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A Study of Proverbs 7 - 9
April 15, 2007
One of our members requested a study of Proverbs. The first nine chapters are a prelude to the actual proverbs. They emphasize the importance of children obeying their parents; obeying God; keeping good company; seeking knowledge, understanding, and wisdom; and avoiding ignorance and fornication.
Bernie Parsons
A Study of Proverbs Chapters 7-9
by Bernie Parsons
Presented to the Load church of Christ on April 15, 2007
Proverbs 7:1: “1: My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.
2: Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.
3: Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart.”
As before, the advice continues that the son is to keep his father’s words and commandments. They are to always be at hand, and in the heart. Compare to:
2 Corinthians 3:3: “Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.”
Proverbs 7:4: “Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman:
5: That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.
6: For at the window of my house I looked through my casement,
7: And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding,
8: Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house,
9: In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night:
10: And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.
11: (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house:
12: Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.)
13: So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him,
14: I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows.
15: Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.
16: I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt.
17: I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18: Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves.
19: For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey:
20: He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed.
21: With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.
22: He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;
23: Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.”
As before, the warning is that a foolish man engages with a harlot to his own detriment.
Proverbs 7:24: “Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth.
25: Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths.
26: For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her.
27: Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.”
And once more, we see the warning that to be ensnared by a harlot leads to destruction.
Proverbs 8:1: “Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice?
2: She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths.
3: She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors.
4: Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man.
5: O ye simple, understand wisdom: and, ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart.
6: Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and the opening of my lips shall be right things.
7: For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
8: All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them.
9: They are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge.
10: Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold.
11: For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.
12: I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions.”
Wisdom is here personified, speaking as a wise woman. If the ignorant will learn, wisdom will teach them. Wisdom speaks truth and righteousness. To possess wisdom is better than to possess treasures of silver, gold, or rubies. Wisdom can deliver one from trouble in ways and at times that treasure cannot.
Proverbs 8:13: “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.”
God’s face is set against the proud, the haughty, and the arrogant of this world.
James 4:6: “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.”
Proverbs 8:14: “Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength.
15: By me kings reign, and princes decree justice.
16: By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth.”
Those who remain in power do so because they rule wisely.
Proverbs 8:17: “I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.
18: Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness.
19: My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver.
20: I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment:
21: That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures.”
Spiritual and eternal riches can result from wisdom, as can riches of this world. Therefore, wisdom is more desirable than earthly treasures.
Matthew 6:19: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
Proverbs 8:22: “The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.
23: I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.
24: When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water.
25: Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth:
26: While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world.
27: When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth:
28: When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep:
29: When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth:
30: Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him;
31: Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men.”
Wisdom pre-existed this world with its features and inhabitants.
Proverbs 8:32: “Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways.
33: Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.
34: Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.
35: For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD.
36: But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.”
Wisdom can preserve life, while ignorance and foolishness can bring death. The young are to listen to their parents, as we have seen in the studies of the previous six chapters.
Proverbs 9:1: “Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars:
2: She hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her table.
3: She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the highest places of the city,
4: Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,
5: Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled.
6: Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding.”
Wisdom also cries in the streets to the foolish young man, as does the harlot. The difference is that wisdom brings life, while foolishness attracts death and destruction.
Proverbs 9:7: “He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot.
8: Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.
9: Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.”
When a person persists in foolishness, it is unwise to reprove such a one. Instead, work with those who are wise. The wise gladly receive correction, knowing that it makes them better able to survive, and even prosper, in this world.
Proverbs 9:10: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.
11: For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased.
12: If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself: but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it.”
The best knowledge comes from fearing God, and keeping His commandments.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”
Proverbs 9:13: “A foolish woman is clamourous: she is simple, and knoweth nothing.
14: For she sitteth at the door of her house, on a seat in the high places of the city,
15: To call passengers who go right on their ways:
16: Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: and as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,
17: Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.
18: But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.”
Listen to your parents. Learn from God, fear and obey Him. Ignorance will destroy you, but wisdom will save you. Avoid bad company, and stay away from prostitutes. So goes the nine-chapter preamble to the proverbs of Solomon.
