Category: Doctrine

Consider Her Ways – Part 1

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Proverbs 6:6-11 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provides her meat in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest. How long will thou sleep, O sluggard? when will thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelled, and thy want as an armed man. 

‘Ant’ – The ant is a remarkable creature – an emblem of industry in the East (cp. Pro. 30:25). Fifteen ways of ants: The most laborious insects in existence. The most highly industrialized. They collect food in proper seasons (30:25). They are fondly attached to their young. They have keen foresight for others. They work quietly without show. They work tirelessly until the work is done. They work together in astonishing systems of organization for the best good of the whole community. They are ingenious carpenters and masons, building their own system of homes and underground tunnels. They keep their homes scrupulously clean. Each has a specific job to help meet the needs of the community. They fight to the death to protect their own homes and young from enemies. Their social life compares with that of human beings in many respects. They are intelligent and wise (6:6). They carry out life’s work without being forced to do so by a guide, overseer, or ruler (6:7).

‘Sluggard’ [Hebrew: ‛atsel] slothful; sluggard. Eighteen facts about the slothful: They are unteachable, careless, and indifferent (6:6-9). They love excessive sleep (9:9; 19:15; 24:33). They are irritating to others (10:26). They are servants to others (12:24). They are too lazy to cook food (12:27). They are wishful thinkers (13:4; 24:34). They have a life full of troubles (15:19). They are great wasters (18:9). They are lazy (19:24; 24:30-34; 26:14-15). They refuse to work (20:4; 21:25). They make the most senseless excuses for their laziness (22:13; 26:13). They are void of understanding (24:30). They permit property to ruin (24:31-34; Eccl. 10:18). They are too lazy to move themselves (26:14). They are conceited (26:16). They are unfaithful to trust (Matt. 25:26). They are unbelievers (Heb. 6:12). They lack business ability (Rom. 12:11).

To be continued…

Surety

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Proverbs 6:1-5 My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou have stricken thy hand with a stranger, Thou are snared with the words of thy mouth, thou are taken with the words of thy mouth. Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou are come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend. Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids. Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler. 

‘Surety for thy friend.’ Pledging to stand good for anyone tends to relieve the borrower of the responsibility he should feel, and often lowers the respect of a co-signer in the sight of the one he helps. Five facts about surety: The command against surety (22:26). The command to get out of surety as quickly as possible (6:1-5). Surety is a sign of lack of understanding (17:18). Suffering and disappointment are what is promised in surety (11:15). To refrain from surety is the only safe way (11:15).

‘Stricken thy hand.’ Shaking hands was considered the ratification of a verbal contract or promise, and thus a man became ensnared with the words of his mouth (6:1-2; cp. Job 17:3).

‘Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou are come into the hand of thy friend.’ Continue to press the one you are surety for to pay his debt, or you will be left to pay it. If you are ensnared and obligated, make every effort, as the antelope taken in a net or a bird in a snare, to free yourself from captivity (6:3-5).

The Ways of Man

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Proverbs 5:20-23 And why will thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger? For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he ponders all his goings. His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins. He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray. 

‘Ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he ponders all his goings.’ The ways of man are before God and every word and deed are recorded. How deeds are recorded is unknown, but every idle word and every cup of cold water given or refused will be brought up before man on the day of judgment (Matt. 10:42; 12:37-38). God can see through the consequences we carry what goes on in our hearts (Jer. 17:9-10).

Ten examples of man’s ways before God: Cain (Gen. 4:5-6); Babel’s builders (Gen. 11:1-11); Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 18:21); Uzzah (2Sam. 6:6-7; 1Chr. 13:10); David (2Sam. 12:1-31); Baasha (1Kin. 15:29); Ahab (1Kin. 21:19); Belshazzar (Dan. 5:22-28); Nathanael (John 1:48); the seven congregations (Rev. 2:2, 9, 13, 19; 3:1, 8, 15).

‘His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.’ The 5th prophecy in Proverbs (5:22-23) is fulfilled at the end of the wicked.

‘Iniquities’ – Sins shall trap the wicked and hold him in cords that only God can break.

‘Holden with the cords of his sins.’ Four examples of men held by sin: Saul (1Sam. 18:8-9; 28:5-20); Ahithophel (2Sam. 17:23); Judas (Matt. 26:47-49; John 12:6); Paul (Rom. 7:7-25).

Thine Own Cistern

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Proverbs 5:15-19 Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well. Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets. Let them be only thine own, and not strangers’ with thee. Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love. 

‘Drink waters out of thine own cistern.’ One must be satisfied with his own companion and his children must not be illegitimate (5:15-18).

‘Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.’ Let your own wife be blessed, and be satisfied with her at all times (5:19).

‘Let her be as the loving hind.’ To be content with the wife you chose as a partner in life and obey the Word according to the Biblical standard of treating your wife (Eph. 5:25-33; 1Pet. 3:7, etc.) loving her will be a blessing rather than a chore.

Be just as faithful to your wives as you want them to be to you; give them no excuse for sin and give honour to the wife, using your superior strength in protecting her and as being heirs together of life. Many prayers are hindered because of the unfaithfulness of husbands and wives.

Hated Instruction

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Proverbs 5:11-14 And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed, And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me! I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly. 

‘And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed.’ She will bring you down in remorse and physical suffering. In this remorse, you will become awakened to your foolishness (5:12-13).

‘Mourn’ [Hebrew: naham] is the most excessive kind of mourning because of physical suffering.

‘Body’ [Hebrew: she’er] its root, sha’ar refers to the remains of anything. Here it applies to what is left of the diseased body of a man brought down to death by a life of debauchery.

‘How have I hated instruction.’ Those who live with their consequences and in lives that are broken and sometimes beyond repair because of continuous iniquities are guilty of hating instruction. They don’t follow any godly advice (20:18; Ps. 1:1) and hate to ask for it, for they are almost always wise in their own eyes (3:7; Rom. 11:25). God’s Word is perfect in converting the soul and it makes the simple wise (Ps. 19:7). It is the Wisdom we should hear, walk in and obey (8:32,34; Ps. 119:2).

‘I was almost in all evil.’ Literally, I soon became an evil man. To follow in the ways of those who do not serve God always leads to apostasy (1Jn. 2:15-17).

Down to Death

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Proverbs 5:4-10 But her [strange woman] end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell. Lest thou should ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou can not know them. Hear me now therefore, O you children, and depart not from the words of my mouth. Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house: Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel: Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger 

‘Death’ [Hebrew: maveth] means death to the body, or the separation of the soul from the body (Jas. 2:26).

‘Hell’ [Hebrew: She’owl] is the place of the soul, not of the body.

‘Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou can not know them.’ She keeps you from reflecting on your present conduct and its end, for she constantly changes her allurements to trap you. You cannot conceive of all her tricks and wiles.

‘Remove thy way far from her.’ Fifteen reasons to stay away from a moral-less woman: She is an apostate (5:3). She is deceptive. She is a flatterer. Her end is like wormwood (a bitter taste, 5:4). Her end is destructive. Her feet go down to death (5:5). Her steps lay hold of hell. Her ways are unpredictable (5:6). She will ruin your reputation (5:9). She will cause years of trouble. She will bring material ruin (5:10). She will ruin your health (5:11). She will bring remorse (5:12-13). She will reduce to wickedness (5:14). She will cause eternal ruin (5:23).

‘Thy years unto the cruel.’ Your years will end in suffering.

‘Labours be in the house of a stranger.’ She will own what you have laboured for.

A Strange Woman

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Proverbs 5:1-3 My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding: That thou may regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge. For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil. 

‘Attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding.’ Again the repetitive warning (4:1, 20; 5:1; 7:24) to obey godly instruction and reproof, no one will have an excuse one day to say they didn’t know (Hos. 4:6) – knowledge and wisdom have always been available to those who ask and seek it truly (Matt. 7:7-8; 21:22; John 15:7; Jas. 1:5-8; 1Jn. 3:22; 5:14-16).

‘Discretion’ [Hebrew: mezimmah] used in a good sense of judgment and discretion (1:4; 2:11; 3:21; 5:2). Translated as “intents” (Jer. 30:24) “thought” (Job 42:2; Ps. 10:4; Jer. 23:20) and “devices” in a wicked sense (Job 21:27; Ps. 10:2; 21:11; 37:7; Pro. 12:2; 14:17; Jer. 51:11).

‘Strange woman’ – Two words are used of “strange” and “stranger”: zuwr meaning an apostate Israelite woman gone over to the idolatrous impurities of heathen religion (2:16-19) and nokriy, a purely foreign woman of a similar character that was apostate to a foreign religion of which prostitution was a part to make converts. Such religions were always a snare to Israel (Num. 25:1-18).

Remove Thy Foot From Evil – Part 2

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Proverbs 4:23-27 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. Let thine eyes look right on and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil. 

‘Ponder the path of thy feet.’ A repetitive warning to trust in the Lord completely and not to lean on our own understanding, to acknowledge Him in all our ways and thus enable Him to direct us in our daily lives (3:5-7). Seven examples of pondering the right path: Abraham (Gen. 24:1-9); Eleazar (Gen. 24:5); Joshua (Jos. 24:15); Ruth (Rth. 1:16-18); David (Ps. 39:1); The good wife (Pro.31:27); Daniel (Dan. 1:8; 6:3-4).

‘Remove thy foot from evil.’ Six physical parts to be controlled: To keep one’s heart with all diligence (4:23). To put away the froward mouth (4:24). To put away perverse lips. To look straight with the eyes (4:25). To look straight with the eyelids. To guide one’s feet in righteousness (4:26-27).

The tongue is the smallest member that causes the most destruction in our lives and gets its encouragement from thoughts that are not godly and according to His Word (2Cor. 10:3-6; Php. 4:8; Col. 3:2: Eph. 4:22-23; 6:17; Jas. 1:14-15). Salvation alone can help a man control the tongue (2Cor. 5:17-18).

The circle of human life is continually excited by the tongue unless it is kept sanctified. Evil surmisings, misrepresentations, falsehoods, jealousies, envyings, wrath, and malice, all form part of the destroying flames of fire from the tongue of the ungodly. The whole course of life is set on fire in hell. This refers to the anger and violent passions of wrath related to the vile language of the tongue. It also pictures the confusion and misery caused by the tongue – like the misery of hell.

Twelve things about the tongue (Jas. 3:1-12): A little member. Boasts great things. Is a fire. A world of iniquity. It defiles the whole body. Sets on fire the course of nature. It is untameable. An unruly evil. Full of deadly poison. Used to bless God and curse men. Capable of good conversation. Capable of bitter strife.

Remove Thy Foot From Evil – Part 1

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Proverbs 4:23-27 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. Let thine eyes look right on and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil. 

‘Keep thy heart with all diligence.’ Above all, guard the heart from going astray, for out of it are the issues of life. The reference is not only to the arteries which carry the blood to all parts of the body but also to the evil and good deeds that come from the heart (centre) of man. (Mark 7:19-21). When one keeps the heart from evil – what we read, listen to or look at – it is an easy matter to obey the other commands of this passage (4:23-27).

‘Froward mouth and perverse lips.’ A perverse mouth is referred to in a threefold way: Froward speaking (2:12). Froward mouth (4:24; 6:12). Perverse lips (4:24).

This covers all the speaking faculties and their sinful exercise. Every idle word will be judged (Matt. 12:36-37).

‘Eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight.’ The eyes and eyelids must be kept from sin – what we look at (1Jn. 2:15-17).

Life and Health

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Proverbs 4:20-22 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them and health to all their flesh. 

‘Attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.’ Again the repetitive warning (4:1, 20; 5:1; 7:24) to obey godly instruction and reproof.

‘For they are life unto those that find them and health to all their flesh.’ Four secrets of health and eternal life: Attend to my words (4:20). Incline your ears to my sayings. Constantly look into God’s Word (Ps. 1:2-3; Jas. 1:21-27; 2Tim. 3:16). Keep the Word in the heart (4:21; Rom. 1:16; 10:17). These secrets are life and health to all who find and obey them (Ps. 91:1-16; 107:20; John 15:7; Rom. 1:16).

‘Health [Hebrew: marpe’] Translated as “health” (4:22; 12:18; 13:17; 16:24; Jer. 8:15); as “healing” (Jer. 14:19; Mal. 4:2); “cure” (Jer. 33:6); “remedy” (2Chr. 36:16; Pro. 6:15; 29:1); “sound” (14:30); and “wholesome” (15:4). That physical health and healing are referred to is clear in all these passages. Here, it states “health to all their flesh,” not spirit. When Christians awake to their full rights in the gospel they can have a healthy body as well as soul (3Jn. 1:2; 1Pet. 2:24; Matt. 8:16-17; Jas. 5:14-16).