The end of that way will be carried by the one who scoffs. Oh, and one other thing to remember. There is a way that seems right unto a man, but that way ends in death. The soul of the wicked desires evil; His neighbor finds no favor in his eyes.
Proverbs 21:10 Have you ever considered the thoughts and desires of a very wicked man - who seems to truly consider nothing other than himself. I realize that theologically we all are wicked and we all are consumed by our own selfishness. Yet God in His mercy has blessed us with societal restraints and parental restraints - and even conscience-driven restraints that keep us from fully manifesting our wickedness. But there are those who whether by searing their conscience as with a hot iron - or by giving themselves to every wicked impulse of their hearts - have unlocked the depths of wickedness in their hearts like no one else. They may be the mass murderers or the wicked rulers of a nation - or just someone who seems to not have an ounce of mercy in their being. Whatever it is - it is truly terrifying to think what it is that brings someone to that level of having their wicked desires rule their thinking and their heart. The wicked man has a soul that desires evil. That means he desires it at the level of his mind in his thinking, at the level of his will in how he chooses to live his life, and in his emotions in that he truly delights in evil and in what is contrary to God's Word. It should be no shock to us then to see that his neighbor finds no favor whatsoever in his eyes. He has no proclivity to show grace and favor to anyone except himself. Ultimately his desire is for himself and what he wants. If it looks like he is showing favor - it is only because that is what will get him what he wants in the end. Wisdom realizes that we need to shun evil - and have nothing to do with it. The reason that this is so is because evil will never be neutral in our lives. If we give in to it, evil will seek to expand its influence in our hearts and minds - and ultimately will work its ways in our wills. You cannot choose to do evil and have evil be sequestered to only that area of your life. Evil will expand - evil will grow - and left undealt with - it will eventually dominate our lives. This proverb should be sufficient to remind us that this is true. That the wicked man's appetite for evil will end with there being no favor for anyone or anything except that which will support the expansion of evil in his doings. Steer clear of evil - reject it - hate it - that is the course of the wise. And you groan at your final end, When your flesh and your body are consumed; Proverbs 5:11
The latter end of our days. The consequences of our actions not after a few moments - but a week later, a month later, a year later, a lifetime later. This is what verse 11 of our proverb today is calling out to us today. It is a challenge to think beyond the moment when we make choices. It is a challenge to think longer in to our future and consider where our choices are going to take us. This chapter of Proverbs deals primarily with the adulterous woman and what she will do to the poor schlub who decides to engage in sexual immorality with her. So far this proverb has told us of some very harsh consequences that will come to the one who does this. We've seen so far that we will give our vigor to others (11), we will give our years to the cruel one which is a reference to the devil (11), the divorce that will likely come will end up having us send our goods to the house of someone else (12), and we will watch strangers be given the money we've earned with our strength (12). These are pretty difficult things to handle - but now we see that the latter end of our lives will be bad. The term "final end" is only one word in the Hebrew. It is the word "acharith" which means to the end of the matter. It has to do with having the wisdom to see what the final end of something is going to be. According to today's proverb, our latter end - our acharith will be that we will groan as our flesh and body are consumed. Let's take a look at what that may mean for us. The rabbis speak about this passage and beleive it speaks to a problem with disease. When you engage in sexual immorality it opens you up to the world of STD's that run rampant among the sexually active crowd. I just took a few minutes to peruse the CDC website on sexually transmitted diseases and it was frightening to consider how many in our society are infected already. What is even more frightening is that these are statistics from those who report that they have STD's. Some experts believe that these numbers would at least triple or quadruple if we knew everyone who is truly infected. Most of these diseases do not have an immediate effect on someone, but just about every one of them have devastating long-term problems that come with being infected. This is what we would expect when we read what God has to say about sexual immorality here in Proverbs. It is at the latter end of your days that you find your flesh and body consumed by the consequences of your actions. It is a sad reality though that when these things begin to strike, we will groan because of them. The groan mentioned here refers to a groan or a growl - even a roar could be the meaning. What is being communicated to us is that the pain involved here is pretty excruciating. If you've ever seen or heard of how someone dies of AIDS or syphilis, it is not pretty. But this is what awaits those who indulge in sexual immorality very often. Wisdom is this - God's way in sexuality. He desires for us to reserve ourselves for our husband or wife. He desires abstinence in singleness and faithfulness in marriage. If our society were to adopt these practices we would watch STD's plummet in number - and eventually be gone from our world. But the truth is that fallen men and women engage in sexual immorality. The result therefore is that we have a world that is unfortunately running wild in a very dangerous area - and that the infection rates will continue to rise. May God give us wisdom to avoid being one of the statistics and hold fast to God's way. May we also be wise as fathers in instructing our children - especially our sons as to the true dangers that are out there for the sexually immoral one. My son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your feet from their path, For their feet run to evil And they hasten to shed blood. Proverbs 1:15-16
This is the advice given to the son who is being enticed to do evil by others. It is the same advice given in 1 Corinthians 15 where we read that bad company corrupts good morals. The godly father wants to warn his son that he should not be naive about the condition of the human heart. Young men need to know that they cannot trust everyone. They will meet people they should not follow or emulate. If they do, they will ultimately be led astray from God's ways. Here the father says to the son that he should not walk in the way with these people who are pursuing evil. I want you to notice the exact words the father uses in counselling his son. He says, "Do not WALK in the way with them." The word "way" here is the Hebrew word "derek" that we run into so much in Proverbs. It means a way, a manner of living - and should be understood as walking as a lifestyle. The father warns the son that to walk in the lifestyle that these young men walk in is very dangerous. He goes further to say, "Keep your feet from their path." Again a warning is issued that the "way" in which these people walk is not one that we should follow. Too often we make decisions on who our friends are on the whim of our feelings when we are around them. But wisdom tells us to look at where are friends are GOING. Where is their lifestyle going to lead them? That is the important question we should ask. Let me take a moment, though, and say what the father did NOT say. He did not say to shun them and never speak to them. Too often this is how we instruct our children - and in so doing make them almost fear being around people who are lost. We should stress to our children that they are not to have their best friends among those who are ungodly - but they should befriend them for the purpose of ministry to them. If they do not, how will they hear the gospel? The wisest thing for a father to do is to have his family come alongside him and befriend other families. This way the entire family can reach out to another family and seek to share the gospel with them - father with the father, mother with the mother - and the children with the children. The father does go on to say in verse 16 - that the reason his son should not walk in their ways or paths is that their feet run to evil and the hasten to shed blood. These folks seem to be in a hurry to do what is wrong. The father says they "run" to evil. There are no road blocks in their conscience - neither does it seem to be hindering them from going toward the wrong. God's Law is meant to be a hinderance from going the wrong direction. It is a goad and a road block to tell us that their is a bad situation - a sin that is to be avoided. But these people are oblivious to this - and run to do evil. The shedding of blood is also meant to be a very bad sign. I think there is a natural aversion that God has given us to blood. When we see it - we think that something bad has happened and that we need to not do that again. But these people have what I would call blood-lust. They like it when they see blood and are not averse to shedding it if it will get them what they want. Such people should be avoided at all costs - because they are seriously bad news. Once again we see that a wise man is one that teaches his children about such things. He takes the time to explain to his children that the kind of people they are befriending (not for ministry - but for their closest friendships) will ultimately direct them in a way - a lifestyle will result. What I find sad so often as a pastor is the number of times I know that someone is being charged with being an "accessory" to a crime. This means that they did not commit the crime itself - they were just the friend who was with the fool who did. They didn't say anything to stop them, and now they are being prosecuted for their stupidity for having a friend who did. That is what the wise father is trying to teach his more gullible son. We would be wise if we taught our children the same things - and helped them avoid the kind of friendships that would lead them in a lifestyle that pursues evil. |
Proverb a DayEach day, we'll take a look at a verse from the chapter of Proverbs for the day. Our hope is to gain wisdom each day - and from that wisdom - to have understanding to make godly decisions in the throes of everyday life. Thank you for visiting our website! Everything on this site is offered for free. If, however, you would like to make a donation to help pay for its continued presence on the internet, you can do that by clicking here. The only thing we ask is that you give first to the local church you attend. Thank you!
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