Some Thoughts From Proverbs 5

Proverbs 5:12

¹² and you say, “How I hated discipline,
    and my heart despised reproof”!

As the word love, so is hate.  It has the same meaning in the Old Testament and the New.

The Scriptures are replete with the use of this word.  “You that love the Lord, hate evil”; “Esau have I hated”.  In the New Testament, “Whoever hates his brother”; “The world hates you”.  So it is frequently used and is an expressive term. 

First it is not an emotion.

Secondly it is ethical.

Thirdly it is intellectual.

Fourthly it is never excusable.

Fifth, it is basic as a cause of evil.

What are we to conclude?  When it is written that God hates Esau, this is His purpose toward Esau that is revealed, not a sinister emotion.

Some Thoughts From Proverbs 4

Proverbs 4: 6

⁶ Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;
    love her, and she will guard you.

⁷ The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,
    and whatever you get, get insight.
⁸ Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;
    she will honor you if you embrace her.
⁹ She will place on your head a graceful garland;
    she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”

"Love her".  “Her" is the sum total of wisdom. The point of interest here is the use of the word love. This word has the same meaning in both the Old Testament and the New. When the meaning is determined here it will hold true throughout Scripture. It is the same in the “Song", in Isaiah, in I Cor. 13, and in I John. To know its meaning here is to know the scripture meaning of love.

The first to be noted is that it is not emotion. A father’s civil and ethical instructions are not the subject of familial emotions.

Secondly in context love is intellectual.

Thirdly "love" is commitment.   Note the verses which follow.

Fourthly love is promotional whether person or fact, you believe and communicate your belief.

Some Thoughts From Proverbs 3

Proverbs 3:2

² for length of days and years of life
    and peace they will add to you.

"Peace they will add to you”, cf Phil 4:7, 9; Romans 5:l.

The legacy of peace which is given to Christians through faith in Christ is often forgotten.

In Romans 5:l the benefit of justification is said to be "peace with God”.

 In II Cor. 5 the Christian ministry is said to be one of Reconciliation of man and God. We should then understand that establishing, encouraging, and enjoying this peace is one of the primary purposes of the Church.

 The writer of Proverbs points us to the Law and the Testimony as necessary to peace is the ongoing privilege of the Believer.

Some Thoughts From Proverbs 2

Proverbs 2: l

¹My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you,
³ yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding,
⁴ if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures,
⁵ then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

⁹Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path;

¹⁶ So you will be delivered from the forbidden woman,
    from the adulteress with her smooth words,

This chapter is one of my favorite in Proverbs. There is a conditional "if” in verse one, three, and four. The conditions in these verses control the rest of the chapter.

These conditions are followed by three “result” statements. “Then” in verse five, “then" in verse nine, and “so” in verse 16. The conditions stated must be met before the results can be expected.

Why do believers not experience these promises? They do not meet the conditions.

Some Thoughts From Proverbs 30

Proverbs 30:7-9

⁷ Two things I ask of you; deny them not to me before I die:
⁸ Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches;
    feed me with the food that is needful for me,
⁹ lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?”
or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.

The wise states as a believer there are two necessities: one is truthfulness; the other is the supply of his needs. There are at least four plain points of application:

1.      In the social world honesty is primary. And God abominates the liar.

2.      It is not good to be without basic needs.

3.      There is a danger to being rich that makes it ordinarily undesirable.

4.      A believers basic needs are to be the subject of his labor and his prayers.

Christ teaches to pray, “Give us the bread of this day.”

Our needs are to be recognized as certain and timely.

9/28/18

Some Thoughts From Proverbs 28

Proverbs 28:5

⁵ Evil men do not understand justice,
    but those who seek the Lord understand it completely.

When believers place their spiritual well-being in political activities their inevitable loss is certain. Evil men do not understand justice. September 27 saw an important and most interesting drama playing out. One of the contested ideals was whether there should be a "presumption of innocence." One side saying yes. He is accused of a crime and therefore he must be presumed innocent. The other side saying "No! it is merely an advisory hearing and therefore the right does not apply."  What no one said.  This right is not statutory, advisory, civil, political, or even criminal--it’s constitutional. Every citizen has this as his birthright. It is not granted by political donation. But “evil men do not understand justice.”

Some Thoughts From Proverbs 27

Proverbs 9:27

Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle
    along with crushed grain,
    yet his folly will not depart from him.

The writer of Proverbs has already informed his reader that folly is not changed by instruction, discipline, parental guidance, or favorable relationships. Then he adds the fact that suffering will not change the fool.  Why are these things so?  The answer for the Bible student is that folly, like sin from which it has its origin, is a product of nature.  The nature is changed only by the New Birth.

There is a natural wisdom.  But the wisdom of James 1:5 is spiritual, a donation, and is found uniquely in believers..  The Scriptures are plain.  You can never expect a fool to be anything but a fool.

James 1:5

⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.