Proverbial Wisdom – 1:20-23

Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets: She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

Proverbs 1:20-23 (KJV)

Thank you for joining me on our journey through Proverbs. This is our fourth week in this series and I hope that you are enjoying these lessons as much as I am enjoying preparing them. With each new lesson, God blesses me with a deeper understanding of His Word. With God’s help, maybe I can share part of that understanding.

This week we are going to cover four short verses, but these verses hold a lot of information. So let’s just jump right in and get started.

Verse 20 immediately begins with the word wisdom. Later on, wisdom is associated with feminine pronouns. God equally values everyone, male and female, and both have equal opportunities to become wise. However, some cultures and faiths devalue females and treat them like a piece of property. In those cultures, women are given minimal rights and rarely are they consulted for advice. This is not God’s way.

God created women to help, or aid men—“a help meet” (Genesis 2:20). Further, the first woman (Eve) was created from the rib of man (Adam). She was a part of him and God instructed them to cleave together, “they shall be one flesh” (Genesis 2:24, Ephesians 5:28-29). Men and women are stronger when they work together as one cohesive unit.  However, as usual, when runaway sin enters the scene, the cohesive unit is broken.

Remember back to part 1 of this series (August 5, 2011), in which we defined wisdom as utilizing and living all the facts that we have accumulated throughout our years. Upon further investigation, we discovered that wisdom helps us live godly lives with discernment; it improves our judgment by better morals, and helps us become holier in our words and actions. But how do we learn discernment, morals, and holiness?

Wisdom cries out to everyone (verses 20, 21). She lifts up her voice encouraging people to come and partake of her. She freely offers instructions on how to live a godly life, with improved judgment and morals. She calls out to anyone who will listen. Triumphantly, with much rejoicing and singing, wisdom boldly proclaims her truth throughout all the land.

In the streets, markets, and city gates, wisdom speaks encouraging people to come and partake of her joy. In essence, she is saying, “Come and taste…I can nourish your soul. I can give you more discernment, better judgment, and a holier life.”

“…Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37-38). The Holy Ghost was the river of living water (John 7:39).

“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things….” (John 14:26).  “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth….he will shew you things to come” (John 16:13).

Is anyone beginning to connect the dots here?

When you truly believe in the saving power of the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ, humble yourself, repent of your sins, you are spiritually reborn. Your dirty, sin-filled heart is replaced with a clean, pure heart. Your sins are washed away and your heart is made habitable for a holy Guest. God’s Spirit is that holy Guest.

“But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don't need anyone to teach you what is true. For the SPIRIT teaches you ALL things, and what he teaches is true…So continue in what he has taught you, and CONTINUE to live in Christ” (1 John 2:27, NT, emphasis added).  “But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of MY SPIRIT upon all flesh….” (Acts 2:16-17, emphasis added). 

If you continue to walk by the Spirit of the Lord and not by your flesh, you will be wise.

But look back to our opening verses. Wisdom issues a warning to three types of individuals: the simple, the scorner, and the fool. The simple are naïve and easily manipulated; as such, they often drift back and forth between opinions. Evil can easily persuade and entice the simple man.

Scorners insist on mocking people who try to give them wise counsel. They laugh at their rescuers, refusing to consider true words. You could say that scorners are hell-bent in following their own wicked ways. And hell was the right word to use for the scorners.

Lastly, we have the fools. Fools hate knowledge…they simply refuse to learn. They are prideful, opinionated, and set in their own ways.

“Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken” (Jeremiah 6:16-17).

Wisdom still cries throughout all the land. She speaks from the pulpit, through the Bible, from an evangelist, and on the street corners. Wisdom even uses our electronic gadgets to make her voice heard. Continually she cries out over the internet through websites, twitter, face book, and blog sites. She says, “Come…ask wisdom of me. I will freely give to all man…just come.” 

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

 James 1:5 (KJV)

Three Key Concepts:

1.  Wisdom invites everyone to partake of her.

2.  The Holy Spirit will give you wisdom.

3.  The simple, the scorners, and the fools refuse wisdom. 

Proverbial Wisdom – 1:10-19

My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit: We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse: My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood. Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird. And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives. So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.

Proverbs 1:10-19 (KJV)

Last week, I compared the pathway of evil to a steep slippery slope. Once you begin down the slope, it is almost impossible to stop and go back up. Evil seems to take on a life of its own.

Before a man does evil, usually deep within his heart, he feels a few twinges of guilt. His conscience says, “Don’t do this wicked thing.” Nevertheless, he refuses to listen. His cold, hard heart attempts to justify his evil intentions. He may even project his guilt onto his victim, saying that it is the victim’s fault.

Sometimes, as strange as it may seem, an evil man may resort to doing more evil just to prove that he was right. At least in his own twisted mind, he thinks that he is proving that he was right. But no matter how hard he tries to cover up his wrong, his wrong will never be right because wrong will always remain wrong. Right? (I couldn’t resist that little tongue twister.)

In this world, there are evil people everywhere who are waiting for an opportunity to entice you into their wicked schemes. Therefore, in order to protect yourself from falling victim to their conniving tongues, you must resolve in your heart and mind that you are going to serve God, no matter what.

Be wise and arm yourself in advance by practicing saying “NO”—no to drugs, no to violence, no to lies, no to deceit, no to all evil.

God is omnipresent…He hears your words, He sees your actions, and He even knows your thoughts.  Nothing is hidden from Him; therefore, if you do evil, He will know. “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not” (Verse 10).

Genesis 39:7-10 tells us that Joseph was enticed by Pharaoh’s wife. She tried to seduce Joseph, but he wisely refused her advances. “…how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Verse 9). Joseph knew that sin is not only a sin against its intended victim, but it is also a sin against God.

You do not want to sin against God! No one has ever battled against God and won…it is impossible. Learn from this week’s lesson and run from all evil (Deuteronomy 13:6-8, Psalms 50:18-19, Ephesians 5:11).

Satan is a like a roaring lion who walks about waiting to pounce and devour (1 Peter 5:8). So is the wicked man.

A wicked man roams about searching for an innocent victim to devour. In his wickedness, he desires worldly riches at the cost of his soul (Psalms 10:8-9). He may target you as a partner in his crime, telling you how this joint venture will be to your benefit. Don’t fall for his deceit (Jeremiah 5:26-27).

If the wicked man says, “This plan cannot fail and we will get rich,” run away. Do not collaborate with the ungodly…you just might become trapped and destroy your own soul (Psalms 1:1, 2 Corinthians 6:15-17).  

“Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths. The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace” (Isaiah 59:7-8).

The wicked take pleasure in sin. They do not know peace and they cannot even comprehend the word because it is foreign to them. All of their ways are crooked, and as such, their lives are filled with turmoil.

The evil man waits to ambush and destroy his victim, but ultimately, he is awaiting his own destruction.  Compare that to a wise bird. The bird sees a trap being set to capture it, but in its wisdom, it flies away. The evil man sets a trap to capture his victim, but in his foolishness, he is the one that is caught in his own trap. He has ambushed his own soul through hardening his heart and deafening his spiritual ears.

One last thought. People will entice you into collaborating with them in their wicked schemes, perhaps even promising you riches beyond measure. Quick…Runaway! Greed is a powerful sin and it will destroy the hearts, minds, and souls of its victims. “I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word” (Psalms 119:101).

So, be careful little mind what you think…Oh, be careful little hands what you do…There’s a Father up above, and He’s looking down in love, so be careful little saint what you do.

 For the love of money is at the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

1 Timothy 6:10 (NLT)

Three Key Concepts:

1.  Run away from anyone who entices you to do evil.

2.  The evil man sets a trap and ambushes his own soul.

3.  Greed is a powerful sin that ensnares many.

Proverbial Wisdom – 1:8-9

My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.

Proverbs 1:8-9 (KJV)

How many of you did your homework assignment last week? Truthfully, I had to revisit my notes to remember that I gave an assignment last week.

Last week you were supposed to learn to fear the Lord. That fear, or high reverence and awe, is the first step to gaining wisdom. Because once you learn to fear the Lord, you begin to act upon His Word, obey His Commands, and do things His Way.

Here is an interesting nugget of truth. We are going through Proverbs in order to attain more wisdom, which we learned in last week’s lesson means knowledge that we implement in our lives. Now, look at the following verse. “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30, emphasis added).

If you are, in fact, in Christ Jesus and following Him, all of the wisdom found within Proverbs should become a part of you. Christ is wisdom and you have His Spirit within you; thus, all you need to do is listen to Him and obey. That is wisdom.

Those last two paragraphs were just added nuggets of truths, but now let’s get back to our journey into Proverbs.  

Proverbs1:8 tell us to hear the instructions of our fathers. “To hear,” means more than just physically hearing him talk. Rather it means that we should intelligently listen to his words with the implication that we will obey his instructions. Furthermore, when we look at the word instruction, which is muwcar, we find that it means chastisement, reproof, discipline, and warning. So we can say that we should intelligently consider and implement our father’s words and learn from his warnings and his disciplines.

Also verse 8, instructs us to not to forsake the law of our mothers. In some countries, cultures, and beliefs, the mother does not have the authority to instruct her own children. The father has complete authority over everything.

Sinful man attempts to contaminate God’s divine laws of equality. God equally values all people whether they are male or female, rich or poor, or strong or weak.  Whereas, sin suppresses and devalues anything that is physically or socially weaker: such as, females, servants, or slaves. However, this is not God’s way. And if you ask me, we should always strive to do things God’s way because He knows what He is doing.

So now, we know that we should listen attentively and compliantly to our father’s instructions and learn from all of his warnings and disciplines. Further, we should heed our mother’s laws, never forsaking or abandoning those laws. This goes right along with one of the Ten Commandments. “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee” (Exodus 10:12).

Honor, kaba´d, means to do well by, respect, esteem highly, richly bless, and have courteous regard. Therefore, we should honor our fathers and mothers, by respecting their authority, accepting their instructions, and attentively comply with their laws. Further, we should always do well by our parents, bestowing rich blessings upon them. This means that once our parents get older and frailer, we must take care of their needs, just as they took care of us as young children.

Unfortunately, during my years as an accountant, I saw just the opposite from sinful man. Too many times, I saw adult children dishonor their parents through lies, greed, or manipulation. Just as soon as their parents suffered from any form of physical or emotional weakness, sin came swarming in.

Just as buzzards pick at a carcass, these sin-filled children pick at their parent’s property and money, either through outright stealing or persuasive manipulation. Moreover, when all of the parent’s property and money were gone, the buzzards flew off…never to be seen or heard from again. That is just the opposite of God’s divine laws, and according to Exodus 10:12, the sin-filled children’s days will be shortened.

There sure was a lot of information that could be gleaned from just one little verse, so let us go on to see what our next verse holds in store for us.

Verse 9 tells us that our parent’s instructions, laws, and disciplines are valuable. Honorable instructions and disciplines are life enhancing and improve our dignified walk through this world. Consequently, we should value those instructions like a precious ornament around our necks.

If you happened to misplace a costly, beautiful, diamond necklace, you would search everywhere for it. You might not be able to eat or sleep until you found it and it was back safely in your hand. Likewise, if you get away from your parents’ wise teachings, you should search for those teachings until they are, once again, back safely in your heart. Heeding wise instructions from wise parents will keep you from acting foolishly.

But I like the New Living Translation version of verse 9. “What you learn from them will crown you with grace and clothe you with honor.”

Well folks, that’s about all that we have time for this week, but I do want to leave you with a preview of next week. Next week, we are going to discuss verses 10 through 19. In those verses, we will learn that we should never let anyone entice us into doing evil. The pathway of evil is like a steep, slippery slope; once you start down it, it is almost impossible to stop and reverse your direction.

Sin whispers to the wicked, deep within their hearts. They have no fear of God to restrain them. In their blind conceit, they cannot see how wicked they really are. Everything they say is crooked and deceitful. They refuse to act wisely or do what is good.

Psalms 36:1-3 (NLT)

Three Key Concepts:

1. Knowing Christ Jesus gives you wisdom, “…made unto us wisdom.”

2. Honor your father and mother and value their laws.

3. Heeding your parents’ honorable instructions and disciplines is life enhancing.

Proverbial Wisdom – 1:1-7

These are the proverbs of Solomon, David's son, king of Israel. The purpose of these proverbs is to teach people wisdom and discipline, and to help them understand wise sayings. Through these proverbs, people will receive instruction in discipline, good conduct, and doing what is right, just, and fair. These proverbs will make the simpleminded clever. They will give knowledge and purpose to young people. Let those who are wise listen to these proverbs and become even wiser. And let those who understand receive guidance by exploring the depth of meaning in these proverbs, parables, wise sayings, and riddles. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Only fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Proverbs 1:1-7 (NLT)

We are about to begin our enlightening journey through the wonderful book of Proverbs. I am so excited and can hardly wait to see the truths that God reveals along our journey!

Personally, I am somewhat of a bookworm. I love to curl up with a good book and feed on its wisdom. And I can’t think of a better book to feed on than the Bible, and more specifically the book of Proverbs. So let’s jump right in and begin.

The first thing that we notice is that King Solomon is the author of our opening verses. God made King Solomon the wisest man that ever existed (1 Kings 3:12). In 1 Kings chapter 3, we learn that God appeared to Solomon in a dream and told Solomon to “…Ask what I shall give thee” (Verse 5).

Instead of asking for riches or for a long life, King Solomon asked for wisdom. “Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad…” (1 Kings 3:9, KJV). King Solomon wanted additional wisdom in order to be a good judge of God’s people. God granted his request (Verse 12).

God turned King Solomon into a wise man with an understanding heart. We also can become wise when we are willing to pick through King Solomon’s words and chew on some morsels of his wisdom. Morsels of wisdom…that sounds delicious!

A proverb is a short saying of truth and “It doesn’t argue about the basic spiritual and moral beliefs; it assumes that we already have them” (Life Application Study Bible, NLT version).  However, if you find that you are lacking in some basic spiritual and moral beliefs, please refer to last week’s lesson (July 30, 2011).

Immediately in our opening verses, King Solomon tells us the purpose of proverbs. That purpose is to teach us wisdom and discipline. Those two words, wisdom and discipline, go hand-in-hand—if you act foolishly without wisdom, you will be disciplined. And you are disciplined in order to gain more wisdom. 

But you must understand what true wisdom is and what it isn’t. True wisdom is not about accumulating a whole bunch of facts and figures. Rather, true wisdom is about putting into practice, or utilizing, all the facts that you have accumulated throughout your years. You simply live what you have learned.

Webster’s Universal College Dictionary says that wisdom is “a wise act or saying.”  Wise means “having the power of discerning and judging properly as to what is true or right; possessing discernment, judgment, or discretion.”  So if we say that we want to become wise, then we are really saying that we want to learn how to live godly lives with more discernment, improved judgment, better morals, and holier conduct in both our actions and words.

That all sounds wonderful but how do we gain more wisdom? Can everyone become wise? 

King Solomon says that proverbs can help everyone who is willing to be helped. The foolish can become clever, the young can learn direction or purpose, and the wise can become even wiser. And those who have already sought out and achieved some wisdom can dig even deeper, “by exploring the depth of meaning in these proverbs, parables, wise sayings, and riddles” (Verse 6).    

That brings us to our final verse. Verse 7 says that in order to become wiser, we first must learn to fear the Lord. We don’t fear God as if He is a tyrant, who is going to immediately strike us dead at our first mistake. If that were the case, we all would be dead.

Don’t make the deadly mistake of thinking that God cannot strike us dead—because He Can. All through the Bible, we find cases where God has done that very thing. But normally, if we slip up and make a mistake, He gives us many opportunities to correct our mistakes and to improve.

Fearing the Lord means a reverential awe for the greatness and majesty of God. It means that we have such a high respect and love for God that we have determined in our hearts that we will obey Him. Further, we have determined that we will turn from our rebellious hearts and allow God to teach us. That is the first step to gaining more wisdom.

Verse 7 also provides a contrast to the wise—that contrast is the fool. Fools are rebellious and refuse to learn. They hate all forms of instruction; further, they don’t learn from discipline. Fools cannot be taught because their hearts, minds, and souls have become as hard and dry as sun-baked bricks.

I know that you are not a fool and that you are probably a lot like me, so you can hardly wait to see where our journey takes us next week. But first, let me give you an assignment—this week learn to fear the Lord.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.

Psalm 111-10 (KJV)

Three Key Concepts:

1.  A proverb is a short saying of wisdom.

2.  Wise men seek wisdom, while fools refuse to learn.

3.  The first step in gaining wisdom is learning to fear the Lord.