Friday, January 3, 2014

CCXXI – Proverbs 8-11



Chapter 8 begins by professing that wisdom is available to everyone and calls for people to listen.  Then, beginning in verse 4, wisdom itself speaks as the writer.  This chapter was one of Solomon’s poems.  It is not only a plea to those who should be in search of wisdom, but also a praise to wisdom itself.

Chapter 9 is a good chapter, short but interesting.  In this chapter wisdom and folly are contrasted and are represented by two different women.  Both invite the simple into their respective houses and urge acceptance of what they have to offer.  Wisdom speaks in the first twelve verses and folly speaks in the last five.  Wisdom offers the food of life and understanding (vs 6).  Verse 10 repeats “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding”.  In contrast to what wisdom offers, folly entices with the lure of sex and immediate gratification, reminding the reader in verse 17 that “stolen food and drink tastes better”.  Although a fool understands little, he definitely understands the concept of the stolen fruit.  {During youthful years people begin to make choices that will not only effect their future, but in many cases will actually chart its course.  The writer (Solomon) in this chapter is laying out to the reader (his son) that the choice is clear, and urging him to make the right choice.  He presented the difference in such a stark manner that you will read in this chapter that he says one offers life while the other promises death.}

APHORISMS

We somewhat shift gears at chapter 10.  The first nine chapters were written often in the form of poems, which were short stories, lauding wisdom and warning against foolishness.  Chapters 10-22 contain 375 different proverbs that are not grouped in any particular order.  They are what we would call “aphorisms”, which are concise statements of truth, generally short and easy to understand.  I’ve always enjoyed reading these.  The “Daily Bread” devotional I referred to earlier contained these aphorisms.  Many of them, how-be-they short, offer a contrast between wisdom and folly.  I could comment on almost every one of these, but I will practice restraint, and comment on a relative few select verses.  For example, look at the very first verse in chapter 10.  Herein should be sobering to a young person, charting the course for his/her life.  A wise son or daughter bring honor and joy to their parents and a foolish son or daughter brings grief, sadness, and shame.  If for no other reason, a young person should chose wisdom out of respect for his parents.  Verses 4 and 5 contrast the lazy and the diligent, warning of their respective outcomes.  I always liked verse 14 (I’ll use KJV) which says the wise man is cautious in speech.  To paraphrase, the wise man never tells everything he knows, while the fool never shuts up until he runs out of things he can tell.  Verse 17 is a good adage with which to teach the young.  A wise person, regardless of his age, will accept discipline and correction and learn from it, but a foolish person ignores the correction and instead of improving himself, he merely makes himself bitter toward his instructor.  This tells us that the “smart get smarter and the stupid get stupider”.  Their respective lives will reveal their youthful choices.
 
Chapter 11 continues with aphorisms.  The very first verse tells us that God detests a cheater.  In Old Testament times, the value of most items being bought and sold was determined by weight.  That remains true today.  Verse 1 mentions dishonest scales, scales made to misrepresent the exact weight, therefore cheating the customer.  In contrast, God is pleased when the merchant takes care to assure accurate weights, therefore honest business.  Verse 2 addresses the first of the six things God hates:  Pride.  As mentioned before, “Pride cometh before the fall”.  Pride and shame travel together, with pride in the forefront.  As pride leads, shame follows, usually immediately.    {It is so easy to get swallowed up in the trap of pride.  God blesses us with success and prosperity, making our “cup runneth over”.  As we enjoy the fruits of those successes and hear favorable comments from well-meaning friends and loved ones, it is easy to start giving ourselves undeserved credit.  We just need to somehow keep reminding ourselves that the only thing we deserve credit for is the sense enough to know Who the Author of our blessings is.  If we can keep this in mind, we can avoid the trap of pride and its awful consequences.}  Verse 4 reminds us that wealth is worthless in the day of wrath (Judgement Day).  Verse 10 is encouraging.  It indicates that society rejoices when a good man succeeds, and is happy when an evil man fails.  A caution is repeated in verse 15.  The word “stranger” is anyone who is not family.  Verse 21 promises that the wicked will not go unpunished.
And finally, I don’t want to end this post without addressing a subject that is touched on in various verses.  Many of the proverbs indicate that there will be prosperity enjoyed by the wise, due to diligence, honesty, and many more attributes of the wise.  But it is equally cautious (verse 28) about trusting in those riches.  One thing I must emphasize about this and other parts of the Bible:  Being successful and gaining wealth is not a sin.  God enjoys blessing His children with the finer things and a multitude of them.  But He is careful to make it clear that these blessings carry with them a stern warning:  One is never to lean on these riches for security or long life.  Neither is one to give himself credit for single-handedly gaining wealth.


Next post – Continuing with the aphorisms

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