A rebuke goes deeper into one who has understanding Than a hundred blows into a fool. Proverbs 17:10
God gave me a wonderful man who has a heart after Him to be my mentor. His name is John Dale Rector. John Dale spent 3 years of his life teaching and training me in the things of the Lord. He taught by precept and by example. He also had his hands full as I was a proverbial bull in a china shop with my zeal that lacked wisdom. Thus John Dale had to spend more than his fair share of time rebuking me for my excesses. Thus he taught me a very important verse of Scripture and had me memorize it early in my walk with the Lord. The verse says, "Let a righteous man strike me, it is a kindness." That particular verse has a lot to do with what today's proverb has to teach us. I am an advocate for both verbal and corporal punishment. There is a time for rendering blows to fools. One of those times in during childhood where the responsibility of the parent is to train up a child in the way he should go. It is a time where through loving discipline (which includes spanking) a parent seeks to teach a child what he should and should not do. The parent is not trying to dominate the child or to crush his spirit. The parent IS seeking to help a child grasp what is acceptable and unacceptable to God and to society. But the end of that corporal punishment is to train a child to be a young man or woman who knows two things. First he or she knows how to accept rebuke from the Spirit of God. This happens as he or she is walking through life and about to make un ungodly or unwise decision. The Spirit of God then rises up within to remind of Scripture, to offer correction and guidance with the Word. Some times the Spirit just activates our conscience and we are smitten with a bad sense or feeling - or we just know that what we are about to do, or have done, is wrong. What we desire to do with our children (and in training disciples in the church) is to have them be responsive to that rebuke - to that warning from within. The second way that a parent and discipler wants to train up their charge is to have them be responsive to people who come to them with a word of rebuke. It would be wonderful if everyone who offered such rebuke were being constructive with it - but we all know that is a perfect world and not the real one. The truth is that even non-constructive criticism can be beneficial to us. Therefore we want to be open to all rebuke. The wise thing is to receive the rebuke and be thankful for it. Then take it to the Lord and ask Him to confirm what is in agreement with what He is doing through the Word of God. Then take what God affirms and use it to grow into all the fullness of Jesus Christ in our character and actions. This is how to allow rebuke to go deep within us - rather than just bounce off of us as we reject it outright. The Scripture tells us that in order for this to happen, we have to be one who has "understanding." This is the ability to discern and perceive truth from error - right from wrong - God from the flesh and the world - the work of the Holy Spirit from the work of the devil. We discern an pay attention to what God saying to us. Because of this we truly understand the will of God - and grow wiser because we have learned to see things from His perspective. The proverb tells us that this ability to receive rebuke and understanding from goes deeper into us than a hundred blows into a fool. An interesting thing is that God instructed not to give corporal punishment beyond 39 blows at any time. There is the penalty of imprisonment and even the death penalty that is applied by the state to crimes against society. But God knows that a hundred blows as opposed to 39 would not bring wisdom and understanding into a fool. There is a point where no amount of corporal punishment is effective. The fool rejects all of it - verbal rebuke as well as any kind of physical punishment. Thus we know that all that is left to us is intercessory prayer that God will ultimately break the fool and open his heart to begin to understand. When I read this proverb, I am thankful to those whom God uses to offer rebuke into my life. Let me be perfectly honest that often it is hard to receive the rebuke - and yes, it hurts. But those who wound us can be healers. Remember that when a surgeon does his work he has to injure us before he can take out the cancer that will kill us. We consider the incision made by his knife a good thing - because it is ultimately working healing into our lives. Remember that the next time you receive some verbal surgery through a brother or sister in Christ who loves you. Those words will bring blessing into your life if you receive them and allow God to work through them. If it is hard to remember that - just remember this instead. I'd rather have some verbal surgery - than a hundred blows on my back! POSTSCRIPT: Recently, individuals have quoted articles from this section and stated that we teach child abuse at Calvary Chapel Jonesboro. To this I feel the need to respond. First, biblically, we are told that if we have a problem with our brother to go to our brother - not the internet - and confront our brother. To date, these individuals have yet to contact me to discuss these things. That should say volumes in itself. Second, we do not teach child abuse at our fellowship. This blog is an endeavor to teach what is in the Bible for the edification and upbuilding of God's people. Anyone who has been to our fellowship knows that in our classrooms we administer NO physical discipline. We correct with words and with "time outs" and eventually with a report to parents. From our nursery throughout every age group our people are instructed NEVER to administer physical discipline. We believe this right alone belongs to a parent. Even then we teach the following about any application of physical discipline. Discipline is about the heart of a child. Physical or corporal punishment is ONLY to be administered in a spirit of love for the child. Teaching and loving verbal correction is key - as is prayer for the child's eventual salvation in Jesus Christ. Any physical punishment administered due to anger or rage is out of line and wrong. The parent is to discipline the child with appropriate discipline - not abuse. In the end the child should be taught - and in every circumstance hugged, loved, and prayed with after any physical punishment to assure them of our love. The idea of a "beating" is completely out of step with what the Scriptures are teaching. Instead the idea of loving discipline is intended.
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"I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, And I find knowledge and discretion.
Proverbs 8:12 How gullible are you? Here is a verse in Proverbs that tells us that being wise and godly are actually the opposite of being gullible. If that has whet your appetite for more - read on. In chapter 8 of Proverbs we have a picture painted for us where wisdom is personified. She speaks to us and tells us about herself. The more we learn of her - the more we are to desire her. In the midst of this description we have wisdom saying to us that there is a companion that she dwells with. Her companion's name is "prudence." If we will stay with these two, wisdom and prudence. we will be influenced in such a way that we will also find knowledge and discretion. Let's take a closer look at this friend of wisdom. Prudence is the Hebrew word, "ormah." This word means to be crafty or prudent. We're pretty much OK with the second of these two words, but crafty presents an interesting picture. We don't usually view someone who is crafty as a positive thing, but here it is used in a positive way. The idea here is that of someone who is crafty with wisdom and with seeing things from God's perspective. Whereas the wicked would use craftiness to trick someone and gain an unfair advantage of them, God is using it to speak of the inability to be caught by someone's trickery. It is a wisdom and cautiousness that keeps us from being gullible. We are not speaking of someone who is always thinking the worst of people - but we are speaking of someone who knows men. It was said of Jesus that he did not entrust himself to men - because He knew what was in a man. Let me use a biblical illustration to make this clearer. Joshua was tricked into making a treaty in the book of Joshua chapter 9. The Gibeonites used trickery to make it look like they were from a far away country. They put on worn-out clothes and sandals, took worn-out sacks, and dry and crumbled provisions to make Israel think they were not Canaanites. Israel was snookered by all this - only because her leaders did not walk according to wisdom. The Scriptures tell us that their failure was in not seeking and asking God about their situation. They took everything at face value - and believed their eyes. They did not seek the Lord and submit themselves to Him. In the end - their lack of prudence led to their being too gullible. Wisdom dwells with prudence. Wisdom is found with those who do not make "snap" judgments and decisions. They stand back from things long enough to ask questions - and more importantly - to ask God about what their eyes see and what their minds seem to be comprehending. Thus, when we walk with this wise cautiousness - we are led to find knowledge. We are led to find out things that a "once-over" mindset and choice will never find. You don't judge a book by its cover - you open it and read a little. You don't make wise decisions by reacting to the outside only - you take time to investigate things, people, and situations. When we walk in this wisdom - prudence will also help us to find discretion. We remember discretion from earlier verses in Proverbs. Discretion is being able to differentiate things. It is seeing two things that may look alike at first, but are not. Closer examination reveals the difference. And the difference often makes all the difference. Being gullible is not something we have to hold onto in life. It is something that reveals a tendency to not turn to God and to Scripture to obtain wisdom - i.e. God's perspective on things. You do not have to suffer from terminal gullibility though. You can learn to step back and examine things closer in the light of God's presence and Word. This will help you to build purdence, knowledge, and the ability to discriminate between that which is good and that which is evil or even not so good. You will find out that gullible is not written on the ceiling. What you will find is that God's Word and Spirit will help you see the difference between your will, the will and way of the world, and God's will. He who gets wisdom loves his own soul; He who keeps understanding will find good. Proverbs 19:8
How does the Bible teach us to love ourselves? Here is an interesting question because there are some who think that before we can ever love someone else, we have to love ourselves. Personally, I find that kind of teaching to be contrary to sound wisdom. The reason I feel this way is because those who are taught such things spend all their time going deeper inward to determine if they love themselves enough. The problem with this kind of psycho-babble is that happiness comes when we are no longer consumed with ourselves and learn to give our lives for others and for the glory of God. A person who constantly goes inward to determine if they love themselves properly will have precious little time to love others. It is usually a downward spiral that can lead to a person being consumed by a desire for their own happiness. Jesus said that if we love our lives we will lose them - but if we lose our lives for Him and for His kingdom's sake, we will gain them for all eternity. But this passage in Proverbs genuinely speaks of loving our own soul. So what exactly is God teaching us here? The translation here reads, "He who gets wisdom . . . " yet the actual word translated wisdom is the Hebrew word, "leb" which refers to the heart. What Solomon was seeking to say is that the one who gets a heart - the right kind of heart - loves his own soul. Here is where we need to grasp what the Bible says about our hearts. We learn from the whole counsel of Scripture some very interesting things about the human heart. First, we learn that our hearts are messed up due to the fall of man into sin. Jeremiah tells us that the heart is wicked and desperately evil, and is impossible to understand with our own wisdom. (Jeremiah 17:9) To plumb the depths of our hearts - without grasping the wickedness of sinful man - will get you no where. That is why secular psychology will yield very little in dealing with the true human condition. None of the major psychological constructs admits that man is a sinner - and that the real problem with humanity is a sin problem - a rebellion against God. The next thing we learn is that God Almighty can understand the heart - and has done what is necessary to change it and transform it. The change for the heart is available by faith in Jesus Christ. God takes out of us our heart of stone, that does not respond to God's Word or commandments. In its place God miraculously puts a heart of flesh that has the very commandments of God written upon it. Thus we are regenerated in Christ with a new heart and a desire to do what He commands. The other lesson that God teaches us in His Word is that once we are saved, our hearts and minds need to be renewed by the Word and the work of His Spirit. While we are here on earth, we will face temptation and a constant battle with the three enemies of our soul, the world-system, the flesh, and the devil. Because of the way that these three things want to influence our minds toward sin, it is imperative that we renew our minds with the truth - which is God's Word. Actually, this is the way we "get heart." We "get heart" when we begin to understand God's wisdom and God's ways. We no longer try in our own strength to deal with the myriad of temptations and trials that come to our hearts. We know that such an endeavor is doomed to be fruitless. Instead, we embrace what God has done in Jesus Christ. We embrace godly wisdom and understanding. As we do this we are actively loving our own soul! Remember that Jesus said that if we want to save our "fleshly" lives in this world - we will lose them. But the one who chooses to lose his soul - who dies to self - and who embraces a regenerated heart - that man loves himself in the end. He embraces an understanding of life that has conversion and regeneration at its core. As he does this - he finds good! He learns to die to himself - and die to the desires of the flesh. He learns that when his heart is drawn by temptation to a worldly point of view that he needs to reject it. He chooses instead to "not love the world or the things of the world." He goes to the Word of God to renew his mind so that he proves that the will of God is good, acceptable, and perfect. He faces the lies and deceit of the devil and learns to expose them for what they are. He chooses instead a life instructed by the Scriptures. He spends time in the Word so that he is walking with "understanding" at all times. The two words "keeps understanding" are very beneficial to know here. He "keeps" understanding points to the fact that he watches over it - guards it - and is constantly on the lookout for anything that would detract from God's ways and will in his life. He keeps "understanding" points to the fact that he desires a discernment from God on all things. The word "understanding" is the Hebrew "tebunah" which means to discern or understand how things differ. He looks at every choice wanting to discern the difference between his flesh and the Spirit of God. He wants to discern the difference between the kingdoms of this world vs. the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ. He longs to discern the difference between his own desires and those given by the Lord. He yearns to grasp the difference between sin and righteousness - between glorifying self and glorifying God. This is the way to love yourself. You love your own soul by protecting and guarding it from the tyranny of self. You choose instead to embrace God's wisdom in the heart. You decide that you will guard and protect yourself from anything that turns you even slightly from a life lived for the glory of God - from a life lived for the kingdom of God - and a life lived by the Spirit of God as He teaches and leads you by the Word of God. Want to love yourself? That is the way to do it! Fools mock at sin, But among the upright there is good will. Proverbs 14:9
How a person views and deals with sin determines whether they are wise or they are foolish. Here we have Solomon teaching us the important lesson that how a man views the whole concept and reality of sin is vitally important. If we miss this - and decide how a person sees sin is not really important to us - we will find ourselves in the company of those who are fools. We will find ourselves allowing those who think sin does not even exist - be those who counsel us as to how we should have a sound mind. The fact that we are bypassing this issue - especially when it comes to our worldview - is wreaking havoc on the church. Let me explain for a moment, because this issue is absolutely vital to us today. How a man views sin will ultimately either bless or corrupt everything he does. Most philosophies actually reject the idea of sin. They see our problem as a lack of education - or a lack of opportunity for people. Some even see the problem as believing that there is truth upon which we define and state whether actions and choices are sinful or not. They reject the very idea of sin - and consider guilt as a root problem for all people. The way they deal with this is to make truth an issue of individuality. Your truth is your truth - and you are free to live however you want based on what you consider to be true. Thus, if your truth states that there is no sin - that guilt is a bad thing - then that is true for you. This denial of sin goes further because it asserts that no one has the right to call your truth falsehood. You can imagine the problems this makes for a society in which everyone is a free agent, determining what is right or wrong for themselves. Actually it is not much different from the book of Judges where there was no God and every man did what was right in his own eyes. In this kind of society rules are constantly shifting like blowing sand. The end of this is a state in which a growing ungodliness and lawlessness begins to take root. By the way - this eventually leads to a culture of corruption and violence that is out of control. The people begin calling for someone to rise up and restore order - which in turn gives rise to a dictator who then re-establishes "order" according to "his rules." If you would like to know when this has happened in history, take a look at the Weimar Republic - which gave rise to Hitler's Germany. It has also happened in numerous examples of dictatorships of every stripe. Mankind is best ruled by God's law established in their hearts by the work of His grace. But until men come to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ - it is so necessary for a Law to be established because of the wickedness of man's fallen heart. Here we see why it is so important to define sin - and define it according to God's Word. If God has revealed Himself in the Bible, then we know how to define righteousness - truth - and what is and what is not sin. This becomes the bedrock of laws that are established in a nation. But the best thing - which our founders realized - is that men's hearts be ruled according to God's law. Our founders knew this - and thus were pinning their hopes on a heart initially ruled by God's 10 commandments. This set of God's laws would restrain so much sin and ungodly behavior - that then a society could be ruled by fewer laws. But where there is no law - there is no sin. Since our nation has rejected the 10 commandments as an illegal document by which to rule our nation, then we are left to the shifting sands of public opinion and man's evil heart to govern us. Is it any wonder that our laws continue to degrade - allowing just about any conduct to be considered legal - but not just legal - acceptable. In the end the Bible tells us where this will go - as men call good evil and evil good. Watch closely, dear saints, as more and more Biblical positions will be considered illegal by those who mock at sin. But there is even a greater evil that is foisted upon us by mocking at sin. When sin is mocked - when the whole idea of guilt is abandoned - then there is no real reason for a Savior. The second half of this proverb states that among the upright there is "good will." The word used here for "good will" means "the favor of God." When the concept of sin is rejected by the philosophies of this present world - then there is no need for any kind of redemption from it. If we are not guilty of anything before God, then it seems pretty arrogant of God to call for the death of His only Son to pay for . . . "nothing." Follow where your philosophy ultimately leads you. If you mock at and deny guilt and sin - and this is where it leads. That is why we have modern day preachers in the church calling the death of Christ, "divine child abuse." Without sin and guilt - there is actually no wrong behavior. But a corollary to this doctrine is that without wrong behavior - neither is there any real "upright" behavior either. All things become neutral - and the matter of individual hearts. You have no business in that society stating your view on anything. To do so is to risk the danger of being called "judgmental." The problem is that there IS WRONG BEHAVIOR! We all know it in our conscience. The only way to rid ourselves of this is to sear our conscience as with a hot iron. The fact is that there is sin - whether men mock it or not. There is a guilt that comes with breaking God's Law. That guilt and that offense is real - and it poses a serious problem. According to God's Word, sin and guilt require accountability and punishment. There is an earthly punishment meted out by men in the governmental sphere (Romans 13) - but the real problem is the divine retribution for rebellion and sin. The good will - i.e. grace - that the upright know is one given not by works, but by grace through faith. God has provided the way through Jesus Christ - His death, burial, and resurrection. That is given as a gift to those who respond when God grants knowledge and conviction of sin, repentance, and faith to the sinner through the gospel. When we look at the amazing thing God has done for us - and His infinite mercy in granting it to us - we have to come to the same conclusion that our proverb states to us today. Only a fool would disdain this grace . . . only a fool would disregard the wonderful work of God's conviction by the Spirit . . . and mock sin. By doing so, he also mocks the grace that is freely given to those made upright by it. He mocks the gospel. Blessings are on the head of the righteous, But the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. Proverbs 10:6
Proverbs often compares the righteous and the wicked. Here is no exception. This passage speaks of what covers the righteous man and what covers the wicked as well. Whereas we read that blessings are on the righteous man's head - the wicked have something far different covering them. The head of the righteous receives blessings. Why the head? The Hebrew culture viewed the head as the most important part of a person. Cut off the head and the body is dead. The head is also considered the leader. It represents what truly is leading us in our lives. So, when we read here that the "head of the righteous" has blessings poured out upon it, we see that when what leads us - what drives us in life is geared toward righteousness (just think simply - doing what is right in God's sight - doing what pleases Him). There is wonderful blessing when we choose God's way. We need to know this. When our "chooser" (yes I know that this is not a word - but it works here) functions according to God's way and God's direction - blessings ensue! Make your choices according to his Word and according to His ways. You will never regret it - especially in light of the fact that these choices go beyond the grave - while others only last in this life (unless you consider punishment and hell for those who reject Christ altogether). But there is actually even more to this. There is blessings not just in eternity - there are blessings here and now. The way of God may be difficult at times - but it is also filled with joy and peace. The Scriptures warn us that it is the way of the transgressor that is hard. Remember this when you get ready to set a direction with your head - with your "chooser." The second part of this proverb is a little more difficult to understand because it involves a hebraism - a saying that makes perfect sense to a Jewish person - but does not exactly transfer with words alone. It is like us saying, "a stitch in time saves nine." That won't make sense to most people unless they know something about sewing. This hebraism says, "the mouth of the wicked conceals violence." The meaning here has the idea of covering something or someone. The words of the wicked - what comes out of his mouth - is both covered in violence - and due to what he says makes it inevitable that he himself will be covered in violence as well. The simplest way to grasp what this means is when someone speaks violently to another with their words. Not only are they speaking violence - but whan the other person responds, they are pretty much going to guarantee violence as a return for their violent words. The wicked, due to their ungodly choices and ways, are using violent words - and in the process are guaranteeing a culture of violence that will surround them. Take a look at our society for a moment or two. I'll use two examples to explain this. First is the abortion industry. They use extreme violence to end the life of an innocent child. They choose to execute the baby - who has done nothing wrong. Those in the industry say that they are preventing child abuse by those who don't want an unexpected child (Interesting to me that they don't get that sex produces pregnancy - which by the way - makes a child - guess what they were expecting was sex without consequences and without the biological process of reproduction being a result - hmmm). The fact though is that since we've begun throwing away children in this way - child abuse has risen exponentially. Kind of looks like the violence with which they cover themselves with their words and actions - is now covering them too - just like God said. The second example is the way that violence is glorified by our culture. We see it everywhere. The most obvious example is in television, movies, and the video game culture. We are encouraged to deal with our problems with violence. We've actually gotten to the point where we see violence and violent acts as a form of entertainment. There seems to be no limit to how graphic and how grotesque we will get when it comes to these things. The result of our violence? We have watched an explosion of violence consume our culture and our relationships in society - just like God said. Wisdom tells us very plainly here that what abounds in our words and with our choices is what is coming back upon us. It is almost like God is saying here in the Old Testament what He says in the New Testament. What a man sows, that he will also reap. Sow righteousness - sow doing what is right in God's eyes - you receive blessings here - and even greater blessings in eternity. Sow violence now - you will reap an ever increasing harvest of violence as well. May God give us true wisdom that does not embrace the fullness of our culture - but the harvest of righteousness and blessing that comes from choosing His way at every turn. She does not ponder the path of life; Her ways are unstable, she does not know it. Proverbs 5:6
Here is another in a list of warnings given to the man who would think of committing adultery. It is part of the description of the adulteress. Before I go into this particular verse I do want to make a comment or two for the ladies. This passage does describe for us the woman who either leaves her husband to have sex with another man - or a single woman who enters into relationships with married men and thus is committing adultery with him. I do not in any way want you ladies to think that any man is receiving a pass here. This passage is dealing with this issue from the perspective of a warning to sons. Fascinating that this warning comes most likely from David to Solomon - two guys who learned much from the wrong side of this issue. David's warnings to his son Solomon were for the most part unheeded in the end - and Solomon's sin was the undoing of Israel. So you can see that the cost of mistakes in this area are great. Fortunately for us - the grace of God and His forgiveness are greater. Nevertheless - a whole host of problems come when a young man is foolish enough to be ensnared by the adulteress. Oh, and ladies . . . the greatest snare for him is not the woman herself - but his own lusts that wage war in his soul. But, with all this said, it is a wise father who speaks to his son about these issues - even if it is from hard lessons learned. The adulteress, like anyone who is willingly cooperating with sin, is not watching for eternal things. The passage states in the Hebrew that she is not watching the path of life. The actual Hebrew word here is "palas" and it means to ponder or to calculate the weight of something. One of the ways it is used is to weigh out a path and see what it will bring to us in the end. The adulteress is not thinking about eternity - about the judgment of God at the end of life when according to the Bible, all men and women will have to give an account of their choices and actions. The word "ponder" here does not mean just a casual thought - but to stop and think seriously about something. She is not thinking about where her actions are taking her. This is kind of a "duh" statement considering we just read a verse earlier that her feet are swiftly moving towards death and her very steps (indicating a direction taken) and taking hold of the place of the dead. Think about this for a moment. Does anyone who is entering into sexual immorality seriously stop and think about the diseases they are opening up to in their lives? Does anyone entering into adultery seriously stop and consider the havoc coming in their marriage - in their family - in their children's lives? There is not a lot of pondering going on here. Honestly, what IS going on is actions based on lust and desire. Sexual immorality usually involves shutting the "ponderer" down and living by the impulses of our flesh instead. The adulteress also is unstable. The word for unstable here means to stagger and walk crooked. It has the idea of someone who is swaying in and out of a path. Rather than ponder and consider the path of life - she is wandering and staggering off the road. Jeremiah 14:10 uses this same imagery to indicate that there are those who love their wandering. God told Jeremiah, "Thus says the LORD to this people, 'Even so they have loved to wander; they have not kept their feet in check. Therefore the LORD does not accept them; now He will remember their iniquity and call their sins to account."' This is the same sentiment we sing about in the hymn, "Come Thou Fount" when we say, "prone to wander, Lord I feel it; prone to leave the Lord I love." This speaks of a "willful" wandering. The adulteress though, is wandering not toward sin with the assurance of God's gracious discipline. She is willfully wandering toward a yawning abyss without seeing its gaping jaws. Her ways are unstable - wandering - staggering toward destruction - but she does not know it. So althought she promises so much through her offer of pleasure, albeit illicit. She does not know even herself where it is eventually leading. Pretty scary description here isn't it? That's the point that David is trying to drive home to young Solomon his son. Remember, David wound up killing Uriah as well as several other soldiers by proxy - had his daughter raped by one of her half brothers - had that son killed by another son (who used his proxy methods to accomplish the deed) - had 10 of his concubines raped in public by his son on a rooftop in front of the entire nation - and had that son die in an effort to usurp the kingdom along with all the soldiers who fell in that battle as well. Kinda cost David far more than he thought to have that one night of hidden passion? Maybe David was wanting Solomon to ponder more than he did - to avoid a similar fate? Maybe whether from success or failure in our moral lives we should do the same with our sons and daughters as well? Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding! Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Proverbs 4:5
How do you become wise? There is a question for the ages, yet the answer as you will see is much easier than you would think. Becoming wise involves first wanting to be wise. We've seen from other Proverbs that the first step in becoming wise is to realize that you are not wise. That may at first sound ridiculously simple - but you would be surprised how many people miss it. Once you realize that you are not wise, the next step is told to us here. You begin to do all that you can to acquire wisdom and understanding. Of course I know the next question will be, "How do you do that?" That is what we will examine today as we look at this Proverb. If you want to acquire wisdom, you hang out with wise people. This is important mainly because it should move you toward God. Since He is the author of all wisdom - you would want to spend a lot of time reading what He has to say and listening to what He desires to communicate to you. This also means you want to cultivate the habit of being very sensitive to what the Holy Spirit is saying to you in the Word each day. One of the quickest ways to move from foolishness to wisdom is to listen to and to follow Him. This means working on the discipline of getting into God's Word every day. It means getting into it with a heart that listens to God. You are not just "doing your Bible reading," but you are seeking God's face - desiring His counsel - and longing to communicate with Him in a way that you have the wisdom you need for life itself. Some other things that would be ways to acquire wisdom would be to read often in the book of Proverbs. This is the book of wisdom itself in the Scriptures, so it is only right to spend time in this particular book. Learn to do a "daily proverb." This is the practice of reading the chapter of Proverbs that coincides with the day of the month. Since there are 31 chatpers in Proverbs you will never lack a chapter for the day of the month - and over time you will watch your mind be filled with God's wisdom. Another thing to do is to learn "the moral of the story" in the history of the Bible. We can learn a great deal from both the wise and foolish behavior of people in the Bible. You can add to this reading books written by wise men, receiving godly counsel from older, wiser men and women, and also listening and going to your own parents for counsel. These are all ways you can acquire wisdom. By the way, the word wisdom itself simply means, "learning to see things from God's perspective." That is what you are seeking as you do all these things. The verse here also says that we are to acquire "understanding." We are not just gathering wise sayings and teachings. We are wanting to be able to comprehend and discern what do to and what to say in life. This word means to have that discernment that knows how to choose the right thing and reject the wrong thing. It has a strong moral and religious sense to it. We want to gain and acquire an ability to see two things that differ (even if they only differ slightly) and know how to choose the right one and embrace it wholly. This involves not just learning and acquiring wise sayings and information - it involves using it to see our situation as God sees it. It is applying the wisdom we've learned to each and every situation that we face. This comes with time and with continued wise counsel. It comes as we do post mortem work on our previous decisions - and on the decisions of others. This is not done for the sake of condemnation - but to learn from what we've done wrong and what we've done right. It involves humility as we pick a personal disaster apart and examine just what made us make such a foolish decision. As we do this - we will better know what do to in the future - and how to recognize similar situations and make much wiser decisions when we face those sitiuations in the future. The last thing we need to do also seems so simple - but actually it is very profound. We need to remember what we've learned. The father tells his son, "Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth." As we hear the earthly father parrot these words, we should realize that these are the same words that God uses over and over again throughout the Law, the Prophets, the wisdom writings, the Psalms, and the New Testament. I think in some way all of us are afflicted with a little spiritual alzheimers. We forget what God taught us. One of the funniest, yet saddest pictures of this is the disciples freaking out in a boat that is being tossed and turned by the waves. In order to move around in the boat they had to step over the 12 baskets of food Jesus just had them gather the day before. They had to stumble over them to get to Jesus to tell Him to wake up because they were all about to perish! Jesus then got up - rebuked the wind and waves - and pretty much blew their minds at the power God gave Him. But where would they have learned this? Oh, from the feeding of the 25,000 to 30,000 people from just yesterday!! But then again - we have a bad tendency to forget what we've been taught. God calls us to remember! Remember the lessons God taught you. Don't forget the valuable information He shared with you. Don't drop the ball that He just gave you! This is not easy folks. If it was He wouldn't say it so often - and we wouldn't blow it so often. We are prone to pride and to self-sufficiency. That is often at the root of why we forget. We don't exactly embrace the whole idea of not being able to do things ourselves. We don't exactly enjoy going to God for counsel on decisions. We don't exactly warm up to the fact that we need to surrender our wills to God daily - even hourly and if it were a word, "minutely." This deals with the last bit of wisdom the father shares with his son. The last thing that keeps us from acquiring wisdom and understanding is rebellion and disobedience. The father says to his son that he is not to "turn away" from the words that he speaks. Our last problem with acquiring wisdom is that we turn away from it willingly. WE ARE REBELLIOUS! There are times when we choose to be wise in our own eyes - and chart of course for disaster in the process. This requires that we die to self daily. It requires that we recognize that though we are converted - we are not fully sanctified. We need to see the subtle workings of our flesh, the world system, and Satan in our lives. Follow these three and you will not walk in wisdom. You will not acquire it - nor keep it. Acquiring wisdom and understanding is imperative for each of us. It involves humbling ourselves and listening to God - and those through whom He would speak to us. It involves not just listening, but learning and discerning what is said and how it applies to where we are going and what we are doing and saying. It is a life long process that allows us to grow in wisdom only in so much as we continue to view our world through the eyes of God. It will only be then that we will have acquired wisdom - acquired understanding -and have learned how to glorify God in the things we say and do. Give strong drink to him who is perishing, And wine to him whose life is bitter. 7 Let him drink and forget his poverty And remember his trouble no more. Proverbs 31:6-7
Is the Bible encouraging drunkenness here? When I read this - at first glance I come away with the thought that the Bible is encouraging us, if we know someone who is struggling with poverty and bitterness, to encourage them to knock back a few - and they will forget all their troubles. Is that what the Bible is saying here? If it is - then this contradicts badly the passages that warn us against the harm that over indulgence in alcohol can do in our lives. To understand this Proverb we once again need to understand it based upon what it says in context. God just moved on Bathsheba to instruct her son NOT to drink wine or strong drink. Her reasoning is that such an action would lead her son to forget the Law. With his thinking and reasoning impaired - he might pervert the rights of those who are afflicted. So, two things we know here are that drunkenness is out of the question in what is being said - and - that Bathsheba is interested in how her son, as king, deals with the afflicted within his kingdom. Her admonition to her son, next, is to give wine and strong drink to the one who is perishing. This word means to perish, to be lost, or destroyed. It was understood by the Jewish rabbis as dealing with two primary situations. The first is when someone is suffering greatly with sickness - especially when that sickness is terminal. It was a custom due to this admonition to medicate the dying with strong drink so that they would drink and forget the pain of their dying. We do this today with terminal patients through morphine. It is not evil to do so - it is merciful. It is giving them something to help with the throes of dying. The second instance where this was used was with those given to a death sentence - especially crucifixion. We know this because Jesus was offered wine mixed with gall when He was on the cross. This was a pain killing mixture that was given by godly women to those who faced the death penalty. Jesus refused this because He needed to embrace all that the cross meant for sin. But to offer some merciful pain killing substance to someone in the midst of horrific pain is something God counsels us to do. These admonitions are given for those "perishing" and also for those who are "bitter of soul." Here is where things get a little bit more dicey. For the one who is perishing - it is easy to see that we are easing their suffering as they draw near to death. But what about the bitter of soul? What is going on here? Again, context is so important to remember. We are in a section of Scripture where a mother has just warned her son against alcohol abuse - and how it clouds judgment and could lead to her son disregarding the Law in a moment of drunkenness. Therefore, we can be assured that when it comes to those who are "bitter of soul" she is not advocating drunkenness to alleviate their problems. This passage cannot be used therefore to justify men or women drowning their sorrows in whiskey or beer. What we do see though is that there is a benefit for the bitter of soul in having a drink. The Bible itself says that "wine makes man's heart glad," in Psalm 104:15. That verse is in the midst of a list of things that God Himself provides, including oil for the skin and the food that sustains a man with strength. Wine was used in the feasts of Israel as well - and even offered up to God as a sacrifice. Our problems with alcohol come from living in a society where drinking is too often done for the sake of partying - and with a view to getting drunk. But God knows that drinking in moderation (let me stress here that this means NEVER getting drunk - and it also means drinking apart from the party scene, which in itself has more sins than just the drinking) can lift someone's spirits. Wine does make a man's heart glad - and can lift someone's spirits. Thus, Solomon was advised to give it to those who are bitter in soul to help them be lifted temporarily and cheered. I'm going to venture into an area where there is much disagreement and where I can be heavily criticized. But in light of this passage, I feel the need to go there regardless of the dangers. There are believers who struggle with periods of depression. You could call these periods of time being bitter in soul. Often a psychologist, psychiatrist, or a doctor encourages them to take something for a while to help them with their depression. When this happens there is a cry from some that this is wicked, sinful - and it is only because the person does not trust God. Yet here we have counsel given to the king that he should give wine or strong drink to someone who is too struggling with being bitter in soul. Verse 7 in this section speaks of having him forget his poverty and trouble no more. Poverty speaks of a lack - something is missing here - and it is further described as a man's "trouble." This second word means a troublesome time - a time of labor and toil - and was used of the difficulties and hardships of life that lead to sorrow in a man's heart. These times can be very difficult to handle - and I've actually watched brothers and sisters helped for a period of time by a medicine - something that lifts their spirits as they walk through a very difficult time. Needless to say - or maybe it is better to say, Needful to say - God is not advocating drunkenness and the proverbial drowning of our sorrows in beer or hard liquor - but I do think what is advocated is something that would temporarily lift ones spirit and soul through a very difficult time. Here is where I offer what I hope to be the other side of wisdom on this issue. Although I do see a situation and a period of time where this might be profitable - I do not see it as "the answer" for depression and for times when we are bitter of soul. Psalm 4:7 tells me that God puts, "gladness in my heart, more than when their grain and new wine abound." A period of time may require this verse to be applied (if it does not refer solely to the perishing - and the bitter of soul is just another way of saying someone who is perishing) but we need to see God ultimately as our source of joy and as the ultimate One who can lift us out of any funk in which we find ourselves in life. The one who turns to wine, strong drink, or even modern medicines as a permanent solution to their difficulties - and who does not turn to the Lord with them - is placing themselves in danger of looking to something rather than looking to Somone - as the answer to their problems. Remember this - as we close today's look at Proverbs. There is a mountain of Scripture dealing with the abuse of alcohol - of wine, new wine, and strong drink. The Bible is overflowing with examples of how people lost their reason and their discernment with these things and wound up in grevious sin. So as we see the wisdom of using wine and strong drink in the ways specified here - we need to do so with extreme caution and with God's wisdom guiding our every move in this area. Too many, thinking they were just needing a little lift - have turned to alcohol and found it to be worse than their original problem in the end. Wisdom, dear saints, should always color our use of such things. May God give us grace and wisdom to do just as His counsel suggests here - and not find ourselves falling into sin by abusing something meant for a temporary benefit. In the end, He is and always will be our source of comfort and of encouragment in difficult times - even in death. For by wise guidance you will wage war, And in abundance of counselors there is victory. Proverbs 24:6
Waging war - not exactly something we spend a lot of time thinking about in life - unless we're in the armed forces right? Well, before you dismiss this verse let's take a few moments to think about it and learn from it some very valuable lessons. In military matters we see the wisdom of what is being said here. We watched our military over and over again plan their campaigns with great care - and their wisdom was revealed as victory after victory was achieved. We also watched foolish leaders like General Custer not concern themselves with good planning and information and the disaster that came with their foolishness. Not just planning is wise - but also getting counselors who will help you understand things from many perspectives is also good. Doing these things will not absolutely assure victory - but will work toward it greatly. But there is other warfare that we should consider when reading this verse . . . spiritual warfare. There is a warfare for walking in holiness and living for God's purposes of which we should be aware. We have a very real enemy who wages war against our souls and who desires to hold us captive morally. Every day when we walk in this world, we are going to face a fight for godliness. This world system is under the power of the evil one - and it really shouldn't shock us that the world is not doing much to encourage godliness and a heart for the gospel. Paul told us that we should not be ignorant of the devil's devices in this warfare. He also told us that we should take up the armour of God and be ready to stand - and having done everything - to remain standing. Hmmm . . . sounds to me like the Bible may have some things to say to us in the way of wise guidance when fighting for godliness every day? Two things we learn here. When fighting the spiritual battles we face every day - we need to do so drawing upon "wise guidance." The word used here is "tahbulah" and it means counsel or advice - and is used more often for God's counsel and advice than anything else. It is even used of God's counsel used to direct the clouds in the sky. What we can learn from this is a wise man seeks God's own counsel in the way to fight the every day battles of godliness and holiness. We need to hear from Him every day. That points us to spiritual disciplines like the quiet time - the daily prayer time - and daily Bible reading. We do not do these things to be religious - we do them to survive and thrive in the warfare that we face against the world, the flesh, and the devil. If we listen - we will be blessed, but if we turn a deaf ear to the Word of God - we will suffer for it in the end. The second thing we see here is that there is victory in an "abundance of counselors." We need the wise guidance of God Himself to wage the war we fight daily in this world. But we also need to counsel of our brothers and sisters in Christ. A wise man knows that in an abundance of godly counselors - there is victory for us. This is something we need to embrace because quite often we face trials and problems that require some assistance from our brothers and sisters in Christ. The "lone ranger" Christianity that many embrace because of the emphasis in the west on individuality and self-reliance often robs us of the unity that comes from shared struggles in life. There is also that word "accountability" that we need to hear as well. Being accountable is more than just calling one another on the carpet and asking questions about how a person is doing in an area of struggle. Being accountable also means mutual encouragement and mutual counsel - so that there can be victory. We read in Ecclesiastes that two are better than one - and that a strand of three cords is not quickly broken. These verses remind us that we need each other in Christ. We need not just a few - but an abundance of counselors in life to see victory consistently in our walk with God. I cringe when I hear political figures tell us that it takes a village to rear a child. I only cringe because the village of which they speak means "it takes government and bureaucracy" to rear a child. That only means that government wants to take over the responsiblity of rearing your child - or reserves the right to trump how you want to rear your child. But with all double-speak aside - it does take an abundance of counselors to see victory in life - even with our children. Blessed is the child - and the parents - who have a church family with many counselors who will steer a child to the Scriptures for answers. That child - that family - and that church will be blessed - and will win the battle for that child's mind and heart. War is a serious matter - whether it speaks of those fought on actual physical fields of conflict - of the ones fought in our minds. The wise man accepts the counsel of God each day in preparing for battle. He also listens to his brothers and sisters in Christ who also offer godly counsel and encouragement in this daily war we call the Christian life. As Peter said, we need to "gird up our minds for action." That daily "girding" needs to have a healthy does of counsel from the body of Christ - and from God Himself as He speaks to us through His Spirit in the Word! The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel: Proverbs 1:1
This first verse of proverbs is there to let us know who wrote this book. It was Solomon, son of David, the king of Israel. There is a reason why God chose this man instead of anyone else to write this book. It is because of an encounter that he had with God at the start of his reign as the king of Israel. In 1 Kings chatper 3 God appeared to Solomon in a dream. During that encounter God told Solomon, "Ask what you wish Me to give you." That is quite a question for a man to be asked. If there was ever a moment when truly the sky was the limit - this was it. What is even more interesting is the way that Solomon answered the question. Rather than asking for power or money or any of the other things that most men would ask - Solomon asked for wisdom with which to rule the people of God. He confessed that he was just a child who was ascending the throne of a great people who could not be numbered or counted. He grasped his need for wisdom and for understanding to discern between good and evil. This is why this book is filled with wisdom beyond any other written today. It is because God, when He heard Solomon's request, was delighted with it. God declared that He had given to Solomon a "wise and discerning heart . . ." so that the following would be true. "There has been no one like you before, nor shall one like you arise after you." This was the way God answered Solomon's prayer request to the Lord. Proverbs is the wisdom of Solomon - but not just the wisdom of a man. The reason this is such an amazing book filled with wisdom that has never been surpassed, is because it is the wisdom of God. God is the One Who gave Solomon the discernment and wisdom so that he could write such a book. So, as you approach this book remember two things. First, remember that the wisdom you are reading is the wisdom of God. This is not what Solomon thinks - or has learned. This is the wisdom of Almighty God that He placed within Solomon's heart. Second, be reminded of Solomon's heart - and also remember the promise from James chapter 1 - if anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, Who gives generously at all who ask, without finding fault - and it will be given to him. Need wisdom - ask God! He is more than willing to pour wisdom out on those who admit their lack and who turn to Him for it. |
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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