Book of Proverbs-Chapter 1
The lord put it upon my heart to read,study and share. Praying this will be a blessing and more to me and those who earnestly hear ,believe and receive it.
***Note this is instruction to sons and daughters
Purpose and Theme
1 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
2 2 for gaining wisdom and instruction;
for understanding words of insight;
3 3 for receiving instruction in prudent behavior,
doing what is right and just and fair;
To receive,therefore if we know the Bible,we will then receive its instruction
4 for giving prudence to those who are simple,
knowledge and discretion to the young—
If we know, then we receive, then we can give for the benefit of our knowledge to others
5 let the wise listen and add to their learning,
and let the discerning get guidance—
If we know the Bible,the Holy Spirit considers us wise and we will thereby continue to increase learning through His wise counsels
6 for understanding proverbs and parables,
the sayings and riddles of the wise.
The natural man receivers not the things of the Spirit(1corinthians 2:14)therefore we are told in the following verse how this understanding can come about.
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
The beginning of this God breathed read is “the fear of the LORD”Men do not fear Him because most do not believe Him.
Warning Against the Invitation of Sinful Men
8 Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
9 They are a garland to grace your head
and a chain to adorn your neck.
This is a double statement that the fear of God and obedience to parents form the foundation of a just relationship to God and man. Chains of gold around the neck indicate political dignity,therefore the sense of passage is that rulership of men must be preceded by fidelity to Gods commands,showing consecration of parents to Gods word and submission by children to Godly parents.
10 My son, if sinful men entice you,
do not give in to them.
This tells that is parents have not been properly guided by the word that they may properly instruct their sons and daughters,then the enticement of sinners will be successful in it’s allure wNt;,this sadly is the lot of most.
11 If they say, “Come along with us;
let’s lie in wait for innocent blood,
let’s ambush some harmless soul;
Verses 11-14 suggest the evil enticement fomented by Satan that lurks in the path of every young man and young lady. To be sure,these enticements are deadly,characterized by the words blood,grave and the pit.
12 let’s swallow them alive, like the grave,
and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
as a result of lacking the wisdom of God,the land is filled with blood,the graves cannot be dug fast enough,and hell opens her mouth without measure.
13 we will get all sorts of valuable things
and fill our houses with plunder;
Satan lies and men love to believe his lies,he is the master of deception;there is no precious substance that can be obtained by such measures and if there is,it brings no satisfaction.
14 cast lots with us;
we will all share the loot”—
This purse carries the wages of sin,which is death
15 my son, do not go along with them,
do not set foot on their paths;
The reference is that it is impossible to make the right decision concerning the right path unless the solidity of the Bible is our foundation.
16 for their feet rush into evil,
they are swift to shed blood.
The spirit of this passage ensconced itself in the heart of every Bible rejecter
17 How useless to spread a net
where every bird can see it!
The argument of this verse is that as a bird with its eyes open flies into a net spread for its destruction,so evil men rush with their eyes open to death.
18 These men lie in wait for their own blood;
they ambush only themselves!
They seek to kill others for ill gotten gain; in the killing of others,they also kill themselves
19 Such are the paths of all who go after ill-gotten gain;
it takes away the life of those who get it.
The far greater majority of the world is greedy of gain and will do anything up and to and including murder to accomplish their purpose
Wisdom’s Rebuke
20 Out in the open wisdom calls aloud,
she raises her voice in the public square;
In Luke 7:35 the Lord Jesus says,Wisdom is justified of all her children;the wisdom who speaks here to Solomon and to all men invites them to become her sons(daughters)
21 on top of the wall[d] she cries out,
at the city gate she makes her speech:
Although righteousness is not nearly proliferated as evil,still,the crying of Wisdom which God gives is ample enough that it will appeal even to the simple.
22 “How long will you who are simple love your simple ways?
How long will mockers delight in mockery
and fools hate knowledge?
The terms “simple”,”scorner”,and “fool”mark regression. The man who treats Wisdom with good humor and polite inattention presently becomes a mocker and finally a hater. So it was with the Pharisees and the rulers of the synagogue. At first they politely permitted the Lord to read the scriptures in there and to preach;but soon they began to mock Him and finally they hated and crucified Him.
23 Repent at my rebuke!
Then I will pour out my thoughts to you,
I will make known to you my teachings.
Wisdom speaks and pleads with the frivolous,the mockers and the hostile,promising them that if they would turn she would abundantly enrich them with her own spirit and with understanding. But such is conditional upon conversion,and conversion is repugnant to man,because it humbles them.
24 But since you refuse to listen when I call
and no one pays attention when I stretch out my hand,
The whole humanity is set apart in two camps: those who follow God given wisdom ie..the Bible and those who reject God given wisdom.
25 since you disregard all my advice
and do not accept my rebuke,
The implication is that man willingly and deliberately set aside Gods counsel then the reproofs come;they are but signposts directing our attention to the coming catastrophe;most mock and continue on
26 I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you;
I will mock when calamity overtakes you—
This verse does not mean that wisdom will actually deride her rejecters;it is the language of idiomatic argument;the rejecters laughed and mocked at wisdom;when therefore calamities came upon them,which wisdom predicted,their laughter and mocking turned upon themselves, and so wisdom may be justly said to deride their calamity.
27 when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind,
when distress and trouble overwhelm you.
Some may argue that such does not come to all who ignore God; however,they are only looking at the physical and material. Spiritually it is definite!
28 “Then they will call to me but I will not answer;
they will look for me but will not find me,
While it is certainly true that God will hear any and all who earnestly cry out to Him,still the sense in this passage is that a late call cannot undo the irreparable harm done in a misspent life.
29 since they hated knowledge
and did not choose to fear the Lord.
There is a”choice”that everyone has to make;those who”choose”the wrong path do so because they hate knowledge aka truth aka the BIBLE.
30 Since they would not accept my advice
and spurned my rebuke,
The almost identical repetition of this passage from verse 25 is not by accident,but by design. If men reject the counsel of God and despise His reproof,then the following passage must come to pass.
31 they will eat the fruit of their ways
and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.
Mans problem is “his own way”and his “own devices”It’s either Gods way,which brings life,or our own way,which brings death.
32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,
and the complacency of fools will destroy them;
The “simple”turns away from God and is,thereby destroyed. Likewise,the “prosperity of fools”does not bring the gain that they anticipated in verse 19,but instead destruction.
33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety
and be at ease, without fear of harm.”
In this first chapter of proverbs,written by King Solomon(inspired by the Holy Spirit)we are given the blueprint for living Gods way vs. Our way.Those who listen to Him shall “dwell safely” and shall have no fear.
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