Proverbs

Proverbs is the second book of poetry in the Christian Bible, filled with wisdom literature. It contains general truths about life, not promises from God. Solomon, son of David, wrote many proverbs and songs, teaching about various subjects. The book aims to provide understanding, wisdom, and discipline. It emphasizes the importance of the fear of the Lord and the consequences of rejecting wisdom. The book is relevant for people of all ages, covering topics such as work, honesty, pride, money, family, friendship, anger, and more. It also personifies wisdom as a woman calling people to follow her ways. The book concludes with the sayings of Eger and King Lemuel. Some believe that Christ is the incarnation of wisdom mentioned in chapter 8. Proverbs encourages readers to seek wisdom, as it leads to life and favor from the Lord. I'm Julie Callio, your host, and thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to tune in with me today. If by chance you want to contact me, you can do that at vab.bc.pc at gmail.com. Today we're taking a quick overview of Proverbs. It is the second book of poetry in the Christian Bible, and it's wisdom literature. With that information, again, this book is not, Thus saith the Lord, but it is humanity speaking to humanity about life. These are not necessarily promises from God, but they are general truths about life. The book starts in chapter 1, verse 1, the Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel. In 1 Kings, chapter 4, verses 32 and 34, we learn that Solomon spoke 3,000 Proverbs and his songs numbered 1,005. He described plant life from the cedars of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the walls. He also taught about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. Men of all nations came to listen to Solomon's wisdom sent by all the kings of the world who had heard of his wisdom. The book we have does not include all of Solomon's Proverbs because this book does not cover much about plant or animal life. Instead, these are for humans to gain understanding, wisdom, and discipline in order to know what is right, just, and fair. There is a desire that people will continue to grow in wisdom. And chapter 1, verse 7 says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. One thing about the poetic books of the Bible, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon, there is an understanding that God is sovereign over everything. And these poetic books acknowledge him and cry out to him. From this verse we also see that Solomon acknowledged at least two people groups, the wise and the foolish. And then there is the simple who are so naive that they haven't made it into one of those two categories yet. According to my ESV study Bible introduction, the greatest sin in Proverbs is the hardness of unteachability. Now verses 1 through 7 of chapter 1 give the introduction and explanation of the book. And then in chapter 1, verse 8, Solomon says, listen, my son, to your father's instruction, and do not forsake your mother's teaching. They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck. Even though it appears that this book is for teaching children, we find as we read that they are for all people of every age. Verses 1 through 9 are an appeal to accept wisdom and the benefits that come when doing so, and a warning for those who reject it and the repercussions from that. As one of my professors said, this is a great book to share with non-believers because everyone needs wisdom to make their lives better. C. Hasselbullock in his book, An Introduction to the Old Testament Poetic Books, said, the Proverb is not the kind of form that one can assimilate in large quantities at once. W. A. L. Emsley has astutely called it compressed experience. And in this kind of literature, overindulgence has its peculiar consequences. One needs time for gaining insight into some Proverbs. Wisdom is personified as a woman who is calling people to follow her ways. The ESV Study Bible said, Proverbs denote skill in the arts of godly living. Sometimes the Proverbs seem to contradict themselves, like in chapter 26 verses 4 and 5. Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes. As Dr. Vickers said, wisdom is knowing the right thing to do or not to do and doing it or not in any given situation. The wise person is able to address every situation and do it, which means you may do different things in different times, like run or stay. In other words, knowledge is to know the stuff, understanding is how it works, and wisdom is knowing and understanding when and how to apply that knowledge and understanding to life. It makes me think of Ecclesiastes chapter 3, there is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven. Proverbs chapter 3, 5 and 6 are key verses in this book and they are some of my lifetime favorites. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your path straight. Chapters 1-9 are in a format of telling a son what to look out for and some of it is done with storytelling which comes to the comparison of two main women, Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly in chapter 9. Lady Folly entices men into adultery, which leads down a road that ends in the depths of the grave, but Lady Wisdom leads to life. Chapters 10-22 are the quick little sayings that make one ponder, am I like that? Dr. Vickers said, there are more proverbs about the mouth than anything else. Proverbs 15, 1, a gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. There are proverbs about work, like chapter 10 verse 4, lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth. There are proverbs about honesty, chapter 11 verse 1, the Lord abhors dishonest scales, but accurate weights are his delight. Proverbs about pride, when pride comes then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom, that's chapter 11 verse 2. Proverbs about money, chapter 11 verse 28, whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf. There are proverbs about having a teachable spirit, chapter 13 verse 13, he who scorns instruction will pay for it, but he who respects a command is rewarded. There are proverbs about family life, chapter 14 verse 1, the wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down. Chapter 15 verse 20, a wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish man despises his mother. Chapter 17 verse 17 is about friendship, a friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. There are proverbs about anger, a hot tempered man must pay the penalty, if you rescue him you will have to do it again. Chapter 18 verse 19, there are even proverbs about drinking, wine is a mocker and beer a brawler, whoever is led astray by them is not wise, chapter 20 verse 1. There are proverbs about children, like chapter 20 verse 11, even a child is known by his actions by whether his conduct is pure and right. That's only 12 proverbs and there are tons more where that came from, from all different topics. Chapter 22 verse 17 says, pay attention and listen to the sayings of the wise, apply your heart to what I teach. These sayings of the wise go through chapter 24. Now we don't know if these are still from Solomon or someone else, but my ESV study bible said that these are a set of 30 sayings which says that in Proverbs chapter 22 verse 20 and they are written with an awareness of the Egyptian wisdom text, the instruction of Amenemope. But unlike those, these refer to the Lord. Keep in mind that Solomon's first wife was the daughter of the Pharaoh king of Egypt. First Kings chapter 3 verse 1. These proverbs are just a little bit longer than just a quotable quote. Solomon chapter 25 verse 1 says, these are more proverbs of Solomon copied by the men of Hezekiah king of Judah. These proverbs go through chapter 29 and we won't read about Hezekiah king of Judah until second Kings 18, so we will wait and review the end of proverbs at that time. What we do know is that when Hezekiah became king, he brought a revival of coming back to the Lord. Proverbs chapter 30 is entitled, the sayings of Eger, son of Jacob, an oracle. And chapter 31 begins, the sayings of King Lemuel, an oracle his mother taught him. That is what we call the Proverbs 31 woman. Neither one of these men are mentioned elsewhere in scripture, so we won't cover them at this time as we have been learning about Solomon, but we will cover them later. I did cover them last year when I did five lessons on the books of Proverbs which aired June 5th through the 9th, 2023. To end, I'd like to go back to Proverbs chapter 8 for a moment. In this chapter, wisdom is calling out to any who will hear, and verses 10 and 11 were made into an older chorus from 1979 called, More Precious Than Silver by Lynn DeShazo. And it goes like this, Lord you are more precious than silver, Lord you are more costly than gold, Lord you are more beautiful than diamonds, and nothing I desire compares with you. I've always loved that chorus, but I also always thought, she changed the words, this is wisdom speaking, not the Lord. But in my study this time of Proverbs, my ESV study bible said, in the first few Christian centuries, it was widely accepted that Christ was the incarnation of wisdom in chapter 8. Oh, it seems that Lynn DeShazo knew that when she wrote her song. I then began to look at chapter 8 differently, especially verses 22 through 36. Verses 22 and 23 say, The Lord brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old. I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began. The gospel of John, one of Jesus' disciples, in chapter 1 verse 1 says, In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Then Proverbs verses 30 and 31 read, Then I was the craftsman at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence. I rejoiced in his whole world, and delighting in mankind. Then the gospel of John continues, Through him, meaning Jesus, all things were made. Without him nothing was made that has been made. Now back to Proverbs verses 35 and 36, For whoever finds me finds life, and receives favor from the Lord. But whoever fails to find me harms himself. All who hate me love death. John says in verses 4 through 5 about Jesus, In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. The apostle Paul wrote in Colossians chapter 1 verses 15 through 17, He, Jesus, is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities, all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Seeing these similarities in how the New Testament writers saw Jesus in Proverbs 8, then let's look at verses 32 through 33 with 34 through 36 as if Jesus is saying it. Now then, my children, listen to me, Blessed are those who keep my ways. Listen to my instruction and be wise, do not ignore it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway. For whoever finds me finds life, and receives favor from the Lord. But whoever fails to find me harms himself. All who hate me love death. Ladies, are you listening to the Lord's instruction or are you ignoring it? Have you chosen the path of wisdom or are you going the way of the fool? If you have heard his voice today, heed his word and watch for him, and if you will, you will also choose life and light.