October Devotions

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=115 style=" border-bottom: 1px solid #000000;" BGCOLOR="#FFFFCC" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="1" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="525" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#333300" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="NONE" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#FFCCB2 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 49 WIDTH="80"><div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="age"><B><IMG SRC="03f0e0e0.png" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="age"><B>Home</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="age"><B> Page</B></A></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="ministries"><B><IMG SRC="03a0e0e0.png" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="ministries"><B>Ministries</B></A></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="102"><div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="beliefs"><B><IMG SRC="03b0e0e0.png" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="beliefs"><B>Statement of Beliefs</B></A><B>  </B></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#C0DCC0 WIDTH="105"><div> <A HREF="id56.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="_"><B><IMG SRC="03c0e0e0.png" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id56.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="_"><B>Devotional</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id56.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="_"><B>Calendar</B></A></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="94"><div> <A HREF="id10.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="contact"><B><IMG SRC="03c0e0e0.png" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id10.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="contact"><B>Contact</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id10.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="contact"><B>Pastor Cain</B></A></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="41"><div> <A HREF="id12.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="map"><B><IMG SRC="03c0e0e0.png" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id12.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="map"><B>Map</B></A></div> <bR> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <bR> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="699" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id56.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="_"><B>Back to calendar</B></A><A HREF="id56.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="_"><B> </B></A><A HREF="id56.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="_"><IMG SRC="0400e0e0.jpg" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A>   </div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> For<B>  PREVIOUS PROVERBS: </B>Scroll up<B>,</B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B> </B></FONT><I><B>OR</B></I> Return to Devotional Calendar</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=365 BGCOLOR="#FFFBF0" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="oct_1"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="509" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#66334C > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 84 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 21:30</div> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><I>There is</I> no wisdom nor discernment nor plan</div> <div>  to stand against Jehovah. </div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "To stand against" is from a Hebrew phrase literally meaning "to the front of."  </div> <div>     It can also mean, as some of the ancient Jewish versions have it, "There is no wisdom ... before Jehovah", meaning there is none compared to His.  </div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being Considered<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Jehovah</div> <bR> <div> Description:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">No creature's wisdom, insight, or planning can oppose Him</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     Solomon reminds us again that everything is personal; that is, everything has to do with God personally.  God didn't merely build a plethora of principles into His creation by which it could be made to operate according to the savvy of anyone who understood those principles.  </div> <div>     That's how Satan approached the creation.  When he found he didn't like the created order as it stood, he used his knowledge of God and His patterns of operation to try to make some adjustments.</div> <div>     That's how Eve's mind maneuvered as she pieced together the data at her disposal.</div> <div>     Indeed, both Satan and Eve came 'very close', so to speak, to understanding the system's working.</div> <div>     Notice that in one respect, Satan was not nearly insane.  He never intended to overthrow God:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Isa 14:13, 14</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  For you have said in your heart, I will go up </FONT><I>to</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >the heavens, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north.  I will go up above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     We can plainly see that Satan only wanted to replicate something <I>similar </I>to God's dominion.  He did not want God's dominion itself.  The only items Satan desired superiority to were stars (the other angels) and clouds, both created things.  Otherwise, he only wanted a sort of 'parity' with God.  "I will be <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><B>like </B></FONT>the Most High" is a declaration by which Satan clearly acknowledged that God could not be dethroned.  Satan only sought to carve out his own territory beside God's, under God's.  This would have been victory aplenty.</div> <div>     Satan's means of commandeering this dominion may have been to cause man's fall, thus proving that God- unable to retain control of His domain- must acknowledge <I>another's</I> right to at least co-dominion.  If this was Satan's plan, it was certainly as clever a plan as was ever devised.  All of his premises were basically correct as far as they went.</div> <div>     Eve's plan also merely took elements of the created order God had put there and sought to arrange them to her liking.  God had Himself said that this was a tree of <I>knowledge</I>.  And she <I>did </I>gain knowledge when she partook.  Again, all the premises leading to her conclusion were basically correct per the knowledge at her disposal.</div> <div>     Of course, Satan and Eve both <I>left out</I> crucial premises which, included, would have steered their conclusions in a completely different direction.</div> <div>     Satan failed to realize God's severity, that He was not obliged to acknowledge a rival who would merely disrupt His original plan.  No, God had built in the disruption as a contingency from the start.  "You shall die" did not merely separate man from God, it made him a permanent enemy, subject to eternal punishment- barring God's intervention.  </div> <div>     If the Garden of Eden was actually Satan's initial rebellion against God, he could well have reasoned, "I have already transgressed in my heart, and I have not died.  This death God has warned must be an idle threat."  And so the serpent's words, "You shall not surely die" may well have been Satan's sincere belief (making it all the more believable to Eve).</div> <div>     At their best, though, both Satan and Eve could really only accommodate the <I>next step</I> into the future with their projections.  If they were wrong about that step, they were wrong about everything.</div> <div>     So it is with all sin.</div> <div>     Every sin is a wager that God won't follow through with threatened consequences, or that they won't be all that bad, or that I'm really tough enough to take it.  All these are completely insane conjectures when held in the light of God's fixed character.</div> <div>     The best that our "wisdom, insight, or planning" can do, according to our proverb, will always fall short.</div> <div>     Again, everything is personal.  Every sin is a direct challenge to God Himself.  In order to sin, something in our mind has to tell us, "I can get away with this- God won't take notice," or "It' s worth it even if I'm punished."  These notions spit at God's omnipresence, omniscience, righteousness, and anger against sin.</div> <div>     All these plans, all these intuitions, even when we care to craft them into detailed schemes, are doomed to failure.  Worse, they doom us to pain.  Worse, our pain is increased according to our presumption.</div> <div>     The final rule, the one we should therefore start with, is that anything <I>against </I>God or His way of doing things <I>cannot </I>succeed and <I>must </I>suffer a rebel's reward.</div> <bR> <div>     Will I even dare to go out and <I>purposely </I>sin today?  If I do, could this be sufficient evidence that I've only ever met the one called "God" as His enemy?</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> **********************************************************************</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="oct_2"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="509" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#66334C > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 84 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 21:31</div> <div> The horse is readied for the day of battle; </div> <div> but deliverance belongs to Jehovah.<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#CCFFFF" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Belongs to Jehovah" is from a Hebrew phrase literally meaning "<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Palatino Linotype" ><I>is </I></FONT>to Jehovah."  </div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being Compared<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The horse</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Safety</div> <bR> <div> Their Descriptions:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Made ready for the day of battle</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Jehovah's possession</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     In the previous proverb, God let us know how fruitless it is to wage war <I>against </I>Him (primarily, simply by sinning).  Today, He lets us know how fruitless it is to wage war <I>without </I>Him.  Except today, the emphasis is on the <I>means </I>of warfare.  Those who go into battle, or enter any other enterprise, certainly depend on some <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Calisto MT" ><B>means </B></FONT>to achieve their objectives.  Every man's life runs according to some blueprint, however vague it is or how ignorant he is of it.  This blueprint includes or assumes the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Calisto MT" ><B>means </B></FONT>to the finish line.</div> <div>     The example of means in today's proverb is the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="BRADDON" ><B>horse</B></FONT>.  The specific enterprise for the horse's resources is <B>war</B>.</div> <div>     Why did Solomon choose <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Britannic Bold" >war </FONT>as his sample enterprise?  Because war has the greatest stakes of any venture.  In war, your very life is at risk.  If a man makes preparations for any activity, war is foremost among them.</div> <div>     Why did Solomon choose the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Britannic Bold" >horse </FONT>for the means of deliverance in war?  Because the horse was the premium war resource in Solomon's day.  The army with greater mobility usually wins, even today, and the horse provided the greatest mobility in Solomon's time.  Of course, the horse was mobility <I>combined with</I> 'fire power', for whoever sat on a trained war horse was actually wielding an extra weapon, as well as adding weight and positional advantage to his other weapons.</div> <div>     Solomon, then, was using the <I>ultimate </I>example (war) in order to say that the principle he's teaching therefore certainly applies to all <I>lesser </I>examples.  If our human preparations require the Lord's blessing and intervention in the <I>weightiest </I>encounters with the <I>best </I>resources available to them, then certainly, any of our <I>lesser </I>encounters require His help.  If our strongest strength is unable to rule the day, certainly our lesser strengths will come up lacking.  </div> <div>     The logic of comparing battle to less life-threatening pursuits depends on our ability to see the potential hazard in <I>any </I>enterprise, or, better, to see the militaristic nature of our <I>spiritual </I>lives <I>in general</I>.  We are always in spiritual battle.  We can only triumph by God's aid.</div> <div>     Triumph is indeed implied in our verse, but "deliverance" is what is actually assured.  He who lives through the battle <I>is </I>the victor, but in another sense, he has only <I>just </I>been delivered.  Similarly, he who is still standing, not fallen, after the battlefield of life, is victorious:  he trusted in Jehovah.   Mark, though, that we all actually began life as spiritual casualties, and it is God who resurrected us to wage war in Him.  We fight against the death that previously held us.</div> <bR> <div>     Notice what Solomon acknowledges.  Horses <I>are </I>made ready for the battle.  He doesn't say that this preparation is an act proving doubt in God.  He is not saying that the Christian must abandon all <I>means </I>to his objectives so that God can step in for him.  He is saying that when we have conscientiously prepared ourselves for a responsibility, <I>then </I>the objective must be committed to God for its final success.</div> <div>     This or that undertaking might 'randomly' succeed without our having sought God, but the Christian understands that nothing ever <I>really </I>succeeds unless it was committed to God:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Col 3:17</FONT>  And everything, <U>whatever you do</U> in word or deed, <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>do</I> </FONT><U>all in the name</U> of <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>the</I> </FONT>Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>the</I> </FONT>Father by Him. </div> <bR> <div>     The appearance of success without prayer can be very deceiving.  God is merciful, so we tend to prosper generally, but on a spiritual level, success is measured differently:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >John 15:5</FONT>  I am the Vine, you <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>are</I> </FONT>the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit; for <U>without Me</U> <U>you can do nothing</U>. </div> <bR> <div>     Only those aspects of our lives actually consecrated to God can be expected to be part of our spiritual fruit.  Of course, nothing should be held back or excluded.  Major on the majors, certainly, but realize that everything about a Christian is part of Christ's dominion.</div> <bR> <div>     God intends for us to succeed.  He expects us to make preparations for all our tasks.  But He mostly expects us to commit our works to Him for His blessing:</div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Prov 3:5, 6</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  Trust in Jehovah with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. </FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *****************************************************************</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="oct_3"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="540" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#000033 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 84 ><NOBR><div> <B>Proverbs 22:1</B></div> <div> A <I>good</I> name <I>is</I> to be chosen rather than great riches; </div> <div> rather than silver or gold, favor <I>is</I> better.  <B> </B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#EEEEEE" FACE="Georgia" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     An even more literal rendering of the verse runs thus:  <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >"</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >A name is chosen rather than much wealth, than silver and than gold- good grace."</FONT></div> <div>     The last phrase is just as literal whether it is "good grace" or "grace is better".</div> <div>     "Name" is a word serving double and triple duty in Hebrew.  It is also their closest word for "reputation".  </div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being Contrasted<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">A name / reputation       and       Good favor   .......  on the one hand</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Abundant assets            and        Silver and gold  ......  on the other</div> <bR> <div> Relationships<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eras Medium ITC" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Better</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Worse</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     Again, all the direct comments Solomon makes concerning riches have been positive.  When he tells us, as he does today, that character qualities are <I>more </I>valuable, he is merely placing matters in their proper priority.</div> <div>     Our NAME is that by which we are known (this is true of God also, by the way).  Our name is nothing less than <I>how we are perceived</I>  among those who know of us.</div> <div>     What is Solomon teaching us about this?  As valuable as money is for earthly life, reputation is a 'currency' worth far more.  Money is that by which we buy and sell.  Money is the means of obtaining our daily bread.  But Solomon says our reputation is more valuable.</div> <div>     Two things Solomon has taught us about wealth are that it is a distinct advantage in this world, and it definitely influences people (18:11, 19:4).  So now we are learning that a good reputation is an even <I>greater </I>advantage and has even <I>greater </I>influence on people.</div> <div>     The superficial spirituality of the pietist scoffs reputation.  "Who cares what people think about me?  I only care what God thinks."  Sounds spiritual, but it's not.</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Luke 2:52</FONT>  And <U>Jesus</U> <U>increased </U><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I><U>in</U></I> </FONT>wisdom and stature, and in <U>favor with</U> God and <U>man</U>. </div> <bR> <div>     I guess Jesus started out with misguided goals.  He should only have had favor with God.  Favor with man means you're compromising.  Right?</div> <div>     Wrong.  <I>Eventually</I>, a godly man will suffer persecution (2 Tim. 3:12).  But <I>generally </I>a Christian should be well-spoken of in his circles.  It should only be the hard-core ungodly who care to pierce beneath his solid reputation to bring him down, like the Persian governors wanted to bring Daniel down.</div> <div>     Again, Jesus spoke specifically about the reputation we should seek:</div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Matt 5:16</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in Heaven. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     We are supposed to seek friendly relationships in the world.  If men turn against us, it should be a definite testimony of their hardness.  If we've been stand-offish and unfriendly, we are not even meeting the minimum standard of a neighbor.</div> <div>     Solomon is definitely telling us to seek a good reputation.  We should BE good.  If we are, this should lead to a good reputation.  When it does not, we are still to do the things that lead to a good reputation.  Of course, we do not seek a good reputation for its own sake.  We do not simply do whatever it takes to be well spoken of.  That would not be a truly good reputation anyway.</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eras Medium ITC" >    "Good favor" or "good grace" is better than silver or gold.  That is, in complement to the first half of the verse, the good favor or compassion that men bestow on us is better 'currency' than silver or gold.  It is more valuable to us to have</FONT><B> </B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B>human resources</B></FONT><B> </B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eras Medium ITC" >in the community than to have a bank full of money.  The faces on dollar bills don't smile at you.  They accompany you, then leave you.  It matters not to them.  It is the faces of our neighbors that smile at us.  We should invite their smile by our neighborliness (remembering Jesus' definition of a neighbor, Luke 10:29 ff.)</FONT></div> <bR> <div>     The Christian life is a strange one.  We know that men are generally likely to turn against us at some point, at least for a time.  Yet we are to value their friendship in the meantime.  Be sure, God has appointed us as His witnesses and will justly recompense those who despise us for our goodness.</div> <bR> <div>     So.  Do you care what men think of you?  Even other Christians?  Or are you one of those island fortress Christians who is holding his last stand against the world on a perpetual basis?  </div> <div>     Are you really sure God is in your fort?</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>**************************************************</B></div> <bR> <div> <B> <A NAME="oct_4"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="434" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#330066 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 84 ><NOBR><div> <B>Proverbs 22:2</B></div> <div> <B>Rich and poor have met together, </B></div> <div> <B>The Maker of them all </B><I><B>is</B></I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" ><B> </B></FONT><B>Jehovah</B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>.</B></FONT> <B> </B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#EEEEEE" FACE="Georgia" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Met together" is from a Hebrew word meaning "to come in contact with."  </div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being Compared<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The rich</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The poor</div> <bR> <div> Descriptions of both<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eras Medium ITC" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">They meet</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Jehovah is the maker of them all</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     It is natural for men to think of a large and almost irreversible rift between the rich and the poor.  We cannot conceive of two 'species' that are less related.  But Solomon in our proverb has found a complete meeting ground for them.</div> <div>     From the previous proverb, we are already thinking about the advantages of wealth.  We took the advantages of wealth as the comparing point for learning about the <I>greater </I>benefits of reputation.  Now we are seeing that riches are not only a lesser advantage, they are also not the distinguishing factor they seem to be.</div> <div>     Solomon does not deny that there are differences between the rich and the poor, nor that they are great.  In fact, he seems to concede this.  Rather, he is taking this initial thought and returning to a more basic level of comparison.  Here we find that our former concept of distinctions is fairly wiped out.  The differences, in fact, are not so great as the similarities.  The rich and the poor are basically alike in that they are both creatures God made.</div> <div>     Therefore, any elements in a society which draw out the existing similarities between the rich and poor will tend to have an equalizing effect on their relationship.</div> <bR> <div>     Is this good?  Is this desirable?  Is this what Solomon is getting at?</div> <div>     In third century America, that is certainly what we would assume.  Our "one man, one vote", "everyone's equal under the law" motifs make us think that we have conquered socio-economic distinctions.  We assume that, at least on some level, we have erased the unattractive buffers between rich and poor.</div> <div>     But let's not congratulate ourselves too quickly.  Go to any American big city and the ugly distinctions between rich and poor are as evident as in any other place and time in history.  The smelly street person living in garbage in the shadow of a high rise apartment housing a billionaire- we have certainly not reached utopia.</div> <div>     On the other hand, our founding documents do uniquely credit God with Creatorship, specifically mentioning the leveling effects of the same.  Our founding fathers never intended to erase the distinctions between rich and poor.  They knew that economic factors would always make some people accumulate more and some less.  They merely sought to create a political environment in which the needs of the poor could be voiced and not be categorically hushed by the rich.*  </div> <div>     </div> <div>     The rich do not want to have commonality with the poor.</div> <div>     The poor cannot see where they do have commonality with the rich.</div> <div>     The actual link connecting them is a theological one.</div> <div>     Part of the effect of the Gospel is that it addresses disruptive distinctions between the rich and the poor.  The unrighteous rich are flamingly denounced (James 4:1 ff); the Christian rich are specifically told to share and be generous (1 Tim. 6:17, 18).  <I>All </I>Christians are told to be generous and share (Matt. 6:3, Gal. 6:10).</div> <bR> <div>     Whatever human distinctions exist between men, whether they be monetary, racial, or other, part of the Christian message and ethic is that men are equal in the sense of their standing with God.</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >1 Pet 1:17</FONT>  And if you call on <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>the</I> </FONT>Father, who <U>without respect of persons</U> <U>judges</U> <U>according to</U> the <U>work of</U> <U>each one</U>, pass the time of your <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>earthly</I> </FONT>residence in fear</div> <bR> <div>     Let us pray today for the grace to live as a created being among fellow- created beings. </div> <bR> <div>     As to prayer specifically, the well-off Christian must picture the poor and pray that his own soul is not lifted above their humble state.  The poor Christian must picture the rich (per James 2:5-7) and pray that his own soul is not or does not become foolish and self-reliant like theirs.</div> <bR> <div> * <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Century Gothic" >This is no small advance in human social life and probably largely explains why we have not been destroyed sooner for some of our grievous errors.  We have completely ignored the root principle of human equality by favoring pregnant women over their unborn children in the apparent competition for survival between these two 'species'.</FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> ******************************************************</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="oct_5"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="434" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#330066 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 84 ><NOBR><div> <B>Proverbs 22:3</B></div> <div> A clever <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#A6CAF0" FACE="Georgia" ><I>one </I></FONT>sees the evil and hides himself; </div> <div> But the naive pass on and pay the penalty. <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#EEEEEE" FACE="Georgia" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Pay the penalty" is from a Hebrew word used for paying fines.  </div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being Compared<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The Clever</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The Simple</div> <bR> <div> Their Descriptions<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eras Medium ITC" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Recognizes the evil and takes cover</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Crosses over and suffers the consequences</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     Here is a proverb that tells us that being on the 'right path' is not enough.  The simple can follow the wise onto the right path, but until he learns to recognize danger signals ahead, he is just as likely to meet with spiritual harm as before.  </div> <div>     The naive is therefore seen as always 'minus one ingredient' from the wise.  This time the missing ingredient is foresight and the ability to see evil before it has materialized into a full-blown snare entangling him.  Other times the missing trait may be different.</div> <div>     We have seen this pair, the clever and the naive, contrasted twice before, in 14:15 and 14:18.</div> <bR> <div> Pro 14:15<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  The simple believes every word, but the clever considers his step. </FONT></div> <bR> <div> Pro 14:18<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  The simple inherit foolishness, but the clever are crowned with knowledge. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     The naive man is always missing something because he has not learned to <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><B>take the initiative</B></FONT> in arming himself spiritually.</div> <div>     The clever, who is "subtle" like the serpent, using the same Hebrew word, has his eyes open.  He "sees", it says in our proverb.  Some translations say he "foresees", because it is something <I>ahead </I>on the road he spots.  </div> <div>     And what does he see?  He sees evil.  He sees where temptation could arise out of the set of circumstances before him.</div> <bR> <div>     At this point, our proverb is somewhat unique.  It advises us to take an action that may sound like cowardice.  Why would I hide myself?  Shouldn't I move bravely forward and face my challenges?</div> <div>     According to our proverb, the clever Christian, the one we would normally think of as spying out every advantage and opportunity, <I>draws back</I>.</div> <div>     Our proverb today is the seventh of seven Proverbs' testimonies on the clever, excluding a near repetition of today's verse later at 27:12.  Solomon 'completes' the picture of him today with a bit of 'surprise' information.  But it's really not surprising at all.  </div> <div>     The man who scopes out every situation from every angle also scopes out <I><U>himself</U></I><I> </I><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eras Demi ITC" ><I>in relation</I><I> to</I></FONT> his environment.  He knows his limitations.  He knows, in fact, that even when he presses forward to seize an opportunity, he does so <I>cautiously</I>.  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Britannic Bold" ><I>There is always a way to be tripped up in any situation</I></FONT>, perhaps especially when we are getting ready to pose for our trophy picture.</div> <bR> <div>     We would have thought that Falstaff would never have been our example with his cowardly "discretion is the better part of valor" principle. Well, in fact, he is not.  He did not hide himself from evil, he hid himself from attack while his comrades were in peril.  When evil is actually assailing us, we must do battle.  That is the purpose of spiritual armor.</div> <div>     Our proverb is talking about the ability to assess the potential for spiritual danger and to avoid making ourselves an easy target <I>before </I>full-scale battle develops.</div> <bR> <div>     It is important to note here that when we are using the analogy of a path with dangers on it, we can speak of <I>hiding ourselves</I> in one sense while we speak of <I>pressing ahead</I> in another sense.  Solomon is not saying that there must be lack of progress in the Christian life on some days.  He is not saying that we must sound retreat and give up ground on occasion.  </div> <div>     The path in Solomon's analogy is primarily a path in the <I>heart</I>.  A man's inner path in relation to temptation proceeds on one level, while his path in relation to other factors proceeds on another level.  Stopping and 'holing up' while temptation subsides does not mean that we have altogether come to a dead standstill.</div> <div>     Even in a military analogy, notice that it is the ability to stand our ground, not only to take new ground, which is a measure of successful warfare:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Eph 6:13</FONT>  Therefore take to yourselves the whole armor of God, that you may be able <U>to withstand</U> in the evil day, and having done all, <U>to stand</U>. </div> <bR> <div>     Paul recognizes the principle of our proverb.  Satan's forces come against us.  When that happens, we are making much 'headway' simply to keep what we have.</div> <bR> <div>     A fairly consistent analogy might be camouflage.  As we travel, we see an enemy looking for a fight.  We pull our hat down, refuse to make eye contact, and navigate around him.  We spy a salesman ahead trying to draw us in to a  sinful pleasure.  We hold up a newspaper to block his view from us.  Giving this wide berth indicates the low self-esteem we have.  Such low self-esteem is Biblically accurate:  we are <I>very </I>easy to tempt.  Boundaries encircling sin are very easy to cross over.</div> <bR> <div>     So the clever man is a knowledgeable man.  He knows:</div> <div>  1)  What evil looks like before it gets dangerously close;</div> <div>  2)  Himself, and how easily he can be tempted;</div> <div>  3)  Evil's destructive power.  Should I give in, I'll pay a price I'll wish I hadn't;</div> <div>  4)  Purity is desirable.  It is very worth keeping myself from temptation for the benefits I will gain, not just the negatives I will avoid.</div> <div>   5)  How to hide himself.  Exactly where to say, "I'm not going there; it's trouble.  I'm not answering in kind; he's already angry.  I'm not entertaining that question; it's a trap.  I'm not accessing that information/ entertainment; it leads to a trespass, and my Lord's honor is more important."</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> **********************************************************************</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="oct_6"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="506" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#330066 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 84 ><NOBR><div> <B>Proverbs 22:4</B></div> <div> <B>The result of humility- the fear of Jehovah-</B></div> <div> <B>is riches, and honor, and life.</B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#CCFFFF" FACE="Georgia" ><B> </B></FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#EEEEEE" FACE="Georgia" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     The Hebrew word for "humility" denotes lowness. </div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Cause<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Humility</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">i.e., the fear of Jehovah</div> <bR> <div> Effects<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eras Medium ITC" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Riches</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Honor</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Life</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>        Most translations supply "and" between "humility" and "the fear of Jehovah."  This makes them two separate co-causes of riches, honor, and life.</div> <div>     A couple of other translations place a grammatically safe "is" after "humility", making the fear of Jehovah the first of a <I>four</I>-item list of the effects of humility.  But there is no "and" between the "fear of Jehovah" and "riches" as there is between the other benefits.</div> <div>     Though it seems a bit of a 'limb-climb' to make the fear of Jehovah the equivalent of humility, this is certainly the most straightforward reading of the verse grammatically, as we have rendered it (per Roland Murphy).</div> <bR> <div>     Actually, this construction nicely advances the teaching Solomon has previously given on the benefits of godliness.  We do seem to be in a section of Proverbs that extends lessons begun earlier:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Prov 15:33</FONT>  The <U>fear of Jehovah</U> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I> </FONT>the discipline <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>leading to</I></FONT> <U>wisdom</U>, and before <U>honor</U> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I> </FONT><U>humility</U>. </div> <bR> <div>    <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" > Here we see the connection between the fear of God and wisdom; also the connection between humility and honor.</FONT></div> <div>     Early in Proverbs, wisdom conferred all three of the blessings listed in our verse today, though "life" was termed "length of days":</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Prov 3:16</FONT>  <U>Length of days</U> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I> </FONT>in her right hand; and in her left hand, <U>riches</U> and <U>honor</U>. </div> <bR> <div>     So, considering the two causes and the three effects of today's proverb separately, we see that humility might well be considered the equivalent of the fear of God.</div> <div>     A different Hebrew word for humility (but one also denoting lowness) is connected with wisdom:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Prov 11:2</FONT>  ... with the <U>lowly</U> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I> </FONT><U>wisdom</U>. </div> <bR> <div>     And wisdom is certainly connected to the fear of God:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Prov 9:10</FONT>  The <U>fear of Jehovah</U> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I> </FONT>the beginning of <U>wisdom</U></div> <bR> <div>     <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >So much for defending our translation.</FONT></div> <bR> <div>     As for its teaching, consider first that the <I>benefits </I>of godliness are being laid before us.  </div> <div>     Is godliness cheapened by <I>inducing </I>us with its benefits?  Doesn't God say, "Just do it because it's right; don't worry about rewards."</div> <div>     In fact, the answer to that is expressly No:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > Heb 11:6</FONT>  But without faith <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>it is</I> </FONT>impossible to please <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>Him</I></FONT>, for he who comes to God <U>must believe</U> that He is and <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>that</I> </FONT><U>He is</U> <U>a rewarder</U> ...</div> <bR> <div>     One of the biggest differences between a Christian and a mere theist (someone who believes in God) is that a Christian is expecting something very <I>specific </I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" ><I> </I></FONT>from God.  The theist has a much vaguer notion of what God might give.  Our proverb enumerates a partial list of the benefits given by God.</div> <div>     These benefits, like everything bequeathed to the Christian, have their ultimate fulfillment in Heaven.  "Life" is an obvious example.  Death is not done away until we are in God's presence:</div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Rev 21:4</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  And God will wipe away all tears from their eyes. And there will be no more death ...</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >    </FONT>Therefore, the life God rewards us with <I>now </I>is received as a 'down payment'.  In one sense, we are fully alive, because the life in us now is of no different quality in itself than the life we will have in Heaven.  But in another sense, because sin and death continue to work within us, life cannot yet be experienced to the full.  In Heaven, it will seem like we had never tasted life before, we will feel so different, finally being free of death.</div> <div>     As a Christian, our experience of life, honor, and riches are mainly in comparison to what we had before.  The non-Christian possesses none of these benefits- not as God gives them.  </div> <div>     Obviously, riches and honor are benefits which will be mainly conferred later.  Even a Christian who receives plenty of each on earth has received nothing yet by comparison to the Heavenly portions to come.  Plus, riches and honor on earth we own today can easily be gone tomorrow.  </div> <div>     But we have seen that God, to whom the earth belongs, does see to it that we receive riches and honors now.</div> <div>     Of riches we have already read:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Prov 15:6</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  In the house of the righteous </FONT><I>is</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >much treasure</FONT></div> <bR> <div>     <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >Of honor, we know that God's servant will honor others who also serve Him.  The psalmist describes the citizen of God's kingdom:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Psa 15:4</FONT>  in whose eyes the reprobate is despised, but he <U>honors</U> those who fear Jehovah</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >    </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#330000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >F</FONT>inally, notice the order of the benefits conferred by our humble fear of God.  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><B>Riches </B></FONT>are first:  assets we can hold and use.  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><B>Honor </B></FONT>is second:  reputation, something we can't hold in our hands like riches, but something which we certainly hold title to when God gives it (Prov 22:1).  This includes honor from God- the place He gives us as sons, princes- and the honor men give us when they realize that we operate by integrity, not personal advancement.  Lastly, God gives us <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><B>life </B></FONT>for our caution before Him.  Notice, God is successively giving more essential aspects of our being.  Honor is the reputation for who we are, but life is <I>who we are!  </I>Life makes us living beings.  True life, of course, is reconnection to God.  Our proud disdain of God (opposite of humble fear) showed our dead condition.</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >    </FONT>True humility is the recognition of who we really are.  This recognition is only possible in relation to the Sovereign over all things.  Hence, humility <I>IS </I>the fear of God.  Those who humble themselves under the mighty hand of God are told by Him what they will receive.  He delights to give them these benefits.  We should delight to receive them.</div> <bR> <div>     The worldly counterfeits of riches, honor, and life are right before our faces.  They are called by the same names.  They are easy to 'smell', 'taste', and experience.  That is why so many Christians choose a variety of 'godliness' that merely enjoys the worldly benefits and thanks God for them.</div> <bR> <div>     Which variety are you seeking?</div> <div>     Which variety are you enjoying?</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> ********************************************************************</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="oct_7"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="506" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#003300 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 84 ><NOBR><div> <B>Proverbs 22:5</B></div> <div> Thorns <I>and</I> snares <I>are</I> in the path of the twisted; </div> <div> he who guards his soul stays distant from them.<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#33CC00" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#CCFFFF" FACE="Georgia" ><B> </B></FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#EEEEEE" FACE="Georgia" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     The Hebrew word for "thorns" is only used one other time.  It means something prickly; Strong's suggests a cactus hedge. </div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being Compared<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The warped person</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The person who watches over his soul</div> <bR> <div> Opposing Descriptions<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eras Medium ITC" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Barbs and traps are in his path</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Stays distant from them [the barbs and traps]</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     This is the sixth out of seven proverbs concerning the "twisted".</div> <div>     The twisted are unbelievers who are very conscious of morality, either by a naturally sensitive conscience or by previous Christian training.  Their soul becomes a seedbed of steaming soil- active spiritually, but also activated carnally.  They cannot escape the presence of God in their consciences, so their cravings become part of an internal dispute between the approval and disapproval of their doings.  They distort themselves into impish creatures spiritually, often more akin to demons than men.</div> <div>     The path of the twisted is described for us here.  It is like a forest trail that has been invaded by brambles.  But further, a hunter has deemed these brambles a likely haunt for his prey, so he has strewn various traps among them.  Of course, spiritually, these traps are both the bindings of Satan and the cages of our own unbreakable habits.</div> <div>     Both brambles and traps are <I>natural </I>to the twisted man's path.  And this is part of what distorts his soul further.  He curses and fumes as he cuts himself and catches himself and wrenches himself free (wrenching some flesh free as well) only to be waylaid anew on the next step.</div> <bR> <div>     Now what is one tell-tale sign of a warped man?  He TALKS like someone at great liberty.  He is usually the best ambassador for Satan in dragging other men down.  He can almost walk another man into spiritual slavery by merely giving an ongoing narrative of his own soul's state.</div> <div>     Warped men make great Christian 'wolves'.  Peter warns of them:</div> <bR> <div>  2 Pet 2:15<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  who have forsaken the right way and have gone astray ...</FONT></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > 2 Pet 2:18, 19</FONT>  For when they speak great swelling <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>words</I> </FONT>of vanity, they <U>lure</U> through <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>the</I> </FONT>lusts of the flesh, by unbridled lust, the ones who were escaping from those who live in error;  <U>promising</U> them <U>liberty</U>, <U>they themselves</U> are the <U>slaves</U> of corruption. </div> <bR> <div>     So the farthest things from our actual view of the twisted man are the thorns and snares he wears like his own skin!  It is only when we have become like him that the truth becomes woefully obvious.</div> <bR> <div>     The upright in our proverb are described in terms of <I>contrast </I>to the twisted.  The upright "guard their souls".  This is exactly what the twisted fail to do.</div> <div>     The upright guard their souls chiefly in two ways:  <I>what </I>they forbid and <I>how </I>they protect.  Perhaps we should first say <I>that </I>they forbid.  The ability to say no to our cravings is a most singular sign of the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.</div> <div>    Each Christian is an 'under-shepherd', tending his own soul.  He first <I>forbids </I>entry to the wolves of pride, various greeds, angers, and fears.  He then <I>watches over</I> the 'flock' of his Christian virtues, pasturing and watering his love, humility, and righteousness with Scriptures and prayer.</div> <bR> <div>     So doing, is the Christian guaranteed a trouble-free life?  Doesn't our proverb promise that?  He "will be far from" the snares and thorns of the perverse.</div> <div>     Indeed, it is <I>those particular</I> snares and thorns he will be far from.  And what are the twisted man's particular entanglements?  They are SOUL entanglements.  It is the Christian's <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><B>soul </B></FONT>which he guards.  It is the warped man's <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><B>soul </B></FONT>which is woven with underbrush.   </div> <div>     True enough, the Christian can submit to his old nature, thereby inviting snares into <I>himself!</I>  But the Holy Spirit puts no thorns or snares in the Christian's soul naturally.  This is as much as to say that God tempts no man.  The perverse man's shackles are of his own devising.  </div> <div>     The same <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Castellar" >outward circumstances</FONT> that will face the bent man will also face the Christian.  It is in the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><B>heart land</B></FONT> where they differ.  The Christian desires and has been given tools to clear his spirit's path.</div> <div>     This is an important verse in understanding how God can "lead us into temptation."  In our heart's landscape, when we spy some attractive idol on a bypath, our movement towards it already sets vines and smaller thorns around our feet.  As our fascination with the idol finds it and us retreating into the jungle, God still has ultimate oversight of our folly.  He doesn't cause our folly, but He molds the terrain to fit our punishment to our crime.  The more committed we become to the idol, the more thorns and traps adapt as our native ecosystem.  God simply constructs that realm to both teach us and pay us our due.  That is the process of being led into temptation.  When we ask to avoid it ("do not lead me..."), we are asking God to identify in our hearts attractive idols that will lead us astray SO we can escape their grasp.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *************************************************************</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="oct_8"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="519" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#003300 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 84 ><NOBR><div> <B>Proverbs 22:6</B></div> <div> <B>Consecrate a child in the instruction of His way,</B></div> <div> <B>and when he is old, he will not depart from it.</B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#CCFFFF" FACE="Georgia" ><B> </B></FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#EEEEEE" FACE="Georgia" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Instruction" is literally "mouth".  It is often properly translated "according to".</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Condition<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">"Narrow" a boy by the mouth of His path</div> <bR> <div> Promise/fulfillment<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eras Medium ITC" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">When he is old, he won't turn off from it</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     We have finally reached the most well-known proverb in our day.  If you say, "Train up a child in the way he should go" to any Christian, he can usually fill in the second half of the verse:  "and when he is old, he will not depart from it."</div> <div>     Unfortunately, this is also probably the most misunderstood of all the familiar proverbs.  This is because of the usual translations.  They take the Hebrew phrase "by the mouth of his path" and make it quite idiomatic:  "in the way he should go."  True enough, "by the mouth of" often means simply "according to", meaning corresponding to.  But "his way", that is, the child's way, is what we would <I>least </I>expect Solomon to use as a guide for teaching him:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Eccl 11:9</FONT>  Rejoice, in your youth, young man; and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, and walk in <U>the ways of your heart</U>, and in the <U>sight of your eyes</U>; but know that for all these <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>things</I> </FONT>God will <U>bring you into judgment</U>. </div> <bR> <div>     This is the seventh of Solomon's seven 'intermediate conclusions' in Ecclesiastes, holding the reader over until he can give him the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><B>final </B></FONT>conclusion:  Fear and obey God.  The fifth and sixth intermediate conclusions began to smack of sarcasm.  Now, this one is fairly dripping with sarcasm.  "Do as you please; but, oh, by the way- you'll fry for it!"</div> <div>     This is all part of Solomon's scheme to lead us <I>away </I>from any other conclusion to life's problems than fearing and obeying God.</div> <bR> <div>     Seeking to orient the phrase in our proverb to the child in other ways (as some translations and commentators do) may be less offensive, but they still seem to be a complete innovation from everything Solomon has been teaching.  "Use a child's own personality patterns to help ingrain your instruction of him" may be sound enough advice, but is it sufficiently God-oriented to merit a promise of life-long effectiveness?  This simply seems to break Solomon's mold of ingraining a child in <I>God's</I> ways- in <I>His </I>wisdom and understanding.  </div> <div>     And this raises the chief problem of the verse.  How many children have we seen who have seemingly been faithfully reared and yet later <I>departed </I>from God and the gospel?  Is this not a denial of the promise in the verse?</div> <bR> <div>     This problem has guided many in their entire approach to Proverbs.  The results have been tragic.  Christians do not take proverbs very seriously because they assume that proverbs are worded so as to allow various exceptions.  This makes proverbs interesting and maybe provocative, but certainly not compelling like other Scriptures which can tell me exactly what to do or give me promises to definitely expect.  Hence- an emasculated book of the Bible.  </div> <div>     And many firmly believe that is how God intended it.  They conclude, then, that wisdom must be necessarily vague to be of any real value.  It must <I>hint </I>at a solution but always allow for possible exceptions.</div> <div>     The set of Proverbs' expositions before you has labored to dispel any such approach to the book.  Solomon is precise.  If there is 'wiggle room' in any of his concepts, it is a flexibility <I>built in</I> to his language, reflecting reality, not breaking with reality.  </div> <div>     Without exception, when we think Solomon may have gone too far or misspoken, we are always guilty of failing to read his language with the amazing precision he used.  It is usually fairly easy, once we have allowed him this possibility, to fathom his real meaning.</div> <bR> <div>     So what is Solomon's precise meaning in Proverbs 22:6?  </div> <div>     Keil and Delitzsch get it right when they take "his" of God.  There is no distinguishing upper and lower case in Hebrew, nor any grammatical solution to the identity of "his".  </div> <div>     It is simply of matter of- have we been listening to all that Solomon has thus far said?  How can "his" refer to the child?  How can a child be his own reference point?  How can "his" <I>not </I>refer to God?  How can anyone <I>but </I>God be a child's reference point?</div> <div>     Solomon, the man who dedicated the Temple of God, uses the same word in this verse as is used for the "dedicating" of the Temple:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >1 Kings 8:63</FONT>  And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to Jehovah, twenty-two thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the sons of Israel <U>dedicated</U> the house of Jehovah.  [See also 2 Chron 7:5]</div> <bR> <div>     Certainly Solomon takes child training in a deeply reverential sense:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Prov 4:20 - 22</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  My son, listen to my words; bow down your ear to my sayings.  Let them not depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart.  For they </FONT><I>are</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >life to those who find them, and health to all his flesh. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     It is hard to imagine that Solomon would employ a mere psychological principle to achieve what he knows only the Spirit of God can bring about.  When he says to "dedicate" our children, he surely would not be advising us to merely tailor our instruction to their personalities.  Assuredly he is taking us to the Tabernacle with Hannah, to drop off our child into God's permanent keeping.  Except we are not asking the priest to do this for us.  <I>We </I>are the priests charged with the work, mothers especially:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >1 Tim 2:15</FONT>  <U>she</U> will be saved through her child-bearing, if <U>they</U> continue in faith, love, and sanctification with sobriety. </div> <bR> <div>     And that is what our proverb is commanding:  to consecrate our children for our very own souls' sakes.  If we do not consecrate <I>ourselves </I>to God, we certainly cannot dedicate our <I>children </I>to him.  But if we <I>do </I>dedicate ourselves fully to God, how can we help entrusting our dearest possessions to him?  As we indoctrinate them unto Him, we put a spiritual guard around <I>ourselves </I>at the same time, according to 1 Timothy 2:15 above.</div> <bR> <div>     Can there be, then, <I>exceptions </I>to the rule of Proverbs 22:6, for it is undeniably phrased as a conditional promise? </div> <div>     The only exceptions can be of the Judas sort.  God may have a special purpose for placing a reprobate in our 'flock', even as He did for giving Judas to Jesus.  Jesus prayed,</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >John 17:12</FONT>  "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those that You have given Me I have kept, and <U>none</U> of them is <U>lost</U>, <U>but</U> the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled." </div> <bR> <div>     Jesus will also 'keep' all of ours who are faithfully committed to Him, unless He has a specific purpose for a betrayer in our midst.  In that case, they were never His from the beginning.</div> <bR> <div>     But here is the big question.  Who among us can say we have truly consecrated our children to God?  <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" >Who has limited his instruction such that Scripture directly flavored everything that entered his children's souls?</FONT>  Who has done so being filled with the fruit of the Spirit himself, free from the rotten works of the flesh?</div> <div>     Yes, here is the main point.  If we could say we actually fulfilled the condition of the verse, we would only rarely be denied the fulfillment promised.  When denied, it would clearly be a specific manifestation of God's glory.</div> <div>     Our proverb is a conditional promise <I>of degrees </I>(as we have seen nearly all the comparative proverbs to be).  <I>To the degree </I>that we consecrate our children, to that degree there will be later fruit in them.  In fact, even the reprobate who was raised Christianly holds to this pattern, for he turns into a miserable creature- a 'twisted' man of the previous proverb, <I>because of</I> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" > </FONT>his deeply ingrained knowledge of the truth of which he cannot rid himself.</div> <bR> <div>     It is a deep, deep mercy of God that He saves our children despite our inconsistencies and hypocrisies.  </div> <div>     May we at least be granted the grace to say before Him that consecration is our sincere aim, the true desire of our hearts, and the direction we are taking.  Knowing the conditions for consecration, most professing Christian parents cannot even truly say they want it.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> ********************************************************************</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="oct_9"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="487" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#003300 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 87 ><NOBR><div> <B>Proverbs 22:7</B></div> <div> The rich rules over the poor, </div> <div> and the borrower <I>is</I> servant to a man who lends. <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#CCFFFF" FACE="Georgia" ><B> </B></FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#EEEEEE" FACE="Georgia" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "The rich" is singular, while "the poor" is plural.  </div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being compared<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The rich to the poor</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The borrower to the lender</div> <bR> <div> Relationships<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eras Medium ITC" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The rich governs the poor</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The borrower is the worker for the lender</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     As is the norm for Solomon's comments on the rich, he makes observations without direct moral evaluation.  Moral suggestions are implied, but Solomon's main purpose is to make us wise as to the workings of the world.  With this savvy, we can avoid frustrations, fears, and angers that arise from the feeling that there is some big 'machine' or conspiracy working against the hapless forces of justice.  </div> <div>     Some unpleasant circumstances arise merely because of economic 'law' in a fallen world.  These economics are both mathematical and soulical.  We can always depend on an imbalance in the distribution of earthly resources because some men who attain positions of power will always horde more than their portion and will find ways to deprive the weaker of some of what they produce.  Expect this and maintain your sanity.  In fact, 'rescue workers', moving in among the debris of shattered lives, of necessity must be immune to the 'virus' themselves (not poverty, but a helpless, victimized feeling).</div> <bR> <div>     As to the specific teaching of our proverb, there is a definite 'pecking order' in the world.  Some men rule over other men.  It doesn't matter if we live in a 'free' society.  Some men are 'under the thumb' of others.  This doesn't necessarily mean abject slavery, though that exists abundantly throughout the world, including 'free countries', including America.  It means that my life, my actions are limited by what someone else decides.  </div> <div>     It is a fantasy, and a silly one, to think that as an American I am free of any undesired lordship.  The rich <I>do </I>rule over the poor in America.  The rich are the ones who work in the political realm, or fund one another's campaigns, to sit in positions of power so they can zone certain areas for the exclusive residence of the rich.  The poor are not 'free' to move there.  Sometimes, all that is left is undesirable property, even property subject to hazards.  </div> <div>     The rich need the poor to live in the general vicinity to do their dirty work, so they have particular areas zoned so that 'human trash' is more likely to move there.  The poor man feels 'free', even grateful, to receive living  accommodations.  But he is actually being 'herded' there by the upper class.  </div> <div>     Some poor men who finally discover the puppet strings attached to them rise up in arms and rant prophetically, rallying their oppressed comrades to overthrow their oppressors!  Of course, their neighbors are all motivated to take immediate action.  They grab the bug-eyed fool, sit him down, and instruct him not to rile the 'powers that be', lest they receive a worse turn at their hands.</div> <bR> <div>     Secondly, the man who borrows is certainly a 'slave' to the man who loans him money.  The creditor <I>dictates terms</I> to the debtor.  He does so with the sanction of law.  The debtor has to sign on the dotted line.  He is <I>subject </I>(slave terminology) to the terms of the contract.  He doesn't feel any shackles or hear the sound of clanking chains at his feet; yet he is as bound as an inmate in maximum security.  </div> <div>     This is why Solomon treats debt with such urgency:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Prov 6:1 - 5</FONT>  My son, if you have <U>become collateral</U> for your neighbor, If you have struck your hands in pledge for a stranger;  <U>You are trapped</U> by the words of your mouth. You are <U>ensnared</U> with the words of your mouth.  Do this now, my son, and deliver yourself, Seeing you have come into the hand of your neighbor. Go, humble yourself. Press your plea with your neighbor.  Give no sleep to your eyes, Nor slumber to your eyelids.  <U>Free yourself</U>, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, Like a bird from the snare of the fowler. </div> <bR> <div>     I don't feel any pinch while I can make payments, but I am in no less danger.  If something happens to me today whereby I cannot work, that does not change the terms of my loan.  I still pay or blatantly forfeit my rights as a free man.  My creditor is empowered to send collectors to take whichever of my possessions might satisfy my debt.</div> <bR> <div>     Paul puts Solomon's observations into a simple imperative:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Rom 13:8</FONT>  Do not continue to owe- not a single <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>thing</I></FONT>, not to a single <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#444444" FACE="Georgia" ><I>person</I></FONT></div> <bR> <div>     This remarkable command contains three negatives in the Greek!  It cannot be literally translated into English with correct grammar because of double (and triple) negatives.  The last two phrases are merely the same Greek word, "not a one" twice in a row.  One apparently applies to what we would owe and the other to our creditor.  Maybe they both apply to what we would owe and Paul is merely saying, "Do not owe- not a thing, not a thing!"</div> <bR> <div>     America is a debt-ridden society.</div> <div>     When you begin to take freedom from debt seriously and pay more than your 'minimum payment' on loans and credit cards, you'll be flooded with tons of other offers to take on <I>more </I>debt, since you've now distinguished yourself as one of the ones who actually pays his bills.  Don't listen!  Your reward for reducing debt must not be increased spending!  Free yourself at least from <I>this </I>overlordship.  </div> <div>     You cannot help having rich overlords, but you <I>can </I>avoid enslavement to creditors.  Solomon mentions both kinds of enslavement so we will know where we must wisely 'toe the line', and where we can deferently throw off the dangerous shackles.</div> <div>     Your own desire for money is real.  Here we have seen that money rules.  Therefore, the love of money is also the love of power.  At that level, a Christian by definition says, "In defiance of my original and inbuilt defiance, I am NOT God; I am NOT in power.  Money will not be my tool nor I its.  I will simply handle money recognizing it IN the world system where it operates." (Luke 16:11; 1 Cor 7:30)</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> ***************************************************************</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="487" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#003300 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 99 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 22:8</div> <div> The one who sows <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#CCFF33" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#CCFF33" FACE="Baskerville Old Face" >perverseness reaps turmoil, </FONT></div> <div> And the rod of his anger will wear out.</div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Perverseness" is the word for evil whose root means "distortion."  </div> <div>     "Turmoil" is from the Hebrew meaning "to pant," as in vanity, but which is almost always translated by some kind of moral evil, wickedness, or iniquity.  </div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being considered<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Whoever plants immoraltiy</div> <bR> <div> Outcomes:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">His harvest is error</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The tool implementing his anger will break down.</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     One would think that Proverbs would be replete with sowing and reaping analogies, as in this verse, but such is not the case; there are only two or three of them.  Solomon seems to reserve planting as the picture of a calculated plan.  The man sowing is someone who invests resources and time in a pursuit from which he expects results.  A man industrious enough to 'farm' deviance, therefore, is certainly worth our attention.</div> <div>     We have a second figure in the proverb which assures us that this deviant is deliberate:  his "rod".  He uses his rod to punish those who do not align with his purposes.  The rod can be a figure for <I>any </I>means a man uses to inflict retribution. </div> <div>     Having said that this foul farmer knowingly plants his crops, we must quickly observe that he will probably <I>call </I>them anything but moral perversity.  He will probably name his crop some kind of good <I>or </I>he will simply categorize his naughtiness as a necessary pursuit, unashamed.  This is simply man's depravity seen in his defining of things.</div> <bR> <div>     Moving on from the sowing and reaping analogy, the next important observation is that an immoral man (we're calling him perverse- a 'twister of definitions' according to his twisted soul) is always an <B>angry </B>man- "the rod of his anger" assumes anger in him.  He may not be known to others as a <I>mean </I>person, but he carries a quarrel within him.  He has learned that his will cannot be universally imposed on others, so he adopts a strategy to punish 'transgressers' of his will when it is in his power to do so.  The depth of his particular perversity is seen in the extent of his determination to make others pay.  Some men are more deeply distorted than others.</div> <div>     A child can be as perverse as an adult.  As determined as a child is to have his own way, he can bring to bear many punitive measures into the lives of others, especially his parents.  In our day, most parents simply kow tow.  Proverbs is quite opposite this.  It puts a rod into parents' hands to break the child's anger <I>and </I>to break the rod their children are <I>assumed </I>to wield as sinners.</div> <div>     So now, as is so often the case in Proverbs, we have identified the unrighteous archetype as a regular sinner, a normal human.  We have concurrently seen (as usual) that some men bear his stamp more completely than others.  We must also expect to see this villain's shadow connected to <I>our </I>feet.  We must further expect to find <I>all </I>men fairly thoroughly given over to moral deviance- of <I>any </I>type, breaking <I>any </I>command.</div> <bR> <div>     Now why would Solomon make such a seemingly obvious connection between the seed and the harvest he warns about?  "He who plants immorality will reap evil."  It's because the planting speaks of his deed, whereas the harvest speaks of his circumstances.  </div> <div>     The seed is in his hand; it is his offering to the equation.  It is sown into the 'ground' of earthly life by his deeds.  What life yields <I>back </I>to him is now actually a surprise.  His planting was in self-interest, but his harvest does not answer in kind- it does NOT serve him.  It is wild and unruly.  It is thorny.  It hurts him.  It is inedible.  He treats it as a stranger:  "Where did this monstrosity come from?" not recognizing the picture right on his seed package:  not recognizing it because only those who know Scriptures are told what it is.  In unbelief we automatically assume that the self-interest we've sown will reap us self-pleasing gains: <I> that's</I> what we see on the package- such is the ongoing fantasy of the very First Sin.  </div> <div>     Hence, it is anything <I>but </I>an obvious connection.  Solomon is not saying "plant a sunflower seed, get a sunflower."  He's saying, "Do deviance from God's command and it will always yield you an unexpected, undesireable result."  This is because our selfishness always wrongly assumes earth's cooperation.  Not consciously perhaps, but the very fact that we act in self-interest* shows that we are counting on a continued environment favoring our selfishness.</div> <div>     This is a very interesting microcosm.  In some ways THE biggest question of all is how God could create a good creature who could go bad.  Our proverb suggests a backdrop for the answer.  We ALL sow deeds with an <U>imaginary environment</U> in mind- what we <I>suppose </I>our world will yield.  We all become like Lucifer or Adam in their first sin every time we mentally create a landscape that pays us the dividends we desire:  homage, autonomy, self-determination: some variety of pleasure.  </div> <div>     A good creature who did not <I>recognize </I>evil- how could he truly recognize good, its opposite?  Hence, a good creature who could not <I>imagine </I>evil (and therefore consider it as an option) is just as improbable.</div> <bR> <div>   <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Harrington" ><B>Conviction Application</B></FONT>:  Think about it.  Our proverb puts us in an environment.  Our thoughts naturally run on a certain <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial Rounded MT Bold" >landscape </FONT>or stage.  We naturally play scenarios out in our minds.  We are always <I>planting </I>seeds, at least theoretically.  We definitely <I>reap </I>turmoil, even in imaginary scenarios.  We see how our desires are <I>not </I>being served.  We fume.  It is because we have already planted desires.  We <I>want </I>it to be <U>this</U> way.  We think we deserve <I>this</I>.  Someone is not conceding my worth in <I>that</I>.</div> <div>     How important it is that we RECOGNIZE  this make-believe world and commit it to God.  It is a vastly helpful paradigm.  I can catch my sinfulness forty different ways if I can just see my little test world popping up in my thoughts all the time, playing out a puppet scence in my head with the 'players' in my life- playing out the scene, really, in my attitude.  It's almost never a full-blown script.  It's usually an impression (which can easily flesh out into a script if we dwell on it).  Expect this fanstasy and catch yourself planting dominion, challenging God.</div> <bR> <div>     Finally, the immoral man is a walking criminal justice system-except that it's injustice.  This is seen in his "rod," a tool of punishment.  When we took up Satan's invitation to "be like God," we wanted to shape the rules, but that also meant designing and implementing punishments for them.  Man naturally punishes.  We naturally evaluate others' actions in terms of punishment.  Sometimes our reaction is only frustration and depression, because we cannot carry out our punishments.  The Christian recognizes his unrighteous tendency to punish and chooses to leave punishment to God, praying for his enemy instead.</div> <div>     The deviant's rod wears out.  He is angry and he attacks, but he will eventually find that his punishment does not have the effect he desires.  This may be because people begin to avoid him.  It may also be because they minimize him, and their opinion of him was what empowered his rod.  They realize they're not going to please him, so his opinion ceases to matter.  ...But not every 'secret police' can be ignored.</div> <div>     As ghastly as a torturer's chamber is a home with an angry parent.  The children undergo endless rounds of cruelty, and it may take years before the angry rod breaks down.  They may have long been adults before they are out of its reach.  </div> <div>     Ironically, the wise parent uses the Biblical rod partly as a <I>short circuit</I> of his anger.  He never gets angry, because he gives a measured spanking, in keeping with the disobedience, long before the behavior becomes frustrating.  The "rod of God's love" brings good where the "rod of our anger" brought evil.  It follows the pattern of God's own discipline of His children.</div> <bR> <div>     Expect to find your anger today.  Trace it back to your perversity.  Plant peace in its place.  Wherever you do not, you are walking <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Castellar" >with </FONT>those who are doomed.  They lead angry lives, expecting at last to correct any god/God who would dare to have misused them so.  Their rods will finally burn with them in the fire of durable retribution.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> *  <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >Some self-interest is simply survival, you might say.  I eat to stay alive; that is a form of self-interest.  We are assuming a more consuming self-interest that becomes a man's morality.  Justice be hanged, I decide based on what I need or desire, period!  Actually, it's justice be perverted, not hanged; we always newly frame justice to justify our misdeeds</FONT>.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> **********************************************************</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="487" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#990000 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 107 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 22:9</div> <div> He who has a good eye, he is blessed, </div> <div> for he gives of his bread to the poor. </div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Good eye" is a phrase used only this once in the Old Testament.  We will see its opposite, "evil eye," in two verses later in Proverbs.  Jesus seems to have expanded on the concepts of both the good and the evil eye.</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being considered<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The one who has a good eye</div> <bR> <div> Description:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">He is blessed</div> <bR> <div> Reason:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">He gives from his bread to the weak</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     Solomon has a well-developed doctrine of the <B>poor</B>.  We are to have a definite stance concerning them.  There are two main Hebrew words for the poor, and Solomon uses this one fifteen times and the other sixteen times.  Proverbs is certainly the "poor" book of the Bible.  The Jews adopted a three-pronged definition of duty towards God, and Jesus agreed with it.  Duty towards the poor was the first of the three prongs, Matt. 6:1-4.</div> <div>     Our verse today is part of Solomon's very entailed definition of the righteous man.  One way we will find him (and be him) is by how he <B>sees </B>others, the poor especially, and how he therefore treats them.</div> <div>       What is a "good eye"?  Solomon speaks of a good eye using the common word for good.  Many translations extend the idea of good into one of the many areas it can legitimately go by translating it "bountiful."  Others paraphrase further, fearful that the reader will find even "he who has a bountiful eye" difficult to comprehend, paraphrasing "the generous man" or something of the like.  But it is better that we should be made to think of the meaning of a "good eye."  </div> <div>     We all know about the eye- that it is the organ of sight.  Saying "good eye" is a simple enough way of causing us to picture a man's outlook- how he sees things.  "Good" carries the double connotation of both soundness and perception.  A good eye can be an eye in good shape, able to see well.  A good eye can also be an eye that sees things in a good light.  </div> <div>     Jesus carries the idea of the eye's goodness, probably right from this verse, into Matthew6:22. </div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Matthew 6:22</FONT> The lamp of the body is the <U>eye</U>.  Then if your eye is <U>unifed</U>, all your body is light. </div> <bR> <div>     The word "unifed" is <I>haploos </I>in Greek.  It literally means "unfolded," as in a cloth without multiple folds.  It was used in legal documents of arrangements pure and "simple."  The root word, meaning "braided/  twisted" is only used of the crown of thorns so <B>woven </B>for Jesus to wear.  <I>Haploos </I>is <B>un</B>-woven.  Jesus therefore speaks of our eye being "unblurred," hence <I>focused</I>.  This certainly fits Jesus' summary:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Matthew 6:24</FONT>  No one is able to serve two lords; for either he will hate the one, and he will love the other; or he will cleave to the one, and he will despise the other. You are not able to serve God and wealth. </div> <bR> <div>     This is where Jesus was driving with the eye illustration.  If our eye is fixed on God, He will actually have charge of our lives.  But if our eyes are distracted by things around or within us, we are unfocused- unable to comprehend or follow- and there's simply no way for God to be our real master.  Interestingly, it is wealth Jesus sets as God's competitor.  That's why the Christian MUST be generous.  Generosity is part of his self-discipline to keep money from getting its hooks into him, diverting him.</div> <bR> <div>     "He who has a good eye"- whose view of life is focused through the proper lens- "is blessed."  As Jesus explained "blessed" to Peter:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>Matthew 16:17</B></FONT>  And answering, Jesus said to him, <U>Blessed</U> are you, Simon, son of Jonah, <U>for</U> flesh and blood did not reveal <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>it</I></FONT> to you, but My Father in Heaven. </div> <bR> <div>     Jesus tells Peter why- under what conditions- he is blessed; therefore, this serves as a good definition of blessed.  Hence, blessed means revealed by God, or bestrowed from Heaven.  Someone with a good eye, then, got it from Heaven.  The Hebrew word in our proverb, <I>barak, </I>means to kneel.  It is <I>not </I>the word for blessed in Psalm 1:1, for instance, which speaks more of the the outcome of blessedness.  <I>Barak </I>speaks more of the <U>conferring</U> of blessing.</div> <div>     Someone with a good eye got it from Heaven, our proverb says.  This we should have known:</div> <bR> <div> <B>Proverbs 20:12</B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  The hearing ear and the seeing eye, Jehovah has even made both of them. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     The new birth supplies men with an eye capable of being fixed on God, capable of finally seeing ourselves for who we are, and capable of seeing our situation among men correctly.  This '<B>triple </B>vision'- of God, self, and others- surely requires <I>haploos</I>.  It is really all one view.  It is the Biblical view of reality.  With it we see that <B>God </B>has made <B>us </B>caretakers of the <B>poor</B>.  WHY can we be said to receive God's blessings?  "For he gives from his bread to the weak."  We feed the needy.</div> <div>     "From his bread."  From our very own food.*  What was to be <I>my </I>supply becomes <I>his </I>supply.  This intimates personal involvement.  I come to my kitchen stores and include someone outside the family.  The idea of sacrfice is involved.  It is not an extra, unneeded loaf of bread.  It is the bread I'm eating from, part of my own portion of the day, the week.  The way the righteous man <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Castellar" >sees </FONT>things, "How could <U>I</U> eat all of this if <U>he</U> needs some of it."</div> <div>     Most people would not qualify as "blessed" from on high:  they interact with no poor people.  Our proverb speaks of a regular, lifestyle activity.  The blessed man's eyes not only see the poor, but see their way to him.  "Give us this day our necessary bread" obviously includes the network of whom that bread will feed.  Give me what <U>I</U> need, and give me eyes to see my way to <U>others</U> with whom I need to share.  Blessed eyes have blessed feet or a blessed door where the poor know to come.</div> <div>     You have been blessed with enough?  You are not poor.  Someone who doesn't have enough?  He is poor.  You may already know someone poor.  If not, God is now extending your network of acquaintances.</div> <bR> <div> *   <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >Political/social liberals want to feed the hungry from a community fund.  That's really just a way to avoid sharing from my own stores.</FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="487" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#FFFF66 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 102 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 22:10</div> <div> Throw the scorner out and fighting will exit; </div> <div> and litigating and aspersions shall cease. </div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Litigating" is a courtroom type term.  It fairly exclusively has to do with official legal type decisions.</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being considered<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The scorner</div> <bR> <div> Action considered toward him:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Expel him</div> <bR> <div> Consequences:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">1)  Disputes will leave <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#777777" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" ><I>with him</I></FONT>; </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">2)  Striving will cease</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">3)  Disgrace will end</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     There is no sin apart from a sinner.  This proverb says to get rid of a certain type of sinner and certain sins will go missing as well.  The saying "God loves the sinner but hates the sin" seems to imply that sin can be a disembodied entity, with no one really responsible for it.  The statement can perhaps be corrected simply enough by saying "God loves His people but hates their sin."  Then one is left thinking, correctly, that God both assigns responsibility and does something about sin.  It also avoids giving the impression that God loves sinners in the coming Lake of Fire, since that would make no sense.</div> <div>     We should not infer from this proverb that there's just one scorner in any group where fighting is occurring.  It IS telling us that if we could get rid of every single scorner/ scoffer from a group, we would have effectively banished contention from that group.  The problem is that there is at least a little (meaning a lot) of scorner in all of us.  Even the Christian on earth to whom God would give the "peacemaker" trophy at a given moment is still prone to take authority and other people's honor (as a bequest from God) lightly.  Any of us can become a scornful instigater put in the right situation.</div> <div>     Is the proverb then suggesting that we try to get rid of certain people at all?  Generally, no.  It is mainly teaching us to locate scorn in people, self first.  It is teaching us that if we have found a fight, we have found scorn.  This is an amazing insight.</div> <div>     There is one other proverb that similarly says that to rid ourselves of one type character would be to rid ourselves of conflicts:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>Proverbs 26:20</B></FONT>  The fire goes out where there is no wood, <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>so</I></FONT> the strife ceases where <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>there is</I></FONT> no whisperer. </div> <bR> <div>     So by a simple putting of two and two together, we can now see that a whisperer, or gossip, operates in scorn:  equally part of the amazing insight.  Fights don't just happen.  Fights aren't just because we're tired.  If we get tired and lose resistance against our natural scorn- there's the cause: the scorn getting uncovered.</div> <div>     Again, this helps us to see that scorn is universal among mankind.  It also helps us to make an exact identification of the problem if we are playing peacemaker, as we ought to be doing.</div> <div>     Are there situations, though, where we <I>should </I>remove someone from our company?  Most definitely.  Proverbs gives several other pointers on who to stay away from.  Being told to cast someone out reminds us of New Testament practice of disfellowshipping.  Several passages command us who and why we must avoid as a congregation.  One example:</div> <bR> <div> <B>2 Thess 3:14</B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  But if anyone does not obey our Word through the letter, mark that one, and do not associate with him, that he be shamed. </FONT></div> <div>  </div> <div>     That is a hard, hard lesson!  Who wants to mark someone out?  One church in a thousand will actually disassociate from someone nowadays.  Notice that our proverb says to throw the sccorner out.  He is a "litigator" and will not leave his courtroom behind willingly.  That's where he gets his sense of purpose, his perceived justification, and his  (self-awarded) calling as sheriff.  Notice also that we have implied that a church is a place where scoffing has come under control generally (unfortunately not always the case; some churches simply move from one contention to another- seen over the long haul).  <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Castellar" ><B>The new heart IS able to identify and avoid its own scoffing</B></FONT>.  The litigator is only able to use God's rules to wedge people in and out of the positions he desires.</div> <div>     Big picture:  God gives us the responsibility to bring peace to our surroundings.  Do we accept His charge?*</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >*  (</FONT>Now about kicking out a scornful wife.  Proverbs, of course, addresses this problem, but seems to reverse the antidote.  Men are recommended, if anything, to 'disfellowship' <I>themselves </I>from the situation!  Dwelling on a precipitous roof or alone in the desert is seen as better than 'fellowship' in a cranky domicile.  The wife being one with the husband, he <U>cannot disfellowship her</U>!  He just has to let the hurricane blow itself out, perhaps retreating to some safer nook or downwind address<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >.  </FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >Strangely, though, the threat to cease communication with a brawling woman may be enough of a disfellowshipping to rescue her from the hinterlands of discord for the moment... for the moment</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >.)</FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="487" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#FFFF66 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 97 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 22:11</div> <div> He who loves pureness of heart, the grace <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>of</I></FONT> his lips,</div> <div> a king <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>shall be</I></FONT> his friend. </div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     The wording of this verse is rather stark.  Given is the most literal rendering.</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being considered<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">One who loves cleanness of heart</div> <bR> <div> What this purity is equated to:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The grace of his lips</div> <bR> <div> Consequence:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The king is his friend</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     This proverb moves progressively outward, from our interior to the ends of the earth.  The key to understanding the verse is the word chosen for pureness/ <B>cleanness</B>/ purity.  It is the word for CEREMONIAL cleanness.  Its 97 occurrences (mainly in the root, verb form- ours is the noun made from it) are mainly in Leviticus and Numbers, giving prescriptions to the priests for recognizing, isolating, and reinstating those who have become ceremonially impure.  This ceremonial impurity is not sinful in itself, for people were <I>obligated </I>to contract it when they participated in a relative's burial, for instance.  They simply had to go through the ceremonial waiting and washing afterwards.</div> <div>     Our verse is Solomon's only mention of this kind of cleanness, but, of course, he is not speaking of ceremonial cleanness.  He uses the ceremonial word but applies it to the <B>heart</B>.  His father David had used it similarly (and almost as infrequently- only twice):</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Psalm 51:2</FONT>  Wash me completely from my iniquity, and <U>cleanse</U> me from my sin. </div> <bR> <div>     David, who meditated long and deep on all the Law, including the lengthy material on ceremonial uncleanness, knew from the material itself that REAL cleansing had to be in the soul, not in the flesh, that washing his body after a certain waiting period would not readmit him into favor with God after he had sinned.  The fleshly, ceremonial lessons were only there to teach about REAL cleansing, and David had learned his lesson, as the above verse shows.  He had passed it on to Solomon.  Our proverb is Solomon's reflection on the matter.</div> <bR> <div>     He who loves the REAL cleansing, of which the ceremonial is only an object lesson, will SPEAK a certain way.  So we have moved from heart to speech, inner to outer.  He who finally grasps what inner purity is, as David reflects in the psalm, is going to speak in a PURIFIED manner.  He will have <B>grace </B>upon his lips.</div> <div>     The closer the Old Covenant got to the coming of Messiah, the more this word for "grace" seemed to take on its New Covenant meaning:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Zechariah 4:7</FONT>  Who <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>are</I></FONT> you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>you shall become</I></FONT> a plain. And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts: <U>Grace</U>! <U>Grace</U> to it! </div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Zechariah 12:10</FONT>  And I will pour on the house of David, and on those living in Jerusalem, the Spirit of <U>grace</U> and of prayers. And they shall look on Me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>son</I></FONT>, and <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>they</I></FONT> shall be bitter over Him, like the bitterness over the first-born. </div> <bR> <div>     Our proverb speaks of the REAL application of cleansing to man's soul.  It is therefore speaking of New Covenant type reality, a reality which existed in the soul of any true man of God during the Old Covenant, but which was not provided by the Old Covenant itself.</div> <div>     Our proverb also reflects the connection between justification and sanctification.  Inward purity is equated to the outward evidence of it.  If one has a pure heart, he HAS gracious lips.  One may not be justified- declared righteous by faith- and then find himself lacking actual righteousness in his life.  The life imparted at justification is real life, not imaginary.  In fact, LOVING pureness of heart itself is part of sanctification, as IS pureness of heart, for they do not speak of a heart merely declared pure, but one which has actually entered the bath and had impurities removed.</div> <bR> <div>     The final connection of this proverb is that when someone craves inward purity, praying for life-giving words to spring from the fountain of his lips (the prayer itself a gracious product of the lip), he will be in position to help even the highest in the community, the nation, or the world.  How can a leader find an honest, wise, and caring counselor- one who does not seek to curry the leader's favor, but only to be of real service?</div> <div>     Gracious lips and a pure heart are so <U>at all times</U>.  They are aware of the added pressure to prevaricate before an influential person, and so they feel the added pressure to maintain purity.  They see how easily the genuine difference between an official and a regular citizen can rationalize to an underling a softer answer than would be true.  This same pressure applies in any inferior-to-superior relationship.  We have to LOVE truth inwardly to maintain it in all circumstances.</div> <div>     Of course, God is the main king who is friends with the ingenuous.  It is their frankness with Him (learned from His frankness with them) which teaches them sincerity in all relationships.  Sad the man who cons God (frighteningly, man's common way of dealing with Him and the instinctive way even a believer continues to do in areas he does not attentively address).</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="487" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCFFFF > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 90 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 22:12</div> <div> The eyes of Jehovah safeguard  knowledge, </div> <div> but He overthrows the words of the treacherous. </div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Safeguard" is from a Hebrew word meaning to guard but is often used in the sense of simply keeping.</div> <div>     "Overthrow" comes from a word meaning to wrench and also carries the idea of subverting.</div> <div>     "Treacherous" comes from a word meaning to cover.</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being considered<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Jehovah's activities</div> <bR> <div> The Two Activities:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Safeguarding by eye</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Subverting</div> <bR> <div> The Objects of These Activities:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Knowledge</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The words of the devious</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     The problem some commentaries have with this verse comes from the seeming strangeness of God's eyes preserving an abstract quality.  It sounds a little odd that God's eyes guard knowledge (this is the only verse where God's eyes guard anything per se).  This peculiarity is easily overcome by doing a phrase search of "eyes of Jehovah."  We find that God accomplishes essentially the same activity with comparable objects:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>Deut 11:12</B></FONT>  It is a <U>land</U> which Jehovah your <U>God cares for</U>. The <U>eyes of Jehovah</U> your God <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>are</I></FONT> <U>always upon it</U>, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year. </div> <bR> <div>     The eyes of Jehovah being on the land is explanatory of His caring for it.  So His eyes guarding knowledge simply speaks of His careful attention to how men and angels respond to the truth.  Knowledge is not simply a commodity out there which men may treat one way or another.  God takes TRUE knowledge personally.  How men react to <U>it</U> is how they react to <U>Him</U>.</div> <div>     When we consider God's zeal over the truth, man's cynicism comes to the fore.  Even many who claim to believe Scriptures cannot help inadvertently blaming their ignorance on God.  They respond to difficult passages of Scripture or the questions that arise from them as though knowledge had gone missing.  They do not speak as though knowledge is CERTAIN, only demanding our discovery of it.  There is, frankly, no reverence in their response.  The fear of God does not guide them.  They essentially say that until THEY know something, the knowledge of it does not exist.</div> <div>     One infamous way this scenario plays itself out is when men take two opposing interpretations of a verse and insinuate thereby that the truth is not certain.  One or the other of these two views <I>might </I>be correct, so knowledge cannot be reached with certaintly, so they say.</div> <div>     RATHER, they ought to say that two reasonable but opposing views of a verse or doctrine show that we have perhaps not ARRIVED at the truth <B>yet</B>.  The emphasis should be on the certainty of the truth versus our own present uncertainty.  The emphasis should also be on the onus upon us to search out the matter to a successful conclusion.  If the matter is too difficult to resolve presently, it must at least be 'filed away' reverently.</div> <div>     Even filing away hard sayings can tend towards irreverence, though.  When one matter after another goes in the "too-hard-to-do" folder, we still give the impression that truth was not intended to be known or knowable.  RATHER, we ought to note what CAN be ascertained about the verse or matter.  We ought to say what ideas must be RULED OUT concerning the doctrine.  We ought to be able to say that the answer we seek will be in this or that area or that it will be along these or those basic lines.</div> <div>     The eyes of Jehovah are preserving knowledge all the while we are maligning it.  We do not even recognize our smugness.  Declaring another 'mystery' in the Bible is treated as an act of reverence, as though God had scored a point by managing to be over our heads.  We excuse ourselves from further study and pin God's merit badge on our chest for doing so.</div> <div>     In this light, God subverting the words of the surreptitious sounds like an act He'd perform mostly against those professing service to Him.  Not so.  But neither are they exempt.  TO THE DEGREE we minimize knowledge- Biblical knowledge especially- we invite God's vengeance.  How can He NOT answer an insolent approach to His Truth, precious commodity that it is?</div> <div>     Sadly, those whose words God subverts will not catch it.  They are so good at playing the agnostic game (cannot know), they don't even know when their own arguments have failed.  They certainly want to make a point, but the flatness of their thrust escapes them.  OR the shame God allows them to experience is blamed once again on Him.  If God had wanted more consistency from <I>me</I>, HE should have been more consistent first.</div> <div>     And this shows the great danger.  One disloyalty towards knowledge leads to another.  If we don't learn HOW to say, "<I><B>I</B></I> don't know that," but can only say, "that can't be known," we will treat the Bible more and more diffidently.  We all have to say, "I don't know," but how we qualify our ignorance decides between our <I>own </I>eyes/ perception guarding/ respecting knowledge along with God's eyes (Prov 5:2; Mal 2:7) OR our words inviting His subversion for our falsehoods.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="410" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#BFBF00 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 122 WIDTH="398"><div> Proverbs 22:13</div> <div> The lazy one says, </div> <div> A lion <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> outside! </div> <div> I will be killed in the streets! </div> <bR> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Lazy" is from a Hebrew word meaning to lean.  It pictures someone leaning, perhaps against a wall, instead of standing upright or moving forward.</div> <div>     "In the streets" is actually "in the midst of the streets".  The exact phrase is only used in one other verse, Deut. 13:16.  There it speaks of piling in the street things that need to be burned.</div> <div>     "Outside" can also mean "abroad" and is even translated "streets" many times.</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being considered<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The lazy person</div> <bR> <div> His Claim:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">There is a lion abroad</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">I will be killed in the streets</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     This proverb comes across in a humorous fashion, but Solomon is not seeking to entertain us.  He is giving us a real 'm.o.' for the lazy man.  Remember also, the first person we should see in any sinner in Scriptures is <B>ourselves</B>; otherwise we are self-righteous; otherwise we lie( 1 Jn 1:8).  </div> <div>     In this proverb, the ridiculous sounding element is the lion- the supposed presence of a lion nearby.  But remember, their fear of lions would be similar to our Appalachian countrymen's fear of panthers on a wooded trail.  You probably aren't going to see one, but they are definitely out there.  True, lions weren't waiting out in the middle of the street for the Israelites, but neither were they foreign animals.  Most Israelites could easily engage in activities that would put them in approximation to lions.  And just as bears wander into neighborhoods in Florida from time to time, so lions sometimes wandered into Israeli communities.</div> <div>     A close analogy to this in our day would be someone living by a kind of hazardous Murphy's law.  Take "If something CAN go wrong it WILL go wrong" and add "to your harm," and you have the lazy man's credo.  <I>Anyone </I>is wise to be on guard against harmful calamities, but a lazy man uses them to shut down unwanted responsibilities.</div> <div>     IMPORTANT POINT on the whole of Proverbs:  We must avoid the <B><U>caricature</U></B><B> </B>of our sample person.  Proverbs can be completely missed and misconstrued by making our lazy or wicked man a <B>fully-conscious proponent</B> of his vice.  The lazy man is not so.  He does NOT say, "How can I be lazy?"  He says and does other things BY WHICH we recognize him as lazy- by which we may recognzie <I>ourselves </I>as lazy, probably not full-blown and in every possible way, but it some way or ways.</div> <div>     Remember also, the man in our proverb is not lying in saying that lions are "abroad."  And he is only prognosticating in predicting his own death.  Death by lion <I>was </I>one possible outcome of a trip outdoors, though very unlikely on the whole.  Solomon's point is that the lazy man's imagination is very active in envisaging what are ultimately EXCUSES.  This is a proverb about <B>excuses</B>.  Solomon wants us to see the element of exaggeration and absurdity in ANY excuse.</div> <div>     Here are five lessons we should learn about laziness and the lazy person from this proverb:</div> <bR> <div>  1)  The lazy man, like any man, projects a certain future for himself: but <I>his </I>forecast automatically calculates (because he loves rest, hates work, abhors responsibility, etc.) avoiding a certain task, avoiding work in general, or winning more time for self-indulgence.  Any of us <I>could </I>focus on negatives; the lazy man <I>does </I>so (in relation to work).</div> <div>     Where do <I>you </I>site seemingly insurmountable obstacles when (some particular) work is laid before you?</div> <bR> <div>  2)  Lazy people do not want to be called liars.  They do not wish to be known as lazy.  What they see and litigate for is their own safety.  They elevate to the status of real harm that which should only be seen as a relatively negligible possibility, or no more than an acceptable risk .  The possibility of hitting their thumb with a  hammer becomes an invitation for a costly hopital visit.</div> <bR> <div> 3)   The lazy man is self-indulgent.  He puts his own ''safety" ahead of everything.  He thinks work will harm him; therefore, he invents a scenario where harm <I>will </I>come to him if he heads towards the work.</div> <bR> <div> 4)  The truly lazy man differentiates himself from others.  He isn't worried about a general lion attack, only his own personal safety.  He is unreasonable and has overblown fears.  We might call the fears psychotic and the like, but we should really see a simple avoidance of responsibility.</div> <bR> <div> 5)  The lazy man takes it personally.  He is overly attuned to his own feelings through self-centeredness.  He 'feels' how loathesome work is going to be and he is threatened.  He projects the fear onto phantom villains and shrinks from them.  He fears not only a lion on the prowl, but his own persecution by it- being taken into the middle of the street for a public execution by a dull-witted beast!</div> <bR> <div> 6)  The unintelligent and inanimte become 'smart missiles' programmed for his harm.</div> <bR> <div>     How can we help the lazy?  IF we can, it will come down to some sort of a slap-in-the-face call back to reality.  "Oh, really now!  No such thing is likely to happen.  Just get to work and if anything threatening begins to materialize, let me know.  I wish no harm to come to you, but the worst harm before us presently is avoiding our work."  Or perhaps, "I don't savor working either, but I'm not inventing any ___ (fill-in-the-blank with his 'lion') to deter me."</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="429" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCCCCC > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 93 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 22:14</div> <div> The mouth of nameless women <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> a deep pit; </div> <div> those despised <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>by</I></FONT> Jehovah shall fall there. </div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Nameless" is from a Hebrew word meaning to turn aside, as in for lodging, picturing a traveler, someone from out of town.  From that idea it carries further connotations of unsanctified (pagan) and also adulterous.</div> <div>     "Despised" is most closely "angry" but it can carry the idea of hatred and scorn as well.</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being considered<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The mouth of transient women</div> <bR> <div> Its description:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">A deep hole</div> <bR> <div> Its use:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Those with whom God is angry fall in the hole</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     The word for the "nameless" women is used most often (77x total) of foreign people or things, those from out of town.  But it is also used of the "strange" fire (Exod 30:9) Nadab and Abihu offered to God and were killed for (Lev 10:1, 2).  There the word carries the idea of something alternative and out of place.  This is very close to the meaning of the "strange" woman.  "Unauthorized" would be a good translation of the fire, but "nameless" comes closer to describing the adulteress.  Her actual name is known, no doubt, but she herself is truly unknown to the man.  She might as well have no name.  Ironically, his whole life might well become bound up with her, and her ever-mysterious name may well consume him, yet she is still essentially a stranger: an outsider who arrived and conquered and took possession.  She becomes an invading sovereign over his soul.</div> <div>     She is also a stranger in the sense of alternative.  She is an alternative to a man's wife, even be it his prospective, future wife.  He chooses her over a wife.  (Indeed, she may <I>become </I>a wife:  a Delilah, for instance.)  </div> <div>     Proverbs 1 - 9 is the foundation of proverbs; chapters 10-31 are the actual proverbs.  Chapters one through nine are repeatedly addressed to "my son."  There fully one third of the instruction is warnings against adultery/ fornication.  Now we have returned to the subject.</div> <div>    Proverbs 22:14 sounds a very familiar note.  It is the alluring woman's <B>speech </B>which imprisons men's hearts.  So previously:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Prov 2:16</FONT>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>They</I></FONT> will deliver you from the <B>strange woman</B>, the stranger <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>who</I></FONT> <U>flatters </U><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I><U>with</U></I></FONT><U> her words</U>, </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Prov 5:3</FONT>  For the <U>lips</U> of a <B>strange woman</B> drip honey, and her palate <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> smoother than oil; </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Prov 6:24</FONT>  to keep you from the evil woman, from the <U>flattery of the tongue</U> of a strange woman [<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Lucida Fax" >from a different Hebrew word meaning unexpected, but also translated mostly as "foreigner, alien, stranger, strange."</FONT>] </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Prov 7:5</FONT>  so that they may keep you from the <B>strange woman</B>, from the stranger <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>who</I></FONT> <U>flatters with her words</U>. </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Prov 9:16, 17</FONT>  The simple one, let him turn in here. And to one lacking heart, <U>she says to him</U>, </div> <div>   Stolen waters are sweet, and bread <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>eaten</I></FONT> in secret is pleasant. </div> <bR> <div>     If a man is entranced by a woman's beauty, that is surely captivating enough.  But if a woman wants to make the man her personal slave, she will also speak to him.  She will speak to him words of her special spell.  She will flatter him.  She will make herself vulnerable in his eyes, like bait on a hook.  </div> <div>     All women have a general power over men.  Once a woman discovers this power, some will find it addictive.  Women will crave conquest.  They want men to desire them.  They want men's lives to be bent out of shape over them.  The men who become thus misshapen have fallen precariously into a "deep pit".  Proverbs 2:19 indicates they have fallen for good.</div> <div>     Solomon further comments:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Ecclesiastes 7:26</FONT>  and I find more bitter than death the woman whose <U>heart</U> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> <U>snares and nets</U>, and her <U>hands</U> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>like</I></FONT> <U>bands</U>.  Whoever pleases God shall escape from her, but the sinner shall be taken by her. </div> <div>     </div> <div>     As always, Proverbs is a book of degrees.  It gives characteristics in motion, often at an extreme; then we see what degree of that characteristic may be in us.  Any young woman receiving attention from multiple suitors fancies the attention given her.  Most women, though, learn a reasonable amount of restraint.  They realize that the idea is to settle on one fellow.  They recognize what <I>they  </I>would become if they made an ongoing game of men's pursuit; therefore, intoxication with men's desire is traded for life with just one man.  </div> <div>     The nameless woman, though, cannot be satisfied with this.  She lives for the sport of enslaving men.  The extreme nameless woman has a <B>heart </B>of "snares and nets" (Eccl 7:26 above).  Her whole inner being thinks like a trapper or slaver.  This woman is "more bitter than death."  That's bitter!  She imprisons men for life if she can.  When she has them, they think they must have her.  This is the homage the nameless woman wants.  She will doubtless have to cast many men aside, leaving the wounded like so many flecks of foam in her wake.  Indeed, perhaps she chose her course to exact revenge for having been cast off herself.</div> <div>     A nameless woman may be married.  She may be a refined woman.  She may be satisfied to rule one man- at a time.  But she lives to rule, to imprison.  Notice that the nameless woman is almost certainly <I>not </I>a prostitute.  She almost certainly <I>is </I>a fornicator, but not a prostitute.  She is no <I>better </I>than a prostitute, but a prostitute merely seeks to take advantage of men.  The nameless woman wants more.*</div> <div>     Note also that it is "nameless <I>women</I>," plural.  It is assumed that the man will eventually move from nameless woman to nameless woman.  His lover moves on to another man, so he must hand his heart's reins to another enslaving woman.  He is captive to a whole, cruel society.</div> <div>     Furthermore, the nameless woman is a "pit" into which men "fall."  She is a surprise.  She cannot be foreseen.  She doesn't <I>seem </I>to have designs upon his soul.</div> <div>     Indeed, a nameless woman can operate absolutely instinctively, never seeing in her mirror the characteristics we've described.  She likely recognizes that she doesn't really love the men she pursues, but she instinctively tells them she does.  She may even play her role as though it were real.  Whatever conscience remains in her might demand it.  "I love you," she says, and believes it herself.  Poor man who also believes her!  But she is <I>so </I>believable.</div> <div>     Ironically, many men she is likely to rule were themselves willing to hurt women to please themselves.  "I love you," <I>these </I>men would say, only to convince the woman to have sexual relations with them.  But he meets more than his match in the nameless woman.  And he deserves it.  In fact, our proverb tells us that any man she catches <I>is her fair game!</I>  Not that she is in the right, but the men she catches <I>deserve to be enslaved</I>.  God has set them aside for the fate!</div> <div>     "Those despised by Jehovah."  Whom does God despise?  For we see it is someone He already hates who receives the further sentence of the seductress.  But does God really despise these men?  Doesn't He love everyone?</div> <div>     "Despise" is an interesting word.  The Hebrew <I>za'am</I> basically means "to foam", speaking of great fury.  It is only used twelve times and makes an excellent word study.  The word seems to clearly carry the idea of either anger <I>or </I>hatred, depending on the context:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Prov 24:24</FONT>  He who says to the wicked, You <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>are</I></FONT> righteous; the peoples shall curse him; nations shall <U>abhor</U> him. </div> <bR> <div>     "Abhor" means hate.  Most Christians do not understand that Hell is the place for those whom God hates.  When they do, they can also realize that He was hating those people before they went into Hell:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Psalm 5:5</FONT>  The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you <U>hate</U> all evildoers. </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Psa 5:6</FONT>  You destroy those who speak lies; the LORD <U>abhors</U> the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. </div> <bR> <div>     These are yet two <I>more </I>Hebrew synonyms for hate- speaking here of those whom God <I>presently </I>hates.  </div> <div>     Our proverb is saying that when God hates a man, one sentence He can give him is 'seductress jail.'  This is not a random sentence.  The punishment fits the crime, just as it will in Hell.</div> <div>     Here's another example of whom God hates:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>Prov 6:16</B></FONT>  These six <U>Jehovah hates</U>; yea, seven <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>are</I></FONT> hateful to his soul: </div> <div> Pro 6:17<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, </FONT></div> <div> Pro 6:18<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  a heart that plots wicked plans, feet hurrying to run to evil, </FONT></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Pro 6:19</FONT>  <U>a false witness</U> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>who</I></FONT> speaks lies, and <U>he who causes fighting</U> among brothers. </div> <bR> <div>     Again, "God loves the sinner but hates the sin" seems clearly to be a church overstatement or an outright fiction.  God hates some sinners.  God loving a sinner but hating his sin may be true of a Christian, but if a Christian has a "proud look" (above), God will hate that.  God will therefore act in a righteously hateful way towards a prideful Christian.</div> <div>     David could see God's hatred of his sin all the rest of his life.  Where did it start?  David apparently had the smell of 'cologne de haughtee' when he stayed at the palace in a time when kings were supposed to go to battle (2 Sam 11).  A woman bathing just in the place where she could be seen from the vantage point of the palace was perhaps 'fishing' for a promotion in life, a station more in keeping with her great beauty.  Like many women, she was willing to play the seductress <I>within set borders</I>.  She had no wanton desire to give herself away on the streets, but if she could get an offer from a nobleman...  She was certainly amenable when David called for her.</div> <div>     Could we say that most women in the world have at least a bit of the nameless woman's calling card?  For the right man, she'll <I>just </I>leave an opening in case he wants to drop his own hint.</div> <div>     And most men?  Fodder for such an invitation?  Sadly, "most" and then some would seem accurate.  Most men invisibly sport the rooster feathers of pride sufficiently to be fair game for a seductress <I>every day</I>.  Pride is hateful to God.  A man thinks TOO HIGHLY of himself; He's willing to reward himself with a lady's charms.  His reward <I>turns into</I> his punishment.  </div> <div>     Truly, an amorous man finds himself a nameless woman of some variety even if <I>he </I>seduces <I>her</I>.  Anything she says short of, ''Get out of here or I'm calling the police" is an <U>encouragement</U> when he tries to kiss her.  Her mouth is a deep pit even when she's saying, "No, we'd better not," but keeps on kissing.</div> <div>     The adulterer and adulteress are a perfect match.  That's what our proverb is saying.  <B>He</B>'s prideful.  <B>She</B>'s shopping her wares.  Bingo.  The sleazy criminal and his jail have met.  Whatever kind of jailbreak he makes afterwards or early release she may grant, they have both been pegged by our proverb.  The more of the perfect nameless woman she is, the better she will be able to string him along.  The less she is, the more she'll castigate herself and disdain her fluttering venture.  The more pride he has, the deeper he'll fall for her.  The less, and the more he'll humble himself in arrears and retreat from his cockiness <I>and </I>thus his shackles.  </div> <div>     But he may find his host a maximum security prison he hadn't counted on at all.  He, of course, thought <I>he </I>was in charge of the situation, as is always the case with the prideful.  It may take a true miracle for him to escape, for:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Proverbs 2:19</FONT> None going in to her return, nor do they reach the paths of life. </div> <bR> <div>     Added to everything else, he has attuned his pleasure sensors for her special kind of satisfaction.  Addiction is the right word.  We don't normally perceive fornicators as addicts, nor do we see that they die as drug addicts do.  Their death is a spiritual one.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >*  </FONT>There is probably a little of the nameless woman <I>in </I>a prostitute.  They glory in men's weakness for them.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="471" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCCCCC > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 90 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 22:15</div> <div> Obstinance is fastened in the heart of a youth; </div> <div> the rod of discipline will distance it from him. </div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Obstinance" has a Hebrew root meaning perverse.  It is one of the two main Proverbs' words for folly/ foolishness.</div> <div>     "Fastened" simply means tied.</div> <div>     "Distance" is from a word meaning to widen.</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being considered<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">A youth's foolishness/ obstinance</div> <bR> <div> The problem:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">It is strapped into his heart</div> <bR> <div> The solution:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The stick <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#777777" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" ><I>used to</I></FONT> punish removes it from him.</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     The striking feature (no pun intended) of this proverb is the disconnect between the <I>immovable </I>nature of the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><B>folly </B></FONT>and its subsequent <I>removal</I>.  The foolishness is bound tightly in place in the first part of the proverb, but it is extracted in the second part.</div> <div>     The solution to this dilemma is in the word for removal.  It does not necessarily imply permanent removal.  Amongst its 59 uses, we find:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Deuteronomy 14:24</FONT>  And if the way is <U>too long for you</U>, so that you are not able to carry it, <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>or</I></FONT> if the place is too far from you, which Jehovah your God shall choose to set His name there, when Jehovah your God has blessed you, </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Deu 14:25</FONT>  then you shall turn <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>it</I></FONT> into silver and bind up the silver in your hand, and shall go to the place which Jehovah your God shall choose. </div> <bR> <div>     Here the whole point is to <I>make </I>the journey that is "too long for you," only with money instead of an animal or grain.  The destination is 'far removed', just as a child's folly can be put at a good distance from him; however, a return trip is just as feasible in both cases.</div> <div>     Here is the fixed fact of the verse:  stubborn foolishness is <U>tied securely</U> in a child's heart.  The only thing that can loosen the sin's grip- loosen its grip so the child can act sanely and righteously- is the use of a rod:  a spanking.</div> <div>     This verse is probably most the philisophical <I>base </I>for Scriptural instruction about spanking.  It gets most to the <I>bottom </I>of why parents must spank (oops, no pun again, really).  In a word, this <I>basis </I>is man's <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><B>depravity</B></FONT>, also called Total Depravity.  Simply put, depravity is the teaching that since the Fall, every aspect of man is controlled by sin- rebellion against God.</div> <div>     Our proverb is one of the clearest testimonies to depravity in the Bible.  Sin is <U>locked away</U>- even in a child!  Humans are organically amiss, meaning we're just made that way (that is, by inheritance from Adam*).   The surprising feature of our proverbs, as we have said, is that we can modify that inbuilt sinfulness in any way.  This is the Christian parent's hoorah!  It is the promise that we do not have to sit by and let sin claim our children.  As another proverb puts it:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>Proverbs 19:18</B></FONT>  Chasten your son, <U>for there is hope</U>, and do not set your soul on making him die. </div> <bR> <div>     But notice, just as in human affairs generally, sitting on the fence is a fiction.  We are either disciplining our children to remove their sinfulness or else we are virtually cheering them along the road to eternal separation from God.  We can't be inactive and just hope for the best.  </div> <div>     But there is no good reason for their death:  there is hope!  Though we will not be able to retire our spanking rod for many years, yet every stripe we leave is a token of sin's impermanence.  Sin can ultimately be ridded from a person.  The rod is a parent's tool in token of this <I>and </I>effecting it by degrees- even aiding the immediate work of God's Holy Spirit, sensitizing the child's conscience to sin and strengthening his grasp of righteousness.</div> <div>     Only God ultimately banishes sin altogether at our glorification, and the initial promise of this is at our calling/ conversion.  But even if our child becomes regenerate, there is still stubborn folly that is part of his being a child.  We still owe him the love of consistent spanking.</div> <bR> <div>     Now HOW do we go about spanking?  Many have been discouraged from the spanking path by lack of direction in implementing the rod.</div> <div>     Our initial tool is the word "No."  We uncover our child's rebellious nature by refusing him.  So are we to go <I>looking </I>for our child's rebellion?  In love and faithfulness, indeed, yes:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Proverbs 13:24</FONT>  He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him chastens him <U>early</U>. </div> <bR> <div>      The word "early" actually means at dawn.  It means we always have an eye towards finding out our child's sin.  We rise like the soldier on guard duty, alert.  The sin is always there.  I can either love my child and uncover it or hate him and ignore it (Look at the verse again; it says "hate").</div> <div>     Now we are not supposed to <I>instigate </I>sin in any way.  All our work is to ENcourage righteousness and DIScourage sin.  Remember, this is about hope.  But just as we know our own sin nature is with <I>us </I>every moment, <U>so we know</U> the same is true of our child.  Do I believe the Bible?  Then I believe my child is a sinner.  But<I><B> I</B></I> should be the experienced sin hunter, so I am now here to help my child find and fight <I>his </I>sin.  Sin is locked in my heart too.  It manifests itself in cowardice and laziness in the face of my child's sin.</div> <div>     The child must learn the "Not" commands, where God says "Do not", "You shall not," etc.  We represent these commands with the simple "No."  The child crawls and reaches for an electrical outlet.  We firmly say, "No."  The child is probably surprised at this new tone of voice.  Sometimes even this will make him cry.  Eventually, he will go ahead with an action we said "No" to.  We calmly but firmly take him, look him in the eye, remind him that we said no, and spank in a business-like way, rod to buttocks (possibly removing plastic diapers, and possibly requiring only one swat).  Because we were alert, we are not angry or frustrated.  We did not wait for the child to exasperate us; we were 'on top of it' (a good synonym for 'early').  [Hence, if we DO get exasperated, we know it is a consequence of not having stayed on top of things.]  </div> <div>     Exasperation may also be a measure of the child's natural competitiveness.  "Can mom keep up with me?  I bet not."  Or just plain, "I'm not giving in, I don't care if they beat me to death."  But if we play by the Proverbs rules, we will still come out on top.  Plainly, though, child training is first and foremost PARENT TRAINING.  My child will test MY mettle.  Do I have the wit and the backbone to stay ahead of him?  It's a big calling.  Much prayer required (and a bit of our own stubborn refusal to be beaten- not personally, but on God's behalf).  It's soul against soul, only it's because my soul is <I>for </I>his soul.</div> <div>     We must also identify unacceptable attitudes.  The child stamps his foot when he doesn't get his way.  That's a spanking.  We may not be able to spank him straight into a sweet spirit, but we cannot allow manifestations of rebellion to our authority.  We represent God's authority, and we must show that God means business.</div> <div>     Children learn very early if we have a cave-in point.  "I just can't go any more.  This isn't working."  The child wins, but, of course, the child loses:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Proverbs 23:13</FONT>  Do not withhold correction from a child, for <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>if</I></FONT> you beat him with the rod, he will not die. </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Pro 23:14</FONT>  You shall <U>beat him</U> with the rod, and shall <U>deliver</U> his soul <U>from hell</U>. </div> <div>  </div> <div>     How can a beating deliver someone from Hell?</div> <div>     God connected our bodies to our souls.  Souls can be reached <I>through </I>bodies:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Proverbs 20:30</FONT>  The stripes of a wound cleanse away evil, and beatings cleanse the chambers of the inner man. </div> <bR> <div>     Again, this is a simple matter of design.  God made us such that our inward character CAN be molded by treatment of the body.  A child is merely a particular example of this.  The above verse applies equally to adults, as whippings were regularly applied to criminals (and still are in many parts of the world).  So in answer to the question:  Yes, children can be delivered from Hell by the rod.  Hell is the ultimate punishment for sin; the rod is an early, partial punishment for sin.  The rod 'heads kids off at the pass'.  It says, "This is what's coming if you don't change."  Then Jesus' words become more meaningful:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Mark 10:14</FONT> But seeing, Jesus was indignant. And He said to them, <U>Allow</U> the <U>children</U> to <U>come to Me</U>, and do not hinder them. For of such is the kingdom of God. </div> <bR> <div>     Without spanking, we are doing our part to keep our children from coming to Jesus.  We basically deny that there is a Hell, since we deny proper consequences for sin, so why would our children need a Deliverer?  Spanking encourages children to come to Jesus by saying, ''Child, do NOT come into the arms of sin."  Saying, "Come to Jesus" <I>without </I>spanking is saying, "Child, you can have Jesus <I>and </I>sin!  No need to choose one over the other!"  For this is the message the Church preaches in our day anyway.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >*  </FONT>Not suggesting that we sin though we don't want to.  Depravity means we sin only because we <I>want </I>to<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >.</FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="471" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#C0DCC0 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 90 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 22:16</div> <div> He who oppresses the weak- unto his <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#777777" FACE="Georgia" ><I>own </I></FONT>gain, </div> <div> He who gives to the rich- only unto lack. </div> <div>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     The answering quality of the two lines present this as a sing-song kind of a riddle.  The meaning has to suggest itself through less-than-perfect grammar; but we already knew we were supposed to become expert in riddles:</div> <div> <B>Proverbs 1:6</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  to understand a proverb and an enigma; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings. </FONT></div> <div>     There are ways to diminish the grammatical roughness, but our rendering seems truest to the wording.</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being compared<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">One who represses the vulnerable</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">One who gives to the affluent</div> <bR> <div> Their Consequences Respectively:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">For his increase</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Only for shortage</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>      The second half of this proverb is necesarry to make sense of the first.  The <I>second </I>half tells us that someone who adds to the rich man's stash is actually doing subtraction.  It is a paradox.  You watch increase take place, you add up the columns on the bank statement, and you have an increase.  But when things have taken a while to settle, a greater amount has gone missing than what was put in.</div> <div>     With this understanding, we see that the <I>first </I>half means that someone who makes things hard on the poor only <I>thinks </I>that he is making gain thereby.  It is "unto his gain" in his own mind.  But we readily perceive- what is there really to gain from the poor in the first place?  A sense of power?  Some of their meager possessions?</div> <div>     The grammar is more stark in the <I>second </I>half of the verse.  A dash or a colon work well to relate the brief introduction to its following definition.  The <I>first </I>half of the first could just as easily be translated as a regular pharase: "One oppresses the poor to multiply for himself."  The more stark version of the first half is adopted to reflect the parallel in the second half</div> <div>     Finally, we know Solomon paired both halves of this proverb for a reason.  They are both talking about the same man, or at least the same type of man.  Someone who looks down on his downtrodden neighbor is the same kind of fellow who will ingratiate himself to his well-off neighbor.  More specifically, the kind of person who would take advantage of the helpless is the same kind of person who would consider it wise to lay praise or possessions at the feet of the influential.</div> <div>     There ARE classes of men; that is not in question.  Someone who fails to recognize this fact because of his personal humility or just minding his own business is nonetheless subect to the interactions going on around him.  Because of his own assets (any possessions or traits people find valuable), others may play up to him.  Or because of his lack of these assets, others may snub him.  He will find it difficult not to be flattered on the one hand or offended on the other, <I>even though</I> he himself tends to treat people according to their personhood rather than their class.</div> <div>     We should also note that there <I>are </I>legitimate classes of men by which 'worthies' <I>should </I>be acknowledged.  Younger people are generally to submit to older ones (1 Pet 5:5; Lev 19:32).  Citizens are to generally honor government officials (Rom 13:7).</div> <div>     A Christian must disregard class where relation to God is involved:</div> <bR> <div> Galatians 3:28<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  There is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     Yet we are just as obligated to acknowledge the poor as a class, even if they are Christians (Gal 2:10, etc.).  If we do not bear their poverty in mind, we might easily mistreat them without even thinking about it.  We also might give the rich undue honor if we do not bear our proverb in mind.</div> <div>     A Christian, as a representative of God and His righteousness, must not only avoid slighting men or employing favoritism, he must stand against such practices by others.  We owe it to men to inform them where they are transgressing our proverb.  It would probably be well to kindly inform them of the very verse.  "Are you aware that the Bible says ...?  It would seem that you were [mistreating this poor fellow] [bribing this well-positioned man]."  The many applications may be wildly varied.  There are the favored and the less-favored around us surely.  Do we recognize them?</div> <div> The courage to admonish an offender should come from a real concern and a desire to help him. </div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="828" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#C0DCC0 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 162 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 22:17 -  21</div> <div> Stretch your ear and hear the words of wise ones, and set your heart to my knowledge, </div> <div>   for they are pleasant when you keep them in your inward parts, <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>when </I></FONT>they are ready together on your lips. </div> <div>   So that your trust may be in Jehovah, I have caused you to know today, even you. </div> <div>   Have I not written to you in counsels and knowledge threefold, </div> <div>   to cause you to know the reality of the words of truth, to return the words of truth to those who send to you?</div> <bR> <div>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     The first word "stretch" is literal.  It also means to bend and so gives the picture of someone stretching his neck or bending over so as to place his ear closer in order to hear better.  The combination of "stretch" and "ear" occurs 26 times with various objects and subjects, God hearing me, me hearing God, or as here:  an admonition to listen.</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being commanded<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">To extend the ear towards certain words</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">To place the heart on certain knowledge</div> <bR> <div> An immediate reason given:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The words and knowledge are pleasant when thus stored</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Finding expression on the lips</div> <bR> <div> The deeper reason:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">That your haven will  be in Jehovah</div> <bR> <div> Background motive and history:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">You ARE the one who is receiving this right now</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">As I've been amassing written materials up until now</div> <bR> <div> Double Purpose:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">To cause you to KNOW the words of truth</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">So you will exchange in/by these words in whatever capacity you are called on</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     Our proverbs have all been single-verse compositions until now, excepting one.  Our first multi-verse proverb was 21:25, 26.  Of course, numbered chapters and verses themselves were later additions to the original text (so with all of Scriptures), but in Proverbs especially, the verse size has been an accuate measure of the general length of a proverb.</div> <div>     Today we have our first 'paragraph' length proverb (or collection thereof).  In this way AND in theme, we have also returned to the tone of the first 'half' of Proverbs (chapters 1 - 9).  We have Solomon* again urging his audience (his direct audience being his children, 2:1; 3;1; 4:1; 5:1; 6:1; 7:1, etc.) to give careful, heartfelt attention to what he says.  Here's an reminder example:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Proverbs 4:10</FONT>  Oh my son, hear and receive my sayings, and the years of your life <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>shall be</I></FONT> many. </div> <div> Pro 4:11<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  I have taught you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in the right tracks; </FONT></div> <div> Pro 4:12<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  when you go, your tracks shall not be narrowed, and when you run, you shall not stumble. </FONT></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Pro 4:13</FONT>  Take fast hold of instruction, do not let her go; keep her, for she <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> your life. </div> <bR> <div>     Our passage today is a very intricately interwoven passage, mainly giving supporting reasons for the key admonition to LISTEN.  The reasons are sequential, but they are also layered in an inter-linking fashion.</div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >    First, though, Solomon branches out from himself to the whole community of the wise.  If you're listening to me, he says, it should be because I have </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><B>wisdom </B></FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >to give you; therefore, listen also to <I>everyone </I>who has this wisdom.  "</FONT>Stretch your ear and <U>hear</U> the words of <U>wise ones</U>, <U>and</U> set your heart to <U>my</U> knowledge."</div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >    Then he lays out the basic nature of wisdom in its relationship to its adherent.  Wisdom is </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><B>delightful </B></FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >when it is internalized.  It gives us joy within.  The test for its successful internalization?  It finds its way recurrently to the </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><B>lips</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >.  The fulfillment wisdom gives us multiplies itself when it bubbles up like a spring.  Its speaking forth invites new light to reflect into and through it.  "</FONT>for they are <U>pleasant</U> <U>when</U> you keep them in your <U>inward</U> parts, <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>when </I></FONT>they are ready together on your <U>lips</U>. "</div> <div>     Then the core reason is given for all this teaching, all this effort, this tireless (and often tiresome) way of life.  Without it, we will not be <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><B>confident in Jehovah</B></FONT>.  We will not find real refuge in His truth, His reality unless we are filled with and proficient in His teaching.  "<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >So that your trust may be in Jehovah."</FONT></div> <div>     Solomon then reminds his charge how <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><B>constantly </B></FONT>he has <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><B>taught </B></FONT>him.  Reams of books have </div> <div> already gone into him.  "<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >I have caused you to know today, even you.  Have I not written to you in counsels </FONT></div> <div> and knowledge threefold?"</div> <div>     The rationale behind this colossal undertaking, the aim for this life-seizing enterprise is that the apprentice should be personally confirmed in the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><B>reality </B></FONT>of <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><B>God's viewpoint</B></FONT>.  That way, he can sincerely pass it on to others.  He will not approach the matter or related matters with fear, insecure in his scholarship or depth of experience.  He will know enough to keep learning.  He will also know the logic of opposing views, having sorted through them and their proponents thoroughly.  "T<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >o cause you to know the reality of the words of truth."</FONT></div> <div>     Finally, moving out from ourselves (and the concentration of all this is definitely on ourselves first), how will all this training affect <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><B>others</B></FONT>?  That is a test for the teaching's true establishment in the soul just as we found that the joy of it is tested by whether it is impelled to our lips (v. 18).  If these teachings represent reality, we will live them.  They will be our policy.  Our lives, then, will simply be the 'stamp' that these things are so.  In this way, we will minsiter those same policies to those who count on us and those who order us.  They will eventually notice that we are guided by a larger principle, whether they credit the principle to the words of God or not.  We will speak in terms of those priniciples.  We are only messengers.  We should be noteworthy servants of others BECAUSE we are more broadly and fundamentally serving God.</div> <bR> <div>     Again, to paraphrase this large section more succinctly:</div> <div>     "Bend your ear":  Put yourself in position to listen undistracted; then you can actually "hear" and fully take in wise men's words:  you can enter into their fellowship.</div> <div>     "Apply your heart to my knowledge."  I've made the knowledge my own, as you can.  Think it over,  and move from "Ah ha!" to "Therefore".    </div> <div>     Do those three things:  Incline your ear, hear, and set your heart on it; these will result in your "keeping it all within you."  This is when you will add real joy to your life- a joy which will be both manifested and deepened by <I>speaking </I>what is treasured inside you.  <I>Open </I>the treasure chest if it is real treasure.  Thus you will show and know better yourself that your confidence is really in God.</div> <div>     You are the one I've taught these things.  You must internalize and personalize them now.  It is no accident you are here in my school.</div> <div>     Some certainty guides every man; if not a thought-out philosophy, an immediate and practical intuition.  For instance, man is convinced that God will not lead him right.  Your certainty, though, must be deeper than that of the sincerest atheist.  For you, if it's not certain, it's nothing; but your certainty is in something outside yourself.  If we can't absolutely bank on God's words, we are absolutely adrift.  You need to answer men, but without certainty:  no answer.  You also need answers for your pupils, for you must teach others what I have taught you. </div> <div>     Your own words are not words of truth, only God's are.  You remain honest to God and honest in your speech when you bear this in mind.</div> <bR> <div>     Finally, consider the depth of feeling in this paragraph.  This admonition is obviously prompted by a heart full of love, zeal, and fear.  Solomon knows that his students (mainly his children) have a lot of dangerous ground to cover before they have passed the test of life.  They can make it through, but their tool chest and ammunition box are irregular ones for man.  They are not what we are used to nor what we expect.  </div> <div>     Man does not feel that study can lead directly to daily life.  We feel that academics only teach us <I>about </I>life; they are not life itself.  This is even the common Christian view of Bible study, despite Jesus telling us that His words ARE life and spirit (Jn 6:63).  We treat Bible study as a medium <I>by which</I> to reach God, whereas, God represents His words as His direct presence (Isa 66:2).  </div> <div>     So Solomon is concerned.  Can you love these words, this teaching, enough to see you through?  Can you give the painstaking attention required to secure them in your soul?  For Solomon, the question definitely hangs in the balance.  One tool he has to urge his pupil towards the proper answer is his sincerity.  "See here the depth of my feeling.  Know that I do consider these matters life and death."</div> <bR> <div>     Have you ever received such admonition?</div> <div>     Have you ever passed it on?  </div> <div>   </div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >*  </FONT>Our new paragraph indicates the beginning of a new section but not necessarily of new authorship.  Even though the "words of the wise" are mentioned, there is still a singular source speaking:  "<U>My</U> knowledge", "<B><U>I</U></B> caused you to know", "Have <B><U>I</U></B><B> </B>not written".  Why wouldn't this still be Solomon?  We definitely switch to other authors later in the book.  If this wasn't Solomon, it could say so here as it does later.  The Septuagint (Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament from just before Christ's day) uses words from the first line as a title:  Words of the Wise.  The Hebrew itself does not do this.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="471" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#99CCCC > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 143 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 22:22, 23</div> <div> Do not fleece the helpless because he <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> weak, </div> <div> nor crush the afflicted in the gate.<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT></div> <div> For Jehovah will sue their lawsuit, </div> <div> and will plunder the soul of their plunderers.<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT></div> <div>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Helpless" and "weak" are from the same Hebrew word, meaning 'dangling; hence, weak or thin'.  Giving two synonyms is intended to enhance our appreciation of the original word.  It is a common word for the poor.</div> <div>     "Sue" is also the root word for "lawsuit."  These words are paired in eleven other verses, usually meaning something like "plead the cause", which is a common rendering here also.</div> <div>     "Plunder" and "plunderers" is from the exact same word. </div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being commanded<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Not to rob the poor</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Not to oppress the downtrodden</div> <bR> <div> Occasion and Location Respectively:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Because he is poor</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">In the gate</div> <bR> <div> Reasons to Avoid Said Activities:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Yahweh will litigate their case</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">He will rob the soul of those who rob the poor</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     The gate was the place in ancient cities where legal cases were held.  It was their courtroom:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Amos 5:15</FONT>  Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice <U>in the gate</U>.  It may be that Jehovah the God of Hosts will be gracious <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>to</I></FONT> the remnant of Joseph. </div> <bR> <div>     This tells us that someone robbing the poor is likely to use the cover of civil laws to do so.  </div> <div>     Who are the poor?  Those who not not have enough.  Those who have sufficient food and cover but nothing else are <I>not </I>defined as poor in the Bible:</div> <bR> <div> 1 Timothy 6:8<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  But having food and covering, we will be content. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     Of course, it is no small thing for us to have covering.  A home is a covering, be it rented or owned.  A steady means of putting food on the table (maybe not so much in the cupboard) is no small thing either.  It is LACKING these two necessities- food and shelter- that makes us poor.  And it is the poor we are to be careful NOT to take advantage of.  </div> <div>     However the poor got there, they are at a disadvantage.  Those likely to rob them are those in whom they must trust:  those who give them a daily wage, those from whom they must borrow some money or food.  It is easy to short a poor person.  What is he going to say?</div> <div>     It is also easy to put the blame on the unfortunate in litigation.  In real legal action or, say, in giving testimony before a boss, it is easier to point the finger at the unlucky.  Everyone already believes him accursed.  He doesn't know how to take care of himself.  He doesn't have basic survival skill, it seems.  Yeah, it's his fault.  Take it out on him.</div> <div>     But our proverb says <I>not </I>to put him down.  Take into account his difficulty.*  Realize that a destititute person is a magnet for trouble.  God tells His people to be non-metallic in this regard.  You have good advice?  Good, give it.  You can help in some way?  Good, do.  You have troubles to add to his list?  Think twice.  It had better be real justice you are doing.  Even the <I>way </I>you carry out censure is very important.  It is NOT:  "Well, he's finally crossed the line!  <I>Now </I>I'm clear to blast him!"</div> <div>     God has told us alot about Himself in saying that HE will become the attourney for the cheated poor.  God does not simply sit by as He watches mankind's parade of activity.  Yes, He allowed the poor to become poor  (that is another story:  one which we do well to leave in God's hands); yes, He watched while you carried out your plot against him; but, no, He will not simply stand by while you enjoy your achievement.</div> <div>     God gets involved.  He notes all the particulars of the case.  He records the twists by which you surfaced your superior attitude.  He remembers the words you chose or ommitted in leaving a hurtful impression.  All will be answered.</div> <div>     And because God responds with justice, you are unlikely to connect His verdict against you (yes, God is conveniently the judge as well as the attorney) to what has gone wrong in your life.  Our proverb tells us clearly why you won't.  He "<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >will plunder the soul of their plunderers.</FONT>"  He will deprive the SOUL, literally.  Some translations take this as "life", which it could mean, but "soul" is quite fitting by itself.  You are shorting the poor; God will let that shave a little off your very humanity, your own soul.  </div> <div>     Put another way, for your inhumanity to the poor, God will let you become even more inhumane:  more arrogant, less sensitive, more selfish.  That pretty well describes a plundered soul.  And how <I>easily </I>God plucks it clean!  We chose coldness; God allows us to wander further into the snow.  If we end up an icy, dead lump- fear not!  There are fires where we are going to thaw us out completely!</div> <div>     Scary thought:  In horror movies, it is the Devil or some ghoul who steals our soul away, or threatens to do so.  Here, it is God.  Could God let the sentence be carried out by old Slew Foot?  Certainly, 1 Cor 5:5, but it seems more likely He would simply allow more of our own natural Satanic deadness have sway over us.  And just as in the body snatcher alien movies, we're looking right at the victim and don't see it.</div> <bR> <div>     Everything is significant in life.  Everything has a God-given significance.  Everything tells our spiritual status.  God gives us some signs by which we can more quickly recognize our drifting.  This is one of them.  Judgment Day happens a thousand times for the discerning <I>before </I>life has ended:  the same voice of God, His disapproval of the same things.</div> <div>     Use the disadvantaged and demoralized as a spiritual bell weather of your own condition.  Relate your soul to him helpfully, sympathetically.  Find your soul nourished and strengthened:</div> <bR> <div> Prov 11:25<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  The soul who gives freely shall be made fat; and he who waters shall also be watered himself. </FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <div> *  <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >On the other hand, we are also told not to acquit him of wrong just because he is poor, Lev. 19:15</FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="471" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#99CCCC > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 143 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 22:24, 25</div> <div> Do not pasture <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#777777" FACE="Georgia" ><I>with </I></FONT>a master of anger, </div> <div> and do not enter with a man of fury, </div> <div> lest you associate with his ways </div> <div> and take the bait for your soul. </div> <div>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Pasture" is the literal meaning of the word, but "be friends with" is a common meaning.  "Pasture" is also translated "feed", and may refer to regularly sitting at table with the man, as the next line warns against "going" or "going in" ("entering") with him.</div> <div>     "Anger" in the first line (from "nostril"- as in panting, or else flaring nostrils) is answered by "fury" in the second line (from "heat").</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being commanded<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Not to take up company with Mr. Angry </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Not to proceed with a man of rage</div> <bR> <div> Reasons:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Lest you learn his paths</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">And take the bait for you soul</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     "Master of anger" comes from a fairly common Hebrew word pairing.  "Master" is from the word <I>baal</I>. That's right, old Mr. Baal, the false god.  The word basically means lord or master, which is what Baal is being called (80 times), but it is also a common word (84 occurrences) for husband, owner, lord, and man.</div> <div>     "Master of" is used as in our verse four other times in Proverbs:  a "master of destruction", 18:9;  a "master of appetite", 23:2; a "master of schemes", 24:8; and a "master of fury", 29:22.  "Owner of" would also work in these places, implying that the man perfectly defines whatever trait or activity is being ascribed to him.</div> <div>     The advice given goes against immediate common sense, especially if we are presently disregarding the advice.  If we have an angry friend, we are likely to defend our friendship with him, noting no negative repercussions.  "He can get angry at times, but <I>I'm</I> still even-headed."</div> <div>     This brings up the phrase "take the bait" or "be entrapped by".  When we "involve ourselves with the conduct" of the angry, we are not necessarily becoming angrier ourselves.  We are simply learning to justify anger as a lifestyle.  Anger becomes an acceptable rather than an unacceptable mode of response.  This is the only bait we have to take to do us great spiritual harm.</div> <bR> <div>     In this sense, anger is no different than any other wrong lifestyle.  If I routinely make excuses for a sinful person, he is damaging my definition of righteousness.  Once that LINE is blurred, I will definitely suffer for it.</div> <div>     We have not yet addressed the issue of patience.  IF <I><B>I</B></I> am in the driver's seat in defining the issue to my angry friend and if <I>he </I>acknowledges the inexcusable nature of his sin, seeking repentance from it, we may remain companions.  The moment it becomes evident that his flare-ups, cussing, or whatever manifests his anger are 'old hat' to him <I>or </I>me, it is advisable to consider time apart, if not a parting of the ways.</div> <div>     "Do not go (in) with" him.  This is a command.  Don't dwell with him.  In the final analysis, I may have to tell him that God just tells me so.  God uses forced separations like this, of course, to shame the sinful, hopefully unto their repentance and restoration.</div> <bR> <div>     Now look at your own anger for a moment.  We humans are angry by nature.  This is obviously another reason, maybe the chief one, why we cannot afford to befriend the overtly angry.  But as to your own anger, who might <I>you </I>be tarnishing with your (very slight, very excusable- so we all think) manisfestations of anger?  Someone in your own house, most likely.</div> <div>     A word to mothers who yell:  someone is learning your ways.  Either that, or for their own safety, they are distancing themselves from you in whatever way necessary.</div> <bR> <div>     There is also a nifty instruction on prayer here.  Time spent = lesson learned.  Hence, spend time with Jesus- in prayer and meditation on His Word (that's the way to actually spend time with Him)- and you'll become like <I>Him</I>.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="519" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#99CCCC > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 143 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 22:26, 27</div> <div> Do not be one of those who strike the hand, </div> <div> those who are sureties for loans. </div> <div> If you have nothing to repay, </div> <div> why should he take away your bed from under you? </div> <div>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     The peculiar words and phrases from these two verses have appeared earlier and will be discussed in the lesson.</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being commanded<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Not to buy on credit </div> <bR> <div> Reason:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Lacking payment, you may lose possessions you really can't afford to lose</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     As we have noted new sections beginning (most recently at 22:17), so we have a repetition of ideas from previous sections.  Each section show a progression of thought and organization of material.  Here we have, near the beginning of this section, a more prominent placement for the matter of LOANS.</div> <div>     Warnings against loans first appeared in the introductory chapters (1 - 9), in 6:1.  In the 'proverbs proper' (chapters 10 - 31), Solomon repeated the warning in 11:15 and 17:18.  Now we have this fourth warning to go with this new section.</div> <div>     A repeated warning in a new section might suggest that when we 'graduate' from one level of knowledge and experience to the next, we meet with new challenges to keeping old commands.  From the standpoint of personal progress, when we become more settled in life, better established in our community, financial institutions will probably be much more willing to extend us credit.  As it begins to seem 'no big deal' to commit ourselves to a payment plan rather than paying cash, or when our own good standing becomes an incentive to guarantee someone else's loan (such as our child's), we are reminded that the prinicple of risking collateral is never a good idea.</div> <div>     When business owners know us by name and trust us implicitly, perhaps are even our friends, they may treat a loan agreement as a mere formality.  They know we'll pay; we know we'll pay.  Time to get our little Johnny started with his first car!  He's not well-established enough financially.  If we'll just sign on the dotted line for him... just a formality, of course.</div> <div>     But Solomon reminds us that if Johnny can't make the payments, we must; and if we can't make the payments, we still have to make the loan good.  They'll have to take from us whatever settles the debt.</div> <div>     The same advice we've been getting all along:  don't put up anything you can't afford to part with.  You already KNOW you don't control the future.  You can only 'bet' on this moment, which a loan institution is willing to do.  But that's because he's going to take what he is owed even if an accident keeps you from being able to work and make payments.</div> <div>     Even job insurance is risky.  If we take out an insurance policy to cover our salary should we become disabled, <I>that </I>is a monthly payment.  And if inflation forces us to curb spending, the salary insurance will probably be one of our first cutbacks.  Meanwhile, the items we bought on credit and tried to protect with the insurance are now back at full risk.</div> <div>     In our day, they can take not only your bed, but your bedroom.  Yes, they can take your whole house.  Hopefully you're still making enough money to rent an apartment or a trailer.  If not, and your insurance has failed, you may become a homeless person, or rather a person with a makeshift home.  This is a worst case scenario, but it can often be avoided if our house is the <I>only </I>item we purchase on credit.  If everything else is a cash purchase, we minimize the danger of "owning" a house on credit (meaning the loaning institution is the real owner; we're still technically just renters until the house is paid off).</div> <div>     Bankruptcy is a devastating blow to reputation- to our name- which a Christian cannot countenance.  In terms of our proverb, isn't your name worth more than your bed?</div> <bR> <div>     The first question when considering a credit purchase is, "<I>Must </I>we have this now?"  To luxury items, the answer is No.  To a car repair upon which our job depends, the answer may be Yes, but then we may need to consider revising our monthly spending so we can be putting a little money away for repairs, for they are certainly going to come up.  We can have another little stash building up to purchase luxury items (items we don't have to have to live), but if we must borrow from one stash for the other, the right and the wrong choice are both fairly obvious.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="503" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#99CCCC > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 95 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 22:28</div> <div> Do not move back the long-established landmark </div> <div> enacted by your fathers. </div> <div>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     The Hebrew for "move back" means "to retreat".</div> <div>     "Long-established" is from one of the Hebrew words for eternal, applying to times beyond our present experience, past or future.  It means "concealed" with an idea of moving to a "vanishing point".</div> <div>     "Enacted" is from the simple word for make or do.</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being commanded<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Not shrinking existing property claims </div> <bR> <div> Specification:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Your predecessors established them long ago</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     The idea of inviolable boundary lines goes back a long way in God's Word:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Deuteronomy 19:14</FONT>  You may not remove your <U>neighbor's landmark</U>, which <U>those formerly have set</U> in your inheritance, which you shall inherit in the land which Jehovah your God is giving you, to possess it. </div> <bR> <div>     God knew man's thieving tendency, so He warned against stealing land by encroaching on what we would call survey lines.  Notice that Solomon is really doing little more than repeating this statute.  Speaking of boundary lines, then, there is no essential line between Law and Proverb.  Both are simply Truth given from the mouth of God.  Neither is more clear nor permanent.  Proverbs, of course, tends to be a commentary on the Law, but it would not really wish to be much more, considering, as did the psalmists, the perfections of the Law:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Psa 119:96</FONT>  I have seen an ending <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>point </I></FONT>to all perfection; Your command <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> exceedingly broad. </div> <bR> <div>     So what is God protecting with this Law?  Where should Boundary law be categorized?</div> <div>     Under "Do not steal" for one place.  But guess whom you're really stealing from?</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Lev 25:23</FONT>  And the land shall not be sold in perpetuity; <U>for the land </U><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I><U>is</U></I></FONT><U> Mine</U>; for you are aliens and tenants with Me. </div> <bR> <div>     Wow!  God 'gives' plots of land to people, but only as 'renters'.  When God sets boundary lines, it is not so much so each of us can have our little acre, but so the land as a whole will be there from generation to generation for His people.  God sees this law into the future as He sees it into the past.  We must respect the continuity in what He sees.</div> <div>     Now this was the law for Israel, God's geo-religious body.  Is the Church such a body?  No:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >John 4:21</FONT> Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will <U>neither</U> on <U>this mountain</U>, <U>nor</U> in <U>Jerusalem</U>, worship the Father. </div> <bR> <div>     Jesus argued that Jerusalem WAS the place to worship at the time (v. 22), but soon worship would be "in spirit and in truth."  In spirit- no geographical center; in truth- right in God's presence, not a proxy location like earthly Jerusalem and the earthly Temple.</div> <div>     So the Church has a real worship center, it's just not on earth.  We're not <I>geo-religious</I>, we're <I>Heaven-gathering</I> worshipers.  Our earthly meeting places are of no consequence in themselves any longer.  One place is as good as another*.</div> <div>     But when God was 'leasing' plots of land to Israel, land meant everything.  Land was part of the promise of God to His people.**  You didn't have a portion in God without a portion of land.***  Therefore, God protected every man's parcel as it was drawn from days of old.  Names pass from generation to generation; land goes with it, and vice versa.  They all agreed on it from the start:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Deut 27:17</FONT>  Cursed <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> he who removes his neighbor's landmark!  And all the people shall say, Amen! </div> <bR> <div>     Situations would always arise where adjusting a boundary line would seem justifiable.  In the end, though, any exuse would boil down to greed:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Isaiah 5:8</FONT><B> </B> Woe <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>to</I></FONT> those who join house to house, laying field to field, until the end of space, and you are made to dwell alone in the middle of the land! </div> <bR> <div>     And the greedy had reason for concern, for God kept a strict eye and strict accounts on His Real Estate books:</div> <bR> <div> Proverbs 23:10<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  Do not move the old landmark, and do not enter into the fields of the fatherless, </FONT></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Pro 23:11</FONT>  <U>for their Redeemer </U><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I><U>is</U></I></FONT><U> mighty</U>, <U>He will contend</U> for their cause with you. </div> <bR> <div>     This is the God whom we alternately see active and inactive in our midst.  We see cases where, for no good reason (that our eyes can see), a poor man manages to retain his property against a rich vulture who had him in his cluthes.  But then we see cases where the rich successfully "join house to house," as in Isaiah 5:8 above, strewing the poor in their wake.  We wait maybe until the next generation for the fall of some great houses, but it is only so that, barring repentance, they may be cut off permanently (Ps 37:28).  God's seeming inactivity is merely a building of His case against wickedness, then.</div> <bR> <div>     A couple of applications of all this:</div> <div>  1)  We'd better respect the possessions of others.</div> <div>  2)  We'd better also respect a man's ancestry.  His family line is peculiar to him; he could choose no other one.  Demeaning his family name is really a demeaning of himself.</div> <div>  3)  We should respect our own ancestry.  However far we may think we have come from an undesirable lineage, even however far we may have <I>needed </I>to come from it, we will still always be more the products of our past than we may care to admit.  A proper acceptance of our lot is an acknowledgement of what 'neighborhood' <I>God </I>dropped us off in to begin our journey here.</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >*  </FONT>No reason not to have a good spot, of course.  Also, we're talking about the Church gathering.  Individual owning of land- a completely valid principle- is not under discussion.</div> <bR> <div> **  <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >"The meek shall inherit the earth" tells us that land remains an important part of God's plan.</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >*** </FONT>The Levites being divided up within other tribes <I>without </I>a separate plot of land was already a forecast of what was to come in the New Covenant.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="503" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#99CCCC > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 115 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 22:29</div> <div> Do you see a man who is efficient in his work? </div> <div> He shall stand before kings, </div> <div> he shall not stand before obscure <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>men</I></FONT>. </div> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     The Hebrew for "efficient" literally means "quick," which is the idea nearly universally rendered when the word describes Messiah in Isaiah 16:5 as "hastening righteousness." </div> <div>     The combination of the Hebrew words for "efficient" (4x), "work" (167x, a normal and commonly used word for work), and "stand" (48x) only occur in this verse.  Not even a pair of any of these three words occur together elsewhere.  This is even true when we insert the root word for efficient, "hurry" (64x), in its place.</div> <div>     A couple of other proverbs have this "Do you see?" format: 26:12; 29:20.</div> <div>     Out of the nine other times where the words "stand before" are used together, most of them connote confrontation, as in promising the Israelites that their enemies will not be able to "stand before" them.  The two times where the phrase resembles our usage, it speaks of the Israelites preparing to present themselves to Jehovah for an important meeting, Joshua 24:1; 1 Samuel 10:19.</div> <div>     The root word for "obscure" (1x) means "to darken," as is darkening a day or someone's sight.</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being presented<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">A man expeditious in his work </div> <bR> <div> Claimed of him:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">He will stand before kings</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">He will not stand before peripheral <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#888888" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" ><I>ones</I></FONT>.</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     Someone "quick" in his work is a good thing.  Someone who "hastens" his workmanship is being commended.  How?  We say that "haste makes waste," so we tend to think of someone hurrying as someone being careless.  Solomon knows about carelessness, Eccl 9:10.</div> <div>     Solomon, though, is thinking of someone who is so good at something that he <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><B>wastes no time</B></FONT> in producing it.  He has such a mastery of his skill that he can move from preparation to initiation to completion in the least possible time.  His expertise includes all the necessary muscle movement- fine-tuned fingers or firm flexing forearms- as well as mental motion.</div> <div>     We certainly should agree with Solomon that someone who is BEST at something can get from point A to point Z of the task with the least extra steps or time between steps.  Solomon is not picturing a race, of course; he is just picturing someone who could 'do this blindfolded':  someone who 'knows it backwards and forwards'.</div> <bR> <div>     One of Solomon's first tasks as king was to build and outfit the Temple.  He had king Hiram of Tyre help him build the structure and Hiram the Naphtalite (1 Kings 5 and 7 respectively) take charge of the furnishings (as Bezaleel had done for Moses back in Exodus).  The latter Hiram especially had set himself apart as the best in his field.  And, lo and behold, here he was standing before a king.</div> <bR> <div>     Being "quick" in a field also speaks of something else.  It describes mental acuity.  We use the term "quick" as one synonym for "smart."  Why?  Because that person mentally solves problems or sees the best solution very rapidly.</div> <div>     But Solomon is apparently using the word mainly the other way.  Efficient and expeditious are good English words to describe the man who can solve the puzzle <I>best </I>and in the <I>least </I>number of steps.</div> <bR> <div>     The promise of the verse is that this clever worker (and he may only be good at that one thing) will not STAND before (be the servant/ employee attendant upon) a nobody.  In proverbs parlance, his life's movement will be <I>up </I>the scale of bosses.  The better he is at his task, the greater will be his acclaim, and the wider will be the attention paid to him.  Naturally, more important men will hear of him and offer him positions in their service.  However long he stays in one man's service, his genius will bring further acclaim, which will bring him to still greater men's attentions.</div> <div>     The worker who has thus risen will do well to continue to ask himself:  "Who was it that got me here?"</div> <bR> <div>     Why would Solomon bother to tell us this? (And he would certainly have seen it borne out many times as a king.)</div> <div>     The main reason is to encourage us to <U>develop our abilities</U>, especially where they relate to our calling.  NOTE:  We should NOT be seeking to rise to the highest position available.  The aim is not career advancement.  The aim is <I>excellence</I>.  In fact, the purest form of excellence is always:  1) excellence for God, our Creator's sake; and 2) excellence for the love of the work- a work given by God and reflecting Him- He being a worker (Jn 5:17).  Excellence for the sake of <I>profit </I>can always be compromised and degraded; i.e., it will no longer be excellent.*</div> <bR> <div>     Connected to this main encouragement is the encouragement to <U>patience</U> <I>while </I>we are excellent and <I>not </I>yet standing before high-ranking men.  Remember, there is a natural progression up a scale as well as a fitting number of CHARACTER goals God seeks in us for every step.  Joseph spent seven years in prison, but he absolutely required every minute of that hard duty to actually prepare him to stand in Pharaoh's presence.  Most of us would have blown our 'career opportunity' in the dungeon by focusing on our problem, not our excellence there.  That's why most of us will stand before nobodys.  There's more to truly excellent work than second-rate enviers will ever know.</div> <bR> <div>     A further consideration: as Solomon describes THE expedient man- the definitive one in his field- he describes the man who will climb the highest in that field.  Anyone of lesser ability or, more to the point, lesser PROOF of ability (for most of us <I>think </I>ourselves better than we really are) will logically not be able to stand before as high ranking a person.  Again, we lesser workers may say, "I can do that, too."  Yes, but the thought process leading to it is what we mainly lacked, the mind to come up with it.</div> <bR> <div>     And finally, God Himself is the highest king we should bring our work before.  In fact, we SHALL bring our works before Him.  Those whose works stand will continue to work for Him for a longstanding stint, Luke 19:17.  </div> <div>     In dark days, God may be saying to sons of excellence, "These leaders are not worthy of your quality.  Finish out your preparatory works patiently and well.  You will stand before the King of kings with your wares."</div> <div>     Obviously, the greatest work we can bring God (or produce at all) is our own soul, crafted in submission to His Word and Spirit.</div> <bR> <div>     Ah, for men who love excellent work and are dissatisfied with less!  For women who forge their souls in the furnace of grace, bending their spirits back from the lazy and self-seeking into fine-tuned implements whose application to task rings out praise to the Creator from the anvil of daily life!</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >*  </FONT>Profiting from our excellence is fine and may be a fitting reward for long, hard work; it just can't be our goal and never even <I>could </I>be the overriding goal for someone who actually loves the work.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="741" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#99CCCC > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 115 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 23:1 - 3</div> <div> When you sit down to eat with a ruler, discern, discern what <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> in your presence, </div> <div>   and put a knife to your throat if you <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>are</I></FONT> an owner of an appetite. </div> <div>  Do not desire his tasty <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>food</I></FONT>, for it <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> the bread of lies. </div> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Appetite" is simply the word for "soul." "Owner" of appetite is literally "master" of appetite- "owner" being a common rendering elsewhere too.  This is the only place this phrase is used.  Isa 56:11 calls Israel "greedy" dogs, literally, dogs "strong of soul." </div> <div>     "Discern, discern" is the word for wit or intelligence used twice.  It could also be "discern discerningly."  Most translations simply say "consider carefully" or the like.</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Situation<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Sitting with a ruler</div> <bR> <div> Warnings:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Intelligently scrutinize what is "before your face"</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Put a knife to your throat</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Do not long for his yummies</div> <bR> <div> Condition:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">You are a hearty fellow</div> <bR> <div> Reason:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">His offerings are the food of deceit</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     We move straight from a prophecy of a rising star to a warning for those who reach the top.  The fallen world makes both declarations necessary.  Important people demand the best for themselves, and so the movement of talent and ability in the populous tends to be upwards towards them.  But once in their presence, you must not think you have become one of their peers.  </div> <div>     No, rather, important people tend to look upon their hangers-on as just that:  literal leeches come to suck them dry.  "Ah, you think you can have what I've got.  Well, there's only so much to go around."  And unless your attitude shows agreement that there is only one big man in the picture, you may find yourself neatly cut out of the photo, and all at a most inopportune time.</div> <div>     Sitting at a ruler's table is not a common thing.  A mere worker is not likely to be a leader's dinner guest.  But having considered rising to the top, Solomon balances the <B>work </B>environment of the ruler by now considering his <B>private </B>habits.  The worker from the previous verse may not be the dinner guest in this verse, but he definitely needs to ingest this principle.  Those who sit with a big boss- of a company or region (a corporate <I>or </I>political leader)- have reason for great circumspection.</div> <div>     Solomon's REASON is essential to understanding his cousel for caution.  The scrumptious food (only used of Isaac's favorite dish in Gen 27, here, and 23:6) is a lie.  Why?  It invites you further, but you are really not welcome.  You are really not a friend.  At least, you will not be showing yourself a friend by digging into the food.</div> <div>     Food is a means of fellowship (same with God- see Communion), but the ruler doesn't really want you as co-ruler.  In whatever way you may advance his rule- good.  But acting like you already fly in his slice of stratosphere (like relishing his table)- bad; now you're a competitor, a potential traitor or usurper.</div> <div>     Solomon's advice could be as easily applied to <I>any </I>way in which we would show our greed to a leader.  If we are humble and know our place, we concede his superiority; but if we talk about lofty plans- now we are dangerous.  "Put a knife to your throat."  Just suck in any dreams or ambitions.  They may only mark you as one of those enemies the boss man keeps perilously closer than a friend.</div> <bR> <div>     God, on the other hand, is not threatened by us in any way.  This is crucial.  Our instincts are just the opposite.  We trust humans (at least to degrees beyond which we shouldn't) and mistrust God.  God is so un-threatened, He allows His chief competitor, Satan, a place in His council room, Job 1:6. </div> <div>     This is not to say that we may display self-indulgence in God's presence, but the reason we should not is simply that it is wrong, not that God will mark us out as a competitor.  Conversely, God is very glad for us to enjoy the good things of earth, 1 Tim. 6:17b, to relish them, in fact.  The only proviso is that we avoid idoltry- how?  By partaking in true thanks and with a sense of indbtedness.  </div> <div>     Foremost in this vein, we should imbibe deeply of His Son at the communion table, becoming full of Him.  Take the knife from your throat!  He is offered fully and freely!</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="542" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#99CCCC > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 154 WIDTH="530"><div> Proverbs 23:4, 5</div> <div> Do not labor to be rich; </div> <div> cease from your own insight. </div> <div> Will your eyes fly on it? And <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>it</I></FONT> is not! </div> <div> For surely it makes wings for itself, </div> <div> it flies <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>into</I></FONT> the heavens like an eagle. </div> <bR> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Cease from your own insight" can also be "By means of your own insight, cease," with reference to the laboring to be rich. </div> <div>     "Fly" is the same Hebrew word in the middle and last lines.  Because of the different Hebrew parts of speech they are in, the first "fly" might also be translated "fix." </div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Commanded<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Do not toil to be rich</div> <bR> <div> Explanatory command:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Cease from your own intelligence</div> <bR> <div> Reasons:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">When your eyes race to where money is supposed to be, it is missing!</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Money seems to have its own life: a bird-like one</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">It grows wings and races its own course through the sky</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     Buyer beware!  Particularly, we who buy into the <I>philosophy </I>that acquiring wealth is a true end of life- even if that wealth is for the goal of getting <I>out </I>of the race (retirement).</div> <div>     "Do not toil to be rich."  Are there any societies now or prior to us who did not toil for riches?  There have certainly been many cultures where most men had no prospect for riches.  The rich folk were born into it; the rest had to work just to live.</div> <div>     Working to live is not a bad life.  Living on your own crops and animals makes you depend on hard work and God (whether directly acknowledging Him or not).</div> <div>     But amid the farming community, there would be some whose abundance would bring in relative plenty.  They could sell their excess and afford better and better necessities and luxuries.  Their neighbors and buyers might easily look enviously upon them.  "Is there something <I><B>I </B></I>could do differently to make a better life for myself also?  More money obviously seems to mean more ease and enjoyment.  I would still have callouses, but I could afford perfumed ointments for them!"</div> <div>     Solomon might actually have nothing to say to the first fellow.  Remember, Solomon's philosophy of riches is that they are a gift from God when rightly acquired- by slow, steady labor (Prov 8:18; 13:11).  The man whose land simply yields him extra has only to worry whether he honors God with his riches (Prov 10:22; 3:9).</div> <div>     It is the man who PLANS to get rich whom Solomon warns.  It is his <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" >MOTIVE </FONT>to <U>be</U> rich which is problematic.  "Do not labor <U>to be</U> rich."  Solomon is telling us that <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bodoni MT" >IF RICHES DO NOT ACCUMLATE NATURALLY- AS A BYPRODUCT OF SIMPLE, HARD WORK- WE SHOULD CREATE NO SCHEME WHEREBY TO GAIN THEM</FONT>.  "Cease from your own intelligence."  It LOOKS like a few simple steps from where you are to riches.  Solomon says to look again.</div> <div>     Once again, Proverbs is a book of faith.  Learn to see differently than appearance.  Proof?  Only a million billion examples!  Time and time again, money-making schemes backfire.  Or they seem to succeed for  a while, only to crumble under their own weight.  Solomon helps us with a mental picture.  The goose that lays golden eggs is actually a strong flyer, and- look! monetary winter must be calling, for she is already halfway to the sunrise!</div> <div>     By another analogy, we naturally perceive riches as a solid or a liquid- a quantity we can package or bottle and save.  Solomon is telling us that riches are more like a gas- not at all easily kept, much more prone to dissipate and disappear.</div> <bR> <div>     Paul takes Solomon's command intact into his own admonitions:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>1 Timothy 6:9</B></FONT>  But <U>those who want to be rich</U> <B><U>fall</U></B><B> </B>into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. </div> <bR> <div>     "Those who want to be rich."  You could almost insert "An American" in place of that phrase.  The quest for the dollar is so bred into us.  As much as we see its destructive effects, we still trust it.</div> <div>     Please note that it does not say "might fall" or "could fall", but "fall."  They <U>do</U> fall.  The desire for wealth is an automatic fall into temptation.  It puts you in a new world, a mindset.  It is a "trap" from which you cannot escape.  It is its own self-perpetuating drug, setting off a chain of complementary desires, "many foolish and harmful" ones.  It is from these that dishonesty is almost assured.  Not dishonesty for its own sake, necessarily, but dishonesty whenever the necessity arises; and it <I>will </I>arise when we have made a committment for wealth.</div> <bR> <div>     Riches are deceitful.  They complement so well our fallen suspicion of God.  He doesn't seem to want to move me clear of worry; a tidy sum of cash could do it.  Riches also collaborate with our outright enmity with God.  God wants to keep me humble?  Can't trust me with wealth?  Keeping me under His thumb, is He?  I'll show Him.  Riches will give me power to ignore him.</div> <div>     Riches tell us we can defy God.  We believe them.  Our heart is already there; we just need the means.  </div> <div>     When riches are <I>not </I>our goal, when they are subservient to our service to God, they fulfill their proper role and prove our sincerity, Luke 16:11.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="542" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CC99FF > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 194 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 23:6 - 8</div> <div> Do not eat the bread of <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>one having</I></FONT> an evil eye, </div> <div> and do not desire his delicacies, </div> <div>  for as he reasons in his soul, so <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> he! </div> <div> He says to you, Eat and drink, </div> <div> but his heart <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> not with you. </div> <div> You shall vomit the bit you have eaten </div> <div> and spoil your pleasant words. </div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Evil eye" has nothing to do with spells or curses.  The same phrase occurs again only in Proverbs 28:22.  The words for "evil" and "eye" appear almost 100 times in the same verses elsewhere, but never as a plain "evil eye."  The vast majority are kings and others who did "evil" in the "eyes" of Jehovah. </div> <div>     The root word for "evil" also describes the eye similarly in Deuteronomy 15:9, 28:54, 56.</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Commanded<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Do not eat the food of someone with a wrong outlook</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Do not desire his excellent fare</div> <bR> <div> Unseen Reason:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The way he perceives from his soul is his real self</div> <bR> <div> His Words:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Eat.  Drink.</div> <bR> <div> His Heart:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Not on your side</div> <bR> <div> Outcomes:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Whatever you have eaten will come back up anyway</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">It's 'vomit' will sour whatever pleasant words you spoke</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     This proverb hinges on the "evil eye."  We only have the exact phrase once more in Proverbs 28:22 and then once in New Testament Greek in Mark 7:22.  But it is Jesus' saying, "if your eye is evil" (Matt 6:23) which finally satisfies us concerning its real meaning.  Matt 20:15 is Jesus' other reference to an evil eye.</div> <div>     What is an evil eye? </div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>Matthew 6:19</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT>Do not lay up <U>treasures on earth</U> for yourselves, where moth and rust corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Mat 6:20</FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT>But lay up <U>treasures in Heaven</U> for yourselves, where neither moth nor rust corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Mat 6:21</FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT>For where your <U>treasure</U> is, there will your <U>heart</U> be also. </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Mat 6:22</FONT>  The <U>light of the body</U> is the <U>eye</U>. Therefore if your eye is <U>sound</U>, your whole body shall be full of <U>light</U>. </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Mat 6:23</FONT>  But if your <B><U>eye</U></B><B> </B>is <B><U>evil</U></B>, your whole body shall be full of <U>darkness</U>. If therefore the light <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>that is</I></FONT> in you is darkness, how great <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> that darkness! </div> <div> Mat 6:24<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >No one can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     Jesus' teaching on the eye has to due with treasure.  What we <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><B>treasure </B></FONT><I>determines </I>our heart/ <I>shows </I>what is in our <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><B>heart</B></FONT>.  The condition of our heart, then, determines how we <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><B>see </B></FONT>things.  We can either have a "sound" eye, viewing things from a right perspective, or we can have an "evil" eye, viewing things from the wrong perspective.  If we can't 'SEE' Heaven, there's no way we can see to operate properly.  Earthly things will guide our decisions.</div> <div>     The word for the "sound" eye is <I>haplos</I>, literally, "folded together."  It speaks of cloth with a single fold, free of complication.  "Simple" is actually a better translation for it.  "Uncomplicated" would be a good translation too.  Since it has reference to the eye, "focused" would be a good paraphrase.  Jesus is speaking of an eye which can focus very simply on one thing, excluding complicating/ diluting factors.</div> <div>     Its opposite "evil" eye, then, would be defined by complication.  It CANNOT focus on the one thing it should.  The evil eye wanders.  It fails to take in the light through lack of focusing on the light.</div> <div>     James describes the complicated eye in other terms when he says:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>James 1:5</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT>But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him <U>ask</U> from God, <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>who</I></FONT> gives to all freely and with no reproach, and it will be given to him. </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >1:6</FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  </FONT>But let him ask <U>in faith</U>, doubting nothing. For the <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I><U>one</U></I></FONT><U> who doubts</U> is like a wave of <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>the</I></FONT> sea, being driven by wind and being tossed; </div> <div> 1:7<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" > for do not let that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; </FONT></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >James 1:8</FONT>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>he is</I></FONT> a <U>double-souled</U> man, not dependable in all his ways. </div> <bR> <div>     This is the literal translation.  The man has two souls.  He has one soul for God, but then he has another soul for the world.  He feels a definite attraction to the Lord, but he cannot rid himself of a prevailing submission to his own desires as lord.  These two souls represent his inability to focus.  He can 'see' God, he is aware of Him, but he cannot focus on Him, cannot give Him his undivided loyalty.  This, in fact, defines his doubt:  not necessarily a felt doubt, but an actual loyalty besides God.  Perhaps he looks like a chameleon spiritually, with two separate eyes focused on two different things.</div> <bR> <div>     So much for the evil eye.  If the Bible presents a unified picture of an evil eye, this is it.  Of course, if our proverb contexts the evil eye differently, we must be aware of that and view it accordingly.  That is, Jesus put the evil eye in the context of what our hearts treasure.  Our proverb might be speaking of an eye that is evil in a broader, more general way.  Of course, if this were so, such an evil eye would no doubt include treasuring earthly things above heavenly, so Jesus' explanation remains pertinent.</div> <div>  </div> <div>     Our proverb makes it critical to know WHO has this evil eye, especially someone hosting a meal, especially a seemingly gracious and generous host.  No, the Bible is not telling us to be dour and suspicious (even though we should never forget that even our long-tested friend has as much of a sinful nature and potential as we do); but it IS telling us to bear these marks in mind, should they perhaps lead back to our host.  About our host, it also seems obvious that he is well off enough to entertain guests easily.  At least, he is using his resources for our benefit.</div> <bR> <div>     Our proverb is mainly telling us what to do HAVING discovered our host's materialistic bent.</div> <div>  1)  Do not use him as a meal ticket.  Avoid being his regular house or table guest ("do not eat").</div> <div>  2)  Avoid thinking of his generosity as an advantage to be sought ("do not desire").</div> <div>  3)  Keep in mind that gracious words and acts do not necessarily belie a gracious intent.  Some will give to you only to indebt you.  A scheming, entrapping mind may be all that is at work in someone who seems to take you in as a dear friend.</div> <bR> <div>     And what does all this teach us?  That rich people are often in need of foils for their misdeeds.  They need all kinds of cover that only real, live people can offer.  You do not want to be such cover, though.  Rich people acquire some soul debtors to have on hand, knowing they will need faovrs later.  Some they acquire from habit, having learned to enslave.</div> <bR> <div>     What does Solomon warn us?  Your enjoyment of their hospitality will backfire.  You will find that any compliments you paid were regrettable charges toward your unseen bill, and they will end up like humiliating vomit on your clothes.  You will wish you had never accepted their 'welcome'.</div> <bR> <div>     Moving beyond actual situations of a host and a guest, the core information of the proverb is about anyone who makes you feel special only to use you to his advantage.  The 'meal' he invites you to may only be the flattery he gives.  You are invited to 'dine' on his 'warmth'.  You become a confidant.  Now you are a pawn in his game.  </div> <div>     He is as good at playing you along as he was at bringing you in.  You sense you are being used, but you know that it will seem that you are the rude one if you backed out of your unspoken (or spoken) obligations.</div> <div>     Beware the overly gracious.  If it seems too good to be true ...</div> <bR> <div>  </div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="542" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCCCE4 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 90 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 23:9</div> <div> Do not speak in the ears of a fool, </div> <div> for he will despise the good sense of your discourse. </div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Speak in the ears" is a phrase (about 30x) used of personal or urgent speech.</div> <div>     "Fool" is <I>kuseel</I>, root word "fat," speaking of a more entrenched rejection of God.  </div> <div>     "Good sense" is from the word for intelligence.</div> <div>     "Discourse" is a rather rare word, being used in Proverbs only once and almost exclusively in Job.</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Commanded<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Do not speak in the ears of a fool</div> <bR> <div> Reason:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">He will disrespect the reasoning of your appeal</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     Many of the other places the phrase "speak in the ears of" is used give us the idea of direct or intimate counsel:  "Here's something I have to say to you."  "Please listen to this."</div> <div>     Solomon is telling us that we must SCREEN the recipients of such speech.  A fool- someone operating in independence of God*- will not only disregard your words but will disrespect them.  Therefore, we don't give fools the benefit of intimate counsel.  We don't speak into their ears.  We don't tell them what they need to hear in a way they should be willing to hear it- because they're <I>not </I>willing.</div> <div>     Do we have <I>anything </I>more to say to them?  Perhaps, but no more intimate counsel.  From the time they have proven to be fools, a rebuke might be appropriate.  That's how Jesus communicated with the Pharisees who had proved themselves fools.</div> <div>     Is manipulation fair game towards a fool?  If we <I>have </I>to have dealings with him (work or family ties), is it better to position a fool further from harm by our advice?  We can't tell him what's right just because it's right, but maybe we can steer him away from destructive decisions by advising him from the vantage point of his own best interests.  Do we owe him this?</div> <div>     Often we are given little choice in the matter.  In order to support our boss, we need to use our influence for peace and productivity.  Because a fool naturally counteracts peace, our counsel and influence can at least work to short-circuit the 'suicide bombing' mission he's on one way or another.</div> <div>     If we can't steer him away from harm or loss, our best course is often to do take our proverb's command to its limit.  Don't just withhold intimate counsel, withhold all counsel.  Let him self-destruct.  This may become a time when a desparate fool will finally intuit the good we've tried to do him.  In his desparation, he may appeal to us for guidance.  </div> <div>     This is the time for some bluntness.  "Listen, I've tried to steer you right before, but you haven't listened.  I've told you what was in your best interest, and you still didn't listen.  If you want advice now, I can only direct you to modify your whole outlook.  Want to know how?"  </div> <div>     At this point we say, one way and another, "You must be born again."  "You need a disposition that can do what is right for God's sake, and then you need to follow His directions."  If it's a Christian we're dealing with, we're taking him back to square one.  "Here's something you missed in your basic character development."  If he listens, maybe he really <I>will </I>be born again at last.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >*  </FONT>"Operating"- not "confessing."  It's those who confess <B>de</B>pendence on God whom we must probably screen most carefully, unfortunately.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="542" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCCCE4 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 151 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 23:10, 11</div> <div> Do not move the old landmark, </div> <div> and do not enter into the fields of the fatherless, </div> <div> for their Redeemer <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> mighty, </div> <div> He will contend for their cause with you. </div> <bR> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Redeemer" is Hebrew <I>gaal</I>, used 104 times.</div> <div>     "Mighty" is from a Hebrew root meaning to fasten upon, to seize, thus showing strength.</div> <div>     "Old" is from the Hebrew for "everlasting", literally, "to the vanishing point."</div> <div>     "Contend" and "cause" are the noun and verb forms of the same word. The same pairing is used eleven other times in Scriptures, twice by Solomon, in Prov. 23:11 and 25:9.</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Commanded<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Do not move the long-established boundary marker</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Do not enter the fields of the orphan</div> <bR> <div> Reasons:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Their redeemer is powerful</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Their redeemer will fight their fight</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     We have already considered the main idea of this proverb in a previous one:</div> <bR> <div> Prov 22:28<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  Do not move the old landmark which your fathers have set. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     "Do not move the 'time-out-of-mind' landmark" is exactly the same in both verses.</div> <div>     When we considered Proverbs 22:28, it led us back to the original instruction:</div> <bR> <div> Deut 19:14<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  You may not remove your neighbor's landmark, which those formerly have set in your inheritance, which you shall inherit in the land which Jehovah your God is giving you, to possess it. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     When God allots a man some possession, such as land, it becomes a sacred possession.  If the man despises his own Divine allotment, he is in sin.  Esau is a good example of this, both of his earthly and Heavenly inheritance.</div> <div>     But if I despise my neighbor's allotment,<B> I </B>am in sin.  Jacob is a good example of this.  How?  By grabbing Esau's inheritance.  But wasn't Esau's allotment promised to him?  Yes, but Jacob was impatient and sought to procure the blessing prematurely.  Would God have let it 'drop in his lap' at the right time?  Yes.  At THAT time, Jacob would have been within his rights to accept it.</div> <div>     We see this principle obeyed properly by David, who had Saul under his sword, but David refused to claim his rightful kingship prematurely.  The kingdom was promised to him, but that did not leave the means of accession in his own hands.  He could not violate Divine protocol to collect a Divine pledge.</div> <div>     Jacob instead followed his grandfather Abraham in seeking <I>God's</I> ends by <I>man's</I> means.  Abraham sought his Divinely promised heir by his own wit.  Eventually God brought Abraham to a point where he sought God's ends by God's means.  He left the true inheritance, Isaac, in God's hands, to do with as He wished.  Abraham finally learned that God will keep His promise but not by <I>our </I>hijacking of the promise.  It will only be the fulfillment of God's Word when it comes to pass <I>His </I>way through a <I>submitted </I>(subjective aspect) servant <I>obeying </I>(objective aspect)<I> </I>Him 'where it hurts' (putting the flesh to death).</div> <bR> <div>     All we have said thus far concerns the reality of men's inheritances and how we are bound to respect another's inheritance.  Our proverb adds the critical factor of HELPLESS peoples' inheritances.</div> <div>     We are not to enter the fields of the orphan.  His father is not around anymore, and whoever is watching over his affairs perhaps doesn't have the time or energy to protect all his interests as his father would have.  The back of my field ajoins the back of his.  His has grown wild with disuse.  I offer to tend an acre of that land while I'm farming my own and split the proceeds with him.  His overseers gratefully accept:  good deal for him and good deal for me.  </div> <div>     As the boy grows, he sees me as a kind benefactor, which I am.  But I've been thinking.  I've been the virtual owner of that land for several years now.  What if I were to move that back property marker more into his land?  He's been getting free produce for years; certainly this is my due.</div> <div>     I move the marker.  Not much, but noticeably to the observant.  I bring the young man back to that portion of the field to test the waters.  He views it oddly, as if something is amiss.  He goes to the marker I moved.  He looks further into my 'new' property.  He senses something.  He is unsettled.</div> <div>     At last he smiles and returns to me.  He has worked it through.  If he suspects that I have stolen land from him, at least he agrees that I have earned it.  What's the harm in a few extra square feet of farm land that would have lain fallow but for me?</div> <div>     Most thieves, of course would not even have this much conscience.  They would have worked out a more foolproof means of acquisition.  But either way, it is theft.  It is what GOD thinks about it that matters.</div> <div>     When it is in my power to take advantage of a situation, am I willing to cheat someone?  The old widow can't drive anymore and she needs to sell her husband's old car.  She knows and trusts me.  I can tell her the car is only worth <I>this </I>much, pay her more than that, but still make out like a bandit.  If she took it to a car dealer, she'd have been ripped off much worse, so I've still done her a favor.  Right?</div> <div>     God is watching her back.  He expects me to be doing the same.  If I don't, God will take me to 'court'.  I may find my financial affairs/ possessions in shambles before long.  Where the orphan is powerless, God is powerful.</div> <div>     Another danger we must beware is the helpless person on the periphery, the child about whom we tend to forget that his father is out of the picture.  We must take care that our decisions do not defraud him.</div> <div>     As to overall theology, Solomon is again making each one of us a clear part of the whole fabric of our society, of mankind as a whole.  Since the property an Israelite might steal was that of another Israelite, we are first beholden to "the household of faith," Gal 6:10. </div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="542" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCCCCC > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 90 WIDTH="530"><div> Proverbs 23:12</div> <div> Bring your heart in for instruction, </div> <div> and your ears to the words of knowledge. </div> <bR> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>    "Knowledge" is a Proverbs theme.  The word is used 96 times in the Old Testament, 40 of them in Proverbs.</div> <div>     "Words" are primarily spoken words.</div> <div>     The combination of the words "ear" and "knowledge" are found only here and in Proverbs 18:15 and 22:17.</div> <div>     The phrase "bring" + "heart" is used only here and in Proverbs 2:10.</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Commanded<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Bring your heart</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Cause your ears to come (same verb supplied by ellipsis)</div> <bR> <div> Where to bring them:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">For instruction</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">To the sayings of knowledge</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     The most important word in this proverb is "instruction."  This is evident through Solomon's placement of the word in the very next proverb:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Prov 23:13</FONT>  Do not withhold <U>correction</U> from a boy, for <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>if</I></FONT> you strike him with the rod, he will not die. </div> <bR> <div>     Yes, the word for "instruction" in our verse is the word "correction" in the next one.  And the correction is clearly associated with spankings.  "Chastisement" is the basic meaning of the word.</div> <div>     Yet our proverb today seems to plainly correlate "instruction" with "the words of knowledge" in the second half of the proverb.  Another proverb seems to differentiate "instruction" from more straightforward chastisment:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Prov 6:23</FONT>  For the commandment <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> a lamp, and the law a light; and <U>reproofs</U> of <U>instruction</U> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>are</I></FONT> a way of life</div> <bR> <div>     Our word "instruction" in the above verse correaltes to "commandment" and "law" in the first part of the verse.  The "reproofs", from a different Hebrew word, are the chastisements, or rebukes, that come <I>through </I>teaching.  The instruction, then, would seem to be something <I>other </I>than chastisment in this verse.</div> <div>     Even so, our word for "instruction" is never divorced from the idea of correction.  It is like our English word "discipline."  We can speak of an academic "disicpline," but the word on its own always draws our minds back to correction, or at least to strictness.</div> <bR> <div>     Biblical "instruction" in general always has to do with reprimand:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >2 Timothy 3:16</FONT>  All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for <B>teaching</B>, for <B><U>rebuking</U></B>, for <B><U>correcting</U></B>, for <B>training </B>in righteousness </div> <bR> <div>     Half of Scripture's four uses are listed in the area of addressing our faults.  We have not properly received "teaching", then, if it does not rebuke and correct us as well.</div> <bR> <div>     Before we proceed, let us ask: what is the basic ministry of Scriptures to <I>you</I>?  Does it mainly inform?  Does the information additionally delight and fascinate?  Any use that draws mainly on the informative nature of Scripture falls far short of its true goal.  God is not at work if we merely agree with Scriptures, however heartily.</div> <div>     Do you use Scriptures to define who is or is not a child of God?  This is closer to a true use of Scriptures, for it at least uncovers man's natural hatred of God.  But if the first example lags behind, this one has really run <I>ahead </I>of the Bible's real function.  It is no good for the Bible to correct others if it has not first corrected <I>me</I>.  <I>I</I> am the one who must first feel, "If these things are so, how can the Spirit of God dwell in <I>me</I>?"</div> <bR> <div>     So when Solomon says, "Bring in you heart," he is making a doctor's appointment for us.  The doctor will <B>inform </B>by his prognosis for the purpose of <B>fixing </B>us.  "Bring your heart" means put it in a position to be corrected.</div> <div>     What we learn matters.  How we learn matters.  A Christian is basically a student.  The Holy Spirit is our teacher:</div> <bR> <div> John 16:13<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  But when that One comes, the Spirit of Truth, He will guide you into all Truth</FONT></div> <bR> <div>     Think about the Truth.  Set time aside for it.  Put material in front of you which you can profitably think about.  This in itself is a putting of self to death.  The issue is not whether you contest the validity of the Truth.  This also is necessary in putting the flesh to death.  Our flesh is there; it <I>will </I>doubt.  We don't correct the flesh by avoiding the confrontation.</div> <div>     There is the same disrepect in half-hearted application to instruction as there is in half-hearted prayer.  Earnestly seek to commend yourself to God (2 Tim 2:15, Weymouth).</div> <bR> <div> 31/50</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="542" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCCC99 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 129 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 23:13, 14</div> <div> Do not withhold correction from a boy, </div> <div> for <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>if</I></FONT> you strike him with the rod, he will not die. </div> <div> You shall strike him with the rod, </div> <div> and you shall deliver him from Sheol.</div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>    The word for "rod" is used for the "tribes", as in "tribes" of Israel.  This accounts for about ninety-five percent of its 190 occurrences.  It means to branch off, and so a branch.  It is the word for the three "sprears" with which Joab killed Absalom.  It is the word in Psalm 23 for God's shepherd's "rod" that comforts us.  It is the word for the "sceptre" of God's kingdom in Psalm 45:6.  All eight times Solomon uses it, it is an instrument of punishment, some for a criminal, some for a child.</div> <div>     "Deliver" is the same word common for God delivering us.</div> <div>     "Sheol" is the Old Testament term taken up by the term "hades" in the New Testament, usually translated "Hell."  It is the waiting place of the dead, especially of the unrighteous dead.  </div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Commanded<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Do not deny your child correction</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Strike him with the rod</div> <bR> <div> Reasons respectively:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">If you hit him with the rod, he's not going to die</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">You will rescue him from Sheol</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     Where does a child begin his existence spiritually speaking?  He's headed for Hell.  Solomon assumes that we need to rescue him from Hell.  He doesn't assume that a child, even a covenant child, is headed for Heaven.  He assumes that our children need to be "snatched away" (Hebrew for "delivered") from a direct course to Hell and from there to the Lake of Fire (Rev 20:14).  </div> <div>     Why would he assume this?  One reason would be seeing that Adam begot a son "in his likeness, after his image" (Gen 5:3), meaning that anyone born of Adam would have to inherit Adam's dead nature, since he died the day he ate of the fruit.  Hence, a child is born dead spiritually, separated from God.  That is why he sins.  It is not the other way around.  We are not pure as babies, only becoming sinners when we finally commit an act of sin.</div> <div>     This may be the only doctrine adequate to strengthen many parents' hand to spank.  It is a matter of eternal life and death.  Why should I spank if it is just behavior modification?  Quite right.  A spanking, rather, is a practice required because of a <U>fatal</U> flaw.</div> <div>     But note that Solomon assumes our children <I>can </I>be rescued.  They do not have to go where the rich man goes in Luke 16, a place of torment.  They can apparently be delivered TO Abraham's bosom, where Lazarus went in the same story.  What an amazing power, then, is in a parent's hands!</div> <div>     And- rude shock that it is to our culture- the delivering power in a parent's hand is <B>spanking</B>.  It is taking a rod- a switch, a slender branch, a wooden spoon, or some similar implement- and applying it to the child's rear end, making a painful connection.  THAT is how Solomon says we release a child from Satan's grip.  Amazing.  How could that work?</div> <div>     It begins with this:  God made man.  God designed men, bottom up.  Or in this case, bottom IN.  A bottom, among other things, is a buffer, a place to absorb physical pain.  We are physical beings, and we receive a message through pain.  When parents connect SIN with PAIN for their children, God gives the child an inside lane for outpacing Hell.  The child learns, "Sin is wrong.  I earned pain for my sin.  I need to avoid sin, both to avoid wrong <I>and </I>the pain it brings."  The <I>outward </I>pain works its way <I>in </I>to the soul where an inbuilt conscience testifies the same thing less completely (the conscience needs the instruction- like the one that comes with spankings- to be honed precisely).</div> <div>     God made Hell.  A child is brought close to Hell by spanking; he is shown into the Pit.  "Here is where your sin will take you.  God sent me to rescue you."  Spanking is punishment, payment.  It is therefore a preventive taste of Hell.  Jesus said:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>Luke 12:4</B></FONT>  But I say to you, <U>My friends</U>, stop being afraid of the ones killing the body, and after these things not having anything more <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>they can</I></FONT> do. </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Luk 12:5</FONT>  But I will warn you whom <U>you should fear</U>; fear <U>the One</U> who after the killing has <U>authority</U> to <U>cast into Hell</U>; yea, I say to you, Fear that One! </div> <bR> <div>     If a parent believes this (and many professing Christian parents do not, or practically do not), he will see the advantage he has in inflicting a rod and sending a message specially designed for a child.  Once they are grown, patterns are already developed.  That teaching opportunity was missed.  Solomon says children can learn the fear of God if we will begin early.</div> <div>     Child sins:  the rod.  It is not complicated.  Begin with "No."  Child transgresses:  the rod, enough for some crying, maybe some hard crying, maybe some dramatic crying; but "he will not die."  Ironically, his 'gnashing of the teeth' will be an early release program from the <I>real </I>gnashing of teeth- Hell.</div> <bR> <div>     Spanking:  the temptation is to hold back, to put off, to substitute other methods.  That's why the prime admonition is "Do not withhold."</div> <div>     Whole human philosophies are built around that cry of the human heart, "Withhold!"  Our own hearts cry like our little ones, and we give in.  "To give him pain is merely to vent my own anger and thus breed anger"- human philosophy.  It's the philosophy we naturally choose.  'There IS no fatal flaw in my child.  Trying to spank something out of him is pointless.'</div> <div>     So our children learn to cut deals.  Let's avoid pain.  But pain is visited for sin anyway.  The sin we refused to address will begin collecting its toll much earlier than the Second Death.</div> <div>     Christians must build philosophies FOR spanking.  There is definitely a war of ideas waging, 2 Cor 10:5.  Battles are being lost and won every day across a broad range of issues.  Territory is abandoned, like when Christians read this proverb and ignore or refute it.</div> <bR> <div>     "He will not die."  Our child makes us feel death.  We feel the death going on <I>through </I>our little one's cries.  Dilemma:  Spare me and him OR believe this is actually necessary.  Spanking is just as NECESSARY  in a Christian parent's mind as his child's sin nature is REAL.</div> <div>     Solomon speaks of two deaths:  first, the death that apparently takes place but <I>doesn't</I> lay hold of the child; next, the death the child <I>will </I>suffer if I don't inflict the first death.  The second one will lay hold of him for good.</div> <bR> <div>     Christ died in Hell.  He suffered on the cross what His people <I>would have</I> suffered in Hell.  Our Hell became His Hell.</div> <div>     Christ tells His people to take up THEIR crosses.  We must put <I>ourselves </I>to death <I>by the power of </I>His death.  Communion brings us close to His death IF we celebrate it truly.  Spanking brings us close to His death IF, by it, we put our human intuition to death and show our children the REAL connection between <B>the death their sin earns</B> and <B>Christ's own death</B>.  That's how close we can bring them, by the power of God's Spirit.  We show them Hell, yes, but only to show them Heaven.  The Bible's Heaven is hollow if it is not an escape, by an awful means, from an awful Hell.</div> <bR> <div>     The child's personal adoption of this perspective is the subject of the next proverb, verses fifteen and sixteen.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="487" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCCC99 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 151 WIDTH="475"><div> Proverbs 23:15, 16</div> <div> My son, if your heart is wise, </div> <div> my heart shall rejoice, even mine. </div> <div> And my inmost being shall rejoice </div> <div> when your lips speak right things. </div> <bR> <bR> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>    "Inmost being" is from the Hebrew word for kidneys.  The word only occurs 31 times, the first sixteen describing that part of a sacrificial animal.  Solomon only uses it this once.  His father David had used it four times in Pslams (and Asaph once) as a term for deep feelings. </div> <div>     "Right things" is from a word meaning "evenness."</div> <div>     "Rejoice" is based on a different Hebrew word each of the two times it occurs.  The second one connotes even greater exuberance, perhaps.</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Conditional statements<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">If your heart is wise, my son</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">When your lips speak  straight</div> <bR> <div> Consequences respectively:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">My heart shall brighten, even my own <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#888888" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" ><I>heart </I></FONT>!</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">My inner man shall exult</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     This is the first proverb in over a chapter which is not centered around a command.  22:17 began this string of command-centered proverbs.  Our proverb today is the first one after it.  It seems to be a comment on what has proceeded.  Solomon seems to be saying that if his pupil/ child will keep all these commands, it will deeply gratify him as teacher/ mentor.</div> <div>     This proverb is also a renewal of the idea of the very first of the 'proverbs proper':</div> <bR> <div> Proverbs 10:1<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son makes a father rejoice, but the foolish son </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" > his mother's sorrow. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     Our proverb, therefore, is likely the beginning of a new section, especially considering the fact that it comes after a previous, recognizable section.</div> <bR> <div>     There is also an interesting contrast with spanking from the directly preceding proverb.  One of Solomon's messages seems to concern the transition from childhood to adulthood.  For a child, the rod is a major influence on decision-making, but any wise parent knows that the rod is a temporary measure, soon to be replaced by the child's own self-control.  In fact, this is the whole point of the rod:  it <I>trains </I>self-control and facilitates the parent's imprint on the child's <I>vision </I>of self-control (i.e., what sort of behaviors and attitudes exactly <I>should </I>I be avoiding?).</div> <bR> <div>     Notice also that there is a direct heart-to-heart relation in our proverb.  "Son, if <I>your </I>heart is wise, <I>my </I>heart will light up with a smile."  Solomon's heart response depends on the heart responses his son will come to on his own.  Solomon could only say this if his use of the rod was in love.  He used the rod because of a human flaw common to us all, not to vent his own frustrations.  He is training the heart, and the heart must eventually gain its own discernment.  When it does, the parent as teacher beams with joy.  Indeed, he will barely contain the impulse to jump (the literal meaning of the second word for joy) with elation!</div> <div>     Without this foresight, spanking is likely to be a mere drudgery (not to say it is ever a delight in itself), a task accomplished for its own sake.  This certainly defeats most of the purpose of spanking.  A parent needs hope to sustain him through years of duty, through a single <I>day </I>of a child's disobedient antics.  Our proverb describes this hope.  Ironically, the parent who trades in spankings to avoid present sorrow will be minus the later joy, since his child will never have developed the fear of God, never having made the connection between his sin nature and its rightful punishment, never having learned proper self-control.</div> <bR> <div>     This is the only verse in the Bible with the phrase "heart... even my own."  The phrase represents three Hebrew words: "heart," "also,"  and "mine".  It describes a precise awareness of one's own feelings.  It is saying that the joy felt at a son's choice of wisdom will be a unique, soul-fulfilling delight.  "Son, when you've adopted wisdom as your own rule, there will be no joy like that joy for me."  All the pain of preparation will dissolve in the joy of the birth of a man, just as all the sweat of an education transforms into the delight of a diploma, or the agony of a woman's labor ends in the satisfaction of life brought forth.</div> <bR> <div>     Notice the connection between the child's- indeed, anyone's- heart and his lips.  The condition of the first equals the product of the second.  In the first line of this proverb, it is the child's <I>heart </I>being wise.  In the answering last line, it is his <I>lips </I>speaking uprightness.  Heart wisdom instructs lip straightness.  The heart, then, is not truly wise when lips speak with any degree of slant away from a straight rule.  We should be very concerned of what we speak, as very proof before God and man that our hearts are protected by the guardian Wisdom.</div> <bR> <div>     Surely it is not too much to add here that God births us into His kingdom and family with hopes of our well-developed self-control and wisdom.</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >John 1:12</FONT> But as many as received Him, to them He gave <U>authority</U> to <U>become children</U> of God, to the ones believing into His name</div> <bR> <div>     He watches, prods, and awaits our arrival at true sonship, true adoption of His ways- delight in them and preference of them.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="487" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCCC99 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 133 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 23:17, 18</div> <div> Do not let your heart envy sinners, </div> <div> but only <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>be</I></FONT> in the fear of Jehovah the whole day. </div> <div> For surely there is an end <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>product</I></FONT>, </div> <div> and your hope shall not be cut off. </div> <div>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>    "End <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#777777" FACE="Palatino Linotype" ><I>product</I></FONT>" (product being a word supplied to aid comprehension) is from the Hebrew <I>akareeth</I>, meaning the last or end.  Many translators render it "future."  One renders it "hereafter," the farthest future, and certainly one the Israelites knew from earliest times (Job 19:25) throughout their history (Ps 17:15; Isa 26:19). </div> <div>     "But only" and "For surely" are both from the same Hebrew tandem <I>qee im</I>, words which singly or together have a wide latitude for meaning but which draw our attention by their occurrence at the beginning of these two consecutive lines.</div> <div>     The second line can be read supplying the verb from the first line:  "But only let its [your heart's] envy be in Yahweh's fear all day."</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Admonition<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Don't allow your heart to be jealous of those who miss <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#777777" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" ><I>God's</I></FONT> mark</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Rather, <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#777777" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" ><I>walk </I></FONT>in Jehovah's fear throughout the day</div> <bR> <div> Reasons:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Certainly there is a latter end</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Your <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#777777" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" ><I>raised </I></FONT>expectation will not be disappointed</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     Ah, the miseries of Christianity!  One of them is rehearsed in Psalm 73.  Asaph's very deepest, most secret bitterness is laid out in diary form.  It would be quite a scandal, except that he also recounts how God opened his eyes and relieved his pain.</div> <div>     Our proverb today seems to be a summary of Psalm 73.  It is hard to imagine a better synopsis of the good man's vexation and reparation.</div> <div>     Here is an assumption being made about man in Psalm 73 and our proverb today:  men, Christians especially, envy sinners.  Here is another necessary adjunct: that doesn't mean we are inwardly saying, "Oh, I want to be just like Johnny or June Hollywood and have what they have!"  Allowing ourselves to think that <B>that </B>describes envy is really our self-justification at work.  "Hmm, guess I don't envy sinners that badly, then, because I really don't care to be much like them."</div> <div>     The Christian approach to Scriptures is: "If it's a sin being described, I'm guilty."  This is based on James 2: 10,</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >James 2:10</FONT>  For whoever shall keep the whole Law and yet offend in one <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>point</I></FONT>, he is guilty of all. </div> <bR> <div>     When I am specifically sinning against one commandment, I am generally breaking them all, because they are all threads in one fabric.  They can be distinguished, but they cannot be absolutely separated.</div> <bR> <div>     But the Church in our day has an even more ingenious way to further deal with our envy of sinners.  We simply adopt enough of their standards to avoid any hard feelings.</div> <div>     In worship, we say we're gearing the service to attract newcomers.  In effect, we're just giving ourselves what we like.  Newcomers go away from a worship service, as do we, saying, "I enjoyed that!", not "What a holy God we serve."  So who needs to envy sinners?  God lets us enjoy things.  It glorifies Him when we enjoy ourselves.  Doesn't it?  </div> <div>     "Christians can have fun, too!"  Can anyone really imagine the apostles inviting the early Christians into a worship meeting with those words?  But worship is just the final domino to fall as the Christian world has given in to more and more pleasure, less and less self-discipline.</div> <bR> <div>     <U>Psalm 73</U> has <B>two </B>answers.  The <B>first</B> one is a little mean.  The happy sinner gets his come-uppence at last.  </div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Psalm 73:19</FONT>  How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away with terrors! </div> <bR> <div>     Except it's not mean.  It's just justice.  The sinner betrayed and hurt people, used others as objects, had no fear of God.  Hell is a necessary balance in the cosmic equation.  Without it, the psalmist's initial qualms were justified- things really are unfair.  But I'm on a different timetable if I'm a saint.  My payday IS later.  Any benefits I receive now will NOT balance the equation.  I may be more or less content with them, but benefits in this life are NOT my real reward.</div> <div>     That brings up the <B>second </B>answer.  The second answer to sinner-envy is my contentedness with God:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Psalm 73:26</FONT>  My flesh and my heart waste away; God <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> the rock of my heart and my portion forever. </div> <bR> <div>     And yet we still do envy.  Any area where we actually deny ourselves a worldly license, we chafe.  "Why can't I just run off with pretty little Miss Jones?"  We envy the business executive to whom society generally concedes the reward of a trophy wife.  He can afford to support two households.  His ex- takes up with her tennis instructor.  Everyone seems happy.  Why can't I do that (besides the obvioius- my lack of  funds)?</div> <bR> <div>     In Psalm 73, the envy is TWO-SIDED.  The nearer side is my own attempt at righteous living.  Where has it gotten me?  Greater pains.  And what about Jack Worldliness?  His attempts at self-indulgence have just gotten him richer and happier.  So it is really the comparison of our self-sacrifice <I>with </I>the world's successful self-indulgence that bothers us.</div> <div>     Once again, the answer of the modern church is simply to bypass any great effort at righteousness.  Fasting?  That's for fanatics.  Prayer time alone with God?  I'll say little prayers throughout the day as necessary.  I don't envy Jack; I'm right behind him in my ease.</div> <bR> <div>     Our proverb is the only verse in the Bible that tells us to fear God all day.  Many verses clearly imply it, but it is nice to have the exact formulation before us.  Fearing God ALL DAY is the only way to ward off Sinner Envy.</div> <div>     Fear of God is connected to Sinner Envy on one side and Eternal Rewards on the other.  Fear of God must both affirm and negate.  Fear of God negates our natural longing for ease.  But just as importantly, fear of God affirms the conviction that all this effort will be worth it.  It will be worth it tomorrow,* and it will be worth it a thousand years from now.  My whole future, as far or short ahead as I can conceive, is securely planted as long as I fear God and keep Sinner Envy at bay.</div> <div>     Remembering that future, keeping it before me, is its own proper motivation.  You cannot define hope without reference to the future, and you really can't give a full definition of faith without it either:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Heb 11:6</FONT> But without faith it is impossible to please <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>God</I></FONT>, for it is necessary <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>for</I></FONT> the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>one</I></FONT> approaching God to <U>believe</U> that He is, and that <U>He becomes a rewarder</U> of those who diligently seek Him. </div> <bR> <div>     I receive some measure of my reward now, but the vast majority of it- by far the most important elements of it- are in the future.  Our proverb makes "the end" of things a stabilizer for us.  Our discouragements get the better of us often because we fail to set our final reward before our mind's eye.  "God, this is what You promised.  I need it; You are good for it.  I can wait for it.  Encourage me with it now."</div> <bR> <div> *  <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >It will be worth it later today.  Every moment I train my mind on God, I am making it less likely my mind will stray from Him later.</FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="435" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCCC99 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 90 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 23:19</div> <div> My son, hear, you, and be wise, </div> <div> and make your heart go straight in the path. </div> <div>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "My son" is the common beginning to the early chapters of Proverbs.  It begins chapters two through seven (excepting chapter four, where it is found in 4:10 and 4:20), as well as eight other verses beginning in chapter one.  The next place it occurs in the 'proverbs proper' (chapters 10 - 31) is in 19:27, then 23:15, then here.</div> <div>    "Make go straight" is the literal meaning of the verb.  </div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Address<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">My son</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">You</div> <bR> <div> Admonitions:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Hear</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Be wise</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Straighten/ guide your heart in the path</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     "My son," Solomon pled just four verses earlier, "it will mean so much to me if you become wise."  Now he continues with less personal interjection, simply admonishing, "Be wise."  It is not a matter of preference, merely.  It is a life-and-death matter.  There is a path, and it is easy to veer from.  The only boots that will grip that surface is hearing, the only conditioning for the uphill gradient is wisdom, and the only compass that will reveal the false detours for what they are is the Scriptures.  The Bible is the yardstick that draws the straight line on the map.  Use these tools in your trek to safe ground.</div> <div>     It is <B>hearing </B>that leads to <B>wisdom</B>.  Wisdom says, "I need to learn.  Teach me."  It then exposes itself to Scriptures.  Wisdom is always straining its ear.  "What do I need to take in that I don't currently have?  What have I overlooked that would pluck me out of temptation's closing net?"  Wisdom is all ears, and they are trained on what is Written.</div> <div>     The wise man listens closely because he knows about the broken gyroscope of his humanity.  However well he directs himself by wisdom, he knows many factors keep his inner gyroscope from running error-free on its own.  It requires constant maintanence.  His ship will only reach harbor if he attends as much to its brokenness as to the course itself.</div> <div>     We are not, then, being guided by our hearts.  The clear implication is that our hearts will lead us wrong if we follow them (stated explicitly in Prov. 28:26).  "Straighten your heart's path" says that hearts need reins attached to them, otherwise, we are being led by a self-willed horse.</div> <div>     Also, how easily we could overlook the phrase "the way/ path."  Solomon conceives of only one road that goes the right direction.  Jesus called Himself "THE way."  In Greek as well, this word means "road."  Jesus is the road.  We only travel accurately via Him.  </div> <div>     Walking Jesus as the road means the same things Solomon says in our proverb.  As much as our hearts may feel love for Jesus, we still have to MAKE our hearts stay with Him as the road.  Our hearts are weak at best.  We not only stray by outright ignorance or heeding deception, we have such a faint impression of the <I>real </I>Jesus (1 Cor 13:12), we movr by degrees off His boulevard in the course of any day.  We need course correction every day (Psalm 119:176).  Appealing daily to God in prayer for course correction is obedience to our proverb.</div> <div>     Back in 23:15, Solomon said that his son's wisdom would make "<U>my</U> heart rejoice, even <U>mine</U>."  Now he says, "My son, hear, <U>you</U>."  Solomon first empasized himself as instructor.  Now he says, in effect, "despite <I>my </I>feelings or input, you are responsible for how you take this instruction."  No excellence of instruction alone will ever cause a pupil to stay on course.  Only his own meticulous attention to the instruction, the path, and his own heart will do that.  It is an all-consuming task.  But it is an all-rewarding task as well.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="484" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCCC99 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 133 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 23:20, 21</div> <div> Do not be among those who soak up wine, </div> <div> among gluttons who hoarde meat, </div> <div> for the drunkard and the glutton are dispossessed, </div> <div> and stupor clothes <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>one with</I></FONT> rags. </div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Gluttons who hoard meat" is literally "gluttons, flesh to themselves."  "To themselves" is hard to render exactly.  It could be taken in such as way as to have little practical bearing on the English translation.  That is how most translators approach it.  "Gluttens of their own meat" seems redundant.  "Hoarde" might seem to stretch "to themselves" too far, but it at least gives the phrase its own weight in the sentence.</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Commanded<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Don't be in <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#777777" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" ><I>the company of </I></FONT>quaffers of wine</div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#888888" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" ><I><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f088888800.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Nor </I></FONT>in <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" ><I>the presence of</I></FONT> gluttons, feasters on meat</div> <bR> <div> Reasons:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The drunkard is dispossessed</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The glutton is taken over</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Slumber will clothe them with tatters</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     We have run into the drunkard and the glutton in the same passage once before:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Deuteronomy 21:20</FONT>  and they shall say to the elders of his city, This son of ours <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> stubborn and rebellious; he will not listen to our voice; he <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> a <U>glutton</U>, and a <U>drunkard</U>. </div> <bR> <div>     This was a description of a father and mother's accusation, after which the naughty lad was to be stoned to death.  The Hebrews had a means to deal with rebellious teens.  They never recorded an instance of this sentence being carried through, though.  They allowed a child's repentance as an interruption of the process.  But it does help us to see that gluttony and drunkenness were serious sins (the actual punishable sin was rebellion against parents; drunken gluttony was just an evidence).  Putting gluttony in the area of sin- not sickness- would also have kept conscientious parents from allowing their children to become fat, an example we Americans should follow.</div> <div>     Solomon's advice, though, makes it clear that there were gluttonous drunkards in their society.  He puts them on the "shun" list.  Do not be their companion.  This is a subcategory of the dictum:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Proverbs 13:20</FONT>  He who <U>walks with</U> the wise <U>shall be</U> wise, but one <U>associating </U><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I><U>with</U></I></FONT> fools shall be broken. </div> <div>  </div> <div>     Drunken gluttons are not the only ones we are to shun.  They are simply a notable variety of fools, the inveterate among those to be avoided.</div> <div>     Hophni and Phineas seem to fit this category (1 Samuel 2), but only their gluttony was chronicled; drunkenness was not mentioned.  </div> <div>     Ecclesiastes 10 has a closer description of this kind of behavior, but in leaders:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Ecclesiastes 10:16, 17</FONT>  Woe to you, O land, when your king <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> a child and your leaders <U>eat</U> in the morning. </div> <div> Blessed <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>are</I></FONT> you, O land, when your king <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> the son of nobles, and your leaders eat in <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>due</I></FONT> time, for strength, and not for <U>drunkenness</U>! </div> <bR> <div>     This passage seems to put both activities under a larger category, like "feasting."</div> <div>     An immediate question would be whether there are those in our society who fit this description but whom we might not instantly recognize as such.  The 'good old boys' who go fishing and drink beer might be drunken gluttons, though we shouldn't necessarily suspect anyone who fishes while sipping a beer.  In any group who have gathered for the purpose of having drinks we might find our offenders, especially the portly among them.  In any gathering where alot of eating is done and alchohol flows freely we might also find gluttonous drunkards.</div> <div>     Be aware!  We're not necessarily talking about a nightly activity!  We're only talking about a habit.  The habit might only be on weekends.  The habit might only be on <I>some </I>weekends.  The habit might only be on holidays.  But if there are people who can be depended on to overeat and over-drink, we have found people with whom the Bible counsels no close fellowship.</div> <div>     Why?  Because they have no self-control.  They are not in control of themselves; their desires control them.  One way or another, they cannot dominate their appetite for pleasure; they cannot keep it within proper bounds.  God has "given us richly all things to enjoy" (1 Tim 6:17), but moderately.  The enjoyment itself is broad and full of thanks, but the items consumed must be kept in proportion to our good.  Drunken gluttons don't mind this gauge.</div> <div>     Why shun them?  They will be "dispossessed," and we may suffer loss with them.  (Why do so many translations say they will "become poor"?  The Hebrew word means to possess, dispossess, or inherit, and so they translate it 98% of the time.)  The appetites which they have given the rein will indeed come to reign over them in one form or another.  They would not master themselves, so God justly appoints them other masters.</div> <div>     The fact that these new masters are cruel is seen in the last phrase.  They will be "clothed in pieces <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Bookman Old Style" ><I>of cloth</I></FONT>."  Their dispossession will lead to their poverty.  That is, as long as they give rein to their appetites, they will be divested of more and more of their property.  Irresponsibility will cause it to slip through their fingers little by little, or greediness will cause them to grasp so tightly that the lopsided mass tumbles.  Proverbs tells us the <I>direction </I>things move based on the <I>forces </I>in play.  These people lose more possessions the more self-gratifying they are.</div> <bR> <div>     Remember the previous proverb:  "<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >Do not let your heart envy sinners."  </FONT>The sinners won't abandon THEIR path to come on YOURS, so the only way to avoid their path is to avoid their close company.</div> <bR> <div>     A word of balance:  How far do we carry these concerns in the opposite direction- in the direction of abstinence?  Not a centimeter beyond sense.  The rule is not that the less wine and meat you consume, the holier you are.  Jesus had no problem consuming either.  He was actually accused of feasting, apparently on the basis of our proverb today!</div> <bR> <div> Luke 7:34<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, Behold, a man, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     Jesus acknowledged that he ate and drank.  Did He <I>over</I>eat or <I>over</I>-drink?  Not a bite nor a sip (or whatever measure of intake properly gauges these quantities).  To do so would have been a sin, and as a sinner, He could not have been our Savior.  <I>Our </I>exess of eating or drinking, then, would also call into question our relationship to Him as Savior.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="484" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCCC99 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 90 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 23:22</div> <div> Listen to your father, this one begot you, </div> <div> and do not despise your mother when she is old. </div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "This one begot you" does not flow very well with the first part of the sentence in English, but it is literal.  Most translators render it the same as they would had "this one" been left out:  "Listen to your father that begot you."  Perhaps "<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Palatino Linotype" ><I>for </I></FONT>this one begot you" would be a justifiable inclusion ("for"), retaining the emphasis of "this one" while forming a better complement to the first part of the verse.</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Commanded<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Listen to your father</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Do not disrespect your mother</div> <bR> <div> Reason for the First Command:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">He is the one who produced you</div> <bR> <div> Appended to the Second Command:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">When she is old / Because she is old</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     This verse is important in the structure of Proverbs.  It is a repetition that likely signals a new paragraph or 'page'.  The first parental mandate was right at the outset:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Proverbs 1:8</FONT>  My son, hear your <U>father</U>'s instruction, and do not forsake the law of your <U>mother</U></div> <bR> <div>     The next appearance may be more of a development of Solomon's opening themes:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Proverbs 6:20</FONT>  My son, keep your <U>father</U>'s commands, and do not forsake the law of your <U>mother</U>. </div> <bR> <div>     Then, most significantly, came the very beginning of the 'proverbs proper':</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Proverbs 10:1</FONT>  The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son makes a <U>father</U> rejoice, but the foolish son <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> his <U>mother</U>'s sorrow. </div> <bR> <div>     The next time we saw it, we marked a definite restart point, Solomon signaling the end of the first large section (10:1 - 15:19) and the beginning of the next:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Proverbs 15:20</FONT> A wise son makes a glad <U>father</U>, but a foolish man despises his <U>mother</U>. </div> <bR> <div>     Every time it has appeared, it has seemed obvious that Solomon is using it at least partly to organize his material:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Proverbs 19:26</FONT>  He who assaults <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>his</I></FONT> <U>father</U> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>and</I></FONT> chases his <U>mother</U> away, he <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> a son who causes shame and brings reproach. </div> <bR> <div>     Because it returns to his very first proverb, 10:1, Solomon can color a group of proverbs by his treatment of parental authority:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Proverbs 20:20</FONT>  Whoever curses his <U>father</U> or his <U>mother</U>, his lamp shall be put out in deep darkness. </div> <bR> <div>     The intensity is ratcheting up as we move through the collection, as if to say that those who ignore the further lessons of wisdom spurn authority more and amass greater judgment.</div> <bR> <div>     Now our verse today moves into new territory.  It is part of a paragraph enclosed by parental admontions, ours at 23:22 beginning it, and then 23:25 ending it:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>Proverbs 23:22</B></FONT>  Listen to your <U>father</U>, <B>this one fathered you</B>, and do not despise your <U>mother</U> when she is old. </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Pro 23:23</FONT>  Buy the truth, and sell <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>it</I></FONT> not, <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>also</I></FONT> wisdom, and instruction and understanding. </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Pro 23:24</FONT>  The <U>father</U> of the righteous shall greatly rejoice, and he who fathers a wise one shall even be glad in him. </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Pro 23:25</FONT>  Your <U>father</U> and your <U>mother</U> shall be glad, and<B> she who bore you </B>shall rejoice. </div> <bR> <div>     Notice the parallel phases in the first and last lines.  Our father generated us and our mother brought us forth, therefore we owe them honor.</div> <bR> <div>     Here is the unique role of this proverb.  It tells us outright what we may only deduce elsewhere:  that we owe our parents (mothers in particular) honor WHEN THEY ARE OLD.  The command to HONOR our parents stays intact throughout their lives.  Other commands may be subdivisions of this main instruction.  To "obey" parents is a <I>subdivision </I>of honoring them.  Then when we are on our own, we no longer owe them our obedience, but we still owe them our honor.</div> <div>  </div> <div>     What is the connection between birthing and good advice?  We are told to listen to our father on the basis of his having produced us.  Why should this make his advice automatically wiser or better than others'?  Simply because he sees a direct connection between himself and us.  He might give advice to others, but he is involved with his advice on a different level with his children.</div> <div>     More to the point, though, it is not what his advice is to <I>him </I>that matters most.  It is what his advice means to <I>us </I>as those generated by him.  A father does know something about us others don't know.  HE went into the making of us.  His genetic material is now our genetic material.  Spiritually speaking, he knows more about our weaknesses.  They were and are his, too.  He can see where we have advanced beyond him, but he can also see where we only <I>think </I>we have.</div> <div>     Because a father's advice touches us at a deeper level, we might tend to fear it.  So Solomon tells us to listen.  Don't find a reason to blow it off.  Don't justify yourself or be angry.</div> <bR> <div>     We all need a 'magic' alarm bell.  There are some dangers we just can't see coming.  Consulting God, of course, is our first line of defense, but having done so, God gives us predetermined sources through whom He generally speaks.  Parents are one such source, as we can see from our proverb today.  Parents can be wrong.  We are not to simply obey them when we're older, but we are bound to listen carefully to them, hearing from them insider information we cannot expect from elsewhere.  </div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="484" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCCC99 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 108 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 23:23</div> <div> Buy the truth, and sell <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>it</I></FONT> not, </div> <div> <I>also</I><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" > wisdom, and instruction and understanding. </FONT></div> <div>  </div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Buy" is from a Hebrew word used both for buying and for merely attaining.  Of the eleven times it is used in Proverbs of acquiring wisdom or such, only one other time, 17:16, seems to justify "buy" for some translators.  About half still use some word for obtaining rather than buying there.  In our verse today, most translations use "buy" because it is in obvious contrast to "sell," the plain Hebrew word for "sell."</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Commanded<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Buy the truth</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Do not sell <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#777777" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" ><I>the truth</I></FONT></div> <bR> <div> What you are buying along with Truth:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Wisdom</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Instruction</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Intelligence</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     This verse sounds unique.  We haven't been told to "buy" the Truth.  But Solomon has actually used the same word in a similar way:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Proverbs 17:16</FONT>  Why <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is there</I></FONT> a price in the hand of a fool to <U>get</U> wisdom, since <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>he has</I></FONT> no heart <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>for it</I></FONT>? </div> <bR> <div>     The word for "get" in this verse is the same as our word for "buy."  Several translations use "buy" in 17:16.  Proverbs 4:5, 7, and 16:16 are three more verses where Solomon tells us to "obtain" wisdom.  Virtually no translators use "buy" in those verses, though they obviously could.</div> <bR> <div>     Let us break up our study of this verse into three parts:  1)  What it means to buy truth;  2)  What it means <I>not </I>to sell truth, and;  3)  How wisdom, instruction, and intelligence are part of the permanent purchase of Truth.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <U>What it means to buy the Truth</U></div> <bR> <div>     We are exhorted to buy the Truth.  Most importantly and primarily, then, Truth is not naturally in our possession.  Nor does it <I>come </I>naturally into our possession.  Man in his natural state is truthless.  Being truthless cannot be considered a neutral stance; devoid of the truth, man natrually lies.  He lies about himself, God, and his neighbor.  To come into possession of the Truth, he must BUY it.</div> <bR> <div>     We must buy THE truth.  It will not do to buy A truth.  There is only one self-consistent, complete truth in the world.  It is in the Bible.  But it will not do to buy SOME truth<B>s</B>.  We cannot come to the Bible selecting the truths we notice or prefer.  We may not select our choices among available Bible truths.  Bible truths are only true as part of the <B>whole </B>Bible Truth.  Otherwise, it is ultimately a lie.*</div> <bR> <div>     The World is selling something else:  a nearly infinite variety of packaging and approach to the Lie.  This includes lying in the form of religion, even lying in the form of Christianity.  As liars, we ourselves will naturally buy what the World is selling.  The true Christian, though, has to call everything else offered a lie and BUY the Truth.  </div> <bR> <div>     What is it to BUY?  Primarily, it is to come into possesion of.  More particularly, it is to EXCHANGE valuables in my possession FOR possession of something else.  Most often we exchange money for a possession.</div> <div>     To buy is not to borrow.  If you have merely borrowed truth, you have not come into possession of it.  When God tells us to buy the truth, He is telling us to make a permanent transaction.</div> <div>     Truth cannot be bought for money, though.  What, then, is in my possession that I may exchange for Truth?  This is the most critical question (followed by the then equally critical question of whether or not I am willing to part with it).  We MUST buy the truth, but what with?</div> <div>     Jesus said:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Mark 8:35</FONT>  For whoever will <U>save his soul</U> shall lose it; but whoever shall <U>lose his soul</U> for My sake and the gospel's, he shall save it. </div> <div> Mar 8:36<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? </FONT></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Mar 8:37</FONT>  Or what shall a man give in <U>exchange </U><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I><U>for</U></I></FONT><U> his soul</U>? </div> <bR> <div> [All four occurrences of "soul" in the above passage are from the same Greek word, <I>psuchay</I>; many translations use "life" for the first two occurrences.]</div> <bR> <div>     This would suggest that our souls are tradeable commodities.  We can "save" our souls, hold them back, thus keeping from entering the transaction- no "buying" of Jesus taking place.  We can "lose" our souls, meaning that <I>they </I>are the 'money' with which we exchange- now we can "buy" Jesus/salvation.  (In verse 36, we can also "lose" our souls in the sense of consigning them to death.)  It is implied that there is no higher price a man can use in "exchange" <I>than </I>his soul.  His soul is himself.</div> <div>     Proverbs has already suggested that it is our very souls we must exchange to obtain the Truth:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Proverbs 4:13</FONT>  <U>Take fast hold</U> of instruction, do not let her go; keep her, for <U>she </U><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I><U>is</U></I></FONT><U> your</U> <U>life</U>.<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     Instruction in the truth is made equivalent to life.  If I have it, I have life.  If I don't, I'm therefore dead.  What do I give for it?  Well, what can I <I>hold back</I> and still expect to get it?  If I hold back anything, I won't be able to "take fast hold" of instruction.  Solomon pictures an all-out campaign.  I give my <I>life/</I>my <I>soul  </I>to obtain Life.  This is what Jesus is saying too.  I give <I>everything </I>about myself, all my effort, all my heart, and all my desire, in order to gain back true life from Him.</div> <div>     An important side note here is that we are not making an equal transaction.  It's not that our souls are <I>worth </I>eternal life.  Our sinful souls are not.  It's only that we canNOT come into possession of Jesus' life while still in possession of our own.</div> <bR> <div>     So-  Buy the Truth.  Give your whole self in order to secure it/ purchase it.  Hold nothing back.  All brain, all heart, all everything will be little enough to trade, the matter is so thorny.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <U>What it Means Not to Sell the Truth</U></div> <bR> <div>     We are next told "not to sell" Truth.  This meaning is simple enough now.  Once we have made the transaction to obtain Truth, don't allow any subsequent transaction to relieve us of it.  Simple to understand, gargantuan to achieve.  We sell off bits of the Truth any time we compromise it.</div> <div>     The World will definitely offer us a price for Truth.  Not that the world wants Truth; it just wants us to let it go.  The World will be happy with any degree of easing our grip on Christ.  The World will even offer us honor if we will but attenuate the Truth.</div> <div>     Another way to sell the Truth is to buy it in a package deal or as a mix.  Truth mixed with non-Truth is ultimately not truth.  There is, again, some proportion of the Truth even blameless saints compromise daily- a heart distracted from full devoteion to the Lord.  But there is a deadly proportion, too:  one or another of them we see in nearly every New Testament epistle:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Galatians 3:1</FONT>  O foolish Galatians!  Who has <U>bewitched</U> you, that you should <U>not obey the</U> <U>truth</U>, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was portrayed publicly among you as crucified? </div> <bR> <div>     Discerning the difference between a deadly mixture and a non-lethal one is important.  But it is mostly important in order to prosecute the capital errors in our midst.  If we calculate error in order to excuse our own mixture of it, we show a predilection for poison.</div> <div>     Diluting of the Truth includes a false lifestyle:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >2 John 1:4</FONT>  I rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children <U>walking in truth</U>, just as we received commandment from the Father. </div> <bR> <div>     THE Truth is a truth to be walked in, not merely believed.  Those whose doctrinal statement is full but whose pursuit of God is vacant or who walk in iniquity <I>have </I>no truth.</div> <bR> <div>     IMPORTANT NOTE:  Hucksters have some form of borrowed Christianity which they are selling.  This the best perspective from which to explain why the Bible makes such a big deal about following false teachers.  It is not assumed that you are likely to at least 'get saved' from their message, even though it is being taught out of the Bible.  It is assumed that someone preaching a <I>borrowed </I>Christianity vitually CANNOT pass on the <I>purchased </I>version, he can only convey a version which possesses <I>you</I>!</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Col 2:8</FONT>  Watch that there not be one <U>robbing you</U> through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ. </div> <bR> <div>     The phrase "robbing you" (Gk. <I>sulagogeo</I>) here means stealing <I>you</I>- yourself, your soul.  Colossians is written, as are most of the epistles, to make this kind of religious thief and theft recognizable.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <U>What Else We Must Purchase Along With the Truth</U></div> <bR> <div>    When We Buy Truth, our proverb tells us to lay hold of three other possessions equally doggedly.  The way these are presented in the verse, they may be a kind of definition of Truth.  Wisdom is the first part:  the complete remake of our thoughts and motives that develops when we fear God and are filled with His words.  Instruction is next:  our discipline of lifestyle that maintains what wisdom has gained.  Intelligence is last:  our ability to accurately define and decode all things from this attained and maintained perspective.</div> <div>     This insures to us what we already knew otherwise:  that Truth is not merely a collection of facts- not even religious facts.</div> <div>     These same three qualities are laid out at the very beginning of Proverbs:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Prov 1:2</FONT><B> </B> For knowing <U>wisdom</U> and <U>instruction</U>, For understanding sayings of <U>intelligence</U></div> <bR> <div>     This is the FIRST purpose statement for all of Proverbs.  Now we find the combo again in our verse, the only other time the three are so grouped.  They are a weighty company.  And they define Truth.</div> <bR> <div>     Jesus said He was the Truth.  Since it comes from Him, He embodies it.  Jesus didn't create Truth; it is part of Him.  Truth natrually flows from Him and represents Him.  If we love Him, we will love the Truth.  If we love the real Truth, we also necessarily love Jesus.</div> <bR> <div>     Have you bought Jesus?  Have you made exchange of your own soul- giving everything to possess His truth?</div> <bR> <bR> <div> *  <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >This is not to say that we have to comprehend the whole Bible at once.  It only means that wherever we reverse or stop the process, we are bound to move into error.</FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="563" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCCC99 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 133 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 23:24, 25</div> <div> The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice, </div> <div> and he who fathers a wise one shall even be glad in him. </div> <div> Your father and your mother shall be glad, </div> <div> and she who bore you shall rejoice. </div> <div>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Greatly rejoice" is the Hebrew word used twice, or a nearly identical word side by side, one a noun based on the other, a verb.  "Shall rejoice with joy" might capture it.  "Will spin with joy" would incorporate the root meaning for this word for joy.  The verb is used again as the last word in the verse.</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Subject<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The righteous person's father</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The man who bears a wise child</div> <bR> <div> True of the subject respectively:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Doubles his celebration</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">By that child he shall be gladenned</div> <bR> <div> Subject considered a second time<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Your own father and mother</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The woman who bore you</div> <bR> <div> True of the subjects respectively:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Will be glad</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Will celebrate</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     Perhaps the first item we should notice is that the righteous man is the same man as the wise man.  The wise man in line two is simply the synonym for the righteous man in line one.  Remember, the wise man and the righteous man are the two most prominent men in the book, the wise man being mentioned only a smidgen more than his twin (his alter ego, really), the righteous.</div> <div>     From this we perceive that there is no wisdom without righteousness.  Wisdom always essentially involves right versus wrong.  We further perceive that when one is righteous, his choice of what is right in every area of life- simple or complex as they are- insures us that he is also wise.</div> <bR> <div>     But the verse is essentially about children and their parents.  It answers this question:  What parent is happy?  The parent of the successful?  Of the chip-off-the-old block?  No, the parent who seeks to have his ambitions fulfilled through his children will not be happy.  He can only be satiated.  His self-satisfaction cannot pass for real happiness with contentment.  His is built on pride.  As long as he looks good in the 'mirror' of his child, he has something to crow about. </div> <bR> <div>     How about the parent of the child who is happy?  "If you're happy, that will make me happy."  Whatever happiness a parent feels in his child's happiness can quickly turn to sorrow when the child makes a wrong choice, especially when the parent clearly sees it.  "What?  You're leaving your spouse?  For <I>her</I>?  How could you?  What about your my grandchildren?"  Now the child's happiness appears in its true idolatrous light.  Worse, the parent might still feel compelled to applaud the child, consistent with the selfish basis for life he taught him.</div> <bR> <div>     No, our proverb answers the question by saying that it is the parent of the WISE and the RIGHTEOUS who has unconditional and permanent right to be happy.  Now the child will always be on the right course.  His business falls through?  That's alright.  Businesses fail.  That's not what life is about.  He made the right choices.  He didn't lie to keep his business afloat.  His new business will build from the mistakes of the old one.</div> <bR> <div>     This proverb is given specifically as motivation to a child.  Solomon changes persons in the second part, from third person to second person:  "Your" father; she who bore "you."  Children should be motivated to make their parents happy- the right way, of course, not at any cost; the right way- by being righteous and wise.</div> <bR> <div>     But notice this.  The wise, righteous man needs exhortation unto wisdom and righteousness.  He will only attain and maintain goodness by having many reasons laid before him.  That is, reasons like in our proverb are part of his overall motivation to be wise.</div> <bR> <div>     Who is the righteous whose father is glad of it?  The man who does things God's way.  Who is the wise, delighting his mother?  The one who is filled with the Word and Spirit sufficiently to see and operate from God's perspective.</div> <bR> <div>     Our proverb is weighty evidence that the fifth Word (honor your parents) of the Ten Words should be grouped with the God-oriented commands.  "He who fathers" and "she who bore" both remind us of God as the one who ultimately produces us.  Parents are His stand-ins early in life.  To obey them is to obey God.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="441" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCCC99 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 90 WIDTH="429"><div> Proverbs 23:26</div> <div> My son, give me your heart, </div> <div> and let your eyes watch my ways. </div> <div>  </div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Watch" is a word meaning to guard.</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Addressed<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">My son</div> <bR> <div> Commanded:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Put in my keeping</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Cause your eyes to guard</div> <bR> <div> Objects of commands respectively<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Your heart</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">My paths</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     Here is an utterly important lesson.  <U>Parents must ask their children for their hearts</U>.  This cannot be left to chance.  It cannot be assumed.  Parents must make this request and follow through on it in every way.  "Child, give me your heart."</div> <div>     The context of this request is plain.  Look at the very next verse:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Proverbs 23:27</FONT>  For a harlot <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> a deep pit, and a strange woman <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> a narrow well. </div> <bR> <div>     Clearly, the parent's request for his child's heart is a 'dibs'.  It is in light of the fact that others will come calling for his heart.  The foolish parent wavers at his right.  "Is not my child's heart his own?  What right do I have to demand it?"  Blind man!  <I>It is not for yourself</I> that you must take his heart!  You must take it in keeping <U>from all God's competitors</U>!  THEY will not waver at requesting your child's heart!!</div> <div>     Poor child- young man- whose parents never asked for his heart.  Of course he will give it away to the first pretty girl who asks:  give it in the wrong way, to the wrong degree.  The child was implicitly <B>trained </B>to give his heart away foolishly- his parents never took it in keeping.</div> <div>     Parent:  if you will not be bold enough to request your child's heart after the pattern of this verse, you will almost certainly lose his heart.  Perhaps you will gain it back, perhaps no, but you have the plain counsel of this example to avoid the loss in the first place.</div> <bR> <div>     WARNING.  You parent who demand your child's heart in your own name, YOU need to abandon your quest, then take up the task again in the name of Christ.</div> <div>     Many parents demand their children's hearts selfishly, out of insecurity, even from a greedy desire for affection and affirmation.  This does not follow the example of our proverb.  You take your child's heart NOT FOR YOU, but as his teacher and trainer in Christ.  You take his heart for Christ, same as you take your own for Him.</div> <div>     </div> <div>     Obviously, if either kind of parent- the timorous or the bold- does not take possession of his own heart in Christ- for Christ, he will do a poor job of it for his child as well.  Children are great discipline reminders.  I need prayer time in my life.  If I haven't mastered putting my heart in God's keep by prayer (prayer, which is a deep, intelligent response to God speaking), I will have little to offer my child except a bare mimicry of our proverb.  Still, this mimicry would be better than nothing if it is all we have.  It is better to request my child's heart and hope Jesus will fill in my huge gaps than to leave his heart a blank invitation for the first taker.  </div> <div>     Even the best parent will require Jesus filling in where he has not been the disciple or discipler he should have been.  If Jesus has your strongest, most consistent effort to start with, though, you have a promise:</div> <bR> <div> Proverbs 22:6  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >Give to the child instruction conformably to His way;</FONT></div> <div>    So he will not, when he becomes old, depart from it.                [Keil & Delitzsch]</div> <bR> <div>     Our proverb today ends by making a second request:  "<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >and let your eyes watch my ways"</FONT></div> <div>     "Watch how I do it."  It is the parent who can at least say, "I'm really trying to be a disciple of Jesus in every way" who can sincerely ask for his child's heart and ask him to "Do what I do."  Most parents, most professing Christians, would hesitate to call themselves actual disciples.  The definition us disciple fitting us somehow never comes up.  Even though we might easily be found saying we're doing our best, if we actually had to call our present behavior discipleship, we'd realize that we are very much our own men- not Christ's.  Much is not properly conceded to Jesus, and here we're talking about basic matters:  consecrated prayer time first thing every day, etc.</div> <div>     We MUST ask for our children's hearts, but we MUST be able to say, "Guide your heart <I>this </I>way- the way I do it" as well.  After all, how fit a holder of my child's heart am I if I am not an exemplary Christian?</div> <bR> <div>     Everything is a matter of life and death, because everything is part of life, and life is about life and death matters.  It's just that our duty towards our children forces the issue.  "I can't afford to be sloppy any more.  My child's heart is at stake.  To let myself go- to not disicpline myself in godliness- is to forfeit my child's heart to destructive contenders for it."</div> <div>     If we take his heart in keeping, we welcome his interaction with others meant to aid his sanctification.  We do not fearfully withhold or limit contact.  We do, however, keep watch on even the most trustworthy, for we do no less toward ourselves ("Don't lead me into temptation" = "Show me the betrayer in me.")</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="466" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCCC99 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 154 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 23:27, 28</div> <div> For a fornicator <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> a deep pit, </div> <div> and a strange woman <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> a narrow well.</div> <div> Surely she lies in wait, as <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>for</I></FONT> prey, </div> <div> and she increases the treacherous among men. </div> <bR> <div>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Fornicator" is a word that can refer to a male as well as a female (Joel 3:3).  We know it refers to a female here from the pronoun "she" in verse 28.  "Strange woman" is the feminine form of "stranger," referring in its regular masculine form mostly to foreigners.  The word is elsewhere translated "outlandish."</div> <div>     "Treacherous" is from a Hebrew word meaning to cover.</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Reason for a son to give a parent his heart<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">A fornicator is a deep pit</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">An exotic woman is a narrow well</div> <bR> <div> Her activities:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Indeed, as catching prey, she lurks</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">She adds to the deceitful among men</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     The word "for" means this passage is a reason.  It is a reason for a request given in the previous verse:  </div> <bR> <div> Proverbs 23:26<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes watch my ways. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     "Focus on me, son,"  Solomon says, "so your attention will not be stolen by fornication."  Solomon knows his son will find women attractive.  That's how God designed the male-female relationship.  But his son will have to find one women among them all to take as a wife- a lifelong asset and treasure.  Other women will be available prematurely, to divert the lad from this path of faithfulness and blessing.   </div> <div> <B>    They will know how to take him off  of God's path</B>.  It will come to them as naturally as breathing.  Making it a huge problem, <B>many of them will not even know they are fornicators themselves</B>, because they have not committed fornication yet.  For now, they are only flirts, not full-fledged fornicators.  They might even think that they would never let anything come of their flirtations, but they either lie to themselves or overestimate their own strength against tempation.  </div> <div>     Here is one of those girls.  She leads a lad on.  She wants to see if he will kiss her.  She is patient in the game.  It may even be her own first kiss.  </div> <div>     Having kissed, she herself is caught up in the game she was creating rules for.  Now the key element in the game becomes danger, and danger is intoxicating (Prov. 9:17).  How far will she let herself go?  She answers the question with the lad's aggression.  "After all, <I>he </I>is the one pressing.  I am the one holding him back as best I can."  </div> <div>     She may or may not be honest with herself about the endgame.  Or she may be honest and dishonest at the same time.  Wherever her conscience troubles her, she is dishonest in answer.  "Oh, I wouldn't let <I>that </I>happen.  It's all in fun."  But it is far from a mere game.  A very serious war has been declared on both of them by their own naivety.  The flames of passion are destroying two souls.</div> <div>     However far she advances in the impurity, her conscience is now clouded.  Part of her wishes she had maintained a solid line instead of seeking that first kiss.  The only way to answer her conscience is to <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Broadway" >turn up the music of the game</FONT> to drown it out.  Now she must keep going as far as the game leads, OR... break it off with the boy.  In this case, the game soon dictates:  Another boy, another kiss.  Except now the process will be more cynical.  Now she can't pretend it's an experiment.  She knows how it will play out.  She can lie to herself again, but she knows.</div> <bR> <div>     Could Solomon's description in our proverb be talking about the first-time fornicator we have been picturing?  Isn't he warning us of the experienced fornicator?  He is, but this 'woman of the world' got her start somewhere, and she is dangerous no matter what stage of her development she is in.  Solomon's warning would definitely INCLUDE the first-time fornicator.  </div> <div>     Any girl who has not drawn a strict line for herself- who wouldn't even stray near the <I>edge </I>of it- is a girl who could easily fornicate.  "Son," Solomon is saying,  "discern between innocent flirtation and an invitation to cross a line.  Fools among the young women don't know the difference.  Most young men don't either.  But you <I>must</I>."  </div> <bR> <div>     And this brings us to a definition of crossing the line.  Solomon's warning is useless without a definition of the line.  <B>Where </B>is it?  <B>What </B>is it?</div> <div>     Our modern world doesn't like the answer, but it is this: Touching.  When skin meets skin (including lip meeting lip), an excitement is sparked which cannot be satisfied any way but by more involved touching.  This is the line that must be drawn and not crossed.</div> <div>     Now we must say that it is not touching per se that is dangerous.  The boy in whose culture the kiss is a social greeting will not be unduly tempted by simply that.  It is the touch that manifests affection on a deeper level.  If he is limited to what is cordial, he can contain himself, even if he is especially attracted to a gal.  But once they have sat together and allowed their hands to meet and clasp or carress, for instance, he will not be satisfied by anything less, only by more.  Thus it is the <B>special touch</B> that is dangerous.*  </div> <div>     Similarly, the special touch becomes a sign to the girl that this is <I>her </I>fellow, not another girl's.  Quite different is the <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Colonna MT" >self-controlled</FONT> girl, who is able to maintain the boy's special relation to her <I>without </I>special touching.  Anyway, she knows the relationship will ultimately be temporary until they have committed to one another permanently.  A sign of possession until then would be a lie anyway.  The <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Colonna MT" >promiscuous </FONT>lass will be insecure and jealous, only assuring herself by the special touch (though she will demand other assurances as well, burdening the relationship).</div> <bR> <div>     The reason for all this is that <B><U>God designed</U></B><U> the special touch to denote possession</U>.  The lovers' touch is designed for marriage, when two people can finally, honestly CLAIM one another.  The process then naturally progresses from touching, to carressing, to kissing, to sexual arousal, to consummation of the marriage covenant.  Anyone who believes he can control this progression- stop it at any point along the way he wishes- is saying that he has rewired himself, overriding God's blueprint.  In short, he is lying.* * </div> <div>     The beauty of God's design is that it will take two inexperienced newlyweds exactly where they need to go.  They will benefit from all the pertinent information that wise counselors (such as parents) will give them for their honeymoon, but the process itself will be self-teaching.  The fornicator, on the other hand, will believe what the world claims as an excuse:  "You need sexual experience <I>before </I>you get married."</div> <bR> <div>     The girl who has not set her compass to reaching this one goal will be a trap for men.  She will be a "deep pit" and a "narrow well."  Both these figures are places where people FALL IN and are trapped.  Again, a boy is pictured as the victim of such a hazard.  Why?  Because he really does FALL for a girl.  Once he has strayed too near the 'edge', he falls as naturally as he would off a cliff.  Then he is stuck.  He would be able to trap the girl if it was a contest of physical strength, but she has much greater strength to detain him via fornication.***  Women enjoy this newfound strength.</div> <div>     A well and a pit also picture another aspect of the female fornicator.  She is empty.  Her soul is empty and she dreads filling it with something meaningful, so she becomes a dreadful perversion of femininity and makes the caging of men the filling of her giddy anxiety.</div> <bR> <div>     Is it unfair that Solomon pictures this as a one-way street?  The girl tempts the boy, but not the other way around?  The answer is this:  The girl has real power to pull the boy off track.  Feminine beauty is hypnotic to males.  This is why Solomon warns the boy frequently and the girl less so.  In romance, the female has the leadership instincts.  She can use the boy's magnetic attraction to her and take him where she will... UNLESS the boy knows not to get near enough for the magnetic pull.  Hence Solomon's warning.</div> <bR> <div>     The GAME we pictured is the same kind of game predators play in the animal kingdom.  The animal lies in wait.  The girl plans her moves as well.  The animal is instinctively genius in the hunt.  The girl as well.  "She lies in wait, as <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#777777" FACE="Bookman Old Style" ><I>for </I></FONT>prey."  </div> <div>     The victim when he is caught?  "She increases the faithless among men."  He is "eaten" and digested into her own borderless bowels (Prov 5:6).  She has no rules- only loyalty to herself.  "Oh, I was never in love with you.  I thought you understood."  </div> <div>     Tragically, the lad may learn to play the game of deceit as well, and he may become even better at it than the girl.  He will go forth to 'get even', breaking female hearts by insincere attachments.  The faithless among men <I>and </I>women are increased.  The casualities are many:  wounded people, bad marriages, divorces, children forsaken.</div> <bR> <div>     Again, our passage is a rationale.  "THIS is why you should give me your heart, son.  Those who would steal it to your harm are crafty, and the process is irreversible.  You have your chance now to listen and learn from me.  The other path will always be calling.  Buy LIFE, and stick to your choice against all the cries of the peddlers in the market places and alley ways."</div> <div>     Notice that Solomon isn't locking his child away from the 'real world.'  He TELLS him exactly what's out there.  Yes, <I>without </I>this warning, he <I>would </I>be foolishly INSULATING his boy and actually INVITING his downfall through ignorance.  But that's not God's way, as we can plainly see by His giving us this passage.  God tells us about the 'real world.'  And, no, we don't have to go down that path to see it's the wrong one.</div> <bR> <div>     Request your child's heart.  Tell him the alternative.  "Consecrate him in the instruction of God's path," Prov. 22:6.  Give God your own heart, parent.  Know the alternative to that as well.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >*  </FONT>Holding hands in <B>public </B>may be a similar custom for couples which <I>might not </I>proceed further than holding hands.  It will certainly be prone to excess if carried on in <B>private</B>.  There is nothing automatically innocent about holding hands.  All by itself, it can light a male completely on fire, setting all his systems to Go.</div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >* *  </FONT>Yes, you can <I>momentarily </I>override it, but doing so is like trying to derail a train as a mere passenger.  Once the process is started, you're along for the ride, <I>not </I>in the driver's seat.</div> <div> ***<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >  A boy's power to imprison a girl's soul is different.  She is in love with an ideal.  He is trapped by something God actually created to be binding: sexual relations.  Of course, the girl is similarly trapped.  She just finds it easier to see and treat the situation as leverage.</FONT></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Some verses with words or concepts from our passage</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>Prov 22:14</B></FONT>  The mouth of alien women <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> a <U>deep pit</U>; those despised <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>by</I></FONT> Jehovah shall fall there. </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>Pro 18:4</B></FONT>  The words of a man's mouth <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>are</I></FONT> like <U>deep</U> waters, the fountain of wisdom <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>like</I></FONT> a flowing stream. </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>Pro 20:5</B></FONT>  Counsel in a man's heart <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is like</I></FONT> <U>deep</U> water, and a man of understanding will draw it out. </div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>Eccl 7:24</B></FONT>  That which is far off and exceeding <U>deep</U>, who can find it out? </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Ecc 7:25</FONT>  And I turned my heart about, to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>of things</I></FONT>, and to know the wickedness of folly, and the foolishness of madness: </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Ecc 7:26</FONT>  and I found more bitter than death the woman whose heart <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> snares and nets; her hands <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>are</I></FONT> bonds. He who is good before God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be captured by her. </div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>Prov 5:15</B></FONT>  Drink waters out of your own cistern, and running waters out of your own <U>well</U>. </div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>Pro 1:11</B></FONT> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT>If they say, Walk with us, let us<U> lie in wait</U> for blood, let us secretly lurk for the innocent without cause,, </div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Pro 7:12</FONT>  At this time <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>she is</I></FONT> outside, now in the streets, and <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>she</I></FONT> <U>lies in wait</U> at every corner</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Pro 9:11</FONT>  For by me your days shall be multiplied, and the years of your life shall be <U>increased</U>. </div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="619" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCCC99 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 349 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 23:29 - 35</div> <div> Who <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>has</I></FONT> woe? Who sorrow? </div> <div> Who <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>has</I></FONT> contentions? Who <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>has</I></FONT> muttering? </div> <div> Who <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>has</I></FONT> needless wounds? Who <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>has</I></FONT> dimness of eyes? </div> <div> Those who dally at the wine, </div> <div> those who go to find mixed drink. </div> <div> Do not look at the wine when it is red, </div> <div> <I>when</I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" > it gives its color in the cup, </FONT><I>when</I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" > it goes </FONT><I>down</I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" > smoothly, </FONT></div> <div> at its last it bites like a snake, </div> <div> and it stings like an adder. </div> <div> Your eyes will behold strange things, </div> <div> and your heart shall speak perverse things; </div> <div>  and you shall be as one who lies down in the heart of the sea, </div> <div> or as he who lies on the top of a mast, </div> <div>  <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>saying</I></FONT>, They struck me! I was not sick! They beat me, <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>yet</I></FONT> I did not know. </div> <div> When I awaken I will add <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>to it</I></FONT>, I will still seek it. </div> <bR> <div>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Strange things" can also be "strange women," similar to verse 27, but from a different Hebrew word for strange.  The one in verse 33 is used for foreigners the vast majority of its 77 occurrences.</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being Considered<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Those who dally at the wine</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Those who go in search of mixed drink</div> <bR> <div> Questions Introducing the Drunkard:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Of whom <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" ><I>do we hear</I></FONT>, "Woe!" </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Of whom is their groaning?</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Who has quarrels?</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Whose are mutterings?</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Who has needless injuries?</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">To whom is murky vision?</div> <bR> <div> Counsel to Avoid this Fate:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Do not eye the wine when it is flush</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">When it flashes its eye at you in the cup</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">When it parades evenly <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" ><I>before you</I></FONT></div> <bR> <div> Reasons Urging this Counsel:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Afterwards it bites as a serpent</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">And disperses <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#888888" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" ><I>its </I></FONT>poison like a venomous snake</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Your eyes will see unfamiliar <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#888888" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" ><I>sights</I></FONT></div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Your heart will utter contradictions</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">You will be like someone who reclines in the heart of the sea</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Or like one who lies down in a <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#777777" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" ><I>ship's</I></FONT> crow's nest</div> <div> <I><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f080808000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Saying</I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" >, "They struck me, and I was not convinced;</FONT></div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">"They pounded me, yet I was not connected to it;</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">"When I arise- back to it!  I'll do it all over!"</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     And now the list is complete.  It's a list of two: the BIG two.  These are the two bombs that are most likely to derail the young man Solomon is warning.  The bomb in the previous passage is <B>fornication</B>; the bomb in this one is <B>drunkenness</B>.  These are the two destructive forces that wreck most young men.  So it was <I>before </I>Solomon's day, and so it remains until <I>our </I>day.  The factors that sidetrack most men from being men of God are fornication and drunkenness.</div> <div>     What is <U>fornication</U>?  Sexual activity (any sexual touching) outside the bounds of marriage.  More specifically, it is a sin against God's gift of human sexuality.</div> <div>     What is <U>drunkenness</U>?  Drinking enough alcohol that one loses control over any of his faculties.  Slurred speech, dizziness, a bobbing head:  any of these tell us we're no longer in complete control of ourselves.  So with <I>any </I>substance which saps our control.  A Christian may drink, but he must stop well short of this point.</div> <div>     Fornication and drunkenness do not have to be daily occurrences for them to characterize us.  All that's necessary for us to be either one is that we can be counted on to do them again.  If the only time I get drunk is at the office Christmas party, then I can be counted on to get drunk once a year.  It is impossible to define me as repentant until I can be counted on NOT to get drunk, annually or otherwise.  So even a once-a-year drunk is still a drunk.  Same with fornication.  Until it is 'sworn off' (no actual vow should need to be taken) completely and forever, I am a fornicator.</div> <bR> <div>     Notice that in our lengthy passage there is only one direct statement against wine's tempting allurement:  "Do not look on it."  Don't give it enough consideration that it may sway you.  Alcohol is permissible for the Christian, but if you begin loving it, it will control you.  Admire it, and it becomes a god with direct dominion.  This sway then banishes God as the controlling factor in our lives.</div> <div>     Solomon sees this, and he mainly deals with it by telling on the false god.  "The god is a cheat.  Look at what you get in the end."  Most of the passage is a diatribe detailing the drunkard's miseries.  Wine promises pleasure but gives pain.  You begin by admiring it in the glass and in the throat, but you end caught in its vice.  You have given it your life, but it has given you only multiplied sorrows.</div> <div>     Solomon paints a picture of the perfect sot.  Prisoner to a craving, prisoner to its beatings, yet pleading lover if it threatens to depart.  "Is that what you want to be, son?" Solomon probes.  "If so, just let wine begin to attract you."</div> <bR> <div>     "Of whom <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Bookman Old Style" ><I>do we hear</I></FONT>, "Woe!"  Of whom is their groaning?"  The drunkard ends pitiably.  We are revolted and see before us a hostage caged, covered in his own filth.  </div> <div>     "Who has quarrels?"   A drunkard fights.  He hates not being his own man.  He hates his cage; he thought intoxication was declaring his freedom.  He hates having his health sapped.  Now he hates life, and he does his best to make those around him hate it, too.</div> <div>     "To whom do we trace mutterings?"  The drunkard is in a trance.  When he is not tanked up, he is in a haze awaiting his fuel.  When he is high, he can't control his speech.</div> <div>     "Who has needless injuries?"  In his trance state, the drunkard stumbles around and wounds himself.  His fights earn him injuries as well.</div> <div>     "To whom is murky vision?"  The drunkard sees double.  He sees what is not there.  He concentrates his vision as poorly as he does his thoughts.  Notice that all these descriptions are true of any narcotic or hallucinogen.</div> <bR> <div>     Solomon's drunkard is in alcohol's last phase of dominion- a phase which can last long, miserable years.  You will not see him without a drink in his hand- or you will see him seeking to remedy that lack.  "Those who dally at the wine.  Those who go in search of mixed drink."</div> <bR> <div>     Solomon's picture of wine's persuasive powers, it's winking at you in the cup, speaks especially of its <I>initial </I>seduction.  Much like Eve, we look and say, "This is not poisonous.  I take a sip:  I'm alive.  What's all the fuss?  Why would I deny myself?"</div> <div>     Then Solomon fast forwards to wine's latter stages.  "Afterwards it bites as a serpent."  The stage at which I have no stopping point- where my conscience tells me I should ration my cups, but where, in reality, I keep saying, "Well, just one more"- the snake has struck.  The intoxicant "disperses its poison like a deadly snake."  You are its victim now.  You are dead to your own decision-making power.  You have consigned that authority to your chosen inebriant (and again, that could be alcohol or any other mind-altering drug).</div> <div>     "Your eyes will see the unfamiliar."  An appeal to many, though it shouldn't be.  Seeking adventure.  You get to visit strange new worlds in Drunken Land.  Is normal reality that bad, then?  And why visit a place where you have no control?  You want to experience freedom from inhibition?  It includes freedom from good inhibitions too, such as saying unkind or arrogant words that pop into your head.</div> <div>     "Your heart will utter contradictions."  Inside YOURSELF you will argue.  The voice of demons will have easy access to you.  But you sent them a written invitation.  "I don't want to be in charge of myself.  I choose freedom from responsibility."</div> <div>     "You will be like someone who reclines in the heart of the sea, or like one who lies down in a <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#777777" FACE="Bookman Old Style" ><I>ship's</I></FONT> crow's nest."  Remember that skill you learned when you were a baby- walking?  You want to go back and unlearn balance?  What's the point?  Is crawling such an advantage?  Only with this and your other newfound 'powers', you are not only pre-adult, you are also sub-human.</div> <div>     "They struck me, and I was not convinced.  They pounded me, yet I was not connected to it."  "Anesthetic!  Give me anesthetic!  It's wonderful to lose my feeling!  All the negatives you list are immaterial;  I can't feel them.  I've snipped my nerve endings completely."  But as the serpent analogy informed us, the anesthetic is actually poison.  I don't feel because I'm not alive.</div> <div>     But, of course, that leads to this:  I'll have to take my superman pill again as soon as this one wears off.  "When I arise- back to it !  I'll do it all over!"  This is the utter drunkard, whom the weekend drunkard is only occasions from becoming.  As long as I find it necessary to visit this fantasy land, daily life will seem more and more jarring and unsatisfying.</div> <bR> <div>     Fornication is an animal looking for prey.  Drink is a serpent of death for those who do not learn to fear sitting at its lair.  Both are fatal spiritually.  Will Solomon's son believe <I>him</I>?  Or will he believe his own senses?  "My new acquaintance has woman after woman, yet he seems friendly and an honest businessman.  He drinks too much at times, but it doesn't seem to have made him less loving or human.  I have no plans of adopting these practices, but they don't really seem deadly to me."</div> <div>     And therein is the rub.  Solomon is showing us the real, the spiritual, and therefore the final outcome.  Only a rare victim will SAY, "I'm entrapped by fornication.  I'm poisoned and dying of drug addiction."  Everyone still believes himself in control of his own life.  It IS a matter of faith for me.  Do I believe what <I>God </I>says about this person or what he says about <I>himself</I>?  Do I believe <I>God's</I> view of the spiritual realm, or do believe my <I>own </I>sense of things?</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="385" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCCC99 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 149 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 24:1, 2</div> <div> Do not envy immoral men, </div> <div> nor wish to be with them. </div> <div> For their heart studies coercion, </div> <div> and their lips talk of mischief. </div> <div>  </div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "With" could simply be "near."</div> <div>     "Studies" is one of the words for "meditating" on Scriptures.</div> <div>     "Coercion" is from a root word meaning "to swell up."</div> <div>     "Mischief" is from a root word meaning "to toil."</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Admonition<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Don't be jealous of bad people</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">And don't wish to be near them</div> <bR> <div> Reasons:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Their hearts meditate on conquest</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Their lips speak of schemes</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     Now Solomon revisits his Second BASIC ADMONITION of the book:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Prov 1:10</FONT>  My son, <U>if sinners lure</U> you, <B>do not be willing</B>. </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Pro 1:11</FONT>  If they say, Walk with us, let us <U>lie in wait for blood</U>, let us secretly lurk for the innocent without cause, </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Pro 1:12</FONT>  let us swallow them up alive as Sheol, and whole, as those who go down <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>into</I></FONT> the Pit, </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Pro 1:13</FONT>  we shall find all precious goods, we shall <U>fill our houses </U><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I><U>with</U></I></FONT><U> plunder</U>, </div> <div> Pro 1:14<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  cast in your lot among us, one purse shall be to all of us. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     The first admonition, just before the above, was to honor his parents:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>Prov 1:8</B></FONT>  My son, <B>hear </B>your <U>father's instruction</U>, and <B>do not forsake</B> the <U>law of your mother</U>; </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Pro 1:9</FONT>  for they <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>shall be</I></FONT> an ornament of grace to your head, and chains for your neck. </div> <bR> <div>     It is the <B>bad associate</B> who first threatenes to undo the benefit of parental honor.  The pull of the 'cool' crowd, or a particular 'cool' individual on a young person cannot be overemphasized.  They are gods who demonstrate control of their world.  Our children breathe in their magic.  It is intoxicating.  </div> <div>     Indeed, Solomon has just revisited both these themes again in our current context, and in their original order.  Just a paragraph or two previous to our present passage, we had this:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>Prov 23:22</B></FONT>  Listen to your <U>father</U>, this one fathered you, and do not despise your <U>mother</U> when she is old. </div> <bR> <div>     From there to today's verse, Solomon has included other threats to the young man's soul:  fornication and drunkenness in particular, but he has certainly repeated the pattern from the first page of the book.</div> <bR> <div>     We might also name this a THIRD threat to derail the young man.  First fornication (23:27, 28), then drunkenness (23:29-35), now envy of sinners (24:1, 2).  </div> <div>     In fact, this is part of a larger complex that stretches back before our recent parental admonition (23:24-26).  There we had another warning against drunkenness (23:20, 21):</div> <bR> <div> Prov 23:20  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >Do not be among those who drink much wine, among gluttons for flesh for themselves, </FONT></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Prov 23:21</FONT>  for the drunkard and the glutton lose all, and sleepiness shall clothe <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>a man</I></FONT> with rags. </div> <bR> <div>     As well as another caution against envy of sinners:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Prov 23:17</FONT>  Do not let your heart envy sinners, but only <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>be</I></FONT> in the fear of Jehovah all the day. </div> <div> Prov 23:18<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  For surely there is a hereafter, and your hope shall not be cut off. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>    By returning to the original admonitions, is Solomon signaling us that, having completed a block of instruction, he now begins with a new block?</div> <bR> <div>     As to the instruction itself, what is the DUTY pressed upon the young person in our passage today (as well as in the passage just above)?  Mainly to adopt the right ATTITUDE regarding immoral people.  That attitude is a negative one:  We must NOT allow ourselves to envy them.  Make sure your attitude is FREE of envy where the immoral are concerned.</div> <div>     The first challenge involved is this:  IDENTIFYING the immoral.  Who ARE the evil people Solomon adjures us not to envy?</div> <div>     The second challenge after identifying the immoral is this:  to <U>realize how attractive they are to us</U> OR how attractive they are IN COMPARISION to a less desireable aspect of our own lives.</div> <bR> <div>     As to the first challenge:  The immoral are those who live without the restraint of God's law in one or more areas of their lives.  That defines their immorality.  More importantly, the immoral WHOM WE ENVY are those whose immorality we are likely to take LIGHTLY.  "Well, yes, he does drugs, but he's such an amazing singer."  We probably think of celebrities first.  And they certainly are on the list.  They are magnetic.  On one end of their magnet, they attract us; on the other end of it, they somehow repel any adhrence to a charge of immorality.  We seem to automatically justify them.</div> <div>     The immoral who may do us the most damage are church folks who are not under the rule of Christ.  "He's a Christian guy, but I watched some TV with him, and his favorite show had a fair amount of crude humor."  Perhaps now we see where his own sense of humor was honed.  And his humor was something we liked about him.</div> <div>     Immediately, our conscience is skewered.  We have no easy choice.  We may seem unreasonably moralistic if we even bring up the standards of the TV show.  We feel uncertain whether we could train our friend away from his preference.  We realize now how important joking was to our friendship.  How deep a friendship really was it?  And what real evidences of righteousness were in his life, after all?  But he is a truly likeable guy.</div> <div>     If a Christian youngster (or grown up for that matter) is caught on the horns of such a dilemma, the greater his fondness for the friend, the greater the dilemma.  My own fleshliness has been exposed.  Why didn't I detect a hole in my friend's character?  It must've been a weakness in me that was drawn to the weakness in him.  Now I seem irreversibly compromised.  Bringing up standards at this point will look shallow and hypocritical.  It may seem that I am merely seeking a pretext to end our friendship, when, in fact, I still like the person.  And what's so wrong about the crude humor anyway?  It's all in fun.</div> <bR> <div>     The actual identifiers Solomon gives for the 'bent' is their talking about how they do or will control things.  This talk betrays premeditation, which is just to say that it is in their nature, so they think it and plan it.</div> <div>     This control can take two basic tacks.  One is in defying authority, the other is in outright sway of people or situations.  Both the rebellion and the manipulation can be very subtle.  In fact, it might even be couched in good-natured terms.  "We don't really want to do any harm, but this <I>would </I>be fun."</div> <div>     To the Christian even wary enough to recognize the situation, the command is twofold:  Don't envy them- a command to our attitudes or heart; and don't wish to be near them- a command affecting our fellowship with them.  The first command aims at us inwardly, the second outwardly.    </div> <div>     Neither command is effective without the other.  If we stay away from them but wish we didn't have to, we have not gained wisdom.  If in our hearts we know the wrong being done yet can't break off contact, we are still part of the offender's sin.</div> <bR> <div>     Once again:  don't ask <I>whether </I>you are envious of a sinner, ask <I>which </I>sinner you envy.  And realize that your envy might take the form of <B>spite</B>.  You <I>seem </I>to despise the bent one*, even thinking so, when actually you are only begrudging him his freedom to enjoy sin while <I>you </I>are tied to your restrictions.  You have virtually adopted his frame of thinking:  What a repressive way of life Christianity is!</div> <bR> <bR> <div> *  <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >Actually a Biblical frame of mind if it can be adopted on the basis of God being our sole delight and reference point, Ps 15:4- but a tall order to truly achieve.</FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="466" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCCC99 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 150 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 24:3, 4</div> <div> Through wisdom a house is built, </div> <div> and it is established by understanding, </div> <div> and by knowledge the inner parts shall be filled </div> <div> with valuable and delightful substance. </div> <bR> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>     "Built" is from a Hebrew word used 376 times for all kinds of building: houses, cities, and altars mostly; also walls; probably most interestingly "woman" in Gen 2:22.</div> <div>     "Established" is from a Hebrew word meaning "to erect," and is used of God making the heavens, Prov 3:19; 8:27.</div> <div>     "Fill" is from a Hebrew word by which God told Adam to multiply and "fill" the earth, Gen 1:28.</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Vehicle for the Lesson<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">A house</div> <bR> <div> What must be done for the house:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Build</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Establish</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Fill its inner parts with valued and pleasing assets</div> <bR> <div> Tools necessary to accomplish the 3 above, in order:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Wisdom</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Intelligence</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Knowledge</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     What kind of house are we trying to build here?  Any kind.  Anything that can be called a house is an undertaking requiring wisdom.  Possibly least important by comparison, though still applicable, is a literal house:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Eccl 10:18</FONT>  By slothfulness <U>the building</U> decays; and through lowering of the hands <U>the house</U> leaks. </div> <bR> <div>     Wisdom wards off laziness and inaction and attends to domicile maintenance.  But even this is really an analogy in its Ecclesiastes context. </div> <div>     Solomon has already spoken of "houses" in various ways 27 times before today's proverb.  Besides talking about a physical house about half the time, several of the instances equate to what we would term "household," such as:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Prov 14:1</FONT>  A wise woman <U>builds</U> her <U>house</U>, but the foolish pulls it down with her own hands.<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     This verse also uses the same word for "build" as today's verse.  Proverbs only has the combination of "build" and "house"  four times.  The final one certainly seems to speak of a literal house, later in our chapter:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Pro 24:27</FONT>  Prepare your work outside, and make it fit for yourself in the field, and afterwards <U>build</U> your <U>house</U>.<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT></div> <div>     </div> <div>     Though the ramifications of this, too, are beyond just physical houses.  The other combination of the two words is the first one in the book:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Prov 9:1</FONT>  Wisdom has <U>built</U> her <U>house</U>; she has hewn her seven pillars. </div> <div> Pro 9:2<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  She has slaughtered her beasts; she has mixed her wine; she has also set her table. </FONT></div> <div> Pro 9:3<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  She has sent out her young women to call from the highest places in the town, </FONT></div> <div> Pro 9:4<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  "Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!" ...</FONT></div> <bR> <div>     Here we see that Wisdom has already gone to the trouble of building a house just so she can show hospitality to any who will come.  Sad that so few turn in.  Our verse tells us our reward when we hear Wisdom's invitation.</div> <bR> <div>     "House" is also combined with "establish" elsewhere, as it is in our verse, most directly of establishing David's "house" (there mainly his lineage), 1 Sam 7:24, and of Jehovah's house (the Temple) being established, Isa 2:2; Mic 4:1.  </div> <div>     "House" is not combined with "knowledge" in any verses (not even in ours, appearing a verse later).</div> <bR> <div>     One more word study insight:  the words wisdom, intelligence (usually translated "understanding"), and knowledge only occur together in four verses (again, not even our passage, which is two verses long).  Three of them are about men filled with God's Spirit for the task of building first the Tabernacle (Bezaleel in Exod 31:3; 35:31), then the Temple (Hiram in 1 Kings 7:14).  The fourth is in Proverbs:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Prov 2:6</FONT>  For Jehovah gives <U>wisdom</U>; out of His mouth <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>are</I></FONT> <U>knowledge</U> and <U>understanding</U>. </div> <bR> <div>     So whatever we learn about house building today, we know that God is the only source of our construction tools.</div> <div>     Again, then, whatever the Bible calls a HOUSE presents us with the task of building and furnishing it wisely.  This includes the <B>Church</B>:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >1 Tim 3:15</FONT><B>  </B>but if I am delayed, <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>I write</I></FONT> so that you may know how it is necessary to conduct oneself in the <U>house</U> of God, <U>which is the church</U> of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth.</div> <bR> <div>     And it includes our own <B>bodies</B>:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >2 Cor 5:1</FONT>  For we know that if <U>our earthly house</U>, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made by hand, eternal in the heavens. </div> <bR> <div>     God's house, the Church, must be built wisely.  My own personal temple- my body- takes intelligence to erect as an upright vessel before God.  My household- my family- requires extensive Biblical knowledge to beautify with healthful furnishings.  </div> <div>     But how can I insure that wisdom, intelligence, and knowledge are my tools for all this building God has given me to do?</div> <bR> <div>     One means is to consider the ways in which each work provides a foundation for the next phase of building.  We are to <B>build</B>, <B>establish</B>, and <B>fill</B>, in that order.  There is a logical succession to these tasks which keeps wisdom, intelligence, and knowledge in all we do.</div> <bR> <div>    First of all, as to overall plans:  <B>Wisdom </B>sees the whole picture; <B>intelligence </B>focuses the picture here, there, or generally; <B>knowledge </B>further trims, frames, hangs, and shows the picture.</div> <div>     More broadly:  <B>W</B>isdom creates, <B>i</B>ntelligence settles, and <B>k</B>nowledge occupies/ details.</div> <div>     To describe them:  <U>W</U>isdom is vision and energy; <U>i</U>ntelligence is comprehension and perseverence; <U>k</U>nowledge is application.</div> <bR> <div>     Notice that in all three of the analogies above, knowledge is almost the opposite of theory.  Knowledge takes the role of DOING- "filling" in our verse.  When we hear knowledge compared to wisdom, it is usually wisdom which is the application, knowledge the theory.  </div> <div>     That's because we're used to thinking of knowledge as bits of information, data.  Biblically, this sells knowledge very short.  Knowledge includes data, but to shear it back it merely that- well, it makes it even less than a skeleton (which is at least essential in its own right); more like bits of long-parched bone scattered about in no order which we find only isolated uses for.</div> <div>     True Biblical knowledge "fills the inner parts" of the house.  It is the most immediately and apparently useful of the three building tools.  It gives us the items we see, touch, and implement FROM our souls and TO other areas in our lives (but to our own souls as well).  </div> <bR> <div>     Ours is the only verse in Proverbs where "inner parts" (six occurrences) includes the chambers of a literal house (again, used mainly as an analogy).  Solomon otherwise uses "inner parts" of our inner man (mostly of the place where gossip nestles in), and one time of the chambers of Sheol.  Solomon therefore tends to see inner parts in a very personal manner.  The inner parts of a house are its intimate, cosy places- the rooms where living is done.  Knowledge fills these spaces with "all significant and pleasing assets."</div> <div>     Knowledge furnishes our souls with these many items, but they are all so useful and fitting as to seem essential.  But with knowledge, we don't have to go without any of the lovely accoutrements.  We don't have to sell any of them off in lean times.  We don't have to worry about storing any in the attic because they have gone out of fashion or become time-worn.  They are always ours and they only improve with age and use.  We can only lose them by losing a relish for knowledge itself, or her companions.</div> <bR> <div>     <B>W</B>isdom is what we SEE with eyes (formerly blind) touched by the Nazarene.  <B>I</B>ntelligence is the organization of our MIND, taking in all of Scriptures that we can now see by wisdom.  <B>K</B>nowledge is the USE of what we thus comprehend by God's enablement.  </div> <div>     <U>W</U>isdom builds the <B>whole </B>house.  Everything for life is supplied by our fear of God, our listening to His life-giving words.  <U>I</U>ntelligence establishes the house, securing its <B>stability </B>and completeness in every phase.  Intelligence is just wisdom enjoying the details and the beauty, symmetry, and connection of the whole.  <U>K</U>nowledge further distills these details and this broad comprehension into <B>sayings </B>which well represent the beauty, truth, and power of the whole project- be it church, home, or self.</div> <bR> <div>     Build.  Look at every undertaking in life as a building project.  Build wisely.  TAKE Wisdom for your working companion.  Know that folly is the material this world provides, so you must keep your love for intelligence clear and close.  Likewise, you have no natural comprehension of the most vital and basic elements of reality, so you must 'pay' knowledge (Prov 23:23) to be your live-in cohort and consultant.  Buy and build.</div> <div>     </div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="486" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCCC99 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 150 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 24:5, 6</div> <div> A wise guardian <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> in strength: </div> <div> yes, a man of knowledge awakens vigor. </div> <div> For you will wage your war by consultation, </div> <div> and deliverance <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> in the abundance of advisors. </div> <bR> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >   "Guardian" in our proverb is probably a bit of a double entendre.  The Hebrew word is usually used to denote simply "man," but it is closely connected to the main Hebrew word for "warrior."  </FONT>Its root word clearly has to do with "prevailing."  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >Since this particular "man" is said to "wage war" in our passage, some word closer to "warrior" would seem justifiable.  Young's has it, "Mighty is the wise in strength," and the word is translated "mighty" elsewhere too.</FONT></div> <div>     "Knowledge" is the same as in the previous verse.  Of its 96 usages, it is mainly a Solomon word, mostly in Proverbs.</div> <div>     "Awakens" is based on the definition of the Hebew word, "alert."  "Establish" and "strengthen" are common translations among its 41 appearances.</div> <div>     "Abundance of advisors" can be, as it was in 15:22, "much advice."</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Initial subject<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">A wise fellow (who is also...)</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">... A knowledgable man</div> <bR> <div> Descriptions in order:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Stout</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Hardens his resolve/ fortitude</div> <bR> <div> Transition to personal advice:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">You will accomplish your own battle</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">By means of "steerage" (effective advice)</div> <bR> <div> Final axiom:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Help <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" ><I>comes </I></FONT>in plenty of consultations</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     Each proverb is its own unique little package.  There is a certain similarity between many proverbs and between all the proverbs in general, but on closer inspection, Solomon uses the formula of two-line parallels (and multiples of them, as in our passage) with almost infinite variety.  Even when he copies a line verbatum from a previous proverb, as he has done today, Solomon still manages to craft each proverb like a piece in a Swiss watch.  No part can be adequately replaced by its neighbor.  By the same analogy, each piece works harmoniously with every other piece, assembling a beautiful apparatus in it totality.</div> <bR> <div>     In this proverb, a wise man's whole life is seen in a military context.  In his day-to-day activities, he is waging war.  Everything he does requires wisdom and knowledge; therefore, he must plan his daily course.  This plan picks its way through enemy territory, or at least watches out for enemy ambushes.  Where might danger lurk?  When might I be vulnerable?  This is a military outlook and one commended to us in this proverb.  </div> <div>     Sound tiring?  The soldier does his preparations up front, in boot camp.  Then he takes his tough mentality into the war zone.  He lives alertness, because that is what will take him home safely.  That is his "deliverance," as our proverb has it.  The Christian has a mini-boot camp every morning, setting his mind on God and spiritual reality in his morning devotions.  He goes into each day with "deliver me from evil" on his lips.</div> <bR> <div>     The Christian is not only a military man but a strong man.  "A wise man is strong" is the most basic rendering of the first phrase.  Our military outlook is not pretend.  It's not "as though" we were in battle:  we ARE.</div> <bR> <div> Eph 6:11<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the Devil. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     The "Slanderer" (literal for "Devil") has tactics against us whether or not we prepare counter-tactics.  The man who doesn't prepare is a 'sitting duck.'  On a real battlefield (and again, we're on one), he is long dead.  </div> <div>     Most who claim to be Christians have never entered the battle.  Whatever pretense they made at discipline in guarding their minds and habits, their actual lack of preparation has left them as training camp dropouts.  Oh, they may look very active, but they are not alive to God.  They may operate by some wisdom, but not a Biblical one (though it is full of Biblical phrases).  They may be strong, but not with the Spirit's strength through  filling with the Word.  All is cleverly counterfeited in the pretend army which each generation of pseudo-Christian darkness sires.</div> <bR> <div>    "The wise man is strong."  That is, the wise man as Solomon has extensively defined him in Proverbs.  HE is "in strength," for wisdom IS strength.  If we see a man with no power, there is none of God's wisdom in him.  If it is only ideas with no force, it is not wisdom.  Wisdom is force; it moves things.  It moves our lives, including moving them <I>away </I>from temptation, moving them <I>toward </I>God.  This is why wisdom has to take up residence within us.  With it alone can we move along a tactically safe line.</div> <div>     We have seen this implied in all we have said thus far, but <B>where </B>is this battle taking place?  YOUR battle is taking place in YOUR soul.  You are battling YOURSELF in seeking to attain and maintain self-control.  Solomon put it, "you will accomplish <U>your own battle</U>."  If we never met another soldier, we would still be locked in mortal combat all our lives.  (As it is, every other soldier God has enlisted is part of our battle, too).</div> <div>     "The man of knowledge hardens his resolve."  Notice that Solomon flows from the "wise" man to the "knowledgeable" man without comment.  They are the same man every time.  There is a <I>false </I>variety of both wisdom <I>and </I>knowledge, but the <I>true </I>version of <I>one </I>always includes the <I>other</I>.  And what does the knowledgeable man do?  He "awakens vigor."  That is, <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Castellar" >what he <B><U>knows</U></B><B> </B>makes him sound the alarm internally</FONT>.</div> <div>     What does he know that hardens his fortitude?  Well, what does he know that <I>wouldn't</I>?  Knowledge of his own sinfulness will awaken him.  Knowledge of the devil's schemes will kick him into battle mode.  Knowledge of God's unbiased scrutiny of his good and evil will put his security alert on high.  Yes, the whole range of reality, when he is aware of it- truly knows it- will make him a veritable soldier without further motivation.</div> <bR> <div>     Now Solomon brings his observation to its real point.  He is presenting the wise man's warrior status as a given.  Now he gives his advice to the soldier.  "You will accomplish your own military campaign by means of advice."  He shifts from third person about the wise man, "He is...", to second person, "You are..."  This is reminiscent of a sermon.  Proclaim the truth, then make it personal.  State a general certainty, then bring it home to the saints' hearts.</div> <div>     But this being the point, still, what IS the point?  The point is that wise men are not headstrong commanders in military strategy.  They take advice.  That is, they KNOW they can be wrong, they know they are PRONE to make the wrong decision, so they take steps to insure that their tactics are not flawed.  They double check and triple check.  They resort to history:  where similar battle plans went amiss in the past.  They consort with the wise:  "Where do you see a defect in my thinking, friend?"  They consult God in two ways:  by prayer and by Scripture.  1)  By prayer.  "You who see all things, show me where I may be blundering into a trap."  2)  By Scripture, being able to LISTEN to God's counsel in His whole Word.  Able to take in many truths in many ways from many Scriptures or few.  These form the grid of my thinking by which I test (or through ignorance fail to test) everything before me.</div> <div>     But someone will say, "Forget all the other advice.  I'm just going to God- Scriptures and prayer.  That's it."  To be sure, this is the main source of our "much advice."  But Solomon could have used better terminology if consulting God were all he meant.  The usual translation of our verse is by far "many counsellors."  Our verse has a companion verse:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Prov 11:14</FONT>  In the absence of <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>wise</I></FONT> <U>counsels</U> the people fall, <U>but safety </U><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><U>is</U></FONT><U> in abundance of counselors</U>. </div> <bR> <div>     As we mentioned earlier, the latter half of this verse is exactly replicated in our verse today.  The word "counsels" is the same Hebrew as our "consultations" or "steerage."  In Proverbs 11:14, the verse seems to have definite reference to the community flow of discussion in general and good advice surrounding the leaders in particular.  There we said that when leaders stop listening, the populace is cut off, and that nation is moving towards death.</div> <div>     Today Solomon seems to have purposely translplanted this phrase into a context of individual concern.  By saying "your own battle," Solomon points away from nations and leaders and points to us as individuals.  "Nations have their concerns, defenses, and strategies, but <I>you </I>need them too, if you would be wise."</div> <div>     Solomon is the only one to use this phrase, "much advice/ many counselors," and he uses it one more time:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Prov 15:22</FONT>  Without counsel purposes are broken, but by <U>many counselors</U> [<I>or </I><U>abundance of counsels</U>] they rise. </div> <bR> <div>     This reference seems to 'split the difference,' as it were, between Proverbs 11:14 and our verse today, Proverbs 24:6.  Indeed, it occurs between them in the flow of Proverbs.  Proverbs 15:22 speaks of plans in general, not mainly national ones <I>or </I>individual ones but including both.</div> <bR> <div>     We have applied the phrase "your own battle" to our inner combat with sin.  That makes it a parallel passage with Romans 7, where we see the Christian waging war internally with the sin in himself.  We can equally apply the phrase to "our own battle" with the <B>world</B>.  The objective of the world is the same as the sin within us:  to pull us down, to keep us away from God.</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >2 Cor 10:4, 5</FONT>  for the weapons of our warfare <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>are</I></FONT> not fleshly, but powerful to God to the <B>demolition </B>of strongholds, the demolishing of <U>arguments</U> and every high thing lifting up <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>itself</I></FONT> against the <U>knowledge</U> of God, and bringing into captivity every <U>thought</U> into the obedience of Christ</div> <bR> <div>     Like the Devil, the world is at war with us whether or not we fight back.  If we can't ARGUE down the world's positions, it's because we've already settled for a cessation of hostilities.  We're at peace with the world.  We come into this world as its son.  To truly choose Christ is to turn traitor to the land of our birth.  If our choice of Christ is not a repudiation of the world, then we have never really chosen Christ.  </div> <div>     Modern Christendom offers us Christ AND the world.  Christ Himself makes no such offer.  Therefore, to truly choose Christ is also to repudiate all forms of Christianity which sit in the world's lap (including some who <I>claim </I>to be chief <I>opponents </I>of worldliness).  But as we have already said, it is also to repudiate our own selves, so we could never renounce any segment of apostate Christendom self-righteously.  However, to be righteous (an opposite of self-righteousness) we must speak to apostacy with every Biblical claim and renunciation (many being in the book of Hebrews, as an example).</div> <bR> <div>     War is Hell said General Sherman in the Civil War.  Truly, Hell is never far away from any of us, and we are called to war in relation to it all our days.  We war against our proclivity to return to the path to Hell.  We war against the doctrines and dictates of those who are bound there.</div> <div>     Solomon uses our word for <B>war </B>in two other proverbs.  </div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Prov 20:18</FONT>  Purposes are established in <U>counsel</U>; yes, make <U>war</U> with <U>wise guidance</U>. </div> <bR> <div>     The word for "counsel" here is has more to do with deliberation; the word for "wise guidance" is the word in our verse today; it connotes more the change of direction.  Importantly, Solomon connects them to the idea of battle.  Battle needs deliberation.  The combatant without strategy is doomed to failure.  </div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Prov 21:31</FONT>  The horse <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> made ready for the day of <U>battle</U>, but to Jehovah <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>belongs</I></FONT> <U>deliverance</U>.<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     This verse shares not only our word for war ("battle" in this verse), we also see our same word for "deliverance" again.  The view of battle given here is that of a dangerous encounter from which we seek to escape unharmed.  The idea of victory or overcoming an enemy are not primary.  It is <B>escaping </B>with our skin (1 Peter 4:18).  And God gets the credit for that.</div> <div>     Life is indeed a dangerous proposition:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Matthew 10:17</FONT>  But beware of <U>men</U>. </div> <bR> <div>     Ever since the Fall, man has been a bad guy to anyone who is a good guy.</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >John 15:19</FONT> If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the <U>world hates you</U>. </div> <bR> <div>     The world knows us and sends 'antibodies' out against us as immune systems send them out against threatening matter.</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >1 Peter 5:8</FONT>  Be sensible, <U>watch</U>, because your <U>adversary</U> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>the</I></FONT> Devil walks about as a roaring lion seeking someone he may devour </div> <bR> <div>     Finally, the Devil himself is pulling the strings to pull the rug out from under us, to smother us with it, roll us up in it, to drop us in the bay, securely tied.  He will certainly seek to suffocate any testimony of Christ in the world.  Christ-bearers are his enemies.  Those who are outspoken for Christ (that is, who vocally repesent Christ and His Truth before men) are hated targets of his.  To come out of encounters with him 'alive' requires unusual bravery, because he knows how to utterly intimidate, how to get blood:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Eph 6:13</FONT>  Because of this, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be <U>able to</U> <U>withstand</U> in the <U>evil day</U>, and having accomplished all things, <U>to stand</U>. </div> <bR> <div>     The "last man standing" rule seems to apply to spiritual warfare.  In this case the "consultations" Solomon is advising us would be mostly PRAYER:  prayer seeking God's guidance, prayer with brothers- them seeking God's guidance for us and with us, and simply making known our spiritual battle SO that the saints may pray for them:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Eph 6:18</FONT>  through <U>every prayer</U> and <U>petition</U>, praying in <U>every season</U> in the Spirit, being <U>watchful</U> to this same thing with <U>all perseverance</U> and petition concerning all the saints-- </div> <bR> <div>     Notice that this is the conclusion of the Spiritual Warfare passage quoted just before it.  The idea of deliverance is prevalent again when James brings it up:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >James 5:16</FONT>  Confess your deviations <U>to one another</U>, and pray for one another, so that you may be <U>healed</U>. The effective <U>prayer</U> of the righteous is very powerful. </div> <bR> <div>     This is an excellent commentary and adjunct to our proverb today, perhaps the best in all Scripture.  We are here to confer with other believers, especially about our battle weaknesses (deviations, where we are not measuring up in the war of righteousness, 2 Cor 6:7).  We then take this conference to the next level by praying about it.  We have conferred with men so that they may confer with God on our behalf (and we on theirs).  These we do expecting needed healing- deliverance from the deficiencies that make us vulnerable in the daily battle against our own sin (Rom 7:24, 25).</div> <bR> <div>     "The wise man is strong."  He is strengthened to this degree perhaps chiefly (ironically) by acknowledging his faults.  He "awakens vigor."  He is always on the watch for his faux pas.  That is what makes him a soldier of the real battle, where the main enemy is within:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Rom 7:22</FONT>  For I delight in the law of God in my inner being, but <U>I see in my body</U> a <U>different law</U> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" ><B><U>waging war</U></B></FONT> with the law in my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin that exists in my body. </div> <bR> <div>     Prisoners to a lifelong death match.  Sounds glorious and romantic.  It isn't.  Only the outcome is.  We've got a long way before we're there.  Be strong.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="459" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCCC99 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 90 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 24:7</div> <div> Wisdom <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> inaccessible for a fool, </div> <div> he does not open his mouth in the gate. </div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >   "Inaccessible" is from a Hebrew word which can mean either "raised" or "corals."  Most versions have something like "too high."  "Corals" live in the ocean, a world inaccessible to the fool.  "Inaccessible", perhaps ill-advisedly, seeks to capture somethings of both possible meanings or 'split the difference' between them.</FONT></div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being considered<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The fool (the perverse one)</div> <bR> <div> Descriptions:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Wisdom is inaccessible to him</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">He doesn't have input in a consequential public forum</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     The ancient "gate" corresponds to our courthouse in many ways.  Judicial decisions were made there.  There entrance to the city was granted.  There a forced exit from the city was sometimes imposed.</div> <div>     The gate was a place where important decisions were made.  Important decisions typically have to do with <B>difficulties </B>that have arisen.  When a son rebelled against his parents, they were told:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Deut 21:19</FONT>  then his father and his mother shall lay hold on him and bring him out to the <U>elders</U> of his city, and to the <U>gate</U> of his place </div> <bR> <div>     The "elders" were the decision-makers, typically older men, leaders.</div> <div>     In our proverb, the fool may well understand the problem brought to the elders at the gate.  He may well understand the decision they render and even agree with it.  But he would <U>not be able</U> to get from point A to point B on his own.  He would be unable to take the problem and render a wise solution.  He could be thrown off course easily.</div> <bR> <div>     Here Solomon is definitely telling us something more about wisdom.  It is creative, or perhaps better- it is synthetic.  It <B>synthesizes </B>an answer with the components of insight dwelling in the minds and hearts of the wise- components not available to most.  </div> <div>     Now a fool may possess all the separate elements of intelligence in his mind that the wise man has in his.  But the fool cannot combine them properly.  The key component of <I>combination </I>is missing:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Prov 26:7</FONT>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>As</I></FONT> the legs of the lame <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>are</I></FONT> weak, so <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> a proverb in the mouth of fools. </div> <bR> <div>     He has the proverb memorized.  He thinks he understands it.  But when he tries to tell it, <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><B>he can't put it across right</B></FONT>!  Poor fool!  But it's his own fault.  He has stubbornly held to his own ways every time wisdom has tried to teach him:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Prov 17:16</FONT>  Why <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is there</I></FONT> a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, since <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>he has</I></FONT> no heart <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>for it</I></FONT>? </div> <bR> <div>     The fool can usually recognize wisdom.  He can see that it is valuable.  He naturally wants it.  BUT TRUE WISDOM IS NOT FOR SELFISH USE.  More accurately, the wise put themselves at wisdom's disposal.  The fool has never learned this lesson and CAN never learn it (the Lord has to change him from being a fool).  He only knows how to turn things to his own advantage.  Wisdom will never be at his disposal.</div> <bR> <div>     Warning:  if you're already thinking of someone who is a "perfect fool" by this description, you may miss the more important aspect of the proverb.  Whereas you may be overall less foolish than the person you're picturing, yet you surely have foolishness in you.  THAT is the folly you need to identify.  That is the folly you WILL identify to the degree that true wisdom rests with you.</div> <bR> <div>     The fool is different than the simpleton.  The simpleton simply lacks the mental wherewithal to put complex matters together.  The fool is a fool because his stubborn selfishness disables his thinking.  His brainwaves only travel along a self-seeking track.  When he hears important matters being discussed, his mind, devoid of the fear of God, can only rise to a certain level.  He cannot sufficiently see the surrounding landscape of factors to arrive where the wise man's soul takes <I>him</I>.</div> <bR> <div>     The Christian fool, as usual, is the <I>most </I>pathetic figure among men.  He HAS the tools sitting right before him to reprogram his brain and he hasn't used them.  He CLAIMS the fear of God guides him, when in actuality, he has only put "God" at his service.  Yes, the Christian fool is both pathetic and dangerous, especially when he is intelligent.</div> <bR> <div>     The wise man is able to put himself at a disadvantage in his use of wisdom.  That's because wisdom is king with him.  The fool can't use wisdom objectively, meaning he can't really use it at all.  It can never remove the log from his own eye, so it can never leave him free to adeptly extricate the splinter from his neighbor's eye.  </div> <div>     This also tells us that the fool can never really operate in love.  Biblically, the same person who has wisdom has love.  The person with Biblical love cannot apply it correctly without Biblical wisdom.  The fool has left himself without either.  </div> <div>     So also he cannot comprehend the great judicial decision rendered by God in salvation.  The fool doesn't understand his own sin, nor does he understand Christ's righteousness.  On judgment day, he is speechless again, Rom 3:19, this despite any religious maneuvers he has employed, Christian or otherwise.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="459" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#C0DCC0 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 90 WIDTH="447"><div> Proverbs 24:8</div> <div> He who contrives to do evil </div> <div> shall be called a master of schemes. </div> <bR> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >   "Schemes" is used three times in the introductory chapters (1 - 9), all in a good sense; it is used three more times in the 'proverbs proper (10 - 31), all in a bad sense.  This is the third of those three.</FONT></div> <div>     "Master" is the same word for Baal but is also used with a wide variety of other meanings like lord, owner, man, and husband.</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Being considered<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The one who arranges immorality</div> <bR> <div> Description:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">"They shall call him" a top stategist/ planner</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>    The man who plans immorality creates his own reality, thus replacing God.  Of course, he's only replacing God in his own mind, but he is replacing Him nonetheless.  By replacing God, he is reenacting the taking of the fruit of the Tree of Determining Right and Wrong.  A hundred times a day, a thousand times a day, the immoral man acts on the same basis Adam did and Eve did:  "You will be like God."  Planning evil means believing that we can actually impose our personal reality on the Universe.*</div> <div>     Next point, we are all this immoral man, this planner of evil.  Any sin involving forethought makes us so, including sins of omission.  "I should pray tomorrow morning."  By not doing so, I have arranged an evil of omission.</div> <div>     But our proverb has more in view the man who plans and carries out acts of evil:  sins of commission.  The point of our proverb is that he gains a name, a reputation:  "he shall be called."  The earth is a sad place when it can be (and is) populated by creatures who are known evildoers.  It is a sadder place still when these men are heroes one way and another, admired by segments of the population, sometimes by the general populace.  This admiration should exclude the Christian populace.</div> <div>     Whereas, we would not speak (and should not even think) disrespectfully of a governing official (Eccl 10:20), we cannot join those who hail them as heroes in their immorality.  If there is something truly admirable about them, a Christian should not deny it, but if something lawless, God has called us to be searchlights in our society:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Eph 5:11</FONT>  And have no partnership with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>them</I></FONT>. </div> <bR> <div>     Again, we are generally not to be loud bullhorns concerning individual men's sins.  John the baptizer exposed Herod's sins privately, Mk 6:18.  But we actually show love for our wicked neighbor by exposing his sin to him.</div> <bR> <div>     When we take the Hebrew words for "contrives evil," this is the only verse containing the pair.  But if we take the more common word for evil (Strong's 7451) based on the root word for it in our verse (7489), we come up with about 18 verses that pair them as our verse does.**  One is a fairly familiar verse, when Joseph addresses his brothers' sins:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Gen 50:20</FONT>  And you, you <U>intended</U> <U>evil</U> against me, <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>but</I></FONT> God meant it for good, in order to make it as it is this day, to keep a great many people alive. </div> <bR> <div>     Joseph's brothers are examples of the plotters our verse speaks of.  They earned the title "Expert schemers."  It is also a phrase used of Haman in the book of Esther.</div> <div>     The psalmist lets us know that these harmful plans do not go unnoticed by God:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Psalm 35:4</FONT>  Let them be put to shame and dishonor who seek after my life!  Let them be turned back and disappointed who <U>devise</U> <U>evil</U> against me! </div> <div>  </div> <div>     In fact, God Himself justly plots evil against evildoers:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Jer 26:3</FONT>  It may be that they will listen, and each man turn from his evil way, that I may repent of the <U>evil</U> which I <U>plan</U> to do to them because of the evil of their doings. </div> <bR> <div>     Micah 2:3 is another verse where God plans to do adverse things to those averse to His laws.  Nahum 1:11 speaks of those couseling evil against God!  But let us close our perusal of this phrase with a helpful admonition:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Zec 7:10</FONT>  And do not oppress the widow, or the fatherless, the alien, or the poor. And do not <U>devise</U> <U>evil</U> in your <U>heart</U>, of a man <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>against</I></FONT> his brother. </div> <bR> <div>     Here we are warned not to hurt the vulnerable.  Then we are further cautioned to curb what is in our very hearts.  Without this level of self-control- a very difficult one to achieve- we gain a 'name' before God.  He knows us to be what we would not admit about ourselves.  When (not if) destructive desires arise in our hearts against our neighbor, we must gain a new 'name'.  God must know us as those who cry out to Him.  This is the only reputation that can wipe out the former one.  (Zech 7:10 is complimented nicely by our same pairing of words in Zech 8:17.)</div> <bR> <bR> <div> *  <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >This is proof enough, by the way, that none of us are guilty of Adam's sin alone.  It's not "Aw, man!  If Adam hadn't sinned, I wouldn't be automatically guilty!"  It is also that Adam's sin has made each of us his very own sinner, and we keep doing exactly what Adam did all the time, all on our own.  We are completely guilty, all on our own merit.</FONT></div> <div> ** There are several synonyms for evil which are paired with "contrive" as well.</div> <div>     </div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="459" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#C0DCC0 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 90 WIDTH="447"><div> Proverbs 24:9</div> <div> The devising of foolishness <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> sin, </div> <div> and the Scorner <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> hateful to men. </div> <bR> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >   "Devising" in this proverb is from the same root word as "schemes" in the previous one.</FONT></div> <div>     One of our Proverbs characters, the "Scorner", appears in this verse for the fourteenth (and last) time in the book.  In other verses in Proverbs, the word is also used of the activity of mocking; also as an adjective.</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Activity/ Person being considered<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The perverse plan</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The disrespectful</div> <bR> <div> Descriptions in that order:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Is deficient/ "misses'/ sin</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Is unacceptable to men</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     Here is a proverb that is obviously intended to be placed next to the previous one:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Prov 24:8</FONT>  He who purposes to do evil shall be called a lord of <U>schemes</U>. </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Prov 24:9</FONT>  Twisted <U>plotting</U> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> sin, and the <B>Scorner </B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> hateful to men. </div> <bR> <div>     Underlined are the two words sharing the same root word.  All four descriptions depict the same person, the Scorner/ Disrespectful by name.  This is the last time in Proverbs he comes up.  Now we have his deepest definition.  He is a planner.  He is premeditated.  Of course, he doesn't, in <I>his </I>mind, say, "Here is how I shall scorn."  He calls it by other names if he calls it anything at all, but he feels supremely justified in his plotting.  Wherever his conscience might correct him, he is able to 'look the other way' even from his own doings!  Talented fellow!  He might even say Oops when his deed has found his target.  He might even be a little ashamed.  But his inbuilt malice and love of control will continue to drive him to further misdeeds, given the next occasion.</div> <div>     Solomon is mainly telling us two complementary things today.  One is that the deeds connected to a scheming character-type fit an important definition:  <B>sin</B>.  The other is that someone who fits this definition will necessarily hurt people and will not be able to hide the trail of his mideeds for long; they will eventually come back to him.  When they do, he will gain a reputation, and people will <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><B>despise </B></FONT>him.  </div> <div>     The root word for "foolishness" means twisted.  The Scorner has a convoluted soul.  It's the only soul he knows, so it seems normal enough to him.  His reaction to righteousness is predictable:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >1 John 3:12</FONT>  not as Cain who was of the evil one and <U>slew</U> his brother. And <U>for what reason</U> did he slay him? Because <U>his works were evil</U> and the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>works</I></FONT> of his <U>brother</U> were <U>righteous</U>. </div> <bR> <div>     This identifies Cain as unrighteous.  His response to Abel's righteousness made him a plotter.  He could only live in a world where Abel was gone.  </div> <div>     "Twisted" means that something in Cain (and all Scorners) senses our original mold- that we are cut from the very cloth of God.  But Cain's automatic reaction to that awareness is rejection.  "No, I won't be someone else's cloth, not even God's.  I will be my own fabric, of my own weave, color, and cut."  </div> <div>     But God's stamp imprinted on the human soul is so deep that our rejection makes for a queasy, constant itch arcing the entire span of our being.  We are busy trying to bend or deface a straight line drawn in our souls; we diligently seek to constrict our souls.  We are taking our awareness of God and spitting at it.  Abel was the most visible image of God in Cain's life.  Cain, being a Scorner, plotted (seemingly a very rudimentary plot) and erased him.</div> <div>      Every unbeliever has some Scorner in him.  God is invisible, so none of us HAVE to consciously acknowledge Him (and scorners in history whom He has interrupted have found it quite feasible to go nearly right back to their scorning).  But the fact that we are pitting ourselves against a real enemy (enemies in that <I>we </I>have defied <I>Him</I>) becomes plain when we cannot be peaceful with <I>one another</I> either.</div> <div>     It's supposed to work that the enemy of my enemy is my friend.  Not so with God as our enemy.  My neighbor hates Him too, but I can't get along with my neighbor on that shared basis for some reason.  Why not?  </div> <div>     Because Gode MADE us.  His fingerprints are all OVER and WITHIN us.  Being enemies with God, then, makes each of us enemies with <U>his own self </U>!  I'm fighting my <I>own design</I>, pulling needed wires from my own circuit board to cut off signals from God.  I fight with my conscience, unable to remove the integral grid of God's Law.  </div> <div>     But are men surely fighting an invisible foe, one they are really responding to?</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Rom 1:21</FONT>  Because <U>knowing God</U>, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful.  But <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>they</I></FONT> became vain in their reasonings, and their undiscerning heart was darkened. </div> <bR> <div>     "Knowing God."  Man knows God.  Man hates God.  But God plays sparring partner to our deluded champion persona.  He LETS us suppress our awareness of Him.  "OK.  We both know that you know I'm here.  If you want to play dumb about it, that's your call."  And it's not that God is being a 'gentleman', as some conclude.  No, our disregard is piling up judgment upon judgment!  Every time I ignore Him is another nail in my coffin.  It's only just.  I become expert at putting God out of <I>my </I>life.  God <I>is </I>life.  I am therefore craftily constructing my own <I>death</I>.  </div> <div>     AND I BOAST IN IT!  God's passive approach gives me boldness to quip, "Yeah, well, I guess I'm headed for Hell then," as though I didn't care!  That's our version of "Hit me with your best shot."  Only we're playing by the sparring rules.  </div> <div>     As it turns out, <I>we're</I> the sparring partners to God, the champion.  It's just that He allows us to 'stay with Him'.  He has knocked us down often enough.  In all our difficulties and humiliations- His knockdowns- He was actually teaching us who we were.  We even called out to Him in our dreadful trials, and He helped us.  But it didn't seem odd to us afterwards that we could go back to denying Him.  Yes, we definitely have maximum leeway to play the game our way.  Yet Hell will not be a surprise, either.  We'll see that we knew the game was real all along.</div> <bR> <div>     Anyway, this being enemies with God makes us enemies with our own conscience, our own soul.  How, then, can we have peace with men?  And so the verdict of our proverb:  we are "hateful to men."  I'm at war <I>generally</I>.  It is really the <I>exception </I>that I can act civilly (emphasis on "act").  Naturally, then, we find one another loathesome.  Sooner or later, our hatefulness makes us truly unappealing.  We are "unacceptable to men."  The more we scorn, the more it is so.</div> <div>     Again, Solomon mainly pegs the "ideal" Scorner for us.  But he shows us this man to additionally teach us that we all have the Scorner's disease, only many of us mercifully see the symptoms sublimated for a variety of reasons.  But we are still "hateful, hating one another," Titus 3:3.</div> <bR> <div>     Of the various ways the effects of scorning are reduced, the most complete one is the New Birth.  Christ produces a new nature in us which finally submits to God.  This new nature loves submission rather than scorning.  It can wage successful (though ongoing) war with the Scorner in us.</div> <div>     Short of the New Birth, there is the emulation of it:  unbelievers imitating characterisitics modeled by Christians.*  Some people avoid the stench of scorning by being compliant.  They have no stomach for fighting, so their run-ins with people are few.  This is better than being a Scorner, but it may only amount to cowardice, which is just as ugly in its own right. </div> <bR> <div>     All-out scorners are only fit for Hell, and they fit themselves for it more day by day, with each new plot.  But the Simple who does not learn from the Scorner will end in the same Hell.  </div> <div>     May God make me Wise:  wise to recognize my own scorning;  wise to love peace and the God who won it for me.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> *  <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >This is one way God's people are salt and light.  We remind and show people how to do what they know they should do- like forgive men.</FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="459" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#C0DCC0 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 104 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 24:10</div> <div> <I>If</I><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" > you go slack in the pressurized day, </FONT></div> <div> your strength is constricted. </div> <bR> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >   The root word for "pressurized" is "constricted" in the second half of the verse.  The words lay side by side in the Hebrew.</FONT></div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Given occasion:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">A tight spot</div> <bR> <div> Your response<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Failure/ coming up short</div> <bR> <div> Assessment:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Your strength is limited</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     There are several Hebrew words for "strength" (as is the case in English).  The one in this verse is only used five times in Proverbs (out of a total 126x OT).  But its previous appearance is close enough to draw our notice:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Prov 24:5</FONT>  A wise man <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> strong; yes, a man of knowledge increases <U>strength</U>. </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Pro 24:6</FONT>  For you shall make war for yourself by wise advice, and safety <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> in the abundance of counselors. </div> <bR> <div>     This was a strength for personal war, war most particularly against our own sin, as we saw.</div> <div>     Now Solomon further comments on our strength.  He puts it under the harsh light of critical scrutiny.  He's poking for flaws in our strength.</div> <div>     But just like a good military training sergeant, Solomon does this to strengthen our strength.  The sergeant needles his greenhorn.  Wherever you are a momma's boy, you need to change.  I need to grow you a tough new skin, and I don't have long to do it.</div> <div>     Any soldiers who see action in a real hot spot appreciate what the sergeant did for them.  They are glad they were prodded to discomfort in so many ways.  Their new tough skin feels tender enough even now, facing the bullets.</div> <bR> <div>     Solomon needles our lethargy.  Do you really have what it takes to pass the test?  To pass the many tests, one after another, that will surely come your way?  For the "pressurized day" is really one continuous "tight spot" called life.  It <I>does </I>have representative situations, though, especially difficult ones.  These are the circumstances through which we either pass or fail:  Strength, No strength.</div> <bR> <div>     Men do not want to feel they are weak.  If a situation threatens their manhood, they are likely to respond.  Solomon is tapping into that instinct.  God did not put us here to be weaklings.  As the apostle puts it:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >1 Cor 16:13</FONT> Be on the alert; stand firm in the faith; <U>acquit yourselves like men</U>; be strong. </div> <bR> <div>    This four-word phrase, "acquit yourselves like men," is from one Greek word, <I>andrizomai</I>.  "Be men" would translate it accurately.  It is from the word for "man," meaning "male."  It is addressed to the Church.  That includes women.  Women need to be manly in this way too.*</div> <bR> <div>     God seems to orchestrate life like the movement of a wave.  It has valleys and crests, times of relative quiet and times of higher intensity.  We are defined by how we respond under pressure.  That's usually <B>not </B>how we see our<I>selves</I>.  But that's because we usually become unglued given enough pressure.  We see our potential and our aspirations in our quieter times- "<I>that's</I> me."  These almost never play out as planned in a crisis; therefore, we continue to excuse ourselves when we fail under stress.  This is not wise.</div> <div>     We must learn to say, "The weak me, the one who buckled- that's the real me.  I just need to get stronger.  Lord, I wasn't abiding in Your strength like I assumed I was.   I hadn't learned to really, totally depend on You."</div> <bR> <div>     Our proverb today gives us a definition of STRENGTH.  True strength, for one thing, is not small.  It outsizes and outmuscles temptation.  True strength rises to the greatest <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Comic Sans MS" >test</FONT>, knowing the <U>test</U><B> </B>is God-ordained and <U>I</U> am God-supplied.  </div> <div>     But this strength rises to the occasion because it awakens day by day.  It is prepared in the quiet times, the troughs.  It is prepared in our quiet times with God.</div> <div>     Some of the greatest trials come <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><I><B>in </B></I></FONT>the calm of daily experience.  There we are unlikely to recognize them.  David was in rest and recuperation mode when he saw Bathsheba.  It was a spiritually pressurized day, he just didn't perceive it.  Attaining strength is a matter of perception.  Do I perceive that I am naturally weak and need God's strength?</div> <div>     David put it in the form of an admonition and a prayer:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Psalm 68:28</FONT>  Your <U>God has commanded your strength</U>; <U>O God, be strong</U>, <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>in</I></FONT> this <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>that</I></FONT> You have worked out for us. </div> <bR> <bR> <div> *  <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >Just as men need to be womanly in the appropriate way, 1 Thess 2:7.</FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="614" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#C0DCC0 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 192 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 24:11, 12</div> <div> Rescue those who are taken to death,</div> <div>      And those who are stumbling to destruction, oh stop them!</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> If you say, "Well, we did not know this" - </div> <div>      The Weigher of hearts, does He not see through it?</div> <div>      And He who keeps watch on your soul, does He not know?</div> <div>      And will He not return to each man according to his doings?</div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >   "Weigher" means just that:  one who measures out by weight.</FONT></div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Commands:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Rescue</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Restrain</div> <bR> <div> Objects of the commands<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Those who are led away to death</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Those who are stumbling to slaughter</div> <bR> <div> Excuse:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">"See here!  We didn't know about it!"</div> <bR> <div> Exposure of the excuse:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The One who weighs our hearts discerns <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#777777" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" ><I>the truth of the matter</I></FONT></div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The One who protects your soul knows</div> <bR> <div> Verdict:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">He will cause what each man does to return to him</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     This is a stark passage.  What is it doing here?  Where is another verse like it?</div> <div>     The proverb makes perfect sense in itself.  We must rescue anyone being unjustly killed, NOT, as we are more likely to do, pretend we don't know about it.  But how likely are we to face such a situation?</div> <div>     Is Solomon saying that in every generation there are miscarriages of justice that could be avoided?  Those who are unjustly arraigned by the courts and/or leaders?  His example certainly sounds public.  It doesn't sound like he expects us to stop an underworld killing, for instance; rather, someone caught in the jaws of "the system."</div> <div>     Is Solomon using execution as the extreme illustration, representing ANY miscarriage of justice?  This seems likely, for he says elsewhere:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Eccl 5:8</FONT>  <U>If</U> you <U>see</U> the <U>oppression</U> of the poor, or the <U>removing of justice</U> and righteousness in the province, do not be amazed at the purpose.  For a high one over a high one is watching; and high ones <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>are</I></FONT> over them. </div> <bR> <div>     His point here is that injustice is common, brought on by bureaucracy (+ man's evil nature).</div> <div>     Furthermore, Solomon has combined "deliver" and "death" a few times in Proverbs, but never in terms of a rescuing hero as today.  He has, however, spoken of rescue in slightly different terms:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Prov 14:25</FONT>  A true witness <U>delivers souls</U>, but a deceitful witness speaks lies. </div> <bR> <div>     Solomon, in his systematic analysis of the Ninth Commandment throughout the book, gave us here the opposite of False Witness.  A True Witness "delivers souls."  The Hebrew midwives delivered souls, rescuing Hebrew babies from murder (Exod 1).  Rahab the harlot delivered souls, too (Joshua 2).  These women were true witnesses who gave only true witness in the their rescues.</div> <div>     Our passage is about delivering souls as well, put in dramatic and invasive language.  It is meant to grab us, arrest us, shame us.  The seeming regularity of unjust execution in the passage, as well as our abandonment of the victims, is alarming.</div> <div>     Of course, it follows the previous proverb quite fittingly:</div> <bR> <div> Prov 24:10<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  If you give way in the day of trouble, your strength is small. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     Our proverb today is, again, the extreme example of a certain test.  It therefore puts our possession of strength to the ultimate test.  Maybe we seem strong enough ordinarily, but what about when it really counts?  What good is it to be strong every way but the most important one?</div> <bR> <div>     Most people, concerning an injustice, can and will say, "Something ought to be done about that."  That is, unless they are ashamed at their own inactivity; then they may just look the other way silently.</div> <div>     But merely commenting is not enough for Solomon.  He commands us to enact an actual rescue!  Those are his two commands:  "Rescue.  Stop them."  Saying something <I>publicly </I><U>might</U> be enough, or speaking to the pertinent official(s), if it is a real intervention; but merely telling another bystander, "Someone ought to to do something about that" is cowardice in Solomon's book.</div> <bR> <div>     "Stumbling to slaughter" is the more vivid parallel to "taken to death."  It pictures helpless people- those worn out by harrying predators, being dragged off for the final kill.  The victims are depicted in the plural.  It is as though we are dealing with a CLASS of people.  This was the case with the Hebrew babies in Exodus 1.  It could also simply describe repeated rescues whenever new cases emerge:  "Deliver those" from one instance to the next.</div> <bR> <div>     "Look, we didn't know!"  "We"- the retort of another CLASS of people.  "We out here as part of this society didn't really have access to the halls of power.  We saw the widow evicted from her home, but we didn't know all the details; maybe she deserved it."  And you didn't inquire?  You let her disappear into the countryside without intervening?  "I think she has relatives.  Anyway, she's not my responsibility." </div> <bR> <div>     "The One who weighs hearts- does He not scrutinize it?"  He sees through all your excuses.  "And He who guards your soul, does He not know?"  <I>You've</I> been protected from such a fate.  Was that for nothing?  Will your Protector be pleased when you report that you would not seek to pass along your benefit to another in need?</div> <div>     "And will He not return to each man according to His deeds?"  You've left someone exposed who needed help.  Now <I>you'll</I> be left exposed, and your calamity is not far behind":</div> <bR> <div> Prov 21:13<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  Whoever stops his ears at the cry of the poor, he himself shall also call, and shall not be answered. </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     Ecclesiastes 5:8, which we quoted first, also specified the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><B>needy </B></FONT>as the victim of injustice.</div> <div>     God HAS made us responsible for our neighbor, especially the disadvantaged one.  God HAS made us an accountable member of whatever society we live in.  We WILL answer for our negligences, both in this life and more severely later, in God's presence.</div> <bR> <div>      And what <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Castellar" >s</FONT><I>piritual</I> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Castellar" >a</FONT><I>pplication</I> is there to this rescue principle?  Is there a group who needs rescuing spiritually?  It there a spiritual release to effect for them?</div> <div>     What of those who are stumbling away to Hell?   Those being led off by "him who holds the might of death, the Devil?" (Heb 2:14, 15)  Yes, Unbelievers are such a class of people.</div> <div>     Does God hold us accountable for them?  Yes, to this degree:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Ezek 33:8</FONT>  When<B> </B><B><U>I</U></B><B> </B>say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die; if <B><U>you</U></B><B> </B>do <U>not</U> speak to <U>warn</U> the wicked from his way, that wicked one shall die in his iniquity; but <U>I will require</U> his blood at your hand. </div> <div> Eze 33:9<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >  But, if you warn the wicked of his way, to turn from it; if he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul. </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     Once GOD has said the wicked shall die, if WE do not warn them, we are on the hook.  All we have to do is warn them, for in this case, IF a rescue can be effected, it is the MESSAGE alone that will do it:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Rom 1:16</FONT>  For I am not ashamed of the <B>Gospel </B>of Christ, for <B>it </B>is <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>the</I></FONT> <U>power of God</U> <U>unto salvation</U> to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. </div> <bR> <div>     On one level, discharging our responsibility spiritually is easier than it is politically/socially.  "All" we are required to do is <U>tell</U> them.  Voila, our duty is discharged.  </div> <div>     But on another level, it is multiplied times harder.  Satan's angelic forces' whole strategy and arsenal is deployed against the dissemination of this message.  </div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >Eph 6:12</FONT>  For <U>we wrestle</U> not against flesh and blood, but <U>against</U> principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against <U>spiritual </U><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I><U>forces</U></I></FONT><U> of evil</U> in the heavenlies. </div> <bR> <div>     These spiritual forces know the Message's power.  They fear its employment.  They know every trick and withhold no fury* in gagging the message, in gagging <B>us</B>.  Since we are not aware of their policy, or at least its pervasiveness, they usually succeed.  There seem to be many good reasons <I>not </I>to speak.  But even bad reasons succeed:  "I've tried.  It didn't work."</div> <bR> <div>     Our proverb puts this duty of rescue at our doorstep.  If someone at least told us the Gospel, how can we then withhold it from those around us?</div> <div>     Pleading with God every day for open lips is an appropriate response to our proverb.  Open lips will be required of us.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> *  <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >Fury that is powerless against the Tidings if they will but be spoken.</FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="519" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#C0DCC0 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 154 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 24:13, 14</div> <div> My son, eat honey because <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>it is</I></FONT> good, </div> <div> and <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>because </I></FONT>the honeycomb <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is</I></FONT> sweet to your palate. </div> <div> Just so <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>is </I></FONT>the knowledge of wisdom to your soul. </div> <div> If you have found it, then there shall be a future, </div> <div> and your hope shall not be cut off. </div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Palatino Linotype" > </FONT>   "Knowledge of wisdom" might also be translated by making knowledge an activity:  "the <U>determining</U> of wisdom," "<U>realize</U> that wisdom is such to your soul," so shall you <U>know</U> wisdom to be for your soul." </div> <div>     "Future" comes from a word meaning the back or latter part.  "End" or "conclusion" are good translations for it.</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Addressee:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">My son</div> <bR> <div> Commanded by Analogy:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Eat honey</div> <bR> <div> Reasons<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">It is good</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The honeycomb is sweet to your taste</div> <bR> <div> Point of the Analogy:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The discovery of <B>wisdom </B>is the same for your soul</div> <bR> <div> Reasons:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">If you find it, there is a <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" ><I>real  </I></FONT>terminus<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" ><I> to your search</I></FONT></div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">[If you find it,] your expectation won't be severed</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     "My son" was the most common beginning to the first nine chapters of Proverbs.  Then we didn't see it again until 19:27.  Lastly, we had a grouping of the phrase "My son" in 23:15, 19, and 26.  It reminds us that Proverbs is primarily parental instruction, first of Solomon to his children, then of Solomon to <I>all </I>children, then of Solomon to all <I>men</I>, then of us to <I>our </I>children and all who are under our instruction.  Solomon's fatherly heart, of course, is a reminder of God's own.</div> <div>     "My son" also serves as a marker.  It brings the recent context into the present admonition.  Solomon has mainly been talking about the strength of wisdom and about how our lack of it would show.  He has been rather blunt.  </div> <div>     Now he takes a step back:  "My son," he compassionately begins.  Solomon never sheds his fatherly heart, even in his sternest moments.  Oh how easy it is for us to do so!  (Consider Colossians 3:21)</div> <bR> <div>     Broken into its component parts, our proverb today is fairly easily understood.  It first gives us a <I>physical </I>quest, then it relates that to the <I>spiritual </I>realm.  Enjoy honey (physical); in the same way, rejoice in the study of wisdom (spiritual).  We come to understand the garnering of wisdom better by the pursuit of delectable food.</div> <div>     By the way, THAT'S HOW GOD DESIGNED THEM- the physical and spiritual:  to be analogous.  The physical world is full of principles corresponding to the spiritual realm.  Is there some kind of one-to-one correspondence?  Strictly speaking, no, for God will use one physical principle or example to illustrate more than one spiritual principle.  But a correspondence was definitely deliberately built in.</div> <bR> <div>     Solomon gives two reasons to eat honey:  1) It is good;  2) Its source is sweet to the palate.</div> <div>     Honey is good.  It is <U>nutritious</U>.</div> <div>     Honey is sweet.  It is <U>enjoyable</U> to eat.</div> <div>     Solomon gives BOTH reasons for eating honey.  Then he gets to his real point.</div> <bR> <div>     "Just so is the knowledge of wisdom to your soul."  Your mouth tastes honey and your body benefits from it.  Just so your soul should relish and be nourished by wisdom.  It should "<U>light up</U>" the senses going in.  Its discovery is like finding buried treasure:  "I'm rich!"  But there is no vulgar edge to wisdom.  Our soul does not turn greedy at its discovery.  Just the opposite.  We are satisfied:  <U>enriched</U>, but not glutted by the experience.  The benefit to our soul goes beyond an initial excitement.  Every way a soul can be grown, strengthened, improved- wisdom does it.</div> <div>     God made wisdom and its education process ("the knowing of wisdom") a perfect and comfortable fit for the soul- at last!  We could wear other philosophies, but they just weren't right.  Wisdom fits man (when God finally makes man fit for wisdom).  Wisdom is an integral part of God Himself.  When He returns His image to our souls, wisdom likewise becomes an beautiful, integral part of <I>us</I>.</div> <bR> <div>    Solomon explains why wisdom is both good 'tasting' and good <I>for </I>you (sounds like a cereal commercial), at the same time giving us a test for <I>whether </I><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" ><I> </I></FONT>we have taken it in.  "If you have found it, there is an END" to it.  Not an ENDING, an END.  The quest is fulfilled.  It leads to something.  It is not a search with no prize.  It is not an acquistion of one-time fruit.  Wisdom is such a find that it carries you to the end of the rainbow.  Better, though, it puts you IN the rainbow for the trek.  It makes you a cloud man, a rainbow traveler.  You mount the rainbow like steps Col 3:1, 2).  Wisdom dwells on high.  You now dwell with her.  Yet wisdom also happily dwells here below with whomever delights in her company.*  She walks with them here, then she takes them to her good lord above, from whence she comes.</div> <bR> <div>     Man cannot manage CONCLUSIVE quests on his own.  Life without God is a series of such <I>attempts </I>OR the lazy <I>avoiding </I>of them.  Even many kinds of Bible-oriented living only amount to quests with no conclusion (Luke 13:24; Jn 5:39).  </div> <div>     In that light, look at the true quest.  It is the "<U>knowing</U> of wisdom," the <U>coming to a certainty</U> of it.  "The Bible says <I>this</I> (whatever has been accurately deduced); therefore <I>this/these</I> premises can be firmly laid down to believe and live by."  This is a <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eras Bold ITC" >Eureka</FONT>!  Honey barely begins to describe it!  Yet how often are we truly delighted by Scriptural truth?  How often do we search hoping to find something delectable?</div> <div>     Does this make the name of the game finding some central principle that <I>does </I>excite me and let that pass for "certifiable wisdom"?  No, that is a poor substitute which actually accomplishes the opposite of the real quest.  It minimizes all the other Bible doctrines on the grounds that they don't stir the emotions.</div> <div>     The delight Solomon describes is delight in the <B>whole truth</B>.  When you refuse to be taken in by <B>partial </B>answers, substitute solutions, and look-alike remedies, "your hope will not be cut off."  Other folks look like they have better enjoyment and a better hope.  Biblical wisdom is its own animal.  Those who find it are "few," Jesus said.  The real quest is a lonely one.  Think of how often the psalmist's moanings seem to echo in his lonely soul.  This is inscripturated as a Christian's normal experience.  The Devil delights to show us (and exaggerate) just how marginalized we are.</div> <div>     We <I>need </I>Solomon's promise.  "Your expectation won't be severed."  We need it because it seems like our hope <I>is or can be </I>dissolved.  That's just how Biblical hope looks in this shadow land.  The shadows all around us don't appear as the shadows they are until our faith in Scripture (read: the Bible describes the <I>real </I>world) becomes solid.</div> <bR> <div>     Our proverb contains a command.  "Eat honey.  So experience wisdom."  That is, THIS is how you go about Bible study.  This is how you do daily devotions. This is how to listen to a sermon.  This is how you seek God.  </div> <div>     One has to LOCATE honey in the wild.  That's what Solomon is saying real Bible study is like.  <I>Track down</I> Bible knowledge.  Even the process is sweet and substantive.  If this is what you are seeking as you approach, you will not be disappointed.  </div> <div>     "I want the whole Truth and every distinct piece that makes it up."  Even (perhaps especially) the conviction of sin- inherent to Scriptures (2 Tim 3:16)- is part of the overall delectable process.</div> <div>  </div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >*  </FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >Not unlike Jesus during His earthly ministry:</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >John 3:13</FONT>  And no one has gone up into heaven except He who <U>came down</U> out of heaven, the Son of Man, who <U>is in</U> heaven. </div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="606" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCCCE4 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 151 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 24:15, 16</div> <div> Do not lurk, bad man, at the habitation of the just. </div> <div> Do no violence against his place of rest. </div> <div> For a just one falls seven <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>times</I></FONT> and rises up again, </div> <div> But the immoral plummet to <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>their </I></FONT>doom.</div> <bR> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >   Neither "habitation" nor "place of rest" is the usual Hebrew word for home or house.  Both are more pictoral, giving an image of resting- the place where a man is at ease.  "Place of rest" is actually "couch." </FONT></div> <div>     This passage is set in obvious contrast to the previous one.  There, "my son" was addressed; here, a bad man who may do him harm is addressed.  Each addressee is given a command.</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Addressee:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Bad person (same Hebrew as "immoral" later in the verse)</div> <bR> <div> Commanded:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Don't lurk at the righteous man's resting place</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Bring no aggression against his couch</div> <bR> <div> Reasons<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The righteous man may be overthrown seven times</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">When the bad man stumbles, it is to his <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" ><I>real</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" ><I>  </I></FONT>harm</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     Just as James, in a letter to Christians, unexpectedly addresses the wicked in James 5:1-6, so Solomon similarly denounces them here.  The intent is obviously the same on one level:  to direct a prophecy against the wicked who harrass God's people.  Solomon has just addressed "my son" with blessing.  Now he addresses the devil's sons with a curse:  Any harm you attempt against the righteous will only precipitate your own downfall.</div> <div>     The primary recipient of the instruction is not even the official addressee; 99 times out of 100, they won't read it.  It is the God-fearing man who is primarily instructed by the denunciation of the godless.  Most of the unredeemed men in the world will <I>never </I>hear Solomon's or James' warning.  They have already turned a deaf ear to God's testimonies.  But the censure is here for them all the same.  We are faithful messengers when we pass it along to them.</div> <div>     Part of the instruction is an encouragement to the godly.  God is watching his back.  The wicked man may have access to me, but he can't put me down for the count.  I'll get up again.  God will teach me through my affliction and I will be up again and better than before.</div> <div>     Another part of the saint's support is the fact of his tormentor's eventual overthrow.  We must be careful here.  It is easy to fall into a hateful spirit when we are bullied.  Neither Solomon nor James condones that (Prov. 24:17; James 5:10, 11; 3:17, 18).</div> <bR> <div>     The wrongdoer is warned away from his ambush of the upright.  Solomon had just told his charge to "eat honey," to enjoy wisdom.  Now he tells bad men to leave him alone in this enjoyment.</div> <div>     Strange that bad men can be counted on to waylay God's men.  Some of them can be counted on to get very PERSONAL about it- Solomon is addressing these.  Something about the righteous man bugs them, and it's stuck in their craw.  They have to do something about Mr. Goody Two-shoes to scratch the itch in their soul.  But look how deep the quarrel goes!</div> <div>     They are not satisfied to merely embarrass the man of God publicly.  It is not enough to discredit him.  They must see where he lives.  THERE he must be badgered.  "He has made me uncomfortable in my own skin.  I will get as close as I can to paying him in kind."  The ungodly targets the righteous man at rest- on his very couch if it can be done!  </div> <div>     An eerie insinuation arises here.  The ungodly may actually feel compelled to <I>befriend </I>the godly in order to get this <I>close </I>to him- to know how to hurt him deeply and personally.  He may do this without even being honest with himself about his motives.  He may just be taking it one step at a time.  "This guy holds the key to something in me."  It's a sore, but but the ungodly just addresses the itch to start with.  Christian, beware some who wish to befriend you.  The moment you stop remembering that men are men (Jn 2:25), you are an easy target.</div> <div>     But this degree of familiarity is not necessary for the ungodly to target God's child.  His assault need only <I>affect </I>the Christian's home life.  If he brings him financial hardship or worry, these will do nicely.  They will disturb his sleep, make his home <I>not </I>a place of rest.</div> <bR> <div>     Hateful man, you overestimate yourself.  In the takedown you are planning, your opponent will rise; you will not.  Spiteful lady, you meddle in the Christian's life.  Your attempt at control is godlike, but you will fall like a wasp.  You may rejoice in your victory, but your poison has no death.</div> <div>     </div> <div>     There IS poison for a Christian.  If he falls because he dives into sin, there is no guarantee he will rise.  This is a different principle now.  Perhaps he was not a real Christian after all.  If he was, he will still rise, even from his own iniquity imprisoning him.  But if he was a Christian, his Father will see to it that he wishes he hadn't chosen that descent.  The same justice that repays the ungodly to his demise repays the saint with holy pain he will not forget.  "Seven times"; God will completely purify his chosen one.</div> <bR> <div>     Eat honey, my son, but also know that evil men will feed you gravel in this life.  The ungodly's delight will be to see your expression change from a calm delight to a perplexed chagrin.  He'll find his way to you, <B>but </B>it will only be another occasion for you to find your way to God.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="558" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCCCCC > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 133 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 24:17, 18</div> <div> Do not be glad when your enemy falls, </div> <div> and don't let your heart be elated when he stumbles, </div> <div>  lest Jehovah see and it be evil in His eyes, </div> <div> and He turn away His anger from him. </div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >   This passage is very deliberately connected to the previous one.  "Falls" here is the same Hebrew as "falls" in verse 16.  "Stumbles" is the same as "plummets/ stumbles" in verse 16.</FONT></div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Commanded:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">When your enemy goes down, don't be happy</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">When he stumbles, don't let your heart rejoice </div> <bR> <div> Reasons<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Jehovah will take note of it</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">He will take a dim view of your mislplaced joy</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">He will avert His anger that had caused your enemy's fall</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     Solomon continues to bounce one thought off of the previous one.  He just warned the false man not to plot against the repose of the upright.  "You may knock the good man down, but <I>you'll</I> be the one going down for the count."  </div> <div>     NOW he looks back to the righteous:  "As for <I>you</I>, my fine fellow, don't get excited when your tormentor slips, as he eventually will.  God is monitoring your reaction too.  You're glad he fell?  Now Jehovah has a new focus:  YOUR correction!  He can't afford to let one of His beloved ones harbor a vengeful attitude."</div> <div>     Wow.  God watches over our sanctification <I>that </I>closesly?</div> <bR> <div>     "But wait!" someone objects, "Isn't there a proper place for laughter at the fall of the wicked?"  And he quotes the Scripture:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>Psalm 52:4</B></FONT>  You love all devouring words, O <U>deceitful tongue</U>. </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Psa 52:5</FONT>  <U>God will</U> likewise <U>destroy you</U> <U>forever</U>; He shall take you away, and pluck you out of <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>your</I></FONT> tent, and root you out of the land of the living. Selah. </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Psa 52:6</FONT>  And <U>the righteous shall see</U>, and <U>fear</U>, and shall <U>laugh</U> at him, <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>saying</I></FONT>, </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Georgia" >Psa 52:7</FONT>  Behold, the man <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>who</I></FONT> did not make <U>God</U> his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches, he was strong in his wickedness. </div> <bR> <div>     In answer:  There are several things that make Psalm 52 different than the reaction forbidden in our proverb:</div> <bR> <div>  1)  Psalm 52 recounts the <I>permanent </I>fall of the wicked.  Proverbs 24:18 zeroes in on the wicked man's "<I>stumble</I>."</div> <div>      Once the wicked man has fallen for the last time, the righteous man can join God in a righteous laugh (not a giddy laugh) over justice being done.  It is scorn being paid out to a scorner (Prov 3:34).  Before that time, the godly man must reserve a final 'verdict.'  After all, before his last fall, God may still grant the wicked repentance and life.</div> <bR> <div>  2)  The reaction of the righteous in Psalm 52 is not light-hearted.  "He shall see and <U>fear</U>."  No room for personal vengeance there!  The fear includes this thought:  "The same end would have rightfully overtaken me had not God mercifully intervened."</div> <bR> <div>  3)  The righteous man's laughter is connected to the wicked's relationship to GOD, not to himself.  The psalmist does not recount his <I>personal </I>triumph.  In FEAR, wide-eyed, he sees what God does to HIS enemies.  </div> <div>      The righteous man keeps those two categories well separated- God's enemies: my enemies.  Yes, God's enemy may also be my enemy, but which way I regard him makes all the difference.</div> <bR> <div>     Look at the wondrous balance in the character of our God!  </div> <div>     His justice turns Him in anger against the wicked, especially for the harm he intended us.  The wicked's prop gets knocked out from under him.  How confidents he was- sure to have me in his hated- and now look at him!  My heart swells with delight.  I acknowledge that God helped us, yet I cannot help feeling joy that the one who delighted in my pain is disabled from his own great pain.  </div> <div>     God sees my heart.  Now a <B>new justice</B> enters the equation.  It does not change the old justice:  God will still deal with His enemies.  But He will have to PUT OFF the punishment of <I>this </I>enemy for my sake.  He will have to say, in effect, "It was not to amuse you that I embarrassed this man.  You were an innocent party whom I defended.  Now you behave as though I were your sword to wield against those you hate.  You cannot labor under this lie."  And he restores your enemy to some degree, perhaps fully- for the time, at least.</div> <div>     This is truly a God who sees!</div> <bR> <div>     Look at the great love of God.  He is more concerned with the condition of MY soul than with the immediate application of justice.  Judgment against the wicked is always being deferred anyway.  Now he will defer it further for the love of my soul.  I must see my enemy rise in order to set my soul low, where it belonged.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="486" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#CCCCE4 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 151 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 24:19, 20</div> <div> Do not burn <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>in anger</I></FONT> because of evildoers, </div> <div> and do not envy the wicked; </div> <div> for no hereafter shall be to the evil; </div> <div> the lamp of the wicked will be put out. </div> <bR> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >   Given is the Literal Version, which curiously adds "and" at he beginning of the second line.  A simple, straightforward rendering of these verses from Roland Murphy is, "Do not be angry at evildoers; do not envy the wicked; For the eviloer has no future; the lamp of the wicked goes out."</FONT></div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Commanded:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Don't fume on account of the immoral</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Don't be jealous of wrongdoers </div> <bR> <div> Reasons<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">There will be no future for immorality</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The lamp of the wrongdoer will be extinguished</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     Here two opposite reactions to the wicked are forbidden:  One is anger <I>against</I> them; one is envy <I>of </I>them.  The righteous man is between a rock and a hard place from ONE source!  How is this?</div> <div>     It is because <B>our </B>sin nature is both wickedly <U>vindictive</U> <I>and </I>wickedly <U>pleasure-loving</U>.  </div> <div>     Our <I>vindictive </I>side fights fire with fire, raging against the ungodly's rage.  </div> <div>     Our <I>pleasure-loving</I> soul sees what the wicked is enjoying and despairs for the restrictions we are under:  Why can't <I>we </I>have what <I>they </I>have, live like they live?  Of course, this jealousy can be viewed in terms of despair, but it can be viewed as well in terms of anger, questioning God/providence about the distribution of assets.</div> <div>     Believers are always squeezed between the world and the world.  The world is wicked, but that's not our problem.  Our problem is our sinful response.</div> <bR> <div>     We are commanded here not to be vengeful or envious.  Trouble is: we rarely see that we are either one; these emotions tend to run deep and silent.  Bible study hint:  when God commands us NOT to do something, it's because we naturally do it.  If God says Don't be vindictive, it's my job to figure out:  "OK, <I>how </I>am I fuming?"  If I go away from this verse unaware of exactly where or how I'm angry, I've missed the point.  His words only help me if I take responsibility for my actions AS INDICATED.  Here, the indication is that I respond both in anger and envy to bad people.</div> <bR> <div>     But how realistic is it to expect us to simply control our deep-seated emotions?  Can I merely shut off jealousy like tap water?  No, quenching resentment is not a one-time decision or act.  It is a decision connected to my soul, so as long as grudges reside in my soul through sin, I will have an ongoing problem.</div> <div>     God's solution?  Carry an equally continuous <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Castellar" >reminder </FONT>that my anger and envy are not rational:   "There is no future in decadence."  </div> <div>     Simply and directly, this statement connects me to <B>Heaven</B>.  It is only pronounced in Heaven that debauchery will not be rewarded.  On <B>earth</B>, among men, depravity is declared worthwhile.  Who am I to say that self-indulgence will be discontinued?  No one.  In my mouth, it's just sour grapes (reference Aesop).  But in God's mouth, it is a sure decree.  <I>Belief </I>in this verdict is my ticket for cancelling envy.  As long as I am holding this ticket, as long as I present it for validation, vengeance has no power over me.</div> <div>     The immoral lights his path on earth with the lamp of self-will.  God says, "The lamp of the wrongdoer will be extinguished."  <I>While </I>I am believing this certainty, <I>while </I>my mind is in Heaven, the fate of the unbeliever is uninviting.  That's one reason we pray first thing every day:  to get our minds in Heaven.  That's why we need to "pray without ceasing"; because we are doomed to stumble if our eyes fall to a mere earth level.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *******************************************************************</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="516" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#FFCCFF > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 151 ><NOBR><div> Proverbs 24:21, 22</div> <div> My son, fear Jehovah and the king; </div> <div> do not bond with those who reverse <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#777777" FACE="Georgia" ><I>themselves</I></FONT>, </div> <div> for their calamity shall rise suddenly, </div> <div> and who knows the ruin <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#777777" FACE="Georgia" ><I>caused by</I></FONT> the two of them?<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Words of the Verse</U></B><B>:</B></div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Bookman Old Style" >   "Bond" is the Proverbs word for "surety" or "collateral."  It means to mix with.</FONT></div> <div>     "Reverse" is from a word meaning to duplicate and is used of changing, disguising, repeating, and returning.</div> <div>     </div> <div> <B><U>Analysis of the Verse</U></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Addressee:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">My son</div> <bR> <div> Commanded:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Fear Jehovah</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Fear the king</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Don't mix with those<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#777777" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" ><I> set on</I></FONT> change</div> <bR> <div> Reasons<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="GoudyOlSt BT" >:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Their ruin shall rise in an instant</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">[No one] knows the misfortune of (coming from) both of them</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Teaching of the Verse</U></B>:</div> <bR> <div>     The pronouns in this proverb tend to throw us at first.  "Their calamity/ ruin" attaches very naturally to the "vacillators" (those set on change) just before it.  But then "the two of them" sounds like it must be the vacillators again along with someone else.  Then we realize that there is an actual pair to whom "the two of them" (as it is literally) must refer.  Once we look closely, "Jehovah and the king" is where "the two of them" obviously connects.  But why so much space between them?  Solomon knows that mental exertion will be required to connect "the two of them" all the way back to God and the king.  He could have worked around this- rearranged the phrases- but he sequenced it this way for a purpose.  As we shall see, the point being made becomes all the clearer for it.</div> <div>     "Fear Jehovah and the king."  Some view this pairing with discomfort.  Of course, it doesn't say to fear the king <I>as </I>you fear God or <I>as much as</I> you fear God.  It's only saying that there is a way in which we fear God that we should also fear the king (i.e., the governing authorities).  Peter corroborates this admonition rather directly:</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Georgia" >1 Peter 2:17</FONT>  Honor all <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#808080" FACE="Georgia" ><I>people</I></FONT>.  Love the brotherhood.  <U>Fear God</U>.  <U>Honor the king</U>. </div> <bR> <div>     Again, even Peter's order raises questions for some.  Shouldn't "Fear God" be last, as the most important- the 'wrap-up'?  Saying "Honor the king" last seems to make "Fear God" an item working up to the more important "Honor the king."  </div> <div>     Indeed, Peter is making a simple point, and order is important to it.  Peter is giving us <U>two pairs</U> of admonition.  Each pair goes from general to particular.  "Honor all."  That's general; it's paired with "Love the brotherhood."  This love is a particular means of honoring one group within "all."  "Fear God" puts all of our behavior under the auspices of respect for God.  "Honor the king" then gives us a vital means for showing God this respect.</div> <div>     The king is in authority.  Governing authorities are over us.  Honoring them is the Christian way of showing our recognition that God- THE authority- appoints other authorities over us.  This is the idea of Authority presented in the Bible throughout.  We don't really have respect for God if we don't respect the human authorities he puts over us- parents, teachers, employers, government officials.</div> <bR> <div>     "Don't mingle with those <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#777777" FACE="Bookman Old Style" ><I>given to</I></FONT> change."  Who are these?  They are revolutionaries of one sort or another.  They'd like to see changes in 'the system'.  We are mainly being told about their character rather than their activities.  They are volatile.  They <B>aren't satisfied</B>.  <I>They </I>know better than who's in charge.  Something should be done about this, they think.  Solomon says <B>Don't</B> cast in your lot with this type of peron.</div> <div>     We can immediately picture the rabble rouser, on a large or small scale, even just the person who complains all the time about conditions at <U>work</U>.  The <U>political</U> malcontent is the one who disagrees with how the king or governing authorites run the show.  </div> <div>     By linking the king with Jehovah, Solomon is giving us an important insight.  He is showing us that there are <U>church</U> rabble rousers, too.  Religious revolutionaries are also <B>dissatisfied</B> with the way things operate.  They, too, are unaware that they are actually fighting with God- not because the Church speaks for God, but because its authorities are human authorities God appoints as He does all the other kinds.</div> <div>     Here we must quickly add this:  God does not condone everything that goes on in every church (or any other institution).  The question is:  How do we handle our concerns about leaders?  God is telling us here <U>not to stir up discontent</U>.  He is telling us not to BE discontented.</div> <div>     Briefly, how do we deal with a church beef- involving the way things are run or what is said?  We go to the appropriate authority and express our concerns respectfully.  We may find that the leader/leaders were operating on a principle- a verse of Scripture- we weren't taking into account.  Now we have somet