Proverbial Wisdom—6:30-35

Excuses might be found for a thief who steals because he is starving. But if he is caught, he will be fined seven times as much as he stole, even if it means selling everything in his house to pay it back. But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool, for he destroys his own soul. Wounds and constant disgrace are his lot. His shame will never be erased. For the woman's husband will be furious in his jealousy, and he will have no mercy in his day of vengeance. There is no compensation or bribe that will satisfy him.

Proverbs 6:30-35 (NLT)

Oops…I discovered that I included the above verses in my last blog posting. Oh well, not to worry, because you can never get too much of God’s Words of wisdom.

Throughout the book of Proverbs is a cord of wisdom about the destructiveness of sampling the forbidden. Study Adam and Eve. Their act of rebellion set in motion a huge avalanche of negative consequences. Those negative consequences continue even unto our day, thousands of years later.

The sins of an adulterous man will also set in motion an avalanche of destruction. Once that avalanche begins, its snowball of hell can destroy everyone within its path…both the guilty and the innocent. Therefore, the wise man will think before he leaps into the arms of a harlot.

Society has blurred the lines between right and wrong…good and evil…until adultery is considered as common as a hiccup. Nevertheless, God’s Word has not changed.

God does not have blurred vision, nor does He accept the deceitfulness of man’s ideas. Furthermore, He says in Romans 1:18 that He shows His, “anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who push the truth away from themselves” (NLT).

Those who deny God’s truth and accept the devil’s lies, begin a downward spiral into a corkscrew of moral corruption. Once the foolish man begins this downward spiral, vain imaginations attack his mind until he cannot recognize the difference between good and evil. His logic becomes perverted by his own wickedness. “…The result was that their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they became utter fools instead” (Romans 1:21-22).

This downward spiral of moral corruption is rolling throughout our countries like an avalanche. One sin leads to greater sins. Then greater sins lead to even greater sins, until people are buried under an avalanche of their sins. Having settled for the devil’s hell, they can no longer perceive the difference between acceptable and unacceptable.

A quick look at news headlines confirms the downward spiral of mankind. Teachers are corrupting by having sex with students. Politicians are hiding their true agendas under a playwright of falsehoods. Children are acting out violent video games with Real guns and on Real people!

But it does not have to be this way. This moral decline can be stopped!

If we as individuals and as a nation would return to the knowledge and the fear of the Lord, we can be pulled out from harm’s way before this avalanche of wickedness destroys us, as it destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

There is hope of healing if we would heed God’s call to repentance. “If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14, KJV).

Children of God, it is time that we fall upon our faces before the Lord and begin crying out for His mercy. We must confess and repent of all our wicked ways. All those wicked ways of rewriting God’s Word in order to satisfy our lusty desires must stop. And all those wicked ways of disguising lies under a veil of false flattery (intrigue), must be exposed by the sword of truth (the Word of God).

There is still time for us to be saved from the sword of destruction that is slashing through the wicked. But in order to be saved, we need to cry out to the Lord and repent of our sins. Perhaps God will hear our cries, forgive our sins, and begin healing our nation.

For lust is a shameful sin, a crime that should be punished. It is a devastating fire that destroys to hell.

Job 31:11-12 (NLT)

So if your eye—even if it is your good eye—causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your hand—even if it is your stronger hand—causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

Matthew 5:29-30 (NLT)

Three Key Concepts:

1.  An act of rebellion can set off an avalanche of destruction.

2.  When people deny God’s truth, their minds can become dark and confused.

3.  It is time to humbly cry out, seek God’s face, and repent of our sins.

Proverbial Wisdom—6:20-29

My son, obey your father's commands, and don't neglect your mother's teaching. Keep their words always in your heart. Tie them around your neck. Wherever you walk, their counsel can lead you. When you sleep, they will protect you. When you wake up in the morning, they will advise you. For these commands and this teaching are a lamp to light the way ahead of you. The correction of discipline is the way to life.

These commands and this teaching will keep you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of an adulterous woman. Don't lust for her beauty. Don't let her coyness seduce you. For a prostitute will bring you to poverty, and sleeping with another man's wife may cost you your very life. Can a man scoop fire into his lap and not be burned? Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet? So it is with the man who sleeps with another man's wife. He who embraces her will not go unpunished.

Excuses might be found for a thief who steals because he is starving. But if he is caught, he will be fined seven times as much as he stole, even if it means selling everything in his house to pay it back. But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool, for he destroys his own soul. Wounds and constant disgrace are his lot. His shame will never be erased.  For the woman's husband will be furious in his jealousy, and he will have no mercy in his day of vengeance. There is no compensation or bribe that will satisfy him.

Proverbs 6:20-35 (NLT)

Keep your heavenly Father’s commands close to your heart for He will never lead you wrong. Heed His Word and follow His Spirit. He will keep watch over you at night and protect you during the day.

Of course, the preceding paragraph is only applicable to those who have accepted Jesus Christ as both their Lord and Savior; thus, making God their Father.  “O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day” (Psalm 119:97).

Let God’s Word be a light unto your path, leading and guiding you throughout the rest of your days. Meditate upon His Word as you lay upon your bed at night. Feast upon His Word early in the morning. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments” (Psalm 119:105-106).

Men, keep your feet far from the adulterous woman and do not lust after her beauty. Let not her flattering tongue of seduction entice you into her web of destruction. Succumbing to the allure of an adulterous woman will destroy your soul, so stay far away. Protect yourself by heeding God’s warnings!

“I discovered that a seductive woman is more bitter than death. Her passion is a trap, and her soft hands will bind you. Those who please God will escape from her, but sinners will be caught in her snare” (Ecclesiastes 7:26, NLT).

Sex sins destroy. Jack Hayford wrote the following, “The first and foundational reason why sex sins are worse than others is because sex sins stain the root of an individual’s identity (Fatal Attractions – Why Sex Sins Are Worse Than Others).  

God does not hate sex sins more than any other sin. But sex sins often are more demeaning and devastating. Many times, these types of sins have farther-reaching and longer-lasting consequences than other sins. People’s personal identities and their positive self-images can become lost under a pile of sexual pollution. Those lost identities and damaged self-images are difficult to heal.

Raunchy Hollywood, best-selling novels, musical lyrics, and even some worldly churches treat sex sins as common and normal, when those very things can destroy your life. You can become desensitized and lose the “blush factor”; thereby, accepting abnormal behavior as normal behavior. Sex sins are not acceptable and those sins will bring dreadful consequences.

Marital infidelity breaks the bond of trust between spouses. That is a sacred trust, one that was originally created and ordained by God. The shattering of that type of trust should not be treated lightly. God says of the foolish man, “His shame will never be erased” (Verse 33).

Satan encourages you to break God’s laws, including the matrimonial design for one man and one woman. Satan, that wicked fallen angel, will entice you to break vows and cheapen the matrimonial union by a selfish act of the flesh. He will attack you through the lust of your eyes and by the lust of your flesh. And if along the way, he can cause you to demoralize another person as well as yourself, he has succeeded in planting his seed of destruction. Don’t scoop that fire into your lap—you WILL be burned.

Matthew Henry writes in his Bible Commentary, “It will be a wound to his good name, a dishonor to his family, and, though the guilt of it may be done away by repentance, the reproach of it never will, but will stick to his memory when he is gone. David’s sin in the matter of Uriah was not only a perpetual blemish upon his own character, but gave occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme His name too.”

Readers, do not look longingly upon the wicked ways of this world. Do not be enticed by the allure of sin. The fleeting seduction of sin can lead to the eternal death of your soul. Turn from that wicked harlot.

You have heard that the law of Moses says, “Do not commit adultery.” But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust in his eye has already committed adultery with her in his heart. So if your eye—even if it is your good eye—causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.  And if your hand—even if it is your stronger hand—causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

Matthew 5:27-30 (NLT)

Three Key Concepts:

1.  Keeping God’s commands will protect your soul.

2.  Sex sins are often the most demeaning and devastating types of sins.

3.  Continual bombarding by sin can cause people to lose the “blush factor.”

Proverbial Wisdom – 6:12-19

Here is a description of worthless and wicked people: They are constant liars, signaling their true intentions to their friends by making signs with their eyes and feet and fingers.  Their perverted hearts plot evil. They stir up trouble constantly.  But they will be destroyed suddenly, broken beyond all hope of healing.

There are six things the Lord hates--no, seven things he detests: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord among brothers.

Proverbs 6:12-19 (NLT)

Wow, this is a tough bible study. While it’s always fun to hear about God’s promises of blessings, it is never fun to hear about the consequences of sin. But let’s face it; if we do not accept Jesus Christ as both our LORD and Savior, then we may qualify as these worthless and wicked people who will be broken and destroyed.

Lord, help us to understand Your ways and may we always surrender our hearts, minds and souls to Your merciful refining fire. Amen.

It is important to know what God considers worthless and wicked. Then if we discover any of these behaviors slipping into our own lives, immediately we can stop, bow down, and repent. In addition, we should check the behaviors of our closest friends and make sure that none of them qualifies as worthless and wicked. “My child, if sinners entice you, turn your back on them!” (Proverbs 1:10).

Close friendships with worthless and wicked people can contaminate our Christian walk. We are set apart for our Lord and we are not to partner with the wicked world. Therefore, we must be careful whom we allow into our innermost circle of friends.

God says that worthless and wicked people constantly lie; they plan evil and they do evil. “How terrible it will be for you who lie awake at night, thinking up evil plans. You rise at dawn and hurry to carry out any of the wicked schemes you have power to accomplish. When you want a certain piece of land, you find a way to seize it. When you want someone's house, you take it by fraud and violence. No one's family or inheritance is safe with you around!  But this is what the Lord says: ‘I will reward your evil with evil; you won't be able to escape! After I am through with you, none of you will ever again walk proudly in the streets’" (Micah 2:1-3, NLT).

All I can say is that the end of the wicked will not be well! Let’s be wise and allow our fear of the Lord guide our tongues, our thoughts, and our actions. We must refuse all evil!

Now, let’s move on to look at the seven things that the Lord despises: haughty eyes, lies, murdering hands, evil plots, people who do wrong, false witnesses, and those who sow discord. Six of these things God hates and seven He despises. Thus, a life characterized by these behaviors will be a life that will face a terrible end.

One of the things that God hates is “hands that kill the innocent.”  This is a controversial topic in our world today.

Think about a few things. Do the hands that kill the innocent include ladies who have abortions? What about the doctors who perform the abortions, do they qualify as hands that kill the innocent? Could this even include the ones who decided that it was legal to kill innocent fetuses?  Maybe, it includes all the people who assist the doctors in performing abortions. What will we do if our government attempts to override our right to live by our Christian faith? That time is getting closer.

Not only must we refuse to do evil, but we should also hate evil. We, as holy children of God, must become so close to God that we love what is holy and we hate what is evil. Yes, I did say hate.

Too many times, we are tempted to put on a smug robe of self-righteousness. We may say that we are so much like God that we love everything. But that kind of statement only proves that we are not like God. If we were truly like Him, we would hate some things, and this lesson identifies some of those things that we should hate.

“You love what is right and hate what is wrong. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you, pouring out the oil of joy on you more than on anyone else” (Psalm 45:7).

We are to love what is right, but hate what is wrong. David, a man after God’s own heart understood this and he said, “I will refuse to look at anything vile and vulgar. I hate all crooked dealings; I will have nothing to do with them. I will reject perverse ideas and stay away from every evil. I will not tolerate people who slander their neighbors. I will not endure conceit and pride” (Psalm 101:3-5).

We made it through this lesson, maybe with a few cuts and bruises; nevertheless, we should be a bit wiser. We don’t have to be imprisoned by these types of wicked behaviors, because God has provided a way that we can be free. Moreover, if we wish to have eternal life in heaven with the Lord, we must be freed.

Have you been set free?

My hands have made both heaven and earth, and they are mine. I, the Lord, have spoken! ‘I will bless those who have humble and contrite hearts, who tremble at my word. But those who choose their own ways, delighting in their sins, are cursed. Their offerings will not be accepted.

Isaiah 66:2-3 (NLT)

Three Key Concepts:

1. God considers some things worthless and wicked.

2. God hates and despises hands that kill the innocent.

3. There are things that we should love and things that we should hate.

Proverbial Wisdom – 6:6-11

Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and be wise! Even though they have no prince, governor, or ruler to make them work, they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter. But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up? I want you to learn this lesson:  A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—and poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.

Proverbs 6:6-11 (NLT)

I could summarize this lesson with one hyphenated word—“Self-Discipline.”  Every once in a while, most people have days when they want to be lazy. I am sure you do to, so come on and admit it…you know it’s true.

Maybe once or twice a month, you have days when you want to sleep in or days when you want to laze around the pool. But for most of us, those lazy days are infrequent. After we have been lazy for a couple of days, normally we jump back into our busy work schedules.

Compare that to a lazybones. A lazy person refuses to have a work schedule—he prefers to make loafing around his full-time job. Idleness is his master.

Unlike the ant, which constantly works and gathers food for the winter, a lazybones thinks that he is overexerting himself when he plans or prepares his next meal. He lacks self-discipline and motivation.

Unless someone is around to oversee and give a lazybones a motivational kick in the rear, a lazybones will never get anything done. Poverty and scarcity will be his fate.

“Solomon, in these verses, addresses himself to the sluggard who loves his ease, lives in idleness, minds no business, sticks to nothing, brings nothing to pass, and in particular manner is careless in the business of religion” (Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible by Matthew Henry).

Unfortunately, when it comes to spiritual growth, there are many lazybones. They only want the milk, because they don’t want to expend the effort to chew on the meat. They lack the self-discipline to study and pray on their own. They do not mature in the Lord because they refuse to seek Him. Spiritual poverty and scarcity will be the fate of the spiritual sluggard.

When the storms of life come rushing in like a flood, a spiritual sluggard will be swept away and drowned. He refuses to expend the effort to reach up and take hold of God’s outstretched hand.

But you, dear reader, are not a spiritual sluggard. Similar to the ant, you have self-discipline and you motivate yourself to seek the Lord. You make the time to read His Word, and you actively listen and heed the voice of the Lord. You are quick to be about the Father’s business, serving Him and serving others. With hope, love, and faith, you plan and prepare for your eternal future. You are a good steward of your Master’s talents.

To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who are unfaithful, even what little they have will be taken away.  Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 25:29-30 (NLT)

Three Key Concepts:

1.  A lazy person will sleep his way into poverty and scarcity.

2.  The wise will observe and learn from the disciplined ant.

3.  Good stewards of the Master’s talents will be motivated to serve the Lord.