She sits at the doorway of her house, On a seat by the high places of the city, Proverbs 9:14
Where do we find foolishness calling to us - offering us an invitation to partake of her harmful food? We read here that she is sitting at the doorway of her house. If we remember the counsel of Psalm 1, this is not a good thing. Psalm 1 counsels us, "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of the sinners, not set in the seat of scoffers." This woman, folly, is among the scorners - those who scoff at the things of God and prefer a self-directed life rather than a life directed by the Spirit and the Word. We get an idea that Folly is a lazy woman from this as well. The wise woman of Proverbs 31 is not often sitting at the doorway of her own home calling out to others - but rather is working hard for her family. Those who call to us from sedentary lifestyles are probably calling us to a life that lacks diligence and hard work. This will not end well for us if we listen. Since this passage is directed to sons by their father, we would do well to consider our own society in this. One thing that I believe is robbing us of hours of our lives is our penchant for entertainment and games. Consider the hours daily devoted to television, movies, online gaming, and gaming on consoles like Xbox and other video outlets. I've seen young men waste not just hours, but days wanting to master games. I've known of young men who have wasted the better part of their teenage and young adult years laboring to be the best and have the highest score on these games. And since they produce new ones as well as update old ones - a young man can waste 10-15 years of his life doing little more than exercising his thumbs as his mind is numbed to the real world around him. Indeed foolishness calls to us from the lazy position of staying in the doorway of her home. The second place we see Folly is on a seat by the high places of the city. This is an interesting location because it corresponds to places of false worship. God warned about worshipping in the "high places" because they thought due to the height of the place they were closer to God. The problem with the "high place" worship, is that it was usually not guided by the Old Testament Law. They would worship various deities there - and often would mix the worship of Jehovah with these false deities. Often the high place would involve a grove of trees for privacy - but these would also be used for the purpose of hiding the immorality and ungodly sexual practices that would happen there. Therefore God commanded the people to stay away from such places - and worship Him at the temple He established or the Tabernacle when the temple was not yet built. This would ensure that God's priests would be there to guide their worship so that it would be scriptural. The "high places" of this present evil age are where Folly calls to us. These places do not honor God's Word or a proper worship of Him. They are filled with false teaching and errant theology. Folly sits there and calls to us to turn from the Word and from a lifestyle of worshipping God aright. Instead we are called to embrace a far more supposedly tolerant religious and moral life. God is presented as mean and oppressive in such places. We will find later in this passage that the counsel Folly gives is dangerous because it calls us to abandon God's ways and embrace worldly ones. When we look at Folly's call we see that where this call is issued should give us pause to listen. Bad company will corrupt good morals - and often the place where such counsel is given should serve as a severe warning to us to turn away from it before it is uttered. A wise man notices where ungodly counsel congregates and tends to avoid such places - unless he or she is going to witness to them there. As the fools sit in places of laziness and ungodly doctrine offering their advice there - we should prefer to be in places where we know godly men and women meet - and where the Word of God is honored and God is worshipped in Spirit and truth!
0 Comments
The woman of folly is boisterous, She is naive and knows nothing. Proverbs 9:13
For the next several days we will look at the call of the foolish. Solomon, inspired by God, gives us a fascinating look as he personifies the way that fools are called to the stupidity of following after their own lusts and the ways of this present evil time. He does this by making the call of the foolish into a person. Let's take a look at this portrait of the fool's call and seek to learn from it so that we will not be caught by her siren sounds and find our faith shipwreck on the rocks of flesh and the worldliness that it embraces. We see that our nemisis here is described as "the woman of folly." This term is less than flattering because the word folly here is the Hebrew word "kesiylut" which means foolishness or stupidity. Thus we have here a stupid, foolish woman who is going to call to us. The word kesiylut coes fro the adjective kesiyl which means "a fool." Kesiyl is a very descriptive word in that is speaks of soeont who is unable to deal with life in a successful or practical way. It is used in Proverbs 1:22,32 to describe soeone who lacks any spiritual understanding. The fool here hates knowledge - loves waywardness (in regard to God's commandments) and is utterly complacent when it comes to spiritual things and any sense of accountability to God. Ecclesiastes 2:14 speaks of one like this as being someone who walks in spiritual darkness with a haze preventing the from seeing truth or righteousness. Therefore, when we read that this woman of folly is boisterous, naive, and knows nothing, it is easy for us to agree with this assessment. Folly is boisterous. The word used here is "hamah" and it means to murmur, growl, roar, and howl. In this context we get several pictures of the one who will call us to a foolish lifestyle. They roar and howl as they live it up in their lifestyle. They see no consequences to their actions so they howl in their pleasures. I will probably sound too much like a puritan when I say this (but since I have great respect for the puritans, I would consider this a compliment) but they love their loud, rambunctious parties and revel in their wickedness. The one who loves his or her sin to the point of bathing themselves in it - is someone we should ignore. We see another picture with this word of how this one will react to righteousness and a call to a holy lifestyle. They murmur and growl at such things. We hear them complain and snarl at one who has the audacity to say that there is absolute truth - and that truth is God's Word. They hate it when the standards of God are lifted up - and even despise it more when those standards speak out against their chosen lifestyle of rebellion. We would be wise to recognize such things and keep our ears closed to the call of such people to "live it up" when the truth of their words is that they want us to "death it up" instead. Folly is naive. The word used here is "petayyut" which means to be simple or naive. It has the idea of one who really is not aware of that their actions have true implications and do impact their future. The reason for this is as was stated at the beginning of this post - they are foolish and stupid. They really don't want to be bothered with the facts of where their lifestyle is taking them. They are the proverbial ostrich with its head stuck in the sand. The problem is that as they naively pursue their ungodly, unscriptural choices, the consequences of their actions are piling up for them. They cannot escape the judgments of God - because He has set it up so that rebellion has consequences. Folly knows nothing. The statement here is about as plain as any made anywhere in Scripture. The word for know is "yada" and it is pretty much the basic word for knowledge in the Hebrew language. Folly is unable to learn, perceive, or discern. The call that is going to be issued to us - the call of the foolish - is one that is unable to discriminate between good and evil - between right and wrong. It is a deadly call because it is a spiritually ignorant call. Worse than that, it is a spiritually darkened and rebellious call. When we embrace the call of the foolish - we are embracing what is diametrically opposed to what God desires in our lives. Oh that we would learn to discern and recognize this call in all its various forms as it comes to us. This is what the writer of Hebrews says in chapter 5 verses 13-14. We read there that there are those ". . . who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. If we turn from folly's call and turn instead to wisdom's call, we will be able to grow in such discernment. That should be our worthy goal. To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things; From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness; Who delight in doing evil And rejoice in the perversity of evil; Whose paths are crooked, And who are devious in their ways; Proverbs 2:12-15
Why is wisdom needed? Well for many in the modern mindset, maybe it isn't. They contend that the basic nature of man is good. Yet the very reason for wisdom is the fact that evil exists. But we are not being told about evil in theory - we are being told here that evil men exist. The battle with evil in theory is one only in our minds - but a battle with evil that actually involves evil men - that is another story altogether. The first thing we learn is that there is a "way of evil" that exists in our world. We are facing those who have developed lifestyles that embrace evil. The facts are in - and those facts clearly deliniate for us that man is fallen. The facts also indicate that being fallen, man has developed a whole way of life that is contrary to the will of God. If we are not careful and wise - we will find ourselves following that path - that way of evil. According to Solomon, we need to be delivered from the way of evil. Maybe this is why we hear John telling us, "Do not love the world or the things of the world, if anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him." The way we are drawn into this way of evil is by men who speak perverse things. This perverse speech involves saying things that distort and deviate from what God has said and what God wants. It is deceptive, corrupt speaking that either denies the Word or twists it until it suits our fallen appetites. That's why we need wisdom and discretion - the ability to distinguish between things godly and ungodly. We need to know when an "evil man" is trying to decieve us and lead us astray. The evil man leave the paths of uprightness to walk in their darkness. Here it is again - the fact that there is an entire walk and path that is ungodly. But we also learn that there is a corresponding walk that is upright and godly. The evil man leaves God's ways and chooses those that are dark instead. We learn again from John that the ungodly hate the light and does not come to the light. That is the way of the evil man. That is also why we need wisdom and understanding - to remind us that fellowship with the evil man means fellowship with darkness. It seems that God is trying to get us to see that there is a light/darkness - good/evil - godly/ungodly situation in life. The evil man leave the paths of uprightness to walk in their darkness. Here it is again - the fact that there is an entire walk and path that is ungodly. But we also learn that there is a corresponding walk that is upright and godly. The evil man leaves God's ways and chooses those that are dark instead. We learn again from John that the ungodly hate the light and does not come to the light. That is the way of the evil man. That is also why we need wisdom and understanding - to remind us that fellowship with the evil man means fellowship with darkness. It seems that God is trying to get us to see that there is a light/darkness - good/evil - godly/ungodly situation in life. Worldly wisdom equates the best of thinking and acting to mankind. That is why they are shocked with evil rears its head. They want to think the best of man - when the truth is man IS capable of the worst attrocities. Proverbs tells us that there are those men who "delight in doing evil and rejoice in perversity." We almost shrink from these statements - yet that is what is said here. If there has been a "fall" of mankind into sin that has corrupted them utterly - then it really isn't that much of a stretch that man rejoices in evil and perversity. To fallen man - evil is good and good is evil. Isn't that what we see today? In our world evil is called good and good evil. They consider the things of God strange and His commandments as burdensome. They see freedom as bondage and their current state of bondage as freedom. Delight in doing evil then becomes the norm - and it should not be all that strange to see them devoting entire programs on television and articles in writing to rejoice in how they pervert the straight paths of God. Look at the sexual revolution of the 60's as an example. The morals of the past were thrown off (possibly the biggest lie of that period was to deny that such things had always been happening - just that they were done far more secretly). But I think that the shock was not that morals were cast aside, but that now those actin immorally were rejoicing openly in their perversity. The movement was not just a desire to set aside what is right - it was a rejoicing in what heretofore was considered evil. What is even more amazing to me is that several generations of this behavior has led to soceity adopting such actions as normal - and now even certain segments of soceity say we should rejoice in evil. NOW we get why we need to cry out to God for wisdom, discretion, and knowledge to escape such a fate. The final statement about the way of evil is that their direction in life becomes like their heart. Their paths (again the word for lifestyle) are crooked. Crooked is the Hebrew word 'iqqesh'. It means something that is morally, religiously, and socially perverted. This perversity comes from the source of an evil, deceitful, perverse heart. No longer are certain actions perverted - but the whole direction and path of their life runs counter to the truth of God. Their lifestyle is finally described as being devious. This is the last straw. It describes a person who has followed their perverse and wicked ways to the point where they now despise and reject God's ways. They find them abhorant. What is worse is that they are utterly blind to their condition. What we have described for us is the natural degradation of fallen men. They may begin with the remnants of God's image within them - but as they continue in their perversity they soon scald their conscience and harden it to the point where they no longer feel any shame in their sin. By the way, this is exactly what is taught to us in Romans chapter one. We learn that man begins with denying God and being ungrateful, but ends with those who cheer on the wickedness of man - preferring their own perversity to anything God has to offer. In light of such an ignoble end - we see why Solomon impresses on his son the importance of crying out to God for wisdom and understanding. There is too much at stake here to live and let live. The fall of man guarantees that what starts as a mere snowflake will become a massive ball of snow that destroys all in its path. May such a vision of the destrutive power of our core perverseness motivate us to a passionate cry for God's wisdom and a desperate search for His ways and paths. "How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded? And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing And fools hate knowledge? Proverbs 1:22
If they only knew . . . this is the way that a lot of statements begin about those who reject Biblical truth and the Biblical world view. But this statement assumes that the only problem that is present is a lack of information - a lack of education. Yet today's proverb seems to present a different picture. There are those who even if educated would persist in their worldview and ignorance. Could it actually be that there is a deeper problem in the human race than a lack of education? Three descriptions are given here about how people view their world. The first is the person who is naive. According to what is written in this proverb, the naive ones actually love their naivete. They enjoy their simple-mindedness. The word used here is "pethi" which means to be naive. The picture that this paints for us though is of someone who is very open minded. In fact to them the greatest character trait that you can have is to be as open-minded as possible. The root for this word means to be wide open and spacious. It refers to someone whose mind is as wide open as can be - to everything - to every view that is out there. The only thing this person cannot tolerate is a view that is considered narrow in its focus. The naive person thinks that everyone would be able to get along - if we would all just accept each others views as equally valid. This is the case even when the views in question are diametrically opposed to each other. This is the post-modernist whose most valued idea is tolerance. They love their open-mindedness so much that they will pretty much gut the real truth of any position so that everyone can have their opinion, be right for themselves, and never a threat to each other. The writer asks, "How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded?" The fact is that all views can't get along with each other. There has to eventually be a right and a wrong. There are some worldviews that are just flat out wrong. Look at Mao in China. To say that his view of communism, which was responsible for the murder of over 50 million people is ludicris! To say that Hitler's position is equally valid with that of Mother Theresa is insane. Yet the naive want everyone's view to be equally valid. They love their naivete so much that they will frontal lobotomize themselves when it comes to thinking to have every view just as valid. Europe took this view as Hitler rose to power - and each and every step along the way, Hitler took advantage of it to Blitzkrieg his way accross most of northern Europe. He wouldn't have been stopped except that at some point the naive ones realized that their open-mindedness could not fit him and his views of the world. The second group are the scoffers. These are the ones who scoff and mock at the things of God. They belittle them as subpar thinking and subpar reasoning. They don't know how to build up - just tear down. They love their own scoffing, delighting in it every step of the way. They see it as a great thing when someone denigrates Christ, the Bible, or the church in some way. But their scoffing becomes such a lifestyle that they can offer nothing positive in reply. They only become bitter, self-centered critics who have nothing to offer anyone - except a constant cry to destroy and level anything related to God. The third group are the fools. These are the spiritual dullards and dupes who don't want to be bothered by the facts. According to this passage they hate knowledge. This word speaks of knowledge, knwoing, learning, discernment, and insight. They do not want God's wisdom in their lives and will reject it when it is offered. Now here is the amazing thing about this passage. None of these three types can have their lack of wisdom repaired by education alone. Their problem is not a lack of information. It is that they don't want the information. They enjoy their simple-mindedness, their scoffing, and their foolish worldview. They need something more than just information and knowledge. They need a change in their heart as a result of a work of God's Spirit in their minds. How do I know this? Because of the very next verse in chapter 1. These three groups are encouraged to "turn to God's reproof. They will have to see their views as wrong, and be willing to turn from them to God's correction. They need the Holy Spirit to be poured out upon them where they will then be able to receive the words that are spoken to them. Their problem is a heart level problem - not just an education level one. They delight in their views - and reject anything that would threaten them. Until there is a heart change - there will be no embracing of any kind of educational outreach to them. This is actually the view of classic Christianity. The problem with mankind is not just one of proper education. We can educate someone for decades and unless there is a heart change wrought by the grace of God, they will continue to reject the truth. As Romans chapter one puts it, God's wrath is revealed against the unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness. They want their sin. They want their foolishness. They want their unrighteous ways. No amount of education that leaves their hearts unregenerated will do them any good whatsoever. There must be repentance and a change initiated and completed by the work of God's Holy Spirit. If that does not happen - they will simply continue to reject the truth and embrace their unrighteousness - whether it is dressed up as naivete, scoffing, or foolishness. What we see here is that only the grace of God can take a man and change him from a fool into a wise man. Oh, that we would pray that God's grace would touch the hearts of men to convert them from darkness to light - and from the foolishness of this world to the wisdom of God. There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.
Proverbs 14:12 Why is it that we cannot just trust our natural instincts concerning God and issues of morality and truth? If this proverb is true (and it is), then we face a very real danger when we trust what we think is right in our lives. When we live a self-directed life and a life that is self-oriented - we are going to have very serious problems. Why is this the case? First of all, we need to see that for a time in this life - this proverb may seem like it is wrong. There are those who do what they think is right - and it seems to go well for them. I would agree with this assessment for the here and now - for life on this earth. But that is not what this proverb is saying to us. It is saying that the end of a self-directed life is death. The word end here is our old friend, "acharith," the Hebrew word meaning the latter end of things. Things seemed to be going marvelous for the rich farmer who did not use his riches for the glory of God. Things seemed to be going well for the rich man who lavished abundance on himself, but did not even notice the starving Lazarus at his gate. Things seemed to be going well for Belshazzar the king as he feasted with his nobles and friends and drank wine out of the temple goblets and toasted the gods of silver and gold. Things seemed to be going well for many people who lived a life of luxury and self-indulgence here on earth. The problem is going to come at the latter end of their lives. The rich farmer, after building bigger barns and saying he was set for life - experienced the end of his life - and had done nothing to prepare for eternity. The rich man realized as James said, the humiliation of his exalted position on earth, as he envied the destitute Lazarus' one in the afterlife. He begged for Lazarus to only dip the tip of his finger in water and touch the end of his tongue - for he was in agony in the fires of hell. Belshazzar soon grasped the infinite foolishness of serving the false gods of silver and gold - when the true and living God sent a hand to write on his wall. He learned that his self-directed life had been weighed in the balances - and he was found wanting. One can only hope he enjoyed that banquet that evening - for by the next evening he was dead and in hell - forever wanting in the sight of God. These three are examples for us of the stupidity of the self-directed life. There are many others in Scripture and in life who follow their footsteps into hell. There is Dathan and Abiram who opposed God and received a non-stop trip to hell via the ground opening up and swallowing them and their families whole. There were the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah who undoubtedly held the same concept of God keeping His morality off of their bodies. They wound up fried along with their cities as God's judgment revealed their latter end. And, lest we think that this ignoble end is only for those guilty of heinous sin - there are those who die every day as good ole boys - as "good" "moral" people. Their ultimate end was sealed when they decided that they were decent enough and did not need Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross to pay for their sins. When you listen to the news, the entertainment industry, the religious elite, and the gurus of public opinion - you would think that the cross of Christ is foolishness (Gee that sounds like Paul in 1 Corinthians doesn't it). You would think that mankind does not need a religious crutch to lean on - mankind can solve their own problems without religion or some savior. But reality is this - mankind does not need a crutch. We would only need a crutch if we were injured. The fact is that we are dead! We need a whole new life. We might need a religious system if we only needed modification. The fact is that we are ruined. We need to be completely regenerated and made new. But the world for the most part rejects these truths revealed to us in Scripture. They have a way that seems right to them - that makes more sense. That is because "the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." It is because, "the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks (read thinkers here) search for wisdom; but we preach Christ curcified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." There is that way that seems to right to men - but in the end "THAT WAY" is actually the foolish and the stupid one. If they continue following it and reject the gospel . . . it will end in death - eternal death in hell. I know that is not popular in today's culture - either religious or secular - but nevertheless - it is the truth. If we are wise we will reject what the world calls wisdom - and embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ - for that is truly wisdom that will last through all the ages and until the end of time. He who tills his land will have plenty of bread, But he who pursues worthless things lacks sense. Proverbs 12:11
I find it interesting that one of the phrases that I hear often is, "Don't work too hard." There are some out there who do struggle with the problem of working all the time - but over the past 49 years of my life, I think my problem is not working too hard. My problem is that I get distracted and lazy - and don't attend to the things that really matter in my life - and in my work. The proverb today uses an agricultural setting to help us understand the value and the blessing of working hard. "He who tills his land will have plenty of bread." If a man works hard at plowing the ground and planting a crop - he will have plenty of grain to harvest and make into bread. God intended for us to work in life. We need to remember that work is not a part of the curse. God had Adam till and work in the garden before the fall. What the fall did was make it to where we would have to work harder. The ground, which formerly grew wonderfully without weeds, was now going to yield the crops we need by the sweat of our brow. It is going to require not just tilling and planting - but also weeding. This was an activity that was unnecessary prior to the fall. This being said, there is a promise here that if we work hard tilling and planting the land - we will have a harvest sufficient to provide plenty of bread for our family. There is something that is good about work. The more I am idle - the more my mind and my heart have time to think of things that will get me into trouble. The saying that an idle mind is the devil's workshop is for the most part true. That is why God wants us to work - and I truly believe He wants us to work hard. The second half of this proverb warns us that the one who pursues worthless things lacks sense. What this is warning against is the wandering mind, and the earthly lifestyle. This man is pursuing worthless things. Worthless is the word "reya" which means something that is empty, worthless, or vain. It indicates something that has nothing in it - it is utterly empty. The unwise man is pursuing emptiness. He is chasing after things that do not matter - and will not matter in eternity. This man, according to Solomon, lacks sense. He is as void in his thinking as he is in his pursuit of these empty pursuits. What he wants and chases after is not worth having. He will open what to him is his treasure chest one day and find that it is filled with things that are void of any value whatsoever. As Solomon says in Ecclesiastes - he has chased after vanity and wind. Here is where we need to consider Ecclesiastes to give us the proper perspective on things. Solomon was arguably one of the richest men to ever live on this planet. Yet at the end of his life, when he wrote Ecclesiastes, he said that all the riches and wealth and opulence was empty, meaningless - a chasing after the wind. He looked at all the money and things he had and came to the conclusion that they were all vain. He looked at all the women he had sexual relations with and concluded that his pursuit of pleasure was all vain. He looked at all the authority and position he had enjoyed - and came to the realization that it too was vain. It is not that these things were evil in and of themselves (unless Scripture forbade his actions). It was that when he pursued these things he was pursuing emptiness - trying to catch wind in his hands. There is also the ones in today's society (and every society) that pursue vain things in the entertainments and amusements of our day. We have millions of children and adults who pursue the high score or the next level on their video games like it was the most important thing in life. We not only have people overindulged in sports - but now have fantasy sports leagues where we follow the ones actually playing in a make believe world of a fantasy league. Some lose themselves in virtual worlds on the computer - others now lose themselves in virtual computer pursuits on their iTouch or smart phone. Regardless of how we are doing it - we are wasting our lives in pursuit of worthless things. On the day when we are ultimately judged for the "tilling and planting of our very lives" we may unfortunately find that these pursuits were the height of foolishness. We may come to grasp that we have lacked the bread of life and as a result have suffered from spiritual famine most of our lives. May God gives us wisdom to learn now that what matters is working hard for the things that matter. What will matter is how we have redeemed the time in providing for our families - loving our spouses and our children - and working in the eternal fields of God's kingdom. If we do, we will have plenty of bread - even the bread that lasts forever. If we do not, we will have the terrifying specter of learning that we have spent our lives chasing after wind. 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. Take his garment when he becomes surety for a stranger; And for an adulterous woman hold him in pledge. Proverbs 27:13
There are just plain dumb decisions that are made in life. At times when we make these stupid decisions, God in His mercy will deliver us from the consequences. If this happens, do not think God approves your actions - He is just showing amazing mercy to you in the midst of them. But there are some decisions God decides to allow us to face - with the full measure of the consequences being given to us. This proverb tells us about two of them. The first has to do with a man acting foolish financially. When someone becomes surety for a stranger, that is a very foolish thing to do. This proverb tells us to even take a man's garment when this happens. Just as a reminder, surety is when we co-sign a loan - or guarantee another person's debt. If they default on the loan - we are on the hook for what they owe. The reason this is so foolish here is because someone is doing this for a stranger. He doesn't know the man - and is not related to him. He is just guaranteeing a loan for someone he does not know. He does not have a clue as to his character or his integrity - he just lays down his money to guarantee this man's borrowing. Surety is discouraged for anyone - but this should be a no-brainer when it comes to a stranger. With a family member of friend, we at least have a sense of their character and whether they will be likely to repay the loan. But a stranger - we know nothing about him. Thus, Solomon tells us to take this man's clothes when the loan defaults. This is something that hopefully will teach him a lesson about guaranteeing the loans of others - especially those he does not even know. The second scenario is when a man hires a prostitute for sex - and offers her a pledge as payment. Adultery is a very foolish sin - but to offer someone our name as pledge is really foolish to another level. Amazing as it may seem, this is what Judah did when he hired his daughter-in-law Tamar as a prostitute. Tamar was not being a harlot. She was simply desiring that Judah's family line fulfill their duty in raising up sons for the deceased. When Judah did not have the money in hand to pay her - she asked for his seal and his cords. These were things by which a man could be known if they were seen. This was not wise for him - but it gave her the proof she needed when her adulterous father-in-law wanted to have her stoned for playing the harlot. When Judah saw his own seal and cords, he was humiliated and withdrew his call for her death. No one wants to be humiliated by their sin. But there are times when it is a far better thing to be humiliated and learn than to escape humiliation and continue in sin. God is amazing how He delivers us from sin and from the world around us. May God give us grace to embrace that deliverance - and truly be wise. Like one who binds a stone in a sling, So is he who gives honor to a fool. Proverbs 26:8
Imagine this scene if you will. David is facing the giant Goliath. He goes to the stream and picks out five smooth stones. He then takes of the and a piece of leather and ties the stone into the sling that he is about to use to engage the giant in battle. He ties it securely in the sling so that it won't come out. Then he rushes to the scene of the battle to . . . to . . . to completely fail as he has the sling wrap around his arm when he looses it from one hand - only to have the stone bruise his forearm - just before the giant pierces him like a pin cushion with his spear. Little different than the Biblical account isn't it? What you read above would be what would have happened had David bound the stone he chose to throw at Goliath inside his sling. Anyone who even knows the rudimentary skills with a sling knows that only the dumbest of warriors would bind the stone inside the sling when going out to battle. It would be the move that a man who wants to die takes. It would be possibly the very worst thing you could do. It would completely destroy any effectiveness you could imagine as a fighter for the army you serve. If a Hebrew - or anyone from this region were to read the opening part of this proverb, they would laugh. It is more like something you would see on a show called, "The World's Dumbest Warriors." But at times the Bible uses sarcasm and ridiculousness to get a point across to us. Such is the case in Proverbs 26:8. The proverb compares the stupidity of a man binding a stone in a sling to a man giving honor to a fool. This is something that should never be done! A fool is one who mocks God - and who mocks godliness. He is careless and does not do the right thing. He does not think before he acts unless you count thinking of what he himself wants - or what would bring him the greatest pleasure at the moment. This man does not deserve honor - he deserves to be pointed out as what he is, a fool! When we give honor to a fool we are shooting ourselves in the foot. We are lifting up someone as an example - who when followed will only produce more fools. We are disarming ourselves of something that is so necessary - good examples. We are giving the enemy an unfair advantage as we are lifting up someone who is a spokesman for godlessness. We are guaranteeing failure because we are pointing our children to those who will ultimately fail as one they should honor and respect. Our society is replete with the act of honoring of fools. We see it all the time in sports. We join with those who offer praise to someone whose skill set includes little more than shooting a ball - throwing a ball - catching a ball - or dunking a ball (methinks we have the over-fascination with balls and those who can impress us with their dexterity with them). It matters little to us what character or lack thereof these men have. We join with the throngs who grant them far more accolades that they deserve. They even boast to us that they are not role models - and continue living in ways that would get the normal person arrested. They flaunt our laws - and then use their fame to get slapped on the wrist for offenses that would land the rest of us in prison. Their sports continue to degenerate as more and more thugs rise to prominence. There are good men there as well, it just seems that for every really good guy - there are several thugs whose antics dominate our papers and airwaves. I want to ask a simple question for those of you who have children. Who are your children's heros? Have you taken the time to exalt godly men whose godly lives should be the kind you honor? What about men like Hudson Taylor who took the gospel into the heartland of China and John Knox who stood toe to toe with Kings and Queens? How about Eric Liddell who was willing to give up the Olympics for godly principles - then won the 200 yard dash - and then did something even more important by giving his life for the gospel in China? What about David Livingstone who took the gospel across Africa or Vanya who stood for Christ in the midst of the Russian army at the cost of his own life? Finally, how about Jim Elliot who bravely gave his life to reach a South American Indian tribe? Here are the heros we should honor - but too often our children don't even know their names. They never shot a game winning three at the buzzer or scored a winning touchdown. They never hit a home run or pitched a no-hitter. All these men did was live lives that were worthy of emmulation - lives of character and godliness - lives of sacrifice and bravery - and saw the real victory won. The reason we have so many fools in our society is because we are constantly honoring them. Like a fool binding a sling in a stone - we keep lifting them up - swinging them around - and letting them go - only to have them come back and bruise our arm. Our children watch and dream of a day when they too can be a fool whose accomplishments are dust and ashes. Let us go forth today and find true heros - men and women whose lives are weighed down with character and godliness. Let us lift them up for our children to see - and to honor. The sooner we do this - the sooner we will see the Goliaths in our culture come crashing down because we've chosen to use our slings properly. Let us honor those whose lives will challenge our sons and daughters to be those who change our culture with both the character and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Do not go out hastily to argue your case; Otherwise, what will you do in the end, When your neighbor humiliates you? Proverbs 25:8
Proverbs provides an amazing array of good practical advice for living. It also has passages that would help in any profession a person chooses. But there are certain proverbs that fit hand in glove with a specific profession. Here is one that definitely fits with the legal profession well. Since the word "argue" here has as one of its primary meanings, "to argue in court" or "to file a lawsuit" we can see that this has great wisdom to offer to someone who is a lawyer - or someone who is about to hire one. Proverbs 25:8-9 is a great reminder to anyone who wants to argue a case with another - which of course fits perfectly with the legal profession. We are warned to not do this "hastily." When someone chooses to argue a case for themselves or against another - they need to make sure that they proceed with wisdom and caution. To go out and hastily argue a case is to do so without due diligence. There a dangers in doing this that are inherent in reacting quickly to things. First, we have far too much emotion in our immediate reactions to argue without undue prejudice in our thinking. We are blinded to seeing wisely - which is the ability to look at multiple angles of the issue. When you are blind to something - you are very succeptible to being "blind-sided" when arguing your case. A wise man takes the time to look at every angle and consider every argument before beginning to argue a case. Our legal system allows for argument and cross-examination. This is inherently wise because it allows for two sides of an argument to be explored. It is designed to expose hasty decisions and ill thought out arguments so that wisdom and prudence prevail in the end. We would be wise to "cross-examine" ourselves when we have a knee jerk reaction that drives us to argue something too quickly. If we did this - we would avoid embarassment when someone who is thinking more rationally dismantles our open and shut arguments - and reveal them to be way more "shut" than open. This is what Proverbs warns us when it tells us to be careful about hasty arguments. We are warned about being humiliated by our neighbor in the end when we do this. Here we find our Hebrew friend "acharith" again. This word speaks of the end - but does so from the standpoint of being able to think about what the end of our actions will be. Here we see that that the end of hastily argued points is humliation by our opponents. If we saw this before we started arguing in haste, we would have stopped ourselves long enough to properly think though what we were going to say. I am for anything that will stave off moments of high embarassment. That has meant seeing my natural tendency to jump to conclusions as more of a jump into a pit of poisoned spikes. To put it another way - it is very unwise to jump to conclusions. It is wiser to look before you leap upon someone with your supposedly lock-tight arguments. The wise man takes the time to consider first whether pre-prejudice has affected his thinking. The wise man takes the time to decide whether silence would be more effective than blurting out what he thinks. The wise man takes the time to consider the end of the matter - before starting it. This, dear saints, can rescue us from a plethora of painfully embarassing moments. Oh, and by the way, in court - it can mean the difference between a case that is won - and one that is humiliatingly lost. |
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!
Archives
August 2018
Copyright 2024 Calvary Chapel Jonesboro | all rights reserved |