The Book of Proverbs

Explained and Applied

The Signpost

Ger de Koning

Dutch version:

Spreuken – Toegelicht en toegepast

Web shop: www.uitgeverijdaniel.nl

Translation: Ursula Moestapa

Proofreading: Alan Walker

English version:

© 2018 by Ger de Koning. All rights preserved.

No part of this publication may be – other than for personal use – reproduced in any form without written permission of the author.

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org.

Contents

Abbreviations of the Names of the Books of the Bible 20

Old Testament 20

New Testament 21

Explanation of General Format 22

Preface 23

The Book of Proverbs 24

Introduction 24

Proverbs 1 28

Pro 1:1 | Proverbs and Its Author 28

Pro 1:2 | To Know Wisdom and to Discern Sayings 29

Pro 1:3 | To Receive Instruction 31

Pro 1:4 | Prudence, Knowledge and Discretion 31

Pro 1:5 | Wise and Understanding 32

Pro 1:6 | Proverb, Figure, Words, Riddles 33

Pro 1:7 | The Fear of the LORD 34

Pro 1:8-9 | Hearing Will Be Rewarded 35

Pro 1:10-19 | Avoid Bad Company 37

Pro 1:20-23 | Wisdom Shouts 42

Pro 1:24-32 | Consequences of Not Listening 43

Pro 1:33 | The Part of Him Who Listens 45

Proverbs 2 46

Introduction 46

Pro 2:1-5 | If …, Then … 47

Pro 2:6-11 | Wisdom That Protects 48

Pro 2:12-15 | Wisdom Delivers From the Way of Evil 50

Pro 2:16-19 | Wisdom Delivers From the Strange Woman 51

Pro 2:20-22 | Wisdom Leads to the Way of Good Men 53

Proverbs 3 55

Introduction 55

Pro 3:1-2 | Do Not Forget the Teaching 55

Pro 3:3-4 | To Keep Kindness and Truth 56

Pro 3:5-6 | Trust in the LORD 57

Pro 3:7-8 | Fear the LORD 59

Pro 3:9-10 | Honor the LORD 60

Pro 3:11-12 | Discipline of the LORD 61

Pro 3:13-18 | The Value of Wisdom 63

Pro 3:19-20 | Wisdom at and in Creation 65

Pro 3:21-26 | Wisdom Gives Rest 65

Pro 3:27-30 | Do Not Harm Your Neighbor 68

Pro 3:31-35 | Do Not Envy the Ungodly 70

Proverbs 4 73

Pro 4:1-4 | A Good Lesson Goes Forth Through Generations 73

Pro 4:5-9 | Acquire Wisdom, Acquire Understanding! 75

Pro 4:10-13 | The Way of Wisdom 76

Pro 4:14-19 | The Path of the Wicked 77

Pro 4:20-27 | Watch Your Heart, Lips, Eyes and Feet 79

Proverbs 5 83

Introduction 83

Pro 5:1-2 | Discretion and Knowledge 83

Pro 5:3-6 | The Lips and Feet of the Strange Woman 84

Pro 5:7-14 | The Price of Unfaithfulness 85

Pro 5:15-23 | The Joy of Faithfulness in Marriage 87

Proverbs 6 91

Introduction 91

Pro 6:1-5 | Do Not Ever Become Surety 91

Pro 6:6-11 | The Sluggard 92

Pro 6:12-15 | A Worthless Person 94

Pro 6:16-19 | Things Which the LORD Hates 95

Pro 6:20-24 | What Keeps From the Evil Woman 96

Pro 6:25-29 | Do Not Take Fire in Your Bosom 97

Pro 6:30-35 | There Is No Ransom for Adultery 99

Proverbs 7 101

Introduction 101

Pro 7:1-5 | Warning Against the Strange Woman 101

Pro 7:6-9 | The Victim 102

Pro 7:10-12 | The Temptress 103

Pro 7:13-20 | The Temptation 104

Pro 7:21-23 | The Capitulation of the Victim 106

Pro 7:24-27 | Do Not Let Your Heart Turn Aside to Her Ways 106

Proverbs 8 108

Pro 8:1-5 | Where and to Whom Wisdom Calls 108

Pro 8:6-9 | What Wisdom Is Calling 109

Pro 8:10-21 | The Value of Wisdom 110

Pro 8:22-31 | Wisdom Is an Eternal Person 113

Pro 8:32-36 | The Blessing of Listening to Wisdom 117

Proverbs 9 119

Introduction 119

Pro 9:1-6 | The Invitation of Wisdom 119

Pro 9:7-12 | The Scoffer and the Wise Man 122

Pro 9:13-18 | The Invitation of the Woman of Folly 124

Proverbs 10 127

Introduction 127

Pro 10:1 | A Wise Son and a Foolish Son 128

Pro 10:2-3 | Righteousness Is Life 129

Pro 10:4-5 | To Work Diligently in Summer 130

Pro 10:6-7 | Blessing or Rotting Away 132

Pro 10:8-10 | Be Ruined or Walking Securely 132

Pro 10:11-14 | The Mouth of the Righteous and of the Wicked 133

Pro 10:15-17 | Security and Life or Ruin 135

Pro 10:18-21 | The Use of the Lips 135

Pro 10:22-26 | The Blessing of the LORD 136

Pro 10:27-28 | Hope and Expectation 138

Pro 10:29-30 | The Way of the LORD 139

Pro 10:31-32 | The Mouth and the Lips of the Righteous 139

Proverbs 11 141

Pro 11:1 | Honesty in Doing Business 141

Pro 11:2-3 | Humility and Uprightness 141

Pro 11:4-6 | Righteousness Saves and Guides 142

Pro 11:7-8 | The Fate of the Wicked 143

Pro 11:9 | Knowledge Delivers From the Godless Man 144

Pro 11:10-11 | The Joy and Exaltation of a City 144

Pro 11:12-13 | Understanding and Trustworthiness 145

Pro 11:14-15 | Wise Counsel – Don’t Be a Guarantor 146

Pro 11:16 | A Gracious Woman and Ruthless Men 147

Pro 11:17-21 | The Results of Righteous or Wicked Conduct 147

Pro 11:22 | A Beautiful Woman Who Lacks Discretion 148

Pro 11:23-27 | The Blessing of the Righteous 149

Pro 11:28-31 | The Increase of the Righteous 150

Proverbs 12 153

Pro 12:1-2 | To Love Knowledge and Obtain Favor 153

Pro 12:3 | Not Established – Not Moved 154

Pro 12:4 | An Excellent Wife 154

Pro 12:5-7 | The Righteous Against the Wicked 155

Pro 12:8 | To Harvest Praise or Despise 157

Pro 12:9-11 | Humility, Care and Diligence 157

Pro 12:12-14 | Fruit and Escape 159

Pro 12:15-16 | The Wise and the Prudent and the Fool 161

Pro 12:17-20 | Speaking Happens From the Heart 161

Pro 12:21 | No Harm Befalls the Righteous 163

Pro 12:22-23 | To Deal and Speak Faithfully 164

Pro 12:24 | Diligence Opposite to the Slack Hand 165

Pro 12:25-26 | A Good Word and to Ask For Advice 165

Pro 12:27 | The Results of Laziness and Diligence 166

Pro 12:28 | What Leads to Life and Not to Death 166

Proverbs 13 167

Pro 13:1 | A Wise Son or a Scoffer 167

Pro 13:2-3 | The Fruit and Protection of the Mouth 167

Pro 13:4 | The Desire of the Sluggard Against Diligence 168

Pro 13:5-6 | Righteous or Wicked 169

Pro 13:7-8 | The Rich Poor Man and the Poor Rich Man 170

Pro 13:9 | A Rejoicing Light or a Lamp That Goes Out 171

Pro 13:10 | Insolence or to Receive Counsel 171

Pro 13:11 | Easy Come, Easy Go 172

Pro 13:12 | Hope Deferred or Desire Fulfilled 172

Pro 13:13 | Despise or Fear 173

Pro 13:14-16 | Wisdom or Folly 173

Pro 13:17 | A Wicked Messenger or a Faithful Envoy 175

Pro 13:18 | To Neglect Discipline or Regard Reproof 175

Pro 13:19 | Sweet or an Abomination 175

Pro 13:20 | To Walk With the Wise or With the Fools 176

Pro 13:21-23 | To Receive the Good or the Bad 176

Pro 13:24 | He Who Loves His Son, Disciplines Him 177

Pro 13:25 | To Satisfy the Appetite or to Be in Need 178

Proverbs 14 180

Pro 14:1 | To Build or to Tear Down a House 180

Pro 14:2 | To Fear the LORD or to Despise Him 180

Pro 14:3 | The Mouth of the Foolish and the Lips of the Wise 181

Pro 14:4 | A Clean Manger or Much Revenue 181

Pro 14:5 | A Faithful Witness or a False Witness 182

Pro 14:6-9 | Scoffers and Fools 183

Pro 14:10 | Bitterness and Joy, Which Are Not to Be Shared 185

Pro 14:11-13 | Appearances Are Deceiving 185

Pro 14:14 | To Be a Backslider or a Good Man 187

Pro 14:15 | Naive or Sensible Man 187

Pro 14:16-17 | The Wise and the Arrogant 188

Pro 14:18 | To Inherit Folly or to Embrace Knowledge 189

Pro 14:19 | The Roles Are Reversed 189

Pro 14:20-21 | The Attitude Towards Socially Deprived 189

Pro 14:22 | To Devise Evil or to Devise Good 190

Pro 14:23-24 | Profit and Wealth 191

Pro 14:25 | A Savior of Lives or Uttering Lies 191

Pro 14:26-27 | The Fear of the LORD Is … 192

Pro 14:28 | Glory or Ruin of a Ruler 192

Pro 14:29 | To Be Slow to Anger or Quick-Tempered 193

Pro 14:30 | A Tranquil Heart or Passion 194

Pro 14:31 | To Oppress or to Be Gracious 194

Pro 14:32 | To Be Thrust Down or to Have a Refuge 195

Pro 14:33 | Hidden Wisdom and Open Folly 195

Pro 14:34 | Righteousness or Sin of a Nation 196

Pro 14:35 | Favor or Wrath of the King 196

Proverbs 15 198

Pro 15:1-2 | A Gentle Answer and the Tongue of the Wise 198

Pro 15:3 | The LORD Sees Everything and Everybody 198

Pro 15:4 | The Soothing Tongue 199

Pro 15:5 | To Reject or Regard Discipline 199

Pro 15:6 | Great Wealth or Ruin 200

Pro 15:7 | The Lips of the Wise and the Hearts of Fools 200

Pro 15:8-10 | Which Is an Abomination to the LORD 201

Pro 15:11 | Sheol and Abaddon Lie Open Before the LORD 202

Pro 15:12 | A Scoffer Does Not Go to the Wise 202

Pro 15:13-15 | A Joyful, Wise and Cheerful Heart 202

Pro 15:16-17 | Better … Than … 204

Pro 15:18 | Hot-Tempered or Slow to Anger 205

Pro 15:19 | The Way of the Lazy and the Path of the Upright 206

Pro 15:20-21 | The Influence of Wisdom and Folly 206

Pro 15:22 | Many Counselors Make a Plan Succeed 207

Pro 15:23 | How Delightful Is a Timely Word 207

Pro 15:24 | The Path of Life Leads Upward 208

Pro 15:25 | The LORD Protects the Widow 208

Pro 15:26 | Evil Plans or Pleasant Words 209

Pro 15:27 | Warning Against Illicit Profit 209

Pro 15:28 | Think First, Then Answer 209

Pro 15:29 | The LORD Answers the Prayer of the Righteous 210

Pro 15:30 | What Gladdens the Heart and Puts Fat on the Bones 210

Pro 15:31-33 | To Listen and to Fear Is Life, Wisdom and Honor 210

Proverbs 16 212

Pro 16:1-5 | The LORD Is Sovereign 212

Pro 16:6-9 | To Live Under the Sovereignty of God 214

Pro 16:10-15 | The Characteristics of a King After God’s Heart 216

Pro 16:16 | Wisdom and Understanding, Not Gold and Silver 218

Pro 16:17 | The Highway 219

Pro 16:18-19 | Humbleness Is Better Than a Haughty Spirit 219

Pro 16:20-24 | The Value of the Word and Words 220

Pro 16:25 | The End of a Seemingly Right Way 222

Pro 16:26 | Hunger Urges to Work 223

Pro 16:27-30 | The Worthless, Perverse, Violent Man 223

Pro 16:31-32 | A Gray Head, Patience and Self-Control 224

Pro 16:33 | Man Considers, but God Decides 226

Proverbs 17 227

Pro 17:1-3 | Quietness, Inheritance and Refining 227

Pro 17:4-5 | Listening to Lies Leads to Mockery 228

Pro 17:6 | Honor the Generations 229

Pro 17:7 | Two Things That Do Not Fit Together 229

Pro 17:8 | Bribes Bring Prosperity Everywhere 230

Pro 17:9 | Conceal Against Repeat 230

Pro 17:10-11 | If Discipline Does Not Work, Judgment Will Follow 231

Pro 17:12-13 | Warnings Against Foolishness 231

Pro 17:14 | Prevent Worse 232

Pro 17:15 | God Hates the Distortion of Right 233

Pro 17:16 | A Fool Has No Sense 233

Pro 17:17 | Real Friendship 233

Pro 17:18 | Only a Fool Becomes Guarantor 234

Pro 17:19-20 | To Love Strife Comes From a Crooked Mind 234

Pro 17:21 | The Sorrow of a Father 235

Pro 17:22 | A Joyful Heart or a Broken Spirit 235

Pro 17:23 | The Intention of a Bribe 236

Pro 17:24 | What One Pays Attention To 236

Pro 17:25 | Grief to the Father and Bitterness to the Mother 237

Pro 17:26 | Do Not Punish an Innocent Man 237

Pro 17:27-28 | The Control of the Tongue 238

Proverbs 18 239

Pro 18:1-2 | The Fool Who Separates Himself 239

Pro 18:3 | The Wicked Man and What Comes With Him 239

Pro 18:4 | Deep Waters and a Bubbling Brook 240

Pro 18:5 | No Respecter of Persons in a Court Case 240

Pro 18:6-8 | The Words of a Fool and a Slanderer 241

Pro 18:9 | Slackness Has a Destroying Effect 242

Pro 18:10-12 | The True Safety and the False Safety 242

Pro 18:13 | Listen Before You Give an Answer 243

Pro 18:14 | The Spirit of a Man or a Broken Spirit 243

Pro 18:15 | To Acquire and Seek Knowledge 244

Pro 18:16 | What a Gift Can Do 244

Pro 18:17-19 | A Case, Strife and Contentions 245

Pro 18:20-21 | The Fruit of Our Words 246

Pro 18:22 | A Wife as a Proof of God’s Favor 247

Pro 18:23 | Supplications and Rough Answers 247

Pro 18:24 | The Difference Between Friends and a Friend 247

Proverbs 19 249

Pro 19:1-3 | The Poor and the Fool 249

Pro 19:4 | Wealth and Friends 250

Pro 19:5 | A False Witness and He Who Tells Lies 251

Pro 19:6-7 | Wealth Is Attractive, Poverty Repulsive 251

Pro 19:8 | To Love His Own Soul and Find Good 252

Pro 19:9 | A False Witness and He Who Tells Lies 252

Pro 19:10 | What Is Not Fitting 252

Pro 19:11 | Patience and Forgiveness 253

Pro 19:12 | The Wrath and the Favor of a King 253

Pro 19:13-15 | Domestic Misery and Domestic Happiness 253

Pro 19:16 | To Keep One’s Soul or Die 255

Pro 19:17 | Who Is Gracious to a Poor Will Be Rewarded 255

Pro 19:18-20 | Discipline and Accept Discipline 255

Pro 19:21-23 | Counsel, Kindness and Life 256

Pro 19:24 | Even Too Lazy to Eat 257

Pro 19:25 | Discipline Makes Others Shrewd 258

Pro 19:26-27 | A Son Who Acts Shamefully 258

Pro 19:28-29 | Scoffers and Iniquity 259

Proverbs 20 261

Pro 20:1 | Be Careful With Wine and Strong Drink 261

Pro 20:2-3 | Fear of the King Keeps From Dispute 261

Pro 20:4 | The Excuse of the Sluggard Not to Work 262

Pro 20:5-9 | God Sees Through the Heart of Every Man 262

Pro 20:10 | Do Not Measure With Two Measures 264

Pro 20:11 | Deeds Show the Character 264

Pro 20:12 | The Hearing Ear and the Seeing Eye 265

Pro 20:13 | Do Not Sleep, but Be Awake and Work 265

Pro 20:14-17 | Be Honest in Words and Deeds 265

Pro 20:18-19 | To Deal With War and Slander 267

Pro 20:20-21 | To Curse and Pluck Parents 267

Pro 20:22-23 | Do Not Repay Evil With Evil 268

Pro 20:24-25 | The Limits of Man 269

Pro 20:26-28 | A Wise King Sees Through Man 269

Pro 20:29 | Strength as Glory and Gray Hair as Honor 270

Pro 20:30 | The Purifying Work of Stripes and Strokes 271

Proverbs 21 272

Pro 21:1-3 | The LORD Directs and Judges Everything 272

Pro 21:4 | Haughtiness Is Sin 273

Pro 21:5 | Diligence, Not Hasty 273

Pro 21:6-8 | A Lying Tongue and a Crooked Way 274

Pro 21:9 | Better Alone Than Together With Fight 275

Pro 21:10 | He Who Desires Evil, Has No Favor 276

Pro 21:11 | The Scoffer and the Wise 276

Pro 21:12 | Turned to Ruin 276

Pro 21:13 | To Shut the Ear and Not to Be Answered 277

Pro 21:14 | A Gift and a Bribe Bring Rest 277

Pro 21:15 | Joy and Terror 278

Pro 21:16 | Wandering Leads to the Dead 278

Pro 21:17 | He Who Loves Pleasure, Wine and Oil 278

Pro 21:18 | A Wicked Man as a Ransom 279

Pro 21:19 | Better … Than 280

Pro 21:20-21 | The Wise Is Saving and Lives 280

Pro 21:22-23 | The Wise Conquers and Guards Himself 281

Pro 21:24 | The Scoffer and His Insolent Pride 282

Pro 21:25-26 | The Sluggard and the Righteous 283

Pro 21:27-29 | The Hypocrite Will Perish 283

Pro 21:30-31 | Unconquerable and Victorious 284

Proverbs 22 287

Pro 22:1 | A Name and Favor Are Better Than Wealth 287

Pro 22:2 | The LORD Is the Maker of All 287

Pro 22:3 | To Escape From Evil or to Be Killed 288

Pro 22:4 | The Reward of Humility 289

Pro 22:5 | Thorns and Snares in the Way 289

Pro 22:6 | Counsel For Training 289

Pro 22:7-9 | To Borrow, to Sow Iniquity and to Be Generous 290

Pro 22:10 | Drive Out the Scoffer 291

Pro 22:11 | Purity and Grace 292

Pro 22:12 | The LORD Preserves and Overthrows 292

Pro 22:13 | An Excuse of the Sluggard Not to Work 293

Pro 22:14 | The Mouth Is a Deep Pit 293

Pro 22:15 | The Rod Keeps Foolishness at a Distance 294

Pro 22:16 | To Make More and Come to Poverty 295

Pro 22:17-21 | Words of Truth Are Excellent Things 295

Pro 22:22-23 | The LORD Will Punish Robbing and Crushing 297

Pro 22:24-25 | Bad Company Corrupts Good Morals 298

Pro 22:26-27 | Do Not Become a Guarantor for Debts 298

Pro 22:28 | Do Not Move the Ancient Boundaries 299

Pro 22:29 | He Who Is Skilled in His Work 299

Proverbs 23 301

Pro 23:1-3 | Dining With a Ruler 301

Pro 23:4-5 | Wealth Has Wings 302

Pro 23:6-8 | Hypocritical Hospitality 302

Pro 23:9 | Don’t Waste Wise Words on a Fool 303

Pro 23:10-11 | Honoring the Property of the Powerless 303

Pro 23:12 | A Renewed Call to Listen 304

Pro 23:13-14 | Discipline Is Necessary 304

Pro 23:15-16 | Wisdom Causes Gladness 305

Pro 23:17-18 | The Fear of the LORD Gives Hope 306

Pro 23:19 | Again the Call to Listen 307

Pro 23:20-21 | Bad Company 307

Pro 23:22-25 | Honor and Rejoice Your Father and Mother 308

Pro 23:26-28 | Two Ways 310

Pro 23:29-35 | The Disastrous Consequences of Drunkenness 311

Proverbs 24 314

Pro 24:1-2 | Don’t Be Envious of Evil Men 314

Pro 24:3-4 | Building a House and Filling the Rooms 314

Pro 24:5-6 | Strength and Victory by Wisdom 315

Pro 24:7 | Wisdom Is Too Exalted For a Fool 316

Pro 24:8-9 | Planning to Do Evil and the Devising of Folly 316

Pro 24:10 | Test of Distress 317

Pro 24:11-12 | Save Those Who Are Going to Slaughter 317

Pro 24:13-14 | Sweetness of Wisdom 318

Pro 24:15-16 | A Righteous Man Falls, but He Rises Again 319

Pro 24:17-18 | No Malicious Pleasure 320

Pro 24:19-20 | The Evil Man Has No Future 320

Pro 24:21-22 | Fear the LORD and the King 321

Pro 24:23-26 | No Partiality in Judgment 322

Pro 24:27 | Financial Independency 323

Pro 24:28-29 | A False Witness and Revenge 323

Pro 24:30-34 | Lesson of the Sluggard 324

Proverbs 25 326

Pro 25:1 | Transcribed Proverbs of Solomon 326

Pro 25:2-7 | Kings and Those Who Are With Them 326

Pro 25:8-10 | Advices for Arguing Your Case 328

Pro 25:11-14 | Precious Words and Empty Words 329

Pro 25:15 | The Power of Forbearance and of a Soft Tongue 331

Pro 25:16-17 | Advice to Be Moderate 331

Pro 25:18-20 | False Witness, False Confidence, False Comfort 332

Pro 25:21-22 | To Embarrass an Enemy 333

Pro 25:23-24 | A Back-Biting Tongue and a Quarreling Wife 333

Pro 25:25-26 | What Does and What Does Not Quench the Thirst 334

Pro 25:27 | What Determines One’s Own Glory 335

Pro 25:28 | Lack of Self-Control 336

Proverbs 26 337

Pro 26:1 | Honor Is Not Fitting For a Fool 337

Pro 26:2 | A Curse Without Cause Does Not Alight 337

Pro 26:3 | A Fool Is Like a Mule Without Understanding 337

Pro 26:4-5 | When Should We Answer or Not Answer a Fool 338

Pro 26:6-7 | To Cut Off Feet and Lamed Legs 339

Pro 26:8-9 | Dangerous and Painful 340

Pro 26:10 | What Fools Do, Brings Sorrow 340

Pro 26:11 | A Fool Who Repeats His Folly 341

Pro 26:12 | A Man Who Is Wise in His Own Eyes 341

Pro 26:13-16 | The Lazy Fool 341

Pro 26:17 | The Meddler 343

Pro 26:18-19 | To Fool ‘Just for Fun’ 343

Pro 26:20-22 | Gossip and Quarrels 344

Pro 26:23-28 | Hypocrisy 344

Proverbs 27 348

Pro 27:1-2 | To Boast Wrongly 348

Pro 27:3-4 | Burdens That Are Too Heavy to Bear 349

Pro 27:5-6 | Rebuke As an Expression of Love 349

Pro 27:7 | Satiation and Hunger Do Change the Taste 350

Pro 27:8 | Do Not Wander From Your Home 351

Pro 27:9-10 | The Affection and Help of a Friend 351

Pro 27:11 | A Wise Son Is an Answer to Reproach 352

Pro 27:12 | A Prudent Man Hides From Evil 353

Pro 27:13 | Obligations Have to Be Fulfilled 354

Pro 27:14-16 | Improper Behavior 354

Pro 27:17-18 | To Sharp and to Guard 355

Pro 27:19-20 | The Heart and the Eyes of Man 356

Pro 27:21 | A Good Name as a Test 357

Pro 27:22 | The Fool Is and Will Remain a Fool 358

Pro 27:23-27 | The Work of Man and the Care of God 358

Proverbs 28 361

Pro 28:1 | A Bad or a Good Conscience 361

Pro 28:2-5 | Not Acknowledging God’s Authority 361

Pro 28:6 | Integrity Is Better Than Being Crooked 363

Pro 28:7 | A Discerning Son or a Son Who Humiliates 363

Pro 28:8 | Crooked Wealth Increase 363

Pro 28:9 | God Is Deaf to Those Who Are Deaf Towards Him 364

Pro 28:10 | Falling Into His Own Pit or Doing the Good 364

Pro 28:11 | The Wise in His Own Eyes and the Poor 365

Pro 28:12 | The Righteous or the Wicked in Control 365

Pro 28:13-14 | Confessing and Fearing 366

Pro 28:15-16 | The Tyrant 366

Pro 28:17 | The Guilt of Human Blood Leads to the Pit 367

Pro 28:18 | To Be Delivered or to Fall 367

Pro 28:19-20 | Results of Diligence and Faithfulness 368

Pro 28:21 | Partiality Leads to Transgression 369

Pro 28:22 | Greed Leads to Want 369

Pro 28:23 | Rebuking Is Better Than Flattering 370

Pro 28:24-25 | Covetousness 370

Pro 28:26 | Self-Confidence or Walking Wisely 371

Pro 28:27 | He Who Gives, Has No Lack 372

Pro 28:28 | Wicked People Rise, but They Also Perish 372

Proverbs 29 373

Pro 29:1 | Who Hardens His Neck Will Suddenly Be Broken 373

Pro 29:2 | A Happy or a Sighing People 373

Pro 29:3 | Rejoicing the Father or Wasting Wealth 374

Pro 29:4 | Maintain or Demolish a Country 374

Pro 29:5-6 | Traps 374

Pro 29:7 | Taking Cognizance of the Trial of the Poor 375

Pro 29:8-11 | Raging Fools Against Quiet Sages 375

Pro 29:12 | A Bad Example Makes Bad Followers 377

Pro 29:13 | The LORD Gives Light to the Eyes 377

Pro 29:14 | Truth Establishes the Throne Forever 377

Pro 29:15-17 | Good Upbringing and the Absence of It 378

Pro 29:18 | No Vision – Keeping the Law 379

Pro 29:19-21 | Relationship Between Employer and Employee 379

Pro 29:22-23 | Anger, Hot-Temper and Pride Against Humility 380

Pro 29:24 | Who Shares With a Thief Hates His Own Life 381

Pro 29:25-26 | Fear of Man or Relying on the LORD 382

Pro 29:27 | To Be Unjust or Upright 383

Proverbs 30 384

Introduction 384

Pro 30:1 | The Speaker and the Addressees 384

Pro 30:2-3 | The Confession of Agur 385

Pro 30:4 | God Reveals Himself in His Son 386

Pro 30:5-6 | God Reveals Himself in His Word 387

Pro 30:7-9 | The Prayer of Agur 388

Pro 30:10 | Do Not Slander a Slave to His Master 391

Pro 30:11-14 | Four Apostate Generations 391

Pro 30:15-16 | Four Insatiable Things 393

Pro 30:17 | Mocking a Father and Scorning a Mother 394

Pro 30:18-20 | Four Incomprehensible Things 395

Pro 30:21-23 | Four Things That Are Not to Bear 397

Pro 30:24-28 | Four Little but Wise Animals 398

Pro 30:29-31 | Four With a Stately March 400

Pro 30:32-33 | Pressing Produces Something 401

Proverbs 31 403

Pro 31:1 | The Words to Lemuel 403

Pro 31:2 | Appeal to Listen to Advice 403

Pro 31:3 | Warning Against Women 404

Pro 31:4-7 | Warning Against Wine 404

Pro 31:8-9 | Open Your Mouth to Judge Righteously 405

Pro 31:10-31 | Introduction 406

Pro 31:10 | The Value of the Excellent Wife 407

Pro 31:11-12 | She Looks After the Interests of Her Husband 408

Pro 31:13-15 | She Cares of Clothing and Food 409

Pro 31:16-18 | Her Sound Financial Management 410

Pro 31:19-21 | She Works for the Family and the Poor 411

Pro 31:22-23 | She and Her Husband 412

Pro 31:24 | She Sells and Delivers 413

Pro 31:25-27 | Wisdom and Prosperity 413

Pro 31:28-31 | She and Her Works Are Praised 415

Other Publications 418

Abbreviations of the Names of the Books of the Bible

Old Testament

Gen – Genesis

Exo – Exodus

Lev – Leviticus

Num – Numbers

Deu – Deuteronomy

Jos – Joshua

Jdg – Judges

Rth – Ruth

1Sam – First Samuel

2Sam – Second Samuel

1Kgs – First Kings

2Kgs – Second Kings

1Chr – First Chronicles

2Chr – Second Chronicles

Ezra – Ezra

Neh – Nehemiah

Est – Esther

Job – Job

Psa – Psalms

Pro – Proverbs

Ecc – Ecclesiastes

Song – Song of Songs

Isa – Isaiah

Jer – Jeremiah

Lam – Lamentations

Eze – Ezekiel

Dan – Daniel

Hos – Hosea

Joel – Joel

Amos – Amos

Oba – Obadiah

Jona – Jonah

Mic – Micah

Nah – Nahum

Hab – Habakkuk

Zep – Zephaniah

Hag – Haggai

Zec – Zechariah

Mal – Malachi

New Testament

Mt – Gospel of Matthew

Mk – Gospel of Mark

Lk – Gospel of Luke

Jn – Gospel of John

Acts – Acts of the Apostles

Rom – Letter to the Romans

1Cor – First Letter to the Corinthians

2Cor – Second Letter to the Corinthians

Gal – Letter to the Galatians

Eph – Letter to the Ephesians

Phil – Letter to the Philippians

Col – Letter to the Colossians

1Thes – First Letter to the Thessalonians

2Thes – Second Letter to the Thessalonians

1Tim – First Letter to Timothy

2Tim – Second Letter to Timothy

Tit – Letter to Titus

Phlm – Letter to Philemon

Heb – Letter to the Hebrews

Jam – Letter of James

1Pet – First Letter of Peter

2Pet – Second Letter of Peter

1Jn – First Letter of John

2Jn – Second Letter of John

3Jn – Third Letter of John

Jude – Letter of Jude

Rev – Revelation

Explanation of General Format

PERSONAL PRONOUNS are capitalized when pertaining to Deity.

BRACKETS [ ] are used in this commentary in the Bible text to indicate words which are not found in the original Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek but implied by it.

ALL CAPS in the New Testament are used in the text to indicate Old Testament quotations or obvious references to Old Testament texts.

Preface

We live in a time when everything should be quick and easy and results must be directly measurable. He who thinks that in that respect this book fits in this time, is mistaken. The book of Proverbs is not a ‘quick bite’ literature and a directly desirable effect is more often absent than present. The reading of this book and the meditation on it in the heart demands patience. It can be compared with using a certain medicine which you first ought to take for a while, in order to notice its beneficial effect. When we read and meditate on the book of Proverbs daily, the healthy efficacy of this book will be noticeable after a course of time.

Let us take the time to experience this book, to take in the content, as it were. Like with the medicine it is necessary to ask the blessing from the Lord, which means that we read it prayerfully. It will benefit our spiritual health if we ‘take in’ this part of God’s Word prayerfully. That will express itself in making wise, good choices in all of those situations that daily happen in our lives in which we have to make decisions.

The book of Proverbs is the manual that tells us how we could become wise. It is not meant for people who love to be intellectually busy with philosophy. It is meant for every Christian and especially for the young Christian who realizes that the world wherein he lives is a labyrinth with many traps and pitfalls. This book shows the way in this labyrinth and indicates where the traps and pitfalls are, so that he can avoid them.

If we prayerfully ponder on what we have read and put into practice what we have pondered on, we will have great benefit of it spiritually. Our lives will be to the honor of God and to the blessing of our environment, while it gives us the satisfaction of a life in fellowship with God.

Ger de Koning
Middelburg, November 2018

The Book of Proverbs

Introduction

The book of Proverbs follows after the book of Psalms. In Psalms it is particularly about the inward feelings toward God. In Proverbs it is particularly about the outward walk toward the world. As being occupied with Psalms causes one to have a burning heart, being occupied with Proverbs causes one to have a shining face. Each one of these books represents one of the two sides of the life of the believer. You recognize Psalms by what Peter calls “a holy priesthood” and Proverbs by what he calls a “royal priesthood” (1Pet 2:5,9). The book of Psalms places you in the presence of God in order to offer Him spiritual sacrifices as a holy priest. The book of Proverbs places you in the presence of the world in order to proclaim the virtues of God in the state of royal dignity.

In Proverbs we see the kindness of God, Who in His wisdom shows us about His insight in who man is really like. He lets us see ways that man chooses and the results of all ways in which a man can walk. In this book we see the basic principle that whatever a person sows, he will also reap (Gal 6:7). The world is for man, for us, a labyrinth, where one single wrong step can cause bitter results. It is therefore a great grace to have a book that tells us about the way of cautiousness and life and does that from the perspective of the wisdom that comes from God.

Solomon was filled with that wisdom from above. In his letter James mentions the characteristics of this wisdom (Jam 3:17). Solomon applies this wisdom in a way that we can use it in the world in which we live. He describes the things as God sees them. If we submit ourselves to God’s Word we will discover in this book the travel direction for our lives. It includes the instructions of how to avoid the way of our own wisdom and how to recognize the foolish ideas of our own heart. Let it be clear that the road of life is not a fearful road, but one that gives joy in going it if we take to heart the teaching of this book.

In this book of proverbs, we find useful precepts for all categories of people, for young and old, for man and woman, from high to low. Kings and influential people, but also farmers and all people who live in the poorest conditions, read teaching instructions in it about their behavior in their different circumstances. Its specific prescriptions contain instructions on wisdom and foolishness, the righteous and the ungodly, the tongue, pride and humbleness, justice and revenge, the family, laziness and work, poverty and riches, friends and neighbors, love and passion, anger and fight, masters and servants or employers and employees, life and death. The precepts of life regard the values and standards in the sphere of a family, but also in the sphere of religion, politics and economics. The proverbs deal with each aspect of human relationships, whereby its Divine principles exceed the limits of time and culture.

The whole book is for each person in his own circumstances a compass for determining the right course of his ship of life on the sea of life, whereby the cliffs are being circumvented. We encounter an abundance of healthy rules which are intended to arrange life in all possible circumstances. These rules are put clearly, emphatically and very diversely. If it is our desire to be taught, we can choose from a multitude that is most fitting to our personal situation.

The main goal of the wisdom teacher who speaks to us in this book, which is actually the Lord Jesus Himself, is to sharpen a deep respect for God and to ignite a passionate love for wisdom and virtue. He has admonitions and advices on sexuality, laziness, the use of the tongue, money, courage, respect. He mentions matters like: unrighteousness, ungodliness, lawlessness, idleness, carelessness, drunkenness and nearly every vice.

The wisdom teacher is very straight. He paints these matters in bright colors. He does that especially for the young person, whom he with his teaching, especially has in mind. There is nothing that thoroughly ruins a young person in such a way than bad company, lawlessness and illegal connections. Therefore the teacher uses the most powerful arguments against these vices. He strongly exposes the aimless wandering and hanging around of the young people and the company of the tempting woman.

That is at the same time one of the reasons why the book of Proverbs is not one of the favorite books of the Bible. It is actually a very confronting book.

Another excuse which is used to not read it, is that too general rules are written in it that often do not seem to be working. As an example the following is sometimes quoted: “Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Pro 22:6). We all know that also well-raised children sometimes depart from the way of the Lord. What is then the use or profit of such a general rule when it still doesn’t seem to be working? What we are to learn, is to look higher and further than what we observe in the life around us.

In order to understand this book, we need to have the key to this book. Only if we use that key we will experience the great blessing that this book contains. That very key is: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (Pro 1:7a). The name ‘LORD’ (Yahweh) indicates a relationship with Him. It is the Name of God that indicates the relation between Him and His people.

If we want to get the real and the most benefit from this book, we need to have a relationship with the Lord Jesus. If we have a living relationship with Him, we will approach this book with the greatest respect for God. Then a treasure will be unlocked that invites us to dig deeper and deeper.

This splendid book is really a goldmine of Divine wisdom. As it is said, it tells us how God sees the human nature and therefore how the human nature really is. We read a description of the life that is devoted to God and we also receive teaching and advice how this particular life has to be lived. Let our prayer be: “Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth” (Psa 86:11). We will then on the one hand avoid the conduct of the world, while on the other hand the Lord Jesus will become more and more visible in our conduct (Rom 13:13-14).

The proverbs in this book are derived from the observations that the wise Solomon had made with regard to life or what he himself has experienced. In that way also the ordinary sayings which we use or which we hear others using, do originate. Just take for example our saying ‘strike the iron while it is hot’. Somebody had seen that at the blacksmith or he has done it himself as a blacksmith. But the proverbs in this bible book go deeper. It is not simply life wisdom. The proverbs are surely derived from observations or they describe experiences, but they are related to faith. This book is the revelation of God pertaining to life. It tells us about man from God’s perspective. He directs life, He is the sovereign God (cf. Pro 21:1; 16:33). Life is not a succession of coincidences.

Solomon has observed people (Pro 7:6-24) and passes on what he has seen. The observations which he, under Divine inspirations, had made, are thorough and accurate. What we get to see, is not a flattering picture. But if we too learn to observe like as he does, it will enormously help us to go our life’s journey for His honor, for the blessing of others and for our own joy. If we take this book to heart by accurately applying the rules written in it, to our lives and behavior, the result will be that each one of us becomes a “man of God, equipped for every good work” (2Tim 3:16-17).

The book of Proverbs is wisdom literature. The nations also have wisdom literature. Egypt for example is famous for that. The big difference between both is that in Proverbs wisdom is seen in the light of the fear of God. In this book we find wisdom for the everyday life, a wisdom which is only to be found in the Word of God (cf. Jer 8:9). True wisdom is based on the Word of God.

Whoever puts the Word of God aside, is a fool. Words of wise men (Pro 22:17; 24:23) are words of those who are familiar with God’s Word, not like scholars from a student’s room, but like people who apply that very Word in their daily life to all things. It regards to everyday life, but particularly seen in the light of eternity. For those who hear the words of the wise men, it will become eternal glory. But behind those who ignore these words, the dark background of the grave rises up (Pro 4:19; 15:11).

Behind and above Solomon we see Him Who is “more than Solomon”, the Lord Jesus (Mt 12:42). He is the true Teacher Who teaches on life. He teaches on the practical life wisdom. He Who teaches this is the great example Himself of the wise Man (Isa 11:2). Everything in this book is perfectly true about Christ. His whole journey on earth was the journey of the wise man. With Him we see in everything that He was perfectly led by the fear of the LORD, while we at the same time observe that foolishness was totally absent with Him.

He is not only the wise Man, but also the wise King, like Solomon also was as a picture of Him. For us as New Testament believers this means that we can only understand this book and bring it into practice when the Lord Jesus reigns in our heart and life.

A division of Proverbs:
1. Prologue (Proverbs 1:1-7)
2. Instructing speeches (Proverbs 1:8-9:26)
3. The first series of proverbs of Solomon (Proverbs 10:1-22:16)
4. The first appendix (Proverbs 22:17-24:22)
5. The second appendix (Proverbs 24:23-34)
6. The second series of proverbs of Solomon (Proverbs 25:1-29:27)
7. The first appendix: the proverbs of Agur, the son of Jakeh (Proverbs 30:1-33)
8. The second appendix: the words for king Lemuel (Proverbs 31:1-9)
9. The third appendix: a praise to the woman (Proverbs 31:10-31)

Proverbs 1

Pro 1:1 | Proverbs and Its Author

1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:

The verses 1-6 are the introduction on the book. It tells us who the author is and what the purpose of this book is. The book bears the name of its first word “proverbs”. A definition of a proverb is: a concise, succinct, saying that expresses a clear, generally applicable truth (e.g. Eze 16:44). A proverb is a timeless truth that represents a fundamental reality of life in the form of a simple illustration. It can also regard a lesson which is derived from the past (Psa 78:2-6). The goal of a proverb is that the right choice is made, out of the possibilities that are present, so that the path of foolishness may be avoided and the path of wisdom is taken.

The basic meaning of the Hebrew word for ‘proverbs’, mashal, is the comparison of two things by putting the one thing next to the other. It is derived from a word which means ‘compare’. Mashal means comparison or parable. The reason why this book is called like that, is that in this book things are constantly compared to one another. Contrasts are constantly made, for example between the good and the bad, the wise and the fool, the obedient and the disobedient, the diligent and the sloth.

The word mashal has more meanings. Mashal also means a proverb in the sense of instruction or teaching or parable (Psa 78:2). The word is probably also related to power, which indicates that a proverb is a word of power. A brief proverb is a powerful word about which the hearer must carefully think. Solomon was not only a wise king, he was also a mighty king. With him wisdom and power went together. It underlines what was noticed earlier, namely that he is a type or a foreshadow of the Lord Jesus, Who is called “the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1Cor 1:24).

These are proverbs “of Solomon”. Although the name of Solomon is connected to this book, also proverbs from others are written in it (Pro 30:1). It is comparable to the book of Psalms which is generally ascribed to David, although it also includes psalms that are written by others. Solomon has spoken out three thousand proverbs (1Kgs 4:32), out of which the book of Proverbs contains a selection of more than eight hundred proverbs. Under Divine guidance he put, out of the great quantity of thoughts, a collection together in arranged order, which serves for the teaching of God’s people through the time up to the end of the time.

The name Solomon means ‘peace’. The proverbs have the goal that the believer goes his way in life peacefully, just like the Lord Jesus went His way in peace when He was on earth.

Solomon has spoken as “the son of David”. David had more sons, but Solomon is the son par excellence, for he is the beloved of the LORD (2Sam 12:24-25). He is therefore a wonderful picture of the Lord Jesus, the great Son of David, the beloved Son of the Father.

He also spoke out his proverbs as the “king of Israel”. As the king of that nation he is also their teacher. Also as the king of Israel he is a type or foreshadow of the Lord Jesus, particularly as the Prince of peace Who will reign in the millennial kingdom of peace in justice and righteousness over His people.

The greater part of Psalms is written by David, the man of trials and struggles. Proverbs is written by Solomon, a man of peace. He has not acquired them from others, but they came forth from him. They are expressions of his wisdom which was given to him by God. Proverbs is a book of wisdom. That the name of Solomon is related to it, only makes the commendation more powerful. After all, he had a breadth of mind, like the sand that is on the seashore and he was wiser than all men (1Kgs 4:29-31).

Solomon is an exceptional type of Christ. In his person he refers to Him Who is “more than Solomon” (Mt 12:42). We read of Christ that He became “to us wisdom from God” (1Cor 1:24,30). He is Wisdom in Person. In Him “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col 2:2-3). As the Wisdom He sends out wise men to His people (Mt 23:34; Lk 11:49). We know the wise men that He sends from both the Old and the New Testament. In the Old Testament those are His prophets (Heb 1:1). In the New Testament those are His apostles and prophets. In that way also Solomon is a wise man who was sent by Him to His people and to us.

This book is about Christ as the King of Israel. He will surely prove in the future that He indeed is the King of Israel. In Proverbs He does not reign openly yet, although it is being pointed out in advance that there comes a time of His kingdom. The result of His absence is that the evil is not immediately punished and that often neither the good is rewarded. We consider ourselves to be placed in a situation where the evil rules and where we as righteous people are to find the way that God wants us to go. In finding that way, Christ is our example. We need to see Him in this book. He has fulfilled the law and the prophets. He is the meaning, the sense, of the whole Old Testament, of each book of it, therefore also of this book of Proverbs.

Pro 1:2 | To Know Wisdom and to Discern Sayings

2 To know wisdom and instruction,
To discern the sayings of understanding,

In verses 2-4 Solomon makes clear what the multiple purpose is of this book. Therefore he uses nine words in these verses which appear again and again in this book:
1. Wisdom (Hebrew hokma): to fathom the nature of things and situations, through which one is able to make good choices.
2. Instruction (Hebrew musar): teaching / education by correction, warning and discipline.
3. Understanding (Hebrew bina): the ability to apply what you understand by the discerning between good and evil, healthful and unhealthful, truth and lie.
4. Righteousness (Hebrew tsedek): the right conduct (refers to acting and thinking).
5. Justice (Hebrew mishpat): what is right according to the standard and the Being of God.
6. Equity (Hebrew meyshar): the capability to act in line with honor and virtue, according to what is fitting for the situation.
7. Prudence (Hebrew orma): the capability to see in others what it is all about.
8. Knowledge (Hebrew da’at): sound information, acquired through experience.
9. Discretion (Hebrew mezimma): the capacity to act cautiously and thoughtfully with deliberation and sensitivity.

It is firstly about “knowing wisdom and instruction”. Wisdom and instruction are related to one another as a unity. The original text of wisdom is ‘ability’ (Exo 31:6; 1Kgs 3:28). In Proverbs wisdom means the ability to live as God wants. It is the ability to make wise choices and to live successfully after the commandments of God. We must understand success in the sense of blessing and advantage in our spiritual life. If we live in this way, our life will bring forth fruits of permanent value for God and for the congregation and society of which we are a part. All God’s statutes are simple. If we live by them, ‘success’ is secure.

Wisdom is to master the art of life, but in a way which is according to the will of God. The art is not only that the wise man recognizes the dangers of life, but also that he knows how to overcome these dangers. Wisdom is watching and observing like God watches and observes. It is watching at how He guides the world and responding in the right way to that guidance.

Instruction is inseparably related to wisdom. It implies teaching, or – in a broader sense – education, and also training. It contains the teachings of a father to his son. It includes also exhortation and punishment or discipline because the tendency to foolishness must be corrected and the respect for the LORD must be developed. In that way the young man is directed in the right direction. Therefore authority is related to instruction, for when he deviates he must be disciplined.

The important thing is that wisdom and instruction “are known”, by which they will become our possession. It means that we have to deliver effort for it. It does not come naturally. We must make effort to become familiarized with wisdom and instruction.

“Sayings of understanding” are words that make clear that a person has discernment in the way he has to choose. Those are words that show a person the right way. If we want to be able to make these words to have the desirable effect, then the young man ought to “discern” them. For this reason those words are explained. But the young man will not be helped by an explanation alone. He ought to understand the explanation also. Therefore he needs to have the right mind.

In summary, we may say that Solomon reveals and explains his words, so that they may be understood. In order to benefit from his teaching, the young man must meet two conditions: he must be willing to make effort to know the wise words and he must be willing to discern them.

Pro 1:3 | To Receive Instruction

3 To receive instruction in wise behavior,
Righteousness, justice and equity;

The teaching of Solomon has the goal to make his son, and us, wise, which will lead us to make the right choices in our lives. He teaches an ”instruction in wise behavior”. The wisdom teacher presents his son an instruction in wise behavior in how life must be lived. It is a ‘manual’ for life.

By presenting it in this way he tries to make his son, and us, receive his instruction. It would be very stupid to refuse or ignore his ‘manual’ for life. The word ‘receive’ has to do with submission to the instruction or teaching, with the thought that what is being offered is worthy to be received.

Our nature is such that we want to decide by ourselves how to live and we are not inclined to submit ourselves. It is therefore necessary for us to subject ourselves to obtain understanding in life. However, we are not forced to accept the instruction, but we are, although emphatically and urgently, invited to. The father emphatically gives orders and the son would be wise to obey them, but he must make the choice himself whether he wants to.

Nobody obliges us to read first the manual attached to a device, before using the device, though it is urgently recommended. It can cost us a lot of money if we use the device without having read the manual first. That certainly goes for this manual for life of course. The invitation which becomes clear in this verse is that we receive the content of this book and apply it in our lives.

“Discernment” means that we use our mind, which has been enlightened by God’s Word, to think through, plan and estimate the risks, in order to make the right choice between good and evil. If we receive this teaching, we will also consider
1. “righteousness”, which means that we act after the right norm or standard, like is done for instance with the measures and weights to rightly measure and weigh something (Deu 25:15); it means that we act in accordance with God’s law;
2. “justice”, which means to act as a result of and in accordance with an official, judicial verdict (Deu 16:18-19), doing what is fitting;
3. “equity”, which means what is honest and pleasant to others and that we act sincerely, uprightly.

Pro 1:4 | Prudence, Knowledge and Discretion

4 To give prudence to the naive,
To the youth knowledge and discretion,

In this verse Solomon mentions two kinds of people to whom he especially addresses his teaching and whose character he wants to shape by his teaching. If they heed his teaching, they will prosper spiritually. We may say that the book of Proverbs is the key to success. Whoever heeds it, meaning to take the teaching to heart, will know how he has to go his way, what the wisest way is. It is the way that God can give His blessing on.

The “naive” are the first kind. They are gullible, innocent, thoughtless, stupid. We should not identify them with the fools. The naive lives his life as it lies ahead. He does not worry about anything and he does not consider anything. That implies that he is easily deceived to go the wrong way.

The “youth”, or the young man, is the second kind. Because he is young, he misses the experience. He cannot know what life is all about and is therefore vulnerable and easy to be tempted to go the wrong way.

The naive and the youth or young man need to be brought to fear God. Then He will teach them through this book about the way they should choose (Psa 25:12).

The wisdom teacher wants to give “prudence” to the naive through his teaching. Prudence is smartness or perspicacity. If the naive uses the prudence that is given to him, he will know how to act cleverly. In that way his choice will not deliver him disadvantage, but on the contrary advantage (Pro 22:3). He will know how to avoid the pitfalls of life. If he does not obey the teaching of the wise man, but allows himself with fools, he will become a fool.

The wisdom teacher seeks to give “knowledge and discretion” to the youth. Because youth lacks the knowledge of life, the teaching has the goal to make known to them the mysteries of life. Young people sometimes think they have a lot of knowledge, but it is just knowledge from books. They often talk like chickens without a head. They just cannot possibly know what life is all about. This lack of knowledge is dealt with in a most excellent way in this book with proverbs.

When the lack of knowledge has been eliminated by taking in the teaching of the contents of this book, it is then important to apply that knowledge in the right way and the right time. Therefore to knowledge directly “discretion” here is connected (2Pet 1:6a). Discretion is a sound mind, thoughtfulness or self-control. He who has a sound mind, thinks before he does or says something. He will not rush to act or speak, but wait for the right time.

Pro 1:5 | Wise and Understanding

5 A wise man will hear and increase in learning,
And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel,

Not only the naive and the young man have profit from this book, but also everyone who is already “wise” and “of understanding”. To become wise and understanding never stops. He who is really wise and understanding will not say that about himself, but will have the desire to increase in that more and more. We will always have the need to become wiser and of more understanding; we will always have the need to become like Christ more and more. God’s wisdom is endless and His understanding is unperceivable. This book is an exhortation to choose the way of wisdom and understanding for everyone who is not on that way yet. This book is a manual for following that way for everyone who has already chosen that way.

If we are wise and have chosen the way of wisdom, we will hear all the better what the teacher has to say. “Hear” or listen is a great way to learn. First we hear, then we do. If we hear, we “will increase in learning”. God does not want us to stand still, but that we continue to grow spiritually and increase more and more in the knowledge of His thoughts. Learning is the understanding of the context of a certain case and the overview of the elements that altogether play a role (cf. 1Chr 12:32).

“To acquire wise counsel” is an activity to gain good advice and wise counsel in order to come to a proper consideration and then be able to make a good choice. He who is wise will do his utmost to acquire good advice and wise counsel. To acquire indicates effort. The man of understanding sees the valuable meaning of gaining wise counsel and will make effort for consultation. He will not lean on his own understanding (Pro 3:5b).

Pro 1:6 | Proverb, Figure, Words, Riddles

6 To understand a proverb and a figure,
The words of the wise and their riddles.

In this book of proverbs, Solomon has emphasized poignantly the importance of his teaching in the previous verses. If we have understood somewhat how great the importance is of a guide to and on the way of wisdom, we will desire to receive the content of this book.

That does not mean that the content of this book is directly ready for us to understand. There is an apparent difficulty. Besides clear proverbs and words of the wise, which are understandable for everyone, this book also consists of figures and riddles of the wise. This means that it is not always directly clear what is meant. Proverbs are often sayings that we have to think deeply about – riddles. We ought to think them over and think them through. We need to listen intensively to each proverb and look at it carefully. Thereby we also need to note the context in which the proverb is used.

Therefore, we need to think about a proverb and examine its meaning. If we do that, we will discover surprisingly that the proverb is examining us. It induces self-examination and asking questions to ourselves. The examination puts us under the examining eye of God, because He Himself speaks to us in this book. God puts our lives in His spotlight, so that we may see our lives in His light. That should lead us to a conclusion which shows that we have understood Him and adjust our lives after that.

This thinking over and thinking through of a proverb is a significant point to be noted at the beginning of this book. We need time to draw the wisdom out of it and to get aware of it. Its teaching is not always simply for the taking. We are to look for it, to dig for it. This book is not a kitschy novel which is fluently to be read. But if we look for wisdom seriously, we are at the right place to find it. If we are convinced about the importance of the search for wisdom, every effort will be rewarded. The significance that wisdom has for us, will be measured by our effort for obtaining it.

Pro 1:7 | The Fear of the LORD

7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;
Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Fortunately, the search for God’s wisdom is not dependent on our intellect. The wisdom that God wants to give to His children if they are looking for it, is hidden for the “wise and intelligent” (Mt 11:25) of the world. God’s wisdom is found by those who fear Him. To fear God means to recognize Him in Whom He is and to trust Him, to honor Him, worship, obey and serve Him. “The beginning” means the essence, where it fundamentally is about. Every “knowledge” must be acquired from the fear of the LORD, otherwise it is darkness.

“The fear of the LORD” is worked in an individual by the forgiveness he has received after the confession of his sins (Psa 130:3-4). Then we have become small before the great God, Whose wrath we fear and Whose love attracts us. If we really know that our sins are forgiven, there will be a great and deep respect for Him and we will be longing to live for His honor. Herewith we have the key in our hands to understand this book. The wisdom of this book is not intended for us in the first place to adopt a better attitude, but rather to make us more conformed to Christ, so that He may become visible in our lives.

The fear of the LORD (Pro 9:10; 15:33; Job 28:28; Psa 111:10) is what is exactly missing in all wisdom’s proverbs of the pagan nations, for they do not know of repentance of their sins and conversion to God. The book of Proverbs is not only a book with a collection of beautiful, wise and practical advices, but all lessons of life are brought under a common denominator, which is the fear of the LORD. If that denominator is missing, one will still end up in hell, the eternal torment, with all one’s so-called wisdom. It is about the desire to live by the Word of the LORD. That is the core of true wisdom. The Lord Jesus has lived on earth according to this word towards His God and Father.

This book is full of ‘practical exercises in Godliness’ (1Tim 4:7). Those exercises go on through the whole life. Without the fear of the LORD it is not possible for a person to exercise Godliness. It is impossible to receive wisdom without that fear, just like it is impossible to learn how to read without knowing the alphabet or to study mathematics without knowing the figures.

“Fools despise wisdom and instruction” because they despise the fear of the LORD. Those are people who first were naive, but have become fools because they have despised the teaching of wisdom that has come to them. The fool thinks that he could make it on his own without any help. He thinks he can manage without teaching.

In this book three different words are used in Hebrew which are all three translated with ‘fool’ in English. The different words indicate that the fool is a blockhead and obstinate, a person who refuses to accept something from another person, because of his laziness and shortsightedness. He misses spiritual knowledge because he locks God out of his life. Due to that he is an arrogant, crude person who perseveres in his own way.

The constitution of wisdom is the law of sowing and harvesting. That means that we have to carry the results (harvesting) of all deeds that we commit (sowing). If we want to avoid nasty results, we should not do stupid actions. If we step into the severe cold without a coat, we will catch cold and get sick. That is the law of nature in which we also see the acting of God. God rewards good deeds and punishes bad actions. Whoever speaks and does evil, will encounter evil on his way.

It is hereby important to note that the results are not always seen on earth already, but only later, after death. We will come across this point of view again and again in this book. It is a given fact that God always punishes the evil and rewards the good. Sometimes He does that already on earth, but certainly after death (1Tim 5:24-25). Ultimately, the ungodly will end up badly and the righteous will prosper.

Pro 1:8-9 | Hearing Will Be Rewarded

8 Hear, my son, your father’s instruction
And do not forsake your mother’s teaching;
9 Indeed, they are a graceful wreath to your head
And ornaments about your neck.

The first teaching that a human receives, is that of his father and mother. It is also the first relation in which a person is placed and wherein he learns that he is subjected to authority. God’s authority is not expressed in this book that much in giving prescriptions, but in the relationships that he has ordained between people and especially that of parents and children. Whoever submits himself as a child to his parents, submits himself to the order which God has ordained.

The father addresses the word to his son (verse 8). It is not the teacher of the classroom speaking to his pupils here. We hear the counsel of a father here to his son, who also involves the son’s mother in this (Pro 6:20; 10:1). The book of Proverbs is a book of education par excellence. Parents find everything in it that is needed for the education of their children.

Verse 8 defines that the teaching of wisdom is especially given in the family context. If we are parents, we have a great task to teach our children in the wisdom. The teaching of this book shapes their character as a Christian (Pro 4:3-4; Deu 6:7). We should thank God if we come from a parental home, where in all things of life God was respected.

The father addresses his son directly. The book of Proverbs is a textbook with teaching from a father to his son. The atmosphere wherein the teaching is taking place, is the father-son relationship. It is an atmosphere of love, confidentiality, involvement and safety. In the application this means that the proverbs in this book are meant for those who live in an intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus, the Wisdom in Person. The proverbs of this book are therefore only to be understood by them.

By addressing his son as “my son” the father underlines the close relationship he has with him. From there the direct responsibility to instruct his son, comes forth automatically. He recommends his son to hear “the instruction”. Instruction is a broad concept. It implies teaching and training and if necessary also discipline in the sense of physical chastisement. The instruction of the father has the goal to make the son hear the instruction, which means that he heeds it by obeying it. Hearing is to listen actively with the awareness to be addressed directly and personally, while there is the willingness to do what is said.

Those are the instructions “of your father”. In that way he tells his son that he is important to his father. A father does not ‘lecture’, but speaks from a relation of love. A real father knows that he is a father and he will surely make his children experience that. He is closely involved with their spiritual development and will do everything to help them to always make the right choices, so that their development will not stagnate or even go wrong.

The involvement of “your mother” with the spiritual development of her son lies in “the teaching” that she gives him. She does that with her words and example, not that much with instruction. Instruction is mainly related to the contribution that the father has in the upbringing (Eph 6:4). The son runs the risk to ignore the teaching of his mother. Therefore this appeal is made by his father. The teaching of the mother implies that she shows him the right direction. She teaches him to live his life orderly.

From the fact that and the way in which the father involves his wife with the education, there is a lot we could learn. It is important that a husband motivates and supports the contribution of his wife. Husband and wife are to draw one line in the education and are not to walk out on each other, certainly not in the presence of the children. Children can flawlessly sense when there is a disagreement between father and mother. They know very well how to exploit that disagreement when occasions arise.

If a son hears the instruction and teaching, it will adorn his life, which will make it to become attractive (verse 9). A wreath to the head and an ornament about the neck indicate dignity. There is mention here of “a graceful wreath”. Loveliness radiates from a person who has accepted instruction and teaching from his father and mother. Obedient children are attractive and force respect. Dignitaries used to wear a golden chain about their neck (Gen 41:42; Dan 5:29). This is how they are considered by those who accept discipline and teaching.

If we are ‘adorned’ with the teaching, let us show the truth of God’s wisdom in our words and our life (cf. Tit 2:9-10). If we obey wisdom, the sharp edges of our behavior will disappear and we will become more and more pleasant to others in our dealings with them. We will also give a clearer picture of the life as a Christian because we show more of the Lord Jesus.

What we read of the father and mother in this verse, we can also apply to those who are fathers and mothers in the church in spiritual sense. They are concerned with a special care for young believers to help them to go their way with the Lord. Paul was like a father and a mother to the newly converted believers in Thessalonica (1Thes 2:7,11).

Pro 1:10-19 | Avoid Bad Company

10 My son, if sinners entice you,
Do not consent.
11 If they say, “Come with us,
Let us lie in wait for blood,
Let us ambush the innocent without cause;
12 Let us swallow them alive like Sheol,
Even whole, as those who go down to the pit;
13 We will find all [kinds] of precious wealth,
We will fill our houses with spoil;
14 Throw in your lot with us,
We shall all have one purse,”
15 My son, do not walk in the way with them.
Keep your feet from their path,
16 For their feet run to evil
And they hasten to shed blood.
17 Indeed, it is useless to spread the [baited] net
In the sight of any bird;
18 But they lie in wait for their own blood;
They ambush their own lives.
19 So are the ways of everyone who gains by violence;
It takes away the life of its possessors.

The first thing the father warns his son about, is bad company (verse 10). He repeats that warning in verse 15. This bad company consists of sinners whose lives consist of sinning, whose lifestyle is sinning. They do nothing else and that is the only thing they are looking for. They do not live from fair labor, but from the harvest of criminality. In order to succeed they do not look for victims only, but also for new companions. Therefore, they approach young people. They present the choice to the young man between the easy and quick money and the long way of obedience to what his father and mother have told him.

The father does not stop with a general and in that way a vague warning. He does not forbid his son in short to join the company of sinners, but teaches him about their practices. He instructs him how they approach him, so that he will be able to recognize them when they come to him with their talks, in order to gain him. The father takes the time to talk with his son. Parents should take the time to talk with their children.

That’s not the way they should talk with toddlers. Toddlers are to learn to listen and obey what their parents say, even without an explanation. It happens often that people talk with the children when they are much too young, in order to convince them about something. That does not work with kids and it may even deliver difficulties when direct obedience is demanded. It does work with those who are ‘son’, which means, children who already have a certain degree of maturity and are able to consider what is said.

The fact that the first alarm bells ring in Proverbs with regard to bad company, is an important signal for families with children. Outdoors the children often find themselves in groups, for example:
a. They go together to school with a group of children.
b. At school they participate in a group.
c. They have to make group assignments.
d. They join a sports club or a music school.
e. They go to birthday parties.
f. In social media they have groups.

The peer pressure at schools, both in primary and in higher and university education, is great. Our children need to be made resistible against it. How they will develop is partly dependent on the company in which they find themselves. Therefore we as parents need to know with whom they have relationships – also and especially on social media! – and warn them about bad company. It is foolishness and self-deception when parents say that (young) children are ‘entitled to have privacy’ and they ‘therefore’ do not want to know with whom their children have contact on social media.

Sinners form a company that has no part in the company of God’s children, but try to find a way to join that company. The father is not naive and knows very well that this company seeks to tempt his son to sin. Directly after satan was fallen, he became an enticer and tempter. Sinners are his servants trained by him. The only thing the devil can do, is entice us. He cannot force us to sin. ‘To consent’ is to give in to his enticement, which is followed by sin. Eve consented and then she sinned (Gen 3:6). Joseph did not consent to the enticement and did not sin (Gen 39:8-9).

How important is it that parents warn their children about bad company and keep them away from it. Many parents make effort and spare time nor money nor pain, in order to make them excel in music, sports, social activities etcetera. It is to be hoped that they make the same effort to let their children be excellent in knowing and obeying the Word of God.

Children will only be able to say ‘no’ to evil, if they say ‘yes’ to God. The fear of God makes them avoid evil. Therefore we need to teach them to fear God. It is always easier to follow a crowd than to swim against the current (cf. Exo 23:2). We need to have a goal in life to know which direction we should go. That goal is Christ. Let us present that goal to our children.

The young man needs to know two things about the sinners. Those things are:
1. the methods they use to entice him to participate with them (verses 11-14) and
2. what their end is (verses 15-19).

In verses 11-12 the father tells his son how sinners operate in their attempts to entice him. He must be aware that they approach him and invite him to participate in a raid. Those are professional criminals who already have a goal in mind. The father uses an extreme example, but that doesn’t make it an unrealistic one. Most choices in life lie on a lower and apparently less important level. This extreme example makes clear where a first step on the path with sinners ultimately leads to.

Sinners present their idea as something very exciting and at the same time as something very simple. The son gets the invitation to lie with them in wait for blood. The expression ‘in wait for’ has to do with lying in an ambush with the intention to kill (Deu 19:11) or to kidnap somebody (Jdg 21:20). Here it is about the intention of shedding blood.

Violence is one of the two main characteristics of sin. The other main characteristic is corruptness. All sins are categorized under one of these two main characteristics. The first sin which is committed by man is that of corruptness. That was when Eve believed the devil and made God a liar (Gen 3:2-5). The second sin is the sin of violence. That was when Cain killed his brother Abel (Gen 4:8). Since then the world is full of corruptness and violence (cf. Gen 6:11).

The victim is “the innocent”, someone without giving a cause to be attacked (cf. Psa 35:7). These people do not care who their victim may be. It also happens this day that a person is not fortunate to walk along a group of criminal youth who look for a diversion. Without a cause he gets to be beaten up and robbed. It is the behavior of Cain who killed his brother Abel, who did him no harm (Gen 4:8).

The sinners add to their proposal that they will delete every trace of their wicked deeds unrecognizably (verse 12). With this presentation of matters they try to persuade the son to participate. He does not have to be afraid to get caught. They will bury their victim untraceably. The language that they use here, imply that they will deal as God, Who made the rebels Korah, Dathan and Abiram descend alive into sheol, so that nothing more of them was to be seen or to be found (Num 16:33). But God sees it and will reveal it (Gen 4:9-10).

In verses 13-14 a bait is presented to the son to persuade him to participate. The sinners promise the newcomer a quick success, meaning quickly gained riches (verse 13). He only has to participate with them, that’s what they have invited him for (verse 11). They don’t ask for anything else.

The sinners propose it as attractive as they possibly can. ‘Just imagine what we shall find when our victim has been devoured and has disappeared. We will find all kinds of precious wealth and fill our houses with the spoil. It is not just a little robbery, but a great one. You can live on it for years and years.’ The language that sinners use is that of the vine-growers about whom the Lord Jesus speaks in a parable: “But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance’” (Mt 21:38).

A great enticement originates from getting money in an easy way, apart from God. As far as we can learn from the Scripture, there are three ways to get money in a legal manner:
1. by earning it with working;
2. by inheritance;
3. because somebody gives it to us.

To get money by the means of violence is not included. The root of this evil of violence is the love for money. Paul instructs Timothy like a father does to his child and tells him to flee from the love of money (1Tim 6:9-11a).

The sinners promise the young man that he will be ‘one of them’ as a full member of the gang. It connects to what nearly all young people, today also, long for, which is to belong to a group. They have put everything they have robbed in one purse. He will get his share from it, just like every other member. Really, they will share everything ‘honestly’ with him.

Many young people are caught in this trap, because then they are eventually ‘somebody’. They are a part of a gang, share the spoils and are recognized by other gang members. They reject the squeezing yoke of their parents, who of course do not understand anything of their desire for freedom. This will make them free to do and allow whatever they want themselves. Thereby they also get the possession of the luxury they coveted. But it is an illusion of freedom, for they have sold their soul to the devil. If they are not useful anymore, they are considered to be redundant, are thrown out or killed.

In the application we do not need to think only of youth gangs of youngsters from broken families who want to have money in a quick way. It also goes for ‘white collar’ crime, the financial frauds. People who have a high position in large companies, fill their pockets by all kinds of doubtful deals. Thereby they involve the subordinates who they need and appease them by promising them a share of the harvest. The temptation of the ‘easy money’ occurs among all layers of the population and among all age groups.

In verse 15 the father warns his son for the second time (verse 10). The warning “do not walk in the way with them” stands against the invitation of the sinners “come with us” in verse 11. The father told the son in the previous verses what sinners are looking for and how they operate. The warning for that kind of life-style must be sufficient for him not to cooperate with them and not to respond to their invitation. In verses 16-18 he shows his son why he should not walk in the way with them and to keep his feet from their path.

The father actually also knows the serious results for who cooperate with the sinners. He also tells that to his son. He warns him for what will strike him when he joins them and cooperates with him. They try to fool him with a pleasant life, but the father lets him know that this life leads to the destruction of his own life. Therefore he commands him to keep his feet from their path. He who holds on to God’s Word, will not put his feet on the criminal path (Psa 119:101).

Nobody becomes a criminal or a hooligan directly. In order not to walk with the sinners on the way, the feet also need to be kept from it to put even one foot on their path, for “bad company corrupts good morals” (1Cor 15:33). When the first step is set on it, more steps will follow quickly. Therefore do not start with the first step. With every step that we set on the way of satan, we remove ourselves further from the relationship with God.

“For” indicates the reason, why the son should not join them (verse 16). It is because their behavior is bad. It is immoral and violent. The father makes clear to his son that the gang members are quick to do evil and in a hurry to shed blood (cf. Isa 59:7). Whoever walks on their path, walks on a path that goes down. The walk will go so quickly at a certain moment that it is not possible anymore to slow down and stop. There is speed and hurry, no rest. Everyone who finds himself on the path of the sinner, is being chased.

The father assures his son that there is a possibility to escape their path, which is by heeding his warning (verse 17). He gives an example from nature. A bird that sees the net that is spread for him, will not fly in it, but fly over it and in that way be saved from captivity. The first natural reaction of everyone who sees that there is danger somewhere, is to avoid this danger. That’s at least the case with the birds that see the net. That implies that whoever joins a bad company, is not only doing wrong, but is also stupid. If we stick to the picture of the bird, we may say that whoever exceeds the unsavory activities of the sinners, will not be tempted by them and will not be caught in their net.

Some people are more stupid than birds. They do not respond with their totally darkened mind and imaginary wisdom to danger like animals do, but walk into it with their eyes open. They are not aware that they dig their own graves (cf. Psa 7:15-16; Job 18:8; Est 7:9-10). They think that they can create an ambush for others, but they create an ambush for themselves. Once their activities are known, they will themselves become the victims of others. Many extrajudicial killings take place in the organized crime. Each murderer often gets killed too at a certain moment.

In verse 19 the father summarizes the warning of verses 10-18 (Job 8:13). Obtaining illegal profits means the loss of life. Sinful deeds seem to deliver advantage and profit, which can make a person think that it will enable him to live a more pleasant life, but it is the path of death. When sinners and whoever relates himself to them, rob and kill the innocent, they rob and kill themselves. They sin against their own life. Each crime that they commit against another person, they in reality commit against themselves. They take their own lives. The only way to escape that, is to avoid the company of sinners.

Pro 1:20-23 | Wisdom Shouts

20 Wisdom shouts in the street,
She lifts her voice in the square;
21 At the head of the noisy [streets] she cries out;
At the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings:
22 “How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded?
And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing
And fools hate knowledge?
23 “Turn to my reproof,
Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you.

After the father has spoken, now Wisdom speaks. The father has warned his son about the company of sinners. That happened in the private atmosphere of the domestic environment. Now Wisdom speaks to the sinners. That happens in public. From verse 20 a long call of Wisdom sounds to sinners who are outside.

In Her voice there is an urgency to be heard which is not to be heard in such a way in the voice of the father. She addresses sinners who have already made their choice. We could hereby also think of young people who have ignored the warnings of their father. In spite of all warnings, they have joined the bad company of sinners and are now fully involved in it. Wisdom still does not leave them to their fate, but follows them and tells them where their path will end. She urges them to consider and repent, in order to escape that end.

Wisdom is presented here as a Divine Person Who cries out in public places (“in the street”, “in the squares”). There is a lot of noise around Her, which causes the great risk that Her voice is not to be heard (verse 21). Therefore She lifts Her voice. She does that everywhere where people are busy with their day-to-day matters, with which they may be so preoccupied. But life consists of more than earning money. She even goes to the “entrance of the gates in the city”, the place where people enter into the city, in order to trade and earn profits. In those places are also the judges who often seek their own advantage. There She speaks out Her words to call on the attendees to repent.

Wisdom begins with the complaint “how long?” (verse 22). This question implies that there is a possibility to return from the path of the sinner and at the same time that there will be a moment that it is no more possible. After the question she addresses three groups of people. She addresses the “naive ones”, “scoffers” and “fools”.

1. The naive one is the silly person, someone who does not consider life and lives it the way it comes. He believes everything, except God, and does not examine anything. He does not think about God and about the future. Each call that is made about meditating on life, is considered by him as an interruption of his rest and an infringement of his privacy. He considers it a disturbing, useless alarm.
2. The scoffer is the rebellious and cynical freethinker. He thinks he knows everything and has no fear or shame. He does not know regret. He is blunt and crude in his actions and words. Every decency is missing. Scoffing is his favorite occupation. For him religion is something for backward people.
3. The fool is the morally depraved, insensibly ungodly person. He shuts himself off from everything that could make him wise and happy. Of many other things he has the knowledge, at least, that’s what he thinks, but of the beginning of the real knowledge, the fear of the LORD, he does not want to know anything. The knowledge of the other things makes him blind and insensible for the true knowledge.

Wisdom calls on all of them to turn themselves to Her reproof, which means to heed it (verse 23). When they do that, She will pour out Her Spirit on them and as a result of that She will make Her words known to them. She promises that the Bible, which was a closed Book before, will be opened and they will understand the contents. We need that particular Spirit of wisdom to understand the words of God (cf. Eph 1:17).

Pro 1:24-32 | Consequences of Not Listening

24 “Because I called and you refused,
I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention;
25 And you neglected all my counsel
And did not want my reproof;
26 I will also laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when your dread comes,
27 When your dread comes like a storm
And your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
When distress and anguish come upon you.
28 “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;
They will seek me diligently but they will not find me,
29 Because they hated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of the LORD.
30 “They would not accept my counsel,
They spurned all my reproof.
31 “So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way
And be satiated with their own devices.
32 “For the waywardness of the naive will kill them,
And the complacency of fools will destroy them.

All creation works remain where Wisdom has placed them and they serve Her (Psa 119:90-91). Only the hardened sinners refuse to respond to the call of Wisdom and to take the place which is fitting towards Her (verse 24). She had stretched out Her inviting hand to them (cf. Isa 65:2). But the sinners have rejected the most important counsel, which is from Wisdom (verse 25).

Also Her “reproof”, which had served to draw them to Her, had no effect, because they did not want it. It is a conscious, headstrong choice against Wisdom. The sinners have ‘refused’ (verse 24a) everything, have ‘not paid attention’ to what Wisdom had offered them (verse 24b), ‘neglected’ (verse 25a) and ‘did not want’ Her reproof (verse 25b). She has tolerated them for so long, but they despised that tolerance (Rom 2:4; 9:22).

“Because” in the verses 24-25 is followed by “I will” in verse 26. They laughed at Wisdom and have mocked it. Therefore, Wisdom will laugh at them when their downfall comes. Her laugh is a terrifying laugh (Psa 2:4-5). It is a scoffing and contemptuous laugh, because now they are stricken by that which Wisdom had warned them for.

Wisdom had called the sinners, but they did not listen. Then the opposite happens (cf. Eze 8:18). Wisdom will mock when the persistent sinners will be overpowered by their anguish (Job 15:24; Dan 5:5-6,30). They will be destroyed by their fear (verse 27). Calamity will come upon them like a “whirlwind” in their “distress and anguish”.

In verse 28 is said in which way Wisdom will give form to Her laugh and mockery. She takes distance from the sinners – as if She cannot bear them any longer – and does not speak to them, but about them to others. She warns those others not to follow the example of the sinners. Wisdom will not respond to their calling for help when sinners will call for Her in their distress, for they did not want to respond when She cried out her warnings to them. It is a terrible thing to be abandoned by God (Hos 9:12), how much more will that be in time of distress (1Sam 28:15).

Wisdom explains why She will not listen to the sinners when they call upon Her in their distress. It is “because they hated knowledge” (verse 29). The naive chose to remain stupid. The fools do not only prefer foolishness, but they also despise knowledge. They simply do not want to be taught. It is a conscious choice not to choose for the fear of the LORD. Those who are like that, lack the beginning of knowledge; they could not become wise and therefore remain foolish.

They did not want to listen to the counsel of Wisdom which She had presented to them (verse 30). “They spurned” all Her reproofs, which had served to lead them to listen. Those who obstinately refuse in such a way to open themselves for Wisdom, are not to be helped. They will discover that when they will eat the bitter fruits of their own way (verse 31). They will reap what they have sown and gain what they deserve and want themselves (Gal 6:7-8). They will be satiated “with their own devices”.

How that happens, is explained in verse 32. The word “for” indicates that. Their waywardness from the living God means their death. The love of the fools for their carefree rest is like a swaying little boat that is floating on the river and in which they are sleeping. Without them being aware of that, the little boat gradually, but surely, floats to the waterfall where it falls and crashes down. The rest that they embrace is the rest of the death. The obstinacy and complacency of these people will destroy and kill them.

Pro 1:33 | The Part of Him Who Listens

33 “But he who listens to me shall live securely
And will be at ease from the dread of evil.”

This section does not end sadly, but ends with a wonderful and also attractive promise for whoever listens to Wisdom. What he receives, is a permanent, undisturbed safety. It is thereby also a situation wherein no threat is to be felt. He will be ”at ease from the dread of evil”.

Listening to Wisdom offers protection against evil. That is the great contrast between the false security of the ungodly in the previous verse and the true and permanent peace of the righteous who listens to Wisdom in this verse. In this situation of safety and peace each believer may already live who listens to the Word of God and applies that to all aspects of his life.

Proverbs 2

Introduction

In Proverbs 2 the father is speaking again. In the previous chapter, he warned his son about the sin of violence. In this second chapter he warns his son for the second great sin, which is the sin of corruption. Thereby he emphatically presents the result of two ways or paths, which means the way of life and the way of death. It is not only about a life style, but also about where that very life style leads to.

The picture is that you walk on a road and arrive at a cross roads. There are two roads out of which you may choose. The one road looks attractive, sunny, easy, and flat. The other road seems difficult, there are threatening clouds above it, the first part is steep, and it is a narrow and slippery road. Neither road can you see where they come out, for somewhere in the distance there is a turn on the road. Which way do you choose now? It is of course tempting to choose the easy sunny road. But what do you find after the turn?

The father now tells in his wisdom what will come after the turn, because he knows that. In the case of the easy road, devouring lions and bears are to be found and with the hardly passable road it is a beautiful valley. The father is telling his son not to choose the road which leads to the devouring animals, but the road which leads to rest.

We live in a time when people do not think about the future. It is about how to gain money in an easy way, just like in the previous chapter, and to have an easy and pleasant life in the here and now, in this chapter. Young people do not worry about the future. It is all about enjoying pleasure here and now. Do not worry about problems until the time they really come up. It is the mentality of ‘seize the day’ and ‘let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die’. ‘Of course it is all over after death. Should it be the case that there is indeed something, then we shall see.’

The structure of this chapter is clear and remarkable:
1. In verses 1-4 the father presents some conditions to his son. The conditions begin with the word “if”.
2. If he meets those conditions, the result will be blessings. Those blessings begin with the word “then” in verses 5 and 9.
3. In verses 12 and 16 the father tells from which two dangers his son will be saved if he listens to his advice.
4. he ultimate purpose is mentioned in verse 20, which appears from the word “so” with which the verse begins.

In Hebrew this chapter is one long sentence which could be divided in six parts:
1. If you listen to wisdom and seek Her (verses 1-4),
2. then the LORD will give you wisdom (verses 5-8),
3. and you will enjoy and indulge the knowledge (verses 9-11),
4. you will be preserved from the evil path, from those who enjoy the evil (verses 12-15),
5. and you will be preserved from the temptation of easy sex (verses 16-19),
6. with the result that you walk on the way of life, while the ungodly walk on the path that goes down, to death (verses 20-22).

The content of this chapter is to be summarized in the word ‘preservation’ or ‘protection’.

Pro 2:1-5 | If …, Then …

1 My son, if you will receive my words
And treasure my commandments within you,
2 Make your ear attentive to wisdom,
Incline your heart to understanding;
3 For if you cry for discernment,
Lift your voice for understanding;
4 If you seek her as silver
And search for her as for hidden treasures;
5 Then you will discern the fear of the LORD
And discover the knowledge of God.

We can warn our children for certain matters in several ways or recommend them in several ways to pursue certain matters. It actually depends on our personal conviction with regard to those matters. If we ourselves are convinced, it will resonate in our voice. If we speak without conviction, it will also be noticed. We see here with the father, when he again speaks to his son, that he speaks with full conviction. After the serious words of Wisdom in the previous chapter he is much more motivated to make his son become aware of the value of wisdom.

His words contain an urgent call upon the mind and effort of his son to acquire wisdom. It is hereby important that the son has a mind which “receives his words” without any resistance and “treasures” his “commandments” within him (verse 1). The words of the father have the authority of commandments. Those are not only recommendations or non-obligatory advices, but orders.

‘To receive’ and ‘treasure’ means that the words and commandments are accepted and treasured for later use (cf. Lk 2:19,51; Psa 119:11). To treasure is stronger than to receive and it means to learn by heart. It should not stop with receiving. The father may offer and command, but the son has to receive and treasure. If he doesn’t receive and treasure the words and commandments that he hears from his father, he will hopelessly be destroyed in the labyrinth of the world which is full of violence and corruption.

The father doesn’t say that he has all the answers to the questions of life, but he tells his son where those answers are to be found, which is with “wisdom” (verse 2). In that way he refers to the Lord Jesus. That also applies to us, with regard to God’s Word. The Word of God is the Word of Christ. It is important that we receive God’s words and commandments and treasure them in our hearts. Then our faith will not suffer shipwreck (1Tim 1:19).

In order to receive and treasure the words and commandments, we need an open ear and an open heart. The son should take note of wisdom with his ear, which means that he listens attentively to it. The heart is the inner man, out of which his whole person is being guided. The heart should be longing for “understanding”, which means to have the ability to discern between good and evil and then to choose for the good. This understanding can be acquired by reading and treasuring this book in the heart.

After he has presented the right attitude or mindset to the son, the father says to him, that he should cry “for discernment” and lift his voice “for understanding” (verse 3). He lets that order to be preceded by a reinforcing “yes”. It is very essential that the son does that. It means that he ought to pray for it and do that powerfully. ‘To lift one’s voice’ is a reinforcing form of calling. It is calling with a loud voice. The son will surely do that when he becomes aware of the value of wisdom.

Then the son is not supposed to hang around waiting for an answer to his prayer with his arms crossed. He should get started himself. The father exhorts him to ‘seek’ and ‘search for’ (verse 4). This is the essential condition in order to gain wisdom. It does not come naturally. He should be like a treasure hunter who spares no effort in his search for “silver” and “hidden treasures”. We should be treasure hunters towards wisdom.

The effort to gain wisdom is what we can call ‘discipline for the purpose of Godliness’ (1Tim 4:7b). That is worth a lot more than physical training (1Tim 4:8). The latter is something to which many people spend a lot of time, for they want so much to stay healthy. But the health of the spiritual life is much more important. And that is precisely wherein people invest so little. When the search for wisdom is our greatest joy, it is not a heavy order, but an order which we love to carry out.

The word “then” with which verse 5 begins, is the answer to the conditional “if” in the previous verses. If the son does what is said in the previous verses, then he will receive what is said in this verse. He will then “discern the fear of the LORD”, which means that he will gain the understanding for it, understand what it means, that it is all about a life to God’s honor.

He will also “discover the knowledge of God”, which means that he will possess it, which will make him know God’s will and act accordingly. He will know how to express his respect towards the LORD in the everyday life. The promise of discovering in this verse is related to seek in verse 4, according to the word of the Lord Jesus: “Seek and you will find” (Mt 7:7).

Pro 2:6-11 | Wisdom That Protects

6 For the LORD gives wisdom;
From His mouth [come] knowledge and understanding.
7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
[He is] a shield to those who walk in integrity,
8 Guarding the paths of justice,
And He preserves the way of His godly ones.
9 Then you will discern righteousness and justice
And equity [and] every good course.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart
And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
11 Discretion will guard you,
Understanding will watch over you,

In the previous verses the father called upon his son to seek wisdom. Now he says that the LORD gives it (verse 6). God is the source of wisdom. The search for wisdom leads to the LORD Himself. “After all”, all wisdom comes from Him. There is no wisdom outside of Him. When we listen to the words that He speaks, we hear “knowledge and understanding”, for those come out of His mouth. Listening to wisdom is listening to Him.

We are responsible to search for God’s wisdom in Christ. If we do that with a longing heart, God will give it to us. Here we find both the side of our responsibility and the side of God. If we seek, God will give (Mt 7:7). It comes down to the seeking of wisdom in the Word of God, which is in the words that He has spoken and fixed. Outside of the Word of God, apart from it, there is no wisdom to be found.

He has wisdom in store waiting, which He saves for each one who is upright and asks Him for it (verse 7). He is “a shield” (Gen 15:1; Deu 33:29) to those who walk in integrity. He is their Guard. We first see the mind here (to be upright) and then the practice that connects to that mind (to walk in integrity).

He guards them with the purpose that the paths which they walk “are of justice” (verse 8). God wants His own to be acting in accordance with justice, with what is just to Him. If they do that, it will also have the result that He will preserve their way. He does that with “His godly ones”, which are the faithful ones of His people, who are faithful to Him and who honor Him in their lives.

The results are beneficial. The son will develop intellectual ability and spiritual understanding, in order to discern “righteousness and justice” and “equity” (verse 9; Pro 1:3). ‘To discern righteousness’ means that the son understands that he ought to give God what He is entitled to, just like he should give the people around him what they are entitled to. ‘To discern justice’ means that he understands that he should do the right thing. If he does the right or good thing, he is just. ‘Equity’ refers more to the inner man. It is the uprightness of the heart and to act out of it to honor and conscience. If these characteristics are with him, he will choose the right way and stick to it. “Every good course” is both the good lifestyle and doing what leads to the good.

Verses 10-11 explain why the son can go the right way which the previous verses deal with. That is because wisdom will enter his “heart”, his inner life (verse 10). If wisdom dwells in the ‘direction room’ of life, then the right choices will be made and the right course will always be taken on which will be lived according to the values of righteousness, justice and equity (verse 9).

Knowledge will become more pleasant to the “soul”, which refers more to the emotional life. If a person has wisdom in his heart, it has a direct impact on what is pleasant for the soul. In the soul there is a great desire to grow in the knowledge of God, in knowing and doing His will. There is a desire for the pure milk of God’s Word (1Pet 2:2), because the taste of it is so pleasant.

When there is wisdom in the heart and the knowledge is pleasant for the soul, then “discretion” and “understanding” or the ability to discern can fulfill their protecting role (verse 11; Pro 1:4-5). The power of these virtues is actually guarding and protecting. He who is discrete and has understanding, will be kept from going the wrong way or let himself be tempted. Spontaneity is qualified as a virtue in our days, but this characteristic is often a source of misery. Discretion is something else than reluctance or hesitation. It implies consulting the Lord and others, in order to then act with conviction.

The father tells the son in the following verses what the wrong way is (verses 12-15) and how the temptation to sin comes toward him (verses 16-19).

Pro 2:12-15 | Wisdom Delivers From the Way of Evil

12 To deliver you from the way of evil,
From the man who speaks perverse things;
13 From those who leave the paths of uprightness
To walk in the ways of darkness;
14 Who delight in doing evil
And rejoice in the perversity of evil;
15 Whose paths are crooked,
And who are devious in their ways;

In verse 12 the father gives the first example of protection against evil. His son will not get on “the way of evil” when he lets himself to be guided by ‘discretion’ and ‘understanding’ (verse 11). The way of evil is a wrong, sinful walk of life.

The second line of the verse indicates the wrong thing about it, which is listening to “the man who speaks perverse things”. That man is just as perverse as the things that he speaks. He comes to the youngster with false, distorted words, lies. He and what he speaks are in contrast to what is just and pure.

This man presents the son the easy, sunny path. But if wisdom has come into the heart of the son and knowledge is pleasant to his soul, he will not succumb to the temptation of that easy path. True wisdom that comes to expression in discretion and understanding, is the protection against listening to the fake wisdom of the man with his nice talking.

Verses 13-15 give a further description of this evil man and all evil men who speak perverse things. They show the kind of people that are in the path that they go. You see that they “leave the right way” (verse 13). He who speaks perverse things does not go on the right paths, on the paths of the right, the paths of God.

They consciously choose to “go on the paths of darkness”. On their way the light is lacking. They do not know God and do not want to know Him. Therefore they do not walk in the light, but in the darkness of sin. That also indicates where they will end up: in the eternal darkness.

They find it wonderful to do evil, to sin (verse 14). They take “pleasure in wickedness” (2Thes 2:12). It is so strong that they applaud when they see perverse things happen. We see that today more and more. The evil is being glorified. The dirtiest, filthiest drawings and the most debauched texts must be tolerated to be published. The freedom of speech is the most important thing. This right is never allowed to be sacrificed ever, even if God and all His commandments are being mocked in the most horrible way. The screaming crowd is running after it. The father warns his son about this mass hysteria.

Verse 15 describes their corrupt ways in different words. These arch villains are cunning and false in the paths that they walk. Here it also regards their whole behavior. They continually ignore the right paths. The way they live is not in any way coherent with the right paths. Nothing is in line with the path of God. If you follow their path, you will walk in darkness and you will end up in darkness. They follow the path of destruction, they leave behind them a trail of destruction and they end up in the eternal destruction.

The son needs wisdom to protect himself against these men. They turn the path of the Lord upside down and try to draw others in there. They do that by creating chaos with regard to what is good or evil. This is how the man without God loves it. But the son who allows himself to be led by discretion and understanding, stays far away from such people and their talks.

Pro 2:16-19 | Wisdom Delivers From the Strange Woman

16 To deliver you from the strange woman,
From the adulteress who flatters with her words;
17 That leaves the companion of her youth
And forgets the covenant of her God;
18 For her house sinks down to death
And her tracks [lead] to the dead;
19 None who go to her return again,
Nor do they reach the paths of life.

In verses 16-19 we find the second group of evil persons from whom wisdom liberates or saves, which is the “strange woman”. The evil man about whom the father speaks in verses 12-15 brings perversion; the evil woman makes sure that life becomes a ruin through a sneaky temptation. First it is described what kind of woman the lawless woman is (verses 16-17). Then her downfall is shown as a warning, as well as the downfall of those who have subjected themselves to her (verses 18-19).

In the following chapters we shall come across the strange woman more often. The word “strange” here means what is forbidden, what is to be strange to us. The strange woman is a woman that is forbidden to us. She lives outside the covenant of God, not according to the thoughts of God. It is about a woman, who is fornicating, who is “the adulteress” of the person with whom she commits adultery. That the father speaks about this with his son, may imply that this son is not a child anymore, but someone of about seventeen or eighteen years.

The temptation to commit fornication has always been a great danger to every man and it will remain to be like that. Every other woman than one’s own wife should, in sexual view, be ‘strange’. If we think of ‘our’ Christian youth, then the danger is not mainly the committing of violence-related crimes, like murders and robberies. But the other danger, which is fornication and adultery, is enormous. It becomes more and more exceptional in Christian circles that a young couple enters purely into marriage, meaning that they haven’t slept with one another yet (or with somebody else). And what to think of watching pornography on the internet? That is also a form of fornication.

The wisdom that has entered into the heart and the knowledge in which the soul delights (verse 10), also save from the temptation of the strange woman (verse 16). Just as the evil man, she starts with words. The evil man speaks perverse things; the evil woman uses flattering words. To flatter is not communicating, but to manipulate. She offers fun, which is the fun of easy sex.

The woman is unfaithful to “the covenant of her God” towards her husband. Her husband is “the companion of her youth” to whom she is married (verse 17; Mal 2:14). Marriage is a covenant before the face of God, it is His covenant. He has ordained the covenant of marriage. He who tramples down that covenant, despises “what God has joined together” (Mt 19:6). Whoever despises that covenant of marriage, despises its Giver. The adulterous woman departs from both God and her husband and sins both against God and against her husband by breaking shamelessly her oath of marriage.

The father tells his son the reason why he is not to allow himself to be dragged by her flattering words. That is because he then enters into her house, “for” that house is a house which sinks down to death (verse 18). Her house is a house that views over death; it is an entrance gate to death. Therefore he plays with his life when he gets involved with her. He will get the opposite of the lucky life that she is mirroring to him. The tracks of the life she lives, lead to the place of “the dead”.

Whoever enters into her house and comes to her, will be caught completely in her power (verse 19). She will play her dark obscure, demonic game on him and will not let him go anymore. Everyone who comes into her house, will not escape from it. Perhaps he may literally go outside the door, but a tie has been wrapped around his soul, which connects him to death. The paths of the ones who are alive, which are the paths that lead to life and where life is being enjoyed, have been cut off for him, so that they are not to be reached by him anymore. This horrible end can only be prevented when the son allows himself to be guided on his life path by the two guards of verse 11 that bear the name of ‘discretion’ and ‘understanding’.

The sin of adultery and fornication is presented here in the ultimate consequence. It is the law of reaping what a man sows (Gal 6:7-8). Whoever goes this way, should consider this. There is no mention about the grace of God here. It is a good thing to point to that particularly, for a moment. God is able to intervene when a person confesses his sins and stops sinning. God is a God of grace and is able to redeem from the deepest darkness. That is something everyone can count on for sure, who goes to God with sincere repentance of his or her sins. Thereby one should consider that God not always takes away all the consequences. If there is ‘a consequence damage’ of a wrong path, He will surely help to carry it through.

Pro 2:20-22 | Wisdom Leads to the Way of Good Men

20 So you will walk in the way of good men
And keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright will live in the land
And the blameless will remain in it;
22 But the wicked will be cut off from the land
And the treacherous will be uprooted from it.

Wisdom saves from the evil man and the evil woman; it saves from the way to death and the dead. But it should not stop there. After taking distance from the evil, a closer move should be taken to the good. That is what Wisdom does thereafter. She leads to the way of good and righteous men (verse 20).

We also read in the New Testament about both these sides, those of rejecting the evil and joining the right. First the appeal sounds to everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord, to withdraw from injustice; then the exhortation follows to join all who have done that already (2Tim 2:19-22). Therefore the son should not only stay away from the evil men, but he also should start to accompany the good men.

If the son joins the company “of the good men” and “of the righteous”, he is also one of “the upright” who will “live in the land” (verse 21). Here the father refers to a certain, coming, blessing (“for”). We have a prophetic statement here, regarding the millennial kingdom of peace. In that time of blessing under the government of the Messiah, the upright, which are the God-fearing people, will live in the land. Then the kingdom of peace has come and the earth will be their home, where they will live in peace and righteousness (cf. Mt 5:5).

In verse 22, the part of the ungodly is presented as a contrast – which is indicated by the word “but”. At the moment they are still in control on earth. They are still enjoying sin. But they will not partake of the blessing in the kingdom of peace. When the Messiah returns to the earth to establish the kingdom of peace, first “the wicked will be cut off from the land”. They have never considered God ever and have no part in the kingdom of peace.

There is another category mentioned, which is that of the “treacherous”. They have outwardly been in connection to God, but have become unfaithful to Him; they have fallen away from Him. Their part is that they will “be uprooted” from the land, which they have claimed for themselves, which indicates that it will happen with great power.

This last verse is an extra warning for the son not to get involved with wicked and unfaithful people. He wouldn’t want to partake of their fate and miss the blessing of wisdom, would he?

Proverbs 3

Introduction

When we give up an advantage, it may look like we throw away a chance of joy. But Proverbs 3 assures us that this is not the case. The path of wisdom is the path of life, even when the path of wisdom may look like it is in contradiction to common sense.

In verses 1-10 we have five counsels from the father to his son, each time followed by a promise of blessing if he takes the counsel to heart:
1. In verse 1 the counsel, in verse 2 the promise of blessing.
2. In verse 3 the counsel, in verse 4 the promise of blessing.
3. In verses 5-6a the counsel, in verse 6b the promise of blessing.
4. In verse 7 the counsel, in verse 8 the promise of blessing.
5. In verse 9 the counsel, in verse 10 the promise of blessing.

Thereby we should consider that it is about promises here that certainly will be fulfilled, but not necessarily during our life on earth. It is also possible that they will be fulfilled in the future. We can trust that God will fulfill at His time and in His way His promises of blessing if we will do from our heart what He asks of us, even if in this life the ungodly prospers and the righteous suffers.

Pro 3:1-2 | Do Not Forget the Teaching

1 My son, do not forget my teaching,
But let your heart keep my commandments;
2 For length of days and years of life
And peace they will add to you.

The first counsel that the father gives to his son, is not to forget his “teaching” (verse 1). ‘Teaching’ is the translation of the Hebrew word torah. That word is used for the law of God, but it has more meanings. Here it refers to what we could call ‘home teaching’. The father has transferred his knowledge in teaching at home to his son. It is an indication for fathers to teach their children from the Scripture at home and not to leave it to others, for instance to those who give them bible lessons or bible study.

The father tells his son not to forget what he has learnt at home, in the education. To forget here is not so much of a weakness of the memory, but the conscious ignoring and overlooking of the teaching of the father. For us it means a warning that we may lose what we have learnt in our youth from the Word of God. The teaching will not be forgotten when the commandments are kept in the heart. One can after all obey the commandments outwardly, thus without being involved with his heart. That is not what the father wants and nor is that the will of God.

The heart is the storing place of the commandments, just like the law was stored in the ark (Deu 10:5). In the kingdom of peace God will write down His law in the heart of His people (Heb 8:10). The heart indicates the mind. When the commandments are kept in the heart, the deeds, which after all flow from the heart (Pro 4:23), will be according to the heart. The deeds will then not be sinful deeds (Psa 119:11), and there will be no forced obedience, but joyful obedience.

The blessing which is related to this counsel is a long and good life (verse 2). “Length of days” (Psa 91:16) refers to the reaching of an old age after a ‘large range of days’. “Years of life and peace” refers more to the content (“life”) and quality (“peace”). It is a full and rich life which is fully worthwhile to be lived. The word ‘peace’ is the translation of the word shalom and means more than the absence of war. It is victory, success in the actions that has been undertaken, full harmony, prosperity, health, happiness, salvation, a long life.

In the kingdom of peace the teaching and the commandments will not be forgotten, but will be saved in the heart (Heb 8:10b). Therefore the years of the enjoyment of life and peace will be increased in those days instead of being taken away at a certain moment. The latter has happened in the history of Israel, time and time again, because the people did not hold on to the teaching and the commandments of God’s Word.

It does not mean that everyone who in this time pays attention to the commandments in his heart will ‘therefore’ have a long life. Just think about the believers for a moment, who are being persecuted, tortured and killed, because of their faithfulness to God’s Word, which often happens in the prime of their lives (Heb 11:36-38). Faithful prophets who had God’s Word in their hearts and also proclaimed it, have been killed (Mt 23:34,37). And what happened to the Lord Jesus Who in all things has obeyed His Father and has perfectly fulfilled the counsel of verse 1? He was killed in the midst of His days. What then about the promise of a long life in peace?

The promise of a long life and peace will be fully fulfilled in the future. Life and peace will be enjoyed to their fullness and length in the millennial kingdom of peace. God fulfills all His promises, but not always here and now already. That we live in the faith that the promises will be fulfilled, we show by continuing to believe, even if it seems that the promises are not being fulfilled. That particular faith, which is the confidence of faith, has characterized all believers of the Old Testament. That very confidence in God was perfectly present in the Lord Jesus. That confidence may characterize us too.

Pro 3:3-4 | To Keep Kindness and Truth

3 Do not let kindness and truth leave you;
Bind them around your neck,
Write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 So you will find favor and good repute
In the sight of God and man.

Not forgetting the teaching and the keeping of the commandments in verse 1 is not a static occasion. Teaching and commandment do have an effect, for they form the character of the believer. Verse 3 connects to that. Through teaching and commandments the characteristics of the new life are being formed. Two of these characteristics are “kindness and truth”.

Those are two of the many impressive features of God. They are perfectly visible in the life of the Lord Jesus. It was a joy to God to notice those features in His Son. It is also a joy to His heart when He can notice them in us. God has shown kindness and truth to the believer and is still showing that. They should always impress the believer; he is not to forget that, the thought of that should not leave him ever. God, however, has not only shown kindness and truth, He has also given them to the believer, for they are a part of the new life that he has received.

What was not possible with the Lord Jesus, is possible with us, which is that we forget God’s kindness and truth shown to us by Him, that they leave us. The result is that these characteristics do not become visible in our lives and that they leave us in that sense. Therefore the father says to his son – and to each believer – that he ought to make sure that “kindness and truth” will not “leave” him.

The father tells him how he should do that. He should bind them around his neck as an adornment. The neck indicates the own will. A word like ‘stiff-necked’ shows that. When ‘kindness and truth’ are bound as an adornment around the neck, it means that the own will is not being followed, but that these characteristics are guiding one’s life. Both these characteristics are also to be written on the tablet of his heart by him (cf. Jer 31:33; 2Cor 3:3; Deu 6:8-9). Consequently these characteristics will be the motives of his actions. In this way he submits himself to the will of God.

“Kindness” is gentleness shown to others, which excludes all forms of selfishness and hatred. “Truth”, or truthfulness, is being trustworthy, having the confidence in somebody, it excludes any hypocrisy. We therefore may say that kindness and truth will go parallel with love and truth.

The first blessing of listening to wisdom, as we have seen in verse 2, regards the personal life of the Godly. The second blessing has to do with the relations (verse 4). If the counsel of verse 3 is being followed, the son will find “favor and good repute in the sight of God and man”. We see this in the life of the Lord Jesus. He has lived in kindness and truth, and has found what is written here (Lk 2:52). We see that also in the life of Samuel (1Sam 2:26; cf. 2Cor 8:21).

“Favor” is actually gentleness, which is something one cannot make a claim to. When we find favor in the sight of man, it is not because of our own achievement; we cannot make a claim to it as a right, but we will receive it if we show kindness and truth. Although Joseph was a prisoner, he found favor or mercy in the sight of Potiphar (Gen 39:4). “Good repute” means ‘good respect’. Whoever shows kindness and truth, is noticeable in a favorable sense. Attention is being paid to it, people look at it and appreciation is expressed, both by God and by men. If we listen to the counsel of this father, we also will experience this.

Pro 3:5-6 | Trust in the LORD

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.

The third counsel is to trust in the LORD with all your heart and not to expect anything of your own understanding (verse 5). To trust with all your heart is focusing your whole inner life – all your will, your emotions and your mind – on God. It is about an active trust in Him. That goes for every minute of our lives, wherever we are – at home, in society, at school or at work, in the church – and with whatever we do.

We should not look for any support from a creature or something of the possessions or the skills of a creature, nor from our own self (cf. 2Chr 14:11). It is not about a contradiction here between the heart on the one hand and the understanding or the mind on the other hand, but between our own understanding or mind and the Lord. We must trust in the Lord and not on ourselves.

The father also advises his son to know God in all his ways (verse 6). “All your ways” means everything that he is intended to do, what he says, all that he does and does not. It not only refers to the moments of crisis, when great and significant decisions have to be made. If we allow Him to be involved with all daily matters, we will automatically go to Him with the great matters. To know Him in all our ways means that we start everything with Him, move on with Him on our way and also complete everything with Him. That demands obedience and surrender in every territory of our lives.

It also means that He does not dictate His plans to us and impose them on us. He allows us to take the initiative and plan a route. Then He invites us to discuss our intentions with Him, so that we may be kept from planning a route which leads to death (cf. Jam 4:15; Acts 18:21). We do not know how the path goes. That is also not necessary if we know Him, which means that we live in fellowship with Him Who knows the path.

To acknowledge Him means that we involve Him with everything, always look upon Him, always have Him before our eye, always think of Him as the One Who is always with us. We do that by consulting His Word for all our plans and make that to be our advisor (Psa 119:24). To that belongs that we walk by the Spirit (Gal 5:16).

It is about a total devotion, all our hearts and all our ways. If we trust Him with all our hearts and acknowledge Him in all our ways, then He promises us that He will make our paths straight. He will lead us straight to the goal which we have determined in consideration with Him. Ultimately that goal is He Himself. The straight paths stand against the meanders which man goes without acknowledging Him therein. No man could make his own paths straight (Jer 10:23).

It does not say that the paths are easy and straight in our eyes. From our view it can be a serpentine and hardly accessible path. But we may know that every winding on that path has been anticipated by the Lord as a part of the process of His work in us. His aim is that we go a way that leads to our likeness of Christ. That is to Him, and therefore also to us, the straight path.

Here, it is just like with many other proverbs in this book, about a general truth, not about something that is always true without exception. When we for example use the saying ‘an apple every day, keeps the doctor away’, it doesn’t mean that we stay healthy if we eat an apple every day, but that an apple is healthy food. It is not a proverb that guarantees us that we will never get sick when we eat apples. Proverbs are pieces of life that show how life normally is, without saying that it is always and everywhere like that. Actually, there can be influencing factors that postpone a direct fulfillment. Those factors are often unknown to us, but God knows them and uses them for His plan with our lives.

Proverbs are no promises of God for here and now, on which we can stand. If we do think that, we draw wrong conclusions. Proverbs are pronouncements of observations that will prove their truth after a course of time.

Pro 3:7-8 | Fear the LORD

7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the LORD and turn away from evil.
8 It will be healing to your body
And refreshment to your bones.

The fourth counsel is not to be wise in your own eyes (verse 7; Isa 5:21; Rom 12:16). It is a warning against self-confidence. It is in line with the thoughts that are expressed in the previous verses, though from another point of view. In the previous verses, God is seen and presented as the Source of wisdom and guidance. Now we are warned about a wisdom which is apart from God.

Our hearts are deceitful. We are able to make ourselves to believe, with smart manipulation, that we make wise choices because we are so intelligent or have a certain character. It may be that we trust in God and become proud about doing that. The Lord Jesus condemned the pharisees and rabbis of His time, not because of their prayers to God, but because the motives of their prayers were evil.

True wisdom is not the denial of our talents, but the recognition of its source. We are wise in our own eyes when we prefer our own emotions or judgment above that of the Lord. It is acting in independency of Him, of knowing it better than the Scripture. He who is wise, will consider that he has no wisdom in himself, but that he receives his wisdom from God.

The higher source of wisdom is the fear of the LORD. That is the true wisdom. When that fear is present, there is the direct consequence that the evil is being turned away from. The fear of the LORD can never go hand in hand with doing evil, but it leads to hating the evil (Psa 97:10).

“A medicine” makes the body healthy (verse 8; Pro 15:4; Ecc 10:4). Listening to the counsel of verse 7 has that beneficial or healthy effect. A baby in the womb receives food through the “navel” [‘body’ is literally “navel”] and grows. The navel is also the center of the body and represents the whole body. Through the “bones” the body is able to function. If the counsel of verse 7 is being followed, it will have a refreshing effect to the bones. They renew their strength in that way.

The word navel appears another time only in Ezekiel 16 (Eze 16:4). There is not a better example of our dependence on God than that of the fetus in the womb which receives his food through the navel cord. That happens as long as he is in the womb. That’s how the baby grows until it gets to be born. What is said in verse 7, is therefore of great significance for the spiritual growth of the life from God, which the believer possesses. Without the fear of the LORD on the one hand and turning away from evil on the other hand, it is impossible to grow healthy in spiritual sense.

Pro 3:9-10 | Honor the LORD

9 Honor the LORD from your wealth
And from the first of all your produce;
10 So your barns will be filled with plenty
And your vats will overflow with new wine.

The fifth counsel regards the honoring of the LORD by the son with his wealth (verse 9). It does not say that he should give something to the LORD, but that he should honor Him. Nor does it say something of his wealth, it says that he should do it with his wealth. It therefore refers to everything that he “owns”, his whole capital, everything he had received by earning it or inheriting it. His “produce” is what he had gained by working for it, the produce from labor.

The giving of “the first” of a crop implies the recognition that the whole crop is the LORD’s (Exo 23:19; Num 28:26-27; Deu 18:4; 26:1-2). It is said to the son that to determining his first fruits, he should involve “all“ his produce. He is not to forget or exclude anything from the calculation. God expects us to involve everything that is His in our judgment.

The ‘first’ refers particularly to Christ, the “first fruits of those who are asleep” (1Cor 15:20). He has fully given Himself for those who are His. If we bring the first fruits, God is being reminded of Him. We only understand the truth if we have learnt to see it in relation with Christ. That’s also what makes the heart willing to respond to the desires of God.

Giving does not stand on its own. Giving by itself does not meaning anything. Giving only has a value if God is glorified by it. We can give to get a good feeling about it – then we glorify ourselves. This is how the pharisees gave. We can also give to get better. Then we ‘invest’ in God; He becomes an ‘investment object’. However, it is not about us, but about Him. We have received everything that we have from Him, in order to honor Him with it. It also applies to our earthly properties, that all things are “from Him and through Him and to Him” (Rom 11:36).

We honor God if we give with joy to His work. We do that when we say from our heart to Him: ‘You are the Source of everything that I have. Without You I could not earn anything and I would not have anything to honor You with. By giving You the first fruits, the best, of it, I acknowledge that everything is Yours’ (1Chr 29:14b). We show that by giving Him a part first from everything that we receive, even before we have used anything of it for ourselves.

From honoring with the first, the son does not get poorer. On the contrary, it makes him to become richer. He will be blessed with an abundance which makes his barns be filled with plenty and his vats be overflowed (verse 10; cf. Mal 3:10). This is what God promises when He is acknowledged in His rights to all things of life. Here it certainly applies to that which is noticed at the introduction of this chapter, that we should bear in mind that here it regards promises that will surely be fulfilled, but not always during our life on earth. In any case they will be fulfilled in the future.

We would apply this verse wrongly if we say that, when we give money, we would get a lot more of money back than what we have given. This is how for instance some television preachers abuse this verse. They call upon their audience to give money with the promise that they will get a lot more than they have given. They say: ‘Send me one hundred dollars for my ministry and I guarantee you that God will bless your donation with a reward of one thousand dollars!’ Such a call is nothing more than manipulation.

The intention of this verse is therefore not that people should examine themselves if there could be sins in their lives that hinder the blessing if they give money to God’s work and they are not being blessed abundantly with money. They therefore do not need to try again to see if it works next time.

When giving happens from the right state of the heart, God will give more than we have given Him. Here it is about a blessing that is greater than that of money or earthly goods. This we see in the verses 13-18 of this chapter. If we give up everything to follow the Lord, it does not mean that it will make us rich of earthly things. What we do get in return, is an abundant fellowship with Him with the joy that goes together with it. That exceeds all earthly possessions. We can lose earthly possessions. We can never lose what we possess in Him. It can only increase, which means the joy of it. What we win by giving, is always a lot more than what we give (cf. Mk 10:28-30).

Pro 3:11-12 | Discipline of the LORD

11 My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD
Or loathe His reproof,
12 For whom the LORD loves He reproves,
Even as a father [corrects] the son in whom he delights.

The verses 11-12 form the counterweight to verses 9-10. Generally, it is true that God blesses us when we give Him what He asks of us. But that doesn’t mean that He will not admonish and discipline or reprove us. They do not contradict each other, but go hand in hand. It shows the balance of God’s Word.

We see that with Job. Of Job it is written even three times that he was blameless, upright and fearing God and that he turned away from evil (Job 1:1,8; 2:3). Yet God takes away everything from him (Job 1-2). How inconceivable such may be to us, still it is God’s love for Job that He acts with Him like that. We need to read the whole book in order to understand something of it. This poem of four lines of the verses 11-12 may serve well as a motto for the book of Job. Verse 11 describes the problem of the book of Job, and verse 12 describes the solution of that problem.

The father speaks here again to “my son”, which indicates that he speaks from the intimate relationship that he has with him. He points out to him that he should not reject the discipline “of the LORD”. It is important to consider that the discipline comes from Him. The same goes for the reproof. It is His reproof. The motive for the discipline and reproof that God gives, is that He “loves”. When God reproves, He does that because He loves us. He sees what is still missing with us in the dependence on Him or where we run the risk of becoming independent of Him. In order to make us aware of that He reproves us.

The question is how we respond to God’s reproof. In verse 11 the father warns his son not to reject the discipline or reproof of the LORD and not to loathe His reproof. The reason for that is written in verse 12. There we read that His discipline and reproof are proofs of His love (cf. 2Sam 7:14). Such expressions of love take place in the father-to-son relationship (cf. Deu 8:5).

‘To reject the discipline’ means to despise it, that we do as if it does not mean anything. In that case we do not bow under the reproof, which causes that it misses the intended effect. ‘To loathe the reproof’ means that we hate it, because it is an unbearable burden and that we therefore are not willing to accept the discipline. Then we succumb under the discipline and also then it misses the intended purpose. Those are two contradicting responses. They both indicate that the intention of the discipline is not being understood and therefore are not accepted.

The verses 11-12 are quoted in the epistle to the Hebrews (Heb 12:5-11). That proves that the proverbs have a broader application than only to the son of Solomon. In the epistle mentioned, they are presented to the Hebrew believers whose faith was severely tested. The author of that epistle presents these verses to them to remind them that tribulations are not accidentally awkward circumstances, but that they show God’s involvement with them. They forgot that and they had to be reminded of that. It is often like that with us too. It is also important to us that exactly when we go through a difficult time, we are being reminded that God is concerned with us.

The discipline and reproof come from a God Who deals with us “even as a father [corrects] the son in whom he delights”. This indicates what mind God has concerning us. He “delights” in us.  He is not up to do us any evil, but only the good. Satan is up to do us only evil and seeks our destruction (1Pet 5:8). Ungodly people hate us and ostracize us (Lk 6:22). But God brings sufferings over us because He loves us (Heb 12:6; Rev 3:19; cf. Pro 13:24). Because God disciplines in love, discipline or reproof will never damage us, although it is painful.

Discipline is the proof of sonship. The purpose of the discipline of God is that “we may share His holiness” (Heb 12:10). Discipline happens in love, by a Father Who delights in us. In “the son in whom He delights” we see above all the love of the Father to His Son. There is actually a great difference between Christ as the unique Son and us as sons. We need correction; He never needed correction. He always did please the Father. He always did what was pleasing to Him. Therefore the Father found His full joy in the life that the Son lived. It fully responded to His will. Therefore there was nothing with the Lord Jesus to be disciplined or reproved (Mt 3:17; 1Pet 2:22; 2Cor 5:21; 1Jn 3:5).

Pro 3:13-18 | The Value of Wisdom

13 How blessed is the man who finds wisdom
And the man who gains understanding.
14 For her profit is better than the profit of silver
And her gain better than fine gold.
15 She is more precious than jewels;
And nothing you desire compares with her.
16 Long life is in her right hand;
In her left hand are riches and honor.
17 Her ways are pleasant ways
And all her paths are peace.
18 She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her,
And happy are all who hold her fast.

In order to react in the right way to the discipline that is spoken about in verses 11-12, wisdom is needed. Discipline or reproof and wisdom are also related to one another by James (Jam 1:2-5). To know wisdom will lead one to happiness, even when there are tests. The wisdom of the world does not give that happiness (Ecc 1:8). The portion of the verses 13-18 deals with the wisdom as the way to happiness. This portion begins with “how blessed” in verse 13 and ends with “happy are” in verse 18. Between both verses we find a series of causes that lead to this happiness, which all have got to do with wisdom.

“Wisdom” must be found (verse 13), not by accident, but by looking for it as for a treasure that has been buried somewhere. To look for it in this case, means to heed instruction, for then you will become wise (Pro 8:33). It implies that in order to become wise, it is necessary to listen to the Word of God.

“Understanding” is to be gained or obtained. Therefore we need to make an effort. It is about understanding in the way that God guides the life, especially when there are tests in life. That understanding is gained by looking upon Christ in the Scripture. In Him “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden” (Col 2:3).

When a person finds her (which means Christ), its produce is greater than ever could be possibly earned with the trade of silver (verse 14). Here it is not about an unbeliever who finds Christ, but about a believer who discovers Him as the One Who leads his life with wisdom. Therefore wisdom is the most important and her “gain is better than fine gold” (Pro 8:11; 20:15; 31:10).

When the value of wisdom is compared to the value of silver or gold, wisdom proves invaluable. It yields so much more than the possession of the most precious metals. You realize that when you are seriously ill. You may possess all the silver and gold in the world, but you cannot buy your health with it. But how calm can your heart get, when you realize that it is God’s wisdom that’s hidden behind the illness.

Wisdom is “more precious than jewels” (verse 15). Also the preciousness of the most expensive precious stones fades into nothingness if it is compared with wisdom. You may desire whatever you want, but apart from wisdom, a fulfillment of those desires only gives a temporary and limited feeling of happiness. Solomon desired the best, when at the beginning of his reign he was allowed to make known to God his desires, by asking wisdom. God answered this desire by giving him a wise heart (1Kgs 3:5-13).

Wisdom, Christ, is the source of a long and beneficial life (verse 16). Wisdom reaches out both hands as it were, to offer what she has. You may accept it out of both hands. In her right hand she has “long life”. He who chooses wisdom above the riches of the world, chooses eternal life. In her left hand she has “riches and honor”. He who chooses wisdom above the most precious, though perishable, property on earth, chooses imperishably spiritual wealth and honor. This is what Christ offers and gives to each who belongs to Him.

Not only what she has in her hands, is of the greatest value and so totally different than what the world offers. Also her ways and paths are so totally different than the ways and paths of the world (verse 17). Her ways are characterized by ‘pleasantness’. And “all her ways”, so not one excluded, “are peace”. Do we not recognize herein the ways and paths of the Lord Jesus on earth? When we find wisdom, we shall be able to imitate Him in these ways and paths. What a testimony would that be!

Wisdom is also “a tree of life to those who take hold of her” (verse 18; Gen 2:9; 3:24; Pro 11:30; 13:12; 15:4; Rev 2:7; 22:2,14). In the word “take hold” lies power. He who takes hold of that tree strongly, shows the power of faith (cf. Heb 6:18). To take hold of the tree means, that there is faith that the tree gives life. And it should not stop there, for taking hold of her must be followed by “hold her fast” (cf. Song 3:4). Once a person has life, that life should also be fed. Wisdom gives what is necessary for the everyday life.

We find both these aspects in what the Lord Jesus says about eating His flesh and drinking His blood in John 6. In order to receive life, a person should eat His flesh and drink His blood, which is believing in His death; that His death was necessary to give him eternal life (Jn 6:53). After that it is continually necessary to eat His flesh and to drink His blood because life is in Him. That means that we are daily occupied with Him by reading His Word, which means eating from Him spiritually. Then we continue in the things we have learned (2Tim 3:14).

The way to the tree of life is the way back to the point where the history of man went wrong. The way to the tree of life was cut off by sin. Adam and Eve chose the wrong tree to eat from. We have the choice to eat again from the right tree by choosing for wisdom. The reason why that tree is “the tree of life”, is because it continually gives vitality and a full, eternal life (cf. Gen 3:22-24). That is the part for each person who takes hold of and holds fast to wisdom like that.

Wisdom is knowing God in Christ. Christ is the tree of life. By holding Him fast we receive eternal life. That is more than we have lost in Adam. The cross of Christ has become the tree of life to us. The cross of Christ is the foolishness of God which is wiser than men (1Cor 1:25). He who believes that, is “happy”, for he has eternal life.

Pro 3:19-20 | Wisdom at and in Creation

19 The LORD by wisdom founded the earth,
By understanding He established the heavens.
20 By His knowledge the deeps were broken up
And the skies drip with dew.

The wisdom that guides life (verse 18), is the same wisdom that has made the universe (verse 19; Psa 104:24; Jer 10:12). We see here that the LORD – which is the Lord Jesus, for He is the Creator (Jn 1:1-3; Col 1:16; Heb 1:2) – Himself used wisdom in establishing the creation. From Genesis 1 we know that God has created the earth in six days by establishing something on each of those six days by His Word (Exo 20:11). Wisdom is needed to recognize the work of wisdom.

The creation is not a process, but an act of creation. We see that here, where it is written that God as the great Architect, has ”founded” the earth “by wisdom” and by “understanding … established” the heavens. It is described here as if it is about a building. He has founded the earth in the universe and established the heavens above it as an umbrella with a shining adornment of sun, moon and stars.

With “His knowledge”, the knowledge which is His own, He made the deep waters to pave a way on the earth (verse 20). Because of that, men, animals and plants are able to live and to be refreshed. Also for that reason we have the waters in the air, which He gives as dew on the earth all over the world, wherever it is needed. Only God has the knowledge to establish and manage such a system of irrigation.

Pro 3:21-26 | Wisdom Gives Rest

21 My son, let them not vanish from your sight;
Keep sound wisdom and discretion,
22 So they will be life to your soul
And adornment to your neck.
23 Then you will walk in your way securely
And your foot will not stumble.
24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid;
When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
25 Do not be afraid of sudden fear
Nor of the onslaught of the wicked when it comes;
26 For the LORD will be your confidence
And will keep your foot from being caught.

In this portion (verses 21-26) we get the instruction to remain on the path of wisdom, together with the promises which are our part if we heed the instruction. But then we must not lose sight of wisdom for one moment (verse 21).

There is a connection between verse 21 and verses 19-20. After showing God’s wisdom in creation, the son is told that he is not to let wisdom vanish from his sight. The wisdom that God is demonstrating in creation is the wisdom which is necessary to live our lives to the honor of God. We not only admire wisdom, but we have also received it (1Cor 2:6-7). The Lord Jesus is the wisdom of God in every view. He is our life and in Him we have received wisdom.

We must not let Him vanish from our sight. We must continually keep sight of Him. Then we will keep “sound wisdom and discretion”. We will always be prepared for what is ahead of us. When fellow classmates or colleagues or a brother or sister asks us to take part of something or to go somewhere, we will let ourselves be led by wisdom and discretion. We will look upon the Lord Jesus, how He would respond to that question.

If our eyes are continually focused on Him and we see how He has kept sound wisdom and discretion, that will mean “life” for our “soul” (verse 22). The true life is the life of Christ which is our part. That will then be seen in our practice. To Paul it was like that. He could say that life was Christ to him, he lived for Him alone (Phil 1:21).

Such a life is “an adornment to your neck”, says the father to his son and to us (cf. Pro 1:9; 3:3). Wisdom and discretion are real ‘adornments’. We sometimes say of somebody that a certain characteristic or action ‘adorns’ him or her. It ‘adorns’ a person when he for example helps another person or is faithfully committed to his study or work. Wisdom and discretion are making him to do these things.

In the following verses (verses 23-26) life is represented as a journey, as a road which is to be walked on. We all are going a road, that we have never gone, of which we do not know how it goes. Thereby we are not led by our knowledge of the future, for we do not have that knowledge, but by Him to Whom belongs the future. He is mighty to keep us from stumbling and to make us “stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy” (Jude 1:24). That is the life insurance that we need, of which the conditions are written in verses 21-22.

If we do not lose sight of wisdom and discretion, but continually keep them in mind, we will “walk securely” in our way and will “not stumble our foot” which could make us fall (verse 23). We will then be walking with God. Because He shows us the way, He will also protect us on our way. If we go our way with such confidence in Him, His peace will be in us (Phil 4:7) and His protecting power will be around us (1Pet 1:5).

The Lord Jesus showed that to us. He walked with God and went His way securely and was kept from stumbling His foot. He was tempted by satan to challenge God to realize the truth of this word, that He would not stumble His foot (Mt 4:5-7). Because He let Himself be guided by wisdom and discretion, He knew how to resist satan. Therefore He did not stumble His foot nor did He fall.

Wisdom and discretion do not only save us during the day, but also during the night (verse 24). They do not only guard us when we are on the way, but also when we are sleeping (Psa 121:4). He who walks with his God, can sleep calmly, however stormy it may be in his life. That’s why the Lord Jesus slept during a storm (Mt 8:24). We also see that Peter, in imitating the Lord, was not anxious when he was in prison and had to fear his life. He went to lie down, chained together with two soldiers and had a pleasant sleep (Acts 12:6; cf. Lev 26:6; Psa 4:8; 23:2).

That wisdom and discretion give rest and safety, doesn’t mean that nothing can happen in our lives that completely turns our life upside down. Job experienced that and we also know examples from our lives or from our environment. God doesn’t guarantee us that no evil will happen to us. He surely gives the guarantee that He will be there. Here the father says to his son that he must not be afraid for what may happen suddenly (verse 25; cf. Psa 112:7).

There is a saying: ‘A man often suffers the most by the suffering that he fears and which never happens.’ To whomever that applies, has got to bear more than God gives him to bear. Fear or anxiety for what may possibly happen, paralyzes us in our faith life. The people in the world are afraid of everything that is happening and what is still going to happen, both in their lives and in the world. We know from God’s Word that indeed a lot is going to happen in the world. If we take that seriously, we will also take the reassurance of the Lord Jesus seriously when He says that we should not let ourselves be frightened by the events that are announced (Mt 24:6).

The believer lives in the midst of “the wicked”, who are always seeking the destruction of those who want to faithfully live after God’s Word. The fear for those is more realistic than for something indeterminate, for “also all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2Tim 3:12). But listen to what the Lord Jesus says: “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Mt 10:28).

The father tells his son how he could get free from the thoughts of “sudden fear” or “onslaught” that could happen to him. He makes him aware that the LORD is his “confidence” (verse 26). When he looks upon Him, he will exceed above the threats of frightening events that could happen, which life is full of. There is not a more powerful means to liberate us from fears and to keep us free of it than to have Christ as our confidence before us. Confidence is not an insecurity, but an absolute security. When the Lord Jesus is our confidence, it means that He is our unwavering and effective support.

If we put our confidence, our expectation, in Him, He will “keep our foot from being caught”. We therefore will not get caught in one of the many traps of sin, which are laid by satan everywhere around us to catch our foot through which we stumble. Sin can easily entangle us if we do not keep our eyes focused on the Lord continually (Heb 12:1-2; cf. 2Tim 2:26). The Lord Jesus is also our example in this. When He was on earth, He continually looked upon His God. By doing that, He never put His foot anywhere where a snare was hidden (Psa 16:8).

Pro 3:27-30 | Do Not Harm Your Neighbor

27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
When it is in your power to do [it].
28 Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come back,
And tomorrow I will give [it],”
When you have it with you.
29 Do not devise harm against your neighbor,
While he lives securely beside you.
30 Do not contend with a man without cause,
If he has done you no harm.

Wisdom is important for our relationship with God. The father has taught his son – and us – about that in the previous verses. But that is not the only thing. Wisdom is also important for our relationship with our neighbor. The father speaks about that with his son in the verses that we have now before us. He warns his son not to be selfish and self-centered in that relationship. Relationships can be misused in that way.

We must learn that the neighbor is not there for us, but that we are there for the neighbor. We see that in the history that the Lord Jesus tells about the good Samaritan (Lk 10:30-37). The lesson is not that I must learn who my neighbor is, how I could benefit from him, but how I can be the neighbor of the other person, what I could do for the other person.

The verses 27-30 all begin with the counsel of not to do something. That the father gives this counsel to his son means that he considers his son to be able to do what he discourages him to do. That is an important lesson for parents. There are parents who do not want to hear any evil things about their children. They are surprised, not to say indignant, when it is presumed that their child has done something which is not acceptable. ‘My child would not do anything like that’, is then often the dismissive response. It proves a great lack of self-knowledge and an unhealthy view of their ‘sweetheart’. Solomon doesn’t speak in such a naive or arrogant way about his son here.

The verses 27-28 are about the relation towards the neighbor and then in particular that he must be given what is due to him. However, it is presented negatively by the father. He does not order his son to do something, but is saying to him that he should not do something. His son is not to withhold good from someone to whom it is due, while he has the means to give it (verse 27). Therefore it is about the rights of our neighbors and not the expression of charity.

In the application we could think of honestly paying tax, for the government is entitled to that (Rom 13:7). Also the payment of a debt which has arisen from a loan or a purchase, is a matter of giving to the other what he is due to. In a more general sense the father appeals to his son to do good to his neighbor with the possibilities that are available to him. We are not the owners of our goods, but stewards. “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin” (Jam 4:17).

We can also apply doing good, or the better, withholding good from someone to whom it is due, to the gospel and the truth of God. The people around us have the right that we proclaim the gospel to them. How will they hear about it if we do not tell them about it? We owe it to them, for they are in danger of being lost forever. The same goes for the teaching of the truth. The fellow believers have the right that we serve them with God’s Word (Pro 11:26a). If we are imitators of the good, or better, of the good One, we are obliged to talk about Him.

Perhaps the son is not willing to withhold good from somebody, but that he postpones it until “tomorrow” (verse 28). The father recognizes that danger and warns him also about that – not to do that. ‘Tomorrow’ is an expression which indicates that something is postponed endlessly; it is shifted every following day to ‘tomorrow’. In the same way “the wages of a hired man are not to remain with you all night until morning” (Lev 19:13b; Deu 24:15). It is not about charity, but about paying a debt. When that is being ignored, it is evil in the eyes of God (Jam 5:4).

The commandment not to withhold good from your neighbor is followed by the commandment not to devise harm against your neighbor (verse 29). To devise harm means to think of ways, to make preparations, to harm. To think of ways to harm your neighbor, to make preparations to harm him, is a crime. It is even worse when that happens, while your neighbor thinks that he’s got nothing to fear of you, that he feels himself to be safe with you. It is a crude form of abuse of confidence. It is the crime that Judas committed against the Lord Jesus (Psa 41:9; Jn 13:18). If we have been treated like that by someone, we may know that the Lord Jesus can suffer together with us in this (Heb 4:15).

The father does not consider his son to be too good for committing this evil. We also should not consider ourselves to be too good for it. It is possible that we misuse someone who trusts us, who lives with us, so with whom we have daily contact, for something that delivers us advantage.

There is not only danger for secretly devising harm, but also for accusing someone openly, without any reason, without the other person doing any harm to you (verse 30). The father warns his son also about that form of evil. It is here about the exposing of a quarreling spirit. It can also refer to taking legal actions before a court against someone – and doing this all without a cause. Someone is only to seek to harm another person. Devising harm can be spiritual, physical, financial or even sexual.

Also herein the Lord Jesus is again the Example. He was accused without a cause, for He never did any harm to anyone. On the contrary, He did only good. He did not defend Himself against it, He did not seek His own right, but He kept entrusting Himself to “Him who judges righteously” (1Pet 2:21-23).

Pro 3:31-35 | Do Not Envy the Ungodly

31 Do not envy a man of violence
And do not choose any of his ways.
32 For the devious are an abomination to the LORD;
But He is intimate with the upright.
33 The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked,
But He blesses the dwelling of the righteous.
34 Though He scoffs at the scoffers,
Yet He gives grace to the afflicted.
35 The wise will inherit honor,
But fools display dishonor.

A following evil the father is warning his son about, is to “envy a man of violence” (verse 31; cf. Psa 73:3-5). The man of violence is the man who is violent, who illegally makes use of power. In Proverbs 1 the man of violence approaches his son. Here the son sees what the man of violence can afford, for instance, to buy expensive things and the easy life that he may seem to live. The man of violence exerts influence on other people, on both his friends and the people around him, like the son. Then it is important not to come under his influence. The father tells his son “not to envy” such a man and not choose “any of his ways”.

To underline this prohibition, the father tells his son what the consequences are if he follows this man in his lifestyle and what the consequences are when he stays far away from it. That happens in the form of contrasts. The son should not envy the man of violence, “for such a man is an abomination to the LORD” (verse 32). He should be very aware of that when he is attracted by the life of that man and that he will want to live like that too.

You should stay as far as you possibly can from an abomination, something disgusting. Opposite to it is to stay as close as you possibly can to the LORD. That is the portion of the upright with whom He is “intimate” (Psa 25:14). The intimate relation is to be derived from what He makes known to them. In this way He dealt intimately with Abraham and made him know what He was going to do (Gen 18:17-19). Also with His servants, the prophets, He deals with intimately (Amos 3:7).

In verses 33-35 we see on the one hand the part of the righteous (verse 33b), the afflicted (verse 34b) and the wise (verse 35a) and on the other hand that of the wicked (verse 33a), the scoffers (verse 34a) and the fools (verse 35b). The wicked do not care about God at all, the scoffers despise God, the fools reject God. We should not envy the latter ones, for they lie under the curse (verse 33a), the scoff (verse 34a) and the dishonor (verse 35b). The upright with whom God is intimate, will receive blessing (verse 33b), grace (verse 34b) and honor (verse 35a).

Whoever deviates from the LORD (verse 32), shows to be “wicked” (verse 33). “The curse of the LORD” (Mal 2:2) is on the house of the wicked. Here we see that deviating has not only consequences for us ourselves, but also for all who belong to our house. The reverse applies to the upright. Their house is blessed by the LORD (e.g. 2Sam 6:11). As a result of the attitude of the prime inhabitant, the children of the wicked suffer and those of the upright rejoice. We are a vessel of blessing or curse for our family.

The curse that is on the house of the wicked is not so much the robbery of all kinds of things that make life pleasant. Nor is the blessing so much the possession of everything that the heart covets. The central point of the curse lies in the continuous restlessness of the conscience, a continuous feeling of insecurity, with the end result that the house will collapse. The central point of blessing lies in the continuous awareness that God is with us, in the rest and peace of the heart which is secure of the grace and generosity of God. That house will stand fast.

Scoffers will have to do with the scoff of God (verse 34). Scoffers are people to whom nothing is sacred. They scoff at God and His truth, they laugh at Him and ridicule His truth (2Pet 3:3-4). They scorn the sacrifice of Christ (Pro 14:7). They exalt themselves and despise and humiliate others, especially God and His Christ. Such people are sinning in an abominable way. There comes a moment that the roles will be reversed. Then He will scoff at them and humiliate them (Psa 2:4; 59:8).

In contradiction to the scoffers we have “the afflicted”. They are the humble ones, they have humiliated themselves and have taken the right place before God. They recognize Him in everything that He says about them, whether it is in condemnation or in blessing. He will not scoff at them, but He will give them grace. That gives them power to remain meek under the scoffing of the scoffers and to not resist them.

Meekness is a characteristic of the Lord Jesus which characterized Him in His life on earth. He gives that characteristic to all who take His yoke of obedience upon themselves and want to learn from Him (Mt 11:29). They have humiliated themselves under the mighty hand of God (Jam 4:6; 1Pet 5:5), while the sinners will be forced to humiliate themselves when Christ will come to reign.

When Christ comes, the wise will receive honor (verse 35). The wise are the same people as the upright and the afflicted of the previous verses. That indicates that these are not the wise of the world, but those who are wise in the sight of God. The honor that they will get is not temporary and not from the world, but it is an everlasting honor that God gives. That honor is that they will partake in the reign of the Lord Jesus.

The fools on the contrary, will get nothing else than what they themselves have done. They “display dishonor”. They have never cared about God’s commandments and have even mocked at Him. In that way they had made people laugh and received the honor of people who are just like them. At the same time they have placed themselves outside the blessing and under the shame and that forever. Their foolishness will be visible to everyone; they will be “to disgrace and everlasting contempt” (Dan 12:2).

Proverbs 4

Pro 4:1-4 | A Good Lesson Goes Forth Through Generations

1 Hear, [O] sons, the instruction of a father,
And give attention that you may gain understanding,
2 For I give you sound teaching;
Do not abandon my instruction.
3 When I was a son to my father,
Tender and the only son in the sight of my mother,
4 Then he taught me and said to me,
“Let your heart hold fast my words;
Keep my commandments and live;

The father appeals to his children to listen to his instruction and to give attention, that they “may gain understanding” (verse 1). A father seeks the best for his children and gives them only what is useful to them. He will not give them wrong things (Lk 11:11-12). The best he can give is something that serves to increase understanding in God’s thoughts about how life should be lived.

The father is convinced that he teaches his children “a sound [lit good] teaching” (verse 2). It regards the sound doctrine, he gives sound teaching which therefore has a sound effect. That is quite different to what false prophets and false teachers do, who say what the people want to hear (Isa 30:10; Jer 5:31; Eze 33:31-32; Gal 1:6-7; 2Tim 4:3-4). They tell stories that are received well by the religious people, but through which they lead them to destruction. That’s not the way the father speaks to his sons. He teaches them God’s Word and orders them not to abandon his teaching and not to let themselves to be dragged by nice talking preachers.

In verse 3 the father underlines what he said in verses 1-2. The conjunction “for” indicates that. He speaks to his sons as somebody who knows what it means to be “a son” to his father, for he himself has also been a son. When he recalls that time, he sees how “tender” he was (1Chr 22:5; 29:1). He then felt as “an only child” in the sight of his mother, secured of here tender attention and care.

It is a blessing if we also could recall our parents like that in the time that they were still taking care of us. An increasing number of children cannot. What those children can still do, is to make sure that their children will remember them like that.

Here we have the family again as the atmosphere in which education and teaching take place (Deu 6:6-9). We see here again (Pro 1:8) that the teaching that is given by the father or the mother, is not given in a formal, academic, scholastic way, but out of personal involvement, with warmth and love. This is undoubtedly the best way of teaching.

The father passes on to his children what his father has told him (verse 4). He is not making up what he is telling them, but he in his turn has heard it from his father. Also his father took the time to teach his son. A father does that when he is aware of his responsibility to help his children make good choices in life. Fathers have to bring up their children “in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph 6:4).

We hear the voice of experience resonating in the generations (cf. Deu 6:2; 2Tim 1:5; cf. Job 8:8-10). That makes the teaching on wisdom a valuable tradition throughout the generations. It is also an encouragement for the sons, for they know in that way that the experiences that they are going through are also the experiences of their father. It is the shared experience and it is not an imposed behavior. That makes the teaching attractive. Photographs and anecdotes can show the youngsters that their father has also been young and inexperienced and that he had taken the place towards his father which they are now taking towards him.

Personal fellowship with God cannot be transferred, but can surely be shown and made attractive, through which the desire is being stimulated to possess it also. Solomon had seen the intimacy that his father David had with God and that had made him jealous. Solomon has surely also seen the sins of his father. But that does not prevent him from teaching his sons, because he also saw the dismay that his father had of his sins.

That also goes for the church in spiritual sense. This is why Paul also tells that to Timothy by saying: ”You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them” (2Tim 3:14). It is a great privilege when we have a ‘spiritual genealogy’, when we learn from the previous generations and pass that on to those who come after us (2Tim 2:2). We shall do that when we are fully convinced that what we have learned, is in accordance with the Scripture.

In verse 4b the father lets his father, the grandfather of his sons, speak. Grandpa speaks and he definitely has something to tell. It seems like he is talking up to Proverbs 5:6, for in Proverbs 5:7 we again hear how the father addresses his “children”. The grandchildren will do well when they listen well to what their grandpa said to their father. Their father passes that on to them, so that they may profit from that. That profit is nothing less than life.

That the father does this, proves that he is fully committed to convince his sons about what he says, to let them go the way of wisdom and to guard their lives against corruption. This should be the drive of all parents for each child that has been entrusted to them. It is an intention of the heart, that says: ‘As far as it depends on me, my children will not perish, but become faithful servants of the Lord.’ That grace has to work this, does not change anything of the effort that is expected of the parents.

In order to have profit, he, the son, must above all hold fast to the words that his father has spoken to him. It is about the heart, not the intellect, although that is not separated from it. If the heart holds fast to the words, those words will be considered to be “commandments”, they will act accordingly in the practice of life. Then life will be lived as God has intended it; it will be experienced with all the blessings which a life in obedience to God hides in itself.

Pro 4:5-9 | Acquire Wisdom, Acquire Understanding!

5 Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding!
Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.
6 “Do not forsake her, and she will guard you;
Love her, and she will watch over you.
7 “The beginning of wisdom [is]: Acquire wisdom;
And with all your acquiring, get understanding.
8 “Prize her, and she will exalt you;
She will honor you if you embrace her.
9 “She will place on your head a garland of grace;
She will present you with a crown of beauty.”

The father urges his son to acquire “wisdom” and “understanding” at any price, whatever the efforts are to be delivered (verse 5). He should do anything for it and should be willing to make any sacrifice for it. Solomon was already wise, but wisdom can and must increase. He who is wise, will be willing to grow in wisdom. Wisdom and understanding do not come naturally; they are to be acquired. You may want to have everything, but you should consider that acquiring wisdom and understanding is the most important.

To acquire wisdom means to know Christ better. That’s what life is all about, only about that. The son is not to forget the words that the father has spoken. He should ponder on them, meditate on them and bear them in mind. In that way the memory of what God’s Word says, will remain vivid. He is not to turn away from it.

In verse 6 wisdom is presented as a person who gives preservation and protection. The condition to experience that preservation and protection is that the son not forsakes wisdom (negative), but loves her (positive). To forsake wisdom – or Christ – is a great evil, with disastrous consequences. In that case he is delivered to all bad elements in the world. It is important to love wisdom, which is Christ. That is the most secure protection against all temptations to sin.

The first step, the beginning, to acquire wisdom, is to make the decision to acquire her (verse 7). Here the key is handed over to us to gain wisdom. To acquire wisdom takes time, money, effort. It is not about our intellect or about the opportunity, whether we have it or not, but about decisiveness, whether we want it. He who sees the superior value of wisdom, will be willing to acquire it at any price.

The same goes for the understanding, which is the fathoming and discerning of the nature of things or people, whether they are good or evil, whether they have good or bad intentions. Wisdom and understanding belong together. Wisdom becomes apparent from understanding. He who has understanding sees certain situations through and knows how to act; he also knows how he should approach or estimate certain people.

One of the main differences between the wise and the fool is the awareness of the need that each of them has. Those who believe that they have no problems, have the greatest problem. When we realize what our biggest problem is, we will want to make every effort to solve it. Here it is about our lack of wisdom. When we realize our lack of wisdom, we would want to do our utmost and use every resource that we have, to gain it. Thereby we could think of taking time for bible study, time to pray, time to attend the gatherings of the church where God’s Word is explained, to speak with believers or to read books of believers who have had an extensive experience with the Lord, in order to learn from them.

Paul speaks about ‘gaining’ Christ (Phil 3:8). That indicates effort, as if it is about gaining a prize of a match. He wanted to learn to know Christ. Of course Christ was in him and of course he knew Him. But instead of being satisfied with that, that exactly encourages Paul ‘to gain Him’, which means to become more and more like Him, learning to know Him better and better.

Wisdom should be exalted, like a banner is exalted (verse 8). We should prize wisdom. Nothing else ought to have a higher place in our thinking. The result will be that she will exalt us. Someone who exalts wisdom, is esteemed by other people. Wisdom is compared with the woman you love and whom you embrace. This is the opposite of embracing a strange woman. The inexperienced young man should give his full devotion and love to wisdom.

We can also relate this to Christ, the wisdom of God. Our life is about exalting and honoring Him. To embrace Him means that we are very close to Him and that we make Him feel our love. We do that when we let Him exceed above everything and everyone. We honor Him if we tell Him what attributes we have discovered in Him and praise Him for that. Then those attributes will become visible in us too, which will find appreciation with God. He says: “Those who honor Me, I shall honor” (1Sam 2:30).

The honor that wisdom gives to those who love her, is compared with “a garland of grace” and “a crown of beauty” on the head (verse 9). A garland and a crown are given as a clearly visible proof as a way of appreciation for choosing wisdom. They are the homage to a conqueror. Love for wisdom demands sacrifices. He who sacrifices those offerings, will be rewarded for that by wisdom (Christ) (cf. 1Cor 9:25; 2Tim 4:8; Jam 1:12; 1Pet 5:4; Rev 2:10).

Pro 4:10-13 | The Way of Wisdom

10 Hear, my son, and accept my saying
And the years of your life will be many.
11 I have directed you in the way of wisdom;
I have led you in upright paths.
12 When you walk, your steps will not be impeded;
And if you run, you will not stumble.
13 Take hold of instruction; do not let go.
Guard her, for she is your life.

In verses 10-19 again the two ways are pictured for the young man: the way of wisdom (verses 10-13) and the way of the wicked and evil men (verses 14-19). The one way is that to the full sun, the other leads to the darkness of the night. It is the choice between the narrow and the broad way. The son is as it were, again given the option of choosing between the two trees in paradise. Ultimately the choice is between to be or not to be obedient, by which it is the choice between life and death.

The father repeats his instruction to listen and to receive his words (verse 10; verse 1). He attaches to it the promise of many years to his life. That does not only regard the number of years, but also the enjoyment of joy in life. It is about the quality of life, a full life, which comprises more than its earthly duration. At the deepest level it is about the joy of life in the kingdom of peace, the everlasting life.

The words of the father contain the teaching in going the way of wisdom, words that also show the way that leads to wisdom (verse 11). He leads him on the way to her. It is the narrow way “that leads to life” (Mt 7:13). When he allows himself to be directed by the wise words of his father, he will be “led … in upright paths” and therefore not go the twisting ways. His behavior will be straight, righteous, holy and in truth.

The way of wisdom is free of hindrances, obstacles, and free of enemies and dangers, which guarantees progress (verse 12). There is freedom of movement. Although the believer walks on the narrow way, he walks in the freedom of God’s Word. Whoever lives after the teaching of God’s Word, will in no way be hindered in his progress. Even though when people run the race, when they hurry to do God’s will, there is no danger for stumbling and falling, caused by the entanglement of sin (Heb 12:1-2). We see going the way of wisdom in perfection by the Lord Jesus.

The instruction to take hold of the instruction and not to let go (verse 13) means that there are opposing forces active. Those forces seek to make us sacrifice the teaching that we have received. ‘Do not let go’ implies that the enemy is pulling on it to take it away from us. We take hold of the instruction only when we know its value with our hearts. Wisdom is not only the means to make progress in life, she herself is life. Something that is so fundamental, is to be taken hold of strongly and with enthusiasm.

It is to be compared with a robe that is thrown to someone who lies in the water and who cannot swim. It is shouted to him that he must grasp that robe and take hold of it. If he lets go of it, he will drown. That robe is his life. In that way we are to grasp and take hold of the instruction, the teaching that we receive.

Pro 4:14-19 | The Path of the Wicked

14 Do not enter the path of the wicked
And do not proceed in the way of evil men.
15 Avoid it, do not pass by it;
Turn away from it and pass on.
16 For they cannot sleep unless they do evil
And they are robbed of sleep unless they make [someone] stumble.
17 For they eat the bread of wickedness
And drink the wine of violence.
18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.
19 The way of the wicked is like darkness;
They do not know over what they stumble.

The young man is warned to avoid the path of the wicked by not entering that path with even one single step (verse 14). If no first step is put on that path, he will never end up wrong. This warning is connected to the instruction to take hold of instruction. Whoever goes the path of the wicked, will lose his fast grip to the sound teaching; he does not hold on strongly to it any longer and will let go.

In verse 15 the necessity of avoiding the path of the wicked is spoken in imperative terms to the young man in four brief sentences. To choose that path is choosing the path of death. The father is very determined:
1. First, there is the inner attitude of rejecting that path.
2. The clear choice not to go that way is attached to it.
3. It is even the case, that he should not even want to come near to it; he is to turn away from it
4. and to ignore it, so not putting one single step on it.

If he comes near to it, the suction power may possibly take the control over him, which can cause him to enter that path. He ought to make a big swing around it and walk further. He ought not to stand still there, nor should he look at it, even if it is at a distance. He should not give it a glance, but totally ignore it.

As for the practice of life, it implies that we should not be influenced by the thinking which determines the path of the world. If we do not have a task from the Lord to do it, we should not allow ourselves to be involved with it and ought to stay far away from it. We should not desire to know all that is going around there.

Dina, the daughter of Jacob, was curious to know what was going around on that way. She surely found out. We see in what she experiences, where the ignoring of this command leads to (Gen 34:1-2). She is a warning example. It may be attractive to read all kinds of gossip in magazines and on the internet. We may want to do that with the excuse that we should know what is happening in the world. But we are to reject that thought. We are not to participate in gossip, but we should neither listen to it. We are to turn away from it and ignore it.

The reason to avoid the evil path is the addictive operation of it (verse 16). The wicked and the evil men are addicted to evil (Psa 36:4). If they cannot commit their daily dose of evil, they get upset, like a drug user gets upset when he does not get his daily dose of drugs. The longer it takes the more and more restless they get; they cannot sleep unless they do evil or have caused someone to stumble. They are real children of their father, the devil.

They are not even seeking money or power anymore. Their pure goal is to do evil. There is love for the evil. Doing evil is their “bread” and “wine”, which means their food and drink (verse 17). These are the means with which Melchizedek came to the weary Abraham, in order to strengthen him (Gen 14:18). These people, however, do not take this food and drink out of the hand of God, but take them out of “wickedness” and “violence”. That’s what they feed themselves with; they live from it; that’s their delight. The people who go this way lack every form of human compassion.

Verse 18, which begins with the word “but”, shows the contrast with verse 17 and clarifies how dangerous this path and the life of the wicked are. It is the contrast between darkness and light. The path of the righteous is a light that began to shine after a life in darkness (cf. 1Pet 2:9). It breathes the freshness of dawn and covers their surroundings with the beauty of the sunset.

The path itself is a light because truth, righteousness and holiness are seen on it. Christ is seen and He is the light. The righteous are also called the light of the world, who let their light shine before men (Mt 5:14,16; Phil 2:15). The further the righteous are progressing on that path, the brighter the light will shine, until they end in the full light. Then the full day has come. That is the day of the kingdom of peace.

The path of the wicked is the deep darkness of sin and the unbelief in the middle of the night (verse 19; Exo 10:22) which will make them stumble and fall. They have no idea what makes them stumble, for they do not see anything. Stumbling is also a result of wrong teaching on the law (Mal 2:8). There is darkness around them and in them. Whosoever walks in the light, will not stumble; he who walks in darkness, will stumble (Jn 11:9-10). He who walks in darkness, will end in eternal darkness, where the light of God is changed into eternal fire.

Pro 4:20-27 | Watch Your Heart, Lips, Eyes and Feet

20 My son, give attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.
21 Do not let them depart from your sight;
Keep them in the midst of your heart.
22 For they are life to those who find them
And health to all their body.
23 Watch over your heart with all diligence,
For from it [flow] the springs of life.
24 Put away from you a deceitful mouth
And put devious speech far from you.
25 Let your eyes look directly ahead
And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.
26 Watch the path of your feet
And all your ways will be established.
27 Do not turn to the right nor to the left;
Turn your foot from evil.

The portion of verses 20-27 deals with life. A kind of ‘medical check’ follows of the heart, the mouth, the eyes and the feet, to see in which condition they are, in order to teach the son how to use them properly. The whole exterior life comes forth from what is in the heart (verses 21,23). With the heart the center of life is meant: the whole of a person as human, with his mind, his will and his emotion. In that center the Word of God is to be given its place.

The heart must be guarded; we should see to it what is coming in. When the good comes in it, the good will come out of it. What comes out of it, comes through the mouth and lips (verse 24), the eyes and gaze (or eyelids) (verse 25), feet and ways (verse 26). If the heart is okay, the mouth knows what to speak, the eyes know where to look, and the feet know where to go to. That can only be when the heart is filled with the fear of the LORD.

Again the father calls upon his son to give attention to his words (verse 20). Such an appeal appears repeatedly in this book, because Godliness implies for a greater part to take hold of the known truths. The son is to incline his ears to what his father says. He ought to be willing and to be a good listener, for it is about words that are of most importance.

He also should not let those words depart from his sight; he is to keep his eyes fixed on them continually (verse 21). He can do that literally by writing them down (cf. Deu 17:18). It will help him to keep them “in the midst” of his heart. By using his ear, his eyes and his heart, his whole personality will be guided by the words of his father.

The result is life and health (verse 22). The words of the Scripture, the words of Christ, “are spirit and are life” (Jn 6:63). They liberate from evil things that cause pain and hinder to live of the true life. To listen to and to heed the teaching will increase the benefit of the whole man. Sin destroys the body. Some examples are aids as a result of sinful sexual contacts and anorexia as a result of an unhealthy spirit of control. Whosoever returns with the confession of sins to the path of wisdom, can find healing.

After the instruction in verse 21 to keep wisdom in the heart in verse 23 the instruction to watch over the heart follows. That means that there is a danger that wrong elements can enter in that want to take the control. That happens through the mind or the thoughts, the will and the emotion. The heart can be protected by continual prayer, listening to God’s Word and the sanctification through God’s Spirit. The heart is the starting point of the activities of life and determines the course of life. It comprises what a man says (verse 24), sees (verse 25) and does (verses 26-27).

What is present in the heart, first appears, and most clearly, from the words that come forth from the mouth and the lips (verse 24; cf. Lk 6:45c; Mt 12:34-35; 15:18-19). From our words must be removed what does not come forth from a heart that is led by wisdom. A radical break must happen between the young man and falsehood in his words (cf. Eph 4:29).

The “eyes” are to look directly ahead, which means that the eyes are simply focused on one particular goal (verse 25). That goal here is to gain wisdom, which is Christ, to gain Him. We may also say that the important thing is, that the son “looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer” (Jam 1:25). He should look continually at the prescriptions of God’s Word, which his father presents to him. Therein he sees promises and also examples which encourage him to look ahead to the goal.

His “gaze” must be fixed straight in front of him. The concentration on the goal must be so intense that he does not even blink with his eyes. When his eyes wander aimlessly and adulterously, the adulterous deeds will follow. The Lord Jesus speaks about looking ahead when He says: “So then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light” (Mt 6:22). By that He means that when the eye is focused on that very one goal, the whole body knows what it should do.

The commandment to look ahead has a direct effect on the “foot” of the young man (verse 26). He should make straight paths for his feet (cf. Heb 12:13). He should make his path accessible, make it free from holes and pave it by purging it from stumbling blocks. Then all his “ways will be established”, which means that he can go a trustworthy way, which constantly leads straightforward to the goal.

There is a clear connection between where our eyes are looking at and where we put our feet. Everyone who drives a car knows that looking straight ahead is the only way to keep the car straight on the road. The same goes for the farmer that ploughs. He also looks to the end of the field to make straight lines. If the wife of Lot had looked straight ahead and did not look back, she would not have become a pillar of salt (Gen 19:17,26). Not to look ahead is fatal. That’s why the Lord Jesus says: “Remember Lot’s wife” (Lk 17:32).

The principle is clear that our feet are inclined to follow our eyes. We determine the course of our path by where our eyes look at. The author of the letter to the Hebrews speaks about a race. He emphasizes that the important thing is that we lay aside all other things, while we fix our eyes on only one object alone, which is Christ in glory (Heb 12:1-2).

The instruction in the last verse (verse 27) connects to the previous verse. The son must not depart from the path that the father shows him by turning to the right or to the left (Deu 5:32; 28:13-14; Jos 1:7). Therefore he should listen to the voice of God (Isa 30:21). To turn to the right means to us that we should not fall into legalism and orthodoxy; to turn to the left means that we should not fall into liberalism and idolatry.

Also threats should not make him turn away from the path, as less as flatteries. The same goes for adversary and prosperity. He should therefore go straightforward on the path that is shown. By turning his feet from the evil, he will keep distance between himself and the evil.

Proverbs 5

Introduction

In this chapter Solomon comes back with more details to the corrupt heart, which makes a man forsake the woman of his youth for another one (Pro 2:16-20). He demonstrates that that is the way, which demoralizes the whole man. It is a warning from man to man to avoid any sexual relation with an adulteress, literally ‘strange woman’, which is every woman outside the one, own, legal wife.

Pro 5:1-2 | Discretion and Knowledge

1 My son, give attention to my wisdom,
Incline your ear to my understanding;
2 That you may observe discretion
And your lips may reserve knowledge.

If we assume that in verses 1-6 the grandfather is still speaking to the father, we see that David has spoken to his son Solomon about the adulteress or the strange woman. Anyway, it is also a matter which each generation has got to deal with. The sexual desire doesn’t stop after reaching a certain age. Whoever allows himself to be tempted by the strange woman, has turned away from the way of life and goes the way of death. The way of the strange woman terminates in death. Many people deny this. They want, so to speak, to reach life through the way of death. Thereby life has another meaning to them than to God. It is impossible to live the true life through that way.

The father begins again with encouraging his son to give attention to his “wisdom” and to listen to his “understanding” (verse 1). “Wisdom” is God’s wisdom, what God has revealed; the “understanding” is what he has acquired by experience and observation. He has more often appealed to listen to him (Pro 2:1; 3:1,2; 4:1,10,20), but here he does that particularly with the view to the temptation with which the adulteress approaches him.

If his son indeed listens, he will “observe discretion” (verse 2). He will think carefully before he does something and live cautiously and disciplined. That will keep him from hasty and wrong choices. His lips will “reserve knowledge”, which means that he will speak what he has learnt from his father. That knowledge is the knowledge of God, knowledge which leads to honoring Him and obedience to His commandments. That knowledge will appear from his words (“your lips”). ‘Discretion’ and ‘knowledge’ are the basis of avoiding temptation to commit the disastrous foolishness of adultery.

These verses are the introduction on the teaching of the father to his son about sexuality. Only by giving attention to his wise words, he will be kept from fulfilling his sexual desires in a wrong way. The wrong way is outside of marriage. The father also tells him that can have optimal enjoyment of that inside marriage. Therefore he appeals to his son to listen to his wisdom and his understanding (Pro 6:20-24; 7:1-5).

Pro 5:3-6 | The Lips and Feet of the Strange Woman

3 For the lips of an adulteress drip honey
And smoother than oil is her speech;
4 But in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
Sharp as a two-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death,
Her steps take hold of Sheol.
6 She does not ponder the path of life;
Her ways are unstable, she does not know [it].

Verse 3 begins with the reason giving word “for”, which means that now comes the reason why the father says that he should give attention to discretion (verses 2). Without any further introduction he tells him that has got to do with “an adulteress” (lit strange woman). He doesn’t presume it as a possibility, but he puts it as a fact. This will surely happen.

The strange woman is the forbidden woman, the unauthorized woman. First it is here about another woman than one’s own wife. Then it regards a woman who deliberately seeks to tempt. The father has already said something about her, but now he starts to speak of further details about her.

She is an adulterous woman, therefore a woman who is unfaithful to her own husband. The sin of unfaithfulness is the first big sin which happens when adultery is committed. The father tells his son how she operates to tempt him to commit adultery. That unfaithful woman comes to him with words, which are sweet like honey and smoother than oil (cf. Song 4:11a). She speaks flattering, pleasant words that slide easily in his ear and in his heart.

Her “lips” are in great contrast to those of the young man that reserve knowledge (verse 2). He who is trained to speak sound words with his lips, whose lips reserve knowledge, who is used to faith building conversations, will directly notice that her language is corrupt. We will get used to a sound use of language only when we listen to God’s Word and the teaching of it.

The (grand)father unmasks the corruptness that is hidden behind the tempting language (verse 4; cf. Psa 55:21). He directly switches to the consequences, “but in the end she is”. He means by that where it turns out to, what her intention is, what the result is of her corrupt performance. What she says seems so sweet and so pleasant. But where a relationship with her leads to, is so bitter: “bitter as wormwood”. Her tongue is “sharp as a two-edged sword”, literally ‘a sword with more than one mouth’, which causes torment and destruction. The sword represents a devouring monster (2Sam 2:26; Isa 1:20). The temptress poisons and kills (cf. Ecc 7:26a).

The father pictures the consequences of an adulterous life (verse 5). His son must be aware that through the bed of this woman, the bed of sin, he ends up on the path downward, to death. Her footsteps go in the direction of the grave. That is her target. Before we know whether to join someone, we are to know where the other one is going to. Sin always leads to death: “For the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23; Jam 1:15).

She deliberately seeks to keep the young man from taking “the path of life” (verse 6). Today it is also recognizable in the countless temptations in advertisements, on the billboards and on porn sites. The more a person looks at it and in that way takes it in, the more his conscience is numbed and the path to death is followed. This woman wavers from the one to the other road of death; there is nothing stable in her life; she is so unpredictable. She goes around purposelessly, uncontrollably and indecisively. You see that from her capricious traces, that go from the right to the left and back. She walks like a drunk person. There is neither rest nor direction to be found in her. If the young man lets himself be tempted by her, he will not be aware that he himself is wavering, just like she is doing. He sees her alone and does not pay attention to the way she goes.

With the strange woman is firstly meant a literal danger. But in the application, she also refers to a spiritual danger. In the strange woman we can actually see ‘the foolish woman’ which is the opposite of ‘the woman of wisdom’ (Pro 9:1-6,13-18). The temptation that comes from the foolish woman, is to drag us from the fear of the LORD. She finds her full application in “the great Babylon, the mother of harlots” (Rev 17:5), which is a picture of the roman catholic church.

Pro 5:7-14 | The Price of Unfaithfulness

7 Now then, [my] sons, listen to me
And do not depart from the words of my mouth.
8 Keep your way far from her
And do not go near the door of her house,
9 Or you will give your vigor to others
And your years to the cruel one;
10 And strangers will be filled with your strength
And your hard-earned goods [will go] to the house of an alien;
11 And you groan at your final end,
When your flesh and your body are consumed;
12 And you say, “How I have hated instruction!
And my heart spurned reproof!
13 “I have not listened to the voice of my teachers,
Nor inclined my ear to my instructors!
14 “I was almost in utter ruin
In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”

From verse 7 the father (Solomon) goes further with the teaching on the danger of the strange woman which he had received from his father (David). That teaching continues until the end of Proverbs 7, with an interruption in Proverbs 6:1-19. The father speaks extensively about this danger to his children, which, as it is said, is a danger for each generation. The addressee is possibly a married son (verses 15-19), but that is not necessary for the teaching. The dangers apply to both the married and unmarried son and remain as long as he lives.

The father introduces his teaching on the danger with the strange woman by calling upon his children to listen to him and not to turn away from the words of his mouth (verse 7). He did that also in verses 1-2. The reason why he does that again, is because he wants them to keep their focus on his teaching as long as they live. To turn to a strange woman is to turn away from the teaching of the father.

He begins with the simple argument that the son stays as far as possible from the place of temptation and not to come near the door of her house (verse 8). If he comes in her neighborhood, he comes under the hearing of her flattering voice. He has to avoid her, so that he does not hear nor see her. We can and should pray “and lead us not into temptation” (Mt 6:13), but we can only do that sincerely when we ourselves do not look for that temptation.

From verse 9 the motivation follows to stay away from her as far as possible. That is derived from the word “or” in verses 9 and 10. When he actually comes under her influence and gets involved with her, he will lose his “vigor”, his good name and reputation (verse 9). He will then waste the prime of his life to “others”, like the strange woman to ‘have the joy’ of it. He himself will have lost the joy of it. He will not be able anymore to enjoy his own wife, his own children, his own family. He has immersed himself in the greatest misery.

He will also give the best years of his life and also thereafter to “the cruel one”. The cruel one is the woman. She has taken control over him and makes firm demands to him. Hereby we could also think of blackmail, which is not an unusual phenomenon with marital infidelity.

What is attached to that, is that others will overpower his strength and that everything he earns, he will have to deliver to “a stranger” (verse 10). In “the stranger” we could also see best the cruel one of the previous verse, the temptress, the adulteress. We see here that a relation with the strange woman, brings a person in financial trouble. A person who is under the power of such ‘a stranger’, often has to run debts to meet her demands. This is extensively clarified in Pro 6:1-19.

The end result is groaning and being a physical wreck due to exhaustion (verse 11). That can for example happen by a sexual disease and aids, diseases which debilitates the body. The body will prematurely become dilapidated and exhausted. It is clear that the price of unfaithfulness due to “passing pleasure of sin” (Heb 11:25), is enormously high. Whoever commits this unfaithfulness, burdens himself with an unpayable debt. The path of death leads to the loss of honor, time, money, power and health and to pain, regret and eternal torture at the end of life.

Then the forced recognition comes, which expresses itself in hopeless remorse and a hopeless self-reproach (verse 12). ‘How could I have done such a thing? How could I have hated instruction and could my heart have rejected discipline?’ It had been said clearly and severely to him that he should stay far away from the adulteress, but he did not listen and went that way self-willed. “To hate” means to have an aversion. He has responded with aversion to the instruction.

Inwardly, in his “heart”, he has rejected “discipline”. He has resisted it instead of bowing down to it and receiving it. He did hear the instruction and discipline, but did not want to obey to it. Now his conscience is judging him, while he realizes too late that he has ignored the teaching and instruction. The hell will be full of people who again and again will say remorsefully: ‘I wish I had …’

He then will have to admit that it is his own fault, because he did not listen to “my teachers” and “my instructors” (verse 13). These people, with whom especially his father and mother will be meant, have given him private teachings (the son speaks twice about “my”). They have taught him intensively how he could make the right choices. They have trained him therein and made him get used to it. And yet he has rejected their teachings and has been disobedient to the commandments that they have presented him. He found himself wiser than them, he was wise in his own eyes (Pro 3:7). This makes his sin extra great.

The father is saying this all to his son, as an urgent appeal to listen to his warnings. Then he will be kept from total ruin and endless remorse as a result of a wrong choice.

The sin of adultery leads to a lot of other sins. The young man has to admit to his shame that he has been “almost in utter ruin” (verse 14). He will also become aware that his fornication is not only a personal sin, but the whole assembly has been defiled because of him (cf. 1Cor 5:1-13). In the Old Testament there is no substitutionary sacrifice for this sin, but only the death penalty (Lev 20:10; Deu 22:22). In the New Testament committing this sin is followed by the discipline of the church, which means that such a person should be removed from the midst of the church (1Cor 5:3).

Pro 5:15-23 | The Joy of Faithfulness in Marriage

15 Drink water from your own cistern
And fresh water from your own well.
16 Should your springs be dispersed abroad,
Streams of water in the streets?
17 Let them be yours alone
And not for strangers with you.
18 Let your fountain be blessed,
And rejoice in the wife of your youth.
19 [As] a loving hind and a graceful doe,
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
Be exhilarated always with her love.
20 For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress
And embrace the bosom of a foreigner?
21 For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the LORD,
And He watches all his paths.
22 His own iniquities will capture the wicked,
And he will be held with the cords of his sin.
23 He will die for lack of instruction,
And in the greatness of his folly he will go astray.

The alternative to escape from the temptation of the adulteress or the strange woman is not a compulsory abstention or celibacy (1Tim 4:3). The father points his son to his own wife. The desire for forbidden delight comes forth from dissatisfaction with the blessings that a person has. He tells him that his own wife should be enough for him (verse 15). In his own house he has a source that can quench his thirst. He means his wife by that. In that way by him “marriage can be held in honor and the marriage bed undefiled, for fornicators and adulterers God will judge” (Heb 13:4).

She satisfies his sexual desires, just like water satisfies a person who is thirsty. He does not need to look for someone else for the satisfaction of those desires (1Cor 7:2-5). The comparison with a water cistern and a well indicates the refreshment that sexuality gives. Having water in the dry Israel is a valuable provision, which gives great joy.

That is a different presentation of sexuality from what is sometimes given, that all sexual experience should be restrained and that it should only happen with a view to reproduction. Sexual desires, it is argued, are much too dangerous, those flowing waters are much too powerful. But that is not the language of the Bible. God has put in man the desire for sexuality as something good. Sexual intercourse can and is allowed to be enjoyed to His honor in the bond of marriage.

God has given the enjoyment of it in marriage as a source of deep joy (Deu 24:5; Ecc 9:9; Gen 24:67). We see that in these verses. Thereby we are allowed to see in the light of the New Testament, that it is about a mystery that speaks of Christ and the church (Eph 5:25-33). Therefore it is clearly an experience which is sanctified by God’s Word.

The sexual desires are allowed to be developed, but indeed for and together with one’s own wife. Is it necessary to point this out? Yes, it is necessary, also in case we have been married already for a while or for a long time. We should avoid every desire to another than one’s own wife and ‘channel’ as it were all desires to our own wife. It is about one direction only, that of one’s own wife. That goes also for the wife towards her husband.

The authority or entitlement to the body of one another (1Cor 7:4) is not to be misused. That will not happen when the husband bears in mind that he needs to love his wife just as Christ has loved the church and still does (Eph 5:25). It is important that the husband lives with his wife in an understanding way (1Pet 3:7). Therefore husband and wife should learn to know each other by communicating with each other. It is also important that they can touch one another without sexual excitement, a touch that can happen in the company of other people. Then also the sexual touch will be an expression of love and not an abuse of the other person’s body.

Verse 16 is a verse which is hard to translate wherefore the explanation is also not easy. “Should your springs be dispersed abroad, streams of water in the streets?” An explanation that fits within the framework of the verse before and the verse after it, is as follows. When the husband leaves his house and his wife to go to a strange woman, he goes “abroad”, to “the streams of water in the streets”. The sources that are outside, the woman that seduces him, are available to everyone, however much the woman wants to convince him that she is for him alone (Pro 7:15).

In verse 17 the answer comes to the question of verse 16. The source of refreshment must be his own wife only. It is no option that his love goes also to a strange woman.

A spiritual application is that the Lord and He alone is enough for us. He loves us unconditionally and exclusively and also counts on our unconditional, exclusive love (2Cor 11:2). The true satisfaction of every desire that we have, is only to be found in Christ’s love. When we grow older, our love for our wife will not grow less, but will increase, just as our love for Christ.

The father wishes his son to have a blessed relationship with his wife in their marriage (verse 18). This shows that the sexual joy in the marriage is given by God and that he may enjoy it. The young man is appealed to “rejoice in the wife of his youth”. It is a joy that should continue until the old age (Ecc 9:9a). It is a complete folly when a husband and his wife say that they have gotten ‘bored with’ each other and because of that the husband starts a relationship with ‘a strange woman’. It is a lie and a disobedience, for God calls upon the husband to rejoice in his wife, just as He appeals upon the husband that he should love his wife.

In the confidential relationship of the father with his son, he says to him that he will find the satisfaction of his desires with his own wife (verse 19). He points his son at the behavior of the beloved wife, which he compares with “a loving hind and a graceful doe”. These animals move elegantly and gracefully. That’s the way he may look at his wife. Her breasts may delight him, they may exhilarate him and intoxicate him.

He is allowed to wander ceaselessly in her love, which means that he is allowed to let himself to ‘be caught’ by it and be fascinated. He is allowed to be delighted in her continually, to be very fond of her. It is an appeal and also an instruction to focus on one’s own wife for the satisfaction of sexual desires.

In verse 20 the father asks some rhetorical questions. When the son has a good sense, he will not “be exhilarated with an adulteress (lit strange woman)” for a brief relationship with a passing pleasure of sin. Here the same word ‘exhilarated’ is used like in the previous verse, but there it is a continuous and permitted exhilaration. With a strange woman there is no room nor time for intimacy. Intimacy demands a lifetime relationship with the wife of one’s youth.

The sin of adultery always takes place in secret, it is a work of the darkness (Job 24:15-16). But nothing is hidden for God (verse 21; 2Chr 16:9; Job 31:4; 34:21; Pro 15:3 Jer 16:17; 32:19). He is not a human inspector who at times comes along to check something or somebody. He sees and weighs all the traces that an adulterous husband leaves. The behavior of such a man becomes a worn-out habit. The path to the strange woman has become a well-trodden path. We can also think of the traces of misery that are being left as the consequences that such a conduct may cause to the children and other family members.

Apart from the fact that God sees everything, He also is righteous. He knows the weight, the seriousness, of adultery and will therefore judge the adulterer (Heb 13:4). ‘To weigh’ means to test, what He will do according to His measure, the law, especially with reference to the seventh commandment. “You shall not commit adultery” (Exo 20:14).

The awareness that there are no secrets for God will help us not to do anything that daylight cannot stand. An open and intimate relationship with God is an important means to keep our human relationships clean and pure. The key to self-control is the awareness that we are never alone, but that God sees us everywhere.

Due to a lack of self-control in the area of sexual satisfaction, the wicked one becomes a captive of his iniquities (verse 22). Many people think that they will be able to stop with a certain sin after a course of time. They, however, are not aware that a sin which is repeated frequently, has an addictive effect and takes away every resistance to break it.

We see an example with Samson (although he was not wicked) who is being kept captive by Delilah (Jdg 16:19-21). He is entangled in sin and is kept there and cannot liberate himself from it. This is how he is led to destruction. When the young man is not ‘chained’ by his own wife, but comes under the power of a strange woman, his own iniquities will chain him and he will be led to destruction.

The path of the adulterer ends up in death (verse 23). He dies “because of the lack of instruction”, which means that he listened to no instruction he was given.  It can also mean that he had a lack of self-chastisement and self-discipline. He who does not listen to instruction to stay far away from an adulteress, will go astray in the “greatness of his folly”. This folly is indeed great.

For the believer, fornication or adultery is not just a sin, but a particular sin: “Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?” (1Cor 6:18-19). Whoever commits “the greatness” of the folly of fornication or adultery, departs from the right path and will hopelessly go astray and die.

Proverbs 6

Introduction

The verses 1-19 of this chapter form an interruption in the speech of the father to his son about the strange woman. Still, the subjects that he deals with in these verses are related to what he has said about her: it is about sins that, like adultery, lead to deep poverty (Pro 5:9-11).

Pro 6:1-5 | Do Not Ever Become Surety

1 My son, if you have become surety for your neighbor,
Have given a pledge for a stranger,
2 [If] you have been snared with the words of your mouth,
Have been caught with the words of your mouth,
3 Do this then, my son, and deliver yourself;
Since you have come into the hand of your neighbor,
Go, humble yourself, and importune your neighbor.
4 Give no sleep to your eyes,
Nor slumber to your eyelids;
5 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from [the hunter’s] hand
And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

A good father also looks after the financial situation of his son. He speaks about that in verses 1-5, where he particularly warns about becoming surety for his neighbor (verse 1). The son is naive when he becomes surety and “gives a pledge”. The father is not so naive for thinking that his son is not capable of doing that. He assumes that his son can let himself to be tempted to become surety.

Nobody is obligated to become surety. To become surety for one’s neighbor is totally different from the usual and permitted manner of helping someone by lending money to someone who is in financial trouble (Mt 5:42). To become surety means that a person signs a declaration – which happens here symbolically by giving a “pledge” – for taking the responsibility to pay the debt of another person when this person defaults on payment. He serves as a guarantor.

It is wisdom not to take such a responsibility. This is something that is more often warned about in Proverbs (Pro 11:15; 17:18; 22:26). It is the misuse of money that God has given to be used on His behalf.

Whoever persuades somebody to become surety for him, has snared the other person with the words of his mouth and has made him a captive of those words (verse 2). It is foolish to become surety, for it makes you become a slave of another person due to your own fault. The person for whom you have become surety, will abuse your surety. The gullibility and misplaced generosity may possibly have the effect that the son becomes a lifetime slave of the one he has become surety for.

He who becomes surety, has come “into the hand” of his neighbor (verse 3). Therefore the urgent advice of the father sounds that the son will free himself from it against all price. How urgent it is, resonates in addressing his son once more explicitly as “my son”. He has to make sure that he immediately comes out of the snare of the person for whom he became surety. He has to deliver himself, for otherwise he will die. That’s how deadly the danger is.

That implies that he does everything about it so that the other person fulfills his obligations. He has to go to his neighbor for whom he became surety. It may imply that he has to humble himself for him. But everything is better than to die. He must swallow his pride and, if necessary, let the other person trample him, as long as he liberates himself from the grip of his neighbor. He has to sacrifice his sleep for it (verse 4; cf. Psa 132:4-5), for postponement is fatal. Therefore he should do it with the pace of a gazelle that flees from the hunter and of a bird that wants to escape the hand of the fowler (verse 5). They see the danger and waste no time, in order to escape from the danger zone.

There is one good surety, which is God Himself (Psa 119:122; Job 17:3). The Lord Jesus is Surety of the new covenant (Heb 7:22). He is the fulfillment of it. The Lord was able to; He took up the conditions and fulfilled them. He took up our obligations, which made us to become partakers of the blessings of the new covenant.

Pro 6:6-11 | The Sluggard

6 Go to the ant, O sluggard,
Observe her ways and be wise,
7 Which, having no chief,
Officer or ruler,
8 Prepares her food in the summer
[And] gathers her provision in the harvest.
9 How long will you lie down, O sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?
10 “A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to rest”—
11 Your poverty will come in like a vagabond
And your need like an armed man.

Laziness (verses 6-11) is, like becoming surety, (verses 1-5) a path to poverty (Pro 24:30-34). Becoming surety results in unnecessary financial loss; laziness does not deliver any money at all. The father warns the son about that incisively. It looks like he, at a certain moment, saw that his son was lazy. Therefore he appeals to him to go to “the ant”, which means that his son should take a good look at that little creature (verse 6). Just like he could learn from the gazelle and the bird in verse 5, he can learn from the ant (Job 12:7). Just to let him see how the ways of the ant are, how busy he is, what his customs are. That will make him to be wise.

The ants do not need an encouragement, an incentive, to get to work. They have no “chief” who leads them in their work and whom they can follow to see how he does it (verse 7). Nor do they have an “officer” who watches them and corrects them. Neither a “ruler” to whom they should obey, is present. People, on the contrary need ‘the eye of the master’, for otherwise they cut corners. But ants work diligently without any exhortation and work well together; they can do a lot of work without somebody stimulating them. There is no ant that doesn’t do anything.

In the example of the ant it is especially about the diligence with which she works. Additionally she also works for the future. She prepares her food in the suitable time, which is “in the harvest” (verse 8), in summer, when it is still warm and “gathers” her provision when there is much to be gathered. In that way she has food in stock for the time when it is cold and she therefore cannot find food anywhere. Joseph is an example of somebody who has acted like that (Gen 41:33-36,46-49).

After the lesson of the ant, the application comes in verse 9. The father calls his son to order by confronting him punitively with his laziness. That boy did nothing else than lying on his bed. He is forsaking his obligation, for he ought to do his work. The only thing he was occupied with, is his rest. That’s what only counts. He doesn’t think about the future, he did not care about that.

How long will he stay inactive like that? You never know when a real sluggard wakes up from his sleep. When you think that he is awake, he can still turn over and continue to sleep. How wonderful is it, we hear the sluggard mutters, to sleep and slumber “a little” and to rest with a little folding of the hands (verse 10).

There is an increase of unwillingness to arise and go to work. If “a little sleep” does not succeed anymore, then “a little slumber” is so wonderful. And when that doesn’t succeed and you are totally awake, then “a rest of a little folding of the hands” behind the head or on the chest is also very nice. Who knows, that you ultimately can have ‘a little slumber’ again, when they leave you alone, and you may even succeed to get ‘a little more sleep’.

All these ‘littles’ deliver indeed a lot, namely a lot of poverty. His hands are not folded to pray, but they make clear that he is not intended to roll up his sleeves and use them (Ecc 4:5). He does not want to work with his hands.

We often apologize or condone a wrong deed or a wrong life style by saying that it is about just “a little”. Do you have to get angry about such a minor issue? What difference do those few minutes make of being late; those few cents which were counted too much; that little lie? But to God there is no such thing as ‘a small’ deviation of the path of obedience. Disobedience is disobedience.

The son should realize that “poverty” will come “like a vagabond” (verse 11). A vagabond has no course or direction but steadily continues his way. Such a poverty causes “lack” which comes “like an armed man”. An armed man is a bandit who is looking for a way to overpower him.

Each generation needs to hear these words about the sluggard anew. That goes certainly for the present generation. More and more young people slide deeper into purposelessness, hang around and do nothing. Laziness becomes a habit. We see that in society, but we also see that in the kingdom of God. There are lazy Christians. Every free evening is for themselves. They think that they are entitled to spend some time being relaxed and lazy and doing nothing. The Lord Jesus says to a slave whom He had also ordered to do something, but who did not go to work for Him, that he is a “wicked and lazy” slave (Mt 25:26). There is enough work in the kingdom of God. We will see that when we live with God.

Pro 6:12-15 | A Worthless Person

12 A worthless person, a wicked man,
Is the one who walks with a perverse mouth,
13 Who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet,
Who points with his fingers;
14 Who [with] perversity in his heart continually devises evil,
Who spreads strife.
15 Therefore his calamity will come suddenly;
Instantly he will be broken and there will be no healing.

The third danger (after being surety and laziness) the father warns his son about, is “a worthless person, a wicked man” (verse 12). It is a man of Belial, as it also can be translated, which is a wicked and at the same time useless, futile man. Belial is a proper name for satan (2Cor 6:15). A man of Belial is a son of the devil. He is connected to laziness and wickedness and he is in the power of the devil. He is a man of injustice, which is his lifestyle. Out of the mouth of such a person can come only perverse things. He is a professional swindler.

Besides the perverse things that come out of his mouth, he also speaks an obscure body language (verse 13). That appears from what he does with his eyes, his feet and his fingers. When you secretly wink with your eyes, you do that towards somebody with whom you have a conspiracy to deceive someone else. However, it is not about an innocent joke here, but about harming and hurting someone (Pro 10:10; Psa 35:19). The same goes for “signal with the feet”. He may give his evil companion a push with his feet under the table whether to say or not to say something. He can also signal by “pointing with his fingers”. His look and gestures are insinuating and intended to deceive someone.

It is the secret language of darkness that is only understood by insiders. It is the language of the man of sin, the antichrist, who is the prototype of “a worthless person, a wicked man”. The antichrist is “the man of lawlessness, the son of destruction”, who uses “all the deception of wickedness” (2Thes 2:3,10). This man is through and through corrupt.

The heart of the worthless man, the center of his being, is a forge of evil (verse 14; Mt 15:19). He is continually occupied with conspiracy and devising means to sow fear and misery among people. He is “full of deceit and fraud”, a “son of the devil” and an “enemy of all righteousness” (Acts 13:10). What comes out of his heart, “spreads strife” (cf. verse 19b) in the most intimate relationships. “Strife” is the message that he sends out. Where strife is to be found, he is present and at work. Strife, quarrel, is the opposite of the harmony and the unity which are to be found amongst believers.

This troublemaker and quarrel starter, who seeks the downfall of others, will suddenly, without prior warning, be overwhelmed by calamity (verse 15). In this way the antichrist will suddenly be knocked down by the judgment of Christ, even like all of those who follow him (1Thes 5:3). He will be totally ruined and will have in no way any chance for a recovery (cf. 2Chr 36:16; Pro 29:1; Jer 19:11).

Pro 6:16-19 | Things Which the LORD Hates

16 There are six things which the LORD hates,
Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him:
17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
And hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that run rapidly to evil,
19 A false witness [who] utters lies,
And one who spreads strife among brothers.

These verses are connected with the previous verses concerning the worthless person and especially with verse 14. To present some vices of that person, the father uses a form of number proverb in his teaching: “six …yes, seven” (verse 16; Pro 30:15,18,21,24,29; Job 5:19; Ecc 11:2; Amos 1:6,9,13; 2:1,4,6, Mic 5:5). That means that the vices which he mentions, are not an exhaustive list of it. Sexual sins and robbery for example are not mentioned. The things which the LORD “hates”, which “are an abomination to Him”, are things that are totally unfamiliar to Whom He is.

The seven things which the LORD hates, and which we therefore also ought to hate, are specifically personal conducts and attitudes:
1. “Haughty eyes” (verse 17) are eyes with a proud look, which exposes arrogant ambition. It is a “pomp of haughtiness” (Isa 10:12-14).
2. “A lying tongue” is a deceitful tongue, a tongue that speaks words that creates a wrong impression to the listener, which causes him to be misled. We see this with the false prophets, who are misleading God’s people (Jer 14:14). It is also said of Judas, the wicked betrayer (Psa 109:2; Acts 1:20b). A lying tongue causes injuries (Pro 26:28), but he will once be silenced (Pro 12:19).
3. “Hands that shed innocent blood”, are hands of a murderer, which have killed an innocent one. King Manasseh “shed very much innocent blood until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another” (2Kgs 21:16; 2Kgs 24:3-4).
In the characters 1-3 – pride, lie and murder – we see the capital sins of satan who fell into pride, due to which he is “a murderer of men from the beginning” and “a liar” (Jn 8:44).
4 “A heart that devises wicked plans” (verse 18), is another abomination to God. In the heart the thoughts take place. Other people do not see it, but God does. He hates it when people devise sins in their heart.
5. “Feet that run rapidly to evil” (Isa 59:7; Rom 3:15), testify of an obscure enthusiasm and diabolical speed, in order to carry out the devised evil and cause sorrow to others.
6. We can relate “a false witness who utters lies” (verse 19), with the lying tongue, which is mentioned earlier (see point 2.). Parts of the body are not used now to indicate persons, but it regards the whole person. Here it is about the violation of the ninth commandment: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exo 20:16).
7. “One who spreads strife among brothers”, is a general description of a person who causes and rouses division and quarrels (cf. Rom 16:17-18). This is possibly the lowest point of the things which the LORD hates. The seventh point is specially emphasized (“yes, seven”). It is the result of the forgoing. The six previous abominations end up here.

The counterparts of these seven hateful abominations are (1) humbleness, (2) speaking the truth, (3) keeping life, (4) pure thoughts, (5) being diligent to do good things, (6) righteous witness and (7) peaceful harmony.

Pro 6:20-24 | What Keeps From the Evil Woman

20 My son, observe the commandment of your father
And do not forsake the teaching of your mother;
21 Bind them continually on your heart;
Tie them around your neck.
22 When you walk about, they will guide you;
When you sleep, they will watch over you;
And when you awake, they will talk to you.
23 For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light;
And reproofs for discipline are the way of life
24 To keep you from the evil woman,
From the smooth tongue of the adulteress.

After the teachings on different subjects in verses 1-19 the father continues from verse 20 with the teaching about the sin of fornication which he started with in Proverbs 5. This teaching continues up to and includes Proverbs 7. He describes two new aspects of that sin. In Proverbs 2 he speaks about the relation between the harlot and her husband and in Proverbs 5 he highlights the relation between the adulterous husband and his own wife. In the following verses he exposes the relationship between the husband of the adulterous wife and his son when he commits adultery with the adulterous wife. His son will, in case of adultery, have to deal with the husband.

The father is very practical. Adultery is not only a matter over which the church has to exercise discipline. That is indeed an important aspect, but there are more aspects related to this sin. As we have seen earlier, the father speaks about the financial consequences of adultery. Another practical aspect is that the son will have to do with the husband of that woman. That’s what he speaks about in the following.

Before he does that, he firstly presents the importance and the beauty of the commandment of the father and the teaching of his mother (verse 20). This underlines again the significance of the teaching that is given at home by the father and the mother. Father and mother raise their children together. When the children listen to their teaching, it will keep them from an immoral life.

For this reason the father recommends his son to bind the commandment and teaching in his “heart” “continually” (verse 21). If the heart is the storing place of the teaching of the parents, it will exert the effect of protection on the actions and ways of the young man. He must also tie them around his neck (cf. Pro 3:3; 7:3). That will keep him from turning his head to a beautiful, evil woman and paying attention to her.

The total life of the young man will be directed by it (verse 22). It will guide him when “he walks about”; it will watch over him when he “sleeps” and it will talk to him when he “is awake”. It is a summary of everything he does (Deu 6:7; 11:19). ’To walk about’ is a daily activity. He ‘sleeps’ after his daily activities. After he has slept, he ‘awakens’ in order to again ‘walk about’. But before he walks about, it is important to ask for advice for the new day and to let the commandment speak to his heart. We can apply this to the keeping of ‘quiet time’ for the reading of God’s Word.

The “commandment” of the father (verse 20a) and the “teaching” of the mother (verse 20b) have the effect of “a lamp” and “a light” (verse 23; Psa 19:8; 119:130). It makes things clear and open; it shows what is right and what is wrong, so that we may know what we should do. The “reproofs for discipline” that go together with the education, are a path that leads to “life”. He who follows reprimands, will reach life.

Light and life belong together. They are deepened in the New Testament (Jn 1:4-5). The Word of God is a lamp and a light (Psa 119:105). A lamp lights up the following step, the light shines far ahead, over the whole path. The lamp and the light correct what is wrong and educate in what is right. If we follow the Lord Jesus, we will not walk in darkness, but we will have the light of life (Jn 8:12).

The Word guides and guards. Here it is mainly about the fact that the Word will keep the son and guard him against the evil, adulterous woman, when he obeys the commandment and the teaching (verse 24). Therefore the young man will not let himself be deceived and tempted by the smooth and flattering tongue of this evil woman (Pro 2:16). She is “a foreign woman” (literal translation), someone who is not his and for him, but who belongs to another person.

Pro 6:25-29 | Do Not Take Fire in Your Bosom

25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
Nor let her capture you with her eyelids.
26 For on account of a harlot [one is reduced] to a loaf of bread,
And an adulteress hunts for the precious life.
27 Can a man take fire in his bosom
And his clothes not be burned?
28 Or can a man walk on hot coals
And his feet not be scorched?
29 So is the one who goes in to his neighbor’s wife;
Whoever touches her will not go unpunished.

The first warning about the evil, foreign woman, regards the heart of the young man (verse 25), “for from it [flow] the springs of life” (Pro 4:23). In the heart the temptation is given birth (Jam 1:14-15). He should not allow himself to consider in his heart any desire because of the beauty of that woman. Immoral actions start with a lustful look (2Sam 11:2; 13:1-14).

As soon as such a lust appears, it should be judged immediately. Whoever treasures the lust, sins and commits the deed of adultery (Mt 5:28). Therefore he should not look at her eyes, for they work like strings with which he can be bound. For the commitment of adultery a high price has to be paid (verse 26). It leads to the deepest poverty, “a loaf of bread”, and even to deadly danger: there is a hunt for his “precious life”.

There is mention of two kinds of evil women. There is “a harlot”, which is a person who offers her corrupt ‘services’ for money. He who gets involved with her, becomes poor. There is also “the adulteress” (lit “a man’s wife”). She has gotten bored with her husband and is looking for someone else for her sexual satisfaction. To get involved with the latter is even more dangerous than getting involved with a harlot, for whoever gets involved with her, is not sure about his life. He is completely in her power. Additionally the envious husband will hunt for his “precious life” in order to kill him. The wife will deliver him to her envious husband with a straight face (cf. Gen 39:16-20).

The strange woman must be avoided like fire (verses 27-28). The clothes of the one who still gets involved with her, will be burned (verse 27). Practically it means that the behavior of the fornicator and the adulterer, his appearance and dignity, of which the clothes speak, becomes despicable (Gen 38:13-18). It is not only that it has a ‘burning smell’, which sometimes looks like that, but his whole behavior and dignity have disappeared. He is despised.

Nobody will be so foolish to think that he can walk on hot coals without scorching his feet (verse 28). ‘Walking’ refers to a repetitive event; it is not an accidental happening. It refers to a continual sexual contact, to a person who is a whore-hopper. It is impossible to do such a thing without getting harmed himself. The father applies this to what happens if his son gets involved with the wife of another man. He then will have to bear the consequences. One cannot escape from that. Those are the ‘natural laws’ of fornication. Destruction is waiting at the end.

The father concludes in verse 29. Going in to the wife of his neighbor has the meaning of having sexual contact with her. The same goes for touching her. Whoever gets intimate in such a way, whoever commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, will not go unpunished. The punishment for the adulterer is inevitable.

Pro 6:30-35 | There Is No Ransom for Adultery

30 Men do not despise a thief if he steals
To satisfy himself when he is hungry;
31 But when he is found, he must repay sevenfold;
He must give all the substance of his house.
32 The one who commits adultery with a woman is lacking sense;
He who would destroy himself does it.
33 Wounds and disgrace he will find,
And his reproach will not be blotted out.
34 For jealousy enrages a man,
And he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
35 He will not accept any ransom,
Nor will he be satisfied though you give many gifts.

In verses 30-31 the sin of adultery is compared with the sin of stealing. When a thief steals to satisfy his hunger, it is understandable, although it is wrong what he does (verse 30). When they catch him, he will have to pay severely for his crime (verse 31; Exo 22:1; Lk 19:8). It can cost him everything that he owns. But when he has finished paying his debt, he will be a free man again.

With a man who commits adultery, it is totally different (verse 32). For somebody who steals because he is hungry, there will be some understanding, but for somebody who ‘steals’ the wife of another person, there never will be any understanding. The young man could have gone to his own wife when he was ‘hungry’. He is not without bread, but he is “without sense”, or as it is literally said, he is missing heart, he lacks heart. What he does, looks like pleasure, but it is suicide. He “destroys himself”.

Adultery provides him ‘pleasure’ for a brief moment, but what he finds, is “wounds and disgrace” and a “reproach” which will not be blotted out (verse 33). It is impossible to go unpunished. There is only revenge left. There is nothing that can take away that reproach. It is a hateful sin to God and there are also horrible consequences for the people involved. The Scripture is as practical as the father is.

The word which is translated with “touches” in verse 29, is translated in this verse with “wounds”. We see here that the relation between the sin and the punishment is shown by a Hebrew play on words. Whoever touches an adulteress affectionately, will be touched severely by wounds which will strike him.

He will have to do with a husband who is enraged by jealousy, who is furious with him (verse 34). The pity that people can have with a thief who steals out of hunger, is totally missing with the husband for an adulterer who has committed adultery with his wife. In the day of vengeance, which is the day that he discovers the adultery, vengeance is the only way for him to find satisfaction. The man who commits adultery with his wife, must be judged.

In contrast to the thief there is no way for the adulterer or fornicator to compensate his sin (verse 35; verses 30-31). The jealous husband will in no way accept any compensation. How great the amount would be, this case is not to be ransomed with money. The adulterer cannot do anything to make up what he had done. He cannot turn back his sin. He has to live with that sin for the rest of his life, if he stays alive, at least, and is not killed by the jealous husband.

Proverbs 7

Introduction

The necessity of sexual self-control, the necessity to say ‘no’ to offers of physical intimacy outside marriage, is the dominating theme in the speeches of wisdom in Proverbs 1-9.

In this chapter the father speaks again about that to his son (Pro 2:16-19; 5:1-23; 6:20-35). He does that in the form of a story. It is an educational story that the father is telling, in order to warn his son urgently about the temptation of the strange woman. In Proverbs 6 it is about a man who is so foolish, that he is not satisfied with his own well and goes to the wife of his neighbor. In Proverbs 7 it is about a young inexperienced man who in his foolishness lets himself to be tempted.

In verses 1-5 the father shows his son first, again as an introduction, the value and beauty of the commandment. Then he tells in verses 6-23 from his own experience what he has seen. He describes a young man who not accidentally comes near the temptress, but is looking for the danger zone. The young man comes, in resistance against the warning of Proverbs 5:8, near her house. He did not intend to fornicate, but still does do it. In verses 24-27 the father tells his children what the consequences are, when in their heart they turn away to the paths of the harlot.

Pro 7:1-5 | Warning Against the Strange Woman

1 My son, keep my words
And treasure my commandments within you.
2 Keep my commandments and live,
And my teaching as the apple of your eye.
3 Bind them on your fingers;
Write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
And call understanding [your] intimate friend;
5 That they may keep you from an adulteress [lit strange woman],
From the foreigner who flatters with her words.

This portion starts again with the father pointing out to his son his “words”, so that he may keep them and at his “commandments” to treasure them within him (verse 1). If he does that, he will live (verse 2). That is the opposite of death, which is the result of not obeying them (verses 24-27). Life in the true sense of the word is threatened when there is no obedience. It is a matter of life or death.

Therefore the son is to keep the teaching of his father as “the apple of your eye”. This implies that obedience to the teaching is crucial for him; that he is to keep it with the greatest care, in order to be able to have a good sight of these things. There is no part of the body that is more sensitive than the apple of the eye (Deu 32:10; Psa 17:8; Zec 2:8).

In verse 3 the commandments are related to the fingers. Everything he does with his fingers, has to be controlled by the commandments. He also has to write them on ‘the tablet of his heart’. The heart is the center of the person. When the commandments are written there, then everything that he does, wherever he goes and sees and everything he says and thinks, will be controlled by the commandments.

“Wisdom” should be to him as his “sister” and “the understanding” has to be in his blood, so to speak (verse 4). The brother-sister relationship renders a close bond of affection in the Old Testament. “Sister” is also used for the wife or sweetheart (Song 4:9-10). If he embraces wisdom as his sister, the strange woman will get no chance to embrace him (verse 13). Man should have an object in which he delights. If that is not wisdom, the emptiness will be filled with wrong desires. Love for God’s Word will remove the power of evil.

These instructions are all given with a view to the strange woman (verse 5). He will only be able to stay away from the snare of temptation, when he obeys this teaching of his father. Whoever keeps the words and commandments of the father, which means: whoever keeps the Word of God, will be kept by it himself. Briefly said: he who keeps, will be kept.

Pro 7:6-9 | The Victim

6 For at the window of my house
I looked out through my lattice,
7 And I saw among the naive,
[And] discerned among the youths
A young man lacking sense,
8 Passing through the street near her corner;
And he takes the way to her house,
9 In the twilight, in the evening,
In the middle of the night and [in] the darkness.

In verses 6-23 the father gives one of the most vivid descriptions that we have in the Scripture of the temptation to sin. He gives an eyewitness report, not as a peeper, but as a teacher. His report does not present sin as attractive, but it contains a serious warning to avoid and flee from sin.

We find the elements in it, where he earlier had warned about:
1. The company of sinners (Pro 1:10-19);
2. To hang around purposelessly (Pro 6:6-10);
3. Places where temptation is lurking (Pro 5:8) and
4. especially disobedience to the words and commandments of the parents (Pro 4:1,10; 5:1,7; 6:20-22).

The scenario of the disaster is as often a combination of the wrong company in the wrong place at the wrong time.

In the eyewitness report we find
1. the victim in verses 5-9;
2. the temptress in verses 10-12;
3. the temptation in verses 13-20 and
4. the capitulation of the victim in verses 21-23.

The father begins his story by saying that he was at home and was looking outside through the barred window (verse 6). Then he describes what he saw when he looked down. He saw a group of “naive people”, a group of innocent, inexperienced young people, who were strolling along the road (verse 7). Among those young ones his attention was drawn to “a young man lacking sense”, which literally means ‘a young man without a heart’ or ‘a young who lacks common sense’, so a nitwit, a dunce.

As he was strolling, this young man deliberately crossed the street “near her corner” and slowly “took the way to her house” (verse 8). It is an action which takes place under the cover of darkness (verse 9). No less than four different words are used to describe the darkness. It is in the twilight in the evening of the day, after sunset, which makes the middle of the night look to come fast, because of the directly falling darkness.

Both his purposelessness and darkness deprive him of the spiritual understanding to see the danger to which he exposes himself. Therefore he is not able to do what Joseph did, which is to flee from fornication (Gen 39:7,10-12; 1Cor 6:18). It is not possible, for whosoever, to stand firm in such a situation. The only option is to flee.

Pro 7:10-12 | The Temptress

10 And behold, a woman [comes] to meet him,
Dressed as a harlot and cunning of heart.
11 She is boisterous and rebellious,
Her feet do not remain at home;
12 [She is] now in the streets, now in the squares,
And lurks by every corner.

In verse 10 the temptress appears on the scene. She comes out of her house and comes to meet the young man. There is no doubt about what she wants. She shows that by the way she is dressed. She is “dressed as a harlot” (cf. Gen 38:14-15). The young man knows who is before him. She is a devious, sly woman. She is “cunning of heart”, which indicates her profound insincerity, decided to tempt the young man. What she pretends to feel for the young man is totally missing.

This woman is “boisterous” (verse 11). She is full of restlessness, loud and excited. She is also “rebellious” concerning God’s intention with marriage. Marriage is an oppressing and squeezing yoke which she throws off. She could not bear to stay at home. She is rushed by her impure desires into the street. Restlessly she wanders outside her house (verse 12). She is on the lookout like an enemy, in an ambush, in order to tempt a naive young man who crosses her path, to commit the sin of adultery.

Pro 7:13-20 | The Temptation

13 So she seizes him and kisses him
And with a brazen face she says to him:
14 “I was due to offer peace offerings;
Today I have paid my vows.
15 “Therefore I have come out to meet you,
To seek your presence earnestly, and I have found you.
16 “I have spread my couch with coverings,
With colored linens of Egypt.
17 “I have sprinkled my bed
With myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.
18 “Come, let us drink our fill of love until morning;
Let us delight ourselves with caresses.
19 “For my husband is not at home,
He has gone on a long journey;
20 He has taken a bag of money with him,
At the full moon he will come home.”

The stages in the temptation have been carefully prepared by her. She knows exactly what and when she has to do and what and when she has to say. When the young man is close to her, she overwhelms him (verse 13). She seizes him and kisses him. She has him in her power. With a brazen face, she starts to rope him in further, so that also the last bit of inner resistance with the young man is broken off.

The first thing she says has to do with the service to God (verse 14). From this we can derive that we have to do with a woman from the people of God. This corrupt woman does not shrink from pouring a religious sauce over her despicable intention and in that way give the impression that God is on her side. She had promised God, as she says, that she would bring Him peace offerings. She had done that, she says. The peace offering is a meal offering (Lev 7:11-21). The thought is that she is allowed to eat the meat of the peace offering which she has with her, which the one who brings the offering is allowed to eat. Now she is looking for someone to eat it together with her. That should happen very quickly of course, it has to happen today, for otherwise it will rot.

What a surprise that this young man just crosses her path at this moment. He is exactly the young man for whom she came outside to meet him (verse 15). What a trouble she had made to seek him. And now look, she has found him. If that’s not the guidance of God … She pretends as if she had thought about him only; that he and he alone is her only love. In that way she gives him the feeling that he is very special to her.

But what a world full of lies and deceit she represents. This is how an adulteress always operates, with lies and deceit. She finds nothing special about her prey. In an adulterous relationship you are neither loved nor special. On the contrary, you are deceived, used, raped. The path of death is not pleasant, but causes an endless torment.

The act of adultery is totally impersonal. Someone who has fellowship with a harlot, is one body with her and not one flesh. In marriage husband and wife are one flesh, which is a total unity of spirit, soul and body. With fornication it is only about the body. The body is a toy, you yourself are nothing, nothing more than an impersonal toy.

From the dining room, to where she is inviting him to have a meal together, she suddenly draws the attention to her bedroom. She describes the linens and the perfume that she used to make up her bedroom (verses 16-17). This is how she visualizes her sinful deed and stimulates his lust. There and in that particular atmosphere love should be ‘made’. This is once again excitement, which is not to be compared with anything. She has prepared everything with care and ‘with taste’.

Then avowedly the invitation follows to come to her (verse 18). She offers him a whole night of physical pleasure. Come with me and let us get drunk with love, all through the night. This is the great pleasure, this is what they call love! This is pure pleasure, the real, complete and deep saturation of love.

The young man should not worry at all about her husband (verse 19). Literally it is not said ‘my’ husband, but ‘the’ man. By talking like that about him, she shows that she has forsaken him as her husband. Speaking about ‘my husband’ also might have kept the young man from going with her. She ensures him that he doesn’t have to be afraid that ‘the man’ will come unexpectedly. He is not at home and will neither come home soon, for “he has gone on a long journey”.

She underlines that lie by saying that he has taken a bag of money with him for the cost of his maintenance (verse 20). That he will only come home at the full moon, is another argument of reassurance. At full moon it cannot be pitch dark. Now there is no full moon, but it is pitch dark and they can just go their way (verse 9).

What her whole story comes down to, is that God has been satisfied, that the man is out of the picture and the only thing the young man is left to do is to follow her. All the lies that she uses, have been repeated again and again through the ages:
1. Adultery is a ‘sanctified’ action.
2. The temptress pretends that the other person means a lot to her; she pretends that she loves him alone.
3. What there is to be enjoyed is the pinnacle of love and that’s what the other was made for.
4. The one who is tempted, doesn’t have to be afraid, for it is kept secret.

Most of these lies are used in every adulterous relationship. They appear in a wide range of sexual sins, also in ‘private sins’, like masturbation and watching pornography. But it is clear that whoever commits adultery, is a liar, someone who is absolutely not to be trusted. He who breaks the most intimate bond of confidence, the promise of faithfulness, is not to be trusted in any other relationship. How could such a person be faithful to whatever promise, if he is not faithful to his wife?

Pro 7:21-23 | The Capitulation of the Victim

21 With her many persuasions she entices him;
With her flattering lips she seduces him.
22 Suddenly he follows her
As an ox goes to the slaughter,
Or as [one in] fetters to the discipline of a fool,
23 Until an arrow pierces through his liver;
As a bird hastens to the snare,
So he does not know that it [will cost him] his life.

The wisdom and uprightness of a Joseph are needed to be able to resist against such an argument. “Her many persuasions” (verse 21) has driven all power out of him to say ‘no’. “Her flattering lips” have entered inside of him and has melted away all the resistance he had. She has persuaded the young man to follow her.

His defeat has suddenly become an irreversible fact (verse 22). He goes with her immediately. We can see him trudging behind her like an ox, however not as an ox that goes to green pasture, but “as an ox goes to the slaughter”. He is not facing the pleasure, but his death. An advertising campaign against the irresponsible use of firework, has the slogan: You’re an ox when you stunt with fireworks. A variation in relation to what Solomon says here, is: You’re an ox when you stunt with porn.

He is as “[one in] fetters to the discipline of a fool” being brought to prison (cf. Ecc 7:26; Jdg 16:16-19). Stupid animals do not see any relation between an enticement and death. Likewise stupid people do not see any relation between their sin and death. He has to pay the price for sin, death. “For the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23). This sin costs him his life.

The expression “until an arrow pierces through his liver”, possibly refers to the gnawing of a guilty conscience, the awareness that he will reap spiritual and physical destruction (verse 23). He is like bird that is only focused on the bait, but does not see the trap. He flies down to get the bait, because it is so attractive and because he needs it to keep himself alive. But he is not aware that the opposite is the case. The bait will cost him his life. By hastening to the bait, he hastens to his death. The perfume of the harlot’s bed changes into a perfume of death and the brief night of pleasure changes into an eternal night of torture.

Pro 7:24-27 | Do Not Let Your Heart Turn Aside to Her Ways

24 Now therefore, [my] sons, listen to me,
And pay attention to the words of my mouth.
25 Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways,
Do not stray into her paths.
26 For many are the victims she has cast down,
And numerous are all her slain.
27 Her house is the way to Sheol,
Descending to the chambers of death.

In verses 24-27 we have turned our back on the street and are back in the room of the teaching father. There he pictures to his children again in bright colors what the consequences are of adultery. He did not tell the previous story to entertain his children, but to warn them. Now they have drawn the lesson, they ought to continue to pay close attention.

With the words “now therefore” he connects to what he has demonstrated as the result of sin (verse 24). He calls upon his “sons” to listen to him and to pay attention to his words. They are to intend in their hearts not to turn aside to the ways of the harlot and not to let their hearts stray into her paths (verse 25). “Her ways” and “her paths” may indicate for instance, the treasuring of impure thoughts, pernicious fantasies, filthy conversations, dirty magazines and foolish company. We should be scared to death for a first step into those ways and paths. If we get familiar to sin, it will weaken the hatred for it. Little by little there will even arise an affection for sin.

Involvement with a harlot leads to death (verse 26). Many who have come into her ways, have ended up in death, including prominent people. Samson is an example of that (Jdg 16:1-21).

The way to the house of the strange woman “is a way to Sheol”. It is the way downwards, “to the chambers of death” (verse 27). The end of an adulterous relationship is not ultimate pleasure, but destruction. It does not give the special feeling, which true intimacy indeed gives. The sons should not be mistaken: the path of apparent pleasure is the path of death. The house of the harlot is in the true sense of the word, on a dead-end road.

Proverbs 8

Pro 8:1-5 | Where and to Whom Wisdom Calls

1 Does not wisdom call,
And understanding lift up her voice?
2 On top of the heights beside the way
Where the paths meet, she takes her stand;
3 Beside the gates, at the opening to the city,
At the entrance of the doors, she cries out:
4 “To you, O men, I call,
And my voice is to the sons of men.
5 “O naive ones, understand prudence;
And, O fools, understand wisdom.

After the tempting and deceiving strange woman has spoken (Pro 7:14-21), now “Wisdom” lifts up Her voice (verse 1; cf. Pro 1:20-22). Wisdom is represented here again as a Divine Person. Wisdom is Christ. The same goes for “Understanding”. That also is a personification of Christ. Verses 1-21 refer to the Lord Jesus. He has called in His life as Wisdom to the people and as the Understanding He lifted up His voice to them. Now that He is in heaven, He does that through His servants.

The interrogative form in which verse 1 is written, emphasizes the fact that nobody has a legal excuse to ignore the call of Wisdom or Understanding. The answer to the question cannot be otherwise than confirmative. Nobody can withdraw himself from Her calling voice, for it penetrates to everyone. She does not speak mysteriously, in the darkness, like the adulterous woman (Pro 7:7-20), but “calls” loudly and “lifts up Her voice”. ‘To call’ and ‘to lift up one’s voice’ have both the meaning of raising one’s voice. We see in this verse again the Hebrew parallelism, whereby the second line confirms the first line with other words.

The places where She takes Her stand, are chosen carefully. Those are places where She is to be seen by everyone, “on top of the heights”, and where people from all directions are present: “beside the way” and “where the paths meet” (verse 2). She also lifts up Her voice “beside the gates, at the opening to the city” (verse 3). Those are places where people make transactions and where justice is provided, so a place where many people are. Everyone who enters or leaves the city, hears Her. She also stands “at the entrance of the doors”, whereby we could think of the doors of the temple or of the houses. She is everywhere where people are around.

She calls to the “men” and Her voice is “to the sons of men” (verse 4). Everyone is addressed. Wisdom does not only address a select group of intellectuals or religious insiders as if She would only like to speak ‘in a high level’. No, She is available for everyone and does not exclude anyone. It is like with the mission order to proclaim the gospel all over the world, without any exception to reach every individual (cf. Mk 16:15).

All people indeed know what is good or evil. They however do not do the good, but the evil. This is what Wisdom tells to all people. Nobody who has to give account before the judgment seat of Christ could say: ‘I did not know that.’

Wisdom addresses in the midst of all people with a special message to “the naive ones … and fools” (verse 5). They are the ones who need Her the most and are the most inclined to ignore Her. In Her grace She says to the naive ones, the stupid ones, that they still may understand “prudence” and know what life is all about. She wants them to repent of their stupidity and allow Her into their lives. Then they will not die.

The same goes for the fools. The fools are already further away from Wisdom than the naive ones. Still Wisdom involves them also in Her call. It is still not too late to understand “wisdom” which means that they may see their foolishness and come to their senses. When they come to their senses, they will realize and gain understanding that they are approaching judgment and that they should repent.

Pro 8:6-9 | What Wisdom Is Calling

6 “Listen, for I will speak noble things;
And the opening of my lips [will reveal] right things.
7 “For my mouth will utter truth;
And wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
8 “All the utterances of my mouth are in righteousness;
There is nothing crooked or perverted in them.
9 “They are all straightforward to him who understands,
And right to those who find knowledge.

Wisdom calls upon all people to listen to Her (verse 6). She is there for everyone. There is no special intelligence needed to understand what She is saying, but a willing heart. The content of her words is of the greatest purity and extremely valuable. What She says are “noble things”. Those are excellent things, things of high quality and of a noble, superior character. When She opens her lips, She says “what is right”, which means what is upright and just.

Preceded by a confirmatory “for” She says: “My mouth will utter truth” (verse 7). She speaks the truth, which means God’s truth, about all things. When the harlot tells the young man what her bedroom looks like and how it smells (Pro 7:16-17), she doesn’t lie about anything, but she speaks the truth about that. However, it is not God’s truth, though. In the light of God’s truth people can know how things are, whether they are good or bad, and how they are related to one another.

The opposite of the truth that Wisdom speaks, is therefore not the untruth or lie, but “wickedness”. “Wickedness” means that God is missing in life; He is not considered. Therefore, speaking wickedness is “an abomination” to the lips of Wisdom.

It is of the greatest importance to listen to the truth from the mouth of Wisdom. “All the utterances” that She speaks “are in righteousness” (verse 8). You may absolutely trust each of Her words. Those are words that do justice to every person and every case and they lead to the right way. In Her words nothing contradictory is to be found. There is absolutely “nothing crooked or perverted in them”, nothing that is against the truth of the Scripture or in contrast to the sound teaching.

He who has the right mind, understands that Her words are “straightforward” (verse 9). Whoever already walks in the path of wisdom, is more able to understand Her. Straightforwardness is needed to understand wisdom, and not intelligence, scholarship or cleverness. The accuracy of Her words is understood by all who desire to find knowledge.

Pro 8:10-21 | The Value of Wisdom

10 “Take my instruction and not silver,
And knowledge rather than choicest gold.
11 “For wisdom is better than jewels;
And all desirable things cannot compare with her.
12 “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,
And I find knowledge [and] discretion.
13 “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil;
Pride and arrogance and the evil way
And the perverted mouth, I hate.
14 “Counsel is mine and sound wisdom;
I am understanding, power is mine.
15 “By me kings reign,
And rulers decree justice.
16 “By me princes rule, and nobles,
All who judge rightly.
17 “I love those who love me;
And those who diligently seek me will find me.
18 “Riches and honor are with me,
Enduring wealth and righteousness.
19 “My fruit is better than gold, even pure gold,
And my yield [better] than choicest silver.
20 “I walk in the way of righteousness,
In the midst of the paths of justice,
21 To endow those who love me with wealth,
That I may fill their treasuries.

When someone receives the instruction (or the teaching) from Wisdom, that will make him richer than silver could ever do (verse 10; cf. Psa 119:72). Receiving instruction leads to “knowledge”. The possession of knowledge is to be chosen above “choicest gold”. “Wisdom” goes far beyond the value of “jewels” (verse 11). Whatsoever a person may desire of earthly wealth, it is not to be compared with Wisdom and what She delivers. Because of the value that Wisdom has for life, She is more to be desired than anything else.

Her dwelling place, where Wisdom is at home, is with “prudence” (verse 12). This implies that She is shrewd, that she has a sharp and clear sight in both men and things and events. She finds the right knowledge to act by “discretion” or thoughtfulness. Discretion is the ability to make good plans and to make thoughtful decisions. She doesn’t allow Herself to be tempted to act hastily, and in that way do the wrong thing. She has the knowledge to know what She is supposed to do because She is thoughtful.

We see these features – prudence and discretion – in perfection with the Lord Jesus. He always knew what to do and when He had to do it. Therefore He paid the temple tax, in order to prevent an unnecessary offense, although He as King was free from paying taxes, from which He also declared His disciples free (Mt 17:26-27). As far as man is concerned, He knew what was in him and did not let Himself to be deceived by appearances (Jn 2:23-24). Here we see some of the many treasures of wisdom and knowledge which are hidden in Him (Col 2:3).

Prudence and discretion (verse 12) will only work when they are guided by “the fear of the LORD” (verse 13). At the same time, the fear of the LORD will lead one to hate “evil”. Evil is to be seen in the temptation of the adulterous woman in the previous chapter. In a more general way, it involves hating arrogance, pride, an evil way and evil words.

“Arrogance” and “pride” are in the nature of man, in the sinful flesh. When we allow these sins to have their way and we do not judge them when they want control over us, they will lead us to “the evil way”. In the evil way are people with “a perverted mouth”, which God hates. Worldly people have a totally different concept of things which we are to hate. They speak about ‘another way of life’, about making ‘another choice’, and force us to tolerate their way of life, which they certainly do not allow us to label them as evil and sinful.

Wisdom is expressed in counsel and wisdom, understanding and power (verse 14). They are present with Wisdom. Understanding is not only a feature of Her, but She is Understanding; it is Her Being. What is present with Her, is what characterizes Her. With Her is “counsel and wisdom”. With Her is also “power” to do, whatever She considers necessary according to Her counsel and wisdom. We see here again that Wisdom is Christ. One of His Names is “Counselor” (Isa 9:6). The Spirit Who leads Him, is “the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD” (Isa 11:2).

Wisdom is also the source of all earthly power and authority. By Her the kings reign (verse 15), not because She allows it, but because She determines it (Rom 13:1-6). She establishes kings (Dan 2:21). A king often has the awareness that he can reign rightly or wrongly. Reigning can only happen rightly by Wisdom. He who does not ask Wisdom, will reign wrongly, as we see with the kings of Israel and some kings of Judah.

Wisdom makes monarchs (possibly provincial rulers, lower governments) ordain righteousness. These monarchs prescribe matters and make them to be documented; these are matters that serve the righteousness, the justice of God. Without Wisdom they are not able to prescribe anything that is in line with the justice of God; it is only possible by Wisdom.

As the kings also the monarchs reign by Wisdom (verse 16). This also goes for the “nobles”, the prominent men, when they exercise leadership in a benevolent way. Also all those who all over the world exercise their function as a judge, are only able to do that rightly, meaning righteously, in accordance with the justice of God, by Wisdom. From their own they are not able to. How wise and righteous must Wisdom be, when the mightiest men on earth are not able to rule in a righteous and benevolent way without Her.

One will only esteem Wisdom when he loves Her (verse 17). Then there will be a relation with Her. So it is about the attitude of the heart towards Wisdom. Where there is love for Wisdom, that love is answered by Her through reciprocal love. Love for Wisdom appears from “seeking” Her “diligently” or seeking Her seriously. That’s what Solomon did (1Kgs 3:9). The promise to him who does that, is that he will find Her, meet Her, possess Her (Jam 1:5).

Wisdom holds up a rich reward in prospect for those who seek Her for She points out that “riches and honor” are with Her (verse 18). In that way She really makes it very attractive to seek Her diligently. In addition She says that also “enduring wealth and righteousness” are with Her. It is clear that it is not about earthly wealth here, for one can suddenly lose that (Pro 23:5). It is about treasures in heaven that no one can ever take away (Mt 6:19-20).

Enduring wealth can by definition only mean eternal wealth and not the temporary wealth and therefore will ultimately be enjoyed after this life and not in the life here and now. Also righteousness is something that does not make itself to be translated into terms of gold and silver. You can receive or inherit gold, but not wisdom. Wisdom can only be found by those who seek Her. Also righteousness is a quality which is not related with the earth, but with God. It is a characteristic of God in His dealing with men. In the way He deals with men, He is always in accordance with His own righteous Being.

Those who have found Wisdom, will enjoy Her “fruit” (verse 19). Her fruit is what She produces, everything that comes out of Her. Thereby we could think of all blessings that have been given to us by grace, like redemption, atonement, forgiveness, righteousness, sonship, eternal life. We can also think of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22), which He gives to everyone who is related with Wisdom. That fruit belongs to Her, but She gives it to everyone who finds Her. That fruit “is better than choicest gold, even pure gold”. It is clear that it is not about earthly prosperity, but about spiritual fruit.

That also applies to Her “yield”. Yield is a concept of the market place, of the trade, a concept that is to be applied spiritually here. What Wisdom delivers of fruit and yield, has no material wealth, for Her fruit and yield are better than what gold and silver deliver in their purest form (cf. Job 28:15). The product of wisdom, that originates from wisdom, is better than what you can gain with gold and silver.

Wisdom walks (verse 20). It is the intention that we follow Her like children follow their parents, soldiers follow their general, pupils follow their teacher and sheep follow their shepherd. She leads Her followers “in the way of righteousness”. Those who follow Her, are walking in the same path. She leads them “in the midst of the paths of justice” and in that way avoids a deviation to the right or to the left. The follower of Wisdom is neither formal nor lawless. He stays far away from both extremes. He is not following a dry, dead system, nor some exaggerated, non-binding principles.

The inheritance is the part of all who love Wisdom (verse 21). It is not an achievement nor a gift, but a right. It is a given right, because it is related to the Lord Jesus Who has acquired this right. The inheritance is He Himself. He also fills the “treasures” of the hearts of those who possess Him as their inheritance (Lk 6:45). What He puts of Himself in their hearts, is not subject to value-reduction.

Pro 8:22-31 | Wisdom Is an Eternal Person

22 “The LORD possessed me at the beginning of His way,
Before His works of old.
23 “From everlasting I was established,
From the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth.
24 “When there were no depths I was brought forth,
When there were no springs abounding with water.
25 “Before the mountains were settled,
Before the hills I was brought forth;
26 While He had not yet made the earth and the fields
Nor the first dust of the world.
27 “When He established the heavens, I was there,
When He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep,
28 When He made firm the skies above,
When the springs of the deep became fixed,
29 When He set for the sea its boundary
So that the water would not transgress His command,
When He marked out the foundations of the earth;
30 Then I was beside Him, [as] a master workman;
And I was daily [His] delight,
Rejoicing always before Him,
31 Rejoicing in the world, His earth,
And [having] my delight in the sons of men.

In the previous verses we heard Wisdom calling. Her call has without exception come to every man. In verses 22-31 Wisdom tells us about Who She is. In these verses we find a beautiful description of the Lord Jesus, for it is all about Him. He, the eternal Son, is Wisdom in Person. If we would ask the question how long God has already been wise, the answer simply is that Wisdom has existed as long as God exists, which is forever. After all, we cannot think that God was not wise for a moment and became wise afterwards at a certain moment. In this way a satisfactory reply is given to the question of how long the Lord Jesus exists.

That appears from what Wisdom firstly says about Herself. She was with God, the LORD, even before anything was visible of God’s works (verse 22). Before the foundation of the world Wisdom had been a distinctive Person with God. John, the evangelist, confirms that. He writes: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God” (Jn 1:1). “The Word” is also the Lord Jesus.

It is remarkable that Wisdom begins with speaking about the LORD, the God of the covenant with His people. With Him She is related at the closest. How close, She explains in the next part. The LORD possessed Her “at the beginning of His way”. A wrong and deceptive translation says that the LORD ‘created’ Her instead of ‘possessed’ Her. But Christ, the Son, says as Wisdom that the LORD possessed Him “at the beginning of His way, before His works of old” (cf. Mic 5:2).

When God began His way with the world, when He established His works, He did that through the Son, Who “of old”, which is from eternity, was with Him. Christ is the beginning of God’s creation, which means that He stands at the beginning of all God’s creation works, which He began with the creation and which He also accomplished (Gen 1:1-31; 2:1-3; Jn 1:3; Col 1:16-17; Heb 1:2). The whole creation came forth from Him. He was with God as Wisdom of all God’s works. All of God’s works have been established by His wisdom. Wisdom Herself has therefore not been created, but has been with God eternally.

Wisdom was established from everlasting (verse 23). The establishment or anointment has to do with the destiny for a certain goal. In the Old Testament kings and priests were anointed to be what they were intended to. In the same way Wisdom, Christ, had been intended from the beginning by God to a certain work. Something similar we see with regard to the propitiation work of Christ, to which He “was foreknown before the foundation of the world” as the Lamb (1Pet 1:20). The work which is told about here, is the work of creation. Wisdom was present “from the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth”.

That Wisdom was “brought forth” – it is said twice: in verse 24 and in verse 25 –, means that Christ started to act as Creator at a certain moment. What is present in God, becomes visible. It is comparable to what happens at the birth of a child. A child that is born, is already present in the mother’s womb, but becomes visible at the birth. Wisdom proves Her pre-existence by starting to act when there is nothing yet, when there “were no depths” and “no springs abounding with water” (verse 24). The same goes for “the mountains” and “the hills” (verse 25) that also owe their existence to Him Who was (Psa 90:2).

The emphasis in this whole section lies on the everlasting (pre-)existence of Christ. It is of great importance to hold on to that. Everything that is, has been created by Him. It has therefore a beginning, while He Himself has no beginning. There is no such thing as ‘eternal matter’. Only the triune God is eternal. The Son was there “while He had not yet made the earth and the fields” (verse 26). After the depths and heights of both previous verses, it looks like this verse is about the more habitable parts of the earth. With “the dust of the world” the elements are meant of which the earth consists, including the natural resources. All things have a beginning and that beginning is through Him.

The Word was in the beginning, which means that He was there with everything that has a beginning and that He Himself has no beginning. He is the beginning of all things (Jn 1:1). God is the great Architect, Who has built everything by Wisdom. He has created all things through the Son (1Cor 8:6). All things became by the Word. This portion from Proverbs 8 is explained in the first verses of John 1.

The Son is also involved with the preparation of the heavens (verse 27). He was not a spectator, but the Executor (Heb 1:10). He has given the heavens its form, splendor and clothing of sun, moon and stars. The heavens were drawn by Him like an umbrella that covers the water streams as a firmament, like drawing a circle with a pair of compasses (cf. Isa 40:22; Job 26:9-10). In that firmament He made the clouds firm, that they may hold the water so that at His time and in the places He chooses, they may pour out water over the earth (verse 28; Job 26:8; 36:27-29; 37:11). Also “the springs of the deep” can flow by the power that He gives to them.

The place of the sea is not determined by evolution, but is given to it by the Son (verse 29). Thereby He also has commanded that the sea keeps the boundary that was set by Him and that it will not transgress this boundary (Jer 5:22; Job 38:10-11). He has ordained the foundations of the earth in such a way, that the earth will stand unshakably (Psa 104:5).

All the creational acts that were just described by Wisdom, testify of the Divine wisdom, on which it is founded. That proves the pre-existence of Wisdom before creation. God has designed His work and has executed it with Wisdom, which is by His Son.

In verse 30 it is not anymore about creation, but about the relation between the LORD, Yahweh, and Wisdom. Wisdom was “beside Him” eternally. She is loved by God, for Wisdom is the Person of Christ. He is the Word which was with God in the beginning (Jn 1:1). In the New Testament we see again that same relationship of love in the love between the Father and the Son. The relationship between the Father and the Son is one of eternal love (Jn 17:5,24b).

While there is no time in eternity, it is still expressed in such a way that the Son was “daily” the Father’s delight. In that way He allows us to share the feelings of His heart for His Son. It is at the same time an example to us to be occupied with the Son daily, to see Him and to rejoice in Him. There cannot be another object of love and delight for us than He to Whom the heart of God goes out, can there?

From all eternity He had been “a master workman” and His “delight”. These expressions indicate how much God loved Him and how much He rejoiced in Him. There has never been a time that it was otherwise. God looked at Him with the greatest and deepest love and joy eternally. The cause of that is the full unity in nature, features and desires, which is between Them. There was and is perfect harmony in thoughts and feelings. Everything that God is, He saw and sees in His Son.

That did not change when the Son became the Creator, for His creational work is the execution of the intention of God. When He created the heavens and the earth, He was playing a game as it were, which He played with great joy. It makes us think of the satisfaction He had when after He had finished the creation, saw everything and then observed that it was “very good” (Gen 1:31).

Through what the Son has created, a new territory comes to being, in which the Son Himself finds His delight (verse 31). He Who has always been the delight of God’s heart and before Whom He always rejoiced, also rejoiced in the world of God’s world. Then it looks like He discovers something in there that fills Him with joy, which are “the sons of men”. He calls them “His delight”.

He delights in all His creation works, but in man He has a special delight. His delight in man appears in the clearest way from the fact that He has become Man. The angels rejoiced when He created the world (Job 38:6-7). But when the Son becomes Man, they see God’s delight in men and without any jealousy they praise Him for that with the words: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased” (Lk 2:14).

God has His pleasure with men. Therefore Christ became Man. God has no delight in sinful men. He is pleased with that one Man, His Son Jesus Christ, Who came as the expression of God’s delight in all men, for He came to save people from the eternal judgment. Each individual who confesses his sins and believes in Christ and His redemption work on the cross will share in God’s pleasure. God is pleased with every individual who is related with His Son through faith in His work.

World history is not an accident, in which spontaneously the Son of God once entered. At the beginning of all the ways of God is Wisdom, the personification of the Lord Jesus. This is the profound meaning of the world and its history. This is shown in a nutshell in Hebrews 1 (Heb 1:2-3). Christ is the center of God's ways.

Knowing His Person not only answers the questions of our heart, but takes us into the world of the Father and the Son. By the speaking of Wisdom out of that eternity we get an impression here. We are not just spectators in this majestic and sovereign acting of Wisdom, but in His grace, we are involved in this eternal plan of God. We are introduced in the house of Wisdom, as we see in Proverbs 9.

It is this Wisdom Who has accompanied any act of God with this earth, whether it concerns the creation or salvation history. All things are made through Him and for Him. This glory as Mediator is here before us in the joy that God has in him. And he is not a Mediator of angels, but his delight is with the children of men (Heb 2:16).

Pro 8:32-36 | The Blessing of Listening to Wisdom

32 “Now therefore, [O] sons, listen to me,
For blessed are they who keep my ways.
33 “Heed instruction and be wise,
And do not neglect [it].
34 “Blessed is the man who listens to me,
Watching daily at my gates,
Waiting at my doorposts.
35 “For he who finds me finds life
And obtains favor from the LORD.
36 “But he who sins against me injures himself;
All those who hate me love death.”

After the description of the Person of Wisdom and Her work, the logical conclusion, introduced by “now therefore”, should be that the sons listen to Her (verse 32). Therefore She calls upon the sons who have Her nature, who are wise. She declares all those who “keep Her ways”, to be “blessed”, for they show that they are not only hearers, but also doers.

She appeals to them to heed instruction, for in that way one can become wise (verse 33). As an extra exhortation, the appeal sounds not to neglect the instruction. Not listening means neglecting. He who does that, shows that he is a fool. He will not escape the eternal punishment.

He, who listens to Wisdom, is “blessed” (verse 34). He who listens, will make all effort not to miss a word that Wisdom speaks out. He watches “daily” at the “gates” of Wisdom, in order to catch and treasure each word that She speaks out. With the “gates” and the “doorposts” we could think of the entrance of the city and the temple of God (cf. Lk 21:38). To watch and to guard means that we focus on something by paying full attention. It speaks of an expectation with greatest concentration on what Wisdom, the Word of God, will say.

This patiently waiting on Wisdom, watchfully and close to Her house, is rewarded with finding life (verse 35). Wisdom and life are at the closest related to one another. The purpose of wisdom is that the true life, which is life in fellowship with God, is lived. “To obtain favor” means to be accepted by God. It is the awareness of the kindness of or recognition by God.

What a fool is somebody who sins against Wisdom (verse 36). To sin means to miss the goal, so here it means missing Wisdom, which is Christ. Christ is the center of all God’s plans. We see that in the Scriptures. He who sins against Him, so misses Him, misses everything that is important to God. That lack is fatal. He who accepts this lack because he refuses Wisdom, harms himself tremendously. It proves hatred against Wisdom and love for what will be his death. Sinners die because they choose against Christ (cf. Hos 13:9).

Proverbs 9

Introduction

Proverbs 9 is the conclusion and also the summary of Proverbs 1-8 that form the introduction to this book. Both Woman of Wisdom and the Woman of Folly are making a last appeal. Both women illustrate the teaching of the eight previous chapters.

They both address the naive (verses 4,16), who lack wisdom. Those are the naive ones, the gullible ones. They need wisdom to live, but they are easily influenced by foolishness. Both women compete for their favor. They both do it in their own way with an appropriate result. To accept the invitation of the Woman of Wisdom means to enter into life. To accept the invitation of woman Folly means to enter into the realm of death. The Woman of Wisdom offers life, without saying anything about pleasure. The Woman of Folly offers pleasure, without saying anything about death.

The Woman of Wisdom is presented as the Builder and Inhabitant of a beautiful house Who sends out Her maidservants to invite guests. The Woman of Folly is presented as a lewd woman who is sitting in a chair at the door of her house, luring passengers to come to her. Both women have organized a party, with a meal included.

Pro 9:1-6 | The Invitation of Wisdom

1 Wisdom has built her house,
She has hewn out her seven pillars;
2 She has prepared her food [Lit slaughtered her slaughter], she has mixed her wine;
She has also set her table;
3 She has sent out her maidens, she calls
From the tops of the heights of the city:
4 “Whoever is naive, let him turn in here!”
To him who lacks understanding she says,
5 “Come, eat of my food
And drink of the wine I have mixed.
6 “Forsake [your] folly and live,
And proceed in the way of understanding.”

Wisdom performs here for the last time in these introductory chapters (verse 1). This Wisdom is also called the highest Wisdom, which means that in Her the fullness of wisdom is found, all wisdoms are in Her. Again we see herein a clear picture of Christ “in Whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden” (Col 2:3).

Of Her is said that She “has built her house”. It is about something new, which was made by Her and which is available for everyone who accepts Her invitation. It is Her house. She has not built it only for Herself, but to welcome others into it and make them feel at home. Her house forms an enormous contrast to the house of the harlot. The harlot does not build her house, but tears it down.

Wisdom has also “hewn out her seven pillars” so that Her house may rest on them. The number seven speaks of fullness, without any lack, and perfection, without any shortage. The building has been established on a perfect foundation, which makes it stand unshakably. James mentions seven characteristics of “the wisdom from above” (Jam 3:17), which we can apply to the seven pillars. Those are the features which are perfectly seen in the Lord Jesus.

1. The first feature of wisdom is that she is “pure”. James emphasizes its importance by saying about purity that it takes the “first” place. The next features flow out of it. Purity is the first condition, because it is about Christ Who is pure.
2. Wisdom is “then peaceable”. Christ is the great Peacemaker. He who accepts Him and becomes wise, will also become a peacemaker. In the Sermon on the Mount the Lord Jesus speaks also about purity first and then about peace (Mt 5:8-9).
3. The next pillar of the house of the Woman of Wisdom is called “gentle”. It is a house wherein nobody defends his own rights. How gentle was Christ.
4. He who is wise, is also “reasonable”. Christ obeyed His Father in all things, which means that He perfectly followed the will of His Father. That will also be the case with everyone who accepts the invitation of Wisdom.
5. In His relation to others, Christ was “full of mercy and good fruits”. He was and is compassionate with others who are in trouble and is a blessing to them. Everyone who is wise, will act like Him.
6. Christ was and is in His dealing with others “without partiality”. He knows no favoritism and does not exclude anyone. He doesn’t look at the outward appearance, as it is neither with those who are wise.
7. Finally He was and is “without hypocrisy”. He knows no hypocrisy. He doesn’t masquerade Who He is, but He is Who He says to be. That also goes for everyone who is wise.

Wisdom has not only prepared the house and its pillars. She also has prepared everything by Herself in that house to welcome the invitees and to give them food (verse 2). The menu consists of meat and wine, of food and drink of the highest quality.

That “She has slaughtered her slaughter” shows that She uses Her own cattle. Herein we could see a reference to Christ Who has given Himself in death as a provision for sinners. Only on the ground of His death, they are able to come to the banquet. It is, so to speak, not a vegetarian banquet, but a banquet for which blood has been shed and where meat is eaten.

Metaphorically, or regarding its spiritual meaning, it is about eating the flesh of the Son of Man and drinking His blood. By eating of it, one receives eternal life, but that should be followed by eating it continually (Jn 6:53-56). Because, in view of the invitation of the Woman of Wisdom, this meat can be eaten by others, we could think of Christ as the peace offering. The peace offering represents Christ in His work on the cross, on the ground of which fellowship with Him, with God and with one another, is possible (cf. 1Cor 5:7-8).

This banquet, where fellowship is experienced, besides life also gives joy. We see that joy in the wine which She has mixed. Wine is a picture of joy (Jdg 9:13; Psa 104:15a). She has also been engaged with wine. She has mixed it with water or with herbs, so that it makes the best quality. Wine speaks of full happiness which is enjoyed when there is fellowship with the Father and the Son and with one another (1Jn 1:1-4).

Then we see that She has “also” set Her table. The word “also” points to an extra activity. A “table” speaks of fellowship, a joint possession and sharing it. That there is mention of “Her table”, means that Her concern is not only about supplying the guests with food and drink, but to eat and drink together with them also. “Her table” speaks of having fellowship with Her, of taking part of what Her portion is.

When Wisdom has made everything ready to welcome the guests, She sends out “Her maidens” (verse 3). Through them She calls “from the tops of the heights of the city”. The maidens are Her voice. She makes every effort to reach everyone with Her invitation. Everybody can hear Her, for She “calls”. Everybody can see Her, for She has taken a high position in the city. This is how Christ sends out His servants with His invitation to come to His banquet.

And who does She invite? Everyone who is naive and acknowledges it, for it is asked of him to turn in to Her (verse 4). What She makes, Her house, is large and has an unshakable foundation (verse 1). What She offers, Her meal, is royal (verse 2). Those whom She invites do not fit there. They are the opposite of royal, for they come from the street and lack every qualification to fit there. The Lord Jesus uses in a parable the same metaphor (cf. Lk 14:21-23).

Therefore something should happen first, before a person accepts the invitation. The call to come actually implies also a call for repentance. That resonates through the words “let him turn in here”. What Wisdom offers, can only be enjoyed when the path of sin is forsaken. He who realizes that he “lacks understanding”, will turn away from his foolish way; he will forsake that way, repent and come to Wisdom.

She invites, not only to come and see, but to eat of Her food and drink of the wine She has mixed (verse 5). How many people remain standing at a distance looking at what Christ offers, without actually accepting the eternal life which He offers. Some think that it is too easy. You can’t accept it just like that. They think that they have to do something first. Others want to enjoy life first. They think that they can determine themselves when they want to come. But it is an invitation without conditions and also an invitation which should be accepted unconditionally. The only thing that the invitees have to do, is to come directly (cf. Isa 55:1).

Every excuse for not accepting the invitation (cf. Lk 14:18-20) is a part of the “folly” which has to be forsaken. Whoever forsakes them, will live. As long as repentance has not taken place yet, one finds himself heading into death. But he, who listens to the voice of Wisdom, which is the voice of the Son of God, will transcend from death into life (Jn 5:24). This is life in the true and in its full sense, which is offered with repentance.

He who repents and lives, goes “in the way of understanding”, which is the way in which one shows understanding: a behavior and walk which is determined by understanding. It is the way in which the believer seeks fellowship with God and with the ones who are His Own. In that way the Scripture is being read and consulted and God’s guidance is asked in prayer. Also the counsel or instruction of fellow believers is appreciated. These things testify of understanding.

Pro 9:7-12 | The Scoffer and the Wise Man

7 He who corrects a scoffer gets dishonor for himself,
And he who reproves a wicked man [gets] insults for himself.
8 Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you,
Reprove a wise man and he will love you.
9 Give [instruction] to a wise man and he will be still wiser,
Teach a righteous man and he will increase [his] learning.
10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
11 For by me your days will be multiplied,
And years of life will be added to you.
12 If you are wise, you are wise for yourself,
And if you scoff, you alone will bear it.

Verses 7-12 form a transition section from the previous section (verses 1-6) to the next section (verses 13-18). We hear Wisdom still speaking here, Who summarizes the main things of Her teaching. We can see these words as spoken to the naive. He is not to let himself be involved with a scoffer, nor to correct him. If he corrects the scoffer, he will actually “get dishonor for himself”. To get into a debate with a scoffer means that you will be overloaded with filthiness.

A scoffer is in essence “a wicked man” (verse 7). It is somebody who sins willfully and is not subject to reason (2Pet 3:3-5). It is dangerous to correct someone who willfully provokes God. Such a person follows his own lusts and purposefully goes against all commandments of God. It is throwing pearls before swine when we present him the beauties of the gospel. There is a great chance that he will turn and tear the corrector to pieces (Mt 7:6).

What is said in this section is an urgent presentation of the two kinds of people which we have encountered in this book: the scoffer and the wise man. The “scoffer” is the one who lives with contempt for wise and sound teaching. His scoff is rooted so deeply that he doesn’t even tolerate that others do listen to it. He expresses that by making cynical remarks about it.

Wisdom urgently advises not to correct the scoffer, for it will only result in him hating you (verse 8a). The scoffer is incorrigible. Therefore Wisdom warns that everyone who tries to correct a scoffer, is asking for trouble. Making trouble and expressing insults are in the blood of these cynical peace disturbers. The only response that the scoffer gives, is hatred. Whoever tries to reprove the scoffer, will be rejected by him with disgust.

It implies that a situation may arise that he who is wise, will have to become wiser, and he who scoffs, will have to scoff more (cf. Rev 22:11). Wisdom makes clear that the character of each individual will develop further in the direction which he has chosen. Wisdom gives an option with eternal consequences.

In contrast to the response of the scoffer to a reproof is the response of the wise man to a reproof (verse 8b). The wise man will love the one who reproves him. He proves to be a wise man by listening to the reproof. And not only that, He will love the one who reproves him. Reproof which is accepted kindles love, which is the opposite of the hatred which arouses with the scoffer when he is reproved.

It shows that one does not think too lofty of himself and is willing to receive further teaching. Besides that, he is a wise man, he is also a righteous man (verse 9). Such a person wants to obtain more understanding in Who God is and in who he himself is. That understanding gives to life its true wealth and meaning. It makes one live with more and more satisfaction, because it fulfills God’s intention with it more and more.

True wisdom finds her origin in “the fear of the LORD” (verse 10). Without fear, in the sense of reverence, to God, there can be no mention of wisdom. Nobody is wise as long as does not fear God. To fear means: to be afraid of dishonoring God. It is not the fear of a bondservant for his master, but of someone who loves God. The first evidence of wisdom, meaning its beginning, is to fear God.

He who is wise from the fear of the LORD, is not afraid of Him, but on the contrary wants to be close to Him, in order to learn to know Him better. Through ”the knowledge of the Holy One” – with Whom God is meant as the triune God – the wise man gets understanding in life, how life should be lived.

Whoever listens to the calling voice of Wisdom and embraces its beginning, the fear of God, will be wonderfully rewarded for that. That reward is presented as an extra argument to accept the invitation of Wisdom. Wisdom gives the prospect of numerous days and the addition of years, in other words the eternal life (verse 11). It is here, as always, about the life of the soul and not about the physical life. “But the one who does the will of God” – so he who listens to Wisdom – “will live forever” (1Jn 2:17).

In verse 12 the conclusion follows with an agreement and a contradiction. Both he who is wise and he who is a scoffer, will face the consequences of who he is. He who is wise will get the benefit of it, while the scoffer will have to bear its consequences himself. He who is wise and lets himself be led by wisdom, will be rewarded for that by wisdom. Wisdom bears the reward in herself. The scoffer, he who scoffs at wisdom, only harms himself and will ultimately end up in eternal torment.

“Each one” – both he who is wise and he who is a scoffer – “will bear his own load” (Gal 6:5), means that each individual is responsible for what he has done. The wise man sows to the Spirit and the scoffer sows to his own flesh. The results are consistent with them (Gal 6:7-8).

Wisdom and scoff give no advantage or disadvantage to God (cf. Job 22:2-3). God finds no lack in Himself. He is the only happy God. Wisdom and scoffing often affect other people, but that is also not the case here. Here it is about what the ultimate portion of the wise and the scoffer will be, the results of their personal choice. To him who sees the similarity and the difference, it will not be difficult to make the right choice.

Pro 9:13-18 | The Invitation of the Woman of Folly

13 The woman of folly is boisterous,
[She is] naive and knows nothing.
14 She sits at the doorway of her house,
On a seat by the high places of the city,
15 Calling to those who pass by,
Who are making their paths straight:
16 “Whoever is naive, let him turn in here,”
And to him who lacks understanding she says,
17 “Stolen water is sweet;
And bread [eaten] in secret is pleasant.”
18 But he does not know that the dead are there,
[That] her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

“The woman of folly” is the strange woman, the harlot (verse 13). Earlier in the book we have heard and seen her (Pro 2:16; 5:3; 7:5). She “is boisterous”. Her life is full of restlessness. She has no stability and therefore she cannot possibly offer that which is in contrast to the Woman of Wisdom. She lacks the slightest bit of understanding, she is “naive and knows nothing” and therefore extremely foolish. “She knows nothing”, means that she has no knowledge of the good. God is the great absent One in her life.

All this lack of rest, understanding and knowledge does not embarrass her. She does not care at all about what others think of her, whatever evil she causes in families, bodies and souls of others and what she robs herself from and whatever harm she finally brings over herself. He who accepts her invitation, is of course not less guilty, but here the initiative comes from her. Her shameless attitude and behavior are also displayed in our days in a more and more shameless way. The posters along the roads and the advertisements in all kinds of media, have passed beyond shame for a long time already.

The contrast to the Woman of Wisdom is enormous. The Woman of Wisdom has built a beautiful house and has hewn out seven pillars for it (verse 1). So She has worked hard for it. Then She prepared a meal and had set the table (verse 2). The Woman of Folly has not done anything. She does not build, but tears down. She has not prepared a house, nor did she prepare a meal.

The Woman of Folly sits “at the doorway of her house” and actually “on a seat” (verse 14). She knows no shame and any feeling of inferiority is also strange to her. That she sits on a seat means that she considers herself a queen. She deludes herself in that way “by the high places of the city”. Just as she feels like, she behaves accordingly. She loves to radiate authority, as if it is a privilege to come into contact with her.

It reminds us of “the great Babylon, the mother of the harlots” (Rev 17:5), who says of herself in her heart: “I sit as a queen” (Rev 18:7). It is a symbolic representation of the roman church, which is seated in Rome and is built on seven hills (Rev 17:9). This corrupt system has spiritually committed fornication with the kings of the earth and has presented itself as one of them.

She is emphatically present in the streetscape (verse 14) and she invites each passenger (verse 15). In different areas she is an imitation of Wisdom, like it is with the calling for the invitation and the banquet, from the heights of the city. The Woman of Folly apparently has Godliness, but she denies the power of it (2Tim 3:5). She is corrupt regarding her way of thinking and reprehensible regarding the faith (2Tim 3:8). In her we see the devil as a master imitator in action.

The devil is also an excellent advertiser. We see that in the promotion flyers and promotion video’s, in which the needs of man are always keyed into. He knows very well where to find the needs of man. He knows the needs of man concerning food and drink and sexuality. Those are in themselves not sinful needs, for they were put by God in man. Those are really human needs. These needs only become sinful needs when man provides himself for that without asking God and accepts the offers that the devil makes.

The Woman of Folly addresses everyone as a representative of the devil; not only to those who want to sin purposefully. She calls to those “who are making their paths straight”, who do not want to turn away from, but want to walk the right path in obedience to what they were taught from God’s Word. She however, presents the right path as boring. She shows cunningly that turning away from the usual way, gives the necessary variation, which apparently will cause life to become exciting.

She also imitates Wisdom by especially addressing him who is “naive” (verse 16; verse 4). Let him turn once into her way and come to her. Among all those passersby certainly somebody is walking who “is naive and knows nothing”. For him she has a very attractive invitation.

She plainly offers “stolen water” (verse 17), with which she calls to the passersby to have improper sexual intercourse with her. In this way she responds to the passion as thirst (cf. Pro 5:15). This way of quenching the thirst is indeed stealing, for it is stealing the intimacy of someone else who alone is entitled to it. She presents it as “sweet”. Satan always presents sin as ‘sweet’, while the after taste of it is so bitter.

With stolen water also goes together “bread in secret”, which is ‘bread of mysteries’, ‘bread from hidden places’ (cf. Deu 13:6). Enjoying this bread cannot stand the daylight. She presents it as “pleasant”, while the after taste of it is very nasty.

By offering the water and the bread in this way, she appeals to the inclination that is hidden within every man, which is to do something that is illicit, which goes against the rules of God. But what she offers, can justly be called ‘a prisoner’s meal’, as the saying goes that a person in prison is put ‘on a starvation diet’. Whoever drinks this water and eats this bread, will become a prisoner of hers.

The end is even worse than a prison. He who enters into her house, meets a company there of “the dead” (verse 18). All of his predecessors who have accepted her invitation, “are in the depths of Sheol” (Pro 2:18; 7:27). The house of the Woman of Folly appears to be ‘the throat to hell’. All who on earth drink of her water and eat of her bread will have to digest that forever in hell. This confrontation with death encourages us to choose for life.

The Woman of Wisdom and the Woman of Folly illustrate two ways each with its own end. The Lord Jesus calls these ways the broad way and the narrow way (Mt 7:13-14). He appeals to avoid the broad way and to follow the right and narrow way of a righteous and wise life. The broad way leads to destruction, the narrow way leads to life. Almost all following verses in this book present these two ways: the way of life and the way that leads to life and the way of death and the way that leads to death.

Proverbs 10

Introduction

From Proverbs 10:1 there is a remarkable change in the form of how Solomon passes on his proverbs. This changed form runs through until Proverbs 22:16. We do not find the powerful instructions there to seek wisdom and no long speeches with clear situations and persons or personifications. Instead we find what corresponds to the name of the book, Proverbs, a collection of brief and concise proverbs or pronouncements. There are about three hundred and seventy-five of them.

In the first part of the book, Proverbs 1-9, it is about two persons: the Woman of Wisdom and the Woman of Folly. In this second part, Proverbs 10:1-22:16, it is about two kinds of persons, of which each kind follows one of the mentioned women. The one kind is wise, righteous, good, etcetera; the other kind is foolish, ungodly, evil, etcetera.

The form of the proverbs in this second part consists, with a few exceptions, of two lines of the verse, whereby the second line works out the thought of the first line. This way of writing is called ‘parallelism’. The lines run parallel.

We will encounter three main types of parallelism. It is worthwhile to pay attention to that.

1. There are parallels that correspond with one another, which is also called synonymous parallelism. In that case a similar thought of the first line of the verse is repeated in the second line of the verse, written in other words. It is two parts that reflect one thought. An example of it is:
Pride goes before destruction,
And a haughty spirit before stumbling. (Pro 16:18)

2. There are also parallels that stand against one another, that form a contrast which is called antithetic parallelism. In that case, the opposite of what is said in the first line of the verse is written in the second line of the verse. That is often rendered by the word ‘but’ at the beginning of the second line of the verse. An example of it is:
A wise son makes a father glad,
But a foolish son is a grief to his mother. (Pro 10:1)

3. A third form of parallelism is the complementary form, called synthetic parallelism. Thereby the second line of the verse gives a complement to the first line of the verse. The thought of the first line of the verse is elaborated in the second line of the verse. It is often rendered by the word ‘and’ at the beginning of the second line of the verse. An example of that is:
In the fear of the LORD there is strong confidence,
And his children will have refuge. (Pro 14:26)

The use of these different kinds of ‘parallelism’ will make us experience the power of the separate proverbs even more. Moreover, we find this use of parallelism also in the Psalms and in Ecclesiastes.

The proverbs in this second part mainly deal with the consequences of a good or bad action. In the epistle to the Galatians, Paul says it like this: “For whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Gal 6:7b-8). The proverbs that now follow help with making and stimulating to make the good choice; in other words, sow to the Spirit. There is no such thing as a predestination for making a choice, as if it would be inevitable to make that choice. That would exclude one’s own responsibility. This book makes it clear that everyone is responsible for the choice that he makes and in that way for the consequences of that choice. That makes this book so important.

There is no clear rank order to be remarked in this part of the book, although it occurs sometimes that two or more successive proverbs are related to one another. In that case it appears from a theme or a word which is mentioned in the successive verses. The fact that in most cases there is no relation between the verses, compels the reader to examine profoundly the meaning of one single certain verse, so one specific proverb, before he goes to the following proverb.

That the context is missing, in any case in our sight, also connects to the course of daily life in which all things do not always happen according to a specific pattern, a firm order. Although we have a specific expectation pattern on the basis of experience, life is still full of surprises too. When we will be with the Lord, it may probably be the case that all kinds of happenings, between which we did not see the connection, were surely connected to one another, but which we did not notice.

Precisely because of the apparent incoherence, this book invites us to read in it day by day. It is not so much the intention to read a chapter every day. That is certainly not wrong, for in that way we get more and more familiar with the contents in general. The point is that we read one or some verses and meditate on them. Who knows, we may face a situation to which we can apply what we have read and meditated on.

In that way the proverbs in this part of the book give new impulses over and over by presenting again and again another truth or the same truth from a different point of view. God’s Spirit has, through Solomon, given to us these ‘separate’ proverbs, in which at first sight no certain rank order is to be discovered, with a purpose. He knows what we need on a certain day or in a certain situation. He is able to bring to our remembrance a certain proverb for that occasion or make us read that specific proverb at that very moment.

Pro 10:1 | A Wise Son and a Foolish Son

1 The proverbs of Solomon.
A wise son makes a father glad,
But a foolish son is a grief to his mother.

This second part of Proverbs (Proverbs 10:1-22:16) has the same opening sentences as the first part, “the Proverbs of Solomon” (verse 1; Pro 1:1). It confirms that the book continues here, although the form is different from the first part. The second part of verse 1, with the first proverbs, underlines that. The first proverb is about a son in his relation with his father and mother. That indicates that the atmosphere in which the teaching is given, is just like in the first part that of the family (Pro 1:8). It emphasizes the importance of an education in the fear of God.

All following proverbs have the intention to help the son to act as a wise son and to keep him from acting like a foolish son. Whoever acts like a wise son, shows himself to be a son of wisdom. The result is the joy with his father, who has raised him in wisdom, just like the previous chapters have shown us. It goes together with the warning not to behave as a foolish son, which leads to grief to his mother. Esau was a foolish son. He delivered his parents grief by his marriage with Hittite women (Gen 26:34-35; 27:46).

Both the father and the mother have their own vital role with the upraising. The father takes care of the safety and security by his powerful love. The mother gives the child the feeling that it is wanted and accepted, by her warm, soulful love.

The child can be a son or a daughter. That there is mention of a ‘son’ again and again, is because it is about the ‘male’ aspect of the life as a believer, meaning to bring the relationship into practice. The ‘female’ aspect of the believer represents more the relation itself, the relation in which the believer is placed.

A wise son is not wise because he simply has much knowledge and also the necessary experience that he has gained. Wisdom is not ‘knowledge plus experience’, but knowledge of Christ as the wisdom of God. The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. It is impossible to become wise if He is not the center of our heart and life. Wisdom is ‘Christ-centered’.

We see in the first proverb what the consequence is when one listens to the teaching and wisdom and what the consequence is when it is not obeyed. Whoever listens to it, is “a wise son”. He is a continuous source of joy for his father. Whoever does not listen to it, is “a foolish son”. He is a continuous cause of an intense grief to his mother. It is clear that the mother rejoices continuously with the father in a wise son and the father has continuous grief together with the mother because of a foolish son.

We see that the consequences of wisdom or folly of the son affect others. Those are in the first place both the parents who have told him about wisdom and folly (cf. Pro 17:21,25; 23:24-25). But also others who live with God, will be happy or sad when they look at young people and notice wisdom or folly (cf. 2Jn 1:4).

Pro 10:2-3 | Righteousness Is Life

2 Ill-gotten gains do not profit,
But righteousness delivers from death.
3 The LORD will not allow the righteous to hunger,
But He will reject the craving of the wicked.

The next proverb is about life and death (verse 2). The wicked lives for the here and now and tries to gain as many treasures as he possibly can in this life. He does that in his own wicked way. All those treasures are “ill-gotten gains”, treasures which are characterized by wickedness. That can be because of the wicked way they were gained or because of the way it is being dealt with. With these treasures, which are characterized by wickedness, he thinks to lead a pleasant life.

But those treasures will not benefit him when he dies. What benefit did Ahab have when he took possession of Naboth’s vineyard (1Kgs 21:4-24; 22:39)? What benefit did the thirty pieces of silver deliver Judas for betraying the Lord Jesus (Mt 27:5)? Both of them died in their sins.

Only “righteousness delivers from death”. In the government of God, doing righteousness will not bring us into death, but guarantees us to be kept free from it. We do righteousness when we give everyone what he is entitled to, both God and man. This can only be realized by a person who possesses the righteousness of God in Christ. Such a person possesses a treasure of immeasurable value. That treasure is apart from all earthly treasures. Whoever possesses that treasure, can face death without fear, for death has been robbed from its terror. Christ has conquered death.

Righteousness is of far greater value than earthly prosperity, certainly when on top of that it has been gained dishonestly. Thereby prosperity can only be enjoyed for a limited time, at the longest during the short stay on earth, while righteousness goes through death and continues to be enjoyed thereafter.

The LORD makes sure that the righteous lacks nothing (verse 3). The Lord Jesus points His disciples to the birds of heaven which He takes care of. Then He says that those who are His are worth much more than those birds (Mt 6:25-26). He who lives in relation with Him, receives from Him what he needs. Even though he has any lack, still his soul will not suffer from hunger, for in his soul he has fellowship with God. Habakkuk can therefore sing, while he lacks of everything (Hab 3:17-19).

The wicked people receive nothing from God. They neither have asked Him anything, but have stolen properties from others and especially from God. He rejects their craving. A wicked man is never satisfied, he never says he has enough, but always wants more. His cravings are therefore evil cravings, which he wants to satisfy at the expense of others. Sometimes he even succeeds in that, but God will take away all of that from him. He will have to live forever with unfulfilled cravings. It is one of the torments of hell that the wicked people will never get what they want, because they have never wanted God when He offered Christ to them.

Pro 10:4-5 | To Work Diligently in Summer

4 Poor is he who works with a negligent hand,
But the hand of the diligent makes rich.
5 He who gathers in summer is a son who acts wisely,
[But] he who sleeps in harvest is a son who acts shamefully.

These verses relate to the previous verse. That God takes care (verse 3) does not mean that man should not work for his living (verse 4). Here on the one hand laziness and poverty are linked together and on the other hand diligence and riches. Laziness causes poverty, and diligence results in riches. A “negligent hand” is a limp, lazy hand, a hand that seems to perform something, but does not do anything in reality. It is a hand that neglects, that disappoints, because it is not used. He who is lazy, will become poor. Diligence or fervor is a condition to become rich. Paul warns us about laziness (2Thes 3:7-12). Ruth is an example of somebody who is diligent (Rth 2:2,19).

Diligence also goes together with the consideration and use of time. It is not the intention that we only get to work when we are excited to do it. We must work when the occasion to work is present, or, just like the Lord Jesus says of Himself, that He works “as long as it is day” (Jn 9:4). A son of wisdom will gather “in summer” (verse 5; Pro 6:6-8; 30:25). In that way he proves to be “a wise son”. The harvest is the right time to do the right thing. Joseph acted as a wise son by gathering and storing up the abundance out of the years of plenty for the years of ‘famine’ (Gen 41:46-56).

When we make the most of the suitable occasion, make the most of our time (Eph 5:15-16), we act as “a wise son”. This has everything to do with learning to know the will of God, which He reveals to those who want to be obedient. Young people will show to be ‘a wise son’, when they diligently study the Word of God. In that way they give attention to the exhortation that Solomon gives in the book of Ecclesiastes: “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come” (Ecc 12:1a).

The opposite of a wise son is the son who “sleeps in the harvest”. While everyone is working hard to bring in the harvest, this son is asleep in his bed. In this way he lets the time of gathering go by and will have nothing when he awakes. The Lord Jesus says: “The fields are white for harvest” (Jn 4:35). But He unfortunately also has to say: “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” (Mt 9:37; Lk 10:2). Many Christians are in a deep spiritual sleep. They are occupied with many things for themselves and not with the work for the Lord.

A son who sleeps in the harvest, does not only deprive himself. He “is a son who acts shamefully”, which means that he also disgraces and deprives his father, who has taught him wisdom. He behaves himself shamefully by neglecting his obligations, while knowing them, because of his laziness. Demas is an example of a person who disgraces others. Paul has to say with sadness to Timothy that Demas “has loved the present world” (2Tim 4:10). Unfaithful believers make believers who have prayed and fought for their spiritual well-being ashamed (cf. 1Jn 2:28).

Christians who do not meet the calling with which God has called them, make God the Father ashamed. God is ashamed of them. The people of God that had returned from Babel to Judah and Jerusalem, made God ashamed by saying that it was not the right time for building the house of God (Hag 1:2-3). They worked very hard for their own houses, while every effort for God’s house was too much for them.

Pro 10:6-7 | Blessing or Rotting Away

6 Blessings are on the head of the righteous,
But the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
7 The memory of the righteous is blessed,
But the name of the wicked will rot.

“The righteous” and “blessings” belong together (verse 6). On the head of the righteous are the blessings of God (cf. Gen 49:26; Deu 33:16), whatever people may do to them or may say about them. God speaks out His blessing over the righteous and blesses him with material and spiritual blessings. Hereby we can again firstly think of the Lord Jesus Who is the Blessed.

Opposite the head of the righteous stands “the mouth of the wicked”. His mouth “conceals violence”. That may imply that his mouth is silenced with violence. For him there is no blessing, but he is silenced in a violent way (cf. Psa 107:42). It can also imply that violence lies as a carpet over his mouth; that only violence comes out of his mouth. Each word of blessing to another is strange to him.

What has characterized the life of the righteous and the wicked, will be continued after death (verse 7). How blessed is the remembrance of the Righteous, Christ Jesus (Psa 112:6b), but how terrifying is the name of Judas. Thinking about the righteous who have lived before us, is an activity which produces blessing to us (e.g. Heb 11:1-40). We experience that when we read biographies of devoted believers. We keep such believers in grateful memory.

“The name of the wicked” gives the opposite effect. Thinking about it or mentioning it arouses horror. We shall not name our children after a wicked person. Such a name does not produce blessing, but such a name “will rot”, which indicates a process of rotting. The name of king Jeroboam is such a name. After his death he was indicated as the king “who made Israel sin” (1Kgs 14:16; 15:30; 22:53; 2Kgs 3:3; 10:29,31; 13:2,6,11; 14:24; 15:18,24,28; 23:15).

The question that we face is how we want to be remembered. With funerals often only the good things are mentioned, while the person sometimes was known very differently. But the aroma of the life that one has lived, remains after death, whatever words people may have spoken out at their funeral. Do we leave a sweet aroma or a stench? Shall our name be mentioned with gratefulness or with horror?

Pro 10:8-10 | Be Ruined or Walking Securely

8 The wise of heart will receive commands,
But a babbling fool will be ruined.
9 He who walks in integrity walks securely,
But he who perverts his ways will be found out.
10 He who winks the eye causes trouble,
And a babbling fool will be ruined.

“The wise of heart will receive commands” which his father or another person who is superior to him, presents to him (verse 8). He does that because he is aware of his need of them and the value of them. In himself he has no power to say no to the sin within himself and against the temptations of the world around him. Therefore the wise of heart longs for commands which he can treasure in his heart; these will make them lead his life (Pro 4:23). He is willing to be taught in order to become wiser.

The fool is continually speaking himself, simply talking nonsense. In that way he is not able to listen to the commands that are presented to him and are unto life. You may try to show him that he needs wisdom, but he will directly interrupt you with highly verbose absurdities. In this way he circumvents the confrontation with his real need, for he refuses to see that.

One walks “in integrity” when he walks with God and not for the eye of men (verse 9; Gen 17:1). In that way he walks “securely”. Security goes hand in hand with integrity. Joseph walked in integrity and therefore enjoyed the protection of God. “But he who perverts his ways”, which means walks in sinful ways, will be found out. God sees all his ways and will confront him with them. That uncovering, that “to be found out”, goes together with punishment (Psa 125:5).

Peter perverted his ways when he denied his Christian position, out of fear for the Jews. He was not straightforward about the truth of the gospel. Paul remarked that and strongly admonished him concerning it (Gal 2:11-14).

There are people who cause trouble for others by secret communication (verse 10; cf. Pro 6:12-14; Psa 35:19). To say something with a wink has the meaning that what is said, is not true. A “babbling fool” will be ruined by himself. Here the second line of the verse is not a comparison to the first line of the verse; it is neither a contradiction, but complementary to it, which is indicated by the word “and” at the beginning of the second line of the verse.

Pro 10:11-14 | The Mouth of the Righteous and of the Wicked

11 The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,
But the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
12 Hatred stirs up strife,
But love covers all transgressions.
13 On the lips of the discerning, wisdom is found,
But a rod is for the back of him who lacks understanding.
14 Wise men store up knowledge,
But with the mouth of the foolish, ruin is at hand.

“The mouth of the righteous”, which means what the righteous says, “is a fountain of life” for who listens to it (verse 11). His words are beneficiary and give life force. A fountain continually gives fresh water. This is perfectly true about the mouth of the Lord Jesus. Out of His mouth came words of grace (Lk 4:22). His words “are spirit and are life” (Jn 6:63).

We find that also with all the prophets that have spoken God’s Word. All their words of instruction which they spoke on God’s behalf, were intended to make the people of God live the true life. The same goes for the mouth of the New Testament believer. It is a fountain of life when he lets himself be led by the Holy Spirit in his words. Then “rivers of living water” will flow from his innermost being for the benefit of others (Jn 7:38-39).

What the wicked says has a totally different content. He spreads violence. What he says, causes only harm to others (verse 6b). The quality of life is destroyed by him. Wherever he is and opens his mouth, the atmosphere gets poisoned. Instead of refreshment and life, he sows death and destruction with his babbling.

The wicked are driven by “hatred”, but the righteous by “love” (verse 12). Out of hatred flows conflict and quarrels. The words of the wicked conceal violence, but the love of the righteous covers sins by forgiving them. Love brings peace through forgiveness, through the covering of “all transgressions”.

There is an essential difference between the concealment or covering of verse 11 and the covering of verse 12. In verse 11 it is about the covering itself. Nothing is being covered, but visible and that is violence. In verse 12 something is being covered and removed and that is all transgressions.

The Lord Jesus has in His love covered all the transgressions of those who believe in Him with His blood and forgiven them by that. Love “does not take into account a wrong suffered” (1Cor 13:5). Peter applies this word powerfully to our mutual interactions as believers who are living in the end times (1Pet 4:7-8). We also cover transgressions or sins when we turn back a sinner from his wrong way (Jam 5:19-20).

He who seeks “wisdom”, will find it “on the lips of the discerning” (verse 13). Wisdom is to be found there. As wisdom and the lips of the discerning belong together, so also “the rod” and “the back of him who lacks understanding” belong together. The only language that people understand who lack understanding, is the language of the rod that beats them as a punishment. They have hurt others with their talk and as a punishment they receive pain.

Rehoboam, Solomon’s foolish son, is someone who has acted as a man who lacks understanding when the people asked him to lighten them from the burdens. He did not listen to the wise counsel, but followed a foolish advice. Therefore he had got to do with the rod, which is the chastisement of God (1Kgs 12:1-24).

“Wise men” store up “knowledge” (verse 14). They can come up with the right thing at the right time on the right occasion (Mt 12:35a; 13:52). Wise men know the value of being silent. Knowledge is a precious treasure, which one does not just simply sacrifice. They do not scatter with words of wisdom all the time. The fool lets himself to be heard at the most inappropriate times and in the most inappropriate situations. From what he says, it appears that he leads himself to the fall.

Pro 10:15-17 | Security and Life or Ruin

15 The rich man’s wealth is his fortress,
The ruin of the poor is their poverty.
16 The wages of the righteous is life,
The income of the wicked, punishment.
17 He is [on] the path of life who heeds instruction,
But he who ignores reproof goes astray.

He who is rich will feel himself thereby just as safe as someone who is in a fortress (verse 15). He is able to provide himself with all kinds of means to protect himself from evil. The poor is not able to do that and they easily fall prey to wicked men. This is what the wise observes in the world. One can be rich or poor, which gives him a certain vulnerability or invulnerability.

Spiritually we can apply this to being rich or poor in the faith. He who realizes how rich he is in Christ, feels that he is in a fortress. But the believer who is not aware of that, has a poor and vulnerable life of faith. The rich believer is safe from false doctrine; he will not allow anyone to rob him from that wealth. The poor is a prey to “every wind of doctrine” (Eph 4:14).

One’s reward depends on his moral character, which means whether he is a righteous or a wicked (verse 16). What a righteous does, improves life, what a wicked acquires, his income, leads to sin and death. Said in New Testament language: “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace” (Rom 8:6). Above all “the wages of the righteous”, which is Christ, is wages “unto life”. The result of what He did is that “whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (Jn 3:16).

When someone “heeds instruction” and accepts it, he will go on “the path of life” (verse 17). He will hold on to it and therefore stay in that path of life. In that way he is an inviting example to others to listen to instruction. Whoever does not listen to instruction, will bring others on a wrong way by going astray himself. The way we behave has not only consequences for ourselves. We are an example for others in that way, which leads others to act in a certain way. We set a good or a bad example and our followers follow our good or bad example.

Pro 10:18-21 | The Use of the Lips

18 He who conceals hatred [has] lying lips,
And he who spreads slander is a fool.
19 When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable,
But he who restrains his lips is wise.
20 The tongue of the righteous is [as] choice silver,
The heart of the wicked is [worth] little.
21 The lips of the righteous feed many,
But fools die for lack of understanding.

To conceal “hatred”, hiding the wrong, is hypocritical and testifies of “lying lips” (verse 18). Whoever conceals hatred is a liar, for he hides his real intentions. He acts nicely, but in his heart hatred is burning. Absalom was such a person in his approach to Amnon (2Sam 13:22-29). The second line of the verse speaks about a possibly even greater evil. That regards the spreading of “slander”. Whoever does that, breaks someone down to everyone he tells the slander to. Whoever does that, is a fool. In the first line of the verse something is concealed or kept hidden; in the second line of the verse something is spread or made public.

A person who talks a lot cannot possibly speak the truth for one hundred percent in everything that he says (verse 19). What James says of the words that a man speaks applies especially to him: “For we all stumble in many ways” (Jam 3:2a). A fool uses many words (Ecc 5:2). A “transgression” means overstepping a boundary, to come into a prohibited territory. It testifies of wisdom if we restrain our lips. It is wise not to say always and surely not directly everything that we think. Every person must “be quick to hear, slow to speak” (Jam 1:19).

“The tongue of the righteous”, which implies what the righteous says, is worth much more than “the heart of the wicked”, which means his best intentions (verse 20). The contrast between both expressions is the contrast between the external and the internal. The external is the tongue – what is said. The internal is the mindset of the heart, or what one’s intentions are. There should be a healthy balance between them.

What the righteous says, has the value of “choice silver”, while the intention of the wicked has no value at all. The Lord Jesus had a tongue of “choice silver”, for He used His tongue after He had received teaching. Therefore He knew “how to sustain the weary one with a word” (Isa 50:4). Silver is a picture of the price that has to be paid for the redemption (Exo 30:11-16). The words of the Lord Jesus were focused on redeeming people.

The value of the words of the righteous is that many are (spiritually) fed by them and in that way stay alive (verse 21). To feed means to herd, like a shepherd does. It is not only about food, but also about taking care to give the right food. The words are passed on with care. That goes especially for the words of the Lord Jesus. He is the Bread of life. Also the prophets who have spoken in His Name, have fed the people with their words; they gave the right spiritual food (Jer 3:15). Those words are edifying. The task of the shepherd and teacher in the church is also to edify the church.

The fools lack understanding. They do not want to be fed by the lips of the Righteous; they despise His words. In that way they reject life and die. Whoever rejects Him and does not accept His words, will be condemned by the word that He has spoken (Jn 12:48).

Pro 10:22-26 | The Blessing of the LORD

22 It is the blessing of the LORD that makes rich,
And He adds no sorrow to it.
23 Doing wickedness is like sport to a fool,
And [so is] wisdom to a man of understanding.
24 What the wicked fears will come upon him,
But the desire of the righteous will be granted.
25 When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more,
But the righteous [has] an everlasting foundation.
26 Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes,
So is the lazy one to those who send him.

All the riches that we have, has been given to us by God (verse 22). It is His blessing, without Him asking any achievement, any “sorrow” (or ‘toil’), from our side (cf. Psa 127:1). The word “that” fully emphasizes “the blessing of the LORD”. Only that blessing makes rich. This verse is a warning against self-satisfaction, against the thought that our richness is owed to ourselves.

There is no contradiction to verse 4, where it is written that the hand of the diligent makes rich. Both the one and the other are true. We should work, but also realize that the Lord has to give us the strength to and also bless it. Then we will realize that everything comes from Him and we will honor Him for it.

One’s character becomes public by the things in which he finds pleasure (verse 23). Doing wickedness is like sport to a fool. It is just as pleasant to him as playing is for a child. It is his greatest pleasure to do wickedness, which appears from the obscene expressions that he uses. “To do wickedness” is an indication for a very sinful behavior. The fool even considers the worst in the area of sin as recreation, as a joke. He laughs at it and because of it.

That is opposite to the wisdom that one with understanding gives full joy, as if it is about a pleasant game. It is not about what a person does, but about the conduct that one has with what he does. Wisdom gives pleasure to a person who has understanding. That pleasure is found in God’s Word (Psa 119:117).

The wicked may have pleasure in doing wickedness, but at the same time he is inwardly afraid of what is to come. He ultimately receives what he is afraid of (verse 24). He lives without God and therefore without any security, which means that he is always in fear. The righteous on the contrary, receives what he longs for, for he lives with God and expects everything from Him. Here an enormous contrast is pictured.

He who has no foundation in his life, meaning who has no biblical principles, looks like a whirlwind that passes away (verse 25). A whirlwind rushes for a moment and then disappears again, while he leaves a trace of destruction behind. That’s what the wicked is like. This connects to the previous verse, where it is said that what the wicked fears, comes upon him. He can enjoy in his life everything that he wishes, like richness, honor, family, while he lives in fear of losing that all ultimately. It will all indeed be taken away from him like by a rushing wind – probably in this life already, but very surely with his (perhaps sudden) death.

The righteous is the opposite. The same things could happen to him, like the wicked. He may also lose his richness, honor and family (Job 1:12-19; 2:6-9). But when disasters happen in his life, he appears to be “an eternal foundation” (cf. Mt 7:24-27). It proves the steadfastness of the position that the righteous has because his life is built on Christ the Rock. Therefore the house of his life remains firm, however much the whirlwind may bash against it.

Vinegar gives a terrible feeling to your teeth when you drink it (verse 26). Smoke also causes irritation, for it brings tears to your eyes and therefore you do not see anything anymore and cannot move further. The lazybones who is sent for a special order is compared to these unpleasant experiences. He does not carry out the order, or is too late, or inaccurate and incomplete. The lazybones causes only irritation when you expect anything from him. Slowness in the work of the Lord is also a bad and irritating matter. He who is slow in it, even brings a curse upon himself (Jer 48:10).

Pro 10:27-28 | Hope and Expectation

27 The fear of the LORD prolongs life,
But the years of the wicked will be shortened.
28 The hope of the righteous is gladness,
But the expectation of the wicked perishes.

The normal expectation for a person who fears the LORD, is that his life will be prolonged, while the years of the wicked “will be shortened” (verse 27). That a Godly person sometimes dies young and the ungodly lives long, can cause doubt to this verse (Psa 49:16-20; 73:3-12). This doubt disappears when we consider that the meaning of it goes beyond death.

The hope that the righteous has, gives him joy now already and not only soon, at the fulfillment of that hope (verse 28). The meaning of it is that his hope is related to the faithful God and His Christ. – that particular God is now already with him. In Him his heart trusts. The eye of the righteous is not mainly focused on what he hopes, life to eternity, but on Him Who will not disappoint his hope.

Someone said that it is not about a long life, but about a full life. A full life is a life, filled with the will of God and is therefore a long life, for “the one who does the will of God, will live forever” (1Jn 2:17). The Lord Jesus has spoken about life in abundance (Jn 10:10b). This life will never come to an end and is also a life that is enjoyed in its fullness. It is not only about the duration, but also about the content. The short sojourn on earth is followed by a life to eternity with the Lord Jesus in the Father’s House.

The ungodly also have their expectation (verse 29). They consider themselves to be rich when they are prosperous and healthy by living as if this will endure endlessly. In their dream house they really believe that they are now already in heaven, but they will wake up in hell. They have absolutely no ground for their expectation that their prosperity will always remain, because they do not consider God. Their expectation will therefore perish. King Zedekiah is a clear example of it (Jer 39:1-8).

Pro 10:29-30 | The Way of the LORD

29 The way of the LORD is a stronghold to the upright,
But ruin to the workers of iniquity.
30 The righteous will never be shaken,
But the wicked will not dwell in the land.

“The way of the LORD”, which means the way that He goes and the actions that He takes, the work that He does, means a stronghold to the upright (verse 29). The upright feels himself to be fully safe on God’s way, under His guidance, protected against all kinds of dangers. He entrusts everything to God in confidence, because he knows that He judges righteously. That’s what the Lord Jesus did (1Pet 2:23b). The same act of God which is the stronghold to the upright, means “ruin” to those who do iniquity. God uses His power against them. He is righteous in His judgment to both the upright and the workers of iniquity.

“The righteous” will surely “never be shaken” (verse 30). He will steadfastly, uninterruptedly stand firm and receive all the promises that God has promised him. He will always dwell in the land (Lev 20:22). But the wicked will not receive anything from the future blessing that God will give to His people on earth (Deu 4:25-27). They will be wiped out of the land (or earth) and will therefore “not dwell” in it.

Pro 10:31-32 | The Mouth and the Lips of the Righteous

31 The mouth of the righteous flows with wisdom,
But the perverted tongue will be cut out.
32 The lips of the righteous bring forth what is acceptable,
But the mouth of the wicked what is perverted.

“The mouth of the righteous” not only speaks with wisdom, but it “flows” with it (verse 31). Like always, we also think here with ‘the righteous’ in the first place about the Lord Jesus. He speaks always and abundantly with wisdom. Others can be refreshed by it. He is the Source out of Whom wisdom flows ceaselessly.

It is very different from “the perverted tongue”. This tongue will be “cut out”, like a “tree that does not bear good fruits will be cut down and thrown into the fire” (Mt 3:10). The man of sin, the antichrist, is the prototype of it. This applies to all false prophets and false teachers. When the tongue is cut out, it is impossible to speak any word. The result is that he cannot destroy anyone with his wicked talk anymore.

“The lips of the righteous” bring forth acceptable things that do good to man (verse 32). The righteous knows “what is acceptable” to others to listen to; he knows to choose his words well. The Lord Jesus has spoken what is acceptable. He has spoken gracious words, at which people have wondered (Lk 4:22). To us it is said that we should speak “only such a word according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear” (Eph 4:29). These are acceptable words.

In contrast to that, the wicked speaks only perverted things. He speaks without thinking about it. What he says, will bring himself and others into perdition.

Proverbs 11

Pro 11:1 | Honesty in Doing Business

1 A false balance is an abomination to the LORD,
But a just weight is His delight.

This verse deals with doing business. It is just as it happens on the market and in the shop, so in the everyday life. God wants that all trade transactions happens honestly. When that does not happen, it is “an abomination” to Him; when it does happen, it is “His delight”. We see here God’s personal response to the way in which trade happens. The use of “a false balance” implies that one of the members of His people is being deprived. God defends the deprived one here. In His ‘balance’ of the conduct of the seller, He uses an absolute honest measure.

There is nothing in the everyday life that is outside of Him. The life of His people ought to reflect His features. Everything ought to happen in accordance to His will, which means in accordance to Whom He is as light and love. That goes also for doing business.

Because in doing business it is especially about profit, money, there are dangers especially there to be dishonest. One can easily be driven by the love for money. Asking more money than the product is worth, give a little less than is paid for, increases the gain. God knows His people and He therefore wants them to use “just balances, a just ephah and a just bath” (Eze 45:10).

All through the Scripture dishonesty in business is being condemned (Lev 19:35-36; Deu 25:13-16; Amos 8:5). God does not only forbid it, it is an abomination to Him. God accepts one’s practice only if it is honest. He makes sure whether we deliver the product according to the money we ask for that very product. Dishonesty flourishes when God is not being considered. A false balance is literally a ‘weight of deception’. Whoever uses a false balance, lacks honesty in his heart (verse 20).

To be honest is linked by God in the law to the redemption of His people from Egypt (Lev 19:35-36). Through the redemption He made them His own people. Therefore they should be honest, like He is. This is how we, who belong to the church of God, ought to be honest in our doing business, because of our redemption from the world. Every injustice, every dishonesty, should be avoided by us (1Cor 6:8). That does not only apply to material matters, but also when we must deal with conflicts or sins. Do we then maintain an honest standard, or do we let our balance be influenced by family bonds or friendship relations?

Pro 11:2-3 | Humility and Uprightness

2 When pride comes, then comes dishonor,
But with the humble is wisdom.
3 The integrity of the upright will guide them,
But the crookedness of the treacherous will destroy them.

“Pride”, or arrogance, is literally ‘to overcook’, or crossing the borders and the characteristic of rebellion (verse 2). Proud people exalt themselves to the level of a goddess. In the slipstream of their exaltation follows “dishonor”, a word which means ‘to be deflated’. The proud, puffed-up man is like a balloon that deflates, until only a rag is left.

A striking illustration of that is of Herod Agrippa, who let himself to be celebrated as God and was immediately eaten by the worms and died (Acts 12:21-23). He was a puffed-up god who shriveled into a rag. Also the pharisees are puffed-up. They think greatly of themselves in their relation with God and despicably look down on others (Lk 18:9-12; Mt 6:5). The Lord speaks out the ‘woe to you’ over them (Mt 23). Another example of pride is the great Babylon, which is the roman church, which will also be judged for that (Rev 18:7-8). The only thing that will be left of it is “the smoke of its fire” (Rev 18:18).

The opposite of pride is humility. “With the humble is wisdom”, which appears from the place that they take towards God and men. They do not arrogate anything; they are not puffed-up. With them there is the fear for God, which is their wisdom. They will be exalted at God’s time (Lk 14:11; 1Pet 5:6).

He who is humble is also upright (verse 3). The consequence or result of inner “integrity” is that it “will guide the upright” on the way that they go and in the relationships that they have. There is freedom and life in their walk, both for themselves and for those that they meet. We see here the blessed influence which integrity has to the upright. Integrity is a mind of heart, which comes to expression in acting honestly and faithfully.

In contrast to the upright, we have “the treacherous”. With them there is no integrity, but the opposite, “crookedness”. This crookedness appears from the wrong ways that they go and the wrong doctrine that they proclaim. They themselves suffer from its effect. Because of their crookedness they destroy themselves. We see here the destructive influence that crookedness has on the treacherous themselves. Whoever seeks to harm others, will harm himself.

Pro 11:4-6 | Righteousness Saves and Guides

4 Riches do not profit in the day of wrath,
But righteousness delivers from death.
5 The righteousness of the blameless will smooth his way,
But the wicked will fall by his own wickedness.
6 The righteousness of the upright will deliver them,
But the treacherous will be caught by [their own] greed.

Although one possesses all the gold and silver of the world, it is of no meaning “in the day of wrath”, which is the day of the wrath of God over sin (verse 4; Zep 1:18; Eze 7:19; Mk 8:37-38). ‘The day of wrath’ can be both the day of death and the coming judgment. In today’s life a judge can be bribed with one’s property and one can be bailed out from his punishment. But it does not work like that with God. The only thing that counts on that day is whether a person is redeemed by the blood of the Lamb (1Pet 1:18-19). Whoever has been redeemed by it, has the righteousness of God through the faith in Christ. Only that “righteousness delivers from death”.

Righteousness not only delivers from death, but also has great practical value for life. Righteousness makes the way of the blameless smooth (verse 5). The blameless is incorruptible, impeccable, always honest. That appears from his righteousness, from doing the right thing. That’s why his way is also smooth. There is nothing distorted or ambiguous about it. He goes a safe and secure way through life. The way that Joseph went in the midst of his brothers and in Egypt, is an example of it. It is perfectly true of the Lord Jesus, the perfectly Blameless, and it is also true for everyone who blamelessly follows Him.

What characterizes the way of the blameless, is totally missing with the wicked. With him we see the opposite. His wickedness does not give him any stability in life, but on the contrary causes his fall.

In verse 6 there is again mention of “the righteousness of the upright”. In verse 5 it is the singular, ‘the upright (or the blameless)’, now it is plural. It is now about the salvation from dangerous, life-threatening situations. The smooth way of verse 5 is a way with dangers. The same righteousness that makes the way smooth, also helps with overcoming difficulties on that very way. The upright seek their help with Him Who has given the righteousness.

“The treacherous” lack righteousness and therefore also help in dangers. They do not even see those dangers, but are led by their “greed”. They are “caught” by their own greed, which makes them to be captivated by it as in a prison. Their greed causes them to commit sins, which surround them as a net out of which they cannot liberate themselves. By that net they are being dragged to the judgment and ultimately to the eternal death.

Pro 11:7-8 | The Fate of the Wicked

7 When a wicked man dies, [his] expectation will perish,
And the hope of strong men perishes.
8 The righteous is delivered from trouble,
But the wicked takes his place.

“The expectation” of “a wicked man” perishes the moment that he dies (verse 7; Psa 49:17-20). From this verse speaks a great tragedy which is related to the expectation that the wicked believes that he has. Every expectation for a long life or success will end in disillusionment because that expectation is anchored in the confidence in earthly property.

Even “the hope of strong men” that they would always live prosperously with an unshakable confidence in carrying out all of their plans, will fade away like a vapor when they die. The Lord Jesus tells about a rich man who dies without God. This man had to leave all his riches behind and in the afterlife could not even find just a drop of water to cool off his tongue (Lk 16:19-31).

What a grace that the believer may have a certain hope, a hope that does not perish when he dies, but on the contrary will be fulfilled. The hope of the believer is a security; it is a hope that does not disappoint (Heb 11:1; Rom 5:5). Therefore he hopes “with perseverance” (Rom 8:24-25).

“The righteous is delivered from trouble” by God (verse 8). The righteous may find himself in trouble. We can think of oppressive, squeezing situations that limit him in his freedom and which frighten him. Wicked men may make his life very anxious. But God will make sure that he will not die and He will save him from it.

What strikes “the wicked”, is in contrast to that, but in a remarkable way. The wicked not only receives a deserved punishment, but he takes the place which he first brought the righteous to. The roles are being reversed. A clear example of that is Haman, who got hanged instead of Mordecai (see Est 7:10; Est 9:1). We see the same happen with the men who are thrown in the lion’s den instead of Daniel, (Dan 6:24-25). This reversal of roles will also happen when the Lord Jesus will appear. The believers will then be delivered from the tribulation and the wicked will then come into the tribulation (2Thes 1:6-7).

Pro 11:9 | Knowledge Delivers From the Godless Man

9 With [his] mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor,
But through knowledge the righteous will be delivered.

“The godless man” is an unrighteous person. He pretends to be a helpful neighbor, but he is an enemy. “With [his] mouth” he seeks to “destroy his neighbor”, which emphasizes how extremely vicious he is. He gives his neighbor the expectation that he wants to be useful to him, to seek the good for him. Instead of fulfilling that expectation, he seeks his destruction. He speaks all kinds of evil about his neighbor in order to deliver him a bad name. This is also called ‘character assassination’. In this way he makes the life of his neighbor a torture.

But “the righteous” will not fall prey to his wickedness. They actually have “knowledge”. Due to their knowledge they see through the godless man. They see the real intention behind the words of the godless man; they unmask and resist him. The mouth of the godless man is stopped and the righteous are saved. The faithful Christian knows, by holding fast “the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching”, how “to refute the opponents”, by which he “silences them” (Tit 1:9-11).

Pro 11:10-11 | The Joy and Exaltation of a City

10 When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices,
And when the wicked perish, there is joyful shouting.
11 By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted,
But by the mouth of the wicked it is torn down.

In verses 10-11 it is not about individuals, but about “a city”, a living community. A living community knows how to estimate it when it goes well with the righteous (verse 10). That “it goes well” with the righteous, meaning their condition of prosperity, is because of their honest trading, which benefits the city. A city, which means the civilians of the city, even shouts and rejoices in it (cf. Est 8:15).

There is also joyful shouting when the wicked perish (2Kgs 11:20). There will also be a joyful shout and rejoicing in heaven when the wicked Babylon has been destroyed (Rev 18:20-21; 19:1-2). In the first case there is joy over the good influence of the righteous. In the second case there will be rejoicing because of the elimination of the destructive influence of the wicked.

The good influence of the upright and the bad influence of the wicked on the life in a city are underlined in verse 11. “The upright” speak out blessing over the city and wishes it prosperity. It does not stop with the wish of blessing, but the upright also work blessing. This is how the city is “exalted”. It receives a good reputation; it is a pleasant place to dwell into. The city becomes attractive.

The opposite is ‘the promotion’ by the wicked. They tear it down with their words. They do that by speaking negatively about the city, but also by their general language use. Out of their mouth comes only curse and filthiness. Even with a decent language use, like many politicians often use, forgery is hidden in their words and they follow a hidden agenda. They present themselves as protectors, but their practice will expose that they tear down the city.

We can apply this to the local church of God as a city. When we are upright, we will say good things about the church as a local community and will want to be a blessing to it. All who participate in the local church will rejoice in it. People who do not have any connection with it, because they live without God, will not allow a local church any basis of existence. They will spread slander about it and make every effort to make the life of the Christians unlivable and the gatherings impossible. Such people may also find themselves in the church and do their destructive work by spreading false doctrines.

Pro 11:12-13 | Understanding and Trustworthiness

12 He who despises his neighbor lacks sense,
But a man of understanding keeps silent.
13 He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets,
But he who is trustworthy conceals a matter.

He who despises his neighbor, proves that he “lacks sense” (literally ‘is without a heart) (verse 12). Such a person totally lacks self-knowledge. He also shows his despise. That appears from the second line of the verse. Someone who has understanding about what he is himself, will not speak despicably about his neighbor, but “keeps silent”. He is aware that his neighbor is not less than himself and that he himself is like his neighbor. The standard for the Christian is even higher: he will regard the other person “with humility of mind as more important than himself” (Phil 2:3; Eph 4:25).

A person who goes about “as a talebearer”, is doing wrong and is not to be trusted (verse 13; cf. 1Tim 5:13). When something is entrusted to him in secret, he will reveal it publicly with pleasure. In contrast to that stands the person who “is trustworthy”. When something is said to him confidently, he will conceal that matter and not reveal it. He will not misuse the confidence that has been given to him and will therefore not harm and disappoint the person who has confided in him.

Pro 11:14-15 | Wise Counsel – Don’t Be a Guarantor

14 Where there is no guidance the people fall,
But in abundance of counselors there is victory.
15 He who is guarantor for a stranger will surely suffer for it,
But he who hates being a guarantor is secure.

“Wise counsel” is essential for the stability of a people (verse 14). Wise counsel is to be compared with the piloting of a ship. That ship is the people here, the nation. The old expression ‘the Ship of State’ indicates it. The comparison is made, because a ship, concerning its safety, is also dependent on the guidance of a captain who has to be an expert in his field. Without the guidance of men in ‘the Ship of State’ who are able to lead the people, the ship will sink, which means that “the people fall”. But “in abundance of counselors”, through many wise men in all kinds of area, “there is victory” from the hardship and the people are saved from the fall.

This also applies to the people of God, of which the local church is a representative. Consultation in prayer and on the basis of God’s Word is necessary to be a church where the Lord Jesus can be in its midst. At the meeting in Jerusalem about the dispute whether the peoples have to keep the law, they came to a liberating conclusion, due to the contributions of several wise counselors (Acts 15).

For a solidly financial management it is necessary not to commit inexplicable financial obligations. One of that kind of inexplicable obligations is being “a guarantor for a stranger” (verse 15). To be a guarantor is an extremely stupid commitment (cf. Pro 6:1-6), certainly when it is done for a stranger. Solomon is very clear here in his warning: he who is guarantor for a stranger “will surely suffer for it”. He who is guarantor, guarantees the other that he will pay for his debt when this person is not able to, while he has no guarantee that the other person will pay him back. That can lead him to his own bankruptcy and poverty.

Due to the contradiction in the second line of the verse, it is emphasized how dangerous it is to be guarantor. It is about nothing less than a “secure”, carefree life. That is the prospect of him “who hates to strike hands” as it is literally said. To strike hands is the confirmation of an agreement, which we make today by the means of our signature. Never sign anything or never give any kind of confirmation before you fully know about what you have obligated yourself to with your signature.

Pro 11:16 | A Gracious Woman and Ruthless Men

16 A gracious woman attains honor,
And ruthless men attain riches.

“A gracious woman” is a charming, endearing woman. The woman is indeed ‘the weaker vessel’ (1Pet 3:7), though she yet has the power to attain “honor”. She does that like “ruthless men attain riches”. Her power is actually expressed in a totally different way from the ruthless men. Her power is not physical, but spiritual by nature. She is a woman with virtue, which is spiritual courage or power, a woman who trusts in God. An example of that is Ruth (Rth 3:11).

She is “gracious” or endearing because she attains imperishable “honor”. That honor will remain, even if the outward beauty diminishes. She knows its value. That it should be ‘attained’, means that there are powers in action that are seeking to take away her honor. In the New Testament the honor of the woman is related to her long hair, which is a symbol of her submissiveness towards the man (1Cor 11:15). She attains it, in spite of all violence of emancipation.

Ruthless men attain perishable “riches”. In order to safeguard their riches, they use physical violence against their neighbor. They have gained their riches with violence and will attain them with violence. When a neighbor turns to them to take back what they have robbed from them, they will chase them away with violence.

Pro 11:17-21 | The Results of Righteous or Wicked Conduct

17 The merciful man does himself good,
But the cruel man does himself harm.
18 The wicked earns deceptive wages,
But he who sows righteousness [gets] a true reward.
19 He who is steadfast in righteousness [will attain] to life,
And he who pursues evil [will bring about] his own death.
20 The perverse in heart are an abomination to the LORD,
But the blameless in [their] walk are His delight.
21 Assuredly, the evil man will not go unpunished,
But the descendants of the righteous will be delivered.

Whoever is “merciful” to others, will experience the beneficial result of it “himself”, which means, he himself, personally (verse 17). A “merciful man” loves his neighbor, loves those who are related to him or whomever he comes into contact with. Such a person is a follower of God, Who is merciful, showing His mercifulness to men (Tit 3:4). Rahab showed mercifulness to the spies and in that way did herself good and also those who belonged to the household of her father (Jos 2:12,14).

It works in the same way with “a cruel man”, but then in reverse. Whoever is without mercy, works his own misfortune. Such a person is barbarian, who lacks all the love for his neighbor, both in his thoughts and in his conduct. He leads himself in the misfortune. That’s what Ahab and Jezebel experienced (1Kgs 22:37-38; 2Kgs 9:36-37).

“The wicked man” is doing work which is “deceptive”, which means work that delivers nothing, which is without result (verse 18). “He who sows righteousness” (cf. Jam 3:18), will have a different experience. Such a person causes others to do righteousness in their lives, which in its turn is a benefit again for other ones. Whatever is sown, will bear fruit (1Cor 9:11; 2Cor 9:6). The harvest it delivers, is here called “true reward”.

When “true righteousness” is sown (verse 18), it will “attain to life” (verse 19). With life here is meant the life in its deepest and richest form, which means the life in fellowship with God, the eternal life. Doing righteousness belongs together with life. In contrast to that is the “pursuit of evil”, which is making every effort to pursue evil. That always inevitably “brings about one’s own death”. Like righteousness and life, doing evil and death belong together, “for the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23).

“The perverse in heart” (verse 20) are the people who have a crooked, distorted mind. Their whole spiritual life has been influenced by evil and permeated with it. They are “an abomination to the LORD”, because they invent cunning things with their heart and in no way want to consider God’s will. But “the blameless in walk”, which are those who inwardly are focused on Him and therefore go His way, “are His delight”.

Just like in verse 1 it comes down to what is “an abomination to the LORD” and the opposite of what is “His delight”. In verse 1 it is about honestly or dishonestly doing business, the practice of life. Here it is about the state of the heart, whether it is evil or upright. It is not only about the outward behavior, but especially about the motives behind it. God notices our ways and also sees what is in our heart (1Sam 16:7). We may actually be honest, but the motivation is only seeking our own benefit. In that case we are not His delight.

There will be a day of vengeance, which is something you can be sure of; that is “assuredly” (literally “hand to hand”) as something that is confirmed with striking hands (verse 21). Every person will come before the judgment seat of God and give account for his deeds (Rom 14:10b-12; 2Cor 5:10). Then the evildoer will not be able to declare himself “unpunished”. The Judge fully sees through him. But “the descendants of the righteous”, which are not the offspring, but everyone who belongs to the generation of the righteous, will escape from the judgment (cf. Jn 5:24).

Pro 11:22 | A Beautiful Woman Who Lacks Discretion

22 [As] a ring of gold in a swine’s snout
[So is] a beautiful woman who lacks discretion.

An outwardly “beautiful woman” but “who lacks discretion”, is comparable to a beautiful “ring of gold” that has been put in “a swine’s snout”. The Israelite women wore amongst other adornments a nose ring (Gen 24:22,30,47; Isa 3:21). It doesn’t make any sense to think that wearing a nose ring for an animal that is always dirty, would make it beautiful. It agrees to the Dutch saying: it fits as a flag on a broomstick.

The comparison is that a beautiful jewel is related to an unworthy body. A swine does not know the value of it. You may want to adorn the animal with jewels and in that way try to make it attractive, but the animal will still stink and will always have pleasure in living in the mud and the stench. The ring will therefore lose its beauty. Jezebel was such a woman. There was absolutely no agreement between her conduct and her wealthy appearance. Her outward decoration faded in the light of her corrupt inner being (2Kgs 9:30). We can also apply this to the nice appearance of the roman church, which is however full of corruption in the inside (Rev 17:4-6).

The true adornment of a woman is in the inside, in her heart, in her mind (1Pet 3:3-4). Of Abigail it is first noticed that she was “intelligent” and then that she was “beautiful in appearance” (1Sam 25:3). A woman is attractive when she shows the mind and features of Christ. The bride, the wife of the Lamb, will possess those features in full glory (Rev 21:9-10).

Pro 11:23-27 | The Blessing of the Righteous

23 The desire of the righteous is only good;
[But] the expectation of the wicked is wrath.
24 There is one who scatters, and [yet] increases all the more;
And there is one who withholds what is justly due, [and yet it results] only in want.
25 The generous man will be prosperous;
And he who waters will himself be watered.
26 He who withholds grain, the people will curse him;
But blessing will be on the head of him who sells [it].
27 He who diligently seeks good seeks favor;
But he who seeks evil, evil will come to him.

The character of “the righteous” and “the wicked” appears not only from what they do, but also from what they desire and expect (verse 23). “The righteous” have no other desire than “only good”. They are in relation with God and therefore have a desire for good material and spiritual things, in order to do good with them themselves in their turn.

“The expectation of the wicked” will bring them only “wrath”. They have no relation with God and expect to gain profit from their wicked life as much as they possibly can. But their expectation will lead to nothing else than to God’s “wrath” upon them, because all their desires provoke God’s wrath.

In the government of God it is ordained in such a way, that first there is to be scattered, given, sown, which is followed by the profit, the harvest, the advantage (verse 24). God also wants us to “scatter” mildly or abundantly, not scarcely. When that happens, one will experience that the harvest is much more abundant than what has been scattered, given away or sown (Lk 6:38a; 2Cor 9:6-9; Psa 112:9). We can also scatter time and attention.

The opposite is also true. There are people “who withhold what is justly due”. They assume that they will become rich in that way. But except that they do others injustice, they also deceive themselves. All the profit that they have gained dishonestly will lead to their lack, for God will revenge on them. Ultimately they will end up with nothing but a list that’s full of debts which they are not able to settle anymore.

Not granting a person what is his, is also a form of withholding what is justly due. Nabal had that attitude toward David (1Sam 25:10-11,38). The chief tax collector Zacchaeus became aware of such an attitude on time and repented of this sin (Lk 19:8).

Verse 25 connects to verse 24. “A generous man” is someone who spreads blessing around him in both words and deeds; he benefits others and seeks the happiness of others. Whoever does that, will receive the blessing of it for himself. People will do good to him; he himself will be satisfied. Whoever refreshes others (spiritually), will be refreshed himself in that way. We see that with the Lord Jesus in His conversation with the Samaritan woman. The spiritual food that He gave the woman, had also refreshed Himself (Jn 4:31-34; Mt 10:42; Jer 31:24).

He who does not scatter blessing (verse 25), but on the contrary keeps everything to himself selfishly in the very time of scarcity, will be cursed by the people (verse 26). God wants us to pass the blessing, which he has blessed us with, on to others. That goes for both the material and the spiritual blessing. If we make the blessing which we have received, available and offer it for sale, blessing will be on our head. With selling we do not necessarily consider only money or a means of exchange. What ‘to sell’ means is that another person should make an effort to come into the possession of what is offered for sale (cf. Pro 23:23).

Anyone who knows how to value it, will pursue it, which means that he will make an effort to come into the possession of it (verse 27). Such a person is seeking “favor”, whereby we may especially think of the favor of God. He who “seeks evil”, does that because he thinks to profit from it. He will not consider it evil what he pursues. Nobody pursues evil for himself. It is about evil things in the sight of God. He will, however, not receive what he seeks, but it will “come to him”. That refers to a cause from the outside. It means that he ultimately will be struck by the wrath of God’s judgment.

Pro 11:28-31 | The Increase of the Righteous

28 He who trusts in his riches will fall,
But the righteous will flourish like the [green] leaf.
29 He who troubles his own house will inherit wind,
And the foolish will be servant to the wise-hearted.
30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
And he who is wise wins souls.
31 If the righteous will be rewarded in the earth,
How much more the wicked and the sinner!

Wanting to become rich and misusing riches are to be condemned. There is another evil related to riches and that is trusting in riches (verse 28). “He who trusts in his riches”, will be ashamed. He will notice that to his cost when he “will fall”. Riches offer no firm foundation for life. To fall means that one’s life ends up in a mess. The cause of it is that he does not give God any room in his life (Lk 12:16-21).

To “the righteous” the opposite is applied. They trust in God and “flourish like the [green] leaf”. Their life is rooted in Him and is characterized by prosperity and fertility (cf. Psa 92:12-15; Jer 17:7-8). The life of those who trusts in riches, is like a fallen and dried leaf, while that of the righteous keeps growing like a green leaf that’s full of vitality.

A person who in his greed thinks only about himself, will trouble his own house (verse 29). He has absolutely no interest in the other members of his household, whom he only considers to be a burden in his pursuit of evil. What is left of his efforts is only wind: nothing that he can grasp with his hands. From the way he has directed his household, it appears that he is a fool. The second line of the verse assumes that he has lost everything, which caused him to get into so many debts, that he had to hire out his services as a servant himself to “the wise-hearted”.

What the righteous produces (verse 30), is in contrast to the fool of verse 29. His life as a righteous person shows that he has life. That very life is not in himself. What comes out of him, what becomes visible of the life which is in him, comes from the true Tree of life, the Lord Jesus. The life of the righteous looks therefore like the life of Him, the perfect Righteous One.

This similarity also comes to expression in the relation towards other people. A person who produces a tree of life as fruit, is someone who seeks to bring other people into relation with the true Tree of life. It is mainly about making other people to be drawn by and be won for wisdom. Whoever does that, whoever catches souls in that way, is wise.

We can also apply that to the gospel. We can become fishers of men and catch them (Mt 4:19) by winning them for Christ, so that they may follow Him. Paul is a special example of such a wise man (cf. 1Cor 9:20-22; 10:33). His whole ministry is a source of life and spiritual food for the generations after him.

“A righteous” has got to do with the government of God (verse 31) as has the “the wicked and the sinner”. God in His righteousness has to deal with every sin, regardless who commits that sin. A righteous who sins, has to bear and face its consequences. Moses is an example of that. Because he sinned, he was not allowed to lead the people into the promised land. Also the life of David shows the truth of what is written here. This revenge happens on earth. A comfort thereby is that the righteous may know that Christ helps him bearing the consequences of his sins, because He bore the judgment over his sins on the cross.

“The wicked and the sinner” will equally deal with the consequences of his sins on earth and will have to bear them. But there is a “how much more” (this is the first of the four ‘how much more’ proverbs, Pro 11:31; 15:11; 19:7; 21:27). He will have to bear the burden alone because he lives without Christ and, if he still does not repent, will die without Him. It looks like Peter quotes this word in his first epistle, when he writes: “And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner?” (1Pet 4:18).

Proverbs 12

Pro 12:1-2 | To Love Knowledge and Obtain Favor

1 Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,
But he who hates reproof is stupid.
2 A good man will obtain favor from the LORD,
But He will condemn a man who devises evil.

Verse 1 is a good illustration of the fact that love is not about a pleasant emotion. To accept “discipline” is often not that simple. To accept discipline, you ought to love it. You do that when you realize its importance. It comes down to whether we are explicitly willing to accept discipline or that we don’t want to accept discipline. When we are willing to accept discipline, we will love discipline. It is a love that has to be learnt. The other case, to hate “reproof”, happens quite automatically. That’s how we are by nature.

He who wants to grow spiritually, must learn to accept “discipline” or correction and to learn from it. Therefore it is necessary for one to act freely as a pupil towards the one who is disciplining him. It shows the humble mind of someone who does not think highly of himself. The one who disciplines him, can be God Who speaks through His Word to him. God can also speak through a person, whosoever, or through an event.

“Whoever loves discipline”, which means that a person longs to be disciplined, shows that he loves “knowledge”. Discipline is linked to “knowledge”. It is about the knowledge of God and Christ, which is to know God’s will to live to His honor. In order to gain knowledge, it is necessary to make efforts by training. When it is about “the knowledge of Jesus Christ, my Lord” (Phil 3:8), there can be no way that is too tough and no cost that can be too high. There is no easy way to spiritual knowledge. Eve chose the easy way and sin made its entry.

The second line of the verse begins with “but” which indicates that now the contrast follows to the first line of the verse. There are two contrasts: “hate” stands against love and “stupid” against knowledge. “He who hates reproof”, despicably refuses and rejects it, acts foolishly and stupid like an animal without sense. To hate means to have an aversion to something. That aversion comes from the arrogant heart that doesn’t want to know about reproof. Whoever hates reproof, shows the stupidity of an animal that does not realize that it is in his interest when it is being hurt.

“A good man” (verse 2) is he who is good by the grace of God, for “there is none who does good, there is not even one” (Rom 3:12b). “None is good, but one: God”, which is the Lord Jesus (Mk 10:18). He who has Him as his life, can also be good and therefore can also do good. A good man is full of goodness, which is only to be worked by God’s Spirit. Goodness is a part of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22).

A good man wants only what God, the good One, wants and what is expressed by the Spirit. That delivers him “the favor from the LORD”. God relates Himself to him, for he recognizes Himself in him. There is harmony between the good man and the good One. This applies to each believer who walks with God. It applies to Christ above all. He is the perfect good Man and also the perfect good God. As Man He obtained God’s favor.

The opposite of the man who is full of goodness, stands the man “who devises evil”. In such a person there is no goodness; he has no life from God. He acts after his sinful nature, which appears from the ways he devises to harm other people. Such a person does not obtain the favor of God, but a declaration of guilt. Here we see that not only a sinful deed makes a person guilty before God, but also devising evil. Absalom was a man full of evil ideas, who sought to dethrone his father David, to seize the power to rule (2Sam 15:2-6).

Pro 12:3 | Not Established – Not Moved

3 A man will not be established by wickedness,
But the root of the righteous will not be moved.

In wickedness there is no stability. This applies to both the society and to individuals. It is said here in the most general sense, “a man will not”. Nobody, no evil man, whoever he is, will obtain stability in whatever he may do. Wickedness means apart from God, without asking for His will by consulting His Word. People like Abimelech and Ahab disrupted the society in the days of their government and did not remain.

Only the righteous have stability in life because of righteousness. The righteous have no stability by themselves, but they “will not be moved” because they are rooted in Christ (Eph 3:17), in His Word (Col 2:7). The life of the righteous may severely be shaken in such a way that they look to collapse, but their root, the principle on which their life is based, will not be moved. Wickedness does not remain, because there is no root in it which is in Christ.

Pro 12:4 | An Excellent Wife

4 An excellent wife is the crown of her husband,
But she who shames [him] is like rottenness in his bones.

“An excellent wife” is a ‘capable’, ‘courageous’, ‘firm’ woman, a woman who knows her task and executes it with satisfaction. Through her act she increases the dignity of her husband. She is his “crown”, his fame, an adornment of honor. When he says something and the people know whom and how his wife is, it empowers his words. This valuable contribution is what the wife delivers, because she meets God’s purpose with her, which is to be a helper to her husband.

It is always good to know, if a servant of the Lord is married, to know how his wife is, to know who the wife is behind the husband. Boaz says to Ruth that everyone knows that she is “a woman of excellence” is (Rth 3:11). Every married woman can be an excellent wife by being as God has intended her to be (cf. Pro 31:10).

The opposite of a wife who is “the crown of her husband”, is the wife who “shames” her husband. It is not said how she shames him, but we may think for example of an irresponsible pattern of expenditure, the negligence of her children and house management, too much talking, immoral behavior. She does not support her husband by her behavior, but makes him powerless in his testimony. “Rottenness in his bones” means that what is supposed to give him strength to walk, is rotting away from the inside, which makes him powerless. Bones give firmness and structure to life. A wrong wife destroys that. She is like the worm in the timber that destroys the timber.

Pro 12:5-7 | The Righteous Against the Wicked

5 The thoughts of the righteous are just,
[But] the counsels of the wicked are deceitful.
6 The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood,
But the mouth of the upright will deliver them.
7 The wicked are overthrown and are no more,
But the house of the righteous will stand.

In these verses with contrasts between the righteous and wicked, there is a climax. With the righteous it goes from their just thoughts in verse 5 through the deliverance that they bring with their words in verse 6 to their house that will stand in verse 7. With the wicked it goes from their deceitful counsels in verse 5 through their bloodthirsty words in verse 6 to their overthrow in verse 7.

Of every person who lives apart from God, “every intent of the thoughts of his heart” is “only evil continually” (Gen 6:5), but through repentance and new life one becomes righteous. Of all righteous men God has become the source of their thoughts. What they think, is directed in the new life by Him and His grace. Therefore it can be said that the thoughts of the righteous are “just” (verse 5). God wants us to focus our mind on Him and Christ. That will make our thoughts just. This verse shows that the thoughts or intentions of good people are focused on what is right to God, to others and to themselves.

With the wicked the opposite is the case. Their “counsels are deceitful”. Their thoughts are only wicked. Therefore their counsels can only lead to evil. The cause of that is that they have no relation with God. They have a depraved heart and therefore nothing else than bitter water can come out of it (Jer 17:9; Mt 15:19). While the righteous set their mind to do good to others, the wicked set their mind to do evil to others.

Nehemiah was such a righteous man. His enemies said about him that he “had come to seek the welfare of the sons of Israel” (Neh 2:10). Also Mordecai and Esther sought the welfare of their people. It is a contrast to what Haman had come up with. Out of ‘patriotism’ he proposed to king Ahasuerus to kill the Jews (Est 3:8-9). Herod had that very same spirit. He said that he wanted to worship the Child, while in reality he wanted to kill It (Mt 2:8,16). Ahithophel gave “good counsel” (2Sam 17:14) to Absalom how to eliminate his father David, so that he could take over the kingship (2Sam 16-17).

Words are the natural means to make known thoughts (verse 6; verse 5). “The words of the wicked” are like an ambush. The lively picture of “lying in wait for blood” means that the wicked express false accusations as a trap for the righteous. They act deliberately, not on a whim, and are children of their father, the devil, who is a murderer from the beginning (Jn 8:44). Many wicked witnesses have spoken words against the Lord Jesus, in order to have Him to be judged. They set traps for Him and wanted to catch Him in some of His words (Lk 20:20-21).

“The upright”, who have obtained knowledge and experience by discipline and teaching, are able to avoid the traps of the wicked. They do not only avoid words that cause blood, but use the power of the word to deliver those who are captured by the words of the wicked. Mordecai interceded with Esther and Esther interceded with the king, in order to deliver the Jews from Haman’s guile to exterminate the Jews (Est 4:7-14; 7:4-6).

As the perfect Righteous One, the Lord Jesus had shamed His adversaries again and again by His wise answers. They have lied in wait for His blood, but could never catch Him in any of His words. Finally, they were able to kill Him because He surrendered Himself to them, according to the will of God. Only then they could do with Him what they wanted: to shed His blood.

The wicked seek to do evil to others, while the upright seek to deliver others from evil. The latter are led by the Holy Spirit, Who works life. They speak from the new life and in that way show that Christ is their life. When they get killed because of their testimony, they will be delivered from eternal death because of the testimony from their mouth. They are justified by their words (Mt 12:37).

After the thoughts of verse 5 and the words of verse 6, we see in verse 7 the end of the wicked and the righteous. It is the contrast between what disappears and what remains. The wicked disappear because God overthrows them with power. Whatever powerful empire they may have built up and give the impression that nothing and nobody can threaten them, they have built their whole existence on a sandy land.

The picture of the fate of the wicked, that they are “overthrown”, radiates power. It means a complete destruction, which reminds us of what God did to Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19:25). The wicked will disappear from the world stage, without leaving anything behind which has value.

In contrast to that “the house of the righteous will stand”. The house includes the family, as we read that Noah and his household were saved (Heb 11:7). The household means the descendants. The household of the righteous will remain, because its foundation is Christ, the Rock. That’s why it will remain in times of distress, which means that it will always remain. It shows the permanent result of righteousness towards the short stay on earth of the wicked (Mt 7:24-27).

“The house of the righteous” also reminds us of the house of Israel in the future. That house will consist of only righteous men (Isa 60:21), for it is formed by a remnant of believers from Israel. This remnant is shaped and protected by God during the great tribulation. To those, who are the new Israel, God fulfills His promise. Their house will remain during the millennial kingdom of peace. The wicked are the apostate mass of the Jews that together with the antichrist will be overthrown at the end of the great tribulation and will disappear from the world stage forever.

Pro 12:8 | To Harvest Praise or Despise

8 A man will be praised according to his insight,
But one of perverse mind will be despised.

The term for “insight” refers to the ability to think clearly. From this saying the appreciation for thinking clearly, appears. It is not about intelligence here. At birth everyone receives a certain extent of understanding in the sense of intelligence. Concerning that, God says in His Word about all men, that they are “darkened in their understanding” (Eph 4:18) and there is no one who understands (Rom 3:11). The understanding which is meant here, is the mind that one receives when he converts and receives new life. Then he receives the “mind of Christ” (1Cor 2:16).

The believer has received “the understanding” by which he knows “Him Who is true” (1Jn 5:20). Practically, it means that one can learn to know God and Christ better by this new understanding or insight. That is open for every believer, regardless of the degree of intelligence. “According to” his insight of knowing Him, and by showing that in words and deeds, he will be “praised”. Men will notice the beneficial effect, although they inwardly may remain hostile towards the gospel. The Lord Jesus was praised for His words and deeds, although it did not lead to a national conversion, but the people even rejected and killed Him finally.

But “one of perverse mind” lacks the ability to see things like they really are. He is turning against God and Christ and God’s people. Of perverse mind means a mind that is deviated, crooked and corrupt. It has turned away from God’s Word. One of perverse mind does not necessarily lack a logical thinking. He can even be extremely intelligent. It is about, so to speak, the nature of tendency. Because he is of perverse mind, he makes bad choices. That’s what makes him to burden himself with the despising of his neighbor. Abimelech was such one of perverse heart (Jdg 9).

Pro 12:9-11 | Humility, Care and Diligence

9 Better is he who is lightly esteemed and has a servant,
Than he who honors himself and lacks bread.
10 A righteous man has regard for the life of his animal,
But [even] the compassion of the wicked is cruel.
11 He who tills his land will have plenty of bread,
But he who pursues worthless [things] lacks sense.

He who is satisfied in humbleness with what he has, is better than the boaster who is hungry (verse 9). Here it is about the nice appearance that one can keep up, while he in reality is miserable. It can be a person who has become destitute, but wants to keep up appearances to the outside world at all cost. Some people make a hollow show of their life. They pretend to be important people. Simon the magician said about himself “that he was a great man” (Acts 8:9).

The lesson is that, with the little convenience that we have, we should be satisfied – having a servant is indeed comfortable, isn’t it? It is first of all about the mind of humility, about esteeming ourselves lightly. However, he who wants to live in luxury and provides himself with every convenience and therefore gets into debts, while he cannot even cover the basic needs of his family, is a fool. A caravan on credit will not fill your stomach.

This verse is a warning against keeping up appearances and bragging. God regards the lowly “but the haughty He knows from afar” (Psa 138:6). The haughtiness of life “is not from the Father, but from the world” (1Jn 2:16). God is near the humble one. He dwells with him, He feels as it were at home there, just as in heaven (Isa 57:15). But there is an enormous distance between Him and the haughty one, whom He sees in a distance.

Just as God takes care of the animals, for example the sparrows (Mt 10:28-31; Psa 147:9; 36:6), so the righteous does also (verse 10). The reason why God draws our attention to His care for the animals is to show us that His care for man is still much greater than that for animals. The Lord Jesus says, after He has spoken about God’s care for the ravens: “How much more valuable you are than the birds!” (Lk 12:24).

We are to consider this in a time in which people do everything to give animals a ‘human existence’, while they kill babies in their mother’s wombs. This kind of ‘compassion’ characterizes the wicked, while they are ruthless towards the most defenseless there is. The so-called compassion of a wicked animal rights activist. That appears from his destruction of properties or even the lives of those whom in his eyes have wrongly dealt with animals, which he justifies by his claim to defend the rights of the animal.

That does not change the fact that God also takes care of animals. Compassion for animals shows one’s character. It indeed is about “his animals”, thus his own animals, and not about the well-being of animals in a general sense. It is even less a call for starting a group, in order to give animals ‘a voice’. What we are to become aware of is what we have in common with the animals, and that is that we and they are made by the same Creator. Animals are fellow creatures of man and that should determine our attitude towards them. God has for example ordained a day of rest for man, but thereby he also has it recorded that also animals are to rest on that day (Exo 20:8-11).

Animals are given to man to serve him and also for food, and not to misuse them. The righteous does not only take care of his animals, but he “has regard for the life of his animals”. He will take into account what an animal may need (Gen 24:32; 33:13-14). When a beast of burden succumbs, even if the animal is the property of an enemy, we are supposed to help it (Exo 23:5). If God saves Nineveh, He takes into account the animals as well (Jn 4:11). The righteous will feed the animal when it works (cf. Deu 25:4). In this all he shows the likeness with God Who also takes care of His creation with the perfect knowledge which characterizes Him, by which He knows what each creature is able to do and needs.

The intention of the verse is to point out that the righteous is beneficial to everyone, even to his animals, how much more than to his neighbor. In contrast to that is the cruelty of the wicked, even towards men, his neighbors. In his innermost being there is no compassion, but his inner man has been hardened.

To till the land or the field (verse 11) is not a result of the fall, but is an order given by God to Adam, which dates from before the fall (Gen 2:15). After the fall the order to work still remained, even though it became heavier (Gen 3:19; Isa 28:23-26). What also has remained, is the promise that it pays to work. There is a reward for the tilling of the land in the form of bread. He who acknowledges that and makes it a reason to work, will have plenty of bread.

This principle also applies to the work that we do for the Lord. We are called to always abound in the work for the Lord and we may know that it is not in vain, but it will be rewarded (1Cor 15:58). Each believer has a piece of ‘land’ to till (2Cor 10:13). If he has a family, then his family is that ‘land’ in the first place. He will have to pay attention first to his family and invest time in it. Also in the church there is work to be done. He who carries out his tasks faithfully, will be rewarded by the Lord.

In contrast to the tilling of the land, stands the pursuing of “worthless things”. Those who do that are pursuing ‘idle things’ or ‘empty things’, in other words fantasies or dreams. Whoever likes to join such people, proves that he is ‘work-shy’. The company of the pursuers of worthless things consists of empty heads, heads that “lack sense”. They do not pay attention to God and His Word. God has said that whoever is not willing to work, is not to eat either (2Thes 3:10-12). Those who pursue worthless things will surely experience that to their own shame.

Pro 12:12-14 | Fruit and Escape

12 The wicked man desires the booty of evil men,
But the root of the righteous yields [fruit].
13 An evil man is ensnared by the transgression of his lips,
But the righteous will escape from trouble.
14 A man will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his words,
And the deeds of a man’s hands will return to him.

“The wicked man” has desires (verse 12). Those desires form a booty in which evil is caught and captivated. With the wicked the antichrist is mainly meant, for he is the personification of the evil. Everything that he desires is evil. There is no good in that man. He is a captive of the evil, he cannot get liberated from it, and he himself keeps the evil captured, he does not want to let it go. Everyone who follows him shows the same characteristic.

The evil is being committed and the victims or the stolen goods are enclosed by him in his “booty”. Death and destruction are the results of his work, for both his victims and him personally, for he will be killed in the evil in which he is captured.

In contrast to the wicked desires of the wicked, stands “the root of the righteous” with a corresponding fruit. To bear fruit is not an activity, but a result of the root which is in the good soil and which receives good nourishment. The righteous are rooted in Christ (Col 2:6-7). The Lord Jesus says that whoever abides in Him and in who He is, will bear much fruit (Jn 15:5). Therefore it is about having a living relationship with Christ.

“The transgression of his lips” happens when ill-considered statements are made and also certainly when lies are being told deliberately (verse 13). Then he “will be ensnared” by what he has said. Whoever transgresses in what his lips say, runs the risk to be judged by it. Sometimes a politician tries to refine his statements by a stream of words. It can happen that it is not convincing enough and that he then has to resign. The lie of an Amalekite towards David about the death of Saul became his death, while he thought that he would get a reward (2Sam 4:9-12).

“The righteous” will not get into trouble by what he says. He knows what and what not he is to say. That will make him escape “from trouble”. He does not have to talk his way out of things or to justify himself. What he says is in accordance with the truth. Therefore it is not possible to catch him in his talk.

The language of the righteous is compared with “the fruit of his words” (verse 14). Whoever speaks the truth in love in his language use will be “satisfied with good”. Good language gives a great satisfaction. God has given man a mouth, so that it would bring forth fruit for Him, meaning praise, “the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name” (Heb 13:15). God responds to that and satisfies that heart for bringing forth that fruit.

There will also be blessing or good in a general sense for a person who is wise and sensible in a conversation, while he is honoring God. A good advice, a sound lesson which is being passed on, is a fruit of the mouth. The mouth is compared here with a tree which brings forth fruit. Fruit assumes growth, beauty and the ability to satisfy others. Fruit requires to be eaten. Words can be eaten (Jer 15:16).

Timothy was nourished on “the words of the faith and the sound doctrine” which he had been following (1Tim 4:6). Therefore he was able to pass it on as the fruit of his lips. Joshua and Caleb had spoken good words about the land and were “satisfied with good”.

Pro 12:15-16 | The Wise and the Prudent and the Fool

15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,
But a wise man is he who listens to counsel.
16 A fool’s anger is known at once,
But a prudent man conceals dishonor.

The fool has such an attitude that he trusts in himself alone (verse 15). He himself determines his way which is of course totally right in his eyes. He follows his own way and shall surely not listen to advice. “The way of the fool” is characterized by hastily made actions. He continues with these actions, despite the good counsel that he should not to do it. Even if he should think about a certain way for a long time and had considered all arguments for and against, it will still be a hasty decision, for he refuses every counsel. He thinks highly of himself and his intellect. That is the essence of foolishness. God means nothing to him, as for him He doesn’t exist (Psa 14:1).

People show their maturity or immaturity by how they respond to advice. A right-thinking man, meaning a wise man, will recognize and accept good counsel, even if he himself often gives counsel to others. Counsel is an application of wisdom and knowledge in a specific situation, based on a sharp observation or a well-considered opinion, whereby also the opinion of others is involved.

One of the names of the Lord Jesus is “Counselor” (Isa 9:6). It is of the utmost importance to listen to His counsel. He gives that counsel in His Word. We would do well to seek the advice of Godly people or to listen to their advice even when we haven’t asked them for advice. David listened to the right counsel of Abigail and saved himself from killing Nabal when he was on his way to him (1Sam 25).

The fool reveals himself as a fool by his anger, which “is known at once”, which means that he immediately gets furious (verse 16; cf. Ecc 7:9). He is always quick-tempered and convinced of his own right. When he is contradicted, he responds as if he has been stung by a wasp. He has a short fuse and explodes instantly. He lacks sensitivity and discretion. Thereby his shame is revealed. An explosion of anger doesn’t harvest admiration, but despising. Saul’s moments of fury were to his shame.

He who is prudent, controls himself and in that way conceals dishonor; he does not expose himself to that. He is able to deal with criticism without responding instinctively and irrationally. It is not so much that the prudent man suppresses his anger or emotions, but that he deals with it in discretion and keeps it to himself. He knows himself and knows that he can be mistaken. He will, in case he is contradicted, consider the matter once more and not respond impulsively. We see here self-control, a fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:23).

Pro 12:17-20 | Speaking Happens From the Heart

17 He who speaks truth tells what is right,
But a false witness, deceit.
18 There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword,
But the tongue of the wise brings healing.
19 Truthful lips will be established forever,
But a lying tongue is only for a moment.
20 Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil,
But counselors of peace have joy.

When a person “speaks truth” (verse 17), words which come from his mouth, are specific to the Divine nature that he has. He cannot help but speak only “what is right”. Truth leads to what is right. Right can only be called right if it comes forth from the truth. In view of the contrast to the second line of the verse, where it is about “a false witness”, we may think of a trial. But it can also be applied more widely.

The sincere or truthful witness is faithful because he tells the truth. He gives the right view of the matter. He who brings forth the truth, will not change the right, but will proclaim it.

A false witness violates the truth. He commits “deceit” regarding the facts. He lies about them. We can all make mistakes sometimes in rendering certain facts. But deceit is when a person deliberately gives another idea of the matters as a witness than what is in accordance with the truth.

The Lord Jesus always brought forth truth and in that way told what was right. He also had to do with false witnesses. The one stirs up the other. He who does not want to bow to the truth, will lie against and about the truth.

In verse 17 it is about one’s character, what inspires him and what he says as a result of that. What we say, makes clear who we are. To speak truth means that it comes from the inside. John the baptist spoke the truth of God about marriage, by telling Herod about God’s righteousness regarding his improper relationship with the wife of his brother (Mk 6:18).

Words can be like “the thrusts of a sword” (verse 18). Words that are spoken rashly (Lev 5:4; Num 30:6), can hurt someone in his soul. These are words that wound and hurt (cf. Psa 57:4; Psa 59:7; 64:3). The enemies of Jeremiah said that they wanted to “strike at him with their tongue” (Jer 18:18). The friends of Job have spoken many true words to Job, but those were words like the thrusts of a sword. And what about the awful insinuations, stated by the Jews against the Lord Jesus, that He was born of fornication (Jn 8:41). What an awful sword-thrust! And what a calm, steady and prudent response the Lord gave. Their sword-thrust made clear that the devil was their father and that’s what the Lord therefore says to them (Jn 8:44).

A person can be destroyed by words in a way that life is made impossible for him to live. Many people know the stabbing pain of false, unfriendly, insensitive remarks about their own person or about a loved one. We should also consider that we have sometimes done that ourselves, probably not deliberately.

The opposite brings healing by what the wise say. Of ourselves we have no “tongue of the wise”. We actually can get it by learning from the Lord Jesus, for He had such a tongue. He learnt to speak as a wise man and He is therein an example for us. From Him we can learn how to speak (Isa 50:4). Then our words will bring healing, for then we are faithful and truthful. We will speak softly and tenderly, uplifting and encouraging to those who are the target of slander.

Barnabas had a tongue of the wise. He spoke soothing words to the church in Jerusalem about Paul (Acts 9:27). The tongue should be a healing instrument, for both wounded heart of individuals and critical conditions in churches. That happens when a good word is spoken, a word that edifies and gives grace to those who hear it (Eph 4:29). Also a word of admonition can have that effect when it is addressed to the right person at the right time and with the right mind.

“Truthful lips”, truthfulness, survives all lies, always, and will never die (verse 19). Truth is from God. God is the God of the truth. Therefore truth is related to eternity. What is said in truth can never be annihilated. Every attack on the truth, every resistance against the truth, can in no way ever undo the truth.

That is different with “the false lips”, the lie. That may be as old as the devil; it still is and will remain a temporal intruder. Lies can exert a certain power and maintain themselves only for a certain time. It is “only for a moment”. This expression indicates that it is for no longer than the duration of a wink. It is so short, that the duration of time is not to be calculated (cf. Job 20:5). The life of those who speak with false lips is of short duration compared to eternity that’s awaiting. All false teachers will experience that. Their lie will disappear, while the truth remains.

Every believer should have truthful lips. Then he will speak the truth, which lasts forever. Lips represent here the person who uses them.

The contrast in verse 20 is between “devising evil” and “counseling peace” and both cases refer to the consequences. Because there is deceit “in the heart” the heart is a forge of evil. Evil flows from deceit. The result of devising evil is only sorrow and hardship. “Evil” here implies the idea of pain.

In contrast to that stand “those who are counselors of peace”. Peace, shalom, does not cause pain, but works wholeness and well-being, for both an individual and a community (Psa 34:14; 37:37). Those who are counselors of peace will reap inner satisfaction of doing what is good, as well as the pleasure of seeing positive results.

The difference between truth and lie is the difference between peace and war. All wars come forth from a lie, except the wars of God. The lie came into existence when satan declared war on God.

Pro 12:21 | No Harm Befalls the Righteous

21 No harm befalls the righteous,
but the wicked are filled with trouble.

In this verse it is about the contrast between “the righteous” and “the wicked” with regard to harm and trouble. That “no harm” will befall “the righteous”, means that harm will not cause him to perish indefinitely. The harm of hell will in no way strike him because Christ bore the punishment for his sins. He has become righteous and lives righteously.

It does not mean that he will never get ill or experience troubles. We see that with a man like Job who was a righteous man. His friends actually explain as such the troubles Job is going through. Job must, according to their judgment, be a wicked person, in view of the troubles he is filled with. The end of the book of Job shows us that God justifies Job towards his friends and doubled his possession that was taken away from him. It is about the good that God has in mind for the righteous (Gen 50:20; Rom 8:28,35-39). It is God Who has the last word, not the harm.

With the wicked it is conversely. They can have a prosperous life, but in their prosperity there is totally no protection against trouble. Protection is only to be found with Christ, but they do not want Him. Therefore they will finally be “filled with trouble”, without any possibility for recovery, let alone for receiving any double blessing. They will have to bear the full consequences of their sinful life in eternity.

Pro 12:22-23 | To Deal and Speak Faithfully

22 Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD,
But those who deal faithfully are His delight.
23 A prudent man conceals knowledge,
But the heart of fools proclaims folly.

“Lying lips” continually speak lies (verse 22). That can happen by telling lies about everyday issues. It can also happen by proclaiming false doctrines, like the roman church does by worshiping Mary. Telling a lie pretending it is the truth is “an abomination to the LORD”. It is in direct contradiction to His nature as the God of the truth. To speak lies is abusing the ability to speak given by God.

In contrast to lying lips, stand those who “deal faithfully”. They “are His delight”, which is in contrast to what is an abomination to Him. He has no fellowship in any way with what is an abomination to Him. He delights in being related to those who deal faithfully. They not only speak the truth, but they do the truth, they practice it. Words and deeds, and doctrine and life, agree with one another. Whoever deals faithfully shows the features of God’s Son in Whom all God’s delight is.

“A prudent man” conceals “knowledge” (verse 23). The verb ‘conceal’ does not mean that he never speaks, but that he deals carefully and in discretion with his words. He will not speak to show off his knowledge or to avenge the injustice that has been done to him. He has self-control to speak the right word at the right time in the right situation (Ecc 3:7b). Elihu was able to wait for his turn (Job 32). Mary treasured in her heart what the angel had told her (Lk 2:19). Joseph waited for the right moment to make himself known to his brothers (Gen 42:7).

Conversely, in “the heart of fools” there is folly, which they cannot keep for themselves, but shout it out (Ecc 10:3). The fool speaks all the time and brags about all kinds of subjects, not hindered by the least knowledge of the subject. It is impossible to have a constructive conversation with him. He cannot listen, even less awaiting his turn. People who talk too much waste time and hurt other people.

Pro 12:24 | Diligence Opposite to the Slack Hand

24 The hand of the diligent will rule,
But the slack [hand] will be put to forced labor.

He who diligently works, will prosper in the society. He will increase his status and receive a staff position. Diligence is the common way which leads to prosperity. The diligent man is on his way to the top, but the slack falls away to become a servant. He has no part in a staff management. He owes that to his slack hand. He is doing nothing and he doesn’t want to do anything. In order to still earn some money, he has to offer himself for the lowest jobs.

In the kingdom of God it is similar. When we are diligent in the work of the Lord and we work with our talents, we will receive authority over cities in the future. When we are lazy, we will receive nothing and even what we have, will be taken away from us (Mt 25:14-30; Lk 19:11-27). We shall reign together with Christ if we serve Him now as subordinates in His kingdom. Let us take the exhortation to heart “not lagging behind in diligence” (Rom 12:11).

Pro 12:25-26 | A Good Word and to Ask For Advice

25 Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down,
But a good word makes it glad.
26 The righteous is a guide to his neighbor,
But the way of the wicked leads them astray.

“Anxiety” can control a person in such a way that his heart is burdened and weighed down (verse 25). His spirit cannot handle anything else than that certain concern or concerns. He cannot let it be. When it has captured his heart, it influences all his engagements and thinking. It takes away all his joy. The future looks gloomy.

How encouraging “a good word” can then be, it can even make him glad. It is not about all kinds of well-intentioned counsels, in order to change one’s view, for such a person is not able to. The problems, the concerns, remain. A good word is a word that shows compassion. It is a gentle and not an admonishing word. It is saying something that the person needs to get the right perspective back and to renew hope and confidence.

Barnabas was a man of comfort, who comforted others (Acts 4:36). If we manage to look upon the Lord Jesus above the difficulties, worries come into another perspective. We even can become happy, right through the worries, because we then see Him Who said: “Do not be worried” (Mt 6:25-34). We may cast our anxiety on Him, because He cares for us (1Pet 5:7; Psa 55:22).

The first line of verse 26 is made clear by the contrast with the second line of the verse. The wicked do the opposite of “the righteous” who “is a guide to his neighbor.” The wicked mislead themselves and others, which causes them to go astray and end up on the wrong path. The general application is that the righteous gives good instructions, while the wicked bring themselves and others into trouble.

Pro 12:27 | The Results of Laziness and Diligence

27 A lazy man does not roast his prey,
But the precious possession of a man [is] diligence.

The first line of the verse describes a man who starts with something, but does not finish it. The picture is that of “a lazy man” who came into the possession of “his prey”, but does “not roast” it, which means that he will not eat anything of it. Through the contrast with the second line of the verse the lazy man seems to be someone who uses deceit because he does not want to make any effort. He is a lazy man. That hinders him to eat what he has got by deceit.

The opposite of the lazy deceiver is a ‘diligent man’. He possesses the most precious thing that a man can have, which is his diligence. This is his most precious property, for this enables him to get everything he desires.

Pro 12:28 | What Leads to Life and Not to Death

28 In the way of righteousness is life,
And in [its] pathway there is no death.

Those who enter into righteousness by faith and pursue a virtuous life, are on the way to eternal life. That in this pathway “there is no death” underlines that it is about eternal life. Death is totally absent in eternal life. It is a state of ‘immortality’, to which durability and stability are related.

Those who walk in the way of righteousness now already partake of that. By going the way of maintaining God’s Word and doing what is right, death in its full extent and with all its terrors is being avoided. Death is not a cross-beam, for life which is enjoyed on the pathway of righteousness is immune to death. He Who is this life, has defeated death (Rev 1:17-18), so that “death is swallowed up in victory” (1Cor 15:54).

Proverbs 13

Pro 13:1 | A Wise Son or a Scoffer

1 A wise son [accepts his] father’s discipline,
But a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.

The contrast in this verse, indicated by the word “but”, is that of “a wise son” and “a scoffer”, a scoffing son. It is to be understood as an introductory verse. We see this contrast again and applied in the following verses in numerous daily situations.

A wise son will embrace the “discipline” of his father. He accepts his father’s discipline, he keeps and appreciates it, he respects it and acts accordingly. ‘Accepts’ is not written in the text, which is indicated by the brackets. From the second line of the verse it can be derived that ‘accept’ or ‘listen’ is meant. But it can also mean embrace or keep or respect or other positive valuations. The line can even be rendered as follows: “A wise son [is the fruit of] his father's instruction” (Darby-translation in a footnote). In this sense, he owes his wisdom to his good education. Because he is wise, he has listened, and because he listened, he is now wise.

The scoffer laughs at his father when he disciplines him. “Discipline” is a stronger word than instruction. As powerful as the father may address his son, when the son is a scoffer, he will not listen. He cuts himself off from it, he doesn’t want to learn from it. In that way he leaves the atmosphere of fatherly love which is necessary for his spiritual and emotional development. Whoever doesn’t accept parental discipline, will not listen to God’s discipline either. Both are intended to show the son the way of blessing and to be a blessing.

A scoffer finds himself on the highest level of foolishness. He has no respect for authority, he blasphemes religion, and because he thinks to know what is best, he rejects every teaching. The change into the stronger word ‘rebuke’ in the second line of the verse shows that he doesn’t respond to any kind of discipline.

He who has true wisdom, acknowledges that a person who has more experience, can prevent him from stumbling on the path that he goes. It is a new, unfamiliar way to him, but not for the experienced father. He who is not wise and doesn’t listen, he who is a scoffer and despises the instruction of an ‘experience expert’, will learn through bitter experiences what he would have been spared if he had listened.

Pro 13:2-3 | The Fruit and Protection of the Mouth

2 From the fruit of a man’s mouth he enjoys good,
But the desire of the treacherous is violence.
3 The one who guards his mouth preserves his life;
The one who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.

With “the fruit of a man’s mouth” the speech of the righteous is meant (verse 2). Fruit is here the result of inner considerations, of meditations of the heart. We can only produce good fruits from our mouths when there are good considerations in our heart (Lk 6:45). The desire that inspires the heart of the treacherous is nothing else than violence. There is mention of a difference in the source. “Good” and “violence” prove what is in the heart. The good is pleasant of taste and smell; violence is offensive, rough and hard.

The Christian who walks in fellowship with God will be communicating Godly language with his mouth. How others may respond to that, it will anyway do good to his own soul, it will refresh and edify it. To himself, the words that he speaks are good nourishment. That goes also for those to whom he speaks. They are refreshed by his words. The result in its turn is that he receives blessing from those whom he has refreshed by his words.

The treacherous are those who deceive, the unfaithful ones. Their desire, their ‘appetite’, is not to feed others with something good, but to commit violence. They do not seek to help others, but to harm them by violence. This can be physical violence, but they can also use verbal violence and speak offensive words. Offensive speech choirs at football matches are an example of it.

Verse 3 connects to verse 2. The lips are fed by what comes out of the heart, says verse 2. At the same time the mouth is to be guarded (verse 3), for not everything that is good, should be said. We should also guard ourselves against the bad things that can still come out of our mouths. Sin also still dwells in the believer. The mouth is represented here as a city or a house that still has to be guarded. We can also apply this with reference to the use of ‘modern mouths’ such as Facebook and Twitter, which regularly are used to hurt others. What turmoil this has caused already. Just think about the bullying via ‘social’ media amongst the pupils in secondary schools.

To guard the mouth means that attention is given to what comes out of the mouth, what one says, the words that one speaks (cf. Psa 141:3). It is safest to keep your mouth. The lesson is that we can prevent problems by having a tight control over what we say. The advice to ‘consider something overnight’ before we respond to it, is very valuable.

An old Arab proverb says: ‘Make sure that you do not cut your throat with your tongue.’ This is certainly to be applied to “one who opens wide his lips”, which means that he always speaks out his words rapidly in a thoughtless way. It regards someone who always thinks to have the right to say things, without any self-control and without any consideration. The contradiction in the previous verse is the fruitful tongue against the false tongue. Here the ‘uncontrollable tongue’ stands against the ‘controllable tongue’. He who is careful with his mouth, takes the safe way to preserve his life. His life is often in danger because of talking too much and without consideration, by saying anything at any time he wants. He who cannot control his mouth, is on the road to ruin.

Pro 13:4 | The Desire of the Sluggard Against Diligence

4 The soul of the sluggard craves and [gets] nothing,
But the soul of the diligent is made fat.

The sluggard desires prosperity and abundance and dreams about it. But his desire remains unfulfilled, empty, in vain; he gets nothing because its fulfillment demands effort, which he doesn’t want to deliver. Diligent people respond to God’s intention with their lives and will experience the satisfaction of it. They seek first the kingdom of God and all what they need will be added to them (Mt 6:33). The diligent do not dream all the day about what they would want, but they work for the fulfillment of their dreams.

The diligent is satisfied with what the sluggard desires in vain. The sluggard has the wish, but not the willingness. He desires the profit of the diligence, without the diligence that produces something. He is jealous of what others know and have, but he wants to be wise without (bible) study and become (spiritually) rich, without any effort. It is about desiring without effort to receive what is desired. He wants to be a Christian, but without the efforts that go together with it. The road to hell is paved with such desires.

Pro 13:5-6 | Righteous or Wicked

5 A righteous man hates falsehood,
But a wicked man acts disgustingly and shamefully.
6 Righteousness guards the one whose way is blameless,
But wickedness subverts the sinner.

Verse 5 is about the mind and performance of the righteous and the wicked. Verse 6 is about the results, the guarding righteousness and the subverting wickedness.

In verse 5 it is not said that the righteous never lies. Nor is it about avoiding the lie. Avoiding the lie can also happen out of selfish motives, without hating the lie. It is about hating it, abhorring it (Rom 12:9). This abhorrence is present with the righteous, because he possesses the Divine nature.

The lie is expressed in “falsehood”. Each word that is spoken in a lie, is hateful to God and to the righteous. We cannot love the truth without hating the lie. It is perfectly true with the Lord Jesus and it is like that with everyone who lives close to Him.

The wicked lives in the lie and acts despicably and shamelessly. What he says and does stinks and is shameful. To “act disgustingly” towards a person happens by speaking lies about him. But in that way the person who acts like that, he himself becomes disgusting. It is the smell that surrounds it. Whoever uses falsehood, is acting shamefully. The wicked makes himself to be hated and acts shamefully by his falsehood.

“Righteousness” and “wickedness” are personalized in verse 6. The righteous is characterized by righteousness. The way of such a person is “blameless”, which means that pure motives determine his actions and conduct. His righteousness guards him against evil attacks that want him to sin. He is kept from unrighteous of deceptive acts by his righteousness, because he is clothed with “the breastplate of righteousness” (Eph 6:14). Righteousness is like a breastplate that keeps the heart, from which “the utterances of life” flow (Pro 4:23).

The opposite of righteousness is wickedness, which characterizes the sinner. He is without any protection against the sin and goes a way of sin. With wickedness every thought toward God is missing. He who is wicked, does nothing else than sin. The way of the sinner inevitably ends up in destruction. He is subverted into it, which no one or nothing can stop. It is presented here as something he himself does.

Pro 13:7-8 | The Rich Poor Man and the Poor Rich Man

7 There is one who pretends to be rich, but has nothing;
[Another] pretends to be poor, but has great wealth.
8 The ransom of a man’s life is his wealth,
But the poor hears no rebuke.

People can pretend to be different from what they are (verse 7). That is hypocrisy or to play an act, living behind a mask. It is being somebody whom you are not in reality. The instruction which is embedded in here, is that one should be honest, without arrogance. That is only possible when both the rich and the poor see themselves in God’s light. James points out to both the poor and the rich which attitude everyone ought to take before God (Jam 1:9-10). Paul did not want anybody to think higher than what was seen or heard of him (2Cor 12:6b).

Here it is about people who pretend to be rich, while they are poor and about people who pretend to be poor, while they are rich. One can pretend to be rich because he doesn’t want to lose face. A person who has lost everything, may want to keep up the appearance of being prosperous and in such a way his respect among men, his neighbors or colleagues. He who pretends anything, lives in the lie.

Those who “pretend to be poor, but have great wealth”, may be doing that out of fear to be killed or to be robbed from their wealth. It can also possibly be out of fear to have to give away something, to have to do something merciful. Whoever pretends to be poor because of that, does that to escape from his obligation to be good to the poor and to freely open his hands for them (Deu 15:11). Then the motive is greed.

What is applied to wealth, can also be applied to power and wisdom and also to spiritual gifts. The church at Laodicea pretended to be spiritually rich, but she had nothing (Rev 3:17; cf. Hos 12:9). Christ, Who stood outside, confronted her with it. You can also say that you are nothing and are not able to do something, while you are still rich in Christ, but are still not willing to take up your responsibility. We should not automatically believe people who say something about themselves. In senses like ‘I am very good at this’, or ‘I really can’t do that’, it is about the own ‘I’. In both cases the Lord is being denied as the Giver.

Paul was poor, but made many rich (2Cor 6:10) both by preaching the gospel to unbelievers and by the teaching to the church (cf. Acts 3:6). Above all the Lord Jesus, Who was rich and became poor for our sake, has made us rich by His poverty (2Cor 8:9).

Verse 8 connects to verse 7. There are disadvantages attached to wealth. Someone who is rich, can become the prey of a kidnapper. Then he has to give all his wealth as a ransom to stay alive. The poor doesn’t have to deal with such a danger. He is not even being threatened, for he has nothing to be robbed from. He cannot be blackmailed and concerning that, he lives without worries.

We see here that wealth creates problems for the rich, while a poor man is not bothered by it. Poverty has this advantage above wealth. The poor can in a manner of speaking peacefully go to sleep without locking the door, for he has no possessions which a burglar could be looking for.

Pro 13:9 | A Rejoicing Light or a Lamp That Goes Out

9 The light of the righteous rejoices,
But the lamp of the wicked goes out.

The life of “the righteous” radiates “light”. It “rejoices” themselves and also their environment. The good things in their lives are a blessing to others and give joy. The advantages that the wicked have, do not result in a permanent joy, for in those advantages there is nothing present of God, Who is light (cf. Job 18:5-6; 21:17). They do not have the light of God, the only Source of light. Therefore their lamp, which is a symbol of the light of life, goes out (Pro 20:20,27; 24:20).

Light and joy belong together (Est 8:16). The light of the righteous is the Word of God (Psa 119:105), which is a source of joy (Psa 119:24,77,92,143,174).

Light is an independent source of life, while a lamp derives light from something else. The lamp can also be a picture of the Word of God (Psa 119:105), but it is not in this context. The lamp is an artificial light, like in the earlier days the light of a lampstand, or in our time the electric light is. It represents the artificial light of the darkened mind of the man without God. Whoever walks in that light (which the wicked do), will end up in complete darkness (cf. Mt 6:22-23).

Pro 13:10 | Insolence or to Receive Counsel

10 Through insolence comes nothing but strife,
But wisdom is with those who receive counsel.

Insolence – the arrogance of ‘I know everything’ – is shown in boasting in one’s own wisdom and despicably rejecting counsel. The result is a conflict. Besides, in a conflict there are involved two fleshly natures. He who receives counsel, acknowledges the necessity of counsel and accepts those who give that to him. He shows wisdom, with the result of harmony instead of strife.

Strife is avoided by searching for good, Scriptural counsel from others who are spiritual, not from unspiritual people. It is especially important to seek counsel with God. He who is really a studious one is the one who acknowledges that what he does not know, is endlessly more than what he already knows.

Strife and discord arise when one puts himself above others and doesn’t want anything to do with correction. That happened at Corinth. Paul came with counsel to correct it.

Pro 13:11 | Easy Come, Easy Go

11 Wealth [obtained] by fraud dwindles,
But the one who gathers by labor increases [it].

This verse is about the here and now, about immediate wealth and pleasure. It is a warning against wild speculation. It is the spirit of this time. Everything should be directly available – quick money, quick pleasure. Many people therefore participate in lotteries or speculations. If you win a prize, you can become very rich in one fell swoop. It can also regard wealth by theft. The pleasure of it will disappear in the long term. There is no permanent pleasure in the earthly things. Here the proverb ‘Easy come, easy go’ is to be applied, which means that what you easily have gained, you can also loose easily. Someone who lives by ‘easy’ money will not spend it carefully either.

The patient worker who “gathers by labor”, works for the future. His wealth will not dwindle, but increase. His satisfaction will not decrease but increase. This also applies especially in spiritual view.

God does not use the lottery or gambling or theft to make a person rich. He wants us to work hard and honestly for our wealth. Ways that God can use to make someone rich without having to work for it, are an inheritance and a donation.

Pro 13:12 | Hope Deferred or Desire Fulfilled

12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
But desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

What is exactly meant by the “hope deferred” is not mentioned here. It is general. What is meant is that the time during which someone cherishes his hope, is being stretched, that the fulfillment is advanced again and again. One may think that the fulfillment happens now, but it appears not to be. Each time it is a disappointment or even disillusionment. Such a hope makes the heart sick. It makes a person lose heart and languishing by it.

“A desire fulfilled” is something else than a certain hope with which a person ends up disappointed again and again. The desire fulfilled speaks of a desire for something which God has promised and which He also fulfills. Such a fulfilled desire “is a tree of life”. It does not make the heart sick, but makes it to be filled of fellowship with God, which is eternal and gives full satisfaction.

The deepest desire of the righteous is the desire for the coming of Christ. When He comes, that desire will be fulfilled. Simeon has experienced His coming (Lk 2:25-30; Hag 2:7). All believers will experience His coming. They persistently look forward to it. A desire deferred is therefore totally different from a persistent hope for something.

The disciples were aggrieved or painfully impacted in their hearts, because their hope for the kingdom of the Messiah was deferred. The two disciples going to Emmaus were aggrieved or sad in their hearts because of a disappointed hope. We are disappointed in our hope when we base our hope on our own desires and not on what God’s Word says.

Pro 13:13 | Despise or Fear

13 The one who despises the word will be in debt to it,
But the one who fears the commandment will be rewarded.

The first line of the verse is a warning against despising “the word”, which is the Word of God. Whoever despises God’s Word, will not maintain, but “be in debt to it” (Heb 10:26-31). His whole house of life will be destroyed. King Saul is an example of it (1Sam 15:17-23). The second line of the verse is a motivation to fear the Word as “the commandment”. Whoever obeys the Word, will be rewarded by God.

The contrasts are “despise” and “fear”, and “be in debt” and “to be rewarded”. It is about “the word” and “the commandment”, which is the Word of God and the commandment of God, and the obedience to it or the rejection of it. ‘The word’ refers to the teaching in general, while ‘the commandment’ implies an order, which indicates a powerful instruction.

Pro 13:14-16 | Wisdom or Folly

14 The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life,
To turn aside from the snares of death.
15 Good understanding produces favor,
But the way of the treacherous is hard.
16 Every prudent man acts with knowledge,
But a fool displays folly.

Out of “the teaching of the wise” comes forth life for everyone who listens to it (verse 14). This teaching “is a fountain of life”, that quenches the thirst of the righteous for fellowship with God. Fellowship with God is the true life. All teachings are focused on it.

However, there are active powers that want to kill the righteous. Death is everything that is not in fellowship with God. The second line of the verse gives the motive for the first line. The teaching of the wise does not only give life, but also ensures us that we, as long as we are on our way on earth, “turn aside from the snares of death” and therefore will remain in fellowship with God. ‘The snares of death’ suggests that death is a hunter or trapper which is looking out for his prey.

The world that we are to go through, is described as a spot where there is a multitude of snares of death. A snare is set to catch and kill. The means to make someone be caught in a snare is a bait. A bait may look like something edible and sweet, but in reality it is a means to kill. The Word of God reveals the true character of the bait and serves as a guide to turn aside from the snares and traps. Then we will stay alive. Judas, the one who betrayed the Lord Jesus, did not accept the teaching and ended up in the snares of death.

If we go through the minefields of life on earth, the Word of God shows us how we could prevent to step on a landmine and be blown up. It gives us the hope for an escape and a safe arrival.

“Good understanding” (verse 15) is not only the understanding of the teaching of verse 14, but also the application of it. That gains favor from God and men (Lk 2:52). Good understanding produces a good relationship with our fellowman, our neighbor, by which his favor is won. It is about the mind which is enlightened by the Spirit through which one knows and does the will of God and goes the way of wisdom. Those who follow God’s teachings, will experience the favor of men.

The contrast is “the way of the treacherous” which is “hard”. It is not a difficult way, but an impassable way. The treacherous go that way and get killed. They lack good understanding and are not to be trusted. They dream about a way that goes over roses, but their way is sown with thorns. Those are hard people whom you cannot rely on and with whom you cannot live together. They do not find life hard, but they make it hard for others.

With “the way” is meant the acts and conduct. The thought is that while good understanding is producing favor, the acts of the treacherous deliver no permanent result.

“Every prudent man” will examine the facts and then decide (verse 16). “Every” means ‘all’, without exception. He who is prudent, will not take his feelings to be the basis of his actions. He knows the dangers and the traps of the circumstances. This makes him cautious. The fool operates totally different. He follows his intuition. The fool makes us think of a hawker who displays his merchandise. The fool displays his foolishness like a merchant does with his goods for recommendation.

We see here the contrast between the discretion which characterizes the prudent and the recklessness of the fool who speaks foolishly. The fool exhibits folly. He exhibits it like a peacock spreads out his feathers.

“Knowledge” is more than only having information in the head. It is the skillfulness in using knowledge, it is understanding the art of applying the knowledge that has been acquired. In the context of the verse it means that the prudent knows that he has to conceal something which he indeed succeeds to, while the fool lacks this ability and spreads around what is foolish. Every prudent man ensures himself first of knowing what he does or says before he starts to work or say something. If he does not do that, he will spread folly.

Valuable knowledge is sometimes wasted by a lack of acting prudently. Therefore, when it appears from somebody’s actions that he has knowledge and insight, he is prudent. It appears from the way he operates in his family, in society and in the church. We should deal prudently with everyone. The Lord Jesus acted perfectly with knowledge. Therefore He always knew what He was and was not to say.

Pro 13:17 | A Wicked Messenger or a Faithful Envoy

17 A wicked messenger falls into adversity,
But a faithful envoy [brings] healing.

The contrast between both lines of the verse is “a wicked messenger” and “a faithful envoy” and “adversity” and “healing”. It is thereby about the bearer of the message of God. A wicked messenger deforms God’s message; he brings a false doctrine and false teachings. He causes confusion to the hearers and disturbs and damages relationships. The faithful envoy speaks about reconciliation with God and the neighbor. Paul and the apostles were faithful envoys for Christ (2Cor 5:20). Their message means healing of broken relationships, above all with God and then with others.

If we think of nowadays messengers, we may mention for example journalists. Most of them bring every day the daily news. We can read it in newspapers and on the internet. Their messages are mostly ungodly and evil of contents. They are messengers of the devil, for they want the readers to believe that what God calls sin in His Word, is not sin.

Pro 13:18 | To Neglect Discipline or Regard Reproof

18 Poverty and shame [will come] to him who neglects discipline,
But he who regards reproof will be honored.

This verse is about how one responds to “discipline” and “reproof”. Whoever thinks that it is beneath his dignity to accept discipline and therefore neglects it, will live in poverty and shame. These are two kinds of evil that strike such a person. Poverty strikes the body and shame the spirit. Whoever regards and accepts reproof willfully and humbly for his wrong characteristics and actions, listens and acts accordingly, will be honored.

We need discipline and reproof, because sin is still within us. Whoever regards reproof, does it because he is aware of its necessity. To his surprise he, additionally, is being honored by God.

Pro 13:19 | Sweet or an Abomination

19 Desire realized is sweet to the soul,
But it is an abomination to fools to turn away from evil.

This verse shows a similarity with verse 12. It “is sweet to the soul” to have a desire for something and to have that desire to be realized. The soul is here the center of the desires, the place where something is desired, considered and enjoyed in advance. It is here about the desires of a wise man.

“Fools” do not want such desires at all. The thought of something good and the fulfillment of it does not attract them at all. The thought “to turn away from evil” is “an abomination” to them. What is an abomination in God’s sight, is the passion and life of the fools. Despite the pleasure of the fulfillment of good desires, the fools will not turn away from evil, for it is important to them to experience the fulfillment of their wicked lusts.

“A desire realized” with regard to the good, the ultimate fulfillment, is incompatible with doing evil. It is impossible to be happy, when we live in sin. Only fools live in sin. The fulfilled desires belong to the righteous and the wise. Only they will desire that what truly gives fulfillment, which is the fellowship with God.

Pro 13:20 | To Walk With the Wise or With the Fools

20 He who walks with wise men will be wise,
But the companion of fools will suffer harm.

This verse advises us that we should connect with the wise men and not with the fools. Connection with the wise men will make us wise, for we learn that from them in our walk with them. The wordplay in the second line of the verse emphasizes the power of the connection. He who gets befriended with a fool “will suffer harm”, which means that he will end up to be a fool. Examine who influences you. The effect will show it: “to be wise” or “suffer harm”.

Pitch sticks, says the proverb. From what we do and what we say appears whom we spend most of our time with. “Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” (1Cor 15:33). ‘To walk with’ means to be in the company of. The first thing the father warns his son about, is bad company (Pro 1:10-11). It may refer to people, but also to contacts via social media and the consumption of all kinds of movies and magazines.

Who has not changed from friendships after his conversion? After conversion there is no common interest anymore with worldly friends. It inevitably leads to a distance. The new friends form the Christian character of wisdom. That should remain so, for we run the risk of turning back to old friendships when the fellowship with the Lord weakens. It is important to walk with Him as the Wisdom and also walk with those who walk with Him and be wise in that way.

The advice is to walk with those of whom we know that God is with them (cf. Zec 8:23). The same goes for going to a church where people edify one another, where the members can all function according to the place that they have in the body. The result is therefore that there will be a spiritual growth to independency. This will make one able to be a friend to others by whom they in their turn could become wise.

Pro 13:21-23 | To Receive the Good or the Bad

21 Adversity pursues sinners,
But the righteous will be rewarded with prosperity.
22 A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children,
And the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.
23 Abundant food [is in] the fallow ground of the poor,
But it is swept away by injustice.

“The evil” in verse 21 is considered as a person who pursues “the sinners” with the thought that the evil will overtake them too. “The righteous” will receive “the good” of men for his righteousness.

Adversity is the evil, the wrong, the misfortune, the disaster. Some people speak in such cases about ‘bad luck’. That indicates that they exclude Divine control over matters as if someone is hit by the impersonal ‘fate’. The opposite then is to be ‘lucky’.

This verse is sometimes true in life, but always true in eternity. In the hereafter the imbalances that we have on the earth will be corrected. The rich man had received the good during his life and Lazarus the bad. That was reversed after their death. Abraham reminded the rich man of that (Lk 16:25).

When one dies, the inheritance does not go to the grandchildren, but to the children. Still, the grandparents can leave an inheritance for their grandchildren also (verse 22). What can the grandchildren inherit? An inheritance is not necessarily about money or material property. Someone has said that the worst thing a person can do for his children, is to leave them a lot of money. What “a good man” can leave for his grandchildren, is his Godliness and his good example (Psa 103:17).

How do our grandchildren remember us? They can ‘inherit’ the righteous principles, which means ‘take over’ the principles which determined our conduct and also live up to them. All prayers that we have prayed for them, are a great inheritance that we can leave.

Divine righteousness determines the final destination of the wealth that a person leaves. The wealth will not come into the hands of sinners, but into the hands of the righteous. What the sinner considers to be his wealth, will after his death be transmitted into the hands of the righteous, who can deal with it properly (cf. Psa 49:11). This will be fully accomplished in the kingdom of peace, when the wicked have been judged (Isa 61:6).

When “fallow ground” is cultivated – which means that the land is ploughed – it provides “abundant food” to the poor (verse 23). Therefore the poor do not need to suffer hunger, for the earth delivers enough for everybody. That would be the situation if the rich were righteous. But due to sin, the practice is that by injustice is swept away what is acquired by hard labor. The poor are oppressed and exploited. Therefore it is not about a lack of food, but a lack of justice (Jam 2:6; 5:4).

Pro 13:24 | He Who Loves His Son, Disciplines Him

24 He who withholds his rod hates his son,
But he who loves him disciplines him diligently.

The absence of disciplining a child is not only a lack in the education, but also a lack of love. The rod is one of the means in the education, not the only means. Eli withheld his rod to his sons and God had to judge them (1Sam 2:22-24,27-34; 3:13; 4:10-11). A weak education does no good to a child, but wrong. It is not true love, but it goes against the interest of the child. ‘His’ rod is the rod of the father for ‘his’ son. ‘Diligently’ indicates to effort by the father. He does not act slackly, but with consideration and purposefully. It also involves diligence.

Withholding the rod is called here hating the child. It is claimed that the use of the rod is not a proof of love towards the child. But in fact it is often self-love instead of love for the child. Parents do not discipline the child, because they do not discipline themselves. They let themselves be guided by their natural feelings and indulgence, by wanting to be liked and to be popular. But it is better for parents to dispense a short pain than to live a life of pain, which is caused by children to whom the rod has been withheld.

There should neither be an exaggeration of discipline. A punishment should be in accordance with the disobedience which deserves punishment. Otherwise the child will become discouraged or bitter and that due to us (Eph 6:4; Col 3:21). In the education it comes down to the balance between giving space to the child to grow and indicating the borders of that space.

Corporal punishments are prohibited more and more in the modern western society. The increase of the cases of child abuse has caused this shift in the public opinion. It is clear that there is a difference between beat and abuse. It is at this point that the public opinion is mistaken. As it is always the case with the public opinion, the balance has tapped from one end to the other.

The Bible however, does not speak about child abuse, but recommends that the rod must be used because it is an effective means of teaching a child. An Egyptian proverb says: ‘Children have ears at their behind, they listen when they are beaten.’ God wants us to learn in our childhood to associate physical pain, applied by our parents, with the evil, in order to educate us to make the right moral choices when we are growing.

Pro 13:25 | To Satisfy the Appetite or to Be in Need

25 The righteous has enough to satisfy his appetite,
But the stomach of the wicked is in need.

God promises that “the righteous” will not be in need, but that he can “satisfy his appetite”. He rewards the righteousness of the righteous by the satisfaction of his physical needs. This is a general statement based on what God promises in the law to those who walk according to His commandments (Lev 26:5; Psa 37:25). This promise will be fulfilled in the kingdom of peace. It is not the guarantee that God will always provide in all our physical needs and that the righteous will never suffer hunger, not even to some minor extent. Paul has suffered hunger and need (Phil 4:12).

It does not mean that the righteous will always have enough to eat. It surely means that the promises of God will always be perfectly enough for the righteous. The Lord Jesus has spoken about “the food which perishes”, and about “food which endures to eternal life” (Jn 6:27). Here we see the difference. Our first concern should not be the food which perishes, but the spiritual food which He gives in Himself as the manna. The Lord Jesus had food to eat which His disciples did not know. That food was doing the will of His Father (Jn 4:34). That food gives full satisfaction.

“The stomach of the wicked”, which today is often fat and round, will not be filled anymore. For them there will be an endless “need” after death. Instead of being satisfied, they will be endlessly tortured by everything that their life had determined on earth. In life their stomach was their god (Phil 3:19). In the everlasting pain the gnawing feeling of hunger, of unfulfilled lust, will torment them forever. Not even a drop of water will be given to them (Lk 16:24-25).

Proverbs 14

Pro 14:1 | To Build or to Tear Down a House

1 The wise woman builds her house,
But the foolish tears it down with her own hands.

The contrast in this verse, indicated by the word “but”, is between wisdom and foolishness concerning a house. Wisdom builds the house, but foolishness tears it down. “Her house” is not the building in which the wise woman lives, but it indicates her family. It concerns everything that she controls.

“The wise woman builds her house” in the fear of the LORD. She looks at her house with His eyes. She desires it to meet His intention with it, which is that it reflects heaven on earth and that in her house the peace of heaven is being enjoyed. The wise woman seeks to control her family and household in such a way, that God feels at home in it, just as He does in heaven. She makes sure that there is an atmosphere of love in it, which determines the interrelationship between the housemates.

“The foolish” woman, leads her family to ruin. She is not concerned about the well-being of her family. There is no fear of the LORD present with her. What she does is so awful, that she is called “foolish”. Without any sense of responsibility she lives for her own pleasure. She pursues pleasure, while she is wasting her time with doing the things she likes. She thinks only about herself and by doing so she tears her own house down “with her own hands”.

The importance of the woman’s role in the family is emphasized throughout the whole Scripture. For a stable family not only a wise father is necessary, but also a wise mother. It is necessary to emphasize that again and again, among other things because of the folly of feminism, which assumes this role to be stupid. The woman is supposed to make a career; she should defend herself. To the feminists the wise women are foolish women. In their view the wise woman who builds her house, is building a jail. This misinterpretation comes from the devil, who always turns matters upside down.

Pro 14:2 | To Fear the LORD or to Despise Him

2 He who walks in his uprightness fears the LORD,
But he who is devious in his ways despises Him.

Here the contrast is between the one who fears the LORD and the one who despises Him. The life that one leads proves whether he walks with God or not. From one’s conduct, which means his whole way of life, people can determine how his relation is towards God (cf. Lk 6:43-44a; Mt 7:20; 12:33). It regards a habit, a consistent behavior and not an incidental, temporary event.

“He who walks in his uprightness”, is doing that because he fears God. There is absolutely no uprightness possible without the presence of respect and honor to God. Water does not flow without a source. Grace in the heart is the source of an upright walk. Samuel is an example of the first line of the verse and Saul of the second (1Sam 12:3-5; 15:22).

“He who is devious in his ways”, which means is devious from the ways that he should go, shows that he does not fear God, but on the contrary despises Him. To deviate means to turn away from keeping the commandments of the LORD. It regards all of his ways, whatever he does, wherever he goes, whatever he considers and says. He determines it entirely by himself, without considering God in any way. Therefore also here it is not about an incidental event, but about a continuous behavior which shows to be despising God continually. It doesn’t matter whether he is aware of it or not. Whoever lives his life by himself, despises God Who has given him life to live for Him.

Pro 14:3 | The Mouth of the Foolish and the Lips of the Wise

3 In the mouth of the foolish is a rod for [his] back [lit of pride],
But the lips of the wise will protect them.

With “the mouth of the foolish” the words are meant, which the foolish speaks. In all his words his “pride” resounds. He thinks great about himself. In everything that he says “a rod” is hidden. The contrast with the second line of the verse clarifies that his words bounds back like a boomerang “is a rod”, for whatever the wise say or not, it is to their own safety. Therefore the rod of the words of the fool does not affect others, but himself. By what he says he brings misery on himself. The thought is that the words of a fool are the instrument by which he himself suffers (cf. Psa 64:8).

With “the lips of the wise” the words that they speak are also meant. In their words there is no rod hidden, which would turn against them. They let themselves be guided by their wisdom in what they say or do not say. Their wisdom is that they pray: “Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips” (Psa 141:3). This is how they know what should proceed from the door of their lips and what should not.

If we want to have ‘lips of the wise’ which are like guards, we do well by praying this prayer regularly. Only the Lord can keep us from saying words with which we later may be confronted and about which we have to be ashamed or which would even bring us into great trouble.

Pro 14:4 | A Clean Manger or Much Revenue

4 Where no oxen are, the manger is clean,
But much revenue [comes] by the strength of the ox.

If we want to be productive we should use appropriate means. Oxen are indispensable for a farmer. The wise farmer will see to it that he has a lot of oxen and that they are in good condition. The grain harvest is parallel to the work that his oxen do. A clean manger is of course convenient. If he does not buy oxen, he does not have to fill the manger with food. The stable does not get dirty either, so that he does not have to clean anything (cf. Amos 4:6a). These thoughts may be attractive to the lazybones, but it is a stupid thought to those who seek results.

This verse indicates that with a small investment a great harvest can be realized. An investment in the right means or in the right tool will pay itself back doubly. Likewise the efforts made for the maintenance of those means or the tool will be found in the effect of it and ultimately in the harvest. A productive ox is therefore by far to be preferred over a clean stable.

“Much revenue” means a multiple of income from the field after it has been ploughed by the ox as a plowing animal. And what is the harvest of the efforts of the ox? Food, life. That is the reward of taking care of the oxen. To gain a good result costs time, money and effort.

This also applies to gaining spiritual food. We will not gain that without effort and spending time, and reading and purchasing Bible study books, which (sometimes) costs money. To walk by faith sometimes causes difficulties. It does not happen naturally.

The ox is a picture of someone who is engaged with spiritual work (1Cor 9:9-11). The fellow believers are to take good care of such a person. When there are no oxen in spiritual terms, it will all be desolation and infertility. In a broader application it is about using the power available, which every believer has. ‘Troublesome’ believers should not be avoided or even be removed, but they are to be taken care of. The purpose of that is that they will start to work again for the Lord by passing on the gospel or encouraging those who belong to God’s church.

Pro 14:5 | A Faithful Witness or a False Witness

5 A trustworthy witness will not lie,
But a false witness utters lies.

This saying is about “a trustworthy witness” and “a false witness” (Pro 6:19; 12:17). It deals with the age-old problem of false witnesses in the court who are delaying the determination of truth. It is not just about rendering the facts rightly or deceitfully, but about one’s character, which becomes apparent from his testimony. To be trustworthy and to lie do not belong together.

A trustworthy witness cannot be bribed and cannot be influenced by promises or threats, in order to deviate from the truth. You can take him at his word. He is clear and transparent in his testimony. This can only be said of someone who has the Divine nature. God cannot lie. It is not present in His nature and therefore neither in the new nature of the believer which he has received. There is “no lie … of the truth” (1Jn 2:21).

The opposite is the false witness; he is a real child of the father of lies and shows his character (Jn 8:44; 1Kgs 21:13). He “utters lies”. His spiritual lungs are full of lies. What he exhales are lies. He lies with the naturalness of his breathing. You do not notice one’s breathing, it is unnoticeable. What a person breathes out, spreads unnoticed to all sides. That’s how a false witness works. But the ‘breathalyzer’ of God’s Word shows its forgery.

The Lord Jesus is called “the faithful witness” (Rev 1:5). We are called to be faithful witnesses, such as for the message of salvation. We show that both in our words and also in our deeds. Our example ought to be a testimony of Him Whom we serve (1Tim 4:12).

A false witness distorts the truth of the gospel (Gal 1:7). The soldiers that guarded the grave of the Lord Jesus were bribed in order to be false witnesses by telling lies about the resurrection of the Lord (Mt 28:11-14). There were many false witnesses like that in the trial of the Lord (Mk 14:56-58). In order to make Stephen to be convicted, false witnesses were also put forward (Acts 6:13).

Pro 14:6-9 | Scoffers and Fools

6 A scoffer seeks wisdom and [finds] none,
But knowledge is easy to one who has understanding.
7 Leave the presence of a fool,
Or you will not discern words of knowledge.
8 The wisdom of the sensible is to understand his way,
But the foolishness of fools is deceit.
9 Fools mock at sin,
But among the upright there is good will.

The contrast in verse 6 regards “a scoffer” and the “one who has understanding”. A “scoffer” is intellectually arrogant and therefore lacks all serious interest in wisdom. He actually wants to search for wisdom, but does that in a superficial way. The important thing for him is to impress others with his wisdom.

A scoffer who is searching for wisdom, will not find it because he is searching in the wrong place. That’s because he lacks the fear of God. He does not want, so to speak, to receive the kingdom of God as a child. He is hindering himself. He is someone who always learns to get wise, but never comes to the knowledge of truth (2Tim 3:7). Therefore the wisdom that he is searching is nowhere to be found by him.

The “one with understanding” on the contrary has a relationship with God. In that way he is related to the Source of all knowledge and he can easily attain it. He does not presume anything and takes the position of a child. With the ease or receptiveness with which a child learns, he attains knowledge. He doesn’t demand any condition in advance, but submits himself to God’s lesson program to become wise.

The eunuch was a man of understanding. He read the Word of God and was taught by Philip, which was the way for him to attain knowledge about Christ (Acts 8:26-30). It was not a difficult task for him, but it went “easy” because he was that wise to admit that he needed Christ. The scoffer thinks that he can go his way without Christ (Rom 3:11).

It is impossible for one to increase his knowledge when he is in the presence of a fool (verse 7). The first line of the verse instructs us to leave the presence of a foolish person. The second line of the verse explains the reason why. The verse instructs men to leave the fools because they do not gain knowledge from what the fools say. We should not stay in the presence of people who, despite that they speak a lot, have nothing to say. Such people do not make us wiser. Nothing comes out of nothingness.

Paul gives Timothy the order to turn away from people who hold to a form of Godliness, although they have denied its power (2Tim 3:5). He also appeals to come out from the midst of people who mix truth and lie (2Cor 6:17). Besides that, it is a waste of time, it is also dangerous to be in a company of foolish men. We will save us many disappointments if we mind this verse.

“The wisdom of the sensible” gives him understanding how he should live (verse 8). Due to his wisdom he organizes his life in such a way that it is good; that it is in accordance with God’s thoughts. Therefore he has to know how God thinks about everything. God’s thoughts are written in His Word. Everything is written in it that is necessary for a life in a world that is full of traps and looks like a labyrinth.

The fool looks only at the here and now. That is his folly. The materialism determines his life. That is his god of lies. He does not let himself to be guided by the principles of God’s Word, but by deception. The fool does not notice that his own folly leads him to ruin because he considers his own way to be right, while he has no idea of it. He is living in lies and deception.

To get understanding of our way is only to be gained by a relationship with the Lord Jesus and to listen to God’s Word. Christ understood His way perfectly by His relationship with the Father, by listening to Him. If we follow Him therein, we will not be people who are being tossed to and fro and up and down with the changing circumstances of life. It will also keep us from disappointments.

The fool does not take sin seriously (verse 9). He “mocks at sin”, which implies that he denies every guilty feeling of both himself and anyone else. He rejects every instruction: ‘I haven’t done anything wrong. Anyhow, it seems nothing if you compare it to what others do. There are a lot of people who are worse than I am. By the way, who determines whether something is wrong or not?’ On the contrary, the fool considers sinning to be a nice way of entertainment. He will never apologize for it, but will always justify sin or deny sin as if it is no sin.

If we deny guilt, if we deny that we have sinned, we make God a liar (1Jn 1:10). It is the picture of mocking at the substitutionary atonement of Christ, which speaks of the guilt offering. We find this in our time when many ridicule the atonement work of Christ.

Among “the upright” there is “good will” on the basis of the guilt sacrifice, which is mocked at by the fool. The upright are not innocent people, but people who have confessed their guilt and whose guilt therefore has been forgiven by God. They know the value of the sacrifice of Christ. In Him they are accepted by God in good will. In that good will the upright also accept one another and relate to one another. Everybody is of good will towards the other.

Pro 14:10 | Bitterness and Joy, Which Are Not to Be Shared

10 The heart knows its own bitterness,
And a stranger does not share its joy.

There is “bitterness” and there is “joy” which can not to be shared with another, how much understanding and compassion the other may have. Here it is about the deepest emotion a man can have, regarding emotions of bitterness and emotions of joy. Those are emotions which are only to be understood by the person who has them (cf. 1Cor 2:11a).

This proverb warns us about all unnatural or compelled attempts to express our empathy. We should not try to follow another person to the bottom of his emotions, for it is not possible to do that. Emotions belong to man, but the experience of it is very personal. There are limits to share the joy or sorrow of someone else.

Only to God there is no limit. He is the One “Who knows the hearts of all men” (Acts 1:24). In Christ, Who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin (Heb 4:15; Isa 63:9), He is able to share it completely. No one has been able to share the bitterness of the Lord Jesus, yet He knows the heart of each person and also its bitterness.

If we sometimes absolutely do not know how to express certain feelings, do not have words to do that, and can only groan, God’s Spirit helps us and intercedes before God what we feel (Rom 8:26-27). The text “rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep” (Rom 12:15), can only be practiced by us through the Holy Spirit Who enables us to. Heaven is heaven among others things, because in that place we all share the same joy in a perfect way.

Pro 14:11-13 | Appearances Are Deceiving

11 The house of the wicked will be destroyed,
But the tent of the upright will flourish.
12 There is a way [which seems] right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.
13 Even in laughter the heart may be in pain,
And the end of joy may be grief.

In verse 11 we find three contradictions: “house” – “tent”; “wicked” – “upright”; “be destroyed” – “flourish”. The wicked dwell in a house. That indicates a picture of sustainability, safety and comfort. The upright dwell in a tent. That indicates a picture of a house which can be blown over just like that, which offers limited safety and comfort. Appearances are deceiving here, for the house of the wicked will be destroyed, while the tent of the upright will flourish.

It is about what a house or a family characterizes. A house looks strong and permanent, yet it will be destroyed. A tent looks weak and temporary, yet it flourishes. It is not so much about the material, but about the inhabitant. A house radiates wealth, a tent radiates poverty. The house of the rich seems to survive many generations; the tent of the poor seems destined to the short existence of only one generation. But the reverse appears to be true. The reason is that the wicked do not consider God and His laws, while the upright do and in that way honor God. He will honor those who honor Him.

Verse 12 is repeated in Proverbs 16 (Pro 16:25), which underlines the importance of it. In the first line of the verse it is not said that the way which looks right is a wrong way, but the second line of the verse clarifies that. The picture which is used is that of a traveler who follows a right way. He seems to be on the right way, but he is on the wrong way, because it is literally a dead end. That way leads him to death.

It is remarkable that Solomon literally speaks about "ways" (plural) of death. It indicates that the way which looks right leads to numerous ways and that all those ways have one destination, which is death. It is therefore important to leave that way which seems to be right, before it is too late.

An example of a way which looks right to a person, but which ends up in death, is the way of the good works, such as the roman-catholic church teaches. Another example is doing works of the law on the assumption to receive salvation in that way. After all, keeping the law is related to life (Lev 18:5). But nobody is able to keep the law. The law turns out to be a ministry of death and of judgment (2Cor 3:7,9).

Paul also thought that he was on the right way when he persecuted the Christians, but it was a way to death (Acts 26:9; Jn 16:2). If Christ had not stopped him on that way, he would have ended up in eternal death. The hypocritical Pharisees and scribes in the time of the Lord Jesus were boasting in their own righteousness. They thought that they were walking on the right way, but Christ pronounced the ‘woe’ against them (Mt 23:13,15,16,23,25,27,29).

Verse 13 says that in superficial joy there may be an underlying pain sometimes. In those cases the joy may disappear once, but the pain is still there. People may laugh in the company of others, but when they are alone at home, the pain of sorrow is gnawing. One can look happy and laugh, while his heart is suffering from pain. What we see does not always reflect the underlying reality. We do not know what is going on within a person. We are being deceived when we rely on the external.

Pain, whatever its cause may be, cannot be laughed off. When there is no solution for the pain, grief will be the end to that kind of joy. The end of joy is always sorrow for the wicked. That joy is temporal and changes in an endless sorrow. The joy of those who live in fellowship with God has no end, but is complete and eternal (1Jn 1:3-4).

God is the God of hope. He can fill the believer with a joy which does not hide something, but which can go together with grief (Rom 15:13; 2Cor 6:10). Pain and grief will not be found anymore when a new heaven and a new earth have been established (Rev 21:4-5).

Pro 14:14 | To Be a Backslider or a Good Man

14 The backslider in heart will have his fill of his own ways,
But a good man will [be satisfied] with his.

“The backslider” is someone who first went the way of faith, but has returned to his earlier condition of unbelief. That return may be caused by the fear of suffering, but also by the vulgar pleasure which had controlled him in the past. Anyway, he is tired of the things of God, which in his sight are narrow-minded. He returns to a life in sin, like the dog that turns back to his own vomit and the pig to the wallowing in the mud (2Pet 2:22).

The ultimate saturation of those ways will be a saturation of misery. The Israelites were backsliding in heart when they got tired of the manna and longed to go back to Egypt. Backsliding in heart arises when the confidence in God is revoked, because we do not understand His ways with us. Then we go back to do our own way, of which we think they are better. The disillusionment will be great.

The “good man” clings to God and continues to trust Him, even in bad times. Such a person will be satisfied abundantly because of the choice he made for God. God gives him a deep inner satisfaction of having made the right choice. He experiences that satisfaction again and again in everything that he does. What he does is good, because he is good, a good man. He is good, not from himself, but because he has chosen a life with God.

Pro 14:15 | Naive or Sensible Man

15 The naive believes everything,
But the sensible man considers his steps.

This verse puts “the naive” and “the sensible man” opposite to each other. A naive person is someone who is not exercised to discern things, while a sensible man has the ability to discern critically. The naive is inexperienced and believes everything that others tell him. One may say that he is his friend and wants to borrow money from him, which he will surely pay back. Without any guarantee this stupid person lends him the money. He also believes the weirdest sayings, because he does not check it with the Bible. We can think of the current news which is presented to us daily. It is stupid to swallow everything that is offered to us.

The sensible man however, considers every step he takes. He walks cautiously; he probes and walks carefully, because he is aware of walking in a mine field. He is cautious because he lives in fellowship with God. Therefore he is aware how unfaithful men can be and that he cannot let them lead his life.

It is about having fellowship or not having fellowship with God. He who does not live in fellowship with God, is open for the craziest ideas. It makes him to be an easy prey of doctrines of demons and of men (cf. Rom 16:18). A lack of confidence in God makes him to trust those who are not worthy of being trusted. Unbelieving scientists are not to be fully trusted for the results of their research because they ignore the Bible. Many who reject the Bible as a book full of fables believe the greatest follies and fables.

The sensible man has learnt by training to “discern both the good and the evil” (Heb 5:14). He “examines everything” and “holds fast to which is good” (1Thes 5:21). He therefore examines who is behind the words by testing the spirits “whether they are from God” (1Jn 4:1). We should examine and test based on God’s Word if what is said, agrees with it (Acts 17:11; 1Cor 14:29). Then we shall watch our steps and know on which way we should step.

Pro 14:16-17 | The Wise and the Arrogant

16 A wise man is cautious and turns away from evil,
But a fool is arrogant and careless.
17 A quick-tempered man acts foolishly,
And a man of evil devices is hated.

“A wise man” is cautious and not reckless (verse 16). The first line of the verse says a wise man fears because he sees the danger around him and also acknowledges his own weakness. Therefore he “turns away from evil”. The wise person is cautious because he fears about the consequences of obstinate deeds.

Opposite to the wise man is the reckless, self-assured, arrogant and careless fool. He lets himself be carried away, has no control and has plenty of fun. The fool is arrogant and trusts in himself, while he of all men should be most cautious. He trusts in his own feeling and a wisdom he pretends to have. Such a person was Sennacherib, the boasting king of Assyria (2Kgs 19:28-37). He imagined himself to be perfectly safe, inviolable for any enemy whosoever. The LORD was nothing more than a national idol to him, like all nations have their own idols. He deceived himself by that.

In verse 17 two characteristics are mentioned which are unpleasant to others. It is about two persons. The one is quick-tempered or hot-headed; it is someone with a short fuse. The other one is crafty. The first makes himself known directly, the latter works secretly; he avoids everything that could reveal his true plans.

The Scripture warns us not to be quick-tempered, but on the contrary, to be slow to anger (Tit 1:7; Jam 1:19). Quick-temperedness is the opposite of self-control which everyone needs, for nobody has a ‘fuse’ of an unlimited size. The hot-headed person acts foolishly at the least difficulty he has to face by pulling his hair out and by ranting and raving. We are not to, when we face difficulties, loose our patience, but to learn to persevere in evil times.

The “man of evil devices” may be the counterpart of the quick-tempered person. He is crafty in his intentions. His victim does not see quickly that he is being wronged. When he realizes that he has become victim, it is too late which results in hating that crafty person.

Pro 14:18 | To Inherit Folly or to Embrace Knowledge

18 The naive inherit foolishness,
But the sensible are crowned with knowledge.

“The naive” do not have to do anything for being foolish. That is something they are born with; they inherit it from their parents. It is a reference to the original sin, the sinful nature which everyone is born with from sinful parents, who in their turn pass it on to the children who are born of them.

But we have nothing to do with a fate. The presence of the original sin does not have to mean that one remains foolish. A person who has converted and believes in Christ and His work, gets a new nature, the new, eternal life. Then he becomes a sensible person and is crowned “with knowledge”.

He who was a fool in the past, knows God now. Through the knowledge of Him he has been granted “everything pertaining to life and godliness” (2Pet 1:3). The knowledge of God enables him to live as a sensible man. He knows how to see all things in life, which means to see things like God sees them.

Pro 14:19 | The Roles Are Reversed

19 The evil will bow down before the good,
And the wicked at the gates of the righteous.

Finally – for now it is still not so, generally speaking – “the evil will bow down before the good”, which are those who do good. “The wicked”, who chased the righteous away at their gates, will come to “the gates of the righteous” to ask them for a favor. The picture that is used here is that of a defeated nation that bows down before its conquerors, while awaiting their commands.

The brothers of Joseph bowed down before him (Gen 42:6; 43:26,28). Although this proverb refers in the first place to triumphs in this life (e.g. Acts 16:39), we can also think of the certain fulfillment of this proverb in the future (Phil 2:10; Rev 3:9).

Pro 14:20-21 | The Attitude Towards Socially Deprived

20 The poor is hated even by his neighbor,
But those who love the rich are many.
21 He who despises his neighbor sins,
But happy is he who is gracious to the poor.

It seems that verse 20 deals with a person who has become poor. Besides the loss of money and possessions, the poor also loses his friend. That friend was one of the kind who only has friendships for the advantage it can deliver. When the advantage disappears, then also the friendship disappears. Friendship changes in hatred or disregard.

The truth of it is to be observed every day. Everywhere we see that possessions determine how popular one is. People are often ashamed of poor family members because of their poor clothing, their poorly decorated house or their low education.

But “those who love the rich are many” or, as it also can be translated, “the friends of the rich are many”. Friendship based on wealth is not real friendship. It is all about to get something from the wealth of the other person. He who is wise will not let himself be led by that motive. The rich seem to be the favorite of heaven, but that is a lie.

A friend is someone of whom you trust that he always loves you, under all circumstances. Friendship should be about the person, not about what he possesses.

Verse 21 corresponds to verse 20. We should not despise our neighbor, even if he is poor. What despising your neighbor means, is to sin against him and against God. One cannot sin against a neighbor and enjoy God’s blessings. To despise means to treat with disregard, to throw away as something worthless. James warns us about that (Jam 2:1-9; Job 36:5). To love God and to love your neighbor are inseparably related to each other (Mt 22:37-40).

In the second line of the verse the neighbor is presumed to be poor, or in any case to be needy. The opposite of hating your neighbor is to be gracious to him. He who does that is called “blessed”. He will be rewarded by God for that (Psa 41:2-3). Regarding that the Lord Jesus says as follows: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy” (Mt 5:7).

Pro 14:22 | To Devise Evil or to Devise Good

22 Will they not go astray who devise evil?
But kindness and truth [will be to] those who devise good.

The contrast is between “devise evil” and “devise good”. The result of the first is wandering and of the second is showing kindness or love and truth. “Those who devise evil”, are consciously devising something evil. Those who do so, are doing wrong and are on the wrong way. They are wandering without any doubt. God does not invent the evil and He neither devises it. He wants to do good to man and He wants men to do good to one another.

Those “who devise good”, those who so to speak ‘devise’ good plans, show in their actions that they are guided by “kindness and truth”. Both of these characteristics are features of the Lord Jesus and God. But they are also expressed in those who are related with Them (Isa 32:8).

When the Lord Jesus was on earth, the religious leaders did nothing but devising evil against Him. They were always seeking to catch Him in a word. How did they wander. The Lord says to the sadducees who had a trick question for Him: “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God?” (Mk 12:24).

Pro 14:23-24 | Profit and Wealth

23 In all labor there is profit,
But mere talk [leads] only to poverty.
24 The crown of the wise is their riches,
[But] the folly of fools is foolishness.

In order to make an advantage or profit from something we have to work hard (verse 23). Meaningless talk, chitchat, delivers only poverty. “Labor” or hard work means that effort must be delivered. But it will profit, even more than you need. There is so much “profit”, that you can do good to others.

What we apply to daily activities, we can also apply spiritually. In order to learn to know God’s Word we will have to labor. The profit will be more than enough for our spiritual growth. We not only profit from it ourselves, but we can also serve others with it.

People should be more afraid of mere talk than of hard work. By endless meetings and continuous talking we can hardly work out something. The final result is “poverty”, because there is only a lot of talk without knowing practice. There may be some investments, but the money simply disappears into a bottomless pit and only debts remain.

We can apply some (Dutch) proverbs to the second line of the verse. The first is ‘empty vessels make the most noise’, which means that those with the least knowledge, speak out their opinion the loudest. The second one is: ‘actions speak louder than words’, which means that we cannot just talk and do nothing; we have to show deeds.

“Riches” is a “crown” for those who use wisdom properly (verse 24). It adorns the wise who is rich, whom due to his wisdom, uses it to do good to others. In that way they are followers of God, Whom with His riches also does only good. He lavishes on those who are His, according to the riches of His grace, out of His wisdom and insight (Eph 1:7-8).

The second line of the verse seems to say that fools have only their foolishness. When a fool is rich, it doesn’t make him a better person. The way he spends his riches shows that his foolishness is incorrigible. Riches of the wise increases their appearance, while fools will always remain fools, even if they are rich. A swine remains a swine even if he has a nose ring.

Pro 14:25 | A Savior of Lives or Uttering Lies

25A truthful witness saves lives,
But he who utters lies is treacherous.

“A truthful witness” tells the truth and therefore saves the life of someone who on the ground of a false accusation would be killed. The opposite is the “treacherous”, the one who “utters lies”. He deceives judges and causes ruin. He is not an occasional deceiver, but the personification of deceit. That’s because he is a descendant of the father of lies, the devil, whose nature he reveals.

A truthful witness is someone who brings the gospel. He testifies of the truth of his own salvation. Whoever hears his testimony and follows his advice to turn to the Savior also, gets saved through him, as it were. He casts unto him the lifesaver ring in the gospel. He is not the lifesaver ring itself, but casts it unto him. The Lord Jesus is in the fullest sense of the word the faithful and truthful Witness and therefore the Savior of lives.

Pro 14:26-27 | The Fear of the LORD Is …

26 In the fear of the LORD there is strong confidence,
And his children will have refuge.
27 The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life,
That one may avoid the snares of death.

In these two verses the righteous are encouraged by pointing out to them two special characteristics of the fear of the LORD. The first characteristic is that those who fear the LORD, who have the reverence for Him, go their way in “strong confidence” in Him (verse 26). It is about ‘children of the fear of the LORD’, not about children of the LORD. The respectful fear of the LORD is a certain protection against the dangers that threaten on all sides.

The picture is of a fortress to which the righteous flee and are safe there. It is also the picture of a father who protects his children against powers that are stronger than the child, but not stronger than the father. God is a refuge and strength, a help in trouble (Psa 46:1). In ourselves we have no power, but in Him is all the power we need. Those who are His take their refuge in Him for protection against the enemy.

The fear of the LORD not only offers protection. The second characteristic is that respectful fear for the LORD brings life (verse 27). This life is life in its full and endless duration, for death cannot come near it. God is the Source of all life. He who by faith has a connection with Him, lives in a living relationship with Him. Beside Him there is no life. Fellowship with Him is life. In that way the temptations which lead to death, are recognized and avoided.

Both characteristics are necessary in a world that seeks to do us evil and in which we want to live to the honor of God. Here we see prevention from the two aspects of the evil: violence and temptation. The devil attacks us with violence or he wants to tempt us with his guiles. This is according to his two appearances. He comes to us “as a roaring lion” (1Pet 5:8) or “as an angel of light” (2Cor 11:14).

Pro 14:28 | Glory or Ruin of a Ruler

28 In a multitude of people is a king’s glory,
But in the dearth of people is a prince’s ruin.

The power of a king depends on the number of subordinates of his kingdom. This statement is generally true for kingdoms. From a human point of view political power is based on the number of people that are members of the party. In the first line of the verse it is not about power or influence, but about “a king’s glory”. This assumes a king who reigns as a blessing to his subordinates. His people are numerous because every subordinate likes to belong to that king.

We see that perfectly expressed in the kingdom of peace. Then the Lord Jesus will be publicly King of Israel. He will reign as the true Solomon over His people and all nations. From Him blessing will flow to all over whom He reigns.

The title and high position of a king become worthless when he has no or just a few subordinates. Then he has no say or power or control at all. No one regards him. If he loses his people, he is ruined.

Satan, and the antichrist in his wake, is the great loser. He will have no people and no followers anymore at all in the kingdom of peace. That also applies to the antichrist who will deceive many and will be accepted by the Israelites as their king. Satan will be totally alone in his captivity, without any power to exert over anyone whatsoever. Also in eternity he will be alone, like everyone in hell will also be alone, however high his position, power and influence were on earth. At the coming of the Lord Jesus to judge, the antichrist will directly be thrown into hell, together with the beast, the dictator of Europe (Rev 19:20).

Pro 14:29 | To Be Slow to Anger or Quick-Tempered

29 He who is slow to anger has great understanding,
But he who is quick-tempered exalts folly.

“He who is slow to anger”, proves that he has “great understanding” of the circumstances of life and the future. Otherwise one cannot be slow to anger. He realizes that the things on earth are not yet the way they should be, like God wants them to be. That time will surely come, but now it is not time yet to implement changes, with force if necessary. The righteous sees and undergoes much suffering. He has much understanding in the cause of it, which is owed to man who has deviated from God and lives in rebellion against Him.

James calls us to be patient in tolerating injustice (Jam 5:7-11). He uses the word patience in those few verses no less than four times. Thereby he speaks about the coming of the Lord and about perseverance which was also so typical for the prophets. He who is patient or slow to anger has much understanding in the coming of the Lord. He is looking forward to it and waits patiently and persistently for it.

The opposite is “quick-tempered”. Such a person does not think about the future. He wants to live here and now and directly have pleasure. As soon as he comes across someone who hinders him or tries to make it impossible for him therein, he explodes. He “exalts folly” to the true standard of life. Of course, as he thinks, you are allowed to explode when your happiness is being interrupted.

To be slow to anger is something from God and from those who belong to Him. Patience is a feature of the work of the Holy Spirit and a part of His fruit (Gal 5:22). God is also slow to anger, which we see in postponing His wrath (2Pet 3:9).

Pro 14:30 | A Tranquil Heart or Passion

30 A tranquil heart is life to the body,
But passion is rottenness to the bones.

A tranquil heart is a heart in which lusts do not reign, but in which Christ reigns. Peter says to us: “Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts” (1Pet 3:15). If Christ has the place of Lord in our hearts, it means that we have given Him the control over our lives in His hands. That has a tranquilizing effect on the body. He who lives with Christ, does not do things that bring the well-being of his body in danger.

That must not cause us to draw the conclusion that he who is ill has not given Christ the authority over his life. If we do that, we will look like Job’s friends who considered Job’s illness to be an evident of hidden sins. Here it is about what is generally true, without saying that it is always true.

Indeed it is always true that “passion” or envy is “rottenness to the bones”. To be envious of the neighbor’s prosperity, of the other one’s happiness, eats up the power from the bones (cf. Psa 112:10). It is the original sin of satan and of man. It has brought man in the greatest misery, out of which he cannot possibly liberate himself. The bones, which ought to give stability to his walk, lack the power. Nothing in his life is to the honor of God.

It begins with ungratefulness or dissatisfaction, the displeasure about one’s own possessions or the own qualities. Then an unhealthy attention arises to the possession or the qualities of others, with the desire to possess those. The result is that the stability of his existence in a grateful attitude towards the Lord is totally affected. His existence is determined by what others have.

Pro 14:31 | To Oppress or to Be Gracious

31 He who oppresses the poor taunts his Maker,
But he who is gracious to the needy honors Him.

The way a person treats the poor, shows whether he considers the Creator or not. He who “oppresses the poor”, shows despise to the Maker of the poor Who has also made the oppressor. Like the oppressor the poor has been made after the picture of God (cf. Job 31:15; Pro 22:2). He who oppresses a poor man is saying that God should not have made him and therefore slanders God’s work.

In the world in which we live, the rich reign over the poor. Money means power, influence and status, according to the world’s view. One’s value, however, does not depend on his social status or his bank account, but on the fact that he has been made by God.

The opposite of him who oppresses the poor, is “he who is gracious to the needy”. He does not slander the Creator, but “honors Him”. To show grace, proves that one is righteous (Psa 37:21). He does not do that only once in a while, but “all day long he is gracious and lends” (Psa 37:26). God is being honored wherever He sees one of His features in His own. Here it is about being gracious. God is the God Who is gracious and merciful (Rom 9:16; Exo 2:25). He has also been gracious to us, poor ones, in Christ.

Pro 14:32 | To Be Thrust Down or to Have a Refuge

32 The wicked is thrust down by his wrongdoing,
But the righteous has a refuge when he dies.

This verse shows the difference between “the wicked” and “the righteous” when they leave the world. In life the wicked may seem powerful and successful. But when the time comes for him to leave the world he is “thrust down”. He holds on to this life with his hands and feet and does not want to let it go, but is forced to. There is nothing that can hinder this moment. He has loved sin and dies in it. His own wrongdoing brings this judgment over him and follows him in the judgment. He takes it with him to the other world, the world of pain and remorse, which he can never leave.

How totally different does the righteous leave the world. He may suffer and die, but he has a refuge, even in death. We see a beautiful example of that when Stephen dies (Acts 7:59). Those who trust in the Lord and obey Him, are safe, whatever disaster may strike them.

Therefore it can be said of those who die in the great tribulation for the sake of the Name of the Lord: “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, from now on” (Rev 14:13). They will rise, like Stephen, to reign together with the Lord Jesus in the kingdom of peace. Then they will be rewarded for the works of faith which they have done, of which God will not forget any.

Pro 14:33 | Hidden Wisdom and Open Folly

33 Wisdom rests in the heart of one who has understanding,
But in the hearts of fools it is made known.

“The one who has understanding” does not display his wisdom. He will not boast in it. “Wisdom rests in the heart” and guides his life in words and deeds. The heart is the place of choices. Without God only sins come forth. If Christ, the wisdom of God, dwells in the heart, the wise knows what he should and should not say and do. He will consider whether something is to God’s glory or not.

“Fools” actually do display their wisdom, which means what they consider to be wisdom. From their “heart” comes no wisdom, for it is not to be found there because nothing reminds them of God. In their heart lives folly, which they make known, they speak of it all around them. Fools love to be considered wise and to be treated as wise. They blabber what they think to be wisdom, but it appears to be folly.

Pro 14:34 | Righteousness or Sin of a Nation

34 Righteousness exalts a nation,
But sin is a disgrace to [any] people.

The prosperity and the power of the nation depend on its “righteousness”. The verb “exalt” means that the state of the people in that country is exalted. They get a high place. This promise is given by God to His people if they “would keep all His commandments”, for then He will give them a place “high above all nations which He has made, for praise, name and honor” (Deu 26:18-19).

But the principle applies to all nations. Every nation of which each member gives his compatriot and the stranger who lives with him, what he is entitled to, will receive honor. This is only to be practiced when a nation submits to God and His will. To do right to other people is only possible when above all justice is done to God, which means that He is being recognized in His sovereign rights.

The opposite of a nation that does righteousness, are the nations that give room to sin and do not exert righteousness over it by judging it. An example of it is that in an increasing number of countries, of which the Netherlands are at the fore front, homosexual relationships are not considered a sin, but is defended as an acceptable form of cohabitation. This sin contradicts God’s creation order completely and is “a disgrace” to all nations where homosexual relationships are allowed.

Of course the nations, where this sin or other immoralities are being tolerated or even being stimulated, will not see it as a disgrace. They would, on the contrary, see it as a victory over the, in their sight, ‘narrow minded’ Christian faith. Freedom of speech: to say everything you like to, and freedom of attitude, is the greatest good. They strongly distance themselves from God and His Word.

But God remains God and His Word remains true, even if the governments of the countries of the European Union in particular, are frantically trying to eliminate Him and His Word from the society, or anyway to silence Him. All those nations will see to their dismay on the day of Christ how much they have lived in rebellion against God.

Pro 14:35 | Favor or Wrath of the King

35 The king’s favor is toward a servant who acts wisely,
But his anger is toward him who acts shamefully.

The king knows one who serves him with devotion and skill. “A servant who acts wisely” will always seek the well-being of the king and his kingdom. The most important thing to the king, however, will not be an increase of his possessions or influence, but the inner satisfaction that one serves him faithfully. That is the “king’s favor”, it is a joy to his heart. A wise servant is a pleasure to him. Joseph and Daniel are examples of wise servants in whom the king they served, found pleasure.

The opposite of that is the unable servant, the shirker. He deals with the king’s matters as an incompetent, as one who does not care about anything. He has no awareness of responsibility towards the king and is not impressed by his majesty. He operates recklessly and in that way his king is exposed to shame and criticism.

This proverb contains a warning to serve the king faithfully and rightly and not to provoke him to anger. In a spiritual sense this also applies to us. The Lord Jesus will reward His servants, who have served Him faithfully and wisely. But His anger will strike all who have added their own interpretations to His orders (Lk 19:11-27).

In a literal sense this proverb applies to every government. Each government has been appointed by God (Rom 13:1). The government has received the power from God to reward and punish (Rom 13:3-4).

Proverbs 15

Pro 15:1-2 | A Gentle Answer and the Tongue of the Wise

1 A gentle answer turns away wrath,
But a harsh word stirs up anger.
2 The tongue of the wise makes knowledge acceptable,
But the mouth of fools spouts folly.

Solomon, the king of peace, tells us in verse 1 how a person who is inflamed with anger can be calmed down. This can be applied to all situations wherein someone is angry because of (alleged) injustice that has been done to him. It can happen in a family, in a friendship relationship, in the living and work environment and in the church. How important is it then to respond with “a gentle answer” to the explosion of anger. Someone who has been provoked in his feelings can be calmed down with a gentle or thoughtfully spoken answer, through which the tension can disappear and peace returns.

The opposite of a gentle answer is “a harsh word”. That does not calm a person down, but on the contrary stirs up anger. The spark ignites. A harsh word is not only an offensive word, but also a sharp and hurtful word, which causes pain and grief. Such a word causes a violent and angry response. When a carnal expression is answered with a carnal expression, it means war.

Of both ways of reactions we have a clear example in the Scripture. The way in which Gideon answers the offended men of Ephraim, is an example of a gentle answer (Jdg 8:1-3). By what he says, the differences are resolved. The harshness with which Jephthah answers the same men of Ephraim who were offended again, causes a civil war with many victims (Jdg 12:1-6; 1Kgs 12:13-16).

How wise men are can often be determined by what they say (verse 2). The wise know when, where and how they should speak. The good use that the wise make of knowledge with their tongue, gives knowledge a good name, makes knowledge attractive to others and worthy of pursuing it. In that way knowledge is no theory, but practice and it is a blessing to those who listen to it.

Knowledge comes from the wise and folly from the fools. The so-called knowledge of the fools is folly. What comes out of the mouth of fools is nothing but folly. Their mouth overflows with it. The many words that bubble out of their mouths like water show how foolish they are of heart.

Pro 15:3 | The LORD Sees Everything and Everybody

3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place,
Watching the evil and the good.

God knows and sees through everyone completely. He is omniscient and omnipresent and has a perfect knowledge of His entire creation, of people and of things. There is nothing hidden from Him. He observes all things and all men, like a guard does who guards a city. Nothing and nobody escapes His sight (Jer 23:24; Psa 11:4; 33:13-14; Heb 4:13). That is necessary for Him to be Judge of every individual (cf. Jer 32:19).

This thought continues in the second line of the verse. The knowledge that God sees everything, is a warning for “the evil” and a comfort to “the good” people. The evil people are both the great sinners and the friendly people who live decently, but none of them allow God into their lives. They are both those who openly sin and those who secretly sin. God wants them to become aware that He sees them, so that they may repent.

The good people are in themselves also sinners, but they do good because they have acknowledged to be sinners. They live from a good relationship with God. That relationship has become good by their confession of sins and their faith in the forgiveness of those sins by God. God is able to grant that forgiveness on the ground of the work of Christ on the cross, which He had accomplished for each penitent sinner. The knowledge that God observes them is an encouragement to live to His honor (2Chr 16:9).

Pro 15:4 | The Soothing Tongue

4 A soothing tongue is a tree of life,
But perversion in it crushes the spirit.

That the tongue, which means the words that are spoken with the tongue, presented as “soothing”, assumes that the hearer is depressed. Soothing words are gentle, calming, benevolent words. This is fitting to the picture of “a tree of life” which means a source of vitality to others. The tree of life is mentioned here for the fourth time in Proverbs (Pro 3:18; 11:30; 13:12; 15:4).

He, who knows how by his gracious and comforting words to cheer up a person who is in trouble, leads this person to restore, as it were, his connection with the tree of life. His life shines and is meaningful again; it gets something back of the shine of the paradise. The spoken words are words from and about the Lord Jesus and refer to Him. He is the Tree of life.

But words with “perversion in it” have a reverse effect. Those are deceitful words that crush the spirit. Perversion affects the addressed person inwardly and breaks him and makes him languish (Isa 65:14). What the friends of Job said was not soothing to Job. In what they said, was perversion, which resulted that the brokenness in Job’s spirit about the suffering that happened to him, remained.

Pro 15:5 | To Reject or Regard Discipline

5 A fool rejects his father’s discipline,
But he who regards reproof is sensible.

Only “a fool rejects his father’s discipline”. No one other than a father can instruct a child in a most intrusive and at the same time appropriate way. He knows his child and knows what he needs. He also knows life and where the dangers are hidden. The child that does not care about a loving instruction of his father and even despicably rejects it, is a fool.

In contrast to that is a son who testifies that he “is sensible” when he “regards reproof”. In that way he shows that he realizes that he has to learn a lot more and that he needs correction. He shows to have common sense.

After accepting the fear of the LORD, the acceptance of instruction of one’s parents is of the greatest value. The authority of the father and the parents is the authority of God. Discipline should start at home and is the responsibility of the father or the parents. That’s where our lives begin. Because we are inclined to do the wrong things, we need correction. David was a sensible man. He considered it to be a favor when he got punished (Psa 141:5).

Pro 15:6 | Great Wealth or Ruin

6 Great wealth is [in] the house of the righteous,
But trouble is in the income of the wicked.

“The house of the righteous” is characterized by “great wealth”. With wealth is not necessarily meant money and property. It can be especially about spiritual wealth. When love, joy and peace, the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22), characterizes the house of the righteous, it is a great wealth (verse 16). When the inhabitants of a house treat one another with respect for each one’s capacities and qualities, it is also a great wealth.

Of such a great wealth the wicked does not know anything at all. He may have a great income, but in that income is the seed of decline and misery. There is a curse on it, because he thinks only about himself. Pride and lust cause that he cannot enjoy with satisfaction. He is led by jealousy of others who have just a little bit more than he has. There is also the fear that it will be taken away from him. All these factors are in his income and they rob him from the joy of it. Together with his income confusion and sleeplessness enter into his house.

Pro 15:7 | The Lips of the Wise and the Hearts of Fools

7 The lips of the wise spread knowledge,
But the hearts of fools are not so.

Wise men spread knowledge when they speak. Their words are useful and profitable to the listeners. In such a way knowledge is used rightly. Knowledge is not meant to be kept to oneself, or to be shared with only a select group of people. “The lips of the wise” will let all hear the knowledge of God and His will which they have in their hearts. They do not do that to boast in their knowledge, but to make others profit from it. The knowledge that they have, they have received to share.

That knowledge is ‘spread’, also implies the thought of multiplication. Seed that is spread develops into a great harvest. What the lips of the wise spread of knowledge, comes into the hearts of many, who in their turn also spread the received knowledge.

The lips of the Lord Jesus have spread knowledge, so that His hearers would know God and His judgment about them. It is important that we pass on to others what we have learnt from God’s Word about God and Christ and also about ourselves. Then we show that we have ‘lips of the wise’.

In “the hearts of the fools” there is no knowledge. Fools shut their hearts to knowledge. Therefore there is nothing in the hearts of the fools that can be useful to others. Fools have no understanding of knowledge. They do not want it either; they do not open themselves up for it. Therefore they are not able to spread it.

Pro 15:8-10 | Which Is an Abomination to the LORD

8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD,
But the prayer of the upright is His delight.
9 The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD,
But He loves one who pursues righteousness.
10 Grievous punishment is for him who forsakes the way;
He who hates reproof will die.

Like everywhere in the Bible, here “the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD” (verse 8) because the heart of those who offer it, is unrighteous (1Sam 15:22; Isa 1:10-17; Jer 6:20). It is not only unacceptable to God, but He hates it. Cain was such a wicked one who came with a sacrifice which was rejected by God with dismay (Gen 4:5). Cain brought an offering according to his own will and God was to be satisfied with it. Like that, so-called Christians come with all kinds of offerings to God. Those are the offerings of good works, but God rejects them. We find it in abundance in the roman-catholicism.

What He accepts is “the prayer of the upright”. The prayer is called an ‘offering’ (Psa 141:2). When the upright do that to Him, it is “His delight”. The upright take their true place before God. In their hearts they stand upright before God. They realize that they only can come near to God on the ground of the offering of Christ and not on the ground of something from themselves. Their prayer is the prayer of faith. They pray in the awareness that they are sinners by nature. The prayer stands against the haughty offering of the self-satisfied people who tell God how well they serve Him (Lk 18:10-14).

Not only the offering of the wicked, in other words the pure fulfillment of religious obligations, is an abomination to God, but also “the way of the wicked”, in other words his whole life is an abomination (verse 9). In the same way the prayer of the upright is not only His delight, but the entire life of those “who pursue righteousness”, is His delight. He “loves the ones” who do that. To pursue righteousness is to give the other person what he is entitled to and above all to give to God what He is entitled to. It is an active, perseverant and even dangerous search to righteousness (1Tim 6:11). Only one who has new life is able to do that.

Verse 10 connects to verse 9, the way of the wicked, for the wicked is someone who “forsakes the way” which God wants man to go. The way is here the way of righteousness, like it is emphasized in the whole book. He who forsakes that way, has to be punished. It is not pleasant, but very necessary. He who does not listen to the instruction of his parents or someone else, shows that he hates reproof. That will lead to death (cf. 2Chr 25:16; 2Pet 2:15,21; Rom 8:13).

Pro 15:11 | Sheol and Abaddon Lie Open Before the LORD

11 Sheol and Abaddon [lie open] before the LORD,
How much more the hearts of men!

The development of the train of thought in these two lines of the verse is an argument of the less to the more (“how much more”). “Sheol” and “Abaddon” represent the isolated underworld and all the mighty powers that reside there, but they are powerless there (Job 26:6; Psa 139:8; Amos 9:2; Rev 9:11). This territory lies completely outside the perception of men, but is not a secret to God at all. That this isolated territory with its inhabitants lies open to Him, implies that He is omniscient. That also means that He certainly knows “the hearts of men”.

The word “hearts” means the motives and thoughts (Psa 44:21b). The eyes of the LORD not only see all individuals and their deeds (verse 3), but He also sees their hearts and everything in it. Nobody knows his own heart, let alone the heart of another person, but God knows every heart (Jer 17:10; Jn 2:25; Heb 4:12-13). He knows every intention of each individual.

Pro 15:12 | A Scoffer Does Not Go to the Wise

12 A scoffer does not love one who reproves him,
He will not go to the wise.

A scoffer resists every attempt to reform him. He does not love reproof or discipline and therefore he does not love “one who reproves him”. He stiffly holds on to his own senseless opinions which he spreads around him with great pleasure. His goal is to scoff others and especially God and His service. That’s what his life consists of. He loves pleasure and scoffing too much to forsake them.

He will not go to the wise to become wise, which proves that a scoffer is a fool. He does not even want to be in the company of the wise. Imagine that he would accept something of their wisdom. He cannot imagine his life without scoffing. Scoffers are people who do not want to come to the light, because they do not want to be exposed (Jn 3:19-20). The own ‘I’ is their god and goal, and scoffing is their life, which is why they reject all the wisdom from above despicably.

Pro 15:13-15 | A Joyful, Wise and Cheerful Heart

13 A joyful heart makes a cheerful face,
But when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken
14 The mind of the intelligent seeks knowledge,
But the mouth of fools feeds on folly.
15 All the days of the afflicted are bad,
But a cheerful heart [has] a continual feast.

The emotional condition of a person, what he experiences in his soul, has a clear effect on his spirit. If somebody has “a joyful heart”, it is seen on his face (verse 13). Someone who is on his way to meet his beloved, will have a joyful heart. The joy of that meeting will radiate from his face. Such it is with a heart that is filled with the Lord Jesus and lives with Him. There is joy about the redemption of sins and the judgment over it and about the coming meeting with Him.

When the heart is filled with worry, it makes the “spirit broken”. The words that are used here, emphasize the pain and depression with a thought of despair. A broken spirit shows a sad facial expression. Nehemiah had “a sad heart”, which was seen from his face (Neh 2:2; Gen 40:6-7). With Hannah her face changed from broken into cheerful after she had received the assurance that her prayer about a son would be answered: “So the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.” (1Sam 1:18b). In this way we can also bring our worries, which cause us to have a broken spirit, in prayer to the Lord. That gives a change for our benefit in our mood.

Here also it applies that this is in general speaking, without the guarantee that this happens always and directly. There can be situations that one is depressive and remains like that (for a long time), although he brings everything to the Lord. That can have several causes, which we do not always understand. That is the case when it happens to ourselves and certainly when it happens to others. Job does not have a joyful heart and a cheerful face for a long time. Only when God fulfilled His goal with him, he experienced a complete change (Job 42:1-17).

The opposite of “the mind of the intelligent” is “the mouth of the fools”, the opposite of “seeks” is “feeds” and the opposite of “knowledge” is “folly” (verse 14). Both the intelligent and the fool seek to fill their mind with something. He who is intelligent of mind, longs for knowledge. He who has knowledge, longs for more knowledge. It is about knowledge on how life should be lived according to the thoughts of God. When a heart is looking for that, it indicates wisdom.

In the heart of fools there is no desire for knowledge. He actually seeks ‘to eat’ something. Therefore there is mention about “the mouth of the fools” and about feeding. ‘Feeding’ is grazing like cattle do, which indicates the satisfaction of the fool with food of the brand ‘folly’ (cf. Isa 44:20).

What one is looking for, appears from, among other things, what he reads and what he watches. An intelligent mind “has tasted the kindness of the Lord” (1Pet 2:3) and therefore longs for “the pure milk” of the Word of God (1Pet 2:2). The fools feed their mind with perverted reading matters and they watch bad movies. They graze like the stupid cattle in defiled meadows and eat without any filtering from the folly of these meadows.

Life can be miserable or pleasant, dependent on one’s circumstances and nature (verse 15). “The afflicted” is one who inwardly feels terrible all days. All of those days “are bad”. He cannot find pleasure in anything at all, for inside he feels terrible. Whatever people try to brighten him up, the affliction dominates in such a way that he only sees affliction. Everything is bad. Nothing tastes nice, nothing makes him happy. He continually feels bad.

There is misery when we do not succeed to find our help in God. Jacob said to Pharaoh: “Few and unpleasant have been the years of my life” (Gen 47:9). That is because his life was marked by going his own ways, without asking God to help him. Naomi has also, together with her husband Elimelech, gone her own way. She testifies of it that she has experienced “great bitterness” because of that (Rth 1:20-21).

He who has “a cheerful heart” sees and has the life in the light of the sun, which means in the light of the Lord Jesus, Who is called “the Sun of righteousness” (Mal 4:2). Life is a continual celebration meal for a cheerful heart. We have a cheerful heart when we are glad in the Lord and live in fellowship with Him. Even bad days will not affect the cheerful mood. When there is joy from the inside, outward circumstances can in no way take that joy away.

The prophet Habakkuk testifies of that. Although he sees a cheerless barrenness and emptiness, he testifies and says: “Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation” (Hab 3:18). The Lord Jesus offers us a continual meal in Himself (Jn 6:35). He wants to dine with us and we are allowed to dine with Him when we open our hearts to Him (Rev 3:20).

Pro 15:16-17 | Better … Than …

16 Better is a little with the fear of the LORD
Than great treasure and turmoil with it.
17 Better is a dish of vegetables where love is
Than a fattened ox [served] with hatred.

The verses 16 and 17 clearly belong together. They say that spiritual things are better than material things or material wealth (cf. Psa 37:16). Verse 16 is about money and the fear of the LORD, verse 17 is about food and love.

Verse 16 says that fear or respect to God brings more satisfaction than “a great treasure and turmoil with it”. Turmoil expresses itself in restlessness, panic, commotion. Turmoil is fear. There is a saying that says: The more possessions, the more fear. The respect for God has no such fear, for it brings satisfaction and rest, which is the opposite of turmoil.

Solomon makes clear that the righteous will not allow himself to be controlled by prosperity. You may have much money, the most expensive car, the quickest computer, the largest television set with the sharpest picture, a house that has everything and still have no rest (cf. Ecc 4:6; 5:12). That rest is only found in the respectfully walking with God.

Verse 17 says that a happy, loving relationship is better than a delicious meal whereby the hearts of those who share the meal are filled with hatred towards one another. This is the situation in a family where wealth replaces love. There can certainly be a rich meal with love, but here we have a situation in which a choice should be made between a luxurious meal with hatred on the one hand and a poor meal with love on the other hand.

Many people admit that a house with cheap furniture in which the people love one another, is preferable to a luxuriously decorated house in which people hate one another. Love makes difficult situations bearable, while hatred destroys all the joy which a good meal is intended to for. You can have food of the highest quality in abundance on the table and still not have the “continual feast” of verse 15. Instead you feel miserable every day and your heart is consumed by fear, restlessness, hatred and bitterness. The leaven of hatred is the cause that one cannot really enjoy the meal.

Even if someone is not known as a rich person and he has to do with very modest meals, he still can have a continual feast. That is true, if he knows values and enjoys his spiritual wealth. That makes the heart really and continually joyful. There is rest and satisfaction, the opposite of turmoil and restlessness.

We can also apply these verses to a local church. When there is “a great treasure” of knowledge, the chance for turmoil is also great when people boast in it. That was the case in Corinth, where the believers were rich in Christ (1Cor 1:4-7). That actually did not make them humble and grateful, but arrogant, while love was missing (1Cor 8:1). Because the Corinthians were boasting about their knowledge, there was disagreement and confusion and all kinds of malpractices (1Cor 1:10-12; 14:33; 11:17-22). Opposite to that, is what the Lord Jesus says about the church of Philadelphia (which means ‘brotherly love’) that it has only “a little power”. He honors and encourages them (Rev 3:7-13).

Pro 15:18 | Hot-Tempered or Slow to Anger

18 A hot-tempered man stirs up strife,
But the slow to anger calms a dispute.

The contrast is between “a hot-tempered man”, which literally means ‘a man of anger’, someone who is quick-tempered, and a man who is “slow to anger”, like James also calls it (Jam 1:19). Hot-temperance is expressed by certain circumstances. Someone who is hot-tempered, is proud by nature, for otherwise he would not get excited so quick about something that concerns him. Hot-temperance causes disagreement. A hot-tempered man has to have and insists to have his right, even if he has to go to court.

He who is slow to anger, does not demand his rights and knows how to resolve differences by not responding with agitation. By his calm response he silences the “dispute” that is aroused. It demands much patience and calmness to maintain or restore peaceful relationships. It takes two persons to cause a dispute. If one of them keeps his patience, the dispute will be silenced. The one who is slow to anger is a peace maker. To make peace begins in the heart that bows to God in Christ. That will characterize the spirit and the conduct. Abram showed this spirit when there was a dispute between the shepherds of his cattle and the shepherds of Lot’s cattle (Gen 13:7-9).

Pro 15:19 | The Way of the Lazy and the Path of the Upright

19 The way of the lazy is as a hedge of thorns,
But the path of the upright is a highway.

The lazy sees his “way”, which is his life, “as a hedge of thorns”, through which he feels to be hindered to go to work. His life, according to him, is full of difficulties, dangers and painful experiences. He seeks and finds in everything that happens to him in life an excuse for not being obligated to work. The hedge of thorns which he sees, is stopping him, as he thinks and as he wants others to believe. Because the lazy in the second line of the verse is in contrast to the upright and not to the diligent, it shows that laziness is a proof of unrighteousness.

The upright do not deal with hedges of thorns. Their “path … is a highway”. It is a well paved path, a path that is good. They go on “a highway …, a roadway, and it will be called the Highway of Holiness” (Isa 35:8). They have no reason to divert or move away. That actually does not mean that the path of the upright is smooth and that they have an easy life.

Both the lazy and the upright are on a path where they meet difficulties and troubles. The difference is the way they deal with the difficulties and troubles. The lazy sees lions and bears in the difficulties, a hedge of thorns, on his way; the upright also see their difficulties, but see further than that, up to God and go their way in trusting Him, because they know that He has brought them on that path. They trust in His grace.

Pro 15:20-21 | The Influence of Wisdom and Folly

20 A wise son makes a father glad,
But a foolish man despises his mother.
21 Folly is joy to him who lacks sense,
But a man of understanding walks straight.

When a son (or a daughter) behaves wisely as a response to the strongly protecting love of his father and the warm affection of his mother, he (or she) will cause joy to them (verse 20). However, if a son (or a daughter) behaves foolishly, it means they despise the parental investment of care. It is a declaration to the mother that she has done him or her wrong by bringing him or her into the world.

Wise children cause the parents to be glad about them. Foolish children show despise towards their mother. They show an unnatural harshness which causes great sorrow to their mother. The greatest joy and the bitterest sorrow in this world of tears are found in the heart of parents. There is no greater joy than to see that children walk in the truth (3Jn 1:4). There is no greater sorrow than to see a child that rejects the truth and who lives and dies in unbelief (2Sam 18:33).

The fool does not only live without God in his sins, but has delight in folly (verse 21). That marks him as a person “who lacks sense”. Everyone who has delight in expressing or seeing folly, lacks sense. He goes a foolish way which ends up in eternal death. He who has sense or “understanding”, “walks straight”, which is the way of life that leads into eternal life.

The fool follows every fad and lives by the everyday humdrum. Such a life is pleasing to him, for he has no understanding in God’s will, which he does not want either. Someone with understanding knows what God’s will is for him and therefore goes the right way, the way which God has outlined. He knows “that a man’s way is not in himself, nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps” (Jer 10:23).

Pro 15:22 | Many Counselors Make a Plan Succeed

22 Without consultation, plans are frustrated,
But with many counselors they succeed.

It is not God’s intention for us to do everything on our own. He has created man as a social being, who needs others to function well. Also in the church He has made the members interdependent on one another (1Cor 12:14-21). Self-will is always damaging. The plans of one who works alone without consultation with others, often do not succeed. The success of plans demands making inquiries and accepting good advice.

To carry out a plan without consultation also proves of hastiness. Time is needed for consultation. Consultation may be seen as wasting time, but it is not. Besides, two people see more than one person. It is good to see one’s own limitations, how much gifted one can be. Consultation with faithful and skilled people is decisive for a good result, for establishing a plan.

This is a general observation which is valuable in society, both on personal and on national level. It means that we need others. That also goes for the matters that happen in a church. In the consultation whether to keep or not to keep the law by the Gentiles in Acts 15, we have a good example of consultation for the establishment of what is necessary. The outcome is good, because the people listen to the Scripture and the Holy Spirit (Psa 119:24). With all consultation it is important above all to look up to Him Who is “the Counselor” is (Isa 9:6).

Pro 15:23 | How Delightful Is a Timely Word

23 A man has joy in an apt answer,
And how delightful is a timely word!

Here we have an answer without reading about any question. The question that we are dealing with here and what the answer refers to, may regard everything. It can be an oral question, the request for advice, but also a situation which one cannot handle. The second line of the verse makes it clear that it is not about a direct and a formally right answer. It is about an answer that deals with the details on the question, but which is also given at the right time, not later and not sooner than that.

The joy that such an answer gives, is therefore not so much the result of its correctness, but the right timing of it. We speak wisely when we speak at the right time, when at that very time there is a need of the things we say. “For a wise heart knows the proper time and procedure” (Ecc 8:5b). To say the right things at the right time gives a deep satisfaction; it demands knowledge and wisdom and self-denial. To say the right thing, but at the wrong moment, can be counterproductive, which means that it leads to the opposite of what one seeks.

If Paul had told the prison guard that he had to believe in the Lord Jesus before he threw him in prison, Paul would have been right, but with no result. It was not the right time for the right word then. That right time came when the prison guard was about to kill himself (Acts 16:27-32). We can learn this way of speaking from the Lord Jesus only (Isa 50:4).

Pro 15:24 | The Path of Life Leads Upward

24 The path of life [leads] upward for the wise,
That he may keep away from Sheol below.

“The wise” sees life in the right perspective. He knows that he is on the path of life and that this path also leads to life. It is the path “upward”; it leads to eternal life, to heaven, where eternal life is enjoyed in its fullness. The Christian who is wise, will seek the things that are above, that are upward, for there is Christ, his life (Col 3:1-2). He fixes his eyes on “Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith” (Heb 12:2).

The wise walks on that path because he wants to stay away “from Sheol below” as far as he possibly could. It is not so much because there would be a chance that he could end up in hell. Through the blood of Christ he knows that he has escaped from the judgment of hell and that he will not end up there. The point is that he now goes the path of life and in that way also takes a distance of matters that belong to ‘the hell below’. He is born from above and goes the way upward. He belongs to heaven and not to hell. That appears from the focus of his life.

Pro 15:25 | The LORD Protects the Widow

25 The LORD will tear down the house of the proud,
But He will establish the boundary of the widow.

The LORD tears down the “proud” and their houses, but He protects the vulnerable “widow”. The contrast is between the proud and the widow; between those who fully trust in themselves and someone who is powerless, who has no one else but God (Psa 68:5). The Scripture sufficiently confirms that God defends the case of the widow, the orphan, the poor and the needy.

The contrast assumes that the widow is the prey of the proud people, who want to take her land and house (Isa 5:8-10). God has established the borders of His people in the land and will maintain them (Deu 19:14). Those who do not consider that – the proud – He tears down, including their whole ‘empire’ in which they trust and of which they think that it is established forever. Only what has been established by God, such as the boundary of the widow, has been unshakably established.

Pro 15:26 | Evil Plans or Pleasant Words

26 Evil plans are an abomination to the LORD,
But pleasant words are pure.

God not only hates the sacrifice and the way of the wicked (verses 8-9), but also their “plans” and thoughts. A wicked person is also a deviser if “evil plans”. The plans that he makes have the purpose to do others evil, to harm and damage them. There is no thought of God with him. It is all about him. The LORD knows his heart. His evil plans are “an abomination” to Him.

The contrast in the second line of the verse is that between hidden plans or thoughts are “pleasant words”. Pleasant words do not have to be hidden, but can be spoken. They cannot but come from a heart which is pure because it is focused on God. Those words do not reflect evil plans; they are not impure, but “pure”.

David is the “sweet psalmist of Israel” (2Sam 23:1). The words that he has spoken, are pure words because they are spoken by him through the Spirit of God (2Sam 23:2). When we speak through the Spirit of God, our words are pleasant and pure.

Pro 15:27 | Warning Against Illicit Profit

27 He who profits illicitly troubles his own house,
But he who hates bribes will live.

“To profit illicitly” leads to dishonest practices, like the use of “bribes” and kickbacks, which distort justice (Exo 23:8; Deu 16:19; Job 8:3; Mt 28:11-15; Exo 18:21; 1Sam 8:3; Isa 33:15; 1Pet 5:2). The greedy man is the one who hurries to become rich and does not worry about how it happens. He not only troubles himself, but drags others with him. He troubles his whole house, wife and children.

The verse is a warning against accepting bribes. Gifts can be harmless, but they can also change one’s norms and values, which means lower them. He who hates gifts which are meant as bribes, “will live” and keeps his family from troubles. Illicit profit is slavery. Whoever hates illicit profit, will now already experience the real life and he will soon do that perfectly. It is living in the freedom of the Spirit.

Pro 15:28 | Think First, Then Answer

28 The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer,
But the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.

“The righteous” is not a blabbermouth. He “ponders” in his heart how he shall answer when he is asked a question or when something of God happens to him (Hab 2:1). Pondering is weighing or observing. He who is wise, is careful with his words. For a good answer we need Divine wisdom, for we are surrounded by a wicked world. Therefore we are to consider what and how we should answer.

The wicked are not led by the fear of God. Therefore a flow of evil comes out of their mouths. They cause evil with what comes out of their mouth. Their mouth overflows from it. Their mouth is not to be stopped from being a source of torment to others. They produce evil things from the evil treasure of their hearts (Mt 12:34-35).

Pro 15:29 | The LORD Answers the Prayer of the Righteous

29 The LORD is far from the wicked,
But He hears the prayer of the righteous.

The wicked people keep the LORD at a distance. Therefore He is far from them. When they need Him because they think that He can serve them, He appears inaccessible for them and deaf to their calling to Him. His mercy, love and help are not available to them because they refuse to break with their sins. Of course, a prayer of repentance of the wicked is the exception, for that’s how they become righteous. When they pray as righteous people, He answers them (Jam 5:16b-18; Psa 34:16,18; 1Pet 3:12).

Pro 15:30 | What Gladdens the Heart and Puts Fat on the Bones

30 Bright eyes gladden the heart;
Good news puts fat on the bones.

“Bright eyes” are caused by the sun. Light is from heaven, from God. When that light comes in the eyes, when the eyes see that, it gladdens the heart (cf. Ecc 11:7). Through the light of God in our eyes, we can see everything that God has done and praise Him for it. That goes for both the old creation and the new creation, for both the material world and the spiritual world. When “the eyes of our hearts are enlightened” (Eph 1:18), it means that we are able to know what spiritual blessings we have received from God.

“Good news” regards something good that our ears hear. That has an effect on our bones. It feels like fat on them, by which they are strengthened. We see that with Jacob when he hears that Joseph is still alive. His spirit revives and he goes to him (Gen 45:27-28). We receive power for our walk when we hear about the good of God’s intention when He disciplines us (Heb 12:11-13). Ten out of the twelve spies spread bad news about the promised land and in that way paralyzed the people, which caused them to refuse to move on.

Pro 15:31-33 | To Listen and to Fear Is Life, Wisdom and Honor

31 He whose ear listens to the life-giving reproof
Will dwell among the wise.
32 He who neglects discipline despises himself,
But he who listens to reproof acquires understanding.
33 The fear of the LORD is the instruction for wisdom,
And before honor [comes] humility.

A “reproof” may be painful, but he who has an ear to listen to it, will therefore live according to the wisdom of God (verse 31). A person who is eager to learn, belongs to the wise, for he who “listens to the life-giving reproof”, shows himself to be wise. The wise will live to the honor of God. Reproof serves to remove out of one’s life all things that hinder it. Whoever has an open ear for that, “will dwell among the wise”, which means that he will find rest among the wise. He is one of them.

“He who neglects discipline”, which goes further than refusing to listen to reproof, “despises himself” (verse 32). He thinks that nobody should meddle with his life. He wants to live as he himself thinks it’s best. He forgets that by such an attitude he despises himself. The reproof is intended to let him live the real life, which means how God has meant it. That gives full satisfaction to life.

Whoever “listens to reproof acquires understanding”; he receives understanding about himself and about life. Then one can grow spiritually, intellectually and emotionally. He will know how he should live to God’s honor. For his neighbor he will not seek the evil, but the good, and will know what God asks of him.

Whoever lets himself to be led by “the fear of the LORD”, is continuously instructed, in the sense of taught, in order to go wisely through life (verse 33), for “the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the LORD” (Pro 9:10). He knows how to make the good choice when there is a choice to be made and in that way also to avoid the evil. His life is adapted to doing the will of God.

The first effect of wisdom is that it works “humility” in the righteous. Fearing God goes together with humility. Where the one is, there the other will also be. The one is the way to wisdom; the other is the way to honor. Humility is a mind of the heart which we have to learn. We can learn humility from Him Who is Wisdom. He has said: “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Mt 11:29).

Humble submission in trusting the Lord, brings “wisdom” and “honor”. The Lord Jesus has humbled Himself and was exalted by God. He is the example of what He says to us: “He who humbles himself will be exalted” (Lk 14:11b). Our exaltation, the honor that we shall receive, depends on our humiliation. If we humble ourselves “under the mighty hand of God”, He will exalt us “at the proper time” (1Pet 5:6).

Proverbs 16

Pro 16:1-5 | The LORD Is Sovereign

1 The plans of the heart belong to man,
But the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.
2 All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight,
But the LORD weighs the motives.
3 Commit your works to the LORD,
And your plans will be established.
4 The LORD has made everything for its own purpose,
Even the wicked for the day of evil.
5 Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD;
Assuredly, he will not be unpunished.

Verse 1 indicates that the LORD is beyond the “plans of the heart” of a “man”. The word “but” at the beginning of the second line of the verse assumes that there is a contrast with the first line of the verse. In the first line it is about man and the plans that he has in his heart. In the second line it is about “the LORD” from Whom “the answer of the tongue” of man comes. That here and in the next verses is spoken about “the LORD” (Yahweh), shows that the emphasis lies on God’s relationship with man.

Man can and may have plans in his heart. The word ‘plans’ has to do with developing a plan in arranged order with the intention to implement it in such a way. But when it comes down to the implementation, it is important to realize that God has the final say. He determines the implantation of it, which may be quite different from what man would have thought. It is about the acknowledgement of God in the implementation of the plans which are made by man.

It is a general proverb that applies to every person, believing or unbelieving. An unbeliever does not acknowledge God and does not involve Him in his plans and their implementation. Still God has also the final say here. An example of that is Balaam. He had plans in his heart to curse God’s people, but God made him speak out blessings over His people (Numbers 23-24).

Verse 2 indicates that the LORD is beyond the “ways” of man. With “ways” is meant all his ways, his whole conduct, everything he says and does. When man judges himself, when he looks at himself with his own eyes, he thinks that he is “clean”. He does not see uncleanness in his motives. But because he judges himself, he cannot be objective. Lack of self-knowledge and the great probability of self-deception make his self-judgment unreliable. The proverb assumes that such premature opinion about oneself is ignorant at best and self-satisfied at worst.

But the LORD examines the behavior and knows the motives of it. He examines or tests the spirits which leads one to self-judgment. In His light it can turn out that a person is far from being clean in his motives. When God says: “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1Sam 16:7), it does not only apply when we look at others, but also when we look at ourselves. Testing the spirits is more than the testing of motives only. God also sees the mind in which one speaks and works. Is there obedience or rebellion?

The conclusion is that we easily deceive ourselves and therefore are not able to evaluate ourselves completely. Only God comes to a perfect, all pervasive assessment. Intellectual explanations and self-justification are typical to the nature of the fallen man. But God sees through its smoke curtain and knows what motivates a person inwardly.

We can see the speck in the eye of our brother and at the same time be blind for the log in our own eye (Mt 7:3). We are blind for our own mistakes and think that we are completely right. But the Lord knows us completely. When it is all right, we are not aware of anything and at the same time we know that we are not righteous by that, because the knowledge of ourselves is very limited. Therefore it is good to leave the ultimate judgment about ourselves and our service to the Lord (1Cor 4:4-5).

Verse 3 indicates that the LORD is beyond the “works” of man. If we want our plans to succeed, we should be dependent on God. Therefore we should commit our works, what we intend to do, to Him. The verb ‘commit’ literally means ‘turn’ or ‘roll’. It is the picture of the turning or rolling of burdens. It means that we should turn away the worries about the activities, its project and the execution, as a stone from us and turn them in the direction of God and in that way commit those worries to Him (cf. Psa 22:8; 37:5; 55:22). We do that by laying everything that we are engaged with, in prayer with the Lord.

If we do that, all our plans will be established, meaning carried out, be achieved. It proves of full dependence on God. Success or failure does not depend on accidental events or adversaries, but on God. Therefore we should commit our plans to Him. To commit means that we cast all things on Him and leave them with Him (1Pet 5:7). This is a one-off matter. It is good to start the day with committing ourselves to Him about everything with which we will be occupied, whether planned or not planned.

Verse 4 says that the LORD stands above all His works, also above the wicked. Everything that He has created, is part of His plan. Nothing exists ‘accidentally’; there are no ‘loose ends’ in His world. He stands at the beginning of everything and has made everything with a purpose. Everything that is, meets His intention. That intention is His glorification (Col 1:16). All His works will glorify Him (Psa 145:10).

That also goes for the wicked. When he comes into judgment, it is because it fits to his life. This is how God has ordered it. Therefore we should not draw the wrong conclusion that God is the Author of evil. God cannot sin and does not tempt anyone to sin (Jam 1:13-15). Only good things come from Him (Jam 1:16-18).

God has made man well (Gen 1:27), but man started to behave wickedly (Ecc 7:29). God calls the wicked to repent (Acts 17:30), for He takes no pleasure in the death of sinners (Eze 33:11). But if he does not repent before the day of judgment, he will perish on that day. The wicked and the day of evil belong together.

The wicked have not honored God in their life. They will be forced to do it in the judgment (Phil 2:10-11). The wicked is not made to live wickedly and to die wickedly. There is no election to be rejected. The Lord Jesus says of Judas Iscariot that it would have been good “if he had not been born” (Mt 26:24). Judas is fully responsible for the choice that he made to betray and deliver the Lord Jesus for payment. At the same time God knew how to use him for the implementation of His plan.

Everything has a purpose. The existence of the wicked seems to mock that purpose. Therefore it is clearly said here that “the wicked” was made “for the day of evil”. The wicked is focused on the purpose that God has allocated him for because of his wickedness. Also from the judgment over the wicked – whereby we can think especially, but not exclusively, of the antichrist, the man of sin – God’s elevation appears beyond everything that He has made.

Verse 5 says that the LORD is above “everyone who is proud in heart”. The wicked of verse 4b has followers: everyone who is proud. ‘Proud’ describes the arrogance of those who have an arrogant attitude against God (2Chr 26:16; Psa 131:1). It is not only the proud look, but the pride in heart by which one exalts himself above everything and everyone. Pride is the characteristic of satan and the antichrist and all their followers. Because pride disputes the elevation of God beyond everything and because the proud wants to take that place himself, this sin is an abomination to Him. It is the sin of satan and man.

God will take revenge for that sin. That is absolutely sure. It is just as sure as giving a pledge to someone (“assuredly”). These arrogant people will not go unpunished as innocent ones. God will humiliate all who are arrogant and proud (Isa 2:11-12).

Pro 16:6-9 | To Live Under the Sovereignty of God

6 By lovingkindness and truth iniquity is atoned for,
And by the fear of the LORD one keeps away from evil.
7 When a man’s ways are pleasing to the LORD,
He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
8 Better is a little with righteousness
Than great income with injustice.
9 The mind of man plans his way,
But the LORD directs his steps.

Verse 6 is about the full liberation of sin, by which that liberation has been achieved and its consequences in practice. The first line of the verse speaks about the atonement of a crime. The second line of the verse speaks about the keeping of oneself from evil.

“Lovingkindness and truth” are features of God. They become especially visible on the cross (Psa 85:10). God has brought about the atonement for everyone who believes by the work of His Son Jesus Christ on the cross. His lovingkindness announce that He is full of kindness and love towards man. He has shown that in the gift of His Son.

His truth has to do with His faithfulness to the truth. Naturally, He cannot ignore sin. Sin has to be judged. He did that in the judgment that He brought over His Son. His faithfulness to the truth also implies that He reconciles everyone with Him who accepts the sacrifice which He has brought in Christ.

He who partakes in the atonement of his crimes, has been liberated from the power of sin. It will be seen in his life that he does not serve sin anymore and that he keeps away from evil. He cannot do that by his own strength. The impetus of that lies in “the fear of the LORD”. Out of love and honor for God he will not want to have anything to do with evil, with sin, anymore, in order to live to the honor of God (Tit 2:11-12).

When “a man’s ways” are pleasing to the Lord, it is because they remind him of the ways that the Lord Jesus went about on earth and in which He was fully pleased (verse 7). Those ways evoke in the first instance hatred from the side of the world and no peace. Yet, enemies will recognize the advantage of such a way and because of that will seek to be friends with him.

A lifestyle which is pleasing to God, disarms social hostility. The life which is pleasing to God, is a life which is lived in faith (Heb 11:6). It will be blameless and will find mercy with others. God can make that happen. It is not about all hostility of all enemies, but in certain situations, which are according to His will. One can be accused by enemies and be thrown into prison. God can work on the hearts of the fellow prisoners in prison, in order to accept and honor the believer. Joseph experienced it.

We must not forget that this proverb is not to be validated in all situations. Another rule, which is equally valid, is that believers have tribulations in the world (Jn 16:33), like also “all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus” will be persecuted (2Tim 3:12).

The few possessions that one has, but which have been gained in a righteous way, are better than “a great income” which is unfairly gained ”with injustice” (verse 8). “A little” does not necessarily mean extreme poverty; it may possibly refer to a modest income. It is about what is satisfactory in life, and that is God’s approval and having fellowship with Him. God hates unfairly gained income.

What has been gained unfairly, will therefore not be used fairly. What has been earned fairly, will be spent well, to live from it and also to do good to others with it. What has been unfairly gained, will be squandered in debauchery. As soon as one gets the taste of it, he is insatiable. He will want to appropriate more things in order to be able to finance his luxurious lifestyle.

The widow of Zarephath, who had a little, but with Elijah had the resources in her house (1Kgs 17:10-15), was better off than Jezebel with her ‘great income with injustice’ (2Kgs 9:32-37). In spiritual sense we can apply this to the church on earth. The true believers, the true church, have little in an earthly point of view, but possess God’s righteousness in Christ. They have little strength. In contrast there is the false church, the roman-catholic system which boasts to have all spiritual riches, but with injustice. The true church has nothing but Christ, the false church has everything apart from Christ.

Verse 9 shows the possible contrast between what our plans are and what really happens. God determines what really happens. We can make plans for the way that we want to go. But if we want to make steps to go that way, we should consider that it is ultimately the Lord who directs our lives (Jer 10:23; Psa 37:23). It is all about that we learn to say: “If the Lord wills and we will live and also do this or that” (Jam 4:15; Jam 4:13-14; 1Thes 3:11).

Pro 16:10-15 | The Characteristics of a King After God’s Heart

10 A divine decision is in the lips of the king;
His mouth should not err in judgment.
11 A just balance and scales belong to the LORD;
All the weights of the bag are His concern.
12 It is an abomination for kings to commit wicked acts,
For a throne is established on righteousness.
13 Righteous lips are the delight of kings,
And he who speaks right is loved.
14 The fury of a king is [like] messengers of death,
But a wise man will appease it.
15 In the light of a king’s face is life,
And his favor is like a cloud with the spring rain.

In verses 10-15 follows a series of proverbs about kings. What is said here of a king and kings, is perfectly brought into practice by the Lord Jesus, both in His government now in secret and soon when He will openly reign over the world. Kings are the representatives of God on earth (Rom 13:1-7). God wants them to express His features as a righteous Ruler in their speech and actions.

That also goes for the speech and actions of the believers in this time, for they are a royal priesthood (1Pet 2:9) and have been made to be a kingdom (Rev 1:6). They have no government task yet, but surely have the dignity of kings and therefore are to behave like that.

The first and main task of someone who reigns is that he makes righteous decisions (verse 10). A king must make righteous decisions in disputes. When “a divine decision is in the lips of the king”, it refers to an official judicial decision from him in his capacity as king. It is not possible to appeal against such a decision and there is no need to. It is literally an ‘oracle’, an utterance of God, for he represents God. It does not mean that he is infallible, but it clarifies what kind of responsible function he has. In the same way we are also responsible, if we serve with our gifts, that our speech must be “as of one who is speaking the utterances of God” (1Pet 4:11). Here also the word ‘utterances’ is literally ‘oracles’.

The king who is aware of his high position and great responsibility, will not “err in judgment with his mouth”. This is what the Lord Jesus perfectly did. Error in judgment is a judgment which is contrary to the truth. In that case a king releases the guilty and punishes the innocent. God will never do that and thus neither will the Lord Jesus do that. Also a believer who lives in fellowship with the God and Christ will never do that.

Verse 11 is between verses which deal with a king and kings. Therefore this verse applies in the first place to them. They are to be fully honest and sincere. Not a king determines what is honest and dishonest, but God. God is the sovereign Ruler over morality, not the king. God is the source of honesty and justice in all human relations and actions. The proverb is about “just balances” and “scales”. It is written in the law of the LORD that the means of weighing are to be just (Lev 19:36; Deu 25:13; Amos 8:5; Mic 6:11).

God has given man the ability to work with measures and weights. We owe them to Him. As He teaches the farmer how he should plough the land (Isa 28:23-29), He also teaches the merchant and everyone who trades. He makes a regular purchase and sale possible by giving man the ability of weighing. In that way he can earn money in an honest way and provide in his livelihood.

Because man is sinful, it is to be said to him that he is not to work with deviating, thus false balances and weights. He has to be faithful. That applies above all to those who have a particular obligation as role models, such as kings, but also parents, elders, teachers.

Cunning traders had light and heavy weights for dishonest transactions. They used light weights when they had to sell something, in which way they gave less goods than what was paid for. In our time we can think of the keeping of two accounts, whereby the account as a proof is shown which delivers the most profit.

Faithfulness in trade transactions is also necessary when it comes down to spiritual matters. When decisions are to be made in a spiritual case, it should also happen honestly. Sympathy or antipathy may not play a role. The case should be considered without discrimination. It is also important to present the truth of God’s Word in balance or balanced and not to emphasize certain truths at the expense of other truths.

A righteous king not only acts justly, but it is also “an abomination to him to commit wicked acts” (verse 12). He hates adultery and murder that others commit, but those sins are also an abomination to himself. What is wrong for others, is certainly wrong for kings who are considered to be punishing the wrong.

If they themselves would act wickedly, it would jeopardize their throne. A righteous government determines the stability of the rulers. Therefore kings hate the committing of illegal acts. The kingdom of the Lord Jesus fully answers to it (Psa 45:7-8a; 89:14a).

Godly kings love righteousness and dislike hypocritical flattery (verse 13). Flattery is the order of the day in palaces, but is despised by one who reigns in the fear of God. People who are honest and frank, are valuable for rulers of countries. Political leaders know that the society, over which they have authority, becomes chaos without such people. Only when the truth rules, is there a good government. A king, who wants to reign righteously, will surely take faithful people in his government.

When the king gets inflamed with anger, it is like a death threat (verse 14). The expressions of his fury are messengers of death to him or to those whom he is angry about. Those who are the object of his anger do well by taking a wise attitude. Only wisdom offers a possibility to escape from death which is a result of the king’s fury (Ecc 10:4).

God’s anger is inflamed against sin. He sends messengers out with the warning about the judgment of death. Whoever listens to those messengers and acknowledges that His judgment is just, and in that way takes in the right place before Him, sees that there is a wise Man, Who has made an atonement. Christ took away God’s anger about sin for everyone who believes, by undergoing the anger of God’s wrath as a substitute for everyone who believes. Therefore, everyone who believes and accepts the atonement, is also wise.

The verses 14 and 15 belong together. A king has power over death (verse 14) and life (verse 15). Verse 15 is the reverse of verse 14. The opposite of the dark anger of a king, with death as a threat is the light of his face with life as a result. This light radiates from God’s sight to all who are reconciled with Him through the work of Christ. Whoever lives in the light, lives the true life. Light and life belong together (Jn 1:4).

His delight is in those who walk in the light of His face. It means that they live in fellowship with Him. Therefore He blesses them with a great blessing. He is “like a cloud with the spring rain”. In Israel the spring rain is the rain that falls down before the harvest. In that way the harvest gets a last growth stimulus in order to come to stage of full ripeness. It is also a picture of the coming of the Lord Jesus for His people (Hos 6:3) and also a picture of Himself (Psa 72:6). The greatest blessing of life in the light of God’s face is the fellowship with Christ. That works spiritual growth and a focus on His coming.

In a prophetic sense it refers to the blessing with which Christ in His kingdom will influence the earth. Under His righteous government the land will know a prosperity which it has never known ever before (Psa 72:15-17).

Pro 16:16 | Wisdom and Understanding, Not Gold and Silver

16 How much better it is to get wisdom than gold!
And to get understanding is to be chosen above silver.

Wisdom is not a little bit, but much more precious than the purest gold. Wisdom builds up a man, gold builds up his possessions. Wisdom and wealth are not incompatible. In this comparison it is about the difference between wealth without wisdom and wisdom without wealth. Earthly wealth without heavenly wisdom often comes forth from greed or degenerates into it.

The power of the proverb is to encourage people to gain wisdom and understanding. In case the choice (what is “to be chosen”) has to be made between gaining understanding and gaining silver, Solomon puts it clearly that the choice must be made for gaining understanding. Gold and silver are earthly, temporary things; wisdom and understanding, which can only come from God, are of permanent value. There is no noble metal that can give satisfaction to the soul.

We find the meaning of this proverb in the words of the Lord Jesus not to store up treasures on earth, but in heaven. He says: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Mt 6:19-21).

Pro 16:17 | The Highway

17 The highway of the upright is to depart from evil;
He who watches his way preserves his life.

“The highway of the upright” is the excellent way of life of upright men. The highway is an elevated and paved way. The holes in that way are closed and the bumps on that way are removed. The dangers of falling into a hole or stumbling over a height are not there for the upright ones. That does not mean that they don’t have to care about anything on going their way. They see that the evil threatens them from all sides and to turn away from it. That shows that they go a highway and live uprightly.

Whoever goes the highway and watches carefully to stay on that way “preserves his life”. He protects his life against evil. To live righteously is a protection against evil. The highway is the best way, but it is not the way that everyone goes. It is the way of the pilgrim. He goes that way because this way is in his heart (Psa 84:5). It is “the Highway of Holiness” (Isa 35:8), which God shows us in His Word.

Pro 16:18-19 | Humbleness Is Better Than a Haughty Spirit

18 Pride [goes] before destruction,
And a haughty spirit before stumbling.
19 It is better to be humble in spirit with the lowly
Than to divide the spoil with the proud.

It is an act of God’s righteousness He humiliates proud, haughty men (verse 18). They have exalted themselves and are struck by God. Their destruction and stumbling come when they feel like being at the height of their fortune and provoke God with their nose in the air (Dan 4:30-31; Rev 18:7-8). Whoever walks with his nose in the air, doesn’t see where he goes and over which he can stumble. That causes his “destruction” and “stumbling”. We therefore do not need to be worried about the pride and haughtiness of others, but all the more about our own pride and haughtiness. Haman is an illustration of this verse (Est 5:9-14; 7:1-10).

Verse 19 connects to verse 18. It is better to be “lowly” together with the “humble in spirit”, than “to divide the spoil” of robberies with the “proud”. The humble in spirit submits himself to God. He is modest and does not push himself to the front. That shows that he belongs to the company of the gentle ones and therefore to the Lord Jesus from Whom they have learnt to be gentle and humble in heart (Mt 11:29). Someone is humble when he does not assert his rights and doesn’t defend himself when injustice is done to him.

The proud are those who in their pride are rebellious against God. They are arrogant and oppressive. That there is mention of dividing the spoil with the proud refers to the pressure that the proud exert on the humble to cooperate with their evil practices, using the division of the spoil as a bait. In order not to bite in the bait we should have a humble spirit which is depending on God.

Pro 16:20-24 | The Value of the Word and Words

20 He who gives attention to the word will find good,
And blessed is he who trusts in the LORD.
21 The wise in heart will be called understanding,
And sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness.
22 Understanding is a fountain of life to one who has it,
But the discipline of fools is folly.
23 The heart of the wise instructs his mouth
And adds persuasiveness to his lips.
24 Pleasant words are a honeycomb,
Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

The conclusion that we can draw from both lines of verse 20, is that “he who gives attention to the word … trusts in the LORD”. Conversely we can say that he who trusts in the LORD, will give attention to the Word of God. To give attention to the Word literally means ‘the one who wisely deals with the Word’. That makes clearer that it is not about incidentally giving attention to the Word, but that it means the daily, continual dealing with the Word of God. It is about what God says and not about what somebody says himself.

Giving attention to the Word of God implies that we listen to the teaching of it. He who listens with that mind and lives with God like that, “will find good”. He will find the true meaning of life, which is Christ. He is the personification of good. He is the Good.

That it is about what God says and not what the person says who is addressed here, appears from the second line of the verse. To give attention to what God says implies that we trust Him. The trusting one is he who continuously trusts. Whoever does that, can really be called “blessed”. He will receive all kinds of blessing (Jer 17:7). The LORD provides him who gives attention to His Word, him who seriously considers it, with good through His Word.

That one who is wise of heart, will appear from his speech and silence and his whole conduct (verse 21). Others will remark about it and he will be called “understanding”, a man of understanding, a man who speaks knowingly. His wise words will deliver him a reputation of competence and will offer him the possibility to exert a benevolent influence on his environment.

His manner of speaking makes it pleasant for others to listen to him. His words are sweet or pleasant. Those are words which are spoken with a certain gracefulness. There is no bitterness or harshness in them. What he says edifies the listener; it gives him more understanding in what is spoken about. His words of education are received well, because they are convicting. The wise in heart is “able to teach” (1Tim 3:2).

The “fountain of life” which the ones of understanding have (verse 22), has been given by God to them. That fountain is not only a refreshment for its owners, but also for everyone around him. The New Testament believer also owns such a fountain. Of it is said that rivers of living water flow from his inside to others to refresh them (Jn 4:14; 7:38-39). That refreshment can only flow by the power of the Holy Spirit. In that way Paul has been a fountain of life by the power of the Holy Spirit in the proclamation of the gospel and in strengthening the believers (Acts 14:21-22).

We also can be a fountain of life, for also to us the understanding has been given, by which we know Him Who is true (1Jn 5:20). It is the understanding which formerly was darkness (Eph 4:18), but now has been opened and enlightened by the Spirit of Christ, by which we are able to understand the Scripture (Lk 24:45). With the knowledge that we have of Him, we can serve others and in that way become a fountain of life to others.

With the fool there is no fountain of life present. Fools have nothing else in themselves than a fountain of foolishness. When an admonition of teaching comes out of their mouth, it is nothing more than foolishness. Whoever listens to that, becomes like the fools.

The one who is wise of heart, is taught by his heart so that he may say wise things (verse 23). He also knows when he should speak and to whom he should speak. He not only speaks well-chosen words which others understand, but his words are educational and increase the understanding of him to whom he speaks. What the wise says, is not only useful, but it also improves the growth. There is an increase of understanding, which will become apparent from what he says.

The heart of the wise is a source of words of wisdom. That is not only true from the born-again heart. When the Word of Christ dwells abundantly in us, we will teach and admonish one another in all wisdom with psalms, praises and spiritual songs (Col 3:16).

With “pleasant words” (verse 24) the words from the heart of the wise of the previous verse are meant. Such words have the sweetness of a honeycomb (Psa 19:10; 119:103). Pleasant words are comforting and encouraging. They can be words from the Word of God, or words, spoken in a prayer or a praise. Those are words to which God loves to listen to and therefore also to which everyone does who is born of Him.

Like honey in a honey comb is being produced by diligent bees, pleasant words are the result of a continuous relationship with God in secret. He who can speak pleasant words, has studied the Scripture diligently and can therefore bring forward old and new things for the benefit of the listeners, to the encouragement and recovery of spiritual power (Mt 13:52).

We see the benevolent effect of the use of a little bit of honey with Jonathan (1Sam 14:27). In a spiritual sense sweet words have the same effect. Sweet words are no juicy words. They are loving and at the same time clear, convincing words. Sweet words are healing when they come forth from the teaching of God’s Word.

Bones are the power through which the body is able to move and move on. We regain spiritual and physical power when we have heard encouraging words. People can listen to the words of prophecy, which means words that are spoken for “edification, exhortation and comfort” (1Cor 14:3), as to melodious music (cf. 1Chr 25:1-6).

Pro 16:25 | The End of a Seemingly Right Way

25 There is a way [which seems] right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.

This proverb is identical to Proverbs 14:12. There the proverb is in context with appearances which deceive (Pro 14:11-13), with looking at the appearance, while the reality is different. It is relying on what you see without the awareness of being deceived. Here the proverb is in context with the way in which we plan our lives and where it ends up to. It is about how we think of our own lives and how we live it opposite to the way God thinks about it and wants us to live it.

The way which seems right to someone, can be the way of pleasure and careless enjoyment. We see that the very apparently right way, ends up into countless "ways of death". There is plenty of choice on that very way, but each choice on it, leads to death. It does not necessarily have to be about the choice for a life in great sins. As long as there is enough money, as long as one can make a career, if everything goes well in one’s family and everyone gives the other what he is entitled to, one can think that he is on the right way. Such people will turn out to be deceived. It is as with the man who said: ‘I climbed the ladder of success, but I discovered the ladder was standing against the wrong wall.’

Another way that can look right to someone is that of total freedom. Give free sex all the space in whatever relationship one wants to have; give man the right to life and death by allowing him to commit abortion and euthanasia, and people will say that it is the right way of and to happiness. Also here that way will appear to be ending in death.

The broad road of sin seems right because many walk on it. But that is appearance, for that way ends up in death (Mt 7:13-14). The way of death is walked by those who use their mind, their feelings or their conscience as a standard and not God’s Word. One only goes the way which is right when he trusts in Christ and not in his own understanding, and knows Him in all of his ways (Pro 3:5-6).

Pro 16:26 | Hunger Urges to Work

26 A worker’s appetite works for him,
For his hunger urges him [on].

Hunger stimulates one, triggers him, urges him, exerts him, to work diligently (cf. Ecc 6:7). Hunger is good and has a benevolent effect that stimulates someone to work, in order to earn money. This makes it possible to buy food with which the hunger can be satisfied. Also in the New Testament the importance of working is pointed out several times, among other things in order to be able to provide for one’s own livelihood in that way and also to give to others (2Thes 3:10-12; Eph 4:28; 6:7).

It also goes for the spiritual application. He who is newly converted and therefore has new life, will have a desire for spiritual food (1Pet 2:2). Spiritual hunger stimulates one to examine God’s Word diligently.

Pro 16:27-30 | The Worthless, Perverse, Violent Man

27 A worthless man digs up evil,
While his words are like scorching fire.
28 A perverse man spreads strife,
And a slanderer separates intimate friends.
29 A man of violence entices his neighbor
And leads him in a way that is not good.
30 He who winks his eyes [does so] to devise perverse things;
He who compresses his lips brings evil to pass.

Verses 27-30 deal with the worthless, perverse and violent man. There is climax in these verses. It starts with the “worthless man”, which is who this man is in himself and how he acts (verse 27). Worthless men create ways to slander other people. ‘A worthless man’ is literally a ‘man of Belial’, someone in whom there is nothing good. The term describes deep depravity and wickedness.

This man is a bad person, for he “digs up evil”. It means that he brings the evil to the surface and he does that with great effort. Digging is a heavy job. He will go through someone’s entire case, in order to find anything evil, which he may use. Social media is an example of a wide and deep ‘digging territory’, whereby also certain data can be manipulated in such a way that they serve the wicked purpose which the worthless man has in his mind.

He scatters the evil that he digs, whether it is true or a lie, as seed from “his words”. His speech is like “a scorching fire”, which refers to the destroying effect of his words. James speaks about the tongue as “a fire, the world of iniquity” and continues to say: “The tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell (Jam 3:6).
The worthless man of verse 27 is the “perverse man” in verse 28. He is a man of falsehood and lies and “a slanderer”. He has no success with open attacks; therefore he chooses to whisper lies and slander, imputations, half-truths. The worthless man causes trouble and even brings division between best friends.

He cannot make friends himself and cannot stand it that there is friendship between others. Therefore he starts a campaign to slander others. He slanders the one after the other and sows doubt and distrust between both of them. He tells a lie about someone of which he knows that it would be spread. Thereby he is aware of the fact that the spreading will make it worse. Therefore he is also called a “worthless man”, because he destroys good relationships.

In verse 29 the worthless and perverse man of the previous verses has become “a man of violence”, ‘a man of hamas’. The friends have become separated from one another by his slanderous talk, which disaster he already caused. But that does not satisfy him. They are to be killed also. It does not stop with talking, but he uses violence.

He is also a deceiver, who wants to influence others to join him. The man of violence will try to influence people in his environment to commit the violence which he has planned (Pro 1:10-14; 2:12-15). He will bring his fellow man “in a way that is not good”, which means that he wants to introduce him to the criminal circuit.

In order to reach the goal of verse 29, he devises “perverse things” and then “brings evil to pass” (verse 30). He is devoted to the evil in such a way that his body language cannot suppress his evil intentions, but betrays them. Facial expressions often make clear whether one intends to do harm to others (Pro 6:13-14). Here two expressions are mentioned: to wink (or shut) the eyes and to compress the lips.

One shuts his eyes when he wants to concentrate on something without being distracted. This is how the worthless, perverse, violent man fully concentrates on the evil. He imagines how it will happen. To compress the lips means that one refrains to express his feelings, whether to laugh or to burst out in anger. Here it indicates the hidden evil intentions which he is about to carry out.

Pro 16:31-32 | A Gray Head, Patience and Self-Control

31 A gray head is a crown of glory;
It is found in the way of righteousness.
32 He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty,
And he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city.

When a person has gray hair and in that way wears “a crown of glory”, it is a proof that he walks the way of righteousness, which he has walked up to now. Righteousness is rewarded with a long life (cf. Psa 92:14; Lk 1:5-7). This is again the general meaning of this book. The general meaning of righteousness in Proverbs is that the wicked does not live long and passes prematurely and that the righteous lives long. But that does not mean that it goes for everyone in all cases. The gray head of the wickedly living older man is not a crown of glory, and one can die before he can find the first gray hair, while he has walked the way of righteousness.

It has to be the greatest care of older people to stay “in the way of righteousness”. When it is noticed in their old age that they have walked with God and they still do, their “gray head is a crown of glory” to them. Solomon says this in the first place to the young people. Young people are inclined to see especially youthful power as a crown of glory, whereby they despise older people because of their physical weakness. God’s Word prohibits that and demands instead, respect for older people (Lev 19:32). Whoever considers that, shows respect for God’s election of righteousness beyond youthful power.

But this word is not only important for young people. For older people it is important that they wear that ‘crown of glory’ with dignity. Let the old believers be old disciples (Acts 21:16). In that way they give the young people a reason to respect them. It is in the same line as what is said to Timothy, that he has to be watchful that no one will despise him because of his youth (1Tim 4:12). Apart from that it is always appropriate that young ones treat old ones with respect, even if an older one does not behave himself with dignity (Gen 9:20-27).

Like a gray head goes above youthful power (verse 31), slow to anger is better than physical power (verse 32). Slow to anger is a feature of God (Exo 34:6; Nah 1:3). One is “mighty” on a certain occasion in a certain case, but “one who is slow to anger” is better, for he not only shows this Divine feature on certain occasions, but continually.

“He who rules his spirit” – or ‘controls’ his spirit, or controls himself, shows that he is better “than he who captures a city”. To capture a city after having taken it under siege for a shorter or longer time is an act which costs the lives of people. Self-control or self-judgment does no harm to anyone, but rather spares lives. It is a blessing to others and for the protection of oneself.

A godly man once said to the king: ‘You are the servant of my servant.’ He meant by that: ‘You are the bondservant of your evil desires, while I am the master of my evil desires’. The heart is a battle field. The evil desires which dwell in it, are lethal enemies. For the believer these enemies have been conquered. The point is to kill the evil desires as soon as they want to take control (Col 3:5), which means that they are directly made harmless in self-judgment. We do that by considering them as being judged in Christ on the cross. The true power to conquer these enemies lies in knowing our position in Christ. In Him we are more than conquerors (Rom 8:37).

Pro 16:33 | Man Considers, but God Decides

33 The lot is cast into the lap,
But its every decision is from the LORD.

This verse is about the practice of seeking God’s guidance by casting the lot. What is decided by the lot is ultimately the decision of the LORD. Even when unbelievers do that, He decides. He determines the course of matters. Nothing happens outside His knowledge, without His will. He is involved in everything and it happens according to His counsel. We see His hand in everything, a hand that guides everything with wisdom. We thus see that this chapter ends like it started, with a word about God’s sovereignty.

In the Old Testament the lot was cast among others:
1. To organize the service in the temple (1Chr 24:5,31; 25:8);
2. To reveal the truth (1Sam 14:41);
3. To trace offenders (Jos 7:16);
4. To stop disputes (Pro 18:18);
5. To divide Canaan among the tribes (Num 26:55);

The last mention of the use of the lot in Scripture, is in context with the question of whom was going to replace Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:26). The Christian does not need the lot, for he has the Holy Spirit dwelling in him, Who leads him in the whole truth (Jn 16:13). He also has got the complete Word of God at his disposal, in which he can learn to know the will of God. Thereby he has prayer at his disposal. He can go directly to God as his Father to ask Him about His will.

Proverbs 17

Pro 17:1-3 | Quietness, Inheritance and Refining

1 Better is a dry morsel and quietness with it,
Than a house full of feasting with strife.
2 A servant who acts wisely will rule over a son who acts shamefully,
And will share in the inheritance among brothers.
3 The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold,
But the LORD tests hearts.

The contrast in verse 1, rendered in a “better … than” construction, is simple and understandable. The wise will agree that poverty with peace is better than prosperity with strive (cf. Pro 15:16-17). He prefers “quietness”, while there is no more than “a dry morsel” to satisfy the hunger, above “strife” with an abundance of food. The “dry morsel” is bread without anything that makes it easier and tastier to swallow it (cf. Rth 2:14; Jn 13:26).

A sober meal “and quietness with it” means that those who participate in it, find satisfaction in the fellowship with God and with one another. In that way the sober meal becomes a festive meal. That is better than “a house full of feasting” whereby those who participate in it, are in conflict with one another. In that way the festive meal is immersed in bitterness. Abundance often comes together with a decrease of values and standards, with the result of an increase of jealousy and quarrel.

Here it looks like it is about offering animals, which were brought in the temple, God’s house, as peace offerings and of which those who brought the offerings were allowed to eat a portion together with others (Lev 3:1-17; 7:28-34). To have strife while eating the peace offering, is in contrast with its character. In the church at Corinth, such a situation happened. The believers felt themselves to be spiritually rich, but there was division among them. Paul admonishes them about it (1Cor 11:17-34).

The proverb in verse 2 is about “a servant who acts wisely” and who in the service for his lord takes well advantage of all his capacities. The behavior of the servant stands against the behavior of the son of that particular lord. The son is living a wicked life. His father is ashamed of it. He disinherits his son and instead he makes the servant to become fellow-heir of the brothers, which means that he adopts him as son. In that way the servant gets a place above the disinherited son, with the result that he rules over the son.

It is an encouragement to all who are faithful in their work. Faithfulness is rewarded with a position of ruling and the sharing of the inheritance of the family. One who serves in humility, is placed above one who has a certain position, but behaves himself unworthy of that position.

The first line of verse 3 makes clear what the intention is of the second line of the verse. As silver and gold are heated in “the refining pot” and in “the furnace”, in order to refine precious metals more and more, the LORD tests the hearts (Mal 3:2-4; 1Pet 1:6-7; cf. Isa 48:10; Zec 13:9). God examines every thought and every motive. Those examinations and tests are always for the increase of the value of him who is being refined.

By the heat of trials God wants to purify the hearts of His own from everything that stands in the way to make Christ visible. The godly person himself also asks God to do that to him (Psa 26:2). In that mind we are able to eat the peace offering with quietness (verse 1) and are we worthy of being heirs (verse 2).

Pro 17:4-5 | Listening to Lies Leads to Mockery

4 An evildoer listens to wicked lips;
A liar pays attention to a destructive tongue.
5 He who mocks the poor taunts his Maker;
He who rejoices at calamity will not go unpunished.

“An evildoer” and “a liar” love to listen to lies and destructive talk (verse 4; cf. Jer 5:30-31). The point here is that those who listen to such talk are like those who make this kind of talk to be heard. The “lips” and the “tongue” indicate speech; the qualifications “wicked” and “destructive” say that this speech causes destructions.

The people who listen to gossip are as guilty as those who tell them. If there were no listeners, there wouldn’t be gossip. Listeners of gossip help to maintain gossip. That’s how it works with gossip magazines. If there were no buyers, there wouldn’t be gossip magazines. The buyers of the gossip magazines are just as much gossipers as the authors and publishers of them.

What about us? Do we also enjoy the programs in which lies and deception are presented as entertainment and in that way are glorified? If we continue to watch them and do not turn away from them, we become like those people who are called here evildoer and liar.

The mocking of the poor happens because a calamity happened to him, which caused him to become poor (verse 5). That appears from the second line of the verse. Everyone who mocks the poor, taunts his Maker and therefore will be punished. After all, man is made in His picture (Gen 1:26-27; Jam 3:5). The second line of the verse explains that such a person “will not go unpunished”, but will be punished.

The mockery at the poor expresses itself in malicious delight about the calamity that has happened to him. One can be happy about the misery that strikes another person. The taunting of the Maker can be seen as disparaging comments towards God, with the meaning that He couldn’t keep the poor one that is involved, from that calamity. Besides God being taunted, also the poor bears the brunt of it. The mocker enjoys that the poor has ended up in trouble. He rubs salt into the many wounds of the poor by telling him that he owes his own failures to himself.

The Edomites did have malicious delight about the calamity that happened to Israel. The prophet Obadiah shows that they would not go unpunished. God promises that He would surely punish the Edomites (Oba 1:12-16). The same goes for Ammon (Eze 25:6-7). Job said that he was free from such an attitude (Job 31:29). How is our response to the calamity of someone, especially of someone we dislike?

Pro 17:6 | Honor the Generations

6 Grandchildren are the crown of old men,
And the glory of sons is their fathers.

It is an honor to a man when as long as he lives, he sees children and grandchildren who serve their own generation in a way according to God’s will (Psa 128:6; Gen 50:23; cf. Acts 13:36). When generations will appreciate one another and pursue the good, there will be harmony. There is an emphasis on the responsibility of (grand)parents for their (grand)children. The following generation is reminded of looking back to the previous generations.

In what is said here, the ideal situation is presented. We know that the world is full of headstrong parents and rebellious children who cannot look back to a happy youth. But for each new generation it is a challenge to break that tendency. This verse is a stimulus to focus on that.

Children can make sure that their children will remember them as godly parents and their parents as godly grandparents. The children will not be ashamed of their parents and grandparents, but on the contrary testify that they are very grateful to have such a "crown". This in its turn can have the result that the children of their children will go in the way of the Lord. The line of children and children’s children, the generation line downward, is the glory of the old age, the line of parents and grandparents, the generation line upward, is the crown of their children or their descendants.

Pro 17:7 | Two Things That Do Not Fit Together

7 Excellent speech is not fitting for a fool,
Much less are lying lips to a prince.

The teaching of this verse is that, as we do not expect excellent speech from the mouth of fools, we surely do not expect lying lips from a dignitary (prince). When a fool speaks excellent things, it is like a flag on a broomstick. Normally he vomits the greatest foolishness and suddenly he makes beautiful statements. Then it will be like ‘a strange sound’ in our ears. It makes us think of the proverb ‘beware of the geese, when the fox preaches’, which means that when a cunning man comes with nice words, he is up to something. His words do not agree with his nature.

Conversely it means that a false word is not fitting to a dignitary. It is not fitting to such a person to speak words which hurt others. With a dignitary is meant a leader or a monarch, someone with a certain status and whom people trust. To his status the code of honor of truthfulness is fitting and not a false word. Lies are just not fitting to him.

Pro 17:8 | Bribes Bring Prosperity Everywhere

8 A bribe is a charm in the sight of its owner;
Wherever he turns, he prospers.

The meaning is that “a bribe” works like a magic stone, which causes “its owners” to be successful with their plans and prosperous wherever they go. The word ‘bribe’ which is used here, is another word than the word ‘charity’ which is also ‘a charm’, but used to indicate an unselfish gift. Therefore it is right to say bribe here, for that is what is meant. We speak about ‘bribes’ or ‘a slush fund’.

“A charm” is very attractive to the one to whom the owner of the stone presents it, in such a way that he cannot resist to accept the charm and give the giver in return whatever he wants. There goes a spell from it to the recipient, which causes to melt away all resistance. A bribe opens doors which otherwise would remain closed, as if a magical statement has been made.

The proverb shows the effect of a bribe without a comment. It is not a recommendation to make use of bribes. The law clearly prohibits us to accept bribes (Exo 23:8). What Solomon says is the reality from the point of view of someone who gives the bribe: this is the way it works. It is a charm which brings luck, a charm that has magical features and works as a spell. It is a ‘lucky stone’.

Pro 17:9 | Conceal Against Repeat

9 He who conceals a transgression seeks love,
But he who repeats a matter separates intimate friends.

This proverb is about the contrast between “he who conceals a transgression” and “he who repeats a matter”, by telling it to another person. The first encourages “love” and the second “separates intimate friends”. Friendship demands the capability of concealing, forgiving and forgetting a transgression. When that does not happen, it will end the best friendships. Repeating a matter of the past and to focus on it has destroyed a lot of friendships and marriages.

The true friend will bury the wrongs instead of campaigning about a matter to whoever wants to hear about it. To repeat is an activity that destroys love and confidence, which destroys what it deserves to preserve. To conceal does not mean that a transgression is made silent or ignored, but that is not talked about with others, that it is not spread.

“Love covers a multitude of sins” (1Pet 4:8). Every child of God has experienced it, for through the love of the Lord Jesus, which He has shown on the cross at Golgotha, his sins are covered. They do not exist anymore to God. That does not mean that God overlooks them, but that He forgives them and conceals them when there is remorse and repentance. The concealing of the transgression happens after the confession, after which God forgives. In following Him we can act like that when someone transgresses against us (Eph 4:32-5:2).

Pro 17:10-11 | If Discipline Does Not Work, Judgment Will Follow

10 A rebuke goes deeper into one who has understanding
Than a hundred blows into a fool.
11 A rebellious man seeks only evil,
So a cruel messenger will be sent against him.

The covering of a transgression (verse 9) does not mean that the transgression is not exposed. This happens by confronting the transgressor with his transgression, to rebuke him for it. “One who has understanding” will profit from the rebuke, but the fool will not (verse 10).

This verse contrasts the one who has understanding and the fool in their response to a rebuke. He who has understanding and is humiliated by a rebuke will learn from it. But even “a hundred blows” will have no effect on a fool. Blows may come down to his back, but they will not change his heart; he remains to be a fool.

The difference between one who has understanding and a fool becomes especially clear by the way in which one responds to a rebuke. The rebuke that Peter received, both from the Lord Jesus and from Paul (Mt 16:23; Gal 2:11-15), went deeper into him. It did not result in a grudge, but he learnt from it. But the many severe plagues that came over Egypt did not cause Pharaoh to change his mind (Exo 7-12). He remained to be a fool and got killed in his foolishness.

“A rebellious man” (verse 11) is fully insensible to discipline. He lives in rebellion against God and his fellow man. As a devoted follower of the great rebel against God, the devil, he seeks to cause turmoil and uproar. He seeks nothing else than “the evil”; he deliberately seeks it.

This rebel will be visited by “a cruel messenger” who is especially sent to him to kill him. It is a matter of cause and result. Rebellious people have no other goal than searching for the evil. The result of it is that revenge is sent in the form of a cruel messenger. This expression may refer to a cruel messenger that the king sends; it can also refer to storms, an illness, or an accident as God’s messenger of revenge.

Benaiah was a messenger that was sent to kill the adversaries of David and Solomon (1Kgs 2:13-46). Someone who only seeks evil will not open himself to something good. Therefore he has to be dealt with in this way.

Pro 17:12-13 | Warnings Against Foolishness

12 Let a man meet a bear robbed of her cubs,
Rather than a fool in his folly.
13 He who returns evil for good,
Evil will not depart from his house.

It is more dangerous to encounter a fool who is involved with foolishness than “a bear robbed of her cubs” (verse 12). The one who is assumed to be intelligent and rational, is more dangerous in his foolishness than the bear that acts after her instinct (2Sam 17:8; Hos 13:8). The fool is totally blind for his foolishness and acts in stupid blindness. The lesson is: do not come near that bear and certainly not near a fool.

We often underestimate the enormous danger of foolishness. Foolishness is the exclusion of God. It means that the warnings of God are considered to be jokes, like the sons-in-law of Lot did (Gen 19:14). That brings a man in a much greater danger than whatever danger. One knows what to expect from a bear, but that is often not so from a fool.

Adam is the first to whom verse 13 is fully applied. He has returned evil for all God’s kindness. Due to that evil came over his house, which means it has come over his entire offspring, which till now has not departed from his house. The evil only departs, when it is confessed. Then the reverse happens: God returns good for evil to everyone who believes.

The verse is generally to be applied to every individual who returns evil for good, also to the believer, without saying whether God allows the evil to come over him again directly or that He does that at another time. David experienced that Saul had returned evil for the good that he had done to him. Nabal did the same towards David. But David himself also did return evil for good when he let Uriah to be murdered, while Uriah served him with a total devotion. Therefore the evil did not depart from his house (2Sam 12:9-12).

Above all, the Jews have returned the Lord Jesus evil for good. We hear that when He says: “Thus they have repaid me evil for good and hatred for my love” (Psa 109:5; 35:12). As a result of that the evil has not departed from the house of Judah. The Lord has told His disciples – with that He tells us also – that they, just as He did, ought to act the other way around: “But love your enemies and do good” (Lk 6:35). In this context an exhortation is also applied to us: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom 12:21).

Pro 17:14 | Prevent Worse

14 The beginning of strife is [like] letting out water,
So abandon the quarrel before it breaks out.

Conflicts are to be stopped before they break out. That is what this proverb is telling us. The picture is that of a small leak, for example in a dam, through which water starts to flow gradually. If we do not do something quickly, the leak will become bigger and becomes a great hole. The disaster that follows will have unforeseeable consequences. We can apply this to a conflict that must be solved, because it otherwise can turn out into a court case. When one goes to the court, it may lead to a legal victory, but at the same time the conflict gets a permanent and unrecoverable character.

A conflict often starts with a small thing. If one does not solve it directly and rightly, it can lead to a war. The best thing is to stop yourself and do not say anything back. If both parties insist on their right, it will break out. It is like a small spark that causes an enormous fire if the spark is not extinguished. At the beginning of the church there was a disagreement between two groups of widows. Before it became a real conflict, the twelve apostles stopped this disagreement by taking a wise decision (Acts 6:1-6).

Pro 17:15 | God Hates the Distortion of Right

15 He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous,
Both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD.

In the administration of justice it is important that justice is done, which means that the wicked is condemned and the righteous is justified. If that is reversed and the judge “justifies the wicked” and “condemns the righteous”, then both the one and the other “are an abomination to the LORD” (cf. Isa 5:20). The clearest and most horrible illustration of this proverb we see in the ‘court case’ against the Lord Jesus. Pilate justified the wicked Barabbas and condemned the Righteous to be guilty (Mt 27:24-26).

The great miracle of the grace of God is that the first line of the verse applies to God Himself. The epistle to the Romans shows this line of the verse from God’s side on the ground of the work of Christ. God justifies the wicked on the basis of righteousness. He has made the Righteous to be sentenced with the punishment of the wicked, through which He can make us righteous: “But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness” (Rom 4:5).

Pro 17:16 | A Fool Has No Sense

16 Why is there a price in the hand of a fool to buy wisdom,
When he has no sense?

A fool is a fool because he does not look for God, while that is of first importance to become wise. The fool has no interest to gain wisdom in the way it should be gained. Money has no value at all in this case; it doesn’t count, for money cannot buy what is needed the most – which is a relationship with God. He may want to have the reputation of the wise, but he is not able to fulfill the requirements that belong to the wise, for he lacks the sense, the spiritual understanding for it. Simon the magician, who desired to buy the gift of the Holy Spirit, was such a fool (Acts 8:18-19).

There is amazement and indignation in the question. In fact it is said that it is of no use that there is a price in the hand of a fool to buy wisdom, for he has no sense. He would not recognize wisdom at all when he would see it.

Pro 17:17 | Real Friendship

17 A friend loves at all times,
And a brother is born for adversity.

The love of a real friend is permanent. His love does not change when circumstances do. He is a friend in prosperity and in adversity, in good times and in times when the friendship is put to the test. Christ shows that He is such a friend Who always under all circumstances loves (Jn 13:1). He calls us His “friends” (Jn 15:14-15). He also calls us “brothers” (Jn 20:17; Heb 2:11-12). Besides, there is no Scripture that tells us that His followers call Him ‘friend’ or ‘brother’. Therefore we should not call Him so. He is exalted far above us.

Friendship means that thoughts are being shared. Friends are there for one another and always help each other (Lk 11:5-8). A brother is a blood relative. There is a family relationship. Ruth and Naomi and also David and Jonathan show what friendship and family relatedness means in practice, especially in times of adversity.

It is perfectly true of the Lord Jesus, Who shares His thoughts with us as a friend, and Who as a brother to us, supports us in heaven in our troubles, which He is familiar with from His own experience. That a brother is born for adversity, means that we can call on Him, precisely when we face “adversity”.

Pro 17:18 | Only a Fool Becomes Guarantor

18 A man lacking in sense pledges
And becomes guarantor in the presence of his neighbor.

It is foolish to become guarantor to a person who has got himself into debt (cf. Pro 6:1-5). “To pledge” means that one has promised something to another. It is like signing for an agreement by which the promise is confirmed. One who becomes guarantor, is “a man lacking in sense”. For you never know what may happen to you. The debt may be that great, that it is unpayable.

What the Lord Jesus did when He became guarantor may from a human point of view seem to be like ‘lacking sense’, but of course it was not. He knew as a matter of fact, how high the price was and He knew that He was able to pay it. It reminds us of the statement in the epistle to Philemon where the apostle Paul as a real follower of the Lord Jesus, also becomes guarantor of Onesimus (Phlm 1:18) towards Philemon.

Pro 17:19-20 | To Love Strife Comes From a Crooked Mind

19 He who loves transgression loves strife;
He who raises his door seeks destruction.
20 He who has a crooked mind finds no good,
And he who is perverted in his language falls into evil.

We may “get caught in a transgression” (Gal 6:1) without loving that transgression. Someone else can then restore us. But “he who loves transgression” (verse 19), has a depraved spirit. His performance shows that he loves strife. A transgression has consequences for interrelationships. He who loves to transgress has a preference for strife. Through his depraved talk he continually puts good relationships under pressure.

The meaning of “he who raises his door” is not entirely clear. In the context of the use of this expression, the door seems to represent ‘the mouth’ here. The meaning may then be ‘having a big mouth’ (cf. 1Sam 2:3; Psa 141:3; Mic 7:5). He who loves strife, has a big mouth towards heaven, towards God, and to his neighbor too (Psa 73:8-9). He does not seek prosperity for the other, but “destruction”.

Verse 20 shows the origin of verse 19. He who loves strife, shows that he “has a crooked mind”. He who has a crooked mind does not only seek the destruction of others, but he himself “finds no good”. With the “good” the blessings of God are meant which He gives to everyone who serves Him. The one with the crooked mind seeks what is good in his own sight. He strives for possession at the expense of others.

He is “perverted in his language”, the words that he speaks are perverse. He speaks falsity, which shows that he hates the truth. He strives for the fall of others, but he himself will fall into evil and cause his own destruction. Instead of finding the real good he gets to be confronted with a life full of calamities. The prosperity that he is searching for himself, leads to his destruction.

Pro 17:21 | The Sorrow of a Father

21 He who sires a fool [does so] to his sorrow,
And the father of a fool has no joy.

It is a sorrow for a father to sire a child that appears to be a fool. He had hoped for having a son who would be a gain to the family and the faith, but he only finds disappointment when his son appears to be a fool. A godly father will not rejoice in his foolish son. The father “was seeking a godly offspring” (Mal 2:15), but his son appears to be from the devil. He has brought his son up “in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph 6:4), so that he would live to God’s honor, but he rejected all teaching of his father. The father will not rejoice in his son, but the foolishness of his son will break his heart.

One knows not what kind of child he or she has sired. Therefore it is so important to pray before a child is sired, so that God may give a child that will live to His glorification. Still, godly parents can have ungodly children. It remains to be a choice that a child itself has to make as soon as it is ready: for or against Christ.

We cannot always blame parents for the choice that children make and parents cannot make a claim upon their children to be godly. Actually, parents are responsible for the education, to fully commit themselves for making their child to learn to know Him. Thereby they will be an example for their child about how to go that way. Whether the child will go that way, is a choice it will have to make by itself.

Pro 17:22 | A Joyful Heart or a Broken Spirit

22 A joyful heart is good medicine,
But a broken spirit dries up the bones.

“A joyful heart” is a heart that rejoices in God and the things of God. A person gets a joyful heart when the peace of God dwells in it. Due to that it will be “good medicine” to body and spirit. One who has “a broken spirit”, will experience the contrary. There is no mention of joy. That has disappeared by all kinds of worries and miseries that he suffers. This process “dries up the bones”. Like it is said earlier, bones strengthen the body to make it move. When the bones have been dried up, it means that the health has disappeared and that powerlessness has begun (cf. Eze 37:1-14).

This verse is not a judgment of someone who is depressed. The intention of it is not that he should be happy, so that depression will disappear. What is generally true is also presented here, without any judgment about one’s condition. Someone who is depressed knows that a joyful heart is good medicine. The problem is that he does not have a joyful heart. He will not get a joyful heart by just telling him again and again that he should have one. Such a person needs another approach. What is primarily needed, is understanding and patience. Let him who has got to do with such a situation ask the Lord for wisdom.

Pro 17:23 | The Intention of a Bribe

23 A wicked man receives a bribe from the bosom
To pervert the ways of justice.

Bribery corrupts justice. He who allows himself to be bribed, is “a wicked man”. It seems to regard the influencing of a judicial decision, for it mentions “to pervert the ways of justice”, or to keep justice to be done in the normal way. Not only that justice is being kept to have its course, but it is turned into injustice, while the appearances of justice is being kept up. The fact that a judge accepts this bribe “from the bosom” proves that it happens in secret. It is a secret transaction, not a pure one. A corrupt judge is a wicked man.

Perverting the way of justice may also happen in work situations. One can bribe his employee with a present to silence him about a criminal offense that he has committed. The same can happen within a family and in God’s church. The bribery does not have to consist of money. It may also consist of a promotion or presents or preferential treatment.

Pro 17:24 | What One Pays Attention To

24 Wisdom is in the presence of the one who has understanding,
But the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.

“One who has understanding” perseveres in following the course of wisdom. He always seeks wisdom as a compass. That’s what he is looking at and determines his route through life. He concentrates on wisdom, because he understands the real problems of life and knows that only wisdom can lead him concerning these problems and through these problems. One who has understanding knows what it is to have a ‘clear eye’ (Mt 6:22; Lk 11:34), which means that he focused on only one object, through which he continues to follow the right path.

The fool lacks any serious concentration. He is not able to focus his attention firmly on something. Because he has no understanding, his eyes roam all through the whole world, but they find no place of rest anywhere. He is like a student who does not hear what his teacher says, because his eyes go around all over the classroom. In that way he does not note the teaching of the wisdom teacher.

The eyes are the window of the soul. What is observed with the eyes, has an impact on the soul. Man has become a sinner by seeing, desiring and taking. With television and the internet, it is possible to focus the eyes “on the ends of the earth”. That also happens massively. People let themselves to be led by what they see on the media and remain because of that blind for wisdom, which is Christ, “in Whom all treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden” (Col 2:3). Therefore they will remain foolish and will perish in their foolishness, unless they start to seek wisdom from Above.

The one who has understanding will focus uninterruptedly “on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:2).

Pro 17:25 | Grief to the Father and Bitterness to the Mother

25 A foolish son is a grief to his father
And bitterness to her who bore him.

It is a great grief to have a child that develops to be a fool (verse 21). Here the emphasis is on the son who grieves his father in that way and becomes bitterness to his mother, who “bore him”. The joy with which the birth has been announced has turned into grief. The joy of the birth after the pain of deliverance has changed into bitterness by the way that the foolish son goes.

A foolish son not only does wrong to his own soul, is not only rebellious against God, but shows the greatest possible ingratitude towards his parents. His mother has given birth to him with pain and then educated him. His father has taught him wise lessons about life. But he rejects all of that. His greatest foolishness is that he remains indifferent about what he does to his father and mother.

The father and the mother share the pain of the way that their foolish son goes. In that way they can understand and comfort one another and pray together to the Lord about their need. That prevents them to start to blame one another. They can also help each other to deal with this very difficult situation. The mother can help the father to deal with his anger, the father can help the mother not to succumb to their sorrow. Sometimes the reverse happens.

Pro 17:26 | Do Not Punish an Innocent Man

26 It is also not good to fine the righteous,
[Nor] to strike the noble for [their] uprightness.

This is again a proverb that deals with the evil of dishonest legal practices. Everyone will agree that it is “not good to fine the righteous” with the unrighteous, for he has done nothing that justifies that. When that still happens, it shows how dilapidated our society is. People do not consider God, Who has ordained the legal order.

It is still worse to “strike the noble for [their] uprightness”. In this case the law has dilapidated in such a way that people who are righteous, are being tortured physically, precisely for their uprightness. The noble are people who want to defend justice. That should deserve appreciation, but it is being punished. In this kind of time we live. Uprightness means to live according to God’s Word. Those who want that, have to deal with an increasing opposition.

To the righteous and the noble who are being fined and who have to suffer because they hold fast to God’s Word, it applies that they suffer for uprightness or righteousness. They are called “blessed” (1Pet 3:14). “For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong” (1Pet 3:17).

Pro 17:27-28 | The Control of the Tongue

27 He who restrains his words has knowledge,
And he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.
28 Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is considered wise;
When he closes his lips, he is [considered] prudent.

The first line of verse 27 is about restraining the tongue not to say thoughtless and untimely things. It says literally that he ‘saves his words’. He who does that, seems to have “knowledge”. The second line of the verse deals with self-control, literally ‘a cool spirit’. That is the opposite of being hot-tempered. “He who has a cool spirit” will not lose patience and will not get hot-tempered during a discussion. We learn that if we want to have rest, calmness, self-control and cautiousness, we have to develop knowledge and understanding.

The wise man has a source of knowledge in himself. That knowledge is acquired by him because he is wise. That he has that knowledge now, means that he is wise and knows what he should and especially what he should not say. He will not boast on his knowledge and will be a man of few words. He is patient and waits until it is God’s time to say something.

Keeping silent is a sigh of wisdom (verse 28). Even a fool seems wise and is considered wise when he keeps silent, meaning by those who do not know him. In any case he hides his foolishness by keeping silent. When this applies to the fool, how much more does it apply to the wise whose keeping silent shows that he is a wise. Of course the fool does not become wise; he only hides his foolishness. The fool may keep silent and give the impression that he is wise, but God knows his heart and also the wise will not let himself to be deceived.

Proverbs 18

Pro 18:1-2 | The Fool Who Separates Himself

1 He who separates himself seeks [his own] desire,
He quarrels against all sound wisdom.
2 A fool does not delight in understanding,
But only in revealing his own mind.

“He who separates himself” (verse 1) has become an enemy of every form of friendship because of his selfishness and self-interest. Everyone he should have taken into account, hinders him in satisfying “[his own] desires”. The only thing he pays attention to is what gives pleasure to himself. Therefore he doesn’t want to know of any form of wisdom, for that confronts him with a higher purpose of life.

When something is said to him about it, whether by God from His Word when that is presented to him, or by a man, when he wants to point out something to him, he “quarrels” against it. He is like the apostate Jews of whom it is written that they do not please God and are against all people (1Thes 2:15). His whole attitude shows that he belongs to those who are “worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit” (Jude 1:19).

It should be noted that there is a separation which God asks from us in His Word. That concerns a separation from sin and people who are living in sin and from those who accept sin in others and do not distance themselves from them (2Tim 2:19-21; 2Cor 6:14-17; Heb 13:13; 2Jn 1:7-11).

Verse 2 is connected to verse 1. He who quarrels against all wisdom shows that he is “a fool”, somebody who naturally “does not delight in understanding”. What he delights in is passing his opinion and in that way “revealing his own heart”. He hates understanding, but delights in telling his own foolish understanding. By what he says he reveals what is hidden in his heart. Such a person asks questions to show how smart he is (which he in any case thinks of himself) instead of desiring to be taught. He has a preformed, incorrigible opinion and wants it to be heard.

We find this fool in the days of the Lord Jesus in the religious leaders. They cannot be happy from the understanding that Christ wants to give and even quarrel against it. They only want to air their own understanding and be admired for it.

Pro 18:3 | The Wicked Man and What Comes With Him

3 When a wicked man comes, contempt also comes,
And with dishonor [comes] scorn.

“When a wicked man comes”, wherever that may be, “contempt”, “dishonor” and “scorn” will follow him as his sworn comrades in his wake. Contempt comes with him because the wicked man will always consider the righteous with contempt, in order to overwhelm him with dishonor and scorn. He will always find a cause for that with the righteous, whether in his circumstances or in his way of life.

This way of acting belongs to the wicked man, it is his nature. To him God has no meaning or any value at all. The warning is to be watchful for the wicked man, for in his company are contempt, dishonor and scorn which he pours out on others in his speech and behavior.

Pro 18:4 | Deep Waters and a Bubbling Brook

4 The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters;
The fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.

The “man” here is a wise man. His “mouth” is compared with a place out of which water is bubbling and his “words” are compared with that water. What he says are simple words but they have a deep meaning. The words are not only profound, but they also never run out and always contain wisdom because they come from “the fountain of wisdom”. The words of a man which come from the fountain of God’s thoughts, are both profound and bubbling. It indicates the depth and the width of wisdom.

Wisdom is deep (Job 28:1-28), it is what is in God (Rom 11:33). It is a great grace that God has shared His thoughts of wisdom with us. He did that in His Word and through His Spirit. Through His Spirit we can now know the depths of God (1Cor 2:9-10). Wisdom is not an ocean, but a well from which a brook comes forth that bubbles. That fountain is the Lord Jesus.

Moses speaks about “deep waters” (Deu 8:7) as one of the blessings of the promised land. In the spiritual application we could think of the blessing of eternal life. The Lord Jesus speaks about it when He says to the Samaritan woman: “But the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life” (Jn 4:14b).

Pro 18:5 | No Respecter of Persons in a Court Case

5 To show partiality to the wicked is not good,
[Nor] to thrust aside the righteous in judgment.

In a world of which satan is god and chief, it happens that a wicked man is shown partiality and that the right of the righteous is thrust aside in judgment. Partiality can play a role when the wicked man is a rich person, or a family member, or someone who has influence because he is respected. The righteous may have pointed out the evil that someone has done, like Elijah did and John the baptist. God hates such a course of matters. He wants that justice is done rightfully (2Chr 19:7; Mal 2:9). It is reprehensible to thrust aside the righteous, meaning to take his right away from him.

It is not only a judicial error, an unjustified judgment, that is expressed in the acquittal of a wicked man who should have been convicted. It is not so much about the outcome, but about the motive. That motive is partiality (cf. 1Tim 5:21). It is a verdict on behalf of discrimination. It does not only apply to a court case, but to all cases. James applies it to the interrelationships of the members of God (Jam 2:1-9). The Lord Jesus warns us: “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment” (Jn 7:24).

Pro 18:6-8 | The Words of a Fool and a Slanderer

6 A fool’s lips bring strife,
And his mouth calls for blows.
7 A fool’s mouth is his ruin,
And his lips are the snare of his soul.
8 The words of a whisperer are like dainty morsels,
And they go down into the innermost parts of the body.

Foolish people bring themselves into problems by what they say (verse 6). What “a fool” cries out, brings “strife”. His speech is inflammatory or hurtful. Therefore his mouth calls “for blows” with what he says. What he says is not innocent. Not only wrong deeds are to punished, also wrong words. Wrong deeds are harmful to someone and they do wrong to him. Wrong words are also harmful to another and do him wrong.

Therefore he deserves to be punished. That punishment can for instance be executed by his parents, or by his employer, or by a judge. It is also possible for him to be punished by God, for with what he says, he also asks for God’s judgment over himself.

Verse 7 is the continuation of verse 6 and goes a step further. Not only blows are attached to what he says, but what he says will result in his own “ruin” (Ecc 10:12). The words that he speaks out with his lips are “the snare of his soul”, they are against him. He gets caught up in his words, he becomes captivated in them and that will lead him to death. Everything a fool says, also what he says to defend himself, forms the cause of his ruin. Everything he says will be evidence to God to judge him according to the righteousness of his judgment.

In verse 8 it is not so much about the lips and the mouth of the fool, but about those who listen to him. The fool is also the slanderer, one who spreads gossip. People enjoy listening to gossip. Gossip is “like dainty morsels”, which is food that is swallowed up with greed. When such ‘tasty’ pieces of food glide into the belly, they go down into the “innermost parts of the body”, which causes the desire for more to be stimulated.

The innermost part functions as a storeroom where things are stored that were said, in order to repeat them later. We saw earlier that the listener helps the gossiper by listening to his gossip. His words are blindly sucked in and they go down into the innermost parts, where they do their sickening work and poison soul and spirit until death follows. The gossiper speaks with words that are “smoother than butter” and “softer than oil”, but which are “drawn swords” (Psa 55:21), and therefore have a lethal effect. They kill all remainders of healthy spiritual life that might still have been present.

Pro 18:9 | Slackness Has a Destroying Effect

9 He also who is slack in his work
Is brother to him who destroys.

Earlier proverbs on slackness are about spoiling one’s own activities, which leads the slacker to poverty. Here it is about someone who works for another person, but because of his slackness, doesn’t do his work with devotion. “Who is slack in his work”, is someone with slack hands. He is inactive. He is not better than one who is actively seeking to destroy one’s work. They are both related to “him who destroys”; they are so to speak from the same ‘blood group’ as the devil. In the one case the work is not finished, in the other case it is destroyed when it is finished.

This we can apply to the work for the Lord. The slack bondservant is as harmful to God’s kingdom as the squandering bondservant (Mt 25:25; Lk 16:1). If we lack to serve the Lord faithfully, we are counterproductive. What someone does not do, can be just as harmful as what someone does. The Lord Jesus says: “He who does not gather with Me scatters” (Mt 12:30).

Pro 18:10-12 | The True Safety and the False Safety

10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower;
The righteous runs into it and is safe.
11 A rich man’s wealth is his strong city,
And like a high wall in his own imagination.
12 Before destruction the heart of man is haughty,
But humility [goes] before honor.

That “the name of the LORD is a strong tower” means that God is fully able to protect those who trust in Him (verse 10; cf. Psa 71:3). That’s what the righteous needs, because he lives in a world where wicked people are dominating. The righteous believes that his safety is the Name of the LORD only and therefore “runs into it”.

The metaphor refers to one of the features of God, which is His power to protect. The word ‘runs’ describes the undivided confidence in that protection. We take refuge in that Name when we are in trouble or have insecurity, and then go to Him in prayer (Isa 50:10). We do that because we know that He will receive us and offer the protection He promises to give to those who trust in Him.

“Is safe” is a military term and emphasizes the effect to those who take refuge in that Name (cf. Psa 20:1). Safe also means to be in a high fortress. The righteous is behind thick walls, through which the weapons of the enemy cannot strike him. He is also on a high wall and therefore exalted above all attacks, through which the weapons of the enemy cannot reach him. The enemy cannot go through the wall and neither can he climb it.

Rich people often assume that their property is their “strong city”, which offers them their safety (verse 11; cf. Job 31:24). In that way they build their own “high wall” of safety. But their confidence in it is an illusion. This false safety is clearly against the real safety that God’s Name offers (verse 10). What the rich expects from his wealth, is what the righteous expects from his God. The first metaphor, the strong city, suggests protection against all attacks from outside; the second metaphor, the high wall, expresses their thoughts about being unbeatable.

Each protection that wealth can offer is extremely limited, regarding both the power and its durability. Money can never guarantee absolute safety, in contrast to the Name of God, which can (1Tim 6:17). He who thinks that money can offer absolute safety really is a dreamer, someone who lives outside the reality of life.

The rich man of verse 11 is the proud man of verse 12, the man whose “heart” is haughty. His way leads to “destruction”. The way that leads to “honor”, is the way of “humility”.

The haughty finds safety in himself. He boasts in his own possibilities to protect himself. It is false security not to be in need of anyone’s help and to defend and take care of himself. But one thing is for sure and that is that he will face destruction. There is no protection for him.

The opposite is “humility”, one’s awareness of not being able to survive by his own power, but to be dependent on God. The humble takes refuge in the Name of God and will be honored by Him for that. The humility and glorification of the Lord Jesus is the clear example of this truth (Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Phil 2:1-10). Therein He is an example for everyone who follows Him in that way (Mt 23:12b).

Pro 18:13 | Listen Before You Give an Answer

13 He who gives an answer before he hears,
It is folly and shame to him.

The truth of this verse is important for everything that is said to us in a conversation or discussion. We first have to hear the whole story; let the other person finish speaking and only then respond. It leads to “folly and shame” when we give an answer, while we have heard only a part of the story and make up the rest of it. We have to be “quick to hear and slow to speak” (Jam 1:19). That goes above all in our relationship to God and hearing His Word.

Bad listening means that we do not respect the person who says something. That lack of respect of a person comes forth from being engaged with our own interest. Our own thoughts are considered much higher than what the other person says. Our own opinion is the only thing that counts. It is “folly and shame” to him who speaks with another like that.

Pro 18:14 | The Spirit of a Man or a Broken Spirit

14 The spirit of a man can endure his sickness,
But [as for] a broken spirit who can bear it?

He who has spirit, who is healthy in his thinking, and can focus his thoughts on God, has peace in his heart in his sickness. You may be disabled physically, but be able to bear it well when you have a “spirit” that can find rest in the way that God goes. But when someone has “a broken spirit” the burden of that way is difficult to bear. Thereby, no one can sense precisely what is in the spirit of such a person.

A depression is a heavy test. With a physical illness you can rely on the desire to live, but in a depression the desire to live sometimes has disappeared. There are a few things in human experience that are hard to deal with, such as depression. We see that in the suffering which happened to Job. In connection to the previous verse, we can say that here we first and above all have to learn to listen, before we even start to express an answer to the question: “Who can bear it?”

Pro 18:15 | To Acquire and Seek Knowledge

15 The mind of the prudent acquires knowledge,
And the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.

The “knowledge” that “the mind of the prudent acquires”, is knowledge about God and His judgment over all things. “The mind” refers to the mindset, the desire. It is also the storage-room of the acquired knowledge. That is foremost. “The ear” is the means by which the knowledge comes into the mind. “The ear of the wise seeks knowledge”, which refers to effort, the seeking of knowledge with eagerness. Knowledge must be sought, it doesn’t come naturally.

“The ear of the wise” listens to teaching and in that way takes in knowledge. The mind of the prudent distinguishes what the ear should hear to acquire knowledge. It is instructive to see that the wise in Proverbs seeks knowledge continuously. He who is wise, will see himself as a pupil and also act like that. Those who know much are most aware of their ignorance. The ear seeks knowledge, the mind stores up knowledge.

Prudent is he who can distinguish good from evil. Wise is he who has learnt to fear God. The one will lead to the other. The desire to really know the difference between good and evil will lead us to God and will work a holy respect for Him.

Pro 18:16 | What a Gift Can Do

16 A man’s gift makes room for him
And brings him before great men.

The gift (mathan) about which is spoken here is not the same as a bribe (shokhad). The word that is used here, mathan, is more general than the word shokhad (Pro 17:8,23), which has a more negative meaning. It is generally true that a gift opens a way to and gives entrance to “great men”. At the same time we should not close our eyes to the danger that is hidden in the offering of a gift, that a gift still has the effect of a bribe. Both the giver and recipient must be careful about the danger.

The proverb itself simply says that a gift can appease a person (Gen 32:20; 43:11; 1Sam 25:27). The gift is not given to flatter someone, but it is used as an expression of respect toward him because of the position he has. It is about a noble person. He who approaches that person in such a way, has a better chance to come into contact with him, for whatever purpose, than someone who impertinently asks him to talk with him.

Pro 18:17-19 | A Case, Strife and Contentions

17 The first to plead his case [seems] right,
[Until] another comes and examines him.
18 The [cast] lot puts an end to strife
And decides between the mighty ones.
19 A brother offended [is harder to be won] than a strong city,
And contentions are like the bars of a citadel.

The first line of the verse affirms the general experience that he who is as the first one allowed to explain his case in court, seems to be right (verse 17). However, before we declare him “right”, his fellow man must be heard concerning his view on the dispute. This proverb reminds us of the fact that there are two parties in a dispute – about for example a business matter, a domestic matter or a religious matter – and that both parties are to be heard in a dispute.

This is another warning against prejudice (verse 13). First of all, all facts should be clear. We will only find that out when we hear both sides. An adversarial process must take place. Only when both parties have been heard, there can be a right judgment (Deu 1:16). Each person should express the case from his point of view.

The first may tell his story very convincingly, but when the second person tells his side of the story, it may seem that the case is more nuanced than we thought after we heard the first speaker. That must be the attitude in all cases where there is a difference of opinion. That can be for example in a family among the children, the spouses and also the brothers and sisters of a local church.

Verse 18 could regard a case in which both parties of verse 17 have been speaking, but the outcome gave no clarity about the question of who is right. It is a dispute between “great men”, men who take a leading position. They can defend their case strongly. Then the only thing that’s left is the lot to get some sense of a solution out of the dispute, by judging one party to be in the right.

When both parties acknowledge that it is God Who brings an end to the dispute by casting the lot (Pro 16:33) and accept the outcome, the dispute is stopped. That is better than when it turns out to be a power measurement, which always causes others to become victims. Today we have God’s Word and God’s Spirit and spiritually minded believers who can make a decision in a conflict (1Cor 6:1-8).

However, there are also cases where even the lot gets no chance to bring a solution. That is the case when a brother “has been offended” (verse 19). That injustice has been done to the brother during the conflict. Then he was treated in such a hurtful way that he withdrew and distances himself from everyone and closed himself for all contact.

He “is harder to be won than a strong city”, which means that a strong city is easier to take over than being able to approach him, because of the injustice that has been done to him. The city, in which he has withdrawn himself, is a citadel. The conflicts on which the injustice is based “are like the bars of a citadel”. That means that he has barred the access to his heart.

This proverb is an observation without comment. To us it is an exhortation not to do any injustice to a brother in such a way, that he ends up with such a mindset. In case it does happen that a brother or a sister has such a mindset, then we should not allow us to just observe or make such a conclusion. Love will make every effort to win the offended brother and to make him restore his relationship with the Lord and with his fellow brothers and sisters.

Pro 18:20-21 | The Fruit of Our Words

20 With the fruit of a man’s mouth his stomach will be satisfied;
He will be satisfied [with] the product of his lips.
21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
And those who love it will eat its fruit.

The good, edifying words that we speak with our “mouth” and our “lips” satisfy inwardly (“his stomach”) (verse 20). They are like the seed of a good fruit which delivers a satisfying product or harvest. This proverb is a stimulus to give just as much care to the words that we speak as the fruit of the trees from which we eat. When we eat healthy fruits, we will stay healthy; when we eat unhealthy fruits, we will become ill. When our words are careful, God fearing and good, “with grace … seasoned with salt” (Col 4:6), to serve others with, we will be satisfied by it. It gives satisfaction and a good conscience.
“His stomach” is also to be applied to the conscience. If we want to satisfy our stomach, meaning if we want to keep up a good conscience, we should be careful about what we say. Beside the direct satisfaction, there is also a later product or harvest. Also when we see the “product” of our wise, prudent, God fearing words, which means the effect that they have, it gives a deep satisfaction. It may be words that we speak when we give advice, but also answers to questions that are asked of us.

Verse 21 makes clear once more what the effect of our words can be. What kind of words do we sow: to death or to life? That question is most important to “those who love it”, which means to those who love “the tongue”. It is about a wrong love, namely about someone who enjoys talking. He will eat the fruit of what he says. What he says will return to him. The fool sows words that deliver death and destruction; the wise sows words that result in life. False teachers sow words with a seed of death and destruction; the ambassadors of Christ proclaim life.

Pro 18:22 | A Wife as a Proof of God’s Favor

22 He who finds a wife finds a good thing
And obtains favor from the LORD.

He who looks for a wife who is fitting to him, will ask God for it. Only He knows which wife is fitting to which man. If he finds her by His guidance, he has “found a good thing”, which means something that delivers him profit, by which his life becomes richer. The words ‘a good thing’ describe that it is something that pleases God, which is favorable for life and gives abundant joy.

He who finds this good thing in the wife that he finds, obtains “favor from the LORD”. It will fill him with gratitude that God is so kind to him. God has said: “It is not good for the man to be alone” (Gen 2:18). He provided in that by giving this good thing.

Pro 18:23 | Supplications and Rough Answers

23 The poor man utters supplications,
But the rich man answers roughly.

The social circumstances wherein one finds himself and the position he has therein, have an impact on his character. Poverty leads to a humble spirit which causes “the poor man” to utter supplications for a favor. He has no other choice; he has to “utter supplications” to receive something. “The rich man” answers “roughly” to that, with harsh accusations and rejection. He has never been in such a position of poverty and has no imagination of the feelings of a poor man.

The poor man begs, the rich man snaps at him. It often goes like that. The rich man does not understand the poor at all. Wealth often leads to an insensitivity for the need of a poor man, whom the rich man wants to get rid of when he shows him the need he has (cf. 1Sam 25:17; Jam 2:6; Mt 18:23-35).

The Lord Jesus gives us the good example. He listens to the supplications of the poor man and doesn’t answer roughly, but with love and compassion.

Pro 18:24 | The Difference Between Friends and a Friend

24 A man of [too many] friends [comes] to ruin,
But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

It is better to have one good, faithful friend than numerous unfaithful friends. Beside the friends, it also says something about the man who has a lot of friends. He seems to be ‘everyone’s friend’. That is not a positive characteristic, but a negative one. Someone who can be everyone’s friend often has no own opinion. He lets himself be carried away by the wind in all directions, because he wants to be friends with everyone. There is a great chance that things will turn out bad for him. When things turn out to be bad, all those friends will forsake him. Those are ‘swallow (false) friends’, they come when you’re alright and go when things go bad in your life.

Therefore, we should choose our friends carefully and invest in them. It is not the quantity that counts, but the quality. A real friend is someone who is always there for you. That means more than your own brother, sometimes. David was treated with contempt by his brothers, but faithfully by his friend Jonathan, also when he was persecuted and had difficulties. A faithful friendship is more than affection; it is a commitment through thick and thin.

Proverbs 19

Pro 19:1-3 | The Poor and the Fool

1 Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity
Than he who is perverse in speech and is a fool.
2 Also it is not good for a person to be without knowledge,
And he who hurries his footsteps errs.
3 The foolishness of man ruins his way,
And his heart rages against the LORD.

The contrast in verse 1 is one between “a poor … in his integrity” and “he who is perverse in speech and is a fool”. Because of the contrast with the poor, we could, concerning the fool, think of someone who is rich. The poor is not under the punishment of God because he is poor and the rich is not under the blessing of God because he is rich. Here the appearance is deceptive. Wealth in itself is not condemned. The point is, where we got it from and what do we do with it.

The contrast regards inward value and outward appearance. He who seems to have everything, is the fool, while he who seems to experience only bad times, walks in his integrity and therefore is better off than the rich fool. Personal integrity, even with poverty, is much better than foolishness.

It totally depends on the relationship with God. The poor who walks in his integrity, can go that way because he goes that way with God. Therefore he is rich in reality. He who is perverse in speech, speaks perverse things that show that he has no relationship with God. He also is a fool, which means that he doesn’t want a relationship with God either. The way that he goes without God, leads to death.

The word “also” indicates that verse 2 is connected with verse 1. He who is acting “without knowledge” is the fool of verse 1. Foolish and thoughtless diligence leads to failure. That is expressed by someone who “hurries his footsteps”, who acts hastily to fulfill his desire. It characterizes a man who desires to get quick results and as much profit as he can. People who spontaneously respond to something, are going the wrong way and miss the real target (the verb ‘sin’ literally means ‘to miss the goal’). Saul was such a person (1Sam 13:11-14). There can even be diligence for God, but still without understanding (Rom 10:1-4).

This proverb reminds us that we should know the time and direction for the action, for otherwise the diligent effort will be in vain and even a wrong activity. Actions “without knowledge” make the feet move on a path of sin. Doing something is good when it is about the good (Gal 4:18), but the knowledge of God and His will are needed for that. Therefore our diligence should come from the fellowship with God, through which we know His will. Then we can go our way in calmness and at the same time with diligence. The result of it is that the goal will not be missed, but will be achieved and that God will be glorified.

To act without knowledge or understanding is something that characterizes young people in particular who are not concerned about God’s Word. Therefore they miss the necessary discernment to know the value of the things they surrender themselves to. Only by studying God’s Word, they – and that of course applies also to elder people – will gain that discernment. There is no excuse for being without knowledge. The whole Word of God is available to us. It is the only true, unchangeable source of knowledge and accessible for everyone who wants to learn.

A fool without knowledge (verse 2) distorts his own way, which has caused his life to become a mess (verse 3). And then he also blames God for it. Due to his own foolishness he has distorted his way; he gave it a different twist that caused him to walk in the wrong direction. It is the path that is away from God. He blames God for the misery that he faces on that way. He is even furious at Him, that He causes that to happen to him.

This attitude has characterized man since the fall. When Adam had twisted his way and had sinned, he blamed God. It was because of the woman that God had given to him, which caused everything to turn out wrong (Gen 3:12). We hear and see this today repeated in various ways where people do not want to be reminded of their responsibility. There is always someone else to blame.

Man does not want to give God the control over his life. When he makes good decisions that turn out well, he praises himself. When he makes bad decisions with a bad result, God is blamed (cf. Eze 18:25). He doesn’t want to search his own heart. God is not given thanks that He in His kindness gives sun and rain and fruitful times (Mt 5:45; Acts 14:17). But when He makes plagues come over the world which man brings upon himself, people blaspheme the God of heaven, without repenting of their evil works (Rev 16:9-11,21).

Pro 19:4 | Wealth and Friends

4 Wealth adds many friends,
But a poor man is separated from his friend.

This verse is again an observation without attaching any conclusion to it. That conclusion is left to be made by the reader. It is about the unfaithfulness of a friendship which is based on wealth. Like love, friendship does not deserve that name when it is only about any advantage that love or friendship can deliver. If we ourselves love money, the only effect that it will have on others is nothing more than love for the money that we have. People follow rich people in the hope to get something.

But when the rich man has become poor, his friends disappear. They forsake him, for there is nothing left that they can get from him. Even a separation takes place between them, for imagine a poor man who would expect something from you. You’d better take a great distance from him. But the poor who knows the Lord Jesus, may know that he will never be and cannot be separated from Him (Rom 8:38-39; cf. Psa 40:17a).

Pro 19:5 | A False Witness and He Who Tells Lies

5 A false witness will not go unpunished,
And he who tells lies will not escape.

“A false witness” will be punished (Deu 19:16-21); that is for sure. The same goes for “him who tells lies”. A false witness tells lies in public. Telling lies looks more like telling lies in the general conversation of a private atmosphere. A false witness and he who tells lies are at the same level and receive the same judgment.

The saying is general, for sometimes perjury is not punished, because it is not discovered, or because the judges are corrupt. Therefore, we should look at this verse in the light of God. He will not allow it to go unpunished and will not allow the offender to escape.

Pro 19:6-7 | Wealth Is Attractive, Poverty Repulsive

6 Many will seek the favor of a generous man,
And every man is a friend to him who gives gifts.
7 All the brothers of a poor man hate him;
How much more do his friends abandon him!
He pursues [them with] words, [but] they are gone.

People seek to be friends with influential people, in order to profit from them (verse 6). Therefore they try to find their favor (cf. Jude 1:16). “To seek the favor” literally means ‘to caress the face’ or ‘to soften the face’ (Psa 45:12). The generous people are valued because of their wealth, not because of their qualities.

Also he who gives gifts may be assured of countless friends. The generosity does not need to have a negative meaning. He who gives gifts, attracts people. Everyone wants to belong to his friends. It shows that man is selfish, someone who only seeks his own profit. When there is something for him to gain, that can make his life easier, he is very eager to get it. That’s how it also works in business life and in politics.

That he only wants to have what can make his life more pleasant appears from his rejection of God as the great Giver. God has given His Son as a free gift of His grace. But man does not want that Gift, for that means that he has to judge himself as a selfish person. It makes an end to living for himself.

People avoid those who are poor (verse 7). The thought of “hate”, in the sense of ‘reject’, indicates that family members and superficial friends will leave the poor man because there is nothing more that he can mean for them. We see it also with the Lord Jesus. His earthly family, the Jews, have hated Him.

When your happiness has reached the breaking point, even your family avoids you. Your friends wish that you would perish. You can cry out to them, but they won’t listen to you. When they see you, they look the other way and pretend that they do not see you; it is for them ‘out of sight, out of mind’.

Pro 19:8 | To Love His Own Soul and Find Good

8 He who gets wisdom loves his own soul;
He who keeps understanding will find good.

“He who gets wisdom”, is someone who has made efforts for it, has worked for it. He shows in that way that he loves his own soul. It means that he wants to learn to know God’s will for his life. In that way he benefits himself. He who gets wisdom comes to the point that he doesn’t love his own soul (life) till death (Rev 12:11). To love his soul actually does not refer to the earthly life, but to the life that He has received from God to live for Him.

It doesn’t stop there. After getting wisdom, the preservation of what one has gotten, follows. That proves understanding in what is really important. The result is that he finds “good”. The good is the good life, the life with and for Christ. The good is the knowledge of God’s will for his life, which means that it will be conformed to Christ, that He becomes visible in his life. Therein understanding and insight become effective.

Pro 19:9 | A False Witness and He Who Tells Lies

9 A false witness will not go unpunished,
And he who tells lies will perish.

This proverb is almost verbally the same as verse 5. Verse 5 sounds more or less as a warning, “he will not go unpunished”, but here clearly explained is that he “will perish”. The transgression of the ninth commandment affirms his guilt and God’s judgment. To be a false witness and tell lies, are against everything that God is. He is “righteous and upright”, “the faithful and true Witness”, the “God, Who can’t lie” (Deu 32:4; Rev 3:14; Tit 1:2).

Pro 19:10 | What Is Not Fitting

10 Luxury is not fitting for a fool;
Much less for a slave to rule over princes.

There are enough fools who live in luxury. That directly makes the truth of this proverb clear. A fool always indulges in luxury. One needs wisdom to carry luxury, which is something that the fool lacks. He lacks wisdom to deal rightly with luxury. The luxury may consist of property, but also of a position. He uses both wrongly. He is rude and insensitive, which makes him repulsive and to be a mockery.

Worse than a fool who lives in luxury, is a servant who gains power (cf. Ecc 10:7). There have been servants who ruled because they were faithful. Think of Joseph and Daniel. This verse is about an unfaithful servant. The servant here is probably someone who hires out his own services, in order to be able to pay his debt. He has run up debts because of his foolishness. If he cannot manage his own possessions, how could he be able to properly execute a leading function over those who are able.

In today’s world there are also a lot of people with large debts who still think that they are permitted to have the function of a ruler. The same goes for the church. Someone who is not able to rule his own household, cannot have a ruling function in God’s house, the church of the living God. Such a function would be inappropriate (1Tim 3:5).

Pro 19:11 | Patience and Forgiveness

11 A man’s discretion makes him slow to anger,
And it is his glory to overlook a transgression.

He to whom injustice is done and therefore lets his emotions go uncontrollably free, gets angry and reacts violently. But when his discretion, in the sense of spiritual insight, is in control, it will “make him slow to anger”. That is only possible when he has fellowship with God. In that way he is able to obey the word: “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,’ says the Lord’” (Rom 12:19).

Then he is able “to overlook a transgression”. This goes further than not blaming somebody for something because he is in a forgivable mood. It is also the capability of not counting the insults and not allowing any feeling of hurt to remain, even when the words have caused a wound.

Such an attitude is not popular in the world, but is very appreciated by God. This proverb is true in the perfection of God (cf. Mic 7:18). He delays His anger and it is His glory to overlook a transgression. He can do this because of the accomplished work of His Son, towards Whom He was not slow to anger and did not overlook the transgression when He made Him to be sin.

Pro 19:12 | The Wrath and the Favor of a King

12 The king’s wrath is like the roaring of a lion,
But his favor is like dew on the grass.

Here we have a wonderfully imaginative contradiction. On the one hand “the roaring of a lion” raises fear to everyone who hears it, and on the other hand the “dew on the grass” that falls down inaudibly, which refreshes and can also be trampled. We see these two expressions with a king. His wrath raises great fear (Rev 10:3), while his favor is a benefit (Psa 72:6).

A king has the power to cause fear or to revive and refresh. He can look threatening, but also kind. This proverb advises the subordinates of the king not to do things that make him angry, for that will not benefit them. They, however, can count on his beneficial favor when they serve him faithfully.

We can apply this verse to God and Christ, like the previous verse. Christ is the Lion from the tribe of Judah. We are to fear His wrath when we resist against Him, but we can be sure of His reviving appreciation when we serve Him faithfully.

Pro 19:13-15 | Domestic Misery and Domestic Happiness

13 A foolish son is destruction to his father,
And the contentions of a wife are a constant dripping.
14 House and wealth are an inheritance from fathers,
But a prudent wife is from the LORD.
15 Laziness casts into a deep sleep,
And an idle man will suffer hunger.

“A foolish son” and “the contentions of a wife” are two problems that cause chaos in a family (verse 13). “A foolish son” takes away the pleasure of his father by his lawlessness, laziness, stubbornness, pride and disobedience. The word ‘destruction’ is plural, which indicates that such a son causes his father sorrow after sorrow. He is like a chain of disasters to his father, under which his mother of course also suffers.

A quarrelling wife does the same as the son, for she also makes her home uninhabitable by her quarrels. The home which should be an oasis of rest is full of envy and quarrels. The one quarrel after the other; it is just like drops of water falling down steadily, a never-ending process. When it starts to drip through the roof, you don’t know where the leak is. As long as the leak has not been found and has not been sealed, the water will continue to do its devastating work in secret. This is sometimes how it works with the quarrels of a wife. You do not know where it comes from nor how to solve it.

It may be clear in this case, where the contentions come from and that is from the behavior of the son. When a son, or a child, behaves shamefully, it can be a divisive issue in the marriage. That happens when the wife blames her husband (in practice it happens also the other way around). Fortunately it may be the case that the worries about a child can cause husband and wife to become a closer unity. That is the case when they continually bring the child as a common care in prayer to the Lord.

Acquiring “house and wealth” is a matter of inheritance (verse 14). An inheritance is passed on from father to son. It is a result of being a member of a certain family. That’s totally different from getting a “prudent wife”. It has nothing to do with a family relationship. When a person gets “a prudent wife” it is a special gift from God. Therefore the contrast is on the one hand wealth, which can be received from a father and on the other hand a prudent wife, which is a gift from the LORD.

“Laziness” is another cause which brings misery upon others and not only upon the idle man himself (verse 15). This proverb is intended to scare us from laziness. Laziness means that one is totally inactive. “A deep sleep” (Gen 2:21) is a condition of unconsciousness. Time goes by without the idle man having the slightest idea about it.

He who is lazy, is wasting the time that is needed to take care of himself and his family. The family in which the husband and father through laziness does not offer safety, because he does not take care of getting an income, is a miserable family. There is hunger, but nothing to satisfy it. An idle man is a bad steward of a precious gift from God, which is time. Laziness is the coffin of a living person.

Pro 19:16 | To Keep One’s Soul or Die

16 He who keeps the commandment keeps his soul,
[But] he who is careless of conduct will die.

“The commandment” which this verse is talking about, is the commandment of God, for God’s commandment is unto life. Obedience to the commandment of God is a protection of life. It also regards obedience to the commandments of a father, for he represents God on earth. The same goes for the commandments of the government. Whoever does not consider them, despises his ways and “will die”.

When one determines himself the way he wants to live, he expresses in that way that he despises what God has commanded. He doesn’t want to have anything to do with what God has said about his conduct, his way of life and the choices that he makes. He thinks that he is on the way of life, but he is on the way of death. To be careless of conduct means that he sets aside God’s commandments for his conduct. He will experience that at the end of his stubborn ways, death is waiting.

Pro 19:17 | Who Is Gracious to a Poor Will Be Rewarded

17 One who is gracious to a poor man lends to the LORD,
And He will repay him for his good deed.

When one “is gracious to a poor”, it is a form of lending to the LORD (cf. Mt 25:40). Money that is given away to a poor, will not be lost. God sees it as a lending to Him; it is seen by Him as a “good deed”. He will repay the lending abundantly. One who is gracious to the poor, shows a feature of God, Who has compassion (Psa 116:5; Isa 49:10; 54:10).

The presence of the poor among God’s people is a test for the rich people (Deu 15:7-11). Our response to their presence shows whether we have faith (Jam 2:14-17). One who is gracious to the poor, shows “a good deed”, a deed which the Lord Jesus calls “your righteousness” (Mt 6:1-4). The Lord adds to it that this should not happen in the sight of men, not even for the reason of getting a good feeling, but that it should happen “in secret”. Whoever gives like that, receives His promise: “And your Father Who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” God blesses the generosity of one of His own with His generosity.

The promise of a reward does not necessarily mean a reward of what has been given. If it was only that, then it is to be seen as a reward of a good deed. It is about a reward which expresses appreciation. When God rewards something, it is more than paying back what has been given. He will give the one who is compassionate, a deeper impression of the riches of living with Him. No money or gold can compete with that.

Pro 19:18-20 | Discipline and Accept Discipline

18 Discipline your son while there is hope,
And do not desire his death.
19 [A man of] great anger will bear the penalty,
For if you rescue [him], you will only have to do it again.
20 Listen to counsel and accept discipline,
That you may be wise the rest of your days.

Discipline, or the teaching of obedience, is an order (verse 18). It is at the same time a powerful warning against passivity of parents. There is a time to discipline children. That time starts as soon as it is clear that a child has the awareness of good and evil, which is at a very young age. When it is clear that a child does not listen to the commandment of the parents, it should learn to obey (Gen 18:19). That may demand a lot of patience. It can sometimes become so bad that a parent loses his patience and even his sense. Therefore the warning not to allow the thought of killing the child or taking decisions that may lead to his death.

“Do not desire his death”, may therefore imply that a parent can discipline a child in such a way that it kills him. But another meaning is also possible, which is not to discipline him at all, so that he becomes a fool, comes into the wrong path and finds death because of its bad behavior. He who does not discipline his child, kills him, for then he continues on that path which leads to death. Not to punish him will lead him to a much heavier and eternal punishment. Indulgence leads him to destruction. False indulgence is real cruelty.

Eli did not discipline his sons. Therefore they became fools and were destroyed by their foolishness (1Sam 3:12-13). David also did not discipline his son Adonijah, which caused him to die an early death (1Kgs 1:6; 2:24).

There are cases where discipline is of no use anymore (verse 19). Then all hope for correction is gone. That is the case of a man of great anger. One who is not to be calmed down, must experience himself the consequences of his foolishness. Whoever wants to help him, will never get rid of him, for he will never learn his lesson.

A hot-tempered man will continually get in trouble. Only conversion and the Holy Spirit can make a change. Christ is the only One Who can save one from such a behavior. The Son really makes free.

Verse 20 is connected to the two previous verses. By listening to “counsel” and accepting “discipline” one becomes “wise”. Ultimately maturity will come out because of the discipline and teaching that have been given. There will be a steadfast perseverance on the path of life. The rest of your days does not mean till the end of one’s life, but the rest of the days of the learning process. Effectively it means that we need to listen to counsel and accept discipline till the end of our life to remain wise.

Pro 19:21-23 | Counsel, Kindness and Life

21 Many plans are in a man’s heart,
But the counsel of the LORD will stand.
22 What is desirable in a man is his kindness,
And [it is] better to be a poor man than a liar.
23 The fear of the LORD [leads] to life,
So that one may sleep satisfied, untouched by evil.

It is allowed to make “many plans”, but it is good to subject ourselves to “the counsel of the LORD”, or the plan of God (verse 21; Jam 4:13-15). Man should remain to consider that he is human and that God is Who He is. Man is extremely limited in what he can think of and even more limited in what he can carry out. God on the contrary, is endless in understanding and in capacity. Not what man devises, but what God decides, happens (Lam 3:37; Psa 33:10-11; Isa 46:10). Paul also made plans, but God directed it differently (Rom 15:22-32).

Every man desires that someone else treats him with “kindness” (verse 22). Every man likes it to hear kind words, words that show kindness, in other words: words of goodness. Those are edifying, encouraging words, in which there is no dishonesty. They are not spoken to flatter someone.

“A liar” lacks kindness. He may pretend he is kind by promising all kinds of things and giving the impression that he is full of kindness, but that is hypocrisy and deception. Behind his words dishonest motives are hidden. It is better for you to deal with a poor, from whom you do not expect anything that he could give you, but from whom kindness radiates, than with such a liar.

Respect for the LORD brings a life of satisfaction and safety (verse 23). He who fears the LORD, lacks nothing and fears no danger. God gives a quality of life that cannot be interrupted by evil. The Godly goes to bed without hunger and sleeps satisfied, without fear for something evil that could happen to him.

The life that is related to the fear of the LORD is not the life that man has by nature, but the life in relationship with Him. That life will be only enjoyed, when the believer is with Him. But also here on earth already it means that this life cannot be affected by anything, because it is an inward spiritual life. It is the life from God. That life knows neither lack nor fear. The Lord Jesus therefore says that we don’t need to be afraid “for those who kill the body, are unable to kill the soul” (Mt 10:28).

The true life that is meant here is not found in wealth or in health, neither in a good marriage or a nice family, but in Christ alone. That is what we should tell our children and live up to that. Of the evil that may strike us, we know that God will make it work together for good (Rom 8:28; Psa 91:9-10).

Pro 19:24 | Even Too Lazy to Eat

24 The sluggard buries his hand in the dish,
[But] will not even bring it back to his mouth.

“A sluggard” is so lazy that he cannot bring back the hand with which he dipped the piece of bread in the dish with dipping sauce “back to his mouth”. The described actions have made him so tired, that he has fallen asleep again before he can chew. It is a ridiculous description of a sluggard. This presentation should serve us not to desire to be a sluggard and to prevent the ridicule which is attached to it.

In the spiritual application we see that there are people who do not make efforts to even take the most elementary step to come out of their sinful misery. Salvation is offered to them in the gospel and is within easy reach, but they do not reach out their hand to grab the lifebuoy that has been thrown to them.

Pro 19:25 | Discipline Makes Others Shrewd

25 Strike a scoffer and the naive may become shrewd,
But reprove one who has understanding and he will gain knowledge.

There are three kinds of people in this verse: “a scoffer”, the “naive” and “one who has understanding”. They show who they are by their reaction to reproof. The scoffer does not allow himself to be corrected by any discipline. He doesn’t consider the meaning of it, because he distances himself from it.

The naive is someone without knowledge, an ignorant, a nitwit. He is not so hardened yet like the scoffer. He may become aware that the discipline that comes over the scoffer, is a warning for him. When he becomes aware of that, he will become shrewd and realize what will become of him when he continues on the way of foolishness and becomes a scoffer (cf. Deu 19:20).

One who has understanding doesn’t need to be struck. He has enough spiritual maturity to be able to discern between good and evil. When he does something that needs correction, he can be corrected with words. Those words can be painful, but he will listen to them and “will gain knowledge” in what he had done or said that was not good and must be corrected.

Pro 19:26-27 | A Son Who Acts Shamefully

26 He who assaults [his] father [and] drives [his] mother away
Is a shameful and disgraceful son.
27 Cease listening, my son, to discipline,
[And you will] stray from the words of knowledge.

Verse 26 seems to be about a situation that the father and mother are dependent on the son and that this son misuses the situation for his own profit. A sharp judgment is pronounced about this. It should frighten children to misbehave themselves towards their parents like that.

Here it goes further than only about disobeying parents. Disobedience is bad enough. It is a trespass of the commandment to honor father and mother (Exo 20:12). But here it is about the abandonment of the natural love which a child should have for his parents. He rebels against the most elementary natural laws. The son who is described here doesn’t only ignore what has been commanded, but he dishonors his parents. God let the Levites say about that: ”Cursed is he who dishonors his father or mother!” (Deu 27:16). This son not only disobeys his parents, but exploits them.

This happens more and more often in a social climate that becomes colder and colder. It was, as it appears from what Solomon says here, then already the case, and now it is very topical. Children verbally or physically abuse their parents in an increasing number of cases, in order to enrich themselves instead of taking care of them (cf. Mt 15:4-7). A headline in the newspaper recently mentioned: ‘Exploitation of elders by their own children is an underestimated form of elder abuse’ (Reformed Daily Newspaper, 15-06-2015).

A son can steal from his father. He can make his mother’s life so unbearable that she leaves the home. He makes himself shameful because he acts shamefully. It is a special bitterness to parents when a son acts like that. Like that Israel has behaved towards God (Isa 1:2-3).

In the proverb of verse 27 there is a certain irony to be heard. What the father says to his son is not an advice not to listen. The father only wants to say to his son that it has no sense for his son to listen to his instruction when he is not intended to act accordingly. Let his son stop to listen to instruction when he intends to deviate from “the words of knowledge”.

The discipline therefore consists of words of knowledge, which are words of the knowledge of God’s will for his life. By listening to it and obeying it, the son will walk the right way. The way that the father approaches his son here, confronts the son with his responsibility. Does he want to go another way than the way that is presented to him in the words of knowledge? Let him then stop to listen to discipline. Hopefully this approach will cause the son to listen well and not to stray.

Pro 19:28-29 | Scoffers and Iniquity

28 A rascally witness makes a mockery of justice,
And the mouth of the wicked spreads iniquity.
29 Judgments are prepared for scoffers,
And blows for the back of fools.

“A rascally witness” (verse 28) is literally ‘a witness of Belial’. He is inspired by satan. It is someone who distorts the facts consciously. That he “makes a mockery of justice” means that he distorts justice very easy. Justice is meant to keep men from sin, but a rascally witness doesn’t care about that at all; to him the concept of ‘righteousness’ is something to ridicule. He doesn’t worry about God as Judge, but provokes Him by directly despising justice.

While people despise justice, they take pleasure in injustice, which is even consumed. The wicked are like hungry wolves who shamelessly attack injustice and eat it as if it is the nicest sweet. Injustice is a real pleasure for the mouth of the wicked. They chew on deceiving words and then speak them out. They draw all of their life energy from it.

What characterizes the wicked, characterizes our fallen nature. Our fallen nature does not only make us insensitive to receive lies, but makes us to enjoy it.

God has “judgments” prepared for the stubborn “scoffers” (verse 29). They mock at the holy things. Their mockery will be publicly judged in the judgments that God will bring over them according to His plan. Also the “blows for the back of the fools” are prepared and will unavoidably strike them.

Proverbs 20

Pro 20:1 | Be Careful With Wine and Strong Drink

1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler,
And whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise.

“Wine” and “strong drink” are presented as acting persons, whereby these dangerous drinks are emphatically identified with the person that is abusing them. The use of it is not prohibited by God’s Word, except for some cases (Deu 14:26; Lev 10:9). There is actually a powerful warning against excessive use, for that results in mockery (Isa 28:7,14,22) and causes turmoil, which often goes together with violence. The consequences are disastrous. That is visible in marriages and families and in traffic accidents, with sometimes even fatal consequences. Alcohol damages more than you like to think.

The excessive use of intoxicants stimulates the drinker to foolish talk and aggressive behavior. It confuses the senses, so that you lose self-control. Someone who is drunk, will mock at everything that is holy. He also crosses the borders of morals and decency. He staggers and waggles, uses debauched language and becomes touchy. He is drunken and doesn’t know anymore what he is doing (Gen 9:21-22; 19:30-38). The counterpart of drunkenness with the debauchery attached to it is to be filled with the Spirit (Eph 5:18).

The warning against alcohol abuse is intended to make clear that he who is drunk cannot really keep the right course and in that way he shows not to be wise. The saying ‘when wine is in, the wit is out’ reflects it concisely. He who is wise and wants to remain that way, will take some wine only in certain cases (1Tim 5:23).

Pro 20:2-3 | Fear of the King Keeps From Dispute

2 The terror of a king is like the growling of a lion;
He who provokes him to anger forfeits his own life.
3 Keeping away from strife is an honor for a man,
But any fool will quarrel.

“The terror of a king”, is compared with “the growling of a lion”, which implies the threat of the judgment (verse 2). It is a warning not to sin against him. He who does, asks for his wrath over him. To sin against him is sinning against his own life.

The king is presented here in his impressive majesty that asks for respect. Whoever does not consider that plays with his life. This applies to our attitude towards the Lord Jesus. He is our Savior, but He is also our awesome Lord. At His coming to the earth to judge, He will growl like a lion (Amos 1:2).

Verse 3 connects to verse 2. Honorable and wise people will avoid conflicts with other people. Certainly, they will avoid conflict with the king and with God and will not allow it be led to a confrontation (cf. Mt 5:25-26). The contrast is between “keeping away from strife” and “will quarrel” as soon as there is an opportunity for a quarrel.

The first description is the way of the wise, the way of honor and dignity. The second is the way, the manner, of a fool. Not every fool is a sluggard or a drunk, but many fools like to quarrel and to ignite it.

Pro 20:4 | The Excuse of the Sluggard Not to Work

4 The sluggard does not plow after the autumn,
So he begs during the harvest and has nothing.

A farmer who is too lazy to plow and to sow at the right moment, will have no harvest. His excuse for not plowing is that it is winter. He does not like to expose himself to the cold and wet winter weather. In his pleasant warmth and dry farm it is much more pleasant. The sluggard will always find an excuse to cover up his laziness in that way. He does not think that he is a sluggard, but thinks that all circumstances are against him.

This character is characteristic for all who want to have harvest, possessions or money without making any effort for it. They want to have results without efforts. The whole attitude of a sluggard makes clear that he lives for today, while he doesn’t care about the future. The wise man works with a view to the future (cf. Gal 6:9). He is continually working, in season and out of season (2Tim 4:2).

Because the sluggard failed to plow, he will have nothing in the harvest. He will then have to beg help from those who did make efforts and have harvested. He is not ashamed of that. People who are lazy and therefore suffer lack, also think that others will take care of them. They have no vision about the future or any feelings of shame. But those to whom the sluggard asks for help, know him and send him away empty handed. This is in agreement with the word of Paul: “If anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat either” (2Thes 3:10).

Pro 20:5-9 | God Sees Through the Heart of Every Man

5 A plan in the heart of a man is [like] deep water,
But a man of understanding draws it out.
6 Many a man proclaims his own loyalty,
But who can find a trustworthy man?
7 A righteous man who walks in his integrity—
How blessed are his sons after him.
8 A king who sits on the throne of justice
Disperses all evil with his eyes.
9 Who can say, “I have cleansed my heart,
I am pure from my sin”?

He who is wise, can discern what is in the heart (verse 5). That applies to both his own heart and that of others. The plan or intention in the heart is compared to “deep waters”. The picture indicates that one’s motives are difficult to see through. “Understanding” is needed to “draw them out”. We can get that understanding by fearing the LORD and listening to God’s Word (Heb 4:12-13). If we do not know what one has planned, we still can get to know it through our relationship with God.

Christ is ‘a Man with understanding’. All plans of everyone’s heart are totally open for Him. He can reveal that to us when we live in fellowship with Him. In the day of judgment He will draw the plans and considerations out of each man and reveal them (1Cor 4:5). Nobody needs to tell Him what is in man, for He knows that (Jn 2:25).

Many people do not know the deception of their own heart. They proclaim their “own loyalty” (verse 6). The Pharisees did that in the corners of the streets (Mt 6:2; 23:5) and even towards God (Lk 18:11-12). And they have not died out yet. We may judge the Pharisee who openly boasts in his good qualities, but what about us? We may have a humble attitude with the intention to receive honor for it. That lies on the same level. We may not loudly boast, but we still like it when others see how devout we are.

The contrast of boasting in a certain kindness is “a trustworthy man”. That means that one who is full of himself, is not trustworthy. Such a person makes promises for all kinds of things with a lot of boasting, but does not fulfill them. A trustworthy man is not full of himself, but of the other person. He is focused on the other, he is there for the other man. But where do we find such man? The question indicates that such a person is difficult to find (cf. Pro 31:10; Psa 12:1).

The good Samaritan did not shout about his kindness, but showed it. He was trustworthy. It is not about what one says he is, but about what one does.

“A righteous man” is someone who lives according to the right of God (verse 7). His life flows from the “integrity” of his heart. That integrity is in his heart because he lives in fellowship with God. There is no deception in his actions. He who lives that way, is a blessing to his environment and in the first place to those with whom he has the closest relationship: his children. They are called “blessed” because they grow up and are raised in this atmosphere of integrity. This is the most beautiful inheritance that parents can leave to their children.

“A king” who speaks justice, discerns good from evil (verse 8). The throne speaks of government in general, “the throne of justice” speaks of the exertion of justice. One cannot appeal against this right. Here the emphasis is on the separation from the evil. Dispersion has the meaning of the purification of something. He will do that “with his eyes”, which indicates full understanding. For him it is all about removing “all evil” from his kingdom (Psa 101:7-8).

No king or government has ever fulfilled this ideal. The Lord Jesus will do what is written here. He will, when He sits on His throne of glory, “separate the nations from one another, like the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats” (Mt 25:31-32). He will then send the goats to the eternal fire, while the sheep will inherit the kingdom (Mt 25:33-46). He has eyes that see and fathom everything (Psa 11:4).

Nobody can say that he is pure in his thoughts and deeds (verse 9). There are people who claim that they are, but they are lying (1Jn 1:8,10). With the rhetorical question the wise confirms that nobody is without sin (Ecc 7:20; Gen 6:5; 1Kgs 8:46; Psa 143:2; Rom 3:9). One can only say that he has purified his heart when he has confessed his sins, by which he may know that they are forgiven by God (1Jn 1:9). Purification is not in man himself, but outside of him, in God. God can forgive on the ground of the work of His Son on the cross.

The proverb is especially meaningful for the practice. In our practice as believers we should be aware that we are weak and that we do not always know our hearts through and through. We also cannot always fully fathom our motives. Paul was aware of that. He put the judgment of his life in the hands of the Lord. He says: “For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord” (1Cor 4:4).

Pro 20:10 | Do Not Measure With Two Measures

10 Differing weights and differing measures,
Both of them are abominable to the LORD.

One of the things that make the heart of man impure and are considered as sin, is the measuring with two measures. By using two differing weights, a light one for the selling and a heavy one for the buying, the salesman tries to enrich himself at the expense of the buyer or the seller. The same goes for the use of two differing measurements (verse 23; Pro 11:1; Deu 25:13-16).

The wise says emphatically that “both of them are abominable to the LORD”. God hates dishonesty in doing business and will judge with His judgment about it. Deceptive weights and measurements are only two examples of fraud and deception. They come forth from the greed of man. God hates this kind of dealings because He is perfectly righteous, honest and faithful and He also wants to see these characteristics in the way of doing business from those who are called after His Name. Doing business in a deceptive way is in contrast to His nature and to the nature of everyone who has His nature.

Pro 20:11 | Deeds Show the Character

11 It is by his deeds that a lad distinguishes himself
If his conduct is pure and right.

The behavior that one shows, even at a young age already, reveals his character (1Sam 3:18-21). It is like a tree that is known by its fruit (Mt 7:16). Behavior shows what is in a person. Parents can recognize certain characteristics in the behavior of a child. Therefore they should pay attention to how the child behaves itself and how it speaks. They can correct bad traits and stimulate good ones by the means of education, discipline and their own example.

Pro 20:12 | The Hearing Ear and the Seeing Eye

12 The hearing ear and the seeing eye,
The LORD has made both of them.

God has not only provided the human body with ears and eyes, but also with the capacity of using them properly. What shapes our lives, is especially by what our ears hear and our eyes see. It is one of the features of God Himself that He hears and sees (Psa 94:9; Exo 4:11) in contrast to the dead idols (Psa 115:4-7). The hearing ear and the seeing eye should therefore be devoted to Him.

It is therefore not only about the physical function, like the observation of sound and light. Regarding the ear, it is more about the spiritual capacity to obey what one has heard. In this way one shows that he has listened well to what has been said and that he has understood it. Regarding the eye it is the spiritual capacity to discern between good and evil.

We have ears to hear God’s Word, to hear what the Spirit says to the churches (Rev 2:7). We have eyes to see Jesus (Heb 12:2). We can pray that the eyes of our hearts may be enlightened, in order to see and enjoy our spiritual blessings (Eph 1:17-18).

Pro 20:13 | Do Not Sleep, but Be Awake and Work

13 Do not love sleep, or you will become poor;
Open your eyes, [and] you will be satisfied with food.

Sleep is a blessing. It is a present from God, so that our body can come to rest after a day of working, in order to get strength again for the next day. The warning, however, is not to love sleep. Whoever loves sleep, is a sluggard, which will lead to poverty. Sleep is a great blessing, but becomes a curse when we rather sleep than work.

If sleep has done its beneficial work, the eyes are to be opened to go to work. Whoever knows his responsibility and starts to work diligently, will be satisfied with bread. He will have enough to eat.

Pro 20:14-17 | Be Honest in Words and Deeds

14 “Bad, bad,” says the buyer,
But when he goes his way, then he boasts.
15 There is gold, and an abundance of jewels;
But the lips of knowledge are a more precious thing.
16 Take his garment when he becomes surety for a stranger;
And for foreigners, hold him in pledge.
17 Bread obtained by falsehood is sweet to a man,
But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.

Here it is about a buyer who is complaining about a bad purchase (verse 14). When he has stipulated a low price by his dramatic presentation of business and paid it, he goes away and boasts about it. That even doesn’t mean that he tells others how smart he was. He can just inwardly be very happy about the fact that he was so smart and the seller so stupid. The point is that he boasts in his badness (Jam 4:16).

Bargain hunting is not bad, nor is haggling. This verse is a warning for an inexperienced seller not to let himself to be misled by buyers who are pretending to be pitiful or who are intimidating. It is one thing to do business, but it is inacceptable to God and unworthy of being a member of His people to give a false presentation of things in a deal, in order to buy a product far below its value.

One can be rich of earthly treasures (verse 15). A lot of people in the world are. But the real wealth is that of “lips of knowledge”. Such lips are “a more precious thing”. It is hard to find someone who speaks with full knowledge of the facts. Lips that speak knowledge are lips that teach knowledge, that speak well-thought words. One gets lips of knowledge by the long and hard work of education.

Thereby it is about the knowledge of Christ and of God’s standard for life. This knowledge is applied to all situations in life. In that way one knows how to behave himself as a wise man in those situations. The result is that God is being honored and the neighbor is blessed. What an enormously precious thing are such lips in a world like ours.

In verse 16 the wise man exhorts the creditor towards someone who has been so foolish to become surety for a stranger, to even take the garment of the stranger. Becoming surety has already been dealt with (Pro 6:1; 11:15; 17:18) and it is still being strongly advised not to do it, certainly when a stranger is involved. It is a proverb that should discourage one to become surety for another person.

It makes clear the foolishness of someone who does that. Such a person has to bear the consequences of it. He will literally be undressed. His garment will be held in pledge for foreigners. He will never get it back. The warning is that you run the risk of losing everything to the creditor who can hold your possessions in pledge when you become surety.

Good things that have been gained dishonestly, do not bring satisfaction (verse 17). There is a thing like “enjoying the passing pleasure of sin” (Heb 11:25), but it is indeed just temporary. The after taste is very bitter. It is not only about a lack of taste and food in what has been stolen, but the result is also that one cannot enjoy eating anything at all anymore. Gravel destroys the teeth so that one cannot enjoy the food anymore when he eats (Lam 3:16). Eating becomes difficult and it hurts. God makes this happen.

We see it with the eating of the first “bread obtained by falsehood” which was eaten by man. We also see its consequences. Adam and Eve ate bread obtained by falsehood when they took from the fruit of the tree of which God had said to them not to eat of it (Gen 3:1-11; 2:16-17). The fruit looked very attractive and the taste must have been undoubtedly excellent. But how dramatic were the consequences of the eating from that very bread. The truth of this proverb, which is applicable to everything that has been falsely gained, repeats itself daily. Satan is still seeking to tempt people to eat from the bread that he offers, which is always bread obtained by falsehood (Pro 9:17).

Pro 20:18-19 | To Deal With War and Slander

18 Prepare plans by consultation,
And make war by wise guidance.
19 He who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets,
Therefore do not associate with a gossip.

If we want a plan to be successful, then we should do it by consultation (verse 18). Get consultation first and only then act. That applies especially to consultation with God, but also with other people. Only by wise guidance one can make war (2Sam 17:1-14; 18:6-15). First the strategy should be discussed and the goals must be set. It must also be considered whether they have enough men and material, for otherwise another plan has to be made (Lk 14:31-32).

We can apply this to the warfare to survive in this life. In a spiritual view we live in a war field. Satan is lord and master in the world. He has already been infiltrated in great parts of Christianity. Therefore we should determine our strategy how to resist him. God’s Word therefore offers us the armor (Eph 6:10-18).

War is a public hostility; slander or gossip is hostility in secret (verse 19). Slander is an extremely lethal weapon. It is dangerous to associate with a slanderer or gossiper. When someone ‘entrusts’ you with a secret of someone else, be sure that he will tell another person the secret that you entrust to him. Therefore, do not associate with someone who wants to talk with you about other people, but avoid such a person.

Like the gossiper gossips about others to you, he also does that with others about you. He will always say that you are the only one to whom he entrusts his secret. The less contact you have with a gossiper, the better it is. The warning is that you have to know well whom you entrust your secrets to.

Pro 20:20-21 | To Curse and Pluck Parents

20 He who curses his father or his mother,
His lamp will go out in time of darkness.
21 An inheritance gained hurriedly at the beginning
Will not be blessed in the end.

He who curses one of his parents will die in complete darkness (verse 20). For such a person “the black darkness has been reserved forever” (Jude 1:13). The law says that father and mother are to be honored (Exo 20:12; Deu 5:16; Eph 6:1-3). When that does not happen, it is already a serious violation of the law. What happens here goes deeper. It is the contrary. Instead of honoring the parents, they are cursed.

Only a heavy judgment can be made about that (Exo 21:17; Lev 20:9; Deu 27:16; Mt 15:4-6). The lamp, the symbol of light and life here, is extinguished in full darkness. The curser not only dies, but ends up in full darkness. All connection with life and light is being broken. He himself ends up in what he wished for his parents.

An inheritance is only given to someone when the testator has died (verse 21). It is about an inheritance here, which is gained too soon. That means that it has been gained unlawfully and unrightfully, whereby greed is the motivation. There is no more patience to wait on the time that God determines, but people grab in advance. It fits to the mentality that prevails everywhere today: wanting to have something and wanting to have it NOW.

We find an example of it in the parable of the lost son. He had no patience to wait until his father had died, but asked him for the part of the inheritance to which he was entitled (Lk 15:12). In that way he declared his father prematurely dead. He lost his possessions quickly and ended up with the pigs. It is also possible that one drives his parents out of their inheritance by making their lives unbearable (Pro 19:26). Whoever seeks to get an inheritance in an evil unrighteous way, will always find a way to do so. But there “it will not be blessed in the end”.

Pro 20:22-23 | Do Not Repay Evil With Evil

22 Do not say, “I will repay evil”;
Wait for the LORD, and He will save you.
23 Differing weights are an abomination to the LORD,
And a false scale is not good.

We live in a world where we can expect to be done wrong (verse 22). Therefore we are told how to respond to that. We should not take the law into our own hands, but leave vengeance to God. That demands patience and confidence – patience to wait for His time and confidence that He will save.

The righteous must not take vengeance for the evil, because only God has the right to repay the evil in a righteous way and is fully able to do that (Rom 12:19). The work of God here is focused on the positive side. He is seen here as Redeemer and not as Avenger, which He also is. It is not said that the righteous must wait until he will see God’s judgment over his enemies, but until he will be redeemed. That is a great difference in expectation.

A few lessons are more difficult to learn than that of entrusting all of our circumstances to the hand of the Lord, especially when we feel that injustice has been done to us and that we have been abused. David is an example for us in this. Much injustice had been done to him by Saul. Nevertheless he kept on waiting for the LORD for his salvation and did not grab his chance prematurely for his kingship by taking vengeance on Saul. Our great example is the Lord Jesus “Who did not revile in return while being reviled, while suffering, uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously” (1Pet 2:23).

Verse 23 repeats slightly other words to verse 10. It is very well possible that this happens with a view to the context with the previous verse. Here we are dealing with a warning against taking vengeance on another person by differing weights, in order to repay him or to harm him.

Pro 20:24-25 | The Limits of Man

24 Man’s steps are [ordained] by the LORD,
How then can man understand his way?
25 It is a trap for a man to say rashly, “It is holy!”
And after the vows to make inquiry.

God’s control over the life of a person lies outside the human perception and understanding (verse 24). Because God finally directs everything that happens, no man can be totally sure of how the way that lies before him looks like. It is important that one become aware of that (Jer 10:23; Psa 37:23).

Man may act like he is lord and master of his own life, while he forgets that he is completely dependent upon God’s support and guidance. Then it is good to consider this proverb. It also applies to the believer who goes the way with the Lord. He too cannot often understand how things ended up in a certain situation just as they have happened. Sometimes he sees that later in his life (Gen 50:20). Anyway, we will see it when we are with the Lord.

Making a vow rashly (verse 25) is an example of forgetting what the wise man has said in the previous verse. Whoever rashly makes a holy vow, is in a trap, because he does not know whether he can fulfill that vow. When he, after he has made the vow, realizes that he cannot or will not fulfill what he has promised, it is too late (Ecc 5:5; Deu 23:22-23). It is better for one to wait with making the vow until he has carefully considered the consequences of the decision. Because Jephthah acted impulsively, he made a vow lightly which he never would have made if he knew what it meant (Jdg 11:30-40).

Here it is about the oath to declare something to be holy, meaning to devote to the LORD. An example of such an oath is the oath of young men not to marry, because they want to remain sexually pure or to serve the Lord. It is a sanctified oath, but may sometime seem to be a trap, because they have not considered well what God’s Word says about the conditions regarding that (1Cor 7:37).

Pro 20:26-28 | A Wise King Sees Through Man

26 A wise king winnows the wicked,
And drives the [threshing] wheel over them.
27 The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD,
Searching all the innermost parts of his being.
28 Loyalty and truth preserve the king,
And he upholds his throne by righteousness.

A wise king purifies his kingdom from the wicked (verse 26). He is able to identify evildoers and judge them righteously. He winnows them, so that they will not unify and stand up against him. He also drives the threshing wheel of his cart over them as a punishment (Isa 28:27-28), to thresh them as the chaff, as it were.

Like a king goes through his land to liberate it from the wicked, the LORD goes through the heart of a man to search all its motives (verse 27). God has provided every man with a spirit so that he can evaluate his acts and motives. He is the “God of the spirits of all flesh“ (Num 16:22). He breathed the spirit into man when He created him (Gen 2:7). Therefore man has moral, intellectual and spiritual capacities and is he able to know and please God.

The spirit in man serves as a conscience, represented in the “lamp of the LORD”. Man knows what is good and bad through his conscience (Rom 2:14-15). This is explained further in the second line of the verse. The searching of the spirit, the lamp, makes it possible that man knows himself (1Cor 2:11a; cf. Job 32:8; Zec 12:1). When one’s spiritual life functions well – meaning that it is surrendered to God – and is controlled by His Word, there will be less and less self-deception or indifference regarding righteousness.

“Loyalty and truth” are important characteristics of a king (verse 28). A king who shows these characteristics in his government, is protected by that. The people will have no reason to resist against him, but will be willing to subject themselves to his authority. His performance in kindness “upholds his throne”. That is quite different than the thrones in the world that are established by tyranny and oppression.

In their fullness these features are present in Christ. When He will appear as King, they will become fully visible in His kingdom.

Pro 20:29 | Strength as Glory and Gray Hair as Honor

29 The glory of young men is their strength,
And the honor of old men is their gray hair.

Both “young men” and “old men” have something wonderful. This perception reminds us that there are several honorable mentions in life. For young men it is “their strength” and for old men it is “gray hair”. The gray hair is a symbol for everything that is valuable to the old age. We see dignity, wisdom, honor, experience.

The generations are not put in contrast to each other, as if there is a generation gap. Solomon does not favor the one above the other, but presents each generation of what its strength and glory is. In that way they stand next to each other, each with their own shining. Young men symbolize the strength of the body, vision, energy. Old people are characterized by dignity, wisdom, honor and experience that they have had through the years, which is symbolized by their gray hair. It is important that both generations do not despise one another, but value one another.

Both glories can be visible in a human’s life. A young man who is glorified by power, will be aware that it has been given to him by God and that he is allowed to use it to serve Him and not to honor himself. He will then grow further to become an elder whose gray hair is his glory.

These growth stages are also in the spiritual life. Beside babes in faith in the family of God, young ones and fathers are also spoken about in faith (1Jn 2:13-17). Of the young ones in faith, also their power is mentioned as a characteristic. John writes to them that they are “strong” and writes in addition that this is because “the Word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one” (1Jn 2:14). They have therefore used their glory, their power, well, not to impress others, but to grow spiritually. Such young ones will become fathers in faith.

Pro 20:30 | The Purifying Work of Stripes and Strokes

30 Stripes that wound scour away evil,
And strokes [reach] the innermost parts.

This verse looks like an advertisement that praises a health product. That product is called ‘physical punishment’. In the ‘information leaflet’ it is also said that the application of it must not happen mildly. The application is important to the spiritual health. Physical punishment has a spiritual benefit. Physical punishment makes the conscience aware of failure and leads to confession and repentance.

What Solomon recommends, seems primitive, rough and old fashioned and is even being criminalized today in more and more countries. But pain is sending a signal. He who does not feel pain, runs the risk to lose his life. By not giving physical punishment, we switch off the mechanism that can save lives.

Physical experiences (wounds) have, beside that they result in confession and repentance, also an inward purification as a result. Peace enters into the heart. Therefore we should recognize the value of pain.

Proverbs 21

Pro 21:1-3 | The LORD Directs and Judges Everything

1 The king’s heart is [like] channels of water in the hand of the LORD;
He turns it wherever He wishes.
2 Every man’s way is right in his own eyes,
But the LORD weighs the hearts.
3 To do righteousness and justice
Is desired by the LORD more than sacrifice.

Verse 1 is one of the clearest proofs in Scripture of God’s sovereignty. We see that in the life of the mightiest rulers that we meet in the Scripture, like Nebuchadnezzar (Dan 4:1-37), Belshazzar (Dan 5:1-30), Ahasuerus (Est 6:1-14) and Koresh (Ezra 6:22; Isa 45:1-7). God has the full control over them. The same goes for the world leaders of today and also for the two great dictators in the end time; the beast from the sea and the beast from the earth (Rev 13:1-18). Therefore, no human ruler is the highest ruler of the universe, but the LORD. He is the real King of kings (Ezra 7:21,27; Isa 10:6-7; 41:2-4; Dan 2:21; Jn 19:11; Rev 17:17).

The decisions that a king makes in his heart are directed and controlled by God. He guides the king in “wherever”, which means nothing excluded, “He wishes”. The heart of the king is in His hand, which indicates that He has total control over it. It is like “channels of water” which with He does like a farmer does who digs channels in order to direct the watercourse up to and over his field in such a way that it comes exactly where he wants it to. In that way God deals with the heart of a king.

Verse 2 seamlessly connects to verse 1. Like God knows the heart of a king, He knows the heart of every man. A man may think that “all his ways are right”, but indeed in “his [own] eyes” (cf. Pro 16:2). We are very well at making our ways “right”, while we go a wrong way. The real Judge of what is in the heart, is God. He not only sees the way that one goes, but He also “weighs the hearts”. He searches the motives.

The Pharisee, who has a very good opinion about himself, appears to have a heart full of pride in himself, while it is full of disgust towards others. This is the judgment of Him Who knows what is in man (Lk 18:9-14; Jn 2:24). He fully “searches the heart” of man (Jer 17:10) and knows that it is “more deceitful than all else” (Jer 17:9).

Our view on our way is limited, both in time and direction. God is eternal and controls everything and knows the purpose. Therefore it is good that we pray with David: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way” (Psa 139:23-24).

One of the things that may seem right in our own eyes (verse 2), is offering a sacrifice, thinking that it is all right with our lives (verse 3). We see a sacrifice as a compensation for the unrighteousness that we have done and the injustice that we commit, and then can continue to do so. We give some things to God and assume therefore that He will not punish us for our sins ‘in reward’.

Here it is not said that sacrifices are to be avoided, but that religious acts are worthless without a righteous life. God gives preference to doing “righteousness and justice” above religiosity (1Sam 15:22; Pro 15:8; 21:27; Psa 40:6-8; Isa 1:11-17; Mk 12:33). Whoever does righteousness and justice, holds on to what God says in His Word, in His laws.

God rejected the sacrifice of Cain, because he did not do righteousness and justice, but on the contrary unrighteousness and injustice, which appeared when he murdered his brother (1Jn 3:12). Outward acts like baptism and the Lord’s Supper are important, because God speaks about it in His Word. But if baptism and the Lord’s supper are not more than outward acts and our heart is not involved in it, they are an abomination to God.

Pro 21:4 | Haughtiness Is Sin

4 Haughty eyes and a proud heart,
The lamp of the wicked, is sin.

“Haughty eyes” reflect “a proud heart”. The first is the proof of the presence of the second. Both “is sin”. Outwardly (haughty eyes) and inwardly (a proud heart) is nothing more than sin. They belong to the existence of the wicked; these are what they produce. The soil of their lives doesn’t deliver anything else.

The second line of the verse can also be translated as “the newly developed land, is sin”. A wicked man cultivates his life as a new piece of land. When he starts a new project, when he develops a new land, “that newly developed land” will deliver nothing else but pride. His life produces only pride. Everything serves his own glory, while he despises others.

Pro 21:5 | Diligence, Not Hasty

5 The plans of the diligent [lead] surely to advantage,
But everyone who is hasty [comes] surely to poverty.

This verse exhorts us to be diligent and warns us at the same time for haste. Diligence is good when we work with consideration and systematically. Diligence and making plans go hand in hand. He who is diligent, but who is also patient with making plans, will have no lack, but it will lead him to “advantage”. We can use that advantage to invest in other or new projects or to help others who are poor.

Everyone who is too diligent, “who is hasty”, doesn’t allow himself to make plans. He is impulsive and wants as fast as he can, the most advantage or profit as he possibly can. But he “[comes] surely to poverty”, because he is reckless. Haste is good, but ‘more haste, less speed’. The text presents a calculated, quick, profitable act against an unproductive or even a loss-making haste.

Haste includes all cases of which we think that we should be in a hurry because we, according to our opinion, would otherwise miss an opportunity to have advantage. People are rushed to have themselves enlisted for something especially now, or to buy something now, or to click on something now, for over an hour or after a day or next week it will be too late. Then the opportunity will be over.

But let us consider that the time to think over something, or to plan something carefully, is not a waste of time. It is time that will recover with great profit and prevent great losses by stupid investments. Therefore we should go to the LORD with our plans first and ask His approval. If He approves, we can start diligently with the security of an optimal result.

Pro 21:6-8 | A Lying Tongue and a Crooked Way

6 The acquisition of treasures by a lying tongue
Is a fleeting vapor, the pursuit of death.
7 The violence of the wicked will drag them away,
Because they refuse to act with justice.
8 The way of a guilty man is crooked,
But as for the pure, his conduct is upright.

“By a lying tongue” (verse 6) means in a fraudulent manner, by telling lies or, by what is also called a ‘chat trick’. It is for example someone who comes to the door of an older person and while telling him a nice story he steals the older person’s money or cash card and PIN code. He will notice that the treasures which he has gained in such a way, do not offer him any stability for this life. It will be as if they disappear and vanish. Additionally, he himself is like “those who pursue death”. They do not consciously pursue death, but because of what they do, they do pursue death automatically.

Gehazi is an example of such a man (2Kgs 5:20-27). Due to his lies he became rich, but also leprous, a disease that leads to death. Therefore he couldn’t enjoy the treasures that he acquired by his lying tongue, like he thought he would. Ananias and Sapphira had to pay their lies directly with death and in reality could not for one minute enjoy the money they stole from God (Acts 5:1-11).

Wicked people do not only speak with a lying tongue (verse 6), but their actions are violent actions (verse 7). They are dragged like powerless animals by their wickedness. They go from one destruction to another, they cannot do otherwise than cause only destruction wherever they go. That will finally lead to their own destruction, “for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword” (Mt 26:52).

They are not the passive victims of their crimes or circumstances, people who cannot do anything about it. They act like that, “because they refuse to act with justice”. They can only blame themselves for that, because they choose not to do justice and thus to persevere in the evil.

In verse 8 the father speaks about two kinds of people that exist. In the first line of the verse he speaks about “the way of a guilty man” which he has presented in verses 6-7, the man who lives without God. In the second line of the verse he speaks about the work of someone who is related with God.

“The way of a guilty man” – which means of a man who refuses to go the right way of God – “is crooked”. The way of the natural man is full of bends, his whole conduct is full of pretexts. A crooked way goes against the truth, against the instructions of God’s Word about the right way. It is also a strange way, a way which is strange to the Scripture, for which not a single instruction is to be found in the Scripture. This way is walked by those who are strange to the life from and with God, who do not partake in it. Their whole life shows that they belong to “a crooked and perverse generation” (Phil 2:15).

In the second line of the verse it is said “way” opposite to “conduct”, “a pure” opposite “a guilty man” and “upright” opposite “crooked”. A pure man is somebody who has been purified by faith and in that way is related to God. He is pure of heart, which appears from his work (cf. Tit 1:15a). It is a just or right work because it is just and right to God and men.

Pro 21:9 | Better Alone Than Together With Fight

9 It is better to live in a corner of a roof
Than in a house shared with a contentious woman.

This is another “better … than” proverb about living together with a contentious woman (Pro 21:19; cf. Pro 19:13). Everyone can imagine the situation that Solomon presents here and agree with what is better. Just imagine to be married to a contentious woman. When you are married, you are obliged to live together. You may have ordered everything to the smallest detail. The house may be provided with all convenience. You live in it, but then in all that space of all convenience you experience nothing but quarrels. The atmosphere in the house is poisoned.

Would Solomon speak from experience? After all he had a thousand wives. It is imaginable that among those many wives there were some who were continually quarrelling. Solomon was surrounded by all grandeur that a man could desire. But he realizes that simplicity and solitude with tranquility are better than all the luxury that is immersed in an atmosphere of quarrels.

You’d better be unmarried and live in a small room in simplicity and solitude somewhere in a corner of a roof (cf. 2Kgs 4:10). You then have a small house, but you have peace. It may be tight and lonely, you may possibly be exposed to wind and weather in the corner of the roof, but there is rest; you don’t have to deal with continuous conflicts that poison your life.

He who is not (yet) married, finds a counterpart of the thought that being married gives the highest enjoyment. To be married to a wife given by God is indeed a great gift and a continuous source of happiness. But when you are married to the wrong woman, the women you covet, then the marriage you’ve dreamt of may turn into a nightmare. The verse shows again how important it is to only marry the woman that God gives.

Pro 21:10 | He Who Desires Evil, Has No Favor

10 The soul of the wicked desires evil;
His neighbor finds no favor in his eyes.

“The wicked” seeks “evil” and not grace. He not only does evil, but his soul “desires” to do it. He is a sadist, a representative of satan, who finds pleasure in hurting others. The soul is the seat of desires. The wicked desires evil with all of his heart, because that only satisfies his deepest feelings.

The thought of showing favor to his neighbor is totally missing with him. In such a person not only the least bit of favor is missing for his enemy but also for his neighbor. If his neighbor would beg him for mercy, he would have pleasure in doing him the evil of which his neighbor begs him not to do.

Pro 21:11 | The Scoffer and the Wise

11 When the scoffer is punished, the naive becomes wise;
But when the wise is instructed, he receives knowledge.

Here again there is mention of the three persons, “the scoffer”, “the naive” and “the wise”. “The scoffer” is the stubborn person. He is punished for his mockery. The punishment can be applied by God or a judge or someone else who is above him. But it doesn’t change the attitude of the scoffer. He continues to scoff. The question is whether it is useful to punish him, if it doesn’t help.

Then it appears that his punishment does have a beneficial effect, not to himself, but to “the naive” who observes it. The example that he sees has the result that he becomes wise. He sees what the consequences are of the mockery, which he wants to avoid. That is wisdom. A punishment that is being applied not only reaches the person that undergoes the punishment, but also others. He corrects the one and prevents others to make that mistake, which causes that they also prevent punishment (Pro 19:25; cf. Deu 19:20; 1Tim 5:20; Acts 5:11).

While the naive learns by an example, “the wise” learns by being “instructed”, which makes him to receive “knowledge”. The instructions that he receives, not only makes him to ‘know’ something, but it gives him understanding in the problems of life. The wise never stops to learn.

Pro 21:12 | Turned to Ruin

12 The righteous one considers the house of the wicked,
Turning the wicked to ruin.

“The righteous” doesn’t allow himself to be deceived by what he sees from the house of the wicked. He often sees the prosperity and welfare of it. However, he doesn’t watch it superficially, but he “considers the house”; he looks at it with the eyes of God. Then he sees that the prosperity of his house is temporal. When he looks with the eyes of faith, he sees the end of the prosperity of the present moment.

There will indeed be a moment that God turns “the wicked to ruin”. Everything they boasted in and wherein they found their rest, will then be changed into disaster and misery, which are not temporal, but eternal. That there will be a moment that the Judge of the whole earth will do justice, is an encouragement for the righteous to endure poverty and sufferings.

Pro 21:13 | To Shut the Ear and Not to Be Answered

13 He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor
Will also cry himself and not be answered.

God’s judgment not only strikes people who do evil (verse 12), but also those who refuse to do good. “The one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin” (Jam 4:17). “He who shuts his ear”, consciously does not want to hear (cf. Acts 7:57). It is an expression of cruelty and insensitivity. Here someone does so, that he cannot hear “the cry of the poor”. He shuts himself for a help request. He does hear it, but pretends not to hear it.

It is thereby about a help request which has been spoken. It can also be applied to an unspoken help request, to an observation of somebody who is poor, but avoid such person. He who does so, is insensitive; he closes his heart, his inner being (1Jn 3:17). He may even camouflage his deafness with pious words (Jam 2:16).

Those who do not show favor, will not receive mercy when they themselves shall ask for it (cf. Jam 2:13a). Poor Lazarus was laid at the gate of the rich man and was longing to be satisfied with what as falling from the rich man’s table. But the rich man overlooked him. He covered his ears and eyes to Lazarus and did not care about him. So when the rich man opens his eyes in the torment and begs for mercy to cool off his tongue, he finds no answer (Lk 16:19-31).

Pro 21:14 | A Gift and a Bribe Bring Rest

14 A gift in secret subdues anger,
And a bribe in the bosom, strong wrath.

“A gift in secret” is a gift which is not given loudly. It is a gift which is given from the one person to the other without others hearing about it. Such a gift has a calming effect on someone whom for whatever reason is angry. In that way he is made calmer. The second line of the verse says the same in other words.

In this verse it does not seem to be about a bribe, kickbacks or hush money, but about a means that causes a person to be calmed down. It often makes someone who is inflamed with anger, to calm down when someone approaches him with kindness. The gift or the bribe does not need to be given by the one whom he is angry about, but it can also be someone who has heard about it. Examples are the gifts that Jacob sends to Esau (Gen 32:1-20) and the gift that Abigail takes with her when she approaches David (1Sam 25:18,35).

Pro 21:15 | Joy and Terror

15 The exercise of justice is joy for the righteous,
But is terror to the workers of iniquity.

The nature of men becomes clear from their reaction to the exercise of justice. When doing justice “is joy” for someone, we are dealing with a righteous man. When doing justice “is terror” for people, we are dealing with those who are doing injustice. The righteous not only does justice because he is supposed to, but he does it with joy. He doesn’t do justice because he is afraid of the consequences when he does not, but he does justice because he loves justice. The Lord Jesus is the true Just. God testifies of Him: “You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness” (Heb 1:9a).

“The workers of iniquity” are those whose life exists of doing injustice. Doing justice is doing God’s will. They hate that. Only the thought of it is already a terror for them. They are not able to do justice and they do not want that at all. But they will totally be overcome by terror when they will have to give account for their deeds before Him. Then they will be forced to do justice, in the sense of bowing down before Him, for Whom they never wanted to bow down. Hell will be full of people who have always hated justice. They will be under eternal terror because justice has been done to their injustice.

Pro 21:16 | Wandering Leads to the Dead

16 A man who wanders from the way of understanding
Will rest in the assembly of the dead.

“A man who wanders from the way of understanding”, is someone who has known the right way, but has left it. The way of understanding is the way of God. He who leaves it, turns his back to God and His Word and His people. First he walked in the way that God in His Word presents to man as the right way, which is the way of blessing. Whoever leaves that way, will be someone who continually wanders and always goes a wrong way (2Pet 2:15).

The tragedy is that such a person thinks that in the way that he wanders, he is going the way of understanding. It is actually true, but it is then the way of his own dark understanding. It is impossible that someone who lives in full spiritual darkness, finds and goes the right way. Only the grace of God can make someone discover that he is wandering.

He who is wandering, is on the way of the “assembly of the dead” to “rest” there, which means to dwell or stay there. It refers to the wrong way that he goes. That way is full of spiritually dead people, those who live as dead ones without God. It also refers to the place where he will eventually end up when he dies physically.

Pro 21:17 | He Who Loves Pleasure, Wine and Oil

17 He who loves pleasure [will become] a poor man;
He who loves wine and oil will not become rich.

The love for “pleasure” and “wine and oil” is a love for these things in itself, without a relation with God. It is about someone who belongs to the group of people of whom Paul says that they “are more lovers of their own pleasures than of God” (2Tim 3:4). We may surely enjoy all kinds of earthly blessings that God has given us. But if we forget that we owe everything to Him and it means everything to us, lack will appear in our spiritual life and we will miss spiritual wealth. Pleasure in the sense of plain amusement, having fun every day, is an empty form of life. This life is seen as the highest aim by the world around us.

‘Enjoy’ is the key word. You come across it in numerous advertisements. Delicious food and drink, music, sports and amusement in all varieties have to give a feeling of pleasure. But it is like the crackling of thorns that cause warmth for just a little while when they are being burnt, but this fire is quenched within a moment. Then the warmth is over and gone.

Wine and oil are symbolic here for the luxury life and as stand-alone causes of joy (Amos 6:6). When these things are being pursued, they will lead to a life of complacent pleasure, which in its turn leads to spiritual poverty. Whoever focuses on life in luxury, will seek fellowship with God less and less in Bible reading and praying. He will become spiritually poor. He who pursues luxury, will also neglect other responsibilities, such as attention and care for wife and children.

It also has something to say to us as Christians. We can be so focused on the joy of faith, that we forget the Source of it. It becomes being happy because of and in the happiness. Pleasure, however, is never an abstract phenomenon, but comes forth from the Source out of Whom we can draw. You find this in certain churches where joy and the ‘Spirit’, of Whom oil is a picture, have an excessive place. Therefore the consequence is always the poverty that is mentioned here.

Pro 21:18 | A Wicked Man as a Ransom

18 The wicked is a ransom for the righteous,
And the treacherous is in the place of the upright.

When God brings His judgment over the wicked, we can see that as a ransom for the righteous (cf. Isa 43:3-4). In that way the righteous is being released from the oppression by the wicked. Ransom is the price that is paid to release a prisoner. God brings the evil over the wicked that he has done to the righteous (cf. Pro 11:8). Also the unfaithful comes under the judgment of God. He deserves and receives that judgment because he himself has oppressed the righteous.

There comes a time that God will reverse the roles. That will be at the coming of the Lord Jesus to the earth to judge and to reign. He will judge the oppressors of His people and lead His people that have been oppressed to rest (2Thes 1:6-7). He will let the wicked perish, so that the righteous may be liberated.

Pro 21:19 | Better … Than

19 It is better to live in a desert land
Than with a contentious and vexing woman.

Like verse 9 this proverb is a “better … than” proverb about living with a contentious woman. From the corner of a roof where the man in verse 9 would have had a better place than in the communal house, he has now moved to “a desert land”. It is better for him to be living there than “with a contentious and vexing woman”. In that place he is far away from the hearing of this woman.

In the corner of the roof he could hear her still, but there he was also able to have social contacts. In a desert land he dwells totally by himself and almost without any social contacts. It is sparsely populated there and very peaceful, but also dangerous because of wild animals. Still, that dwelling area and that environment are preferable to being constantly confronted with ‘domestic strife’. The woman is not only contentious, constantly looking for conflicts, but in addition to that she is also ’vexing’, a woman who frustrates her husband and makes him sad. The marriage with such a woman is a continuous source of problems instead of joy.

Both verses that deal with living together with a contentious woman, are a warning to the unmarried man. They do not imply advice for a married man to search for another place to live when his wife shows characteristics of contentiousness and irritation. They underline how important it is to be careful at choosing a marital partner. It is also a warning to the married man to make efforts not to allow contentiousness and irritation to dominate the marriage, but that the marriage is characterized by a serving love. That is first of all his responsibility.

Pro 21:20-21 | The Wise Is Saving and Lives

20 There is precious treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise,
But a foolish man swallows it up.
21 He who pursues righteousness and loyalty
Finds life, righteousness and honor.

“The wise” (verse 20), while living day by day, lives by focusing on the future. There is “precious treasure and oil in his dwelling place”, which he uses daily, while he knows that whatever he has is also enough in times of lack. That is because he looks further and more importantly higher than these means. He sees that he receives them from God’s hand.

The wise may be a poor man who lives in a hut. The precious treasure is not so much a lot of gold or silver, but may be a little bit of bread, with the confidence in God that He will give him daily the amount of the bread that he needs for that day (Mt 6:11). The oil does not refer to a great supply of oil which he can sell later, but to a little bit of which he trusts that it is enough for that day and which he will also need later. In short, the wise trusts in God.

The widow of Zarephath was such a wise woman (1Kgs 17:11-15). She had a little bit of flour and a little bit of oil, but she also had the man of God. He made sure that the flour and the oil did not exhaust, because the woman believed what he said. We also have that precious treasure and oil in our home if we surrender everything of our house to the Lord Jesus. He shall then make sure that we shall have no lack.

The fool doesn’t think about the future. He also has the precious treasure and oil but no confidence in God. He therefore wastes everything that he has. The wise live in the here and now, but with his eyes focused on the future; the fool lives only for the here and now. The fool spends his money like sand is slipping through his fingers. He doesn’t see his property in the light of the future and therefore he wastes it. His motto is ‘no worries about the future’, but he does not consider that he ‘then’ will meet God and will have to give account to Him for all he has done with his property.

He who “pursues” (verse 21) something, is convinced about its value and that it is worthy to do everything to get it. The wise is convinced about the value of “righteousness and loyalty”. Righteousness is giving to God what He is entitled to and to people what they are entitled to. It is according to justice. “Loyalty” refers to a mind of kindness. They go together in a perfectly balanced way in God. They should also go together in the righteous.

He who pursues these two characteristics, shall find and experience the real “life”, in both now and forever. The real life is life in fellowship with God, as which Christ had known when He was on earth. In addition he also finds “righteousness”. He is totally sure about him being accepted by God. It is not about receiving a position for God here, for that is not to be earned. It is about the awareness of the blessing to be able to be in God’s presence. The basis of it is the work of Christ. Finally he also finds “honor”. God honors him for his effort (cf. Jn 12:26).

This ‘pursuing’ cannot happen in one’s own power. It can only happen through the Holy Spirit Who works this pursuing in the new life. It is also said to Timothy that he should pursue righteousness and also a number of other features. When he does that, he will seize the real, eternal life (1Tim 6:11-12). Timothy was a believer, but it is also about the new life which is being lived by him. That is also what Solomon means here.

Pro 21:22-23 | The Wise Conquers and Guards Himself

22 A wise man scales the city of the mighty
And brings down the stronghold in which they trust.
23 He who guards his mouth and his tongue,
Guards his soul from troubles.

“A city of the mighty” thinks that it is invincible (verse 22). It trusts in the power of its mighty men. But “wisdom is better than power” (Ecc 9:16). It is more effective to use wisdom than to trust in power (Ecc 7:19). Due to his wisdom a wise man is able to scale that city, despite the mighty men that are in it and to bring down the stronghold, which was not considered to be brought down (Ecc 9:14-15).

The stronghold is brought down because people have trusted in it. That’s what makes the difference with wisdom. Wisdom is stronger than self-confidence, because wisdom leans on God. Fearing God is after all the beginning of wisdom. Only by the power of God which goes together with wisdom, the wise is able to scale a city of mighty men.

A careful strategy and a wise application of courage will win from pure muscle power and skillful use of weapons. In that way Joshua conquered Ai (Jos 8:3-22) and Gideon defeated the great army of the Midianites with a small army (Jdg 7:7). The power of the enemy is broken by those who trust in God. That also goes for the spiritual warfare. Each stronghold of human, each mind that contrasts God is pulled down and taken down by him who allows himself to be led by the Spirit of God and the Word of God (2Cor 10:3-5).

Another victory is that over the tongue (verse 23). He who can control his tongue, prevents himself to get into troubles. The wise knows when to be silent (Ecc 3:7). The talkative gets into troubles quickly. He had said things which were supposed to be kept secret or was too quick in speaking out a judgment about someone. That causes him resistance and sometimes even hostility. He is being blamed for what he has said.

People who control their mouth and tongue, think first before they say something. They will not get into social or legal troubles quickly because of a wrong remark that they have made (cf. Pro 13:3). It is therefore good to consider things that are true, honorable, right, pure, loving and of good repute (Phil 4:8) and also say those things, while we avoid everything that is dishonest, painful and damaging to others.

Pro 21:24 | The Scoffer and His Insolent Pride

24 “Proud,” “Haughty,” “Scoffer,” are his names,
Who acts with insolent pride.

“Haughtiness” and “pride” are the characteristics by which the scoffer is recognized. A person who is haughty and proud, bears the name “scoffer”. He goes his way arrogantly, with contempt for every form of authority. In his haughtiness he refuses to bow down to God. In his pride he exalts himself above others. With him there is no desire for wisdom at all, for that means that he should have respect for God.

There is a total lack of modesty with the scoffer. In his arrogance he “acts with insolent pride”. He thinks that he is able to control everything and that he can order whoever he wants, to help him. He does not accept contradiction. The antichrist is the scoffer par excellence. Pharaoh and Sennacherib said things about God in their arrogance and they both were killed by God’s judgment (Exo 5:2; 14:23-30; Isa 36:16-20; 37:38). In such a way the antichrist will also get killed and everyone with him who are recognized by his spirit of mockery.

Pro 21:25-26 | The Sluggard and the Righteous

25 The desire of the sluggard puts him to death,
For his hands refuse to work;
26 All day long he is craving,
While the righteous gives and does not hold back.

“A sluggard” has a powerfully working “desire”, but his “hands refuse to work” (verse 25). That combination “puts him to death”. A sluggard is day dreaming about food and drink, about everything that others have and what he also wants. But he does not want his hands to work. That demands too much energy from him. It is not a question of not being able to, but a question of not wanting to. He chooses not to work.

Additionally, the sluggard is also ignorant or foolish, for he does not realize that his laziness is leading him to death. He is so occupied with his desires, his world is such a lie, it is a world of ‘wishful thinking’, that this life becomes fatal to him and that he dies of lack.
Verse 26 is directly connected to verse 25 and continues the theme of the sluggard and his desires. A sluggard is totally locked up in his own world of life. He is all day long totally filled with feelings of lust, which seek to be satisfied. It may regard nice food and drink, or buying things that make life pleasant or exciting. Those are “cravings” for him. He has surrounded himself with those things in his fantasy. But he rejects the thought of buying these things with money earned by himself.

“A righteous man” is no sluggard, but a diligent worker. That he is righteous, appears also from his generosity. The Bible teaches us that a righteous person is a giving person. The righteous is not only diligent and he not only has enough for himself, but has so much, that he gives also to the poor. The sluggard covets continually, but the righteous gives continuously, without restraint (cf. Acts 20:34-35). The sluggard wants to receive continuously without working for it. The righteous works hard and gives away abundantly to whom is poor.

Pro 21:27-29 | The Hypocrite Will Perish

27 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination,
How much more when he brings it with evil intent!
28 A false witness will perish,
But the man who listens [to the truth] will speak forever.
29 A wicked man displays a bold face,
But as for the upright, he makes his way sure.

God hates “the sacrifice” or the worship “of the wicked” because they come to God without confessing their sins and therefore they are without righteousness before God (verse 27; Jer 6:20; Amos 5:21-24). The sacrifice or the worship with which such a person comes to God is not only unacceptable to God, but it is an abomination to Him. God first of all, demands from the worshipper a true conversion and the intention to live right. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise” (Psa 51:17).

Hypocritical worship is bad enough; worship “with evil intent” is fully abominable. God doesn’t want acts of worship without contrition, but it is fully abominable when it comes from someone who thinks that he can bribe God with his sacrifice, so that He will give him what he desires. ‘You do not get something for nothing. I bring a sacrifice – I give for example money to the church or once in a while I visit a sick person – so, He should give me whatever I want or anyway make sure that nothing bad happens to me.’ Evil intents are a great abomination to God.

The hypocrite in verse 27 stands opposite to God. The hypocrite in verse 28 stands opposite to men. “A false witness” is someone who deliberately testifies falsely against someone else. He will get killed. God will judge him. When it appears to men that his testimony is false, he will be convicted by the judge on earth.

The opposite of the false witness is written in the second line of the verse: “he who listens”. Such a person is a true, reliable witness. He who always listens first to what is being said about a matter in which he has to witness, someone who says nothing more than what he has heard or seen, will speak forever. He is faithful; he will again and again speak in cases that have occurred. Because he knows and understands what the truth is, he doesn’t have to keep silent. Nobody will be able to rebuke or refute him.

Stephen was such a witness. He listened to God’s voice by His Word. The wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke, were not to be refuted (Acts 6:10). Also Abel, after he died, he still speaks (cf. Heb 11:4). Above all, the Lord Jesus is the faithful and truthful Witness. He has always listened to God and He therefore will always speak. He is the truth and speaks the truth.

“A wicked man” gives the impression to be convinced (verse 29). He displays a bold face. He is ashamed about nothing and does not know how to blush (Jer 6:15; 8:12). The bold face reflects a hardened, unrepentant heart (Isa 48:4; Jer 5:3; Eze 3:7). With a straight face he tells the harshest lies and commits the most horrible crimes. From the second line of the verse it seems that a wicked man goes a way that has no security at all, how powerful he pretends to be. He will sink away in immeasurably deep troubles when he will be judged by God.

“The upright makes his way sure” because he looks up, to God, and asks Him for guidance. He seems to be dependable and weak, but that makes him strong, for God gives him strength. God’s joy rests upon him. The Lord Jesus is also the perfect example here. In following Him, we also see Paul as an example. He was upright (2Cor 1:17) and admitted that he was dependent on grace: “For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2Cor 12:10).

Pro 21:30-31 | Unconquerable and Victorious

30 There is no wisdom and no understanding
And no counsel against the LORD.
31 The horse is prepared for the day of battle,
But victory belongs to the LORD.

The chapter ends with which it began: the absolute sovereignty and majesty of God. Everything that He intends to do, will happen. There is nothing and nobody, who can hinder Him to carry out His plans (verse 30). He laughs at everything that man does to hinder Him in His plans (Psa 2:1-4).

Human “wisdom”, “understanding” and “counsel” are nothing more than foolishness in the light of wisdom, understanding and the counsel of God. It shows total blindness and powerlessness. By using the word “no” three times, it is emphasized that there is really absolutely nothing that can be said against the LORD. All His plans and acts are perfect and inviolable for whatever power.

We see that in everything that was planned against the Lord Jesus, in order to kill Him. Still, everything has happened the way that God had determined (Acts 2:23). If they for instance had planned to place His grave with the wicked, then still He is with the rich in His death, because God has determined it that way (Isa 53:9; Mt 27:57-60). God proclaims the end from the beginning and man cannot change anything about that. On the contrary, God uses him in spite of himself, for the fulfillment of His plans.

A man may be wise in certain views and have insight and therefore give wise advice. He may have been highly educated and have experience. But if he has no fear of the LORD, he lacks the real wisdom and the real insight and his advice will appear to be foolishness. It comes down to insulting God if we want to compare human wisdom, understanding and advice with His wisdom, understanding and counsel.

Man is of “yesterday and knows nothing” (Job 8:9). “Jesus Christ is the Same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb 13:8). He Who is God, overlooks the past, the present and the future. Man cannot look into the future. He can make predictions based on experience and assumptions, but he cannot offer any guarantees. God determines what happens. Man does well to agree with that and not to turn against Him. The so-called wise people have no foresight and have no control over the future. They claim that they do, by presenting goals for the future with pompous words, but all their claims will be shipwrecked by the LORD, for He alone has wisdom, understanding and counsel.

The ultimate success of an act or the victory in a battle comes from God and not by human efforts (verse 31). The contrast here is between the plans and troubles for the battle on the one hand, “the horse is prepared for the day of battle”, and on the other hand the recognition of the real source of the victory, “the LORD” (Psa 20:8; 33:17). Means may be used to achieve something, but we must never forget that if we have success we owe it to God. We are allowed to use means, but never to make an idol out of it.

Proverbs 22

Pro 22:1 | A Name and Favor Are Better Than Wealth

1 A [good] name is to be more desired than great wealth,
Favor is better than silver and gold.

“A [good] name” or reputation is to be more desired than “great wealth”. The real value of a person is not what he possesses, but what he is. One gets a good name by his kind dealings with others. That definitely can only be worked by the Spirit. Whoever has a good name, has received it because he seeks the wellbeing of the other, pays real attention and shows respect and compassion. With a good name, wealth does not matter. Wealth dissipates, a good name remains.

“Favor” is inseparably connected to a good name. He who has a good name, is favored by God and men. Due to his characteristics and selfless performance, people think highly of him. People appreciate his company, not because of his possessions, but because of who he is. This is more valuable than silver and gold.  Everyone with a good empathy will admit that.

A good name is not the same as being popular. One is popular, because he is loved by man without God. He may contribute a lot of money to ‘charities’, by giving it adequate publicity. Or he may be a comedian who makes others laugh and makes them to forget the miserable feelings that they may have, for a moment. Regarding such popularity, the Lord Jesus says: “Woe to you when all men speak well of you” (Lk 6:26). With these people it is ultimately only about their own honor and not about the honor of God. He who seeks to please men – himself or others – is not a bondservant of Christ (Gal 1:10).

In our Western, modern, hedonistic, pleasure-seeking culture, character and reputation are not considered as meaningful. Only what someone achieves, is considered, not how he lives. One may live in the most abominable sins and still be called a hero and be worshiped as an idol. Real value, however, should be seen, not in what one achieves, but in what he or she really is. A good name is a treasure of which the value is not influenced by the delusion of the day or the stature of the material world for which the materialistic man bows down.

The Lord Jesus had no wealth when He was on earth, but He had a good Name. His “Name is like oils with a pleasing fragrance” (Song 1:3), which means that He spreads a beneficial aroma in everything that He does (Acts 10:38).

Pro 22:2 | The LORD Is the Maker of All

2 The rich and the poor have a common bond,
The LORD is the maker of them all.

It is not about God making people rich or poor, but that He has made both men who are rich and those who are poor (Job 31:13,15). They all come the very same way in the world, which is naked; they leave the world in the same way, which is without taking any possession along with them (1Tim 6:7). In the life in between, rich and poor “meet” one another, in both daily life and in the church, and always in God’s direct presence. In God’s presence there is no difference. All are sinners and all can be saved.

We can only deal well with all social differences when we all consider that God has made us. He makes no difference and does not prefer the one to the other, precisely because they are “all the work of His hands” (Job 34:19). He urgently warns us by the apostle James in His Word that in the church we should not make a difference between the rich and the poor (Jam 2:1-9).

At the same time the verse makes clear that God has also everything to do with what we possess. We are not only His creation, He also knows how we deal with our wealth or poverty and how we as rich and poor live and deal with one another.

Pro 22:3 | To Escape From Evil or to Be Killed

3 The prudent sees the evil and hides himself,
But the naive go on, and are punished for it.

“The prudent sees the evil” because he lets himself to be instructed by the Word of God and his relationship with Him. A prudent is not a clairvoyant. He who has understanding of God’s Word, sees that the evil comes to the full development in the world. God’s people are also given instructions how to escape from it (Isa 26:20-21).

Noah was warned about the Flood and “in reverence he prepared an ark for the salvation of his household” (Heb 11:7). Because he respected God for what God had revealed to him, he built the ark as a shelter against “the evil”, the judgment, of the Flood. In this way he was saved from the evil and was not killed.

“The naive” are blind to the evil that is about to happen to them, even though they are warned about it. A naive is a careless person, a reckless person: somebody who refuses to see that the warning is about a real danger. He continues his stubbornness without sheltering himself. He is like someone who in a thunderstorm with thunderbolts, just keeps walking through a meadow, blind to the danger that he could be struck down.

The evil can imply death, but also all kinds of disasters can strike one in his life. The prudent knows by the teaching of wisdom where the dangers and traps are in his life and therefore he is alert. He will notice the threatening evil on time and will avoid it or eliminate it. He does that by hiding himself on time and seeking refuge with God.

We can think about an attractive proposal that is being offered to us, from which a great temptation is emanated, in order to lead us on the wrong way. Then we should directly take our refuge in God, for only then we can say ‘no’ to the temptation. The naive will be harmed because they are careless, uncritical and gullible. They are not equipped to survive in this world and in that way to prevent blunders that bring them into troubles.

We can also apply this verse to the gospel. The gospel offers the way of escape to the hiding place against the wrath of God. The prison guard saw the danger of the judgment and saved his life by believing the gospel (Acts 16:25-34).

Pro 22:4 | The Reward of Humility

4 The reward of humility [and] the fear of the LORD
Are riches, honor and life.

Where “the fear of the LORD” is, there is “humility”. These two spiritual qualifications belong together, they are inseparable. Respect for the LORD will lead to a humble mind towards Him and toward men. The spiritual power for a humble attitude towards Him and men can only be found in the respectful relationship with Him. Everything comes forth from the latter.

How special is it then that He rewards humility. But that’s the way He is. The Lord Jesus is the incarnation of this verse. He said of Himself that He is “humble in heart” and that we can learn that from Him if we take His yoke upon ourselves (Mt 11:29). If we are humble it is only because we have learnt that from Him. When God sees the attributes of His Son in His own, it pleases His heart. He rewards it with “riches, honor and life”.

These three rewards are not so much to be understood in earthly perspective, in money and appearance among men and a long life, but are rather to be considered in the spiritual sense. Whoever fears God in humility, receives understanding in spiritual riches; he will be honored by God and will enjoy the real life forever.

Pro 22:5 | Thorns and Snares in the Way

5 Thorns [and] snares are in the way of the perverse;
He who guards himself will be far from them.

The perverse are in a way where there are “thorns and snares”. Due to the thorns he gets injured again and again and due to the snares he gets stuck again and again. The injuries are spiritual. He is avoided and despised by people. The snares are also spiritual. His perverse way delivers him problems in which he gets more and more stuck, without any chance for him to get out of it. Still he does not realize that he is in the wrong way, because he is perverse and does not want to bow to God. Therefore he goes forth in this way which ends in death and the judgment of God.

The opposite of he who is perverse is “he who guards himself”. Such a person will be far from the perverse. In this way he avoids the painful thorns and the suffocating snares. He wants to live his life in fellowship with God, for that is a real life. It does not mean that he cannot get injured and doesn’t have problems, but he knows Him Who takes care of him and helps him.

Pro 22:6 | Counsel For Training

6 Train up a child in the way he should go,
Even when he is old he will not depart from it.

This verse is one of the most familiar verses of this book. It is an exhortation for parents to give their child a good education or training. The word “train up” has the idea of ‘dedicate’, like a house or temple is dedicated. The young man has to be dedicated to God.

The training should be according to “the way he should go”, which means that he should be trained up according to his qualities and capabilities. They should be shaped in such a way that he becomes useful for God. The wise parent will discern the natural ability of the individual child and train him in it. A child that doesn’t have any gift for music, must not be forced to learn to play a musical instrument. The identity of the child must therefore be recognized, so that the parents can adjust the education to it. They should not allow themselves to demand impossible things, but continually give him orders that suit his gender, age, (spiritual) capacity and abilities.

By the way, it seems that in the first place it is about the direction of the way which the child should go and not so much what he is able or not able to. It is about “the way he should go”, about his way of life and the purpose of his life. The way he should go is not so much determined by his gift and capacities, but by the choices that he makes. Parents should teach him to make good choices, choices that bring him and protect him in a way of devotion to God (cf. Gen 18:19). In the book of Proverbs there are only two ways that a child can go, which is the way of the wise and the righteous or the way of the fool and the wicked.

The child must be taught to dedicate his life to the Lord. If he has learnt from his parents at a young age to adjust his choices to that, he will do it also when he is old. We sometimes say: Old habits die hard. The choices we have made for the Lord at a young age have proven again and again how blissful that is. One will never give them up when he becomes old. Besides, the fact that he has become old, is a proof of the blessing of God, for reaching an old age is one of the blessings that are related to trusting in God.

In this verse it is about a general principle, not about a principle that is true in all cases. There are parents who have trained up their children in this way, though one child or some children still have deviated from a way of life to the honor of the Lord. This verse is applied to children that because of their training have chosen for the way of wisdom. Unfortunately, there are also children who despite the training of their parents still choose for the way of the fool. They are fully responsible themselves for that. It will make their punishment heavier which is related to going their own way. They had known better, but have consciously deviated from the way of life.

Pro 22:7-9 | To Borrow, to Sow Iniquity and to Be Generous

7 The rich rules over the poor,
And the borrower [becomes] the lender’s slave.
8 He who sows iniquity will reap vanity,
And the rod of his fury will perish.
9 He who is generous will be blessed,
For he gives some of his food to the poor.

It is generally known that “the rich rules over the poor” (verse 7). A rich man has power because of his money. Poor people are dependent on the favor of the rich man. Ruling doesn’t necessarily go together with harshness. It is about the fact that he who has money, has the power and he who does not have money, is powerless. It is not an order for the rich to rule over the poor, but an observation. Poverty makes people dependent on others.

In practice it is expressed when a poor man has to borrow money. By borrowing money from the rich man, he becomes “the lender’s” slave. The rich man now actually has power over the poor, because the poor owes a debt to him and is obligated to pay it back. If he defaults, the lender can use him as a slave to get the money back that he has lent.

Verse 8 is connected to verse 7. The rich of verse 7 may misuse the blessing that God has given him, by making the poor to be dependent on him and make them to submit themselves to him. By doing so he sows iniquity. But according to the law of reaping what one sows (Gal 6:7; cf. Job 4:8; Hos 10:13), he will “reap vanity”. Any misuse, whether it is of power or something else that God has given, shall be punished by God.

God will make “the rod of his fury” perish, which means that He will destroy the power of those who sow iniquity. The rod, the symbol of the suppressive method which he has used, will perish with him. This is an encouragement for those who are being suppressed.

Verse 9 is the flip side of both of the previous verses. There is a reward for “he who is generous”, which is he who is charitable and gives to the poor. That reward implies being blessed by God. It is here not about the rich who gives from his wealth, but about someone who shares with others what he has. He does not lend, like the rich does (verse 7), but shares his own bread with the poor. He shares with them, without any demand of compensation.

This way of giving is the example of God, Who also gave without any demand of compensation, with His Son as the highest Gift. One who gives like that will therefore be blessed by Him.

The expression, ‘he who is generous’, is literally ‘he who has a good (or ‘bountiful’ or ‘charitable) eye’. It indicates that one sees the need of others and helps unsolicited by giving his own property to the needy one or the one who suffers hardship. This person has a benevolent attitude and concern about the poor. He is a giver like God has meant him to be and in whom He delights (cf. 2Cor 9:7; Lk 14:12-14).

Pro 22:10 | Drive Out the Scoffer

10 Drive out the scoffer, and contention will go out,
Even strife and dishonor will cease.

If “a scoffer” appears somewhere in a group of people, he causes quarrels. He is a professional trouble maker, for he is not able to think orderly and discuss thoughtfully. It is completely out of his will and capability to deliver a contribution to the solution of a problem. The only thing he can do well and what he seeks, is to ridicule everything and everyone, which makes him to be hated by others in any company wherein he finds himself. He ruins the atmosphere.

One should not get into discussion with a scoffer. The only suitable measure to silence him is to put him outside the door and to refuse further access for him to come in. Then he will not be able to take control anymore, so that he cannot bring down the faith of the weak members of God’s people anymore. The maintaining of the scoffer puts a shame on the whole company. If he is sent away, then both the dispute and shame will stop (cf. Tit 3:10; Gen 21:9-10; Gal 4:28-31).

Pro 22:11 | Purity and Grace

11 He who loves purity of heart
[And] whose speech is gracious, the king is his friend.

“Purity of heart” and “graciousness of speech” go hand in hand. Only when someone is born again, when he has converted to God, he can have a pure heart. “Blessed are those who are pure of heart, for they will see God” (Mt 5:8). He who loves purity of heart is related with God by faith, through which the heart has been purified (Acts 15:9). He is in fellowship with Him.

Wherever there is purity of heart, there is also love for kind, gracious speech. The words that one uses and the way he says something, indicate what his heart is set upon; what his heart goes out to. The heart and the words that are characterized by purity and kindness are warmly welcomed by a king. A good king can appreciate that and will gratefully use such a person in his government. He will take him as a confidant, a friend, someone with whom he can share government matters.

The Lord Jesus is especially the King Who appreciates purity of heart and graciousness of speech. These are His features. With those in whom He observes these features, He has a special relationship of confidence. To them He reveals His thoughts and gives them thereby the ability so that they can tell them to those who are His own.

Pro 22:12 | The LORD Preserves and Overthrows

12 The eyes of the LORD preserve knowledge,
But He overthrows the words of the treacherous man.

“The eyes of the LORD” indicate His omniscience, that He sees and sees through everything. He sees the desperate attempts of the enemy to eliminate the “knowledge” about Him all over the world. However, He makes sure that the knowledge about Him will not disappear, but He preserves this knowledge by always giving people who acknowledge Him. Despite all the attempts through the ages, in order to eliminate the Bible and the believers, there has always been the knowledge of God on the earth through Bibles and people whom He has preserved and whom have passed on the knowledge about Him.

“The treacherous man” acts and speaks against the knowledge of God. He does not consider God and acts as if He does not exist. Or he claims that he has the true knowledge of God and drags others with him in the way of apostasy. A treacherous man is someone who has actually heard about the knowledge of God, but becomes apostate. All of his words are overthrown by God, all of his methods of unfaithfulness, both he himself and all who follow him. He himself is being overthrown, while everything he tried to destroy will triumph and last forever (Psa 119:152).

Pro 22:13 | An Excuse of the Sluggard Not to Work

13 The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside;
I will be killed in the streets!”

A sluggard makes up the most ridiculous excuses not to work. He ‘sees’ dangers outside, but does not see the lethal danger of his laziness. The sluggard is too lazy to use his hands, but his brains do work hard. They produce the most absurd thoughts. The sluggard has a strongly working imagination. He would not dare to walk over the street to work. That might kill him, for “there is a lion outside”. He is the only one who sees this lion, for all other people are on the way to go to their work.

That his excuse is absurd and ridiculous does not bother the sluggard. Any claim that there is no lion, is firmly being rejected by him. He has ‘seen’ a lion, so that is enough reason for him not to go outside. A sluggard is a foolish prophet; he prophesies about a vision that only he himself has seen and in which he firmly believes.

Benaiah, one of the heroes of David, was of another kind. He went down to a real lion in a pit, not to be killed, but to kill the lion and in that way to eliminate a danger (2Sam 23:20).

Pro 22:14 | The Mouth Is a Deep Pit

14 The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit;
He who is cursed of the LORD will fall into it.

This is the first time in the section of this book (Proverbs 10:1-22:16) where sexual sin is being dealt with, while on the contrary, in the first section (Proverbs 1-9) it is often and emphatically dealt with. “The adulteress” is the woman apart from one’s own wife. Nobody should allow himself in his heart to have thoughts about sexual contact with an adulteress (Mt 5:28). Here it is specifically about women who seek to seduce a person to commit fornication or adultery.

It is remarkable that this sin always starts with the mouth, which means with the seducing and seductive invitation for fornication or adultery (Pro 2:16; 5:3; 6:24; 7:5; 9:16-17). Her mouth, the words that she speaks and the way that she speaks to seduce a person, is described as “a deep pit” (cf. Psa 5:9). To fall in a deep pit makes us think of a stupid animal that falls into a deep pit which was dug to catch him. He who allows himself to be caught by the words of a harlot, is like a stupid animal (cf. Pro 7:22).

Into this deep pit someone falls “who is cursed of the LORD”. He who gives in to the temptation of an adulteress, doesn’t do that because God has sentenced him to it, but because God’s wrath is upon him due to his sinful way. He has stepped outside the fellowship with God. He who lives in fellowship with God, will not fall into that deep pit (cf. Ecc 7:26).

When someone falls in the deep pit of fornication, it is a result of a life in sin. God’s wrath will not lead him to a life in sin, but it will be upon him because of a life in sin. God will give such a person over to sin (Rom 1:24; Psa 81:11-12). Nobody is destined to fall into sin. We fall into the deep pit because we choose for a way that’s full of deep pits. The mouth of the adulteress is one of them.

He who avoids her, will not be dragged into the deep pit by her with her words. The pit is as the trap of a poacher – it is almost impossible for someone to free himself from it, once he is caught in it. Therefore, if someone gives in to the seducing words of an adulteress, it is both a sin and his punishment.

Pro 22:15 | The Rod Keeps Foolishness at a Distance

15 Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child;
The rod of discipline will remove it far from him.

Children can naturally do foolish things. Parents must take into account that their children are able to do the craziest things and commit the worst sins. The foolishness does not come from the outside but from the inside and is ‘ingrained’ in human nature. Every child is born in sin, which is in it (Psa 51:5). This sinful nature has been passed on by its parents. Parents, who do not consider their child is able to do the worst foolish things, are foolish themselves.

The most loving care does not prevent this foolishness, nor can it correct it. A young man can be such a fool that he does dangerous things, buys wrong things, chooses wrong friends, attends wrong occasions, steals and lies and deceives, reads wrong reading materials, watches pornography, etc. He must certainly be warned about such foolish things. But with only talking, one will not succeed. Discipline is necessary to correct these natural, sinful tendencies and to make the young man to become mature and wise.

A young man will not directly fall into the hands of a harlot. He should be taught at a young age already to clean up his room when his parents tell him to do so. If he does not listen, he should be punished. Then the rod must be used and he should get some slaps on his butt (but not be flogged by losing your temper!). ‘The big stick in reserve’ is necessary to use it in cases that arise.

Eli spared his sons from the rod of discipline; he did not even have an angry look at them, and they got killed (1Sam 3:13). It is better to obey God’s Word than a government that contradicts God’s Word by prohibiting corporal punishment (Acts 5:29). Just take a look at the development of the youth that is raised without discipline.

Pro 22:16 | To Make More and Come to Poverty

16 He who oppresses the poor to make more for himself,
Or who gives to the rich, [will] only [come to] poverty.

The first line of the verse is not easy to understand. How can a poor make more for himself when he is being oppressed and robbed from his property? The most obvious explanation is that it is about spiritual wealth. He who oppresses the poor, seeks to harm him and make him unhappy. But when the poor puts his confidence in God, the oppression will cause him to have a closer fellowship with God, which is true wealth.

The second line of the verse shows the opposite. He who gives to the rich, for example, in order to get in favor with him and to get something done for him, “[will] only [come to] poverty”. Such a person makes himself to be a slave of men. He will therefore get very disappointed in his expectations, based on what he has given to the rich. He loses what he has given to the rich and will not receive what he expects. His spiritual lack is great.

In both cases it is about actions that result in the opposite of the intended purpose. The oppression that the poor undergoes, makes him rich, it draws him to God. Hardships shape a character. Giving something to the rich, in order to get something back from him, shows independence of God. Whoever does that will end up in poverty, both spiritually and materially.

Pro 22:17-21 | Words of Truth Are Excellent Things

17 Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise,
And apply your mind to my knowledge;
18 For it will be pleasant if you keep them within you,
That they may be ready on your lips.
19 So that your trust may be in the LORD,
I have taught you today, even you.
20 Have I not written to you excellent things
Of counsels and knowledge,
21 To make you know the certainty of the words of truth,
That you may correctly answer him who sent you?

In verse 17 a new collection of proverbs begins, which is the fourth part of the book. From Proverbs 10:1 Solomon has passed on more general observations to his son and leaves their application to him. He did that by using verses of two lines with a clear cohesion in a few cases only. Now he proceeds with directly addressing and admonishing his son, as he did in Proverbs 1-9. He changes his way of addressing. We also see here that there are more verses that correspond with each other; there are no more separate verses of two lines, as in the previous part.

The verses 17-21 are an introduction. Solomon exhorts his son to dedicate himself to studying “the words of the wise”. In that way his spiritual life will get a strong basis. He will also be able to give wise counsel to those who ask him for advice. Knowledge is given to us, in order for us to serve with it, so that others may learn from what we have learnt. In that way we can serve our generation according to the will of God. We should thereby consider that the knowledge we gain might be very brilliant, but yet powerless if we do not apply them first ourselves, especially in our own lives (cf. Ezra 7:10).

“Incline your ear” (verse 17) goes further than only listening or paying attention to. It has to do with bowing down in an attitude of humility. The willingness to learn is shown in the humble mind that one shows. He who is humble, can listen to the teaching which contains the words of the wise.

Young people often think that they know everything. One who realizes his need for teaching and is also willing to make efforts to get it, acknowledges his lack of knowledge and the necessity that he needs others to teach him. He will focus his heart on the knowledge that the teacher of wisdom has. He will accept and save the knowledge that this teacher passes on to him within his heart.

The word “for” with which verse 18 begins, indicates that now the motive of the appeal of verse 17 follows. “It will be pleasant” if the son will keep the words of the wise within him. It is about starting a provision of knowledge within the heart. When this knowledge is present, it can also be ready on the lips; words of knowledge can continually be spoken.  “For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart” (Mt 12:34).

In verse 19, the goal of the appeal of verse 17 is given. That appears from the word “so” with which the verse begins. That goal is confidence in the LORD and not in one’s own understanding or capabilities. That is a matter of “today”, and therefore of every day, for every day is today. It is also emphatically addressed personally to the son – thus to everyone personally – because it is taught “you … even you!”.

Without reservation, Solomon calls what he has told and written to his son “excellent things” (verse 20). Are we also convinced in such a way about that? Whether the truths of God’s Word are also ‘excellent things’ to us, appears from the time that we spend on the reading and examining of God’s Word. That also determines what we tell and write to our children about it. The counsels and knowledge that we pass on, will also become ‘excellent things’ when they see in our lives that they are also like that to us.

The father passes on “words of truth” with the conviction of the “certainty” of it (verse 21). This applies to the gospel and to everything that should give guidance in our lives. The Word of God has come to us “with full conviction” (1Thes 1:5) because words of truth, of which there is no doubt about its certainty, have been spoken to us.

The father does not relativize, in contrast to what is often done with the Bible today. Statements from God cannot be considered ‘right’ anymore, for according to many, it is not more than an opinion. One is not allowed to say: ‘This is what the Scripture says’, but one should say: ‘I think that the Scripture says this or that’. Simple, clear statements are presented as vague or difficult to be explained. If God’s Word says that women are to be silent in the church (1Cor 14:34), today interpreters say that it should not be read in such a way.

The Word of God is the only reliable touch stone that has been given to us. Also the form in which the words in God’s Word have been given to us, is reliable. It is the model, the example, to which we should focus and adjust our lives accordingly (Rom 6:14; 2Tim 1:13).

When we are convinced about the reliability of the words that the wise has taught us, and these words are in us, we shall speak words of truth to those who have sent us to somewhere with a certain assignment. People can rely on us. We are faithful in our reporting and we shall not give a better or worse picture than the reality.

The Lord Jesus has sent us into the world with an assignment. The only way for us to carry out that assignment well, is when we are fully convinced about His Word and pass it on, whether it is passing on the gospel to the unbelievers or teaching the local churches. With the words that we have spoken in His assignment, we can go back to Him and say that we have done what He has commanded us to do.

Pro 22:22-23 | The LORD Will Punish Robbing and Crushing

22 Do not rob the poor because he is poor,
Or crush the afflicted at the gate;
23 For the LORD will plead their case
And take the life of those who rob them.

After the impressive introductory words of this new section in Proverbs we may expect a series of new, unknown proverbs. But that is not the case. It is often about matters that have earlier been dealt with in other words, such as the inhuman practices of suppressing the poor and miserable ones.

“The poor” is an easy prey for greedy people (verse 22). The poor cannot protect the little bit that he has. He is helpless when violence is used against him. “The poor” can be falsely accused “at the gate”. The gate is the place of justice (Rth 4:1-2; 2Sam 15:2; 19:8; Job 5:4; Amos 5:15). He has no one to defend him.

The warning of verse 22 is motivated in verse 23. He who robs the poor and crushes him at the gate, will have to deal with the LORD. People may ignore the right of the poor, because they are not able to defend themselves, but they can be sure that there is Someone Who will plead their case, which is the LORD (cf. Psa 72:4; Jer 50:34). And he who robs the poor, just because he is poor, will be judged by the LORD with the same judgment by which they have judged. He will take the life of the robbers.

Pro 22:24-25 | Bad Company Corrupts Good Morals

24 Do not associate with a man [given] to anger;
Or go with a hot-tempered man,
25 Or you will learn his ways
And find a snare for yourself.

The son is warned again about bad company (Pro 1:10-19), this time about someone “[given] to anger” and “hot-tempered” (verse 24). It is here not about a necessary, but about a social relationship. At our work or at school we must associate with such people. We cannot withdraw ourselves from that kind of association. But we can keep distance from those hot-tempered people in our private lives. “A man [given] to anger” is literally ‘a man of heat’. “A hot-tempered man” shows the same character.

Verse 25 gives the motivation for verse 24. The proverb ‘bad company corrupts good morals’ indicates what it means. The father had already mentioned earlier what the contact with different people does do with his son (Pro 13:20). More than superficial contact with someone changes a person. If it is good people, you change for the good. If it is bad people, you change for the bad.

Angry and hot-tempered people get angry at the slightest thing. Any which way they feel to be hurt, will make them to proclaim their dissatisfaction. One can easily copy this hot-temperedness. Through the company with angry and hot-tempered people, one can get used to their hot-temperedness. He gets numb in his feelings because of the rejection by these bad characteristics and starts to accept them and even sympathize with them.

In this way he will find a snare for himself. That means that he will unconsciously behave like that, which makes him speak words and or commit deeds that deserve to be punished. “Bad company corrupts good morals” (1Cor 15:33).

Pro 22:26-27 | Do Not Become a Guarantor for Debts

26 Do not be among those who give pledges,
Among those who become guarantors for debts.
27 If you have nothing with which to pay,
Why should he take your bed from under you?

The warning against becoming a guarantor for someone’s debts and confirming it by giving pledges has already been dealt with earlier (verse 26; Pro 6:1-5; 11:15; 17:18; 20:16). That it has been dealt with repetitively indicates that there is a great danger in doing it. It corresponds with the bad friendships of the two previous verses. He who becomes a guarantor, grossly overestimates himself, for he doesn’t know about the intentions of the other person, and he also doesn’t know whether he is able to fulfill his obligations as a guarantor.

Here it seems to be the case that he becomes a guarantor for a debt which he cannot meet when the other person defaults. We may possibly conclude that from verse 27, where the motivation is given for the warning of verse 26. When the person for whom he has become guarantor cannot pay his debt, he will have to pay it. But he cannot either. Then the creditor comes and takes his last possession, his bed, away. Then he has nothing at all anymore to rest on (cf. Exo 22:26). The spiritual application is that he will have no rest anymore.

Pro 22:28 | Do Not Move the Ancient Boundaries

28 Do not move the ancient boundary
Which your fathers have set.

The boundary (stone) has also already been dealt with (Pro 15:25). Now something is said in the context of the distribution of land which has been fixed in the past. It is about “the ancient boundary”. That refers to the boundary (stones) which were originally fixed by the “fathers”, by which piece of land was marked and given to each tribe in the country (Joshua 15-19). Moses already speaks about it even before the people arrived in the land, so that when the people came into the land, they should not move the boundary of their neighbor (Deu 19:14; 27:17; Isa 5:8; Hos 5:10).

This had to be said because there might have been somebody, driven by greed, who would have the nerve to move the boundary which marked the separation between his land and that of his neighbor. By moving this boundary stone somewhat further on the land of his neighbor he appropriated a piece of land which was his neighbor’s. The land of his neighbor became smaller and his became larger. This was a matter of land grabbing. Besides, it was a disrespectful act toward his ancestors.

A clear example of land grabbing is what Ahab did with the land of Naboth which bordered his land (1Kgs 21:1-22). Naboth absolutely did not want to sell his land by any means, because he appreciated his land so much as a family property. He speaks to Ahab about “the inheritance of my fathers” (1Kgs 21:3). Ahab, however, did not respect it, but robbed it from Naboth, by having him stoned at the advice of his thoroughly corrupted wife Jezebel.

Modern forms of moving boundaries are the equation of man and woman, while God has clearly made them differently and has given them a different position in life. Moving boundaries is also the equation of cohabitation with a marriage, as well as the equation of marriage between two men or two women with the marriage as God has instituted, which is between a man and a woman.

Pro 22:29 | He Who Is Skilled in His Work

29 Do you see a man skilled in his work?
He will stand before kings;
He will not stand before obscure men.

Solomon is asking his son whether he has seen a man “skilled in his work”. It seems to indicate that such people are very rare. One has to look for them. It is someone who is active and diligent and also capable. He uses his time and talents optimally, with great effort and with wisdom. He will end up in the right environment, where his skill and expertise will be appreciated, which is “standing before kings”.

He will not stand before “obscure men”. It is not about putting himself above those men, but those men are living a corrupted standard of life. His skills would only reinforce them in their corruptness. He is a noble man with a noble profession and a noble mind, which is absolutely not to be found in the company of such a low kind.

Kings eagerly make use of his services, for such people do deliver an essential contribution to the glory and advancement of their kingdom. Joseph and Daniel are examples of people who were skilled in their work and were standing before kings. It is to be desired that we as believers can also be used by the Lord Jesus in such a way. Then He will say to us, when we come to Him: “Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master” (Mt 25:21,23). Do we still see people who are skilled in the work of the Lord? Are we ourselves like that?

Proverbs 23

Pro 23:1-3 | Dining With a Ruler

1 When you sit down to dine with a ruler,
Consider carefully what is before you,
2 And put a knife to your throat
If you are a man of [great] appetite.
3 Do not desire his delicacies,
For it is deceptive food.

Solomon warns his son to consider when he is invited by a ruler to dine with him (verse 1). He may be flattered to be invited by the ruler. He may also be deceived by the richly filled table with the delicious food that makes one’s mouth water at the sight of it. But he should not look at ‘what’ is set before him, but at “who” is before him, the ruler.

With that in mind, he should ‘put a knife to his throat’ (verse 2). That especially applies when he is “a man of great appetite”. Eating delicious food is not wrong, but the lust for it is. The food that is before him looks very attractive. Added to this, is that he is hungry and would immediately want to start eating. The father knows the risk of one losing his control and starting to eat greedily. In that case one is a double prisoner. He is a prisoner of his greed and a prisoner of the ruler. He didn’t control himself in the presence of the ruler.

Therefore the admonition to the son is that he ‘should put a knife to his throat’, which means as much as ‘control your appetite’ or ‘control yourself’. It implies that you threaten your gluttony with death. The admonition is that you’d better put a knife to your throat than into the meat on the table. It comes down to what the Bible calls self-judgment. The Lord Jesus calls on us to do that when He speaks about tearing out the eye and cutting off the hand, as soon as we are tempted to do something bad or to look at something bad (Mt 5:29-30; 18:8-9; 1Cor 9:24-27).

The reason for the warning and admonition of verses 1-2 is given in verse 3. The “delicacies” are a bait to make him do something for him or to get some information from him or to ensure himself of his help. Therefore, he should not have desire for them, “for it is deceptive food”. He is not invited for the meal because he is such an important person, but it is to get him in a good mood so that he can make him do something for him. So there are selfish motives behind the invitation.

Therefore he, as it is said, should not consider what (tasty food) is before him, but who is before him. Because Eve did not consider who was before her and only considered what was before her, sin came into the world (Gen 3:1-6). Because we are not better and it is also for us a great temptation to accept such an invitation and start to consume such a meal with great appetite, it is necessary that we pray for protection, like David did (Psa 141:4).

We can also apply ‘deceptive food’ to false teachings on God’s Word. False teachers can present their false teachings about God in a ‘tasty’ way. It sounds for instance very attractive that God is love and that He would not be so merciless to send someone to hell so that he will be in eternal torment. This false teaching is very ‘tasty’ to many people who in that way take into their heart the false teaching of the ‘universalism’ through which they are getting poisoned in their mind.

Pro 23:4-5 | Wealth Has Wings

4 Do not weary yourself to gain wealth,
Cease from your consideration [of it].
5 When you set your eyes on it, it is gone.

For [wealth] certainly makes itself wings like an eagle that flies [toward] the heavens.
Wealth has the same attraction as the food on the table of a ruler in the previous verses. Wealth is as deceptive as the food on the table of the ruler. Therefore wealth is also to be dealt with very carefully. The warning is that one should not weary himself to gain wealth (verse 4). He who wearies himself for it, will be ensnared by it and be controlled by it. So it is about desiring to gain wealth. He who desires to gain wealth, runs great risks (1Tim 6:9-10).

We can imagine that the son is young and ambitious. He has many capacities and sees a lot of challenges. But the father tells him that he should not use his “consideration” to summarize all kinds of profits that make wealth worthy of making efforts. Let him cease to search for good reasons to do something that is bad.

The reality is that just as quick as his “eyes are set on” the wealth, it also “flies” away (verse 5). Solomon uses a play of words with the word fly. The eyes fly and wealth flies. Just as quick as the eyes fly, wealth quickly flies away. Wealth flies with the speed of “an eagle that flies to heaven”. You are the loser, without any possibility to take back the wealth. A wrong speculation, a bank that goes bankrupt, a thief that robs, and you lose your whole fortune at once.

The warning that Solomon gives his son and makes us hear, is not a warning against diligence and zeal, but against the love for money, against materialism with its dangers, the greed for more prosperity. It is better to use our power to collect treasures in heaven (Mt 6:19-20). We could also better, in following Paul, give all our powers to the work for the Lord. By setting our priorities, we show what we use our ‘considerations’ for.

Pro 23:6-8 | Hypocritical Hospitality

6 Do not eat the bread of a selfish man,
Or desire his delicacies;
7 For as he thinks within himself, so he is. He says to you,
“Eat and drink!”
But his heart is not with you.
8 You will vomit up the morsel you have eaten,
And waste your compliments.

It is a mistake to accept the hospitality of a greedy man (verse 6). You can watch him being angry at every bite that you take. The literal translation of “a selfish man” is ‘an evil eye’ – see the contrast with “he who is generous” (Pro 22:9), which is someone with a ‘bountiful eye’; see the comment on Proverbs 22:9. This miser is uncivilized and inhospitable. You shouldn’t desire to eat with him from “his delicacies”, however much it makes your mouth water when you see the menu. There is really nothing delicious about eating with such a person.

The man you’re eating with is not what he pretends to be (verse 7). While you’re eating, he is calculating what the expenses are for what you’re eating. It burns a hole in his riches. He may invite you to “eat and drink”, but not with great joy; he doesn’t really mean it; he is stingy. He is doing it reluctantly. Inwardly, he is not connected with you, while a meal should actually express fellowship, shouldn’t it? He pays more attention to how much you eat – and in that way he is calculating how much it costs him – rather than whether you enjoy it.

As the meal goes on, the face of the host is clouding over, which causes your appetite to become less (verse 8). His lack of sincerity will finally destroy your appetite in such a way that you spit everything out that you have already eaten. And oh, how much will you regret your pleasant words. You have expressed your appreciation about the invitation and praised your host for his good taste. But it has all been a waste, for the man seems to be a miser who has only been watching you with a grudge while you were eating.

Pro 23:9 | Don’t Waste Wise Words on a Fool

9 Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
For he will despise the wisdom of your words.

It is absolutely no use speaking wise words to an incorrigible fool. It is not because he would not understand what you are saying, nor is it because he would listen badly or that he would not even listen. It is much worse. It is not a matter of ignorance or misconduct, but of despising such words. A fool despises wisdom and therefore it is a waste of time trying to say anything prudent to him.

Words of wisdom will be considered by him as a correction and therefore an attack on his engagements. In that way he refuses to be confronted in any way. He will reveal himself as an enemy to it and turn himself against you.

What Solomon says here to his son, is in accordance with what the Lord Jesus says to His disciples: “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces” (Mt 7:6).

Pro 23:10-11 | Honoring the Property of the Powerless

10 Do not move the ancient boundary
Or go into the fields of the fatherless,
11 For their Redeemer is strong;
He will plead their case against you.

Again the wisdom teacher points out to respect the rights of others concerning their property (verse 10; Pro 22:28). This time he warns against the moving of the “ancient boundary” that has set the boundaries clear of the area of the fatherless. He who moves them, commits a breach on their property. “Do not go into the fields of the fatherless” means that nobody is allowed to go into the fields with hostile intentions, that is with the intention to move the boundary and in that way to rob a part of their fields.

Verse 11 makes clear why it is wise not to commit land robbery and certainly not of the powerless orphans. Whoever does that, will have to deal with Someone Who defends those who have no earthly father whom they can rely on and who defends them. They have a “Redeemer” Who is “strong” (Jer 50:34).

He will plead their case and plead against their offenders by bringing them to trial and judging them. He is Goel, the Savior, the Helper (Psa 10:14), for those who cannot rely on anyone for help (Job 19:25). Widows and orphans stand as the powerless ones under the direct care of God (Psa 68:5; 82:3; 146:9; Hos 14:4).

Pro 23:12 | A Renewed Call to Listen

12 Apply your heart to discipline
And your ears to words of knowledge.

This proverb or admonition addressed to the son is again an introductive admonition and reminds him of the way in which many sections in the first main section, Proverbs 1-9, begin (Pro 1:8; 2:1; 3:1; 4:1; 5:1; 6:20; 7:1; 8:1-6). Also the section of the words of the wise begins with it (Pro 22:17). The son must open his heart for admonition and listen well to the knowledge that is given by his father and mother. It is an activity that is expected from the son.

“Apply” is a deed, an activity which is asked. One should apply it himself. Thereby it is not about a physical movement, but his heart and ear should apply. Thus it is not patiently waiting to see whether something happens, a certain feeling or such. The heart and the ear should turn away from everything with which they are occupied in order to devote themselves to the teaching of wisdom.

Pro 23:13-14 | Discipline Is Necessary

13 Do not hold back discipline from the child,
Although you strike him with the rod, he will not die.
14 You shall strike him with the rod
And rescue his soul from Sheol.

After the word has been addressed to the son in verse 12, the word is addressed now to the parents in verses 13-14. Up to now there have been two admonitions about the use of a rod for correction (Pro 13:24; 22:15) and one reference for not using it with a possible consequence of death (Pro 19:18). Now both kinds of admonitions are brought together.

When a son, a young man, commits a kind of disobedience, he should be admonished (verse 13). That can happen orally, but sometimes it is necessary that he not only hears, but also feels that he has been disobedient. Then he has to be struck with the rod. It has been noticed earlier (see comment at Pro 22:15), that one should not just simply beat. It is the intention that he is to be confronted with his sin in a painful way. Sin always causes pain. He will not die from it, but on the contrary remain to live, which means in the life as God has intended and which gives the greatest satisfaction.

The application of physical discipline must be done by the parent himself (verse 14). He should not leave it to someone else. By disciplining him, the parent indicates that he is personally involved with the well-being of his son. He does not discipline him because he is better. He himself also needed that discipline and it had benefited him.

It is not cruel to strike the young man with the rod; on the contrary it is cruel not to. A child that has never been disciplined becomes in most cases unmanageable in his contact with others. He who has never felt the pain of the rod of correction, is often cruel, without any compassion towards others. He will end in death, in Sheol and in eternal pain. He will die prematurely as a result of a lack of education. The use of the rod of correction could have saved his life from it and he could have lived a valuable and blissful life.

Pro 23:15-16 | Wisdom Causes Gladness

15 My son, if your heart is wise,
My own heart also will be glad;
16 And my inmost being will rejoice
When your lips speak what is right.

The verses 15-16 continue with the subject of the two previous verses. The choice that a child makes is just as important as the discipline of the parents. The discipline saves his life, but he has to do something with his life. The greatest care of the father is that he teaches him wisdom. The admonition with the use of the rod is a part of it.

The father tells his son that his heart will rejoice when the heart of his son is wise (verse 15). He has done his best to teach him wisdom and thereby used the rod in case it was necessary. It is now the son’s turn to speak. What a joy will it be for the heart of the father when his son demonstrates to have a wise heart by making good choices. The wise heart of the son causes his father to have a glad heart. There is a unity of heart. A son only has a wise heart when he lives in fellowship with God. The father emphasizes the gladness of his father’s heart by adding “my own heart”.

Beside the wise choices that the son makes, it also seems that his heart is wise because he speaks with his lips “what is right” (verse 16). He will speak in a right way about subjects that are important and in that way deliver an essential contribution to the realization of a plan or the solution of a problem. His words also demonstrate wisdom and understanding in the complexity of life. That wisdom and that understanding do not come from below, but from above (Jam 3:13,17). It is wisdom which “is vindicated by all her children” (Lk 7:35), which means that wisdom becomes apparent in the life of these children, from what they show and hear.

The father cannot control his joy when he hears his son speaking like that. He expresses his deep joy about it by talking about “the rejoicing” of his “inmost”. The inmost, symbolically represents, together with the heart, the deepest, the most inward emotions (cf. Job 19:27; Psa 7:9; 16:7; 26:2; Jer 11:20). This equals what the old apostle John says, that he “was very glad”, that it is his deepest joy, when he hears that his (spiritual) children “walk in the truth” (2Jn 1:4; cf. 1Thes 2:19-20).

What makes us glad as parents? Is it when we can show them off because of their nice diplomas, their good position in society or even in the church? When they are healthy and talented? Those things are not wrong, but if that is our joy, we are a level too low. The only thing that should be important is that they have a living relationship with the Lord and that they live out of that relationship. That gives a joy that never disappears.

Pro 23:17-18 | The Fear of the LORD Gives Hope

17 Do not let your heart envy sinners,
But [live] in the fear of the LORD always.
18 Surely there is a future,
And your hope will not be cut off.

The verses 17-18 tell about a risk that threatens the youngster which can make him to forsake wisdom, but they also tell him in which way he can keep it and what it delivers to him. When he lets his heart envy sinners (verse 17), wisdom will be driven out. Wisdom remains in the heart, only if in it “[lives] … the fear of the LORD always”.

In the second line of the verse no verb is used – the word ‘live’ is between brackets – which means that the thought of the first line of the verse continues. The thought is that the first line of the verse warns the son about not to being jealous of the sinners and the second line of the verse exhorts him to be jealous about the fear of the LORD. The contrast is between a wrong and a good jealousy. The wrong jealousy is sin, the good jealousy is a spiritual exercise.

Being jealous of the sinners is the result of a comparison between what they have and what he can perform or afford (Psa 73:3-5). That jealousy stands opposite to confidence and always comes forth from distrusting God. It is a lack of confidence in God, that He does not give what you need. It implies a doubt about God and His love. Therefore it is important to be jealous about the fear of the LORD always. If you do that, if you focus yourself on possessing it, you are able to accept your fate with joy as something that He gives to you. You can then count on His blessing and trust in His promises, always and all days.

The word “surely” with which verse 18 begins, refers to what has been said previously. For the sinners there is no future. It is therefore foolish to envy them. There is actually a future for him who always fears the LORD. He who lives in relationship with Him, does not need to be jealous of anyone. Therefore, the way one looks forward to the future, depends on the fear of the LORD. He is the One Who gives hope.

The Hebrew word for hope is tiqvah which literally means ‘robe’. This word is used for the robe that Rahab had to tie in the window (Jos 2:17-18). This robe was the symbol of the hope that she had of being spared when Jericho would be taken in. Hope is what connects us with the eternity of God. Therefore it cannot ever be cut off, while the hope of sinners is actually being cut off, for that hope is based on something outside of God and is therefore by definition without any basis.

Pro 23:19 | Again the Call to Listen

19 Listen, my son, and be wise,
And direct your heart in the way.

The father again addresses his son emphatically with the words “my son”. It is about you, my son, whom I loved to see going a way which is to the honor of God. There is no end to becoming wise on earth. He who is wise, surely wants to become wiser and wiser. One of the characteristics of one who is wise, is the awareness of the necessity to grow continuously in wisdom. He who says that he is perfect in wisdom, lies and is limitlessly proud.

Listening is the basis to become wise. He who listens can become wise. Listening indicates the attitude of the pupil. The son is a pupil. The direction of the heart inseparably goes together with it. The heart should not be directed in one’s own way, but “in the way” of the LORD or of wisdom. All wisdom that we learn, is intended for us to go the right way, the way of wisdom, which is no other than the way of the LORD. It is the way of life in which everything happens under His authority and to His honor.

Pro 23:20-21 | Bad Company

20 Do not be with heavy drinkers of wine,
[Or] with gluttonous eaters of meat;
21 For the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty,
And drowsiness will clothe [one] with rags.

The father warns his son urgently not to get into the company of heavy drinkers and gluttonous eaters (verse 20). These people have no limits. They represent a group of people who are characterized by a dramatic lack of self-control. They are powerless and characterless addicts. It is a company which the son must avoid. When he maintains a friendly contact with them, it will have a negative influence on his view of drunkenness and gluttony.

Excessive drinking and eating are as a matter of fact often symptoms of deeper problems. It is known of alcohol that it is especially a ‘solvent’. It is used to diminish or forget sorrow and tensions temporarily (cf. Pro 31:6-7). It applies also to eating. The problems do not drive someone to God, but to drink and food. Heavy drinkers and gluttonous eaters are keeping God out of their lives.

Verse 21 begins with the word “for”, which means that now the reason for the warning of the previous verse follows. The heavy drinker and the gluttonous eater waste their money to their addiction. Their drink and food bring them to financial bankruptcy. They are often deeply in debt. They also drag their families into ruin. The drowsiness in which they continuously live, can be seen on their faces. They clothe themselves “with rags”, for every penny goes to drink and food and is not spent on the repair of their clothes.

We can also apply the ‘rags’ spiritually. Heavy drinkers and gluttonous eaters live a ‘ragged’ life. First it is a ragged life in the sense of a double life. As long as they can hide their addiction, they live two lives, a life with two faces. But their whole life is torn into countless pieces when they cannot hide their addiction anymore. That happens when they cannot do their work properly anymore and are fired or when creditors knock at their door because they do not meet their financial obligations anymore.

Pro 23:22-25 | Honor and Rejoice Your Father and Mother

22 Listen to your father who begot you,
And do not despise your mother when she is old.
23 Buy truth, and do not sell [it],
[Get] wisdom and instruction and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice,
And he who sires a wise son will be glad in him.
25 Let your father and your mother be glad,
And let her rejoice who gave birth to you.

Soon after verse 19, the appeal to the son to listen is to be heard again in verse 22. Now it is added that he should listen to his father because the father begot him. The son should listen to his father because he owes his natural life to him. In that way the biological relationship is not emphasized that much, but the emphasis is on a deep human relationship. A father should be aware of the great privilege that he had been allowed to beget a son and at the same time the great responsibility (which is also a privilege) to teach his son about the fear of the LORD as the beginning of wisdom.

It is one of the great dramas of this time that more and more children have just a biological father. They have entirely no human relationship with him, let alone a deep human relationship, and not to mention anything at all about the task of teaching the fear of God. It is simply shocking to hear that a father is trying to get into contact with his son via face book whom he’d never taken care of, because he went off with another woman. After ten years the son suddenly receives a request via face book from his father whether he would want to be ‘his friend’. I leave the imagination about the response of the son to the reader.

Solomon also has a word about the mother to his son. The son is not to despise her “when she is old”. Not to despise means to have deep respect. Nowadays children know a lot more than their parents. They also often have more capabilities. The intellectual knowledge of the parents remains far behind that of the children and also their physical strength will be decreasing. Age-related diseases can enter into their lives by which the mother has to be taken care of.

The danger is great that the counsel of an old mother can be despised by a child. It takes time to visit her; and with the little time that he’s got left, he may want to spend it for his own benefit. And when on top of that she wants to give him some advice about what he should do, it will certainly not make him happy. Such a child shows great ingratitude and insensitiveness for the many years that his mother has spent on him. She has been there for him all the time.

The admonition not to despise the mother must still be heard strongly today. If the son is a wise son, he will continue to have deep respect for her, because of her efforts for him for example. Because of her care it could be that he has achieved what he is now. It is a reason to remain listening to his mother. Not that she must go on telling him what to do and what not to do in a way that she did in earlier days. The point is that children should continue to listen to the experiences of life through which she has been with God. Children still have to go through those experiences. It would be wise for them to honor her by listening to her. She speaks through her words and through her life.

The first expression of honoring the parents is by following them in holding on to the truth. Therefore the exhortation to buy truth and not to sell it follows in verse 23. He who wants to have something, buys it and pays the price asked. He who sells something, prefers to have the money above what he is selling. He who buys the truth and does not sell it, is willing to pay the purchase price, no matter how high the price is and he will not sell it again by any means, no matter how much is offered to him to buy it. It is not about a desire to buy the truth, but to actually buy it for the price worth paying.

The truth is not a certain doctrine, but it consists of “wisdom, instruction and understanding”. These things are more valuable in life than any material prosperity and are necessary to make life worth living on earth. Its value is eternal and is related to the knowledge of God in Christ. The ‘purchase price’ is the time that we invest and the means that we purchase in order to learn to know more about the truth. Buying also means that we come to Christ and ask him to grant us wisdom, instruction and understanding through His Spirit (cf. Rev. 3:18).

The valuation for the truth which appears from the purchase, makes the parents happy. Verses 24-25 describe the great joy of parents whose son reveals himself as a righteous and wise man. The father will “greatly rejoice” (verse 24). It indicates again that he has “begotten” him (verse 22), which emphasizes the close relationship. It is the son who has descended from him. He had begotten him to make him a wise son.

In verse 25 it is said to the son that he has to make sure that both his father and mother will rejoice. That will be the case when they see that he desires to go his way with the LORD. The father has begotten him, the mother has given birth to him. They have raised him together. When they see that their education has the effect that they fervently desired, they will have great joy (cf. 2Jn 1:4; 3Jn 1:4). Children have to be made aware that they will be a joy to their parents by living a Godly life.

Pro 23:26-28 | Two Ways

26 Give me your heart, my son,
And let your eyes delight in my ways.
27 For a harlot is a deep pit
And an adulterous woman is a narrow well.
28 Surely she lurks as a robber,
And increases the faithless among men.

Solomon is asking his son to give him his heart. By that he means that the son must pay full attention to the teachings that he is giving to him. Thereby the father also points to his own ways, to his conduct, by which he is an example to be followed (cf. 1Cor 4:16; 11:1; Phil 3:17; 1Thes 1:6). He does not appeal now to his ears to listen, but to his eyes to see. Let him pay attention to the ways of his father. He is not supposed to just look, but to let his eyes “delight” in his ways like something attractive.

In verse 26 the father urgently addressed and exhorted his son to pay attention to his ways, follow him in his ways and to delight in his ways. In verse 27 the reason follows, which is indicated by the word “for”. His urgent appeal is connected with the sexual dangers that are threatening the son. When he gives his heart to his father and pays attention to the ways of his father, his heart will not be attracted to “a harlot” or “an adulterous woman” and his eyes will not be focused on her.

The father warns him about two kinds of women. The “harlot” is the prostitute, the woman who offers herself to enter into sexual filthiness with her – of course for payment. The “adulterous woman” is the married woman who just wants something different. Today both kinds of women also offer their services via internet and commercials.

The father calls the harlot “a deep pit” and the adulterous woman “a narrow well”. If the son will make contact with the one, he will sink to a very low level, and if he makes contact with the other, he will get into deep trouble. He will never be able to get himself out of the pit or the well. The pit and the well are a gate of hell. Only by Divine intervention in mercy and power it is possible to get liberated from the pit and the well.

Verse 28 underlines that the son is dealing with a danger which is not only lurking, but that it is actually active. As it is said, the woman is offering her services. Therefore “she lurks like a robber”. The word “surely” which he uses prior to that, must add emphasis to his remark. Surely, that’s how it is, and nothing else. In Proverbs 7 the father described the way of the harlot extensively and also her depravity. (It’s a good thing to read that chapter again). Here he repeats it briefly.

Every man that she persuades to commit fornication with her “increases the faithless among men”. It means that her victims show ‘faithlessness’ to God’s institution of marriage and are also faithless to their own marital relationship. She also causes people to commit all kinds of other forms of faithlessness such as lying, stealing, killing somebody, committing suicide.

Pro 23:29-35 | The Disastrous Consequences of Drunkenness

29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has contentions? Who has complaining?
Who has wounds without cause?
Who has redness of eyes?
30 Those who linger long over wine,
Those who go to taste mixed wine.
31 Do not look on the wine when it is red,
When it sparkles in the cup,
When it goes down smoothly;
32 At the last it bites like a serpent
And stings like a viper.
33 Your eyes will see strange things
And your mind will utter perverse things.
34 And you will be like one who lies down in the middle of the sea,
Or like one who lies down on the top of a mast.
35 “They struck me, [but] I did not become ill;
They beat me, [but] I did not know [it].
When shall I awake?
I will seek another drink.”

Directly connected to the warning against fornication in verses 26-28, a warning follows against drunkenness. This subject has already been dealt with briefly in verses 20-21 by the wise man. Drunkenness is closely related to fornication (Rev 17:2) and also very easily leads to fornication (verse 33). The wise man pictures the picture of a drunken man vividly and sparks one’s imagination.

He begins with six questions (verse 29), to which questions he lets the answers follow in verse 30. In verse 31 he has an advice, while in verse 32 he shows the consequences in case his advice is not followed. In verses 33-34 he addresses his son directly. He concludes his description in verse 35 with words that come out of the mouth of the drunk himself.

The drunk is someone who cries out “woe” and “sorrow” because he feels terrible (verse 29). The woe and sorrow may also refer to what he causes to others by his drunkenness, like his family. The drink makes him a person who causes quarrels, a hoodlum. When he comes out of his drunkenness, he “complains”, because he feels miserable. The wounds he has, happened during his drunkenness, whether by a fight or by hurting himself at stumbling again and again while he was waddling or bumped against something. Those are “wounds without cause”, for he would not have had those wounds had he not been drunk. Because of his drunkenness he cannot see clearly anymore, for he has bloodshot eyes, which makes him to have a blurred and double eyesight.

The answer in verse 30 to the six questions in verse 29 is short and also telling. The drunks are described here as people “who linger long over wine” and “who go to taste mixed wine”. They do not drink just a glass at their meal, but the wine fills their life. They go on drinking until the early hours of the morning. Of course the taste of mixed wine is a part of it. That increases the pleasure of drinking.

Drunks have no idea of time and responsibility. They are spineless people. They don’t care about the fact that they have to be on time for work the next morning. They don’t care about home. They are drunk and therefore not able to think about responsibilities.

The father advises the son not to look on the wine “when it sparkles in the cup” (verse 31), which means when the wine has a special attraction to him. That can be when you’re in a miserable situation, or when you’re facing a great disappointment. Then a special temptation can emanate from wine to drink it. Therefore the urgent advice is not to look at it. If you do, you will see how attractive it is. Your resistance against it will melt away like snow in the sun. When you touch the glass with your lips, you will experience how easily it flows inside the mouth.

But he should thereby consider that the short pleasure will end with the bite of a serpent and the poison of a viper (verse 32). He will “at last” be destroyed by it. Nobody gives himself over to wine when he thinks for a moment what the end shall be. His co-drinkers will not tell him. They offer the first glass to him. When he does not accept it, they will laugh at him. Therefore he accepts the glass and empties it. It indeed goes down easily and it tastes excellent. It turns out that his whole human dignity is being torn down.

In verses 33-34 the father addresses his son directly. He has to watch out that drunkenness can cause his boundaries to fade away and may easily lead him to fornicate and utter perverse things (verse 33). His drunken mind does not realize anymore that he is married. His eyes are filled with adultery, and because he has no sense of values anymore, he comes to the disgusting deed of adultery. The language that he speaks is of the very same filthy caliber. The most disgusting things are coming out unrestrained from his heart.

The drunken son will then be totally insensitive to what is happening to him (verse 34). A drunk has no idea about what he‘s doing, where he is nor where he’s going to. He may find himself in the middle of the sea, in a heavy storm, but totally does not take notice of the fact that he can just simply drown. He is like a sleeping man that doesn’t realize anything. Or he can find himself on the top of a mast on which he is bouncing back and forth, which causes him to make a fatal fall without him being aware of this danger. Here also he is like a sleeping man who has no idea of anything. He is strolling around the street and turning around in his own vomit without being aware of it (Isa 28:7-8; cf. Psa 107:26-27).

The drunk knows that he has been struck, but does not know by whom he was struck (verse 35). It didn’t make him to get ill and he is therefore not bed ridden. He has even been beaten with very hard blows, but he did not feel anything. How sweet it is to be drunk! Anything can happen to you, but it doesn’t bother you at all. He wants to go on with this life. He is incorrigible; he wants to remain drunk and therefore numb to the misery. Therefore when he is awake, he will grab at his big comforter again, the bottle, (Isa 56:12; 5:11). What a tragedy!

Proverbs 24

Pro 24:1-2 | Don’t Be Envious of Evil Men

1 Do not be envious of evil men,
Nor desire to be with them;
2 For their minds devise violence,
And their lips talk of trouble.

The father warns his son that he should “not be envious of evil men” (verse 1). He should not desire “to be with them”, for they are bad company (cf. Pro 1:10-19; 3:31; 23:17). The envy here goes further than only a feeling or an expression. It is about a desire to be with evil people because of their apparent prosperity. The son is not supposed to be jealous of it, nor to want it. Jealousy is a hateful and grudging notion of the prosperity of another person.

The feeling or expression of bitterness or indignation about an (alleged) dishonest treatment, can be a result of jealousy: why does the other person have the prosperity and I do not? Anyway, it is one’s dissatisfaction about his own circumstances, a dissatisfaction which is a result of comparing with others, while God is not involved in the circumstances or is kept outside the circumstances. Envy is a characteristic of men who are narrow-minded.

The word “for” with which verse 2 begins, indicates that the reason for the warning of verse 1 follows. Bad people are obsessed with violence. “Their minds” devise “violence”. “Their lips” talk about what is in their mind, which is nothing else than “trouble”. They speak words that they only desire to cause trouble and disaster to others. They owe their apparent prosperity to the destruction that they have devised in their hearts and to the words of trouble which they have spoken. If the son is aware of that, he will not be so stupid to join them, will he?

Pro 24:3-4 | Building a House and Filling the Rooms

3 By wisdom a house is built,
And by understanding it is established;
4 And by knowledge the rooms are filled
With all precious and pleasant riches.

The verses 3-4 form a whole. They deal with the construction of a house, its establishment and the things the rooms are filled with. To build a good house, building it on the right foundation and to decorate it tastefully, we need “wisdom”, “understanding” and “knowledge”. At the same time, the use of these words indicates that it is not just about building a stone house with rooms that are decorated with furniture.

The house especially makes us think of a family which lives in it. “Wisdom” is necessary to start a family (verse 3). The happiness of a family depends more on the mutual relationships than on the stones and the brickwork. Only by the wisdom of God, there can be good relationships between the family members. In that way a house will arise which has been built correctly.

“Understanding” is important for the foundation. This means that God’s Word is the basis of the functioning of each family member. The understanding that each member of the family is different than every other member and the kind of the differences – such as gender, age, disposition – allow the members to be themselves. There is no need for anyone to pretend to be better or to exert pressure on anyone to have things done in his or her way. In that way tensions are also prevented.

The “knowledge” of the capacity which each member had been given by God, will promote them to work with those capacities (verse 4). In that way everyone can deliver his or her valuable contribution and also be stimulated to do so. In that way “the rooms are filled with precious and pleasant riches”. Precious and pleasant riches are such as love and solidarity, safety and security, acceptance of who you are and to be there for one another. Children who grow up in an atmosphere of love and security, grow up to be loving and peaceful individuals.

We can also apply this to the local church, which we can also see as a family. Wise believers with understanding and knowledge will do their best to allow each believer to take the place which the Holy Spirit has given to him or her (1Cor 12:4).

Pro 24:5-6 | Strength and Victory by Wisdom

5 A wise man is strong,
And a man of knowledge increases power.
6 For by wise guidance you will wage war,
And in abundance of counselors there is victory.

The building of the family that verses 3-4 is talking about, demands power and wisdom (verse 5; Ecc 7:19; 9:15-16). In the natural life a wise man knows how to carry a burden which is many times heavier than one man can carry, with certain means. In the spiritual life it is not about physical power, but about the power of wisdom. That power is present in those who live with Christ, the Source of wisdom.

“A wise man” is also “a man of knowledge”. When it comes down to the use of the powers that wisdom gives, one needs the knowledge of the circumstances. “A man of knowledge” knows the will of God, which he wants to do. He knows how and when to use his power in the right way. Wisdom to make the right choice and the knowledge of the will of God go hand in hand (1Cor 1:9-11).

The word “for” with which verse 6 begins, indicates the significance of the power of wisdom and knowledge. We should be aware that we live in a spiritual war zone and are involved in a spiritual fight. That fight is raging especially around the families of the believers. Wise counsel for this spiritual war is needed more than ever.

A wise man is not stubborn and does not figure everything out all by himself alone. He knows the meaning and value of “wise guidance” from others, from “an abundance of counselors”. Misplaced self-confidence or confidence in his own means or power are out of the question with him. God has given us to each other as members of His people. We ask Him for guidance and we also ask our brothers and sisters who live with Him for guidance, which we see in their obedience to and knowledge of God’s Word.

After we have asked for guidance, we must “wage war” for our own sakes. In the everyday life we are not surrounded by our brothers and sisters, but by a hostile world. The world wants to take away everything from us what we desire to set apart for God, such as our family and our properties. We will face all kinds of hindrances on our way, which can cause destruction in our family by taking control over our children. This can happen by, for example, teachings at schools and/or decisions from the politics that are in opposition to God’s Word. Impulsivity, naivety and decisiveness lead to defeat. A victorious life is the result of profound counsel, good consideration and wisely combatting.

Pro 24:7 | Wisdom Is Too Exalted For a Fool

7 Wisdom is [too] exalted for a fool,
He does not open his mouth in the gate.

The proud, hardened fool cannot acquire any wisdom. All wisdom whatsoever, is inaccessible for him. Wisdom is far beyond his capacity. He will never be able to give any wise counsel and therefore we should not ask him for counsel ever. For that reason, he is not to be given any chance to open his mouth in the gate. The gate is the place where the town authorities discuss problems and make decisions (Pro 31:23; Rth 4:1). In that place, the fool is not to be allowed at all to have his foolishness to be heard.

Pro 24:8-9 | Planning to Do Evil and the Devising of Folly

8 One who plans to do evil,
Men will call a schemer.
9 The devising of folly is sin,
And the scoffer is an abomination to men.

“One who plans to do evil” (verse 8), is doing the work of the devil, who can do nothing but plan evil. The devil can rightly be called “a schemer”. He who is not a child of God, is a child of the devil (1Jn 3:10). All the children of the devil have his nature. He inspires them to plan evil; they are “inventors of evil things” (Rom 1:30). Not everyone does it in the same degree, but the principle is in the mind of all the children of the devil. Here, it is especially about the cold, calculating person who is active in planning evil.

Not only the doing of folly is evil, but even “the devising of folly is evil” (verse 9). The folly of the scoffer is the summit of folly. This kind of person does not care about morals at all. Even people who do not want to have anything to do with God, though do maintain some kind of morality, will be disgusted by him at a certain moment. A scoffer is someone who not only rejects what he should believe, but he laughs at and ridicules and despises what he should believe. He does that also towards those who believe.

Pro 24:10 | Test of Distress

10 If you are slack in the day of distress,
Your strength is limited.

“The day of distress” is not a literal day of twenty-four hours, but every day or period of difficulties and trials that can make life difficult. People with a feeble attitude, who get discouraged and want to forsake their life with the Lord, show little strength. There is no spiritual power and the hands are limp (Heb 12:12-13). Precisely in a day of distress, it becomes clear whether a person has the power of wisdom (verse 5), which makes him to be continually focused on the Source of wisdom (Isa 40:31).

Solomon uses a wordplay here to emphasize the link between both lines of the verse. The Hebrew word for ‘distress’ is sarah and the word for ‘limited’ (literally: narrow) is sar. It is good for one to strengthen himself in God in the days of distress (1Sam 30:6; Psa 84:6). Then God’s power will be perfected in weakness (2Cor 12:9).

Pro 24:11-12 | Save Those Who Are Going to Slaughter

11 Deliver those who are being taken away to death,
And those who are staggering to slaughter, Oh hold [them] back.
12 If you say, “See, we did not know this,”
Does He not consider [it] who weighs the hearts?
And does He not know [it] who keeps your soul?
And will He not render to man according to his work?

God makes His people responsible to deliver people that are in danger (verse 11). It is about people “who are being taken away” and carried away to a certain death, without having any possibility to liberate themselves from their situation. The words “death” and “slaughter” indicate the gravity of the situation. These people are innocent victims of gangs of robbers or circumstances which they could not control. They are about to be killed, slaughtered. They are “staggering”, worn out, driven in the direction of death. If there is no deliverance from an unexpected side very soon, it is over with them.

The command is clear. We should do everything possible to deliver them from death. There is an imminent ‘woe’ when we remain aloof, when we turn a blind eye and do not reach out to them. The Hebrew midwives did not throw the baby boys in the Nile river, but delivered them, which was against the command of the Pharaoh (Exo 1:13-17). Esther risked her life by delivering her people that were doomed to death (Est 3:6-13; 4:13-16; 8:4-6). They have delivered and did not turn a blind eye. Even the prophet Obadiah who was serving at the court of Ahab, had delivered prophets from death by hiding them and providing them with food (1Kgs 18:4).

The spiritual application is that we should tell the people of the world that they “are being taken away to death”. Due to sin, they are delivered to death. There is no mention here of being innocent, but there is certainly a lack of any capacity for one to deliver himself. Our responsibility is to tell the people of the world that they can escape God’s judgment by confessing their sins and believing in the Lord Jesus. If we do not do that, there is also the imminent ‘woe’ for us. Paul has understood it and said: “For woe is me if I do not preach the gospel” (1Cor 9:16).

We will be kept accountable for what was asked from us concerning all those cases of which we have known about the eternal death whereto the people were headed and that we did not show them the possibility to escape from it (Eze 33:1-33). We cannot say “See, we did not know this,” (verse 12). Ignorance is not an excuse if we consciously have closed our eyes to an evil thing. It sounds like the excuse which the Germans used after the Second World War, with regard to the Holocaust, which have become winged words: ‘Wir haben es nicht gewußt’ (‘We did not know it’).

We can sometimes get away with the excuse of ignorance with people, but not with God. He is continually testing the hearts and notices without being mistaken, whether the truth is in it. He observes the soul. He sees how life is being lived and which motives are used. Heart and soul are constantly under His supervision, whereby not one single motive can escape Him. Therefore, He knows perfectly whether the claim of someone about whether he did not know it or whether it is lie.

Based on His omniscience He will “render to man according to his work” (cf. Rev 22:12), whereby it is impossible that He is mistaken. To render someone according to his work means that man is measured by the standard of measure he has judged other people. He who has not shown mercy, will not receive mercy. He who could have saved others and did not do it, will die.

Pro 24:13-14 | Sweetness of Wisdom

13 My son, eat honey, for it is good,
Yes, the honey from the comb is sweet to your taste;
14 Know [that] wisdom is thus for your soul;
If you find [it], then there will be a future,
And your hope will not be cut off.

The father exhorts his son to eat honey (verse 13) because he wants to apply the eating of honey to the knowing of wisdom (verse 14). What honey does to the body is similar for the soul to know wisdom.

Honey is good, for it is healthy (verse 13). Honey comb is the best of honey. It is the honey which without pressing, thus without human action, is released from the honey combs. Therefore it is the purest form. Of the land of Canaan it is mentioned several times that it is a land that is flowing with milk and honey. Honey is a special blessing from God to His earthly people.

“The knowing of wisdom” (verse 14) has the health and sweetness of honey. It has the added mark of a pleasure which endures to eternity cf. Psa 19:10; 119:103; Eze 3:3). The father says to his son that he should look for it, for he needs to find it. He makes the promise to him that his efforts will be rewarded abundantly. He will now already enjoy the sweetness of it and he will have “hope for the future”. Future and hope are connected to wisdom. Wisdom gives hope which will not be cut off, a hope which will never disappoint.

Those who have tasted honey, need no further proof that it is sweet. They will in no way be convinced about the opposite, for they have tasted it themselves. The same goes for the spiritual application for those who have experienced the power of wisdom from God in Christ. All the atheists in the world with all their fallacies can in no way take that taste away and change its pleasure.

Honey is the product of bees that diligently work together and not of those who gather honey. There is a wealth related to the knowing of wisdom which is acquired by nourishing ourselves with what others have already gathered. We can enjoy the honey comb when we are directly engaged with the Source of wisdom, with Christ, by reading God’s Word. The honey that we take to ourselves when we are together with brothers and sisters and the honey comb that we take to ourselves when we read God’s Word, are enjoyed by us personally.

Pro 24:15-16 | A Righteous Man Falls, but He Rises Again

15 Do not lie in wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous;
Do not destroy his resting place;
16 For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again,
But the wicked stumble in [time of] calamity.

The wicked, probably the son with the wicked attitude, is recommended “not to lie in wait against the dwelling of the righteous” (verse 15). The intention of lying in wait, is to see whether he gets the chance to break into the house of the righteous and to steal, for instance when the righteous leaves his house. He can even intend to do the righteous such wrong, that he wants to destroy his “resting place”. The word for ‘resting place’ is also used for the stable of the sheep, where they lie down. It describes the righteous as a sheep that is defenseless and innocent. Whoever lies in wait against that dwelling and intends to break into it and destroy it, is a wolf, a symbol of the devil.

It is meaningless and it also results in one’s own destruction if he wants to abuse somebody from God’s people, for the righteous will always survive (verse 16). The wicked on the contrary, will get killed in the calamity they cause. Attacking a righteous man is attacking God and it will always appear to be impossible to defeat Him (cf. Mt 16:18). A righteous man may fall several times, but he surely rises again (Psa 37:24; Mic 7:8; Job 5:19). Conversely, the wicked will not survive. Without God they have no power to survive the calamity. Finally, the righteous will triumph and those who are against them will stumble in their calamity.

“Seven times” is a rounded number. God allows the righteous to experience as many chastisements as He finds necessary. Those chastisements serve to purification, not to his destruction. The righteous even survives a heavy fall, while the wicked only stumble, which causes them to get killed. Peter has fallen many times, but he always rose again. Judas stumbled in the calamity and remained down.

Pro 24:17-18 | No Malicious Pleasure

17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,
And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles;
18 Or the LORD will see [it] and be displeased,
And turn His anger away from him.

Solomon forbids his son to rejoice when his enemy falls (verse 17). He should not even let his heart be glad about it, which means not to have inner satisfaction about it when his enemy stumbles. It is not about personal enemies, about people who are making our lives difficult. It may be understandable for us that when something happens to our enemy, we therefore are liberated from a tormentor. But rejoicing is totally different from that. Here it is about rejoicing the fall of an enemy, accompanied by the thought that he gets what he deserves. Malicious pleasure plays a role in this. Such a joy is forbidden.

David did not rejoice in the fall of Saul and even appealed on others not to do that either (2Sam 1:20). A former bodyguard of the cruel Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein who succeeded escaping from his grasp and afterwards has learnt to know Christ, said that he did not rejoice in the death of the dictator. The thought that this cruel man is in hell did not give him joy but sorrow. The Lord Jesus says that we should love our enemies and pray from those who persecute us (Mt 5:44).

In verse 18 it is said why it is commended to us not to rejoice in the fall of our enemy. God has allowed it that our enemy harasses us, because He has a purpose through that. If He eliminated the enemy and we have malicious pleasure about that, we violate a creature of God. That is wrong in God’s sight. Then He can take away His wrath from our enemy, by which he may behave as our enemy again, probably in another form. We then will still not be liberated from him.

Pro 24:19-20 | The Evil Man Has No Future

19 Do not fret because of evildoers
Or be envious of the wicked;
20 For there will be no future for the evil man;
The lamp of the wicked will be put out.

Verse 19 seems to be a quote which Solomon copies from his father David, who said the same thing (Psa 37:1; Pro 23:17; 24:1). It is foolish to fret “because of evildoers” and to be “envious of the wicked”. Verse 20 gives the reason why, which is to be derived from the word “for” with which the verse begins. The future of the wicked is to prevent the son from getting envious of their current prosperity. Their prosperity has an expiration date. He should also realize that God in His providence still allows the evildoers and wicked people to go their way. They are under His control, although it seems that they can go their way uninterruptedly.

What they are doing, can make us angry and in other cases it can make us envious. It just depends on what they do and how we view it or deal with it. If we only look at them and their behavior, we will have those feelings. But then we give the impression of having a very short-sighted view on them. We should realize that the evil has no future, but will be condemned and forever be locked up in hell, without any prospect of liberation. The lamp of the wicked, which means the light of his life, will therefore not shine forever. His life will be put out, as what happens to an oil lamp when it is blown out. His lamp will also not be turned on again (Job 18:5-6; 21:17).

Pro 24:21-22 | Fear the LORD and the King

21 My son, fear the LORD and the king;
Do not associate with those who are given to change,
22 For their calamity will rise suddenly,
And who knows the ruin [that comes] from both of them?

Solomon addresses his son very directly, “my son”, in order to show him that he should fear both God and the king (verse 21). He tells him that he should fear the highest authority in the universe, which is God’s, and the authority appointed by God on earth that represents Him, which is the king (1Pet 2:17b; Rom 13:1-7). He can do that by submitting himself to it and obey it.

The opposite of the fearing of God and the king is “being given to change”. What is meant here by ‘change’ is: not caring about the authority of God and His representative on earth anymore. It is about people who do not want to be obedient anymore to Him, who resist against His authority. They want to overthrow His authority and that of the king. Such people want to bring changes in the structures of authority given by God and suit their own purposes.

It is about people who move God’s Word to their own purposes and in that way put it aside. Certain structures of authority, such as that of man and woman, are declared time-bound. What God’s Word says about it is declared outdated and in that way outlawed. We see that in politics, in society, in families and also in churches. Authority has become a ‘dirty’ word.

Verse 22 gives the reason for the warning of the previous verse. We derive that from the word “for” with which the verse begins. If the son becomes involved with these rebels, the changers and innovators or illuminators that are against the authority of God and the king, he will participate in their calamity that will rise suddenly. God and the King – for with Him is meant the Lord Jesus of course – will “Both” exert authority. For the time being, it remains the question what ruin it will cause to the rebels. That makes the warning even more threatening.

The reward for those who live in peace under the authority of God in the world, is that they will escape from the disasters that will come over the rebels. Those who stand under authority and respect it, will do each other no harm. They will be kept from being envious of one another and even beat one another (cf. Mt 24:48-49). A positive effect of gratitude is the presence of rest and peace.

Pro 24:23-26 | No Partiality in Judgment

23 These also are sayings of the wise.
To show partiality in judgment is not good.
24 He who says to the wicked, “You are righteous,”
Peoples will curse him, nations will abhor him;
25 But to those who rebuke the [wicked] will be delight,
And a good blessing will come upon them.
26 He kisses the lips
Who gives a right answer.

Here a new section begins, but clearly one that is in close connection to the previously mentioned (Proverbs 22:17-24:22). That appears from the words “these also are sayings” (verse 23a). The sayings that now follow – in the verses 23-34 – “are of the wise”. So, they are meant for those who are already wise, but who want to become wiser. Wisdom appears precisely from the fact that one wants to grow in wisdom.

This section begins with condemning partiality in judgment (verse 23b). The point is that a judge will clearly make a distinction between righteousness and wickedness (Pro 18:5; Lev 19:15; Deu 16:19). He is not allowed to exchange these two and apply it to the wrong person out of partiality.

So he is not to say to a wicked person: “You are righteous” (verse 24). If he does, then not only will God judge him, but he also makes the anger of the people to come upon him. It is not just simply about an opinion, nor just someone who is saying this. Here we have someone who is speaking justice in public and does it in the Name of God. This is the most serious offence of justice and also an extreme dishonor to the Judge of the whole earth. A judge who is partial in such a way that it leads him to make such a legal decision, will be cursed and abhorred by everyone all over the earth.

When justice is done by judging the wicked and acquitting the righteous, it is pleasing to “those who rebuke the wicked” (verse 25). A good blessing will come upon the judges who uphold the law and upon those who rejoice in it. God finds in them the features of Himself. There is always a blessing to doing justice and defending justice.

For the maintaining of justice and for rendering the right conviction by a judge in a legal case, it is important that a witness “gives the right answer” (verse 26). It may concern the judge who renders a right decision in a legal case. An answer with upright words delivers a valuable contribution to the peace and rest in the land, which we may apply to the local church. He who does so will not bring curses and abhorrence upon himself (verse 24), but will receive expressions of love.

The kissing of the lips is a recognition of the valuation of sincere answers that are given. Such answers do not lead to separation, but unite in love. A kiss is also a sign of reconciliation. He who answers with sincere words, causes reconciliation.

Pro 24:27 | Financial Independency

27 Prepare your work outside
And make it ready for yourself in the field;
Afterwards, then, build your house.

This verse is about making the right priorities in life. It presents to us that we should first do things that should be done first. First the one, “afterwards, then” the other. We should apply the right order in our activities. If we do not do that, our lives will become chaos and will result in a disaster.

The application can be used in the forming of a family. Before someone can start with that, he must be able to maintain his family. Therefore he should first have an income. He can get that by working for it. What he earns with work, he can use for building a house, which means forming a family and also maintaining it.

Pro 24:28-29 | A False Witness and Revenge

28 Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause,
And do not deceive with your lips.
29 Do not say, “Thus I shall do to him as he has done to me;
I will render to the man according to his work.”

Verse 28 is a warning for us about not allowing ourselves to be tempted into being a witness against a neighbor without a clear cause. We may find ourselves in circumstances where our colleagues or people from our environment ask us to give an opinion about someone’s behavior with whom we work or who lives in our neighborhood, with the intention to accuse this person. If we ourselves do not have a certain experience with the person concerned, we should not allow ourselves to be deceived and be a witness. The message is that there should be solid reasons before someone should act as a witness against a neighbor.

Nor should feelings of revenge play a role in a court case (verse 29). Even less, no one should take the law into his own hands. When somebody has done us wrong, we could make use of one of both possibilities, but they are both wrong. We are not allowed to repay somebody with the evil that he has done to us. We should not even say it, aloud or in our heart.

In order to have this mind, it is necessary to trust God. It does not escape Him that evil is done to us. Our reaction to that does not escape Him either. He knows how we can react. If we want to repay somebody, we take God’s place as Judge (Rom 12:19). We should surrender the injustice that has been done to us, “to Him who judges righteously” (1Pet 2:23), like the Lord Jesus did. This was also the attitude that David had towards Saul. He did not want to be his own judge, but surrendered Saul to God and waited for what He was going to do with Saul. In this way he has not been disappointed.

Pro 24:30-34 | Lesson of the Sluggard

30 I passed by the field of the sluggard
And by the vineyard of the man lacking sense,
31 And behold, it was completely overgrown with thistles;
Its surface was covered with nettles,
And its stone wall was broken down.
32 When I saw, I reflected upon it;
I looked, [and] received instruction.
33 “A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to rest,”
34 Then your poverty will come [as] a robber
And your want like an armed man.

In verses 30-34 the wise Solomon tells about a walk that he made and what he noticed during that walk. He connects a lesson for himself and for his son to it. It happened when he “passed by the field of the sluggard” (verse 30). He did not search for that field, but just passed by it. Yes, that field used to be a vineyard, which was the impression that he had anyway, but nothing was left of it anymore. That was, because the management of it was in the hands “of a man lacking sense”. Only such a man, without any sense of responsibility, can neglect his vineyard like that. It is not about somebody without backbone here, but about somebody without brains, without sense, literally without a heart. He did not lack power, but will.

“And behold” (verse 31), while he was passing by, he observed some things. The wise man was not daydreaming or sleepwalking, but he observed the situation around him. There was not just some weed in the field, no, “it was completely overgrown with thistles”. There was no spot of soil to be seen, for the “surface was covered with nettles”. The place where the grapes should have been growing, was covered with thistles and nettles. That does not happen overnight. The work had not been going on for a long time.

A comparable situation can happen in the life of a believer who is unfaithful to the Lord and is forgetting about Him more and more. The good fruits of the faith that rejoice the heart (of which the vineyard speaks) disappear and will be replaced by thistles and nettles that hurt and are harmful. The consequences of sin in creation have found a place in the personal life of the believer.

The wise also saw that “his stone wall has been broken down”. All protection was gone. The territory was open for everyone. If the house of the sluggard had also been there, then any burglar could have easily found his way there.

It is about a field that had formerly been a vineyard. Israel is compared to the vineyard (Isa 5:1-7). The vineyard is supposed to deliver wine. Wine is a picture of joy (Jdg 9:13; Psa 104:15a). God would have loved to rejoice in His people, but His people did not give Him that joy. Due to laziness, the vineyard changed into a field, on which the symbols of sins (Gen 3:18), the works of the flesh, was rampant.

We can make an application here. When we are spiritually lazy, then ‘thistles’ and ‘nettles’, meaning sinful things, will overgrow the vineyard of our lives. God can therefore not rejoice in us, for nothing in it reminds Him of the life of the Lord Jesus. And if we let the wall of separation from the world be broken down, then the world and the worldly thinking will enter into our lives and we will become victims of the destruction.

After the observation in verses 30-31, the wise also draws a lesson for himself from it and shares it with us (verses 32-34). He saved in his heart what he saw. It contains an admonition, one without words. One of the best methods of teaching is that we observe something, meaning that we consider something very carefully and take it to heart. Then we shall really learn from it. If we see the bad consequences of a deed or an attitude, it should be a warning for us not to do such things or take such an attitude.

What Solomon has seen and what meant an admonition to him, will keep him from falling into laziness. It begins with a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands. It is all about a little. But all those littles look like the walker who also does not walk fast, but gradually goes his way. And all those littles together are like an armed man. All the littles of sleep and slumber and lying with folding hand together, result in the suffering of poverty and lack (Pro 6:10-11).

Proverbs 25

Pro 25:1 | Transcribed Proverbs of Solomon

1 These also are proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah, transcribed.

Here a new part of the book begins: Proverbs 25-29. It contains additional proverbs of Solomon, which had been collected by the men of king Hezekiah (715-687/686 B.C.). These men lived about 270 years after Solomon’s death. Solomon has written 3,000 proverbs (1Kgs 4:32) out of which a number have been recorded in God’s Word in the previous chapters. Now a number of proverbs comes out of the same supply. These proverbs have been transcribed by “the men of Hezekiah” and are also recorded in God’s Word.

So, they are not new proverbs. They have already been there in the time Solomon, the time when the kingdom existed in glory. Hezekiah is one of the last kings of Judah, the kingdom of the two tribes. In his days the kingdom of ten tribes were taken away by the Assyrians. Not long thereafter, the kingdom of the two tribes had been taken away as well, by Nebuchadnezzar. That means that Hezekiah had lived in an end time.

He was a God-fearing king to whom the Word of God regained authority. That is why God revived His people through him. The “proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah, transcribed” are a proof of it. It shows that to us, who are also living in an end time, it is important to recognize the authority of God’s Word and to apply this ‘ancient’ Word in our lives. We do not profit from ‘new truth’. In an end time it is important that we go back to “what was from the beginning” (1Jn 1:1), that we ask for “the ancient paths, where the good way is”, so that we walk in them (Jer 6:16).

The truths that have been entrusted to the church are two thousand years old already, but they are just as topical as in those days. It is not about new truths, but about a renewed experience of old truths. The publication of the writings that have remained unnoticed for a long time, though appearing to be of topical contents, is a good service to the church.

Pro 25:2-7 | Kings and Those Who Are With Them

2 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter,
But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.
3 [As] the heavens for height and the earth for depth,
So the heart of kings is unsearchable.
4 Take away the dross from the silver,
And there comes out a vessel for the smith;
5 Take away the wicked before the king,
And his throne will be established in righteousness.
6 Do not claim honor in the presence of the king,
And do not stand in the place of great men;
7 For it is better that it be said to you, “Come up here,”
Than for you to be placed lower in the presence of the prince,
Whom your eyes have seen.

The men of Hezekiah begin, under the guidance of God’s Spirit, with a number of proverbs about kings. Above all they start with presenting the exaltation of God above all earthly kings. Verse 2 emphasizes a contrast between God and kings. It is a beautiful nature of God to “conceal a matter”. If God does not explain His government of the universe and His intentions and actions, it is His honor, His glory, His sovereignty. He does not need to give any account of His intentions or actions.

The most powerful people on earth such as kings, form a great contrast with Him. God does not need to figure anything out. He knows everything, but it is the honor of the kings to discover, expose or figure out things (cf. Deu 29:29; Rom 11:33-34). Kings have to examine things as much as they possibly can. They also have to make things open and understandable to their subordinates, especially when it is about judicious matters.

Kings are ruling as God’s representatives. They must try to manifest His will in all human matters. Therefore, they should ask God to reveal His will, so that He unfolds the mystery of His will in the particular situation. The subordinates of a king respect him and honor him when he examines a matter diligently and does not make decisions based on superficial knowledge of a matter.

We can apply this to ourselves as believers. We are also kings (Rev 1:6; 5:10). It is a work of royal dignity, an honor and a challenge, to search what God had hidden in the Scripture. He wants to reveal the mysteries. However, they can only be discovered and understood by spiritually minded believers, which are those who allowed themselves to be led by God’s Spirit, for the Spirit can reveal Himself to those (1Cor 2:10-12).

While a king has to search out, especially judicial matters (verse 2b) to the people, there are many things he keeps secret in his heart (verse 3). He holds a position whereby he doesn’t have to give account for all his activities. The comparison with heaven which is high and the earth which is deep, shows the nature of the king. He has to be wise, inventive and unsearchable and should always be one step ahead of everyone, in order to keep a firm grip on the power.

Man has to acknowledge that “the heavens for height” and “the earth for depth” are unsearchable (cf. Jer 31:37). What they contain goes far beyond the comprehension of all searchers. It is how “the heart of kings” is. It is unsearchable for the other. And surely the heart of the believer is unsearchable to the unbeliever (1Cor 2:15). Only God fully knows the heart of every man (Jer 17:9-10).

Verse 4 is an illustration to clarify verse 5. Verse 4 means that the smith can produce a pure silver art work, after removing the dross. This is applied in verse 5 to the removal of a wicked from the presence of a king, by which his throne is confirmed by righteousness. A king may have great ideals for his government and his behavior may be blameless, but it does not benefit in any way when he is surrounded by unscrupulous courtiers who deceive him. When these people are removed, the government will only consist of righteous counselors and will therefore be confirmed by righteousness.

It is about removing the possibilities that could take away the firmness of the throne. As dross is being separated from silver, bad people should be removed so that the government of a king can be righteous (Pro 17:3; 20:8; Mal 3:3). It is not enough for a ruler to be righteous; his co-workers ought to be upright people too, so that his government is good. King Solomon had to judge several evildoers before he could sit safely and peacefully on his throne (1Kgs 2:23-25,29-34,41-46).

It can be applied to the heart of man. Who is sitting on the throne? If sin and unrighteousness are there, they should be condemned. Then it is possible to live a life that is subjected to the authority of the Lord Jesus.

The same principle is true with regard to the coming kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. When He returns to the earth in triumph, power and majesty, the wicked people will be eliminated and all transgressors will be extinguished from the land. This judgment will mark the great day of the Lord (2Thes 1:3-12; 2:1-12; Rev 19:11-21).

The verses 6-7 go hand in hand. It is wiser to wait for promotion than running the risk of being degraded due to self-promotion. It is an overestimation of one’s own interest. ‘Claiming honor’ (verse 6) means ‘behaving arrogantly’. The word “for” with which verse 7 begins, indicates that the reason for the warning is mentioned, which was given in the previous verse.

The lesson is simple. Claiming honor for yourself in court, “in the presence of the king”, includes the risk of a public humiliation. But it will be an honor to someone if everyone in court hears about his promotion from the mouth of the king himself. The lesson is also taught in Luke 14 (Lk 14:8-11).

It may regard one’s recommendation about himself, putting himself forward as the most suitable candidate for a position in the presence of the king, for example as one of his counsellors (cf. Mt 20:20-29). One may find of himself that he should “stand in the place of great men”. This self-overestimation can end up in a public humiliation. “A prince whom your eyes have seen”, may be the one who is entitled to the place which the person involved has taken by his own power.

Pro 25:8-10 | Advices for Arguing Your Case

8 Do not go out hastily to argue [your case];
Otherwise, what will you do in the end,
When your neighbor humiliates you?
9 Argue your case with your neighbor,
And do not reveal the secret of another,
10 Or he who hears [it] will reproach you,
And the evil report about you will not pass away.

One should not be eager to be a witness, so that he will not be humiliated publicly (verse 8). One might have seen or heard something, which could give him a reason to accuse somebody. But consider well that it is a risk to do that. When it becomes apparent that he is wrong, he will be publicly humiliated by the person who has been humiliated by him. It may even cause him to be ruined.

It is a warning to be careful to accuse somebody without enough evidence. It may occur that someone accuses another person to profit from it financially. He reveals some details on something the other person has done. But when it appears that it is not true, or when the evidences are poor, he himself will be ridiculed and have to pay all the legal costs. There have been a lot of these kinds of scandalous court cases.

The best thing that anyone could do when he is involved in a dispute with another person, is to argue this case with the other person behind closed doors (verse 9; Mt 18:15b). This is to prevent public shame. The thought is that when someone is in dispute with his neighbor and makes public what has been entrusted to him in secret, he will be reproached and always have a bad name (verse 10). Disputes can never be successfully resolved when the resolution is achieved at the expense of one’s integrity or pain. Therefore, never reveal any secrets, in order to keep yourself from blame in a dispute.

Pro 25:11-14 | Precious Words and Empty Words

11 [Like] apples of gold in settings of silver
Is a word spoken in right circumstances.
12 [Like] an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold
Is a wise reprover to a listening ear.
13 Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest
Is a faithful messenger to those who send him,
For he refreshes the soul of his masters.
14 [Like] clouds and wind without rain
Is a man who boasts of his gifts falsely.

Verse 11 is about the great value and incomparable beauty of “a word” that “is spoken in right circumstances”. The expression which is translated with ‘in right circumstances’ is literally ‘on its wheels’, which means: a word that easily goes on like smooth rolling wheels. It comes at the right time and is precisely applicable to the right person and the circumstances in which he/she finds him/herself. It is about just “a word”, not a long speech (cf. 1Cor 14:19). Such a word is like “apples of gold”, like healthy fruits which have the value of Divine glory, represented in the gold, while they are being served in the awareness of acquired reconciliation, represented in the silver.

“Apples of gold in settings of silver” are valuable words spoken in a pleasant atmosphere. Above all, that goes for the Word of God, for everything that God has spoken. The Lord Jesus spoke the words to Nicodemus which he precisely needed at that moment (Jn 3:1-11). In that way the Lord also spoke to the Samaritan woman and to Zacchaeus. But He also spoke the words to the Pharisees and Sadducees that they needed. He did not speak what they preferred to hear, but what was beneficial to them. We can follow His example in this.

In addition to verse 11, it is about “a wise reprover” in verse 12, which is someone who speaks the right word to the right person at the right time. When such a person speaks a word “to a listening ear”, “it is like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold”. A wise reproof that is well-received remains valuable. A listening ear does not only recognize the wisdom of the reprover, but sees the great beauty as that of the ornaments for the ear and the neck.

The ornaments symbolize that a listening ear radiates the glory of God (gold). In that way God is being glorified. A listening ear does not only hear the reproof, but also obeys it. The listener bows down, the neck bows down. There is no stubbornness. If the neck bows itself, it will be decorated with an ornament “of fine gold”. The verse is the ideal combination of a wise father or teacher and a willing son or pupil. The friends of Job have not been wise reprovers. Therefore, Job did not have a listening ear to them.

In verse 13 there is a description of the effect of valuable words for the senders of “a faithful messenger”. A faithful messenger is someone who passes on the words of his senders precisely as the words were given to him by his senders for the person to whom he was sent. Such a messenger is like “the cold of snow in the time of harvest” for the sender. Hard work is needed during the harvest. Therefore a refreshment is most welcome. A faithful messenger causes “the soul of his master” to have such a refreshment or encouragement when he has faithfully fulfilled his mission. Faithfulness is always encouraging, is always refreshing.

Christ was the faithful Messenger of God. Paul was such a faithful messenger of God (1Cor 4:1-2). When we become servants or messengers of Christ (2Cor 5:20), our faithfulness will be a refreshment for our Master (Mt 25:21,23).

The promises of a boaster are hollow and empty (verse 14). The illustration here is that when we see clouds and wind, it causes us to expect rain. When the rain doesn’t come, the clouds and the wind do draw our attention, but they disappoint us in our expectation and they are therefore deceitful. That’s the comparison the wise uses of the braggart that brags about the gifts that he gives. But the promise is deceitful; he does not give anything, for he doesn’t have anything. His mouth is bigger than his hand.

The lesson is not to expect anything from men who promise something with woolly language. We also see these false promises in certain circles who boast that they can do things like provide healing from sickness, or deliverance from depression, or success in business. Jude applies it in his letter to false teachers in the church when he speaks about “clouds without water, carried along by winds” (Jude 1:11-13). It is also applicable to ourselves when we promise to do something for somebody and we do not do it. We raise expectations by our promise, but it is like clouds without water.

Pro 25:15 | The Power of Forbearance and of a Soft Tongue

15 By forbearance a ruler may be persuaded,
And a soft tongue breaks the bone.

By forbearance and tender words, we can overcome an insurmountable opponent (cf. Lk 18:1-8). A request submitted with perseverance and soft words to a ruler, will surely be granted. The point is, not to use physical nor verbal violence, but to operate in the power of the Spirit: “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit” (Zec 4:6; cf. 2Tim 2:24-25).

That a soft tongue can break the bone, means that by speaking softly we can break down tough opposition. The verse is a recommendation of reconciling and convincing advocacy which finally will triumph over the most determined resistance. “A gentle word takes away wrath” (Pro 15:1). This is an important advice for conversations between husband and wife and parents and children and for all other relationships we have.

Pro 25:16-17 | Advice to Be Moderate

16 Have you found honey? Eat [only] what you need,
That you not have it in excess and vomit it.
17 Let your foot rarely be in your neighbor’s house,
Or he will become weary of you and hate you.

People should, also while enjoying the food that they like, know how to be moderate (verse 16). Too much can be dangerous. Moderation, “[only] what you need”, is necessary for the pleasures that life offers. When there is moderation, one can really enjoy something of it. Jonathan found “honey” (1Sam 14:25-30). He enjoyed it. It brightened up his countenance and it strengthened him so that he could continue his way.

For us this means: “All things are lawful” (1Cor 6:12b). But we should consider that something more is added to it: “But I will not be brought under the power of any.” Honey is a picture of the natural things like within marriage and family. They are given by God and therefore good. We can enjoy them. But when we ‘eat’ more then we need, which means that we give them too much room in our lives, it will move our service to God to the background and we will become spiritually sick.

Also, by visiting our neighbor or a family member, people should know how to be moderate (verse 17). Here we should also apply: Excess is killing. Verses 16 and 17 are comparable in their words and ideas. Both verses recommend moderation, the one in eating honey, the other one in visiting someone. Verse 16 is about ‘too much honey’, verse 17 is about ‘too much of yourself’.

The admonition “let your foot rarely be” means: It should be precious for your neighbor or family member that you visit him or her. Something that is rare, is also precious. The motivation for the warning is that the misuse of intimacy, will make someone to be fed up and will cause hatred. Visitors and fish smell after three days.

If we desire to have too much of something, it may cause that our relationship with God will be replaced by that particular thing, which will make something good turn into something bad. We might think that we have a gift to serve a person and therefore visit him frequently to exercise our gift. But we must realize that this person doesn’t need our presence, but the Lord’s. We should give him as much help as he needs to be driven unto the Lord.

Pro 25:18-20 | False Witness, False Confidence, False Comfort

18 [Like] a club and a sword and a sharp arrow
Is a man who bears false witness against his neighbor.
19 [Like] a bad tooth and an unsteady foot
Is confidence in a faithless man in time of trouble.
20 [Like] one who takes off a garment on a cold day, [or like] vinegar on soda,
Is he who sings songs to a troubled heart.

“A false witness” causes death in the society (verse 18). He who bears false witness, is compared to “a club; a sword and a sharp arrow”, which are all lethal weapons. The club crushes, the sword cuts off and the sharp arrow pierces. A false witness may cause the death of innocent people by his false words (cf. Pro 12:18; Psa 57:4; 120:3-4). That there is not just one, but even three of these weapons are mentioned, makes clear how serious the evil is of bearing false witness against one’s neighbor (Exo 20:16; Deu 5:20).

“A bad tooth and an unsteady foot” are both unfit to do anything (verse 19). Chewing with a bad tooth and walking on an unsteady foot are both painful actions which in the one case keeps one from eating and in the other case from walking. The same effect has “the confidence of a faithless man in the day of trouble”. When it really becomes difficult and we are afflicted in the society or in the church, then one of the greatest disappointments is that you have trusted someone who is faithless.

When this happens to us, we can consider that God is faithful. “God is our refuge and strength; He is a very present help in trouble” (Psa 46:1b; Psa 91:15).

Irresponsible, insensitive attempts to cheer people up who are in sorrow, just make the sorrow worse (verse 20). They are words that are not spoken at the right time (verse 11). The wise man compares such a man with someone who takes away a garment from another person on a cold day. He puts him in the cold. That’s totally different from giving him extra warmth. He is totally insensitive to what the other needs. The second comparison is putting sour wine on alkaline. A not desirable chemical reaction will happen. It will start to bubble, there seems to be an activity, but it only results in an empty foam. Sour wine and alkaline are not compatible. When it continues to happen, they both become useless.

We ought to be alert and sensitive with regard to the emotional need in which people may find themselves. We should develop that sensitivity to others, otherwise we give other people a ‘cold shower’ instead of giving them a ‘warm bath’ of compassion. There is no ‘chemistry’ between someone who sings cheerful songs and someone with a sad heart (cf. Psa 137:1-3). Paul is telling us: “Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep” (Rom 12:15).

Pro 25:21-22 | To Embarrass an Enemy

21 If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat;
And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;
22 For you will heap burning coals on his head,
And the LORD will reward you.

God wants us to treat a person who hates us, friendly. By treating our hater in the opposite way as he treats us, we act in accordance with Who God is (verse 21). This is how He deals with man and how He has dealt with us before we knew Him. He wants us to give our hater the most elementary basic needs, “bread” and “water”, in case he needs it. In the history of Elisha, where we read how he treats the King of Syria, we see a wonderful illustration (2Kgs 6:18-23).

The word “for” with which verse 22 begins, indicates the reason why we should act in such a way as it is written in the previous verse. By doing good to someone who hates us, instead of the evil that he does to us, we heap “burning coals on his head”. Heaping burning coals on someone, is not to consume him, but to make him melt. The picture of the “burning coals” represents a remorse, which develops more easily by gentleness rather than by violence. These glowing coals cause the sharp pain of remorse through regret of the hatred which filled his heart (Pro 18:19; 20:22; 24:17; 1Sam 24:18-20). Paul quotes these verses in Romans 12 (Rom 12:20).

To this act God attaches the promise of a revenge in the sense of a reward. We give something away, it doesn’t cost us anything, and we do that surprisingly to our enemy. That, however, doesn’t make us poorer, but even much richer. God does not forget that we have done this and will compensate it. If we deal with our enemies as God deals with His enemies, it pleases Him. What we invest in it, He will compensate. The Lord Jesus has set the example.

Pro 25:23-24 | A Back-Biting Tongue and a Quarreling Wife

23 The north wind brings forth rain,
And a backbiting tongue, an angry countenance.
24 It is better to live in a corner of the roof
Than in a house shared with a contentious woman.

A “backbiting tongue” is a secretive tongue, a tongue of a hidden place. It is talking behind someone’s back, slandering him and speaking evil about him. Sooner or later the person whom he talks about will find out. It will bring forth angry countenances to him and his family, like the northerly wind causes rain. In Israel it is unusual that the northerly wind causes rain; which the westerly wind does. When it does, it surely is not pleasant. This is how a backbiting tongue operates. It can speak flattering words, but instead of laughing countenances, it brings forth “angry countenances”.

The backbiting tongue from verse 23 has changed into the sharp tongue of “a contentious woman” in verse 24. The repetition of this verse (Pro 21:9) deepens its interest. Contentious means quarreling about all possible matters that are to be done and decisions that are to be made. She does not accept that the husband is the head of the family. It is a proverb which is more a sigh and contains an advice.

It doesn’t mean that the husband draws back from the house and goes to live by himself because he is fed up with the quarrelling. It is a warning for everyone who yet has to start with a marriage. One can better live in peaceful loneliness and simplicity than in a big house in the company of someone with whom he shares everything, but who always quarrels. Therefore, ‘think first, act later’ and look for a God-fearing wife.

Pro 25:25-26 | What Does and What Does Not Quench the Thirst

25 [Like] cold water to a weary soul,
So is good news from a distant land.
26 [Like] a trampled spring and a polluted well
Is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.

Good news that comes from a far place and for which people have waited long, has the same effect as “cold water to a weary soul” (verse 25). It refreshes and invigorates a person who longs for news from a loved one that has gone to a distant land. At the time when there were not yet the means of communication we have now, it took a lot of time before the news reached those who were left behind (cf. Gen 45:27; 1Thes 3:5-8). The aspect of time does not play such a major role anymore. But a good message that reaches us via the modern media within a second after it has been sent, has the same effect to a loved one. A good message causes a change in life.

A good message from a distant land can also be applied to the gospel. The word ‘gospel’ literally means ‘good news’. The gospel has come to us from a distant land, which is heaven. The shepherds had experienced it like that when a messenger from heaven said to them: “I bring you good news [literally: evangelize] … For today there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Lk 2:10-11). In the gospel the living water is offered to everyone who is thirsty. Whoever is thirsty, is allowed to take from it without cost (Rev 22:17).

The Lord Jesus says to the weary soul: “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” (Mt 11:28). He who goes through life wearily and suffers from the burden of his sins, can find rest and refreshment with Him. The gospel is the greatest thirst quencher and changer of life. It is an exhortation to pass on the good news to every heavy-laden soul.

In contrast to the cold, refreshing water is “a trampled spring”, for example by animals that walk through it (cf. Eze 34:18b), and “a polluted well”, for example caused by a dead animal that has fallen into it (verse 26). They are a disaster scenario for the easterner who is travelling through the desert. When he arrives weary and thirsty at such a spring or well, he realizes with dismay that the water from the spring, which he needs so desperately, is not potable. It does not only have a bad taste, but it is often also poisonous, which causes it to be harmful to the body and even lethal.

The wise Solomon uses this illustration to describe the righteous man who in the presence of a wicked man loses his steadfastness in faith by fear or favor. This is just as discouraging as finding a trampled spring where one wants to quench his thirst. Lot was such a righteous man (2Pet 2:7) who walked in the sight of the wicked. He dwelled in Sodom. That was a trampled spring and a polluted well out of which he had drunk a lot, that he even became such a polluted well (Gen 19:1-38). He was not able to be a refreshment for others. What had become a life style for Lot, also occurred to Jacob as an incident, during an encounter with his wicked brother Esau (Gen 33:3).

Today, this is applicable to Christians who lose themselves in the world. They ought to be a well of life to others, but they live a worldly life. What they say, comes from a trampled spring and a polluted well. They are not able to refresh others. When they get in trouble, they waver, while the wicked are watching them. They are an anti-testimony. It can happen to people who go into politics, into business or choose to study. They come into contact with all kinds of wrong things or doctrines, such as the evolution theory. When they become influenced by those aspects, they become like a trampled spring and a polluted well.

Pro 25:27 | What Determines One’s Own Glory

27 It is not good to eat much honey,
Nor is it glory to search out one’s own glory.

Eating too much of what in itself is allowed to be eaten (Pro 24:13), is not good. The emphasis is not on what’s good about it, but on what is not good about it. Honey represents the sweetness of the good earthly things. We are allowed to enjoy those things, while we are thanking God for them (1Tim 4:4-5). But there is a certain danger in this. That danger is that we start to seek honor in those things. That appears from the second line of the verse which begins with “but” and in that way is a contrast to the first line of the verse.

When someone brought a grain offering, he was not allowed to prepare it with honey (Lev 2:11). The grain offering is a picture of the Lord Jesus in His perfect life. In His life He never allowed Himself to be led by the natural relations that He also had. His mother could not divert Him from the way that His Father wanted Him to go, while He always remained respectful to His mother. In our service to God we ought to do that too.

“Eating much honey” seems to be about seeking honor for ourselves in the natural things, such as our family, our work, our position. Our honor, however, should lie in “searching out a matter” (verse 2b). It is not about our honor in relationships, but about obtaining insight in the important things that God has prepared for us, based on the work of His Son. The searching of a matter draws the attention that we have on ourselves, to God and His will with and for us. Then we shall examine His Word, about which is written that it is “sweeter than honey and the honeycomb” (Psa 19:10).

Pro 25:28 | Lack of Self-Control

28 [Like] a city that is broken into [and] without walls
Is a man who has no control over his spirit.

“A city that is broken into [and] without walls” is totally unprotected. Every malicious person can freely enter into it and carry out his evil plans. He can also choose his victims carefully, for nobody stops him. “A man who has no control over his spirit” is “[like] a city that is broken into [and] without walls”, which is a city without protection. He cannot control himself. As soon as something happens that he does not like, he gets carried away. He also gets carried away as soon as there is something that he wants. He is unrestrained in his ways. This makes him a very easy victim to (spiritual) enemies that seek his destruction. Without him being aware of it, his person gets possessed by powers that are stronger than himself.

In this life-threatening situation a change for the better can only happen when the Holy Spirit gets the control over one’s spirit. Therefore, he has to repent and surrender his life under the authority of Christ. Then the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in him and self-control will be a part of the fruit of the Spirit in him (Eph 5:18; Gal 5:22-23).

Proverbs 26

Pro 26:1 | Honor Is Not Fitting For a Fool

1 Like snow in summer and like rain in harvest,
So honor is not fitting for a fool.

The fool that verses 1-12 is talking about is not someone who is mentally disturbed, but a rebellious person who denies God and is totally not interested in becoming wise. He is blind to his foolishness and does not seek to be liberated from it. The fear of the LORD does not interest him at all.

“Honor” is not fitting for “a fool”, just like “snow in the summer and rain in harvest time” are not fitting either. They simply do not go together. A fool is not to receive recognition, not to be clothed with power, not to get any position of influence. If he would receive honor, it will not change him, for he is and remains a fool in his thinking, speaking and doing.

It is not only contrary to the laws of nature, like snow in summer is not fitting, it is also harmful to what serves as food, like rain in harvest time. One of the evil things that Solomon has seen, is that “folly is set in many exalted places” (Ecc 10:6). Honor to a fool is like a sore thumb at a wedding.

Pro 26:2 | A Curse Without Cause Does Not Alight

2 Like a sparrow in [its] flitting, like a swallow in [its] flying,
So a curse without cause does not alight.

The flitting of “a sparrow” and the flying of “a swallow” is unpredictable and happens without any cause. Because they cannot be caught, there is no use trying it. So it is with a curse that a fool speaks without cause. It will have no effect.

Only fools curse like that. The foolish Saul cursed, which did not alight (1Sam 14:28,45). The foolish Goliath “cursed David by his gods” (1Sam 17:43-44) and he himself got killed. Shimei cursed David and was punished for it (2Sam 16:5-14; 1Kgs 2:8). So did the curses of Jeremiah’s enemies dissolve into nothingness (Jer 15:10b).

For the Old Testament believer, it is fitting to ask God concerning the wicked who does him wrong: “He also loved cursing, so it came to him” (Psa 109:17a). If we as New Testament believers have to do with people who curse us, we are allowed to respond in the way that the Lord Jesus presents to us: “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” (Lk 6:27-28).

Pro 26:3 | A Fool Is Like a Mule Without Understanding

3 A whip is for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,
And a rod for the back of fools.

A fool is as difficult to exhort and to direct as “the horse” and “the donkey”. Neither the fool nor these animals respond to words. The animals are to be driven by “a whip” and “a bridle” (cf. Jam 3:3,7-8; Psa 32:8-10). The fool must be called to order by the rod, because he cannot be called on his understanding. He is not to be given control, but he is to be controlled. The comparison with the mentioned animals makes clear that the fool has lost his human dignity and is treated the same way.

We can apply this spiritually to “empty talkers and deceivers” (Tit 1:10), who we may consider fools. We must be very strict towards them: they “must be silenced” (Tit 1:11). Being very strict to them is to be compared with the use of the rod.

Pro 26:4-5 | When Should We Answer or Not Answer a Fool

4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
Or you will also be like him.
5 Answer a fool as his folly [deserves],
That he not be wise in his own eyes.

After an instruction in verse 3 on how a fool should be dealt with, an instruction follows in verses 4-5 on how a fool must be spoken with. The two verses are very similar and seem to contradict each other at first sight. But that cannot be the case of course. What seems to be a contradiction appears to be perfection on closer inspection. It is a matter of careful reading.

In verse 4 the indication is “not to answer a fool according to his folly”. The second line of the verse explains why that should not happen. Here it is about the consequence for the one who would answer. When you answer him, you become like him. If you respond to him, you also become a fool. This happens when you in your response descend to his level of thinking. Therefore you are not to do that. Do not lower yourself to the level of the fool by answering his foolish question and enter into discussion with him as if he is a wise man.

We can apply this admonition to what Paul is saying to Timothy: “But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels” (2Tim 2:23). We should not answer foolish and ignorant speculations, for otherwise we contribute to the cause of the quarrels.

In verse 5 the indication is to answer “a fool as his folly [deserves]”. The second line of the verse explains why that should happen. Here it is about the consequence for the fool. Whoever rebukes a fool, discourages him to think highly of himself.

The reason why these two verses are put together, is to show that the human problems are often complicated and not always can be solved by an appeal to some rules. It depends on the situation. In one case we should not lower ourselves to the level of the fool, for then we enter the circle of fools. In the other case we are supposed to, for then the fool is put in his place.

Paul was once forced to speak as an unwise man, which is as a fool. That was to correct the Corinthians, who were wise in their own eyes (2Cor 11:16-17; 2Cor 12:11). The prophet Micha did both the one and the other towards Ahab (1Kgs 22:15,17). If there is any mercy in our heart and also the willingness not to take away anything from God’s Word, the Holy Spirit will show us how we should respond to anyone (Col 4:6).

A preacher once answered a fool according to his folly. When he was asked a foolish question which was not answerable, he answered: ‘You can find the answer in the second chapter of the letter of Jude.’

Another remark that may be helpful to understand these two verses, are to be found in the Jewish Talmud. The Talmud contains the commentaries of the most influential rabbis and other scribes on the Tenach, which is the Old Testament. It states that verse 4 presumably refers to the foolish commentaries which are to be ignored and that verse 5 refers to a misinterpretation of matters that must be corrected.

Pro 26:6-7 | To Cut Off Feet and Lamed Legs

6 He cuts off [his own] feet [and] drinks violence
Who sends a message by the hand of a fool.
7 [Like] the legs [which] are useless to the lame,
So is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

He who uses a fool as a messenger, will make himself to get into deep problems (verse 6; cf. Pro 25:13). First of all, it is like cutting off his own feet. The sending of a messenger is as it were having a different pair of feet. The feet of the messenger are the feet of the sender. Nothing good will come forth from the message with which the fool has been sent on a mission. He will not arrive at the right address or he will deliver a wrong message.

The consequences are that the sender will face the violence of the addressee. The addressee has not received the message which he was waiting for or he received it in a damaged condition, which makes him draw the wrong conclusion. That harms the existing good relations. The lesson is that it is better not to send a message than using a fool.

We can apply this to religious organizations that use unbelievers to spread the message of the gospel. Those organizations consider themselves an enterprise that must be run by skilled ‘businessmen’ who are successful in selling a message, which is the gospel in this case. The annual Dutch spectacular performance which is called ‘The Passion’, a dishonoring display of God which is about the suffering and crucifixion of Christ, is an example of it. Dutch celebrities are hired to sell the ‘product’ as best they can. But the result is that nothing is left from the gospel and that the testimony of the biblical gospel gets damaged.

Verse 7 complements verse 6. A lame has legs, but they are useless for him, for he cannot use them. He cannot make a single step with them. In that way a fool can speak out a proverb, but he does not know what it means. The proverb remains limp as the legs of a lame man; it is in his mouth without power. That is the case with all those wicked fools – people who don’t want to know anything about the fear of the LORD – who are hired to play a role in The Passion. They talk the Bible over like parrots, but they do not know what they’re talking about.

Pro 26:8-9 | Dangerous and Painful

8 Like one who binds a stone in a sling,
So is he who gives honor to a fool.
9 [Like] a thorn [which] falls into the hand of a drunkard,
So is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

“One who binds a stone in a sling” (verse 8), shows that he doesn’t know anything about a sling. A stone is not to be bound in sling but must be put in it loose. When the stone is bound in a sling, you can turn it around anyway you want, but the stone will not be shot away from the sling. Actually, it can be very dangerous, for the defensive weapon does not work by improper use. David would have been killed by Goliath if he had bound the stone in his sling. Because he had put the stone loose in the sling, he killed Goliath with it.

In that way, one “who gives honor to a fool”, does not know anything about a fool. A fool cannot deal with responsibility. He does not know what he is doing. He who gives a fool a responsible position will suffer its consequences to his own disadvantage.

A drunkard is not able to think soberly (verse 9). Nor can he go a steady course. He speaks nonsense and waddles in the street. In his drunkenness he just grabs a thorn bush, which causes the thorn to pierce in his hand. Because he is drunk he does not notice anything of it. The thorn is a symbol of sin; after the fall the thorns appeared (Gen 3:18). The hand is a symbol of working, of being active. In that way sin sticks to everything he does, while he does not notice it.

This picture is applicable to fools who take “a proverb in their mouth”. Like a drunkard who does not feel the thorn that is piercing into his hand, so are fools with no understanding of the proverb in their mouth. They are darkened in their understanding, but they think that they can speak wise words. A fool is able to read or speak a proverb, but mentally and spiritually he is not able to understand it. He will misuse it and apply it incorrectly.

People who do not have a living relationship with God by the faith in the Lord Jesus, can quote statements from God’s Word. But sin is attached to what they say. This goes especially for liberal theologians who read aloud texts from God’s Word and then give their own sinful explanation on it.

Pro 26:10 | What Fools Do, Brings Sorrow

10 [Like] an archer who wounds everyone,
So is he who hires a fool or who hires those who pass by.

The hiring of “a fool” or “those who pass by” shows the folly of him who does it. He who hires such people are compared to an archer who shoots off arrows haphazardly, by which everyone can be hit and wounded. “A fool” is just an unfaithful employee as those who accidently “pass by” of whom you neither know what kind of people they are. Everyone who hires – which means employs – a fool or a passer-by, gives him the opportunity to cause great loss by doing so. The general meaning is that undisciplined hired fools have the same effect as the haphazardly shooting of an archer.

Pro 26:11 | A Fool Who Repeats His Folly

11 Like a dog that returns to its vomit
Is a fool who repeats his folly.

“A dog” that “returns to his vomit” to eat again what he had once vomited, is quite a disgusting picture. At the same time it is a very powerful picture of “a fool who repeats his folly”. A fool will never learn. No matter how many his experiences are and how often he has already said that he will break with his folly, he goes back to his life in sinful folly again and again.

Peter quotes this verse in his second letter (2Pet 2:21-22a). He uses this proverb because it truthfully portrays what happens when someone has professed the Christian faith and then returns to the world. A dog is an unclean animal that greedily and shamelessly stuffs themselves with whatever it finds or gets with no sense (cf. Isa 56:11). A dog does not know when to stop. When he has eaten too much, he vomits it. When he gets hungry again he eats his own vomit.

This illustration is applicable to people who have first forsaken the world, but then, stimulated by false teachers returns to it. They did not find inward satisfaction in the world and therefore turned their back to it. Now they turn back to it. This shows that they inwardly have not really changed. The dog remains to be a dog.

Pro 26:12 | A Man Who Is Wise in His Own Eyes

12 Do you see a man wise in his own eyes?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.

There is a man who is worse than a fool and that is someone who is wise in his own eyes. Self-conceit is in fact a part of the folly that is described in this book. An arrogant fool is the biggest fool. Haughty arrogance and an imaginary feeling of superiority place a man outside the range of any help or correction. The prophet Isaiah says to such people: “Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight!” (Isa 5:21). For them there is only a ‘woe’ left, a judgment without an end.

We are “not to think more highly” of ourselves than we “ought to think” (Rom 12:3; Gal 6:3). To us it is also said: “Do not be wise in your own estimation” (Rom 12:16).

Pro 26:13-16 | The Lazy Fool

13 The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road!
A lion is in the open square!”
14 [As] the door turns on its hinges,
So [does] the sluggard on his bed.
15 The sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
He is weary of bringing it to his mouth again.
16 The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes
Than seven men who can give a discreet answer.

Verses 13-16 are about the sluggard (Pro 6:6-11; 24:30-34). We see the increasing passivity. First of all, he doesn’t come out of his house (verse 13). Then he doesn’t come out of his bed (verse 14). Finally, he doesn’t even take off his hand out of a dish (verse 15). There is no movement in him at all and he can neither be moved.

He is fooling himself that the circumstances do not allow him to work (verse 13). The sluggard is lazy, and a lazy man comes up with the most absurd excuses not to work (Pro 22:13). He sees a danger wherever he goes, in the street, in the open square. And wherever he goes he sees the resistance of the devil of which the lion is a picture (1Pet 5:8), and which is hindering him to work. The real excuse is not fear, but laziness.

The sluggard is just as stuck to his bed as “a door on its hinges” (verse 14). He is in no way able to come out of his bed, just as a door on its hinges. The sluggard is turning on his hinges as it were in his bed. Just as a door moves back and forth, but doesn’t come out of his place, the sluggard turns from the one to the other side. A door has another function: it opens and closes, while the sluggard remains on the bed with no function.

The sluggard is even too lazy to bring the food which he took into his hand “to his mouth” (verse 15). In Proverbs 19 a similar kind of verse is written, though a little bit vaguer (Pro 19:24). Here it is said more strongly. Burying his hand in the dish has cost him so much energy that he has become weary. The wise man is making fun of the sluggard here. It is a ridiculous illustration of his situation. The intention of the exaggeration is also to make clear to the sluggard that he makes himself ridiculous.

Here we see a picture of people who are too lazy to examine God’s Word. They know something about it, they bury their hands in it and are able to quote a text – of course one which suits themselves –, but they do not eat it. Studying it is too much work.

The sluggard is filled with self-conceit (verse 16). He is very pleased with his laziness and esteems his perception of life higher than that of those who make effort to obtain wisdom and, in that way, become prudent. Those are in his eyes stupid people. Work is for the stupid people, in his opinion. Of course he finds his laziness fully justified. He keeps a siesta all day long and preaches it as the highest good to himself.

He so firmly believes in his own wisdom that nobody can convince him to do otherwise. Even seven (wise) people – which is a fullness of wisdom (Ezra 7:14; Est 1:14-15) – are not able to make him aware of how anti-social his laziness is. His laziness has taken away his reasoning. He is absolutely not willing to listen and admit that he is wrong. He can in no way understand the wise response of seven wise people. Any admonition addressed to him is blocked by his self-righteousness.

Pro 26:17 | The Meddler

17 [Like] one who takes a dog by the ears
Is he who passes by [and] meddles with strife not belonging to him.

The man it concerns in this verse, is not a sluggard but one who is very busy, only with the wrong things. The meddler is one who is busy with matters that are none of his business. Someone who “meddles with strife not belonging to him” uninvited, asks for trouble. It is as dangerous as “taking a dog by the ears”, for that dog will bite you. It is not your dog, but a wild dog. You yourself will be harmed, which is something you are the only one to be blamed for.

An example of this is to be found in the life of king Josiah, who meddled in a battle between the king of Egypt and his enemy. It took his life (2Chr 35:20-24). Peter still points to the big difference between endurance as a Christian and suffering due to meddlesomeness (1Pet 4:15-16).

Are we not supposed to be peace makers? Are we not called for to do that (Mt 5:9)? We certainly are. To be a peace maker is an attitude of keeping peace with all people. It does not mean that a peace maker meddles in a quarrel in which he is not involved. He will not fantasize that he should meddle without being invited to, or as in order from the Lord to do so. We are not called to meddle in any dispute. The Lord Himself neither meddled in a disagreement about an inheritance (Lk 12:14).

Pro 26:18-19 | To Fool ‘Just for Fun’

18 Like a madman
Who throws firebrands, arrows and death,
19 So is the man who deceives his neighbor,
And says, “Was I not joking?”

The meddler from verse 17 has become “a madman” in verse 18, or ‘someone who presents himself as a crazy man’. He is throwing materials that sow death and destruction. Someone who “deceives his neighbor, and says, “Was I not joking?” (verse 19) is compared to such a man. This kind of person is consciously seeking to deceive a neighbor for whatever reason. When he is exposed, he tries to tone down his deceit by saying that it was a joke. People should not worry about it. If they do, they are the bad guys to be blamed, not him.

Someone who has this kind of attitude is an unguided projectile, a dangerous madman. The wise man describes the deceiver who makes his deceit look like a joke, as irresponsible and dangerous. While he is seeking to hurt people, he claims when he is caught, that he has intended it as something funny, of which he now expects people to laugh about it. At the same time, he is trying to escape his punishment. This is how many people are going through life, ‘making fun’ all the way.

Pro 26:20-22 | Gossip and Quarrels

20 For lack of wood the fire goes out,
And where there is no whisperer, contention quiets down.
21 [Like] charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire,
So is a contentious man to kindle strife.
22 The words of a whisperer are like dainty morsels,
And they go down into the innermost parts of the body.

The comparison in verse 20 is that “wood” feeds fire and that a “whisperer” feeds contention. In order to keep a fire burning, fuel is needed. When there is no fuel, the fire goes out. The fire goes out when there is no more wood and the contention quietens down where there is no whisperer. Contention is like fire. It ignites others and destroys relationships.

The whisperer is the ignitor. He operates shrewdly; with his gossip he influences others negatively. Slander or gossip is fuel for contention. The whisperer must be deactivated. That is possible by silencing him. It is also possible by not listening to him. Then the contention will quieten down and cease.

The whisperer from verse 20 is “the contentious man” in verse 21. He has a nose for “strife” and knows how to “kindle” it. He delivers the fuel for it and throws it on the fire when there are tensions somewhere. There is a fire already and he adds the necessary fuel to it.

He is the counter picture of a peace maker, for he causes strife. And when the strife seems to be disappearing, he starts the fire once again. He does that by speaking some nasty or insinuating words about someone which causes the quarreling parties to fight one another again ferociously. Let us take care not to cause disputes, and when a dispute has been settled, not to say things that cause the dispute to start up again.

Why do whisperers and contentious men often get the chance to do their destroying work? Because gossip is so attractive to the sinful flesh (verse 22; Pro 18:8). “The words of a whisperer” are compared to dainty morsels. They are greedily and deeply enjoyed by those who hear them. If we do not reject the words of a whisperer, they will go down into the innermost parts of our body and influence our feelings negatively. It will remain there like a smoldering fire and will destroy us if we do not condemn ourselves for listening to those words and not having rebuked them.

Pro 26:23-28 | Hypocrisy

23 [Like] an earthen vessel overlaid with silver dross
Are burning lips and a wicked heart.
24 He who hates disguises [it] with his lips,
But he lays up deceit in his heart.
25 When he speaks graciously, do not believe him,
For there are seven abominations in his heart.
26 [Though his] hatred covers itself with guile,
His wickedness will be revealed before the assembly.
27 He who digs a pit will fall into it,
And he who rolls a stone, it will come back on him.
28 A lying tongue hates those it crushes,
And a flattering mouth works ruin.

One can camouflage the evil plans of his “wicked heart” (verse 23) with “burning lips”, which means with a speech that burns of love. In a fervent speech such a person says pleasant things, but these things only conceal his bad character and his evil motives of devising evil.

The wise man compares such a hypocritical speech with “an earthen vessel” that has been “overlaid with silver dross”. The overlaying of the earthen vessel with something that looks like silver, makes the earthen vessel look wonderful, it is totally different from the clay which it is in reality. Also the silver is fake, for it is dross or in other words silver scrap (cf. Lk 11:39; Mt 23:27).

Verse 24 says in a different wording what has already been said in verse 23. That is to prevent any misunderstanding about how deceptive a nice appearance can be as a covering for a corrupt heart. In the evil heart in verse 23 “hatred” is disguised. “He who hates”, can say nice and kind things, but he “disguises with his lips”. Disguising is pretending hypocritically or masking: pretending to be otherwise than one is in reality. To hate is ‘a condition of the heart’; verse 24 indicates that one who hates, carries this condition all the time.

The way that Joab approached Amasa and then killed him, illustrates this verse (2Sam 20:9-10a). It is a warning for us not to allow ourselves to be deceived by what we see or hear. In an anti-God world, the Christian must not go his own way in gullibility, but with caution (Mt 10:16). Nehemiah was not gullible when his enemies tried to make him fall into the trap (Neh 6:1-4).

Verse 25 is directly connected to verse 24. Solomon warns his son not to believe a hypocrite, even though he speaks “graciously”. Behind his gentle voice is hidden a heart in which there are “seven abominations”. It requires great shrewdness and wisdom to discern whether one can be believed or not. This verse may indicate a person who has already shown that he is unfaithful, but now uses words to hide his evil plans and put them into deeds.

‘Seven abominations’ indicates that this person is totally, thoroughly corrupt. Any kind of corruption is present in him. The hater devises abominations in his heart; he considers deeds that are horrific, terrible, and that those deeds which are now still plans, are addressed to him to whom he speaks graciously. His heart is a storage of abominations. Satan is the prototype of such a person, but there are also people who in this way look a lot like him.

To be able to discover the seven abominations behind a gracious voice, we need to be dependent on the Lord. If we hear something from someone whom we do not know or from somebody who is known to be unfaithful, we must ask the Lord to make clear whether he has true intentions. These intentions become clear anyway when that ‘friendly voice’ says things that go against the Word of God, as we can see in the conversation between satan and Eve.

Even though “hatred” remains unnoticed for a certain time because it “covers itself in guile”, there comes a moment when this evil will be irrevocably revealed (verse 26). The place where it happens is “the assembly”. ‘The assembly’ is any meeting of people that have been gathered for a certain purpose. In this case we perhaps may think about a court case.

It is also applicable to the church of God, wherein God makes known that there is evil present. Ultimately all evil will be revealed before the judgment seat of Christ (2Cor 5:10). For “there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known” (Lk 12:2).

Whoever intends to cause another person into ruin will often experience that he himself will be led to ruin which he had devised for the other person (verse 27; Psa 7:16-17; 9:16; 10:2). The digging of a pit and the rolling of a stone require hard work. It is about someone who makes a lot of efforts to cause another person into ruin. But “he who digs a pit will fall into it” (Ecc 10:8). And he who rolls a stone to hurt another person, he himself will be hurt by it when the stone suddenly comes back to him. It is the law of sowing and reaping, for “whatever a man sows he will also reap” (Gal 6:7b).

Abimelech who killed seventy men on one single stone, was killed himself by a part of a mill stone which was thrown on his head by a woman (Jdg 9:5,18,53). One is judged by the same standards of the unrighteousness by which he himself has judged, so that God’s righteousness is being done to him (cf. Jdg 1:6-7). Other histories that illustrate this verse are to be found in what happened to Haman who had a gallows made for Mordechai and what happened to the accusers of Daniel who had let him be thrown in the lions’ den (Est 7:10; Dan 6:24-28).

The reason why someone hurts others with his “lying tongue”, is because he hates them (verse 28). He is being driven by hatred. His lying tongue is in “a flattering mouth”, which speaks flattering words. This is most visible in the way that satan approaches Eve. This is how satan still operates by his countless instruments, which are people who have him as their father. He is the father of lies that brings destruction. His nature is present in his followers and comes to expression in them. In politics we regularly see and hear some samples of it.

All of these proverbs about hypocrisy, powerfully teach us how much the God of truth hates every attempt of deceit. They warn us against any adaptation to the slightest deviation from the truth and any lack of sincerity in our speech. Deviations from the truth and lack of sincerity are absolutely incompatible with the Christian profession.

Proverbs 27

Pro 27:1-2 | To Boast Wrongly

1 Do not boast about tomorrow,
For you do not know what a day may bring forth.
2 Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;
A stranger, and not your own lips.

He who boasts “about tomorrow” (verse 1), overestimates himself enormously. ‘Boasting’ about tomorrow means having the capacity to control the future. But nobody knows “what a day may bring forth”, which means what can happen in a day. That goes for both what still can happen today and for the day of tomorrow. The future is God’s territory. Nobody can decide about that. If we acknowledge it, it will humble us. It will cause us to submit all our future projects to Him, the sovereign God, Who guides all things.

Making plans is not wrong, as long as it happens in humility. Making plans as if we ourselves can decide about our destiny and have control over the future, is inappropriate (Jam 4:13-16). The Lord Jesus makes that clear in a parable of a rich fool who had planned to live for many years to come, but who dies the next night because God demanded his soul (Lk 12:16-21).

The proverb contains yet other teaching. We could learn from this proverb that we do not have to worry about tomorrow (Mt 6:34). We do not know whether the worries will be over by tomorrow. And if they are still there tomorrow, then God will still be there to help us. Another application is that we should not postpone until tomorrow what we can do today. That is all the more relevant when it comes to the repentance of a man. Then the appeal is: “Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (Heb 3:15). When the repentance is postponed until ‘tomorrow’, it has become a day from the calendar of satan, that can be prolonged to the infinite (Acts 24:24-27).

Verse 2 connects to verse 1. Verse 1 says that a man should not boast in what he will do tomorrow, or in the future. Verse 2 says that a man should not boast – the same Hebrew word which is now translated with ‘praise’ – himself for what he has done or what he is today or was yesterday, or in the past. It is good to do things that are worthy to be praised (Phil 4:8), but not for one to praise himself for it. Praise is like a jacket that fits well. You may wear it if it is put on to you by someone else and not by yourself, for otherwise it will no longer fit well.

If other people praise you, it is good. If you praise yourself, it is a form of pride. The Dutch saying ‘self-praise stinks’, displays it well. It is a general saying which makes clear that also worldly people generally do not appreciate someone who talks a lot about his own performance.

We can be grateful about something that we have achieved and find joy in it. God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. However, there is a difference between us and God. God finds all satisfaction in Himself; we find it only in Him. He gives us the ability to do a certain work. If we have achieved something, we should say that we are unworthy slaves and that we have done only that which we ought to have done (Lk 17:10).

The appreciation comes from the Lord. He says to everyone who has served Him faithfully: “Well done, good and faithful slave” (Mt 25:23). The praise about ourselves is in no way objective. If we praise ourselves, we overestimate ourselves enormously. If the Lord evaluates us, it is an absolutely objective evaluation. In that sense His evaluation agrees with that of some stranger and unfamiliar person. Hypocritical elements do not play a role. It is a praise without any hidden intention.

Pro 27:3-4 | Burdens That Are Too Heavy to Bear

3 A stone is heavy and the sand weighty,
But the provocation of a fool is heavier than both of them.
4 Wrath is fierce and anger is a flood,
But who can stand before jealousy?

“A stone” and “the sand” are heavy (verse 3). He who has to bear them, experiences that they are weighty and that the work is exhausting and painful. “But the provocation of a fools is heavier than both of them”. The provocation of a fool is unbearable. It remains like a stone and sand on one’s heart who is dealing with a fool. The spiritual hardship which is involved in dealing with a fool, is much bigger than exhausting physical work. Job used the same illustration to describe the gravity of his suffering (Job 6:2-3).

In the sphere of the emotion, incontrollable feelings can be present which can cause a devastating effect (verse 4). One can get so angry because of certain events and have a flood of wrath that he becomes cruel (Gen 34:25-31; 49:5-7). These outbursts of anger are inexcusable and the cruelties that one commits even less excusable, but after the discharge, a certain rest can arise.

Still worse, that those outbursts of anger are “jealousy” or envy. Jealousy is more unbearable than anger. It remains like a consuming fire. It consumes everything around itself and also the one in whom it is present. A jealous man is worse than an angry and furious man. Jealousy is never satisfied (Pro 6:32-35). No one can stand against it (cf. Jam 3:14,16). Abel fell prey to the jealousy of Cain as well as Joseph to that of his brothers.

Pro 27:5-6 | Rebuke As an Expression of Love

5 Better is open rebuke than love that is concealed.
6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend,
But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.

“Open rebuke” is a candid, direct word from honest criticism or disapproval by a friend (verse 5). This is “better than love that is concealed” or a love that is too timid, too frightened, or not enough confiding to acknowledge that punishment is a part of real love. Love that does not manifest admonition is morally worthless. It is even a question whether such love is sincere. Anyway, love that withdraws itself from responsibility, is not complete.

Paul had to rebuke Peter once openly (Gal 2:11). But that did not aggravate Peter. Later in his second letter, he speaks about “our beloved brother Paul” (2Pet 3:15). It is false love and in reality hatred, when we do not rebuke one of our children or a brother or sister in case it is needed (Lev 19:17). Love “does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with truth” (1Cor 13:6).

The proverb in verse 6 says in other words the same as verse 5. We all need somebody who loves us enough to tell us the truth about ourselves. He does not only say things that we would love to hear, but also things that we should hear. Sometimes it can be painful and cause wounds. But they will always be wounds without scars. With ‘wounds’ especially the wounding of the soul is meant.

We may have to point out something to someone because we see that something is going wrong. The addressed person has to make some correction concerning his or her behavior. That can be hard to swallow sometimes and may even cause a distance for a while. It may be considered an undesirable comment. But when the first emotions have been overcome and there has been a good consideration about what has been said, he or she will, upon reflection, profit from it and even consider what has happened to be a benefit (Psa 141:5; cf. Rev 3:19).

In that way, grandparents for instance, may sometimes see things with their grandchildren, which have escaped their children, the parents of their grandchildren. It requires wisdom to mention it to the children in the right way and at the right time. But real love points out the error and does not wait until it is too late, and then go on to say that they had expected it to happen.

Contrary to the expressions of true love are the false expressions of love of the enemy. The enemy is not scanty with his “kisses”. They are “deceitful” in order to conceal his true intentions. Those are deceptive, hypocritical expressions. The most horrible example is the deceitful kiss with which Judas betrayed His Master (Mk 14:43-45).

Pro 27:7 | Satiation and Hunger Do Change the Taste

7 A sated man loathes honey,
But to a famished man any bitter thing is sweet.

This verse sets “a sated man” and “a famished man” opposite to one another. The first one loathes or hates honey, while the latter finds even “any bitter thing” sweet. Too much of the good does not make the good bad but spoils the user. The more we have of something, the less we value it.

However, to a famished man it is the other way around. Hunger makes the bitter to taste sweet or as the saying goes, ‘hunger is the best sauce’, which means that when you’re starving, anything tastes good. Therefore, hunger is also called ‘the best cook’.

When it comes to eating and drinking for our bodies, the first part of the verse is increasingly true for the part of the world wherein we live: Europe. We are less familiar with the second part of the verse. In a spiritual sense both lines of the verse are applicable. Christians can have the feeling to be exalted above others because of the spiritual riches they have, while they despicably look down on others who – in their sight – know less than them (cf. 1Cor 4:8). They therefore do not accept anything from the ‘poor’ believers when they tell them something from God’s Word, but ‘trample’ it.

But those who are hungry and thirsty of God receive all things that they can learn from God’s Word with great gratitude. That very same hunger of God makes bitter trials to be sweet experiences (Exo 15:23-25). In that way the bitterness of the judgment also becomes sweet when it is acknowledged as justified, because then the faith sees the effect of it (Rev 10:8-10). The suffering gives a bitter taste, but the awareness that afterwards the blessing follows, makes the bitterness become sweet (cf. Rev 10:9).

Pro 27:8 | Do Not Wander From Your Home

8 Like a bird that wanders from her nest,
So is a man who wanders from his home.

The parallel compares “a bird that wanders from her nest” and “a man who wanders from his home”. In both cases it is about a place of safety and security that is being abandoned. The reason for wandering is not given. It seems to indicate that it is about an irresponsible act, where no thought is given to what kind of value is being given up.

The word “wanders” gives the impression that someone cannot cope with the circumstances anymore and wants to try his or her luck somewhere else. The dissatisfaction of someone with his or her present living conditions, is often a motive to wander from that place. The lesson is to encourage people to protect their home and be grateful for it, also in less favorable times.

For those who are not satisfied with their circumstances, the grass is always greener on the other side. Elimelech left Bethlehem for a while because of economic reasons, in order to dwell in Moab as a foreigner for as long as the economic depression would last (Rth 1:1-2). Things didn’t go well there. In the parable of the prodigal we see that the youngest son wandered from his father’s home because of selfish reasons. He left his father’s place where everything was very good and things went bad with him (Lk 15:11-13). Also, a believer can ‘wander from his or her nest’ as Demas did (2Tim 4:10). A straying foot follows a straying heart.

Pro 27:9-10 | The Affection and Help of a Friend

9 Oil and perfume make the heart glad,
So a man’s counsel is sweet to his friend.
10 Do not forsake your own friend or your father’s friend,
And do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity;
Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother far away.

“Oil and perfume” are pleasant for the body (verse 9). When someone has used them for his body so that he looks nice and smells nice, it has a joyful effect on the heart. Cosmetics surely do something to someone. “A man’s counsel” has the same beneficial effect which he gives to his friend because of the affection he has for him.

The sweet counsel of a friend is pleasant when it is a friend who puts God first and enjoys the same fellowship with the Savior, which you also enjoy. A beautiful example is to be found in the counsel that Jonathan gave to his friend David (1Sam 20:10-17). The Lord Jesus always gives sweet counsel. In that way He makes hearts glad of those whom He calls His friends. One of His Names is “Counselor” (Isa 9:6).

In connection to verse 9, Solomon speaks about the value of a friend in verse 10, particularly about the value of a ‘family friend’. Solomon himself also nurtured a friendship with Hiram who was already the friend of his father David (1Kgs 5:1-10). It is a friend who has already proven his trustworthiness for a generation. He warns his son not to forsake or abandon that friend, but to cherish that friendship as something special.

A house friend is always close, both in literal and in spiritual distance. He knows the family. When the son would face a calamity some day and needs help, he doesn’t have to go to a brother who lives far away or with whom he has no spiritual contact, but he can ask the house friend for help. He lives nearby and knows the son from his childhood.

Real friendship doesn’t change. A real friend is a fellowman to whom you can also turn for help. For real friends there is no barrier because of a difference in generation. This especially goes for the Lord Jesus Who in all generations is the reliable Friend of all who know Him.

Pro 27:11 | A Wise Son Is an Answer to Reproach

11 Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad,
That I may reply to him who reproaches me.

A wise son first and foremost makes the heart of the father glad. An additional effect is that he gives his father the possibility to reply to his critics. Parents who educate their children in accordance with clear rules, sometimes are blamed for doing it wrong. They oblige their children to keep certain rules. They also keep them from certain liberties that other young ones do have or take. That goes together with the threat that their children will enter into the world later on, because they have found the yoke of their education too strict.

But an education out of the relationship with the Lord, with the wisdom of God and plain rules in love, will generally have a good outcome with the children. Children that are wise, justify their parents. Children are not called to behave well so that their fathers can reply to those who reproach them. That would be force and manipulation. Spiritual truths are no legacies. The wisdom that a son reveals in his life has not been inherited but acquired.

Children that go their way in accordance with what they have learnt from their parents, are the best recommendation of the value of the education that their parents have given. This also goes for God as our Father. We make His heart glad if we are wise, which we only possibly can when we listen to his teaching by His Word. His teaching that becomes visible in us, makes our adversaries to be silent. We can also apply this to all who teach God’s Word to fellow believers, for instance in Bible lessons and Bible lectures. We see that also with Paul in what he says to and about the believers in Thessalonica (1Thes 2:19-20).

Pro 27:12 | A Prudent Man Hides From Evil

12 A prudent man sees evil [and] hides himself,
The naive proceed [and] pay the penalty.

The contrast is between “a prudent man” and “the naive” (Pro 22:3). The first is the mature man who has developed alertness. The latter are the inexperienced and unskilled young ones who are easily being deceived because they are stubborn. The test that makes clear who the prudent is and who the naive are, is their response to the evil of the judgment that presents itself.

In order to escape from the announced evil, we must see the evil, we must acknowledge the evil. This is what the prudent man does, while the naive may also see the evil, but does not acknowledge it and even possibly ignores it or think that it is not that serious. The response makes clear whether one takes the coming evil seriously or that he is not worried at all. A prudent man actually seeks a place where he can hide himself from evil, while the naive will pay the penalty.

David escaped from Saul several times, because he foresaw what Saul intended to do. He hid himself and in that way, he kept himself out of Saul’s hands. Noah is also a prudent man. He hid himself in the ark, while all of the naive did not allow themselves to be warned and kept on living with their lives and therefore had to pay the penalty (cf. Jer 6:17).

Threatening evil should not make us nervous and cause us to make hasty decisions or actions, but it must make us to consider calmly what we should do to escape from it, for it will surely happen. A prudent man will hide himself in the right place, a place that really provides protection. He will not protect himself from the wrath of God’s judgment by hiding himself in a wrong place or in a wrong way, by for example clothing himself with the works of law.

After Adam and Eve had sinned, they covered themselves with the self-made aprons of fig leaves, which is a picture of self-righteousness (Gen 3:7-8). But this covering or hiding did not work. They remained naked before God (Gen 3:10-11). God took care of the right covering, from an animal skin, which means that an animal had been killed in their place (Gen 3:21). That points to the only place of hiding against the judgment of God, which is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Isa 32:2a). Whoever accepts Him in faith, is fully protected against evil. Those who reject this hiding place and go on with their lives, will have to pay the penalty themselves.

Pro 27:13 | Obligations Have to Be Fulfilled

13 Take his garment when he becomes surety for a stranger;
And for an adulterous woman hold him in pledge.

Connected to verse 12, becoming surety for a stranger (verse 13) is a matter that is announced as an evil. A prudent man sees the evil which is concealed in becoming surety for a stranger. He hides himself from evil by not taking part in it and in that way, he is kept from the loss of the pledge.

He who as a naive becomes surety for a stranger, runs the risk of losing his garment. His garment is the only thing that is left for him. If he loses it, he loses everything so that he is delivered to the cold of the night. He can never get it back, for it has fallen into the hands of “an adulterous woman”.

An application is, that we will lose the warmth of the Christian fellowship if we assume obligation which we cannot fulfill. We can recommend someone for a certain job and say that we will assist if the person that we have recommended does not comply. When the person does not comply, then we are to keep our promise. We cannot do more than what we were actually assigned for, but we have to do something which was not our assignment. In that way we lose a lot of warmth, for fulfilling our duties because of our own fault is much different than doing something out of love.

The lesson is that when we allow ourselves to be misguided to entering into obligation, we have to bear the consequences of it when it turns out that this stranger is unreliable. People must be held responsible to their obligations, no matter how foolish it was to assume them.

Pro 27:14-16 | Improper Behavior

14 He who blesses his friend with a loud voice early in the morning,
It will be reckoned a curse to him.
15 A constant dripping on a day of steady rain
And a contentious woman are alike;
16 He who would restrain her restrains the wind,
And grasps oil with his right hand.

Real friendship is not shown in an exaggerated, improper manner (verse 14). Anyone who wishes his friend all kinds of good things with a loud voice and at an inappropriate moment, does not seek his friend, but his own self. He wants his voice to be heard by telling how good his friend is, in order to boast in having such a friend. It is an exaggerated expression of praise of how good a person is.

The friend in this verse is clearly not amused by it. He doesn’t necessarily have to have such attention. The action of his friend is a curse to him. The neighborhood continually hears his name in association with all kinds of nice religious wishes. This does not arouse respect, but annoyance. Anyone who does this, probably wants to give the impression of being godly and being a friend, but he is considered a curse. Whenever someone is praised too much, aversion will arise instead of admiration. The friend knows that and therefore he is not glad at all with all of those eulogies.

It is a good thing to bless someone, which means wishing him well, but it should be in a good way and at the right time and with the right motives. A good deed done at the wrong time is regarded as a curse. It is better to speak with God early in the morning and to listen to Him by reading His Word than by spoiling a friend’s day with such a beginning.

The comparison of “a constant dripping” and “a contentious woman” has already been presented to us (verse 15; Pro 19:13). Now “on a day of steady rain” is added, which is a day for one to stay at home, for the weather doesn’t allow him to leave his home. But also, inside the home he is not safe from the rain, because there is a leakage. He cannot find a hiding place anywhere.

This man is continually exposed to the contentiousness of his wife, without any possibility to escape from her. She quarrels all the time. It goes on and on with the consistency of the dripping of water, due to the leakage somewhere in the roof, which the man cannot find. There is rain outside and also inside the house, so that it is wet all over the place which causes one to feel the coldness right to the bone.

The woman is uncontrollable and unruly as the wind (verse 16). The wind is intangible and unpredictable; a gust of wind can come any time. Also, oil is not to be grasped or to be held on to, not even with the right hand, which is the hand of power. It slips away through the fingers. It describes the hopelessness of a situation which cannot be changed by human resources.

Pro 27:17-18 | To Sharp and to Guard

17 Iron sharpens iron,
So one man sharpens another.
18 He who tends the fig tree will eat its fruit,
And he who cares for his master will be honored.

Man is not made to be alone, but to be with others. He is a social creature and needs others to be able to show himself as man. One of the aspects of being together is the sharpening of each other’s insights and thoughts by talking with one another. It is about the identity or character of the person (verse 17). The comparison with the sharpening of iron with iron shows that it is about two equivalent materials. When two people talk with one another about a subject and also listen to one another, it sharpens the understanding of both person on that subject. It is win-win situation.

It is about the sharpening of character and understanding. A character is mainly shaped by contacts with others. Friends do not always have to agree with one another, but by talking with one another about something, both will gain insight. It sharpens them in their convictions and at the same time it takes the sharp edges away.

The fact that contact has a formative influence, applies in a special way to our dealings with our brothers and sisters with whom we share our thoughts about God’s Word. When we share what we have learnt about God’s truth, it is a sharpening of the faith of everyone. It gives a sharper insight in God’s thought, which enables us to serve one another with more insight.

In verse 18 it is about the care of working on our relationships, so that people not only develop a better insight and character (verse 17), but in correspondence to that, also fruitfulness and servitude. It is not about sharpening or edging, but about nursing and faithfully serving. The care of a fig tree is a matter that demands attention. Sufficient and appropriate care have the result that the care-giver will eat of its fruit. That is his reward.

This comparison is drawn with someone who cares for his master. He who does that faithfully, will not worry about whether his efforts will be recognized or rewarded (cf. Pro 22:29). Paul was a diligent and faithful servant who cared for all things that his Master had entrusted to him concerning truths. He did not abandon any of them. He knew that the Lord will honor him for that with a crown (2Tim 4:7-8). So, the Lord shall reward each person in a suitable way for the faithfulness with which he or she has served Him (1Sam 2:30; Mt 25:21,23; Jn 12:26).

Pro 27:19-20 | The Heart and the Eyes of Man

19 As in water face [reflects] face,
So the heart of man [reflects] man.
20 Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied,
Nor are the eyes of man ever satisfied.

As clear water is like a mirror that fully reflects a face when looking into it, so does “the heart of man” reflect his true nature (verse 19; Mt 12:34). God’s Word, which is compared with water (Eph 5:26), is also compared with a mirror (Jam 1:23-24). It shows any man that looks into it, his own heart. What’s in his heart, is what he is. When a man becomes aware of it, he will be shocked and he will acknowledge his wickedness and beg God for mercy.

The same applies to the believer. By looking at the attitude of our heart, we come to a true self-awareness. What are we seeking with our heart? For example, when somebody retires, it often becomes clear where his priorities are. Is he going to spend his time in traveling, fishing, etc. or does he see new possibilities to serve the Lord? We often see in the way one spends his leisure time what he is seeking with his heart, whether it is about his own fun and pleasure or that Christ is in the center.

After the heart of man (verse 19), our attention is drawn to “the eyes of man” (verse 20). The eyes of man are just as insatiable as “Sheol and Abaddon”. The eye represents here the lust of man that never gets satisfaction (cf. Ecc 1:8). John the apostle speaks of “the lust of the eyes” (1Jn 2:16).

There is an enormous offer before us. We no longer see only the things that happen around us, but through television and internet there is a limitless offer of things which we can watch. A lot of these things influences our lusts. Also, the advertising leaflets, that enter our homes in an unstoppable flow through our letterbox, are trying very hard to draw our eyes and to awaken our lusts to what they are offering. Eyes devour everything they see as Sheol and Abaddon devour all people. The lust of the eyes never stops.

When it comes down to the lust for the things of this life, we must learn not to give in to them, but to be content with what we have (1Tim 6:8; Heb 13:5; Phil 4:11). When it comes down to the lust for the spiritual things, the believers will “see the King in His beauty” (Isa 33:17), which will make them to be satisfied with His picture (Psa 17:15).

Pro 27:21 | A Good Name as a Test

21 The crucible is for silver and the furnace for gold,
And each [is tested] by the praise accorded him.

Silver is melted in the crucible to test it for its purity. An oven does the same with gold. The testing methods show whether something has been added in the silver or gold, which makes these precious metals impure. Solomon compares “the praise” which is accorded to someone with silver and gold and he also connects the conduct of a test to it. Someone who has a good name, should be tested whether he is really worthy of that name.

That test is honor. Honor is attached to one’s good name. His attitude toward that, makes clear how he really is. He can accept the honor that he gets as something he accords to his own performance, or he can be grateful to God for it, for he owes everything to Him. This is applicable when we have ‘made a name’ for ourselves in any area.

As the crucible brings all impurities to the surface, so will a praising audience bring all evilness of man to the surface. If that is not the case, he is worthy of his good name. This will only be the case with someone who realizes that he has nothing that he did not receive but owes all things to God (1Cor 4:7a).

Anyone who calls himself a Christian according to the ‘good name’ of Christ, will be tested for his confession. God can use all kinds of ways or circumstances for that. When people honor us because of our being Christians, it is a test. Do we take that honor or do we accord it to Him?

Pro 27:22 | The Fool Is and Will Remain a Fool

22 Though you pound a fool
In a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain,
[Yet] his foolishness will not depart from him.

Foolishness cannot be removed with an iron fist, because foolishness is the nature of a fool. Even the most drastic discipline cannot bring a change in the fool. This is represented in the picture of the crushing of grain in a mortar by a pestle (a mortar is a vessel with a pestle in which something can be crushed of ground). No matter how he would be crushed, he is and remains foolish (cf. Jer 13:23).

Only judgment will not change a man. Pharaoh was crushed again and again as it were with a pestle in a mortar by the plagues that God brought over him and his people and his country, but he did not change (Exodus 7-11). The mercy of God must also be used if a man really wants to be redeemed from his foolishness. Through repentance he will receive a new nature and becomes a new creation.

Pro 27:23-27 | The Work of Man and the Care of God

23 Know well the condition of your flocks,
[And] pay attention to your herds;
24 For riches are not forever,
Nor does a crown [endure] to all generations.
25 [When] the grass disappears, the new growth is seen,
And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in,
26 The lambs [will be] for your clothing,
And the goats [will bring] the price of a field,
27 And [there will be] goats’ milk enough for your food,
For the food of your household,
And sustenance for your maidens.

The verses 23-27 are as it were a brief poem about the responsibility of a man to take care of earnings in order to provide his family and those who belong to his house, whatever they need. From these verses it appears how important it is to be diligent in work. They speak also of the satisfaction that working diligently gives and of God’s providing care.

It is about working in the calling for which God has called us in everyday life, with the intention that livelihood is taken care of for all who have been entrusted to the worker (1Cor 7:20). God wants man to work and that man also does it diligently. If he does not, then he and those who belong to his house will suffer hunger. In order to help him, God delivers resources which man need and which He alone can give. That should make man realize that he is dependent of God in all of his activities.

We must know very well what we are doing, what our work consists of, and also how we should do our work. Solomon says to his son that he should master his ‘skill’ well. He advises him to make sure that he knows his sheep very well (verse 23). That is only possible by giving personal attention to each sheep, caring about him and nursing him, so that they all have everything they need concerning food and protection. He can only bring this into practice when he pays attention to his flock, he must love them. One should pay attention to his business, otherwise, within a short time he will have no business anymore to which he can pay attention to.

We can apply this verse to our family if we have a family, to our children and to our work. The same goes for the care in the church of God. The church of God is compared with a flock (Acts 20:28). The care of that has been given to the elders by God. Peter had to take care of the lambs and sheep of the Lord Jesus (Jn 21:15-17; 1Pet 5:1-4).

“For” (verse 24) indicates the reason for the exhortation of the previous verse. In case of negligence and laziness, the riches or prosperity will disappear. There is no guarantee that prosperity (riches) and kingdom (crown) are forever, that you will never cease to enjoy them. You cannot count on it automatically. In order to have permanent benefit of it, we should always be working diligently for it.

The believer has been given many spiritual riches and a royal position. Those are forever, but not transmittable. God also expects us to work with those gifts and serve others with them. Thereby we should realize that the time that we have to work for the Lord, is limited. We can only work now, as long as we are on earth, for Him. He also exhorts us to do so: “Do business [with this] until I come back” (Lk 19:13).

Verse 25 combines the hard working by man with God’s work. God makes the “first grass” to grow, without any human intervention (Mk 4:28). He does it according to His wise policy, in stages. When the first (blades of) grass have been produced, man can mow it and harvest it as hay from the field. Then it is removed from the field. But the work of God goes on, “the new growth is seen”. God continually gives new growth (cf. Amos 7:1). Man does not have to sow for new growth. God gives it and man can mow it.

He also made “the herbs of the mountains” to grow and man can also gather them. Mountains are among other a picture of difficulties. Collecting herbs on mountains requires extra efforts. Mountains have to be climbed, but that will surely deliver something valuable. Extra money will be earned. Herbs make food tasteful and are also used for the production of medicines. In this way every effort in the work of the Lord is being rewarded at a higher rate (1Cor 15:58).

The lambs deliver wool (verse 26). Out of that, clothing can be made with which the shepherd can keep himself warm (Job 31:20). He can sell his goats (cf. Eze 27:21). That gives him the opportunity to make new investments, for example for buying a new field.

Besides clothing, he also has “enough goats’ milk … for food” (verse 27). That food is for both himself and his household and the maidens. From his care for his business, everyone in his environment will profit. That is also the case in spiritual sense. He who is faithful in the things of the Lord, is a blessing for others.

Proverbs 28

Pro 28:1 | A Bad or a Good Conscience

1 The wicked flee when no one is pursuing,
But the righteous are bold as a lion.

“The wicked” may have a big mouth, but inwardly they are always in fear. They have a guilty conscience and are afraid of the judgment. They do not trust anyone, they are suspicious and they even flee for an imaginary danger (cf. Lev 26:36; Psa 53:5a). Wicked people continue to flee, for they always bear their bad conscience with them, wherever they go. Sin makes a man to be a coward.

“But the righteous” are aware of God’s and man’s favor. They have a pure conscience. They don’t always have to look over their shoulders to see whether somebody is chasing them to do them wrong. They “are bold as a lion” and therefore free from fear. The “boldness” that they show, is not in their own power, but in God. The righteous will not run for an imaginary enemy, for that does not exist for them.

The verse shows the connection between courage and a good conscience and also the result of a bad conscience. “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline” (2Tim 1:7). He who is guided by God’s Spirit, does not have to flee. Elijah, a righteous man, was as a man of God “bold as a lion” at Mount Carmel against hundreds of false prophets (1Kgs 18:22).

Pro 28:2-5 | Not Acknowledging God’s Authority

2 By the transgression of a land many are its princes,
But by a man of understanding [and] knowledge, so it endures.
3 A poor man who oppresses the lowly
Is [like] a driving rain which leaves no food.
4 Those who forsake the law praise the wicked,
But those who keep the law strive with them.
5 Evil men do not understand justice,
But those who seek the LORD understand all things.

National sins cause national disasters. When a land does not consider God and His Word, it is due to the fact that it has no God-fearing ruler. The consequence is that the rulers follow each other in a fast pace, for every ruler seeks his own interest (verse 2). The period of the judges with thirteen judges and the days of the northern kingdom of Israel with nine dynasties, are examples of political instability because of sin. During rebellious, turbulent times, a nation has many coups and many people who are fighting for power.

A nation gets the government it deserves. We see that not only in kingdoms but also in countries with a self-chosen government. The one government follows the other, while the government that is resigning, leaves the country in a bigger chaos than when it entered into office.

But when there is “a man of understanding [and] knowledge” in the government, “it endures”. It comes down to understanding and knowledge in the will of God. When that is present, it will “endure”, which means: rule for a long period. Enduring justice means that as soon as evil elements are exposed which endanger the legal order, the evil will be judged. As soon as this is ignored, the cycle of the many princes that succeed one another starts again, with the result of instability in the country. When the legal order is maintained righteously, there will be no change of government over and over again. This is very beneficial for the stability of a country.

It is very tragic when “a poor man” becomes powerful, when he becomes a ruler, and in that position “oppresses the lowly” (verse 3). A poor man could have become a refreshing rain to his former peers in such a position of authority which he acquires by his experiences. None better than him, after all knows what it is to be ‘lowly’. But then one on the contrary can indeed show the greatest despise towards those among whom he formerly lived. His oppression of the lowly implies betrayal.

The second line of the verse tells by a comparison about the result of the attitude of the poor man that became powerful. He is “a driving rain which leaves no food”. Rain is to serve as a blessing to the crop, that the harvest will become good so that there will bread, but here he is doing a devastating work. Hunger arises. A ruler has to take care of a beneficial society (Psa 72:5-7) and not wipe it out by heavy oppression (2Chr 10:10-19).

“Those who forsake the law” have lost the good view, God’s view, on the wicked (verse 4). They are no longer able to discern between good and evil. They are disobedient to God’s law and because of that get admiration for those who have evidently set God aside and determine their own lives. In a society where the wicked are praised, God’s Word has been thrown overboard. The free will, freedom for everyone to say whatever they think and do whatever they want, has become the greatest asset. Whoever supports that, congratulates the wicked with their wickedness (cf. Rom 1:32). An example is the sexual contact between people of the same sex.

He who wants to live according to God’s Word, shall fight against it. That may imply that he openly points out this evil. In any case, this means that he does not participate in praising the wicked. Then the ruling opinion is attacked. When that happens, it will arouse resistance.

To “understand justice” (verse 5) depends on one’s mind, not on one’s intellect (cf. Psa 119:100; Jn 7:17). “Evil men” are people who are not attuned to God, but to their own wicked nature. They set their heart on evil. Their thoughts are corrupt. Therefore they cannot understand “justice”, the legal rights of people, which have been ordained by God. They have no ‘sensor’ for it, for they are darkened in their understanding. They show it by the injustice they do to their fellow-men.

The word “but” at the beginning of the second line of the verse, ushers in the contrast in what is stated in the first line of the verse. “Seeking the LORD” means asking Him His will to do it (2Sam 21:1). We seek God’s will when we examine His Word. When we keep his Word closed, we do not seek Him. The Spirit helps us to find God’s will in God’s Word and to understand it and carry it out. We “know all things” by the Spirit Who dwells in us (1Jn 2:20,27). If we want to experience the full use of it in our lives, then we should be spiritually minded, for then we can appraise all things (1Cor 2:14-15).

Pro 28:6 | Integrity Is Better Than Being Crooked

6 Better is the poor who walks in his integrity
Than he who is crooked though he be rich.

This verse is again a “better … than” proverb. This proverb says that poverty in integrity is better than being crooked though wealthy. There are certainly dishonest poor people and honest rich people. The verse only contrasts “the poor who walks in his integrity” with someone who “is crooked though he be rich” (cf. Pro 19:1). The word “crooked” suggests that the rich man’s ways goes two ways, sometimes right, sometimes left. It means that he is a hypocrite and that he acts in two ways. Outwardly he is religious, but inwardly he is corrupt and greedy. One moment he plays the role of a religious man, but the other moment he acts like a greedy man.

Integrity is not automatically connected to wealth as an evidence of God’s appreciation for that integrity. Being poor entails the risk to be dishonest or insincere. The poor who walks in his integrity does not give in to that risk. His walk with God protects him in his integrity.

Wealth is not automatically an evidence of God’s appreciation. The rich man who is crooked, shows that he does not see his wealth as a gift from God. His crooked ways are ways without God. He does not walk with God, but he walks according to his own corrupt ideas with which he thinks to keep his wealth and increase it in that way.

Pro 28:7 | A Discerning Son or a Son Who Humiliates

7 He who keeps the law is a discerning son,
But he who is a companion of gluttons humiliates his father.

He who keeps the law shows that he “is a discerning son”. His father has been telling him the importance of the law and he has lived up to it; the discerning son has taken that teaching to heart. Therefore he makes wise choices and is a joy to his father.

A son “who is a companion of gluttons” – for example indulging in food and drinks and sexuality – does not care at all about the teaching of his father. He does not say: “Depart from me, evildoers, that I may observe the commandments of my God” (Psa 119:115). Instead, he chooses his own friends who behave cross-bordered in all kinds of areas. He is profligate. This bad company and debauched life are a great sorrow to his father, whom he also “humiliates” by his behavior. He insults his whole family.

Pro 28:8 | Crooked Wealth Increase

8 He who increases his wealth by interest and usury,
Gathers it for him who is gracious to the poor.

The connection between the first and the second line of the verse seems to assume that wealth increase is the result of taking advantage of the poor who had to lend or buy from him. This saying presumes that the wealth of someone who has gained it in a dishonest way, will ultimately find its way to the poor (cf. Jer 17:11; Jam 5:1-6). God will ensure that it will happen (Job 27:16-17; Ecc 2:26). He will ensure that it will come into the hands of someone “who is gracious to the poor”.

The law prohibits it to ask interest from a neighbor, a compatriot (Exo 22:25; Lev 25:36-37; Deu 23:19-20; Psa 15:5). When the poor needed help, the rich had to give it to them as a charity. They were not to exploit the tight situation of another Israelite for their own benefit.

Pro 28:9 | God Is Deaf to Those Who Are Deaf Towards Him

9 He who turns away his ear from listening to the law,
Even his prayer is an abomination.

Fellowship with God takes place by His Word and by prayer. Through His Word, God speaks to man and through prayer, man speaks to God. When God speaks, but a man refuses to listen, God will not listen when that man speaks to Him. Listening is not only hearing, but also doing. When a man for his part is deaf for the teaching from God’s Word, when he excludes himself from it, God will, from His side be deaf for this man’s prayer.

His prayer will certainly not be sincere. God is not only deaf for it, but it is an abomination to Him. He who refuses to obey God, cannot possibly pray according to God’s will. If somebody still has the nerve to ask God something in an attitude of disobedience, he will hear that God rejects his prayer (Isa 1:15). When the elders of Israel came to Ezekiel to ask for God’s will, God said that He would not respond to their question, because they did not obey what He earlier had told them to do (Eze 20:1-8). He who does not hear, deserves not to be heard. Of course a prayer of repentance is no abomination to the Lord.

Pro 28:10 | Falling Into His Own Pit or Doing the Good

10 He who leads the upright astray in an evil way
Will himself fall into his own pit,
But the blameless will inherit the good.

The judgment is certain for him “who leads the upright astray in an evil way”, which means: who seduce them to commit sin. To God it is a great evil to cause “the upright”, which are those who are in relationship with Him, to stumble (Mt 18:6-7). Satan will try everything to lead the upright astray and he has enough people that he can use for this purpose. The world presents an enormous selection to cause the upright to go astray. That happens via advertisements and the internet. The evil of unfaithfulness in marriage is denied; there is nothing wrong with ‘a love affair’. Satan will fall, together with every creature that does the same as he does, in the pit that he and they have dug.

But if we are “blameless” and remain that, we will not only be kept from falling into the pit of the false teacher, but we “will inherit the good”. God will grant us the good as an inheritance. “The good” includes all things that God has given to the Lord Jesus as a reward, which we will be allowed to share with Him. We can thereby think of the good things which we will enjoy in the kingdom of peace.

Pro 28:11 | The Wise in His Own Eyes and the Poor

11 The rich man is wise in his own eyes,
But the poor who has understanding sees through him.

This proverb again deals with a contrast between “the rich man” and “the poor”. In this verse the rich man is “wise in his own eyes”. He is filled with self-conceit. He sees only himself and thinks that he can judge everything. “But the poor who has understanding sees through him”; such a poor man does not allow himself to be fooled. The poor sees the lack of the rich man, he sees straight through his arrogance.

Wealth and wisdom do not often go together. It is mostly the case that the wealth of the rich makes him to be blind of his spiritual poverty. He believes that his money determines the value of his soul. He who has money can buy power and can even assert it. But one who has no money but understanding, sees through him and sees that he is just a conceited bigot, who is not what he pretends to be.

Wealth can lead to pride (1Tim 6:17). The wisdom of the righteous is not that he knows how to earn money as much as he possibly can and to become rich as soon as he possibly can. His wisdom is that he sees the insecurity of wealth and does not put his trust in it (Mt 6:19).

Pro 28:12 | The Righteous or the Wicked in Control

12 When the righteous triumph, there is great glory,
But when the wicked rise, men hide themselves.

The contrast in this verse is between the situation of “the righteous” triumphing and “the wicked” being in control (Pro 11:10). The thought is that when the righteous are exalted, when they are in control, when they “triumph”, the people have much confidence. They have a positive impact on the people. The righteous give glow to the society. The society prospers by that. Everyone is glad and happy, for there is a righteous way of sharing of the burdens and an honest sharing of advantages.

But “when the wicked rise”, when they are in control, it is the end of a peaceful, happy society. They have a negative impact on the people. When the wicked become powerful, it becomes silent on the street, because the people hide themselves out of fear of them. We see the two contrasting effects in the government of Mordechai (Est 8:17) and that of the Midianites (Jdg 6:2).

Pro 28:13-14 | Confessing and Fearing

13 He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper,
But he who confesses and forsakes [them] will find compassion.
14 How blessed is the man who fears always,
But he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.

The contrast in verse 13 – indicated by the word “but” – is between “he who conceals his transgressions” and “he who confesses and forsakes [them]”. The former “will not prosper”, the latter “will find compassion”. This verse is unique in the book of Proverbs. It deals with the truth about forgiveness. Every part of this verse is essential for this truth. The forgiveness by God is obviously connected to a real return to God to find compassion with Him instead of judgment (Psa 32:1-5; 1Jn 1:6-9).

A ‘transgression’ is the crossing of a border, while the border has clearly been indicated. When David committed adultery with Bathsheba, he transgressed, crossed the border which God had drawn around marriage. First, he covered that sin and was silent about it. He was not prosperous then. His bones wasted away and God’s hand was heavy upon him. Then he acknowledged his sin, he confessed them and said: “My iniquity I did not hide” (Psa 32:3-5). Then he was able to say that God surrounded him “with songs of deliverance” (Psa 32:7b).

The result of receiving compassion is “to fear always” (verse 14) for sin. Fear for sin seems to be more the intention of this verse, than fear for the LORD. The latter is always true, but the emphasis is not on that.

‘To fear’ is to fear greatly. It is to fear greatly for sin, like Joseph feared sin (Gen 39:8-9), a great fear for the consequences caused by sin. It is the fear for falling (again) into sin; it is a fear for or anxiety about the power of sin. The point is that one should always have that fear. We certainly have that fear for the sin that we had to confess (verse 13). If we have this fear, “how blessed”, happy we are, for we will avoid sin.

That we may here preferably think of fear for sin, appears also from the contrast in the second line of the verse. The verse puts the man who ‘always fears’ against “him who hardens his heart”. It is inevitable that he who does the latter, “will fall into calamity”. A deep sense of sin is a special grace. He who has no fear for sin and hardens his heart against the warnings about it, will sin and leads himself and also others into calamity.

Pro 28:15-16 | The Tyrant

15 [Like] a roaring lion and a rushing bear
Is a wicked ruler over a poor people.
16 A leader who is a great oppressor lacks understanding,
[But] he who hates unjust gain will prolong [his] days.

“A roaring lion and a rushing bear” are fear instilling animals that have no compassion at all (verse 15). They follow their instincts and chase their prey. As soon as they have caught it they tear it apart. With these animals that are frightening and chase their prey, “a wicked ruler over a poor people” is compared. Political tyrants are like these animals, incalculable, powerful, insensitive, cruel, bloodthirsty and devouring. The ruthless world leaders whom Daniel sees in a vision, are also presented as animals (Dan 7:1-8). The poor are suffering under these tyrants because they cannot meet their requirements (cf. Ecc 4:1).

In this “wicked ruler” we see a picture of the antichrist. This extremely cruel ruler will be accepted by the non-believing mass of the Jewish people as the leader after the rapture of the church. This wicked ruler will be especially targeting the believing remnant that we see in “a poor people”. But they will be redeemed by the true David, when He returns to the earth. Just like David “killed both the lion and the bear” (1Sam 17:34-36), the Lord Jesus will kill the wicked antichrist, which we see here in the picture of the lion and the bear.

A tyrant always “lacks understanding” (verse 16). He is blinded by the lust for power and maintains his power by oppression. His love for money determines his performance. He oppresses people, for example by imposing high tax burdens. On the other hand (“but”) we have the righteous king. That is someone who does not seek his own gain (Exo 18:21). It is not only that he is not focused on money, but it someone who “hates unjust gain”. This ruler “will prolong [his] days”. In this we again see the Lord Jesus, Whose kingdom will have no end (Lk 1:32-33).

Pro 28:17 | The Guilt of Human Blood Leads to the Pit

17 A man who is laden with the guilt of human blood
Will be a fugitive until death; let no one support him.

The first line of the verse literally reads: ‘A man tortured by the blood of one’s life.’ It regards a murderer who is a fugitive. He is a “man who is laden”, which means that he has a laden soul or a guilty conscience. Even when by his run he remains out of the hands of the avenger of blood, his conscience continues to accuse him. This is how his running will always end up in the pit of the grave after a shorter or longer time. Nothing can be done about it. The brother murderer Cain has understood it (Gen 4:12-14).

The second line of the verse reads that it is not good to try to support a murderer who is a fugitive. One should not get involved with him, for justice must take its course (Gen 9:6).

The gospel can however be brought to him, so that he may get rest for his conscience by repentance and conversion. Then he is still on his way to the pit of the grave, for he deserves the death penalty, though not any more as a fugitive for the justified judgment.

Pro 28:18 | To Be Delivered or to Fall

18 He who walks blamelessly will be delivered,
But he who is crooked will fall all at once.

He who walks blamelessly may be threatened by hostile people or be struck by an accident. He who walks blamelessly, walks with God. There is no other possibility to walk blamelessly. Therefore he knows that God is with him and will help him out. He who walks blamelessly, walks safely.

The second line of the verse begins with “but”, which indicates that a contrast follows with the previous line of the verse. There are two contrasts in this verse. “He who walks blamelessly” is in contrast with “he who is crooked”, and “will be delivered” is in contrast with “will fall all at once”. He who is crooked, walks insincerely. He is dishonest and corrupt and seeks to enrich himself at the expense of others. He does not take God into account. Therefore there is no deliverance for him when he needs help. And his fall will suddenly come, it will be all at once.

Pro 28:19-20 | Results of Diligence and Faithfulness

19 He who tills his land will have plenty of food,
But he who follows empty [pursuits] will have poverty in plenty.
20 A faithful man will abound with blessings,
But he who makes haste to be rich will not go unpunished.

In verse 19 there is mention of two kinds of saturation (cf. Pro 12:11). There is saturation with food and saturation with poverty. “To have plenty of food” is the result of diligently doing your work daily, which is indicated here with “he who tills his land”. One does not get food by this or that miracle, but you have to work for it. When you do, you will have plenty of food and will be saturated.

The second line of the verse again begins with “but”, which indicates that a contrast follows. In contrast to the diligent worker is someone who “follows empty pursuits”. He who does such a thing shows how he himself is. He does not do anything at all, but profits from others. Once in a while he has something to eat, but ultimately, he “will have poverty in plenty”. He who tills his land, will have his bread bin, his table and his stomach filled with food. He who follows empty pursuits will have a bread bin, table and stomach full of emptiness.

The contrast is between the one who concentrates on his work, and the one who allows himself to be distracted and spends his time and energy to non-productive activities. Some recreation and distraction at the right time is useful, but too much of it leads to poverty, both materially and spiritually.

Verse 20 connects to verse 19. The first line of the verse deals with “a faithful man”, which means that he is among others diligently at work and does it faithfully. He “abounds with blessings”. By the contrast with the second line of the verse it seems that one of the bountiful blessings is that of sufficient income. He doesn’t need to make haste to become rich; he is rich by his faithfulness in his work. Therefore he is able to provide for his family. He is also able to give something to the poor and specially to give to God His part. He rejoices about God’s grace. Faithfulness determines success.

In contrast to a faithful man is “he who makes haste to become rich”, also to be translated as ‘he who cannot wait to become rich’. Such a person uses dishonest means to succeed. We can conclude that from the words “will not go unpunished”. The thought is that the first one is faithful to his obligations towards God and towards other people. The second, which is someone who makes haste to become rich, is doing so without working diligently for it, but by using deceit. In that way he not only overloads himself with riches, but especially with debts. He will be punished for his deceit and misbehavior (1Tim 6:9-10).

Pro 28:21 | Partiality Leads to Transgression

21 To show partiality is not good,
Because for a piece of bread a man will transgress.

Partiality is not good, it is not allowed (Lev 19:15; Deu 1:17; 16:19; Pro 18:5; 24:23). One can show partiality because a distinguished man is involved, or a rich man, or a family member, or a friend. The second line of the verse begins with the word “because”, which indicates that the reason follows from what is said in the first line of the verse. Partiality causes a dishonest judgment of a conflict. When a judge in a court case, or someone who is in conflict with another person, shows partiality, he is corrupt. His motives are impure. Therefore he already is a transgressor when someone offers him a piece of bread in order to cause him to make a false judgment. He is just that easy to bribe.

We can apply this to the preachers who tell the church people what they love to hear, to benefit from it. Here the following saying is also true: ‘He who pays the piper calls the tune’. People want to pay preachers who make speeches that they love to hear and are willing to pay them for it. The preachers show partiality; they choose for the favor of people and against the grace of God. They transgress God’s Word and violate it for a piece of bread.

Pro 28:22 | Greed Leads to Want

22 A man with an evil eye hastens after wealth
And does not know that want will come upon him.

He who seeks to increase his wealth and also hastens after it, is fixed on his wealth in such a way that he doesn’t award anyone, which is literally translated here as “has an evil eye”. The thought of awarding somebody is despicable to him. Then he would shoot into his own foot. No, never award somebody anything. What he would award someone else might cause him to lack something and therefore his wealth will not grow.

He has an evil eye because his eye is focused on the wealth of the world and not on God and His will. Therefore he does not know that God will punish him with “want” for his greed. He will not be able to keep his wealth, but loose it as a result of what God will bring upon him.

Pro 28:23 | Rebuking Is Better Than Flattering

23 He who rebukes a man will afterward find [more] favor
Than he who flatters with the tongue.

Rebuking someone for his character mistakes or for his wrong actions or remind him on his responsibility often does not reap recognition directly. People may respond negatively or even get angry. But after a course of time the hurt will change into appreciation. They will understand that the rebuke was justified and that listening to it has brought a blessing. Here it is not about interference or a critical spirit, but about a rebuke from love with the intention to help.

A young woman of faith who had a relationship with a young unbeliever had been rebuked for the wrong of it. The Scripture says that a believer should not be bound together with an unbeliever (2Cor 6:14). It is not pleasant to confront anyone with that and it is not pleasant to be confronted with that. The sister accepted the rebuke. Thereafter the man truly came to a living faith in the Lord Jesus. They were both very grateful about the rebuke. After a while they got married.

If this woman had been congratulated with her wrong connection, she would have possibly felt flattered and also supported in her choice at that moment. But how dramatic the development of the relationship would have been then. A rebuke in love based on God’s Word brings a blessing for him who rebukes and for the rebuked.

He who flatters with the tongue, leads others and himself to calamity. He who flatters seeks personal advantage. In any case, he doesn’t want to be found unkind, which indeed can happen at rebuking. If we want to please men we will flatter; if we want to please God and find favor with men, we will rebuke. God doesn’t flatter anyone, but admonishes man to repent. He who listens to Him and does what He says, will find His favor, or grace.

Pro 28:24-25 | Covetousness

24 He who robs his father or his mother
And says, “It is not a transgression,”
Is the companion of a man who destroys.
25 An arrogant man stirs up strife,
But he who trusts in the LORD will prosper.

In verse 24 it goes further than not fulfilling the duty of taking care of the parents (Pro 19:26). There is mention of someone who “robs his father or his mother” and who even dares to claim without shame or guilt: “It is not a transgression.” Is it possible to sink lower than this? The person whom it is about here, is one with whom the most elementary form of natural love has disappeared, which is the love for his parents. The company he joins is that “of the man who destroys”.

He who robs his parents, no matter how he tries to justify it, is a destroyer. He anticipates what he is going to inherit when they die. He can’t wait until it happens. He tries to get control over the possessions of his parents prematurely. He uses a form of psychological pressure or even physical abuse to succeed. His reasoning is that the inheritance will anyway on one day be his. Therefore, no one needs to blame him for a transgression.

Such a man is spiritually related to the Pharisees who have invented cunning methods for robbing father and mother (Mt 15:1-9; Mk 7:6-13). They said to the people that they should speak out the word “Corban” as a spell concerning an amount of money that actually was intended for the support of the parents. In that way the amount of money was declared holy and it was no sin when it was given to the Pharisees. That’s what these corrupt men did for their own financial gain. The Lord Jesus condemns them for this hypocrisy in sharp words.

Verse 24 deals with the family atmosphere; verse 25 concerns the whole society. “An arrogant man” (verse 25), believes that happiness is related to possessions. Therefore all his desires are all about that and he makes his best efforts to gather as much as he can. He is a great self-centered man and he is often also ruthless. He would kill you to satisfy his greed. Wherever he comes, he “stirs up strife”. He never cares about anyone but himself. His conduct and actions cause strife because people do not tolerate him for long.

Against the agitation which sounds through the first line of the verse, the second line of the verse is an oasis of peace. The word “but” initiates the contradiction. “He who trusts in the LORD” for the temporal and eternal things, “will prosper”. Trusting in the LORD negates covetousness. There is no need for more earthly possessions, no room for greed. God meets all needs of those who trusts in Him. That is the prosperity that fills a person. For the earthly circumstances, saturation is being content with “food and clothing” (1Tim 6:8).

Pro 28:26 | Self-Confidence or Walking Wisely

26 He who trusts in his own heart is a fool,
But he who walks wisely will be delivered.

A characteristic of “a fool” is that he “trusts in his own heart”. He has no idea that the heart of a human being, even his own, is deceitful (Jer 17:9). Being filled with self-confidence he trusts that what his heart tells him will deliver him most benefit. That is why he follows the promptings of his own foolish heart, without consulting anyone else and certainly not with God. This is not necessary, because he himself knows what is best and he alone knows it. This verse condemns and puts an end to exhortations such as ‘simply follow your heart’ or ‘do what your heart tells you to do’.

The word “but” indicates that there is a contrast following the fool who relies on his heart. Opposite to this fool is “he who walks wisely”. God looks at such a person with pleasure, for he walks according to His Word and listens to its teaching. In this way he escapes the foolishness to follow the promptings of his own heart. It will save him from the disasters and plagues that are the inevitable part of the fool. He escapes from this, while the fool dies in it.

Pro 28:27 | He Who Gives, Has No Lack

27 He who gives to the poor will never want,
But he who shuts his eyes will have many curses.

Generosity is rewarded, but indifference is cursed (Pro 22:9; 11:24-26). The presence of the poor in God’s people is a test for the rich. God wants His people to be giving people, as imitators of Him (Deu 15:7-11). Whoever gives does not become poorer, but richer. God will not let him suffer a lack, but will provide him with what is needed. That experience is already a great reward. In addition, the poor person will pray for the giver and will also be prepared to do what he can for him.

The contrast, introduced with the word “but”, is the indifferent rich. A person who “shuts his eyes”, or “looks away”, turns his head, when he sees a poor person, is not open to the distress of his neighbor. Every time he “looks away”, he will be “cursed” by that poor person. This is what characterizes the human being in question. The fact that he “will have many curses” indicates that he is a seasoned egoist. He doesn’t want to be confronted with distress, because that costs money or loss of property. Eventually he will be cursed by God.

Pro 28:28 | Wicked People Rise, but They Also Perish

28 When the wicked rise, men hide themselves;
But when they perish, the righteous increase.

When the wicked can manifest themselves and behave ungodly, when they are given space and even come to power, no man is safe anymore (cf. verse 12). The righteous will hide from this evil. Also other groups of people who may be targets of the wicked will hide. The wicked have no mercy. They are eager to cause as much evil as possible and as much damage as possible.

“But” their reign is limited; they do not reign forever. The moment comes when “they perish”. When this happens, the “righteous” appear and “increase” (cf. Est 8:17). There will be room for multiplication of those who give God what is due to Him. This will be fulfilled in full in the kingdom of peace. When the kingdom of peace will be established, the Lord Jesus first will cleanse the earth by judging the wicked. Then a righteous people can enter the kingdom and be made numerous by God (Isa 26:2; Jer 30:19).

Proverbs 29

Pro 29:1 | Who Hardens His Neck Will Suddenly Be Broken

1 A man who hardens [his] neck after much reproof
Will suddenly be broken beyond remedy.

This verse is a warning against perseverance in sin and ignoring “much reproof” for repentance. The reproofs can be given, for example, by the parents or by the government. God can also use a certain event for it, such as an accident. By all these reproofs He wants to appeal to the conscience. Here we can clearly see the patience of God. He doesn’t suddenly judge, but calls for repentance. Every reproof He lets come is a call.

But whoever “hardens [his] neck”, who keeps not listening, and who opposes reproof, or concludes that it is not that bad, “will suddenly be broken beyond remedy”. The word “hardens” is reminiscent of an ox who does not want to bend his neck under a yoke. Applied to a person, it represents a person who, despite countless attempts to get him to do what is in his own interest, refuses to do. A situation then arises in which recovery is no longer possible (cf. 2Chr 36:16).

The verse also contains the serious message to the sinner that the time to repent is limited. “Behold, now is “the acceptable time”, behold, now is “the day of the salvation”” (2Cor 6:2). God’s patience is great, conversion is still possible today, but it stops once and then it is eternally too late. There will be no second chance.

Pro 29:2 | A Happy or a Sighing People

2 When the righteous increase, the people rejoice,
But when a wicked man rules, people groan.

“When the righteous increase,” that is to say, when they take control of and govern the administration of the country, “the people rejoice” by the benevolent government that is exercised. Just laws are being enacted and injustices are being punished. The wicked are judged and can no longer exert their wicked influence. The government of Solomon was such a benevolent government that gave joy to the people (1Kgs 4:20).

The contrast, indicated by the word “but”, with a wicked ruler is great. Such a ruler reigns like a tyrant. He oppresses and exploits the people, especially the God-fearing part of them. Badness is rewarded and promoted. Injustice reigns because God and His will are not considered. There is no joy among the people, but a groan of misery.

The happiness or misfortune of the people depends on the ruler. That is how it is in the life of a human being. When he lives according to the will of God according to just principles, he lives a happy and thankful life. This is the privilege of the believer. When a person lives according to wicked principles, he groans under the enormous burden of his sins that presses on him. He can be freed from this to surrender himself to the Lord Jesus.

Pro 29:3 | Rejoicing the Father or Wasting Wealth

3 A man who loves wisdom makes his father glad,
But he who keeps company with harlots wastes [his] wealth.

In this verse it is about divine wisdom, but then as an object of love. It is not primarily a question of leadership in life through wisdom, but of the attitude of the heart to wisdom. That attitude is one of love. When a father sees it with his son, he is glad. He sees that his teaching not only has an effect on the practice of his life, but his love goes out to it.

In the second line of the verse follows the contrast, indicated by the word “but”. The contrast with loving wisdom here is keeping company with harlots, so not as we would expect keeping company with fools. After all, the contrast is usually between the wise and the fool. But this is about love. Keeping company with harlots is experiencing a surrogate love, a false love. However, you get nothing and lose everything; all your wealth wastes (cf. Lk 15:30).

One of the earliest lessons a child should learn is to keep away from harlots. Today, this is particularly true of pornography. The warnings against this are discussed in detail in the first part of this book, Proverbs 1-9. Here we see that we have to teach our children a love of wisdom. That will keep them from keeping company with harlots and pornography because they may lose their wealth and even their lives as a result.

Pro 29:4 | Maintain or Demolish a Country

4 The king gives stability to the land by justice,
But a man who takes bribes overthrows it.

“The king” who maintains “justice” “gives stability to the land”. By enacting and maintaining just laws, a king assures his subjects of peace and prosperity. In this way, he also ensures the safety of their belongings. God is the King Who, through the law that Solomon exercises, makes Israel stand firm forever (2Chr 9:8). Life in a land with such a king is a feast for all subjects, because everyone enjoys the privilege of it. In the kingdom of peace, the Lord Jesus will be that King.

“To take bribes” is contrary to the law. A man who does this causes dissatisfaction and poverty. Nobody is happy any more. Togetherness is disappearing. The land is being torn apart and demolished.

Pro 29:5-6 | Traps

5 A man who flatters his neighbor
Is spreading a net for his steps.
6 By transgression an evil man is ensnared,
But the righteous sings and rejoices.

Flattery is like a net for catching an animal (verse 5). Flattery is manipulation, because the aim is to use that person for one’s own purposes and not to praise him. The “neighbor” who is flattered can be enchanted by this and can come into the power of the flatterer unnoticed. In this way he got stuck in the net that spread “a man” for his “steps” and the flatterer succeeded in his intention.

The verse is about the flatterer, not about the one who is being flattered, but of course it is a clear warning not to be enchanted by flattery. Flattery is a hypocritical compliment. If we are flattered, it will wake up the dormant pride in us. The caressed vanity contributes to the belief in what the flatterer says. Flattery is literally “softening someone”. The saying “creaming someone with butter’, with the intention of eating him, is in line with this.

“An evil man” is imprisoned in his own offense (verse 6). His transgression is a trap from which he cannot free himself. Because he is an evil man, the offence is not an incident, but a common occurrence. He can’t do anything else, it’s in him, in his angry nature, which he sticks to and by which he’s held.

In contrast with an evil man, “a righteous man” cheers and rejoices over the security and peace he enjoys. A righteous man has no fear of a trap and can cheer and rejoice. He is very happy and is in complete freedom to express his joy at what God has given him and will give him. The righteous man has his source of joy in God.

Pro 29:7 | Taking Cognizance of the Trial of the Poor

7 The righteous is concerned for the rights of the poor,
The wicked does not understand [such] concern.

“A righteous person” is a judge here. A just judge wants to know why a suitcase against the poor is started. The poor matters to him, because they matter to God. That is why he becomes immersed in their case. The poor must matter us. Paul gives us an example in this (Gal 2:10).

The wicked has no understanding for the poor, nor does he want to delve into them at all, for he has no interest whatsoever in them. He does not care about the injustice done to the poor. On the contrary, he is taking part in it, because only his own advantage matters to him.

Pro 29:8-11 | Raging Fools Against Quiet Sages

8 Scorners set a city aflame,
But wise men turn away anger.
9 When a wise man has a controversy with a foolish man,
The foolish man either rages or laughs, and there is no rest.
10 Men of bloodshed hate the blameless,
But the upright are concerned for his life.
11 A fool always loses his temper,
But a wise man holds it back.

By “scorners” (verse 8) we can think of corrupt leaders of the city (cf. Isa 28:14). They mock with the law and with righteousness. They do not consult and control the city at their own discretion. They do not keep promises, and they mock the service to God. This disrupts society and sets a city on fire spiritually. The fire of rebellion and division breaks out and no one extinguishes it. They are stirring up the fire, they are stirring up the quarrel. Scorners are a scourge for society.

In the second line of the verse, which begins with “but”, which indicates that there is a contrast, is written what “wise men” do. They do not fuel the fight, but ensure peace and harmony in society. Through the peace they bring, they turn away the wrath of God and men. An example can be found in the history of the rebellion of Seba who entrenched himself in a city. There is a wise woman who prevents the destruction of the city (2Sam 20:14-22).

It is a waste of time to try to settle a dispute with a fool (verse 9). The chance that a fool can reasonably conduct a lawsuit is excluded. You can expect two reactions from him, which really do not contribute to the resolution of the dispute. One reaction is that he is appalled; he puts up big eyes of amazement and starts to curse. The other reaction is that he is going to roar with laughter, because he finds the case brought against him so ridiculous.

A fool follows his emotions and not his mind. He doesn’t think about it, but immediately gives air to the emotion that rises in him, whatever it may be. Sometimes he rages, at other times he laughs everything away. But he does not bring the matter to rest. Therefore he lacks the intellect.

Being a man of bloodshed means a man having a deep desire to kill someone (verse 10). The hatred of men of bloodshed is directed against ‘the blameless’. We see that in Cain, who was such a hating man of bloodshed. He killed his blameless brother (Gen 4:5-8; 1Jn 3:12-13). Men of bloodshed cannot endure piety. Darkness cannot bear the light, but hates it. That is why the religious leaders murdered the Lord Jesus.

The “upright” are in contrast with the men of bloodshed, as we see from the word “but” at the beginning of the second line of the verse. They are not seeking to take the life of anyone, but they are seeking the salvation of others, even as here of the men of bloodshed. The Lord Jesus taught us to do good to those who hate us (Luke 6:27), so that they might come to repentance.

“A fool” is a slave of his thoughts and feelings (verse 11). He does not have any control over it, but is controlled and lives by it. His mind is an open vessel into which everything enters without any filtering and from which everything leaves without any filtering. He has no brake. When he gets excited about something, he tells it loud and clear. Unsolicited he gives his opinion about everything, while he imagines he knows its stuff. His lack of self-control leads him to cranking the greatest possible nonsense, without his being conscious of it.

“A wise man” will not allow himself to be guided by his impulses. He is keeping his mind in check, he is keeping it calm. That’s why he doesn’t blur out everything he thinks, but waits for the right moment. He has self-control not of himself, but of the Spirit. Foolishness has no life led by the Spirit, the wise man has.

Pro 29:12 | A Bad Example Makes Bad Followers

12 If a ruler pays attention to falsehood,
All his ministers [become] wicked.

When “a ruler” adopts the advice of liars, he makes a wrong assessment and makes wrong decisions. Lies are told to those who like to hear them. Such a ruler shows that he does not allow himself to be guided by God’s statutes and does not ask for His will.

By paying such attention to “falsehood” as if it were the truth, he encourages the people around him to be “wicked” and to deal thus with the truth. David was not such a ruler. He says: “He who speaks falsehood shall not maintain his position before me” (Psa 101:7b).

The influence of the character of a ruler on the people is great. People in a position of authority, such as rulers and parents, are, whether they like it or not, role models for those under their authority.

Pro 29:13 | The LORD Gives Light to the Eyes

13 The poor man and the oppressor have this in common:
The LORD gives light to the eyes of both.

Regardless of a person’s social status or the circumstances in which he lives, every person gets his life from God. Giving light to the eyes means that God gives the light of life (Job 33:30; Psa 13:3b). Giving light to the eyes also means that God gives the possibility to perceive. This is not so much about looking with the natural eyes as it is about looking with the spiritual eyes.

Both a poor and an oppressor or the rich get light to assess his situation. God gives indiscriminately. The question is: what does everyone do with the light that has been given to him? The poor can see that he is rich in God and that he can boast about his highness before God (Jam 1:9). The rich oppressor can see that he should not boast of his wealth and its abuse, but should realize that he is poor before God when he abuses his wealth to oppress the poor (Jam 1:10; 5:1-6).

Pro 29:14 | Truth Establishes the Throne Forever

14 If a king judges the poor with truth,
His throne will be established forever.

“A king” who “judges … with truth” will do his utmost to ensure that the “poor” are done justice. It shows his outstanding character when it turns out that he is particularly interested in the rights of the socially weak. He does justice to all, but especially to the poor. God will “establish forever” the throne of a king who reigns in this way.

The Lord Jesus is the only King to whom this applies in full. He will judge the poor with truth by letting them enter the kingdom of peace. His throne will be established forever (Dan 2:44).

Pro 29:15-17 | Good Upbringing and the Absence of It

15 The rod and reproof give wisdom,
But a child who gets his own way brings shame to his mother.
16 When the wicked increase, transgression increases;
But the righteous will see their fall.
17 Correct your son, and he will give you comfort;
He will also delight your soul.

Verse 15 is among the proverbs that insist on discipline in education with a clear motivation (Pro 10:13; 13:24; 22:8,15; 23:13-14; 26:3). Discipline makes the child become wise. Wisdom is not hereditary. Both physical discipline (“the rod”) and spiritual discipline (“reproof”) “give wisdom”, i.e. contribute to giving wisdom. When the child listens to the discipline (cf. Mic 6:9), he or she learns to make good choices in life.

Anyone who refrains his child from discipline makes him to get his own way. A child who gets is own way can do what he or she wants and get what he or she wants. It also means that it is left to the rule of its sinful nature, a renegade will, an evil world and the devil. Without guidance and correction, it will lead a life that “brings shame to his mother”.

The fact that it says that the mother is being ashamed is probably because she has spent most of her time in education. She is also much more sensitive to the suffering that the child inflicts on himself. This does not mean that the father is not ashamed, nor that he has nothing to do with education. The father may be the main cause of the child’s wrong choices, because he never acted with a rod and reproof. Adonijah was a young man left to himself, because his father David had “never crossed him at any time” (1Kgs 1:6).

Verse 16 stands between two verses dealing with upbringing. In this verse we can therefore see a description of the consequences of the lack of a good upbringing. Laxity in education is the main cause of social disasters. We see that in the world. Parental authority disappears, with the result that the “wicked increase”, so that the transgressions also “increase” (cf. Hos 4:7).

The righteous suffer as a result of this situation. They suffer by seeing iniquity, as Lot suffered (2Pet 2:7-8), and they suffer by what the wicked say to them and do to them. But no matter how numerous the wicked and their transgressions become, the righteous will triumph. God will ensure that the wicked fall and that the righteous look on, while rejoicing at “a God Who does justice on earth” (Psa 58:10-11; 37:34).

A child who has learned to obey will give his parents peace of mind (verse 17). And not only the parents, but the whole environment. This is yet another encouragement for parents to discipline their children. It is about teaching obedience (Pro 19:18). That gives the parents inner peace and outward pleasure in living together.

The parent who does not teach his child obedience because the punishment hurts himself and he wants to avoid that pain, will feel the pain of negligence continuously later on. Numerous sleepless nights are the result, because the child has ended up in the gutter or in prison. It is a constant source of concern and unrest. There is no rest in the heart and there are no pleasures for the soul. We should not judge harshly those parents, but pray for them and for their children.

Pro 29:18 | No Vision – Keeping the Law

18 Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained,
But happy is he who keeps the law.

This verse refers to two forms of divine revelation: a “vision” and “the law. A vision is a message from God that He gives a prophet to pass on to His people (Hos 12:10). There are many examples of this in the Old Testament. The prophets Daniel, Amos and Zechariah, to name but a few, have had various visions. But in the days of Eli “visions were infrequent” (1Sam 3:1). That was in the time of the founders, when “every man did what was right in his own eyes” (Jdg 17:6; 21:25). The people were “unrestrained” from God (cf. 2Chr 15:3).

This is also the case in the once Christian Western countries in which we live. People are becoming more and more detached from God because they reject God’s Word and are also deterred from God by liberal theologians (cf. 2Chr 28:19). Depravity and violence are on the increase.

When the people as a whole have been unrestrained, it comes down to personal faithfulness. That is the message of the second line of the verse. Although there is no divine revelation to the prophets, it indeed is possible to keep to the law. He who does so is ”happy”.

When everything is in decay, God’s Word remains the guideline for the faithful individual to walk. God appreciates and rewards it when His Word is followed as a guide. Such faithful believers, who have been taught by wise men and who have accepted that teaching, through their walk in life in obedience to God’s Word, call upon the faithless members of God’s people to return to obedience to God’s Word.

Pro 29:19-21 | Relationship Between Employer and Employee

19 A slave will not be instructed by words [alone];
For though he understands, there will be no response.
20 Do you see a man who is hasty in his words?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.
21 He who pampers his slave from childhood
Will in the end find him to be a son.

It is not enough to teach a slave obedience by words alone (verse 19). There is no perfectly obedient slave. That was only the Lord Jesus. A slave, or worker, must learn to obey, because he is disobedient by nature. Disobedience must be punished not only by words but also by other, tangible, disciplinary means. We can think of getting no food as punishment or temporarily withholding certain privileges he enjoyed.

If there is no tangible discipline, the slave will just do his own thing. The master, or employer, can talk and command whatever he wants, he doesn’t react. He hears what is asked for and understands it, but he simply doesn’t do it because he doesn’t feel like it or because it doesn’t suit him.

It is important to teach obedience in the family (verse 17) and in society. The authority of parents, the employer, the government and, above all, God, must be obeyed. Anyone who does not learn to obey in earthly relations will not bow to God either, with the dramatic consequence of eternal judgment.

The Christian is a slave of Christ and as such must be taught obedience. In the Word of God he hears what Christ asks of him. The Christian is not always obedient to what Christ says. Then He disciplines him out of love (cf. Rev 3:19). In so doing He leads him to do what He hath commanded him to do.

Because verse 20 is between two verses that are about slaves, we can perhaps connect this verse in the first place to that subject, without ruling out a broader application. A person who only speaks to his slave, but who does not receive a response (verse 19), loses his patience and is “hasty in his words”. This applies to all interpersonal relations.

Anyone who reacts out of irritation reacts impulsively, rash. It is not an incident, it is a habit. Someone who only speaks can see his strength in this, while he is blind to the fact that it is his sin. If he is not listened to, he will speak even more words. He is certain of his case, he does not think about it, he does not consult and he cannot be corrected. The warning is that we have to be slow to speak (Jam 1:19; Ecc 5:2).

It’s better to be dealing with a fool than with a fast talker. There is “more hope” that something meaningful comes out of a fool than out of a fast talker. This is an indication of the hopeless case of the fast talker. That one does not have time to listen. A fool lacks wisdom, but sometimes he takes the time to listen to what is being said.

As in verse 19, in verse 21 the error lies with the master. Here is the master’s mistake of pampering his slave. In this way he gives him the feeling that he is not a slave, but a family member. You would expect the slave to be grateful to him for that, but the opposite is the case. By pampering his slave, he arouses certain expectations in him, that he is a son and that he will share in the inheritance.

Such unfounded expectations are the result of imbalances. The master is responsible for this. He must ensure that the master-slave (employer-employee) relationship is properly respected. The boss must tell the employee what to do. This has nothing to do with domination, but with the recognition of God-given relationships of authority.

Pro 29:22-23 | Anger, Hot-Temper and Pride Against Humility

22 An angry man stirs up strife,
And a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression.
23 A man’s pride will bring him low,
But a humble spirit will obtain honor.

Wherever “an angry man” comes, strife stirs up (verse 22). He stirs it up, He calls it up through His unfounded anger. His anger is not only temporarily, but the anger reigns over him. Whether he is in the family, at work or anywhere else, he is everywhere as “an angry man” present.

His attitude evokes resistance. His surroundings don’t tolerate that and there’s a quarrel. In his hot-temper, he does not occasionally burst out, but he commits a succession of transgressions. He snubs everyone who comes into his neighborhood and treats them unfairly. In this way he piles up his transgressions.

A man who is hot-tempered is a prey of his emotions and desires. He is a selfish man and is after self-enforcement. He doesn’t care about another person. The inevitable consequence is that he “abounds in transgressions”, both against his neighbor and against God.

An angry man (verse 22) is also a proud man (verse 23). Anger or wrath is a feature of God which He exercises in a perfectly just way (Jn 3:36; Rom 1:18). Anyone who is stubbornly angry believes that he is above others and above all forms of criticism. In doing so, he takes the place of God. God “will bring him low”. He will certainly do so in judgment, but it is already happening on earth. A proud person is regularly brought down by his surroundings.

In contrast to the angry, passionate, prideful man stands the “humble of spirit”. This is not just someone in a humble attitude, but someone who is internally humble. He is not concerned with his own honor, but with the honor of God. That is why he is honored by God (1Sam 2:30). Someone with a humble spirit gets honor from God. The honor is that God comes to live with him and gives him the fullness of life with him (Isa 57:15).

Humility is not false modesty, but acknowledging that everything we are, do or get is due to the goodness of God. The humble of spirit is in God’s presence.

Pro 29:24 | Who Shares With a Thief Hates His Own Life

24 He who is a partner with a thief hates his own life;
He hears the oath but tells nothing.

“He who is a partner with a thief” is his accomplice. Anyone who gets involved with a thief hates his own life. Hating oneself is the opposite of loving oneself. He is in a situation where his life is ruined. If the thief and he are seized, he must testify against the thief and against himself. The judge interrogates him under oath, which he indicates by pronouncing a curse (Lev 5:1).

But the accomplice is silent, because he is afraid of the vengeance of the thief and he is also afraid of a verdict by the judge. That is why he does not make it known, he does not testify, but remains silent. That makes him guilty of two sins: his help to the thief and his refusal to testify.

Those who are friends with criminals can easily be tempted to participate without having the main responsibility. Joining criminals and sharing in their loot means hating your life. You risk your life for a little relaxation, tension, possession. Then you act very stupid and short-sighted.

Pro 29:25-26 | Fear of Man or Relying on the LORD

25 Fear of man [someone] lays a trap,
But those who rely on the LORD are put in a safe fortress.
26 Many seek the favor of a ruler,
But from the LORD someone [his] right.

There are two contrasts in verse 25. One is a contrast between someone who is led by “fear of man” and those who “rely on the LORD”. The other contrast marks the consequences of the first contrast. Fear of mankind brings someone into “a trap”, while trusting in God leads to “a safe fortress”.

Fear of man means aligning your life with what other people say. People’s opinions dominate and control your life. Your behavior is determined by the environment you want to remain friends with. It hinders you being yourself, speaking the truth, or doing what God wants. Fear of man acts as a trap, depriving a person of all freedom to make independent choices with the Lord. The idea of what others would think about it, is decisive for making decisions. It makes a person a prisoner of people’s opinions, because his actions are controlled or limited by people he is afraid of.

It is much better to rely on the LORD because then you will be safe, unreachably high. You are above what people think of your choice. Those who rely on God make choices that please Him. No one can change anything about it or influence it. God preserves all who rely on Him for the danger of people’s opinions.

The choice is between a life governed by what others think and Who God is and what He has promised. The first is a life of slavery, a trap. The second is a life of freedom and security. Fear leads us into a trap, trust brings us into safety and exaltation.

Fear of men led Abraham to deny his relationship with Sarah (Gen 12:11-13; 20:2) and led Peter to deny his Lord (Mt 26:69-74). Paul was free from fear of man because he did not want to please people, but God, and because he did not want to be a slave of people, but of Christ (Gal 1:10). It is one of the greatest evils for preachers to conceal the truth out of fear of man. It is acting on the basis of the thought: what will men say of it, and not: what does the Lord say of it.

A form of fear of man (verse 25) is the search for “the favor of a ruler” (verse 26), in order to get his right. This ruler may turn out to be a ‘trap’. People cannot give justice, but God can. He gives somebody the right to which he is entitled. Relying on Him is therefore much better than fearing people or seeking their favor, no matter how great they are and whatever means they have at their disposal.

Pro 29:27 | To Be Unjust or Upright

27 An unjust man is abominable to the righteous,
And he who is upright in the way is abominable to the wicked.

This verse is the last proverb of Solomon. We can say that it is a kind of summary of the whole teaching of the book. Here “righteous” and “wicked” are contrasted. But not only that. Here two totally different lifestyles and attitudes are presented and how they react to each other.

The righteous and the wicked despise each other’s lifestyle. They cannot appreciate and tolerate each other. That is because of their opposite convictions. The righteous despise “an unjust man” and the unjust man despises him “who is upright in the way”. Solomon uses the strong expression “abominable”.

Both are abominable, but there is still a difference. The righteous despises the injustice of the wicked, but not the wicked himself, while the wicked hates the person. The wicked feels condemned by the righteous, while the other way around that is not the case. The disgust of the righteous has its origin in his fellowship with God (Psa 139:21-22). The disgust of the wicked finds its origin in himself.

There are only two kinds of people in the world since the fall into sin: the seed of the serpent, who are the wicked, and the seed of the woman, who is Christ and all who believe in Him, the righteous. The world can talk about ‘tolerance’, that everything should be possible, but at its deepest, the world is wicked and full of hatred against the righteous.

Righteous and wicked live in the same world and do a number of things exactly the same. They both eat and drink to stay physically alive, they both live in houses, they both have a family and friends and they both go to work by car. But that’s where the comparison stops, because they are driven by totally different motives and judge life and what goes with it from a totally different background. One looks at everything with the eyes of God, the other looks with the eyes of the devil.

Proverbs 30

Introduction

This chapter owes most of its impressiveness to the author’s deep humility. He confesses that humility in verses 1-9. From this position he shows both his abhorrence of arrogance in all its forms and his fascinating, frank description of his perception of the world and its ways. The groups of people and animals he describes teach us lessons without imposing them. The dominant attitude is that of sharp and often happy interest, which invites us to look again at our world with the eye of a man of faith who is a characterful word artist and observer.

Pro 30:1 | The Speaker and the Addressees

1 The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, the oracle. The man declares to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal:

We don’t know who has been “Agur”. We do know that he is “the son of Jakeh”, but we don’t know Jakeh either. The fact that his father is named may mean that he is a wise son who has listened to his father’s education. That he is a wise son is clear from the wise words we have of him in this chapter. His father will have rejoiced over his wise son. We have seen this father-son relationship several times in the previous chapters. This relationship forms the basis for the teaching of this book.

The fact that Agur is only mentioned here and is otherwise unknown to us, may mean that it is not so much about his person, but about his “words”. Together with that, he at the same time, is an example to us. We all have a name, but who knows us? Only a few know us. But if our name is linked to our wise words, our name will continue to exist because of our wise words.

The words that Agur has spoken are not just words either. These are words called “the oracle” or “burden”. “Oracle” is a word we often encounter with prophets (Isa 13:1; 14:28; 15:1; 17:1; 19:1; Hab 1:1). Agur’s words contain a prophetic message which God’s Spirit has placed on his heart as a burden. He feels the weight of it. He experiences what he writes. This makes him a prophet who speaks to our hearts and our consciences (cf. Jn 4:17-19).

He speaks as “the man”. There is no pomp in him. The arrogant claim ‘that’s how the LORD speaks’ that people sometimes make in order to focus attention on themselves alone, is missing with him. He takes the modest place of a human being, because he knows himself in the presence of God. At the same time, it makes clear that this man is speaking through the Spirit (cf. Num 24:3; 2Sam 23:1).

We also don’t know more about Ithiel and Ucal than the names mentioned here. It is possible that they are his children he teaches in the knowledge of Divine things. They can also be students he wants to teach wisdom. In any case, he had to deal with these two people on the basis of personal involvement.

It is striking that he speaks to “Ithiel, Ithiel and Ucal”. He mentions the name of Ithiel twice. As an application it can be seen in this way that he has dealt with questions that were only asked by Ithiel and with questions that were put together by Ithiel and Ucal. His attention is focused on personal questions and on common questions.

Pro 30:2-3 | The Confession of Agur

2 Surely I am more stupid than any man,
And I do not have the understanding of a man.
3 Neither have I learned wisdom,
Nor do I have the knowledge of the Holy One.

When Agur starts his teaching, he does not speak from a high position, from the position of someone who thinks he knows everything and has an answer to everything. He starts by saying of himself that he is more unintelligible than anyone else (verse 2). He also acknowledges that he lacks insight. In verse 4 we see that he comes to this conclusion because he looks up and around and thinks of God. In the light of Who God is and the ways He goes, his mind and his insight are nothing at all. In that light, he assumes that others have more understanding than he does. This is the proof of true understanding and insight.

Whoever recognizes his own inability toward Who God is and what He accomplishes, has the right mind and attitude to teach others. It does not mean that Agur lacked intellectual abilities, but that he acknowledges that he is completely ignorant in relation to the spiritual understanding of life and the questions of life. Only God is perfect in His knowledge and understanding of life, and He alone can communicate it to people.

The psalmist Asaph comes to the same conclusion as Agur in another way: “Then I was senseless and ignorant; I was [like] a beast before You” (Psa 73:22). This is the state in which all mankind finds itself. Yet there are only a few who realize this. It is only those who are connected to God by faith and live in a living connection with Him, as we see in Agur and Asaph. Whoever shares in their awareness, feels it so intensely personal, that in his own eyes he seems more ignorant than all other people.

In line with verse 2, he speaks in verse 3 of “wisdom” he did not learn and of “the knowledge of the Holy One” he did not possess. Here he says that the human teaching he has received has not given him wisdom in divine things and in God Himself. By “the Holy One” God is meant.

God is only fully revealed in the New Testament as the triune God. Agur and Solomon did not know that at their time. Yet they may already have felt something of it through the Spirit (see the words “Us” and “Our” in Gen 1:26). We see this in Agur’s question at the end of verse 4 about “His Name” and “the Name of His Son”.

What he says proves the effect of the Spirit of God in his heart. By this he realizes who he is in himself and what he knows out of himself. He belonged to the darkness in which the mind of man is darkened. For a man with a darkened mind, the insight into what life is, is nothing more than to wander around in the darkness. Therefore it was not possible to learn wisdom or to learn anything from the knowledge of the Holy God.

What he says is that God’s wisdom is so great that in comparison with it he has learned nothing from it. The deeper a person penetrates into the mystery of wisdom, that is in Who God and Christ are, the more he becomes aware of how little he knows. It is wisdom to know the limits of reason and wisdom. As believers we may know the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ’s love, while at the same time there is the deep awareness that that love “surpasses knowledge” (Eph 3:18-19).

Pro 30:4 | God Reveals Himself in His Son

4 Who has ascended into heaven and descended?
Who has gathered the wind in His fists?
Who has wrapped the waters in His garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is His name or His son’s name? Surely you know!

Agur makes it clear through six questions that he – and this applies to every human being – is indeed totally ignorant of God and the Divine things. These questions emphasize the actions of God and show that it is absurd for a mortal to think that he can explain God’s work or compare himself to God. They prove the exaltedness of God and the complete inability of man (cf. Isa 40:12; Deu 30:11-14; Rom 10:6-7; Eph 4:9).

It is undeniable that “heaven” is there, above us, and that man’s interest has been in heaven since time immemorial. The journey to the moon shows his longing for knowledge. His investigation of heaven, which he carries out from earth, gives him the awareness that he scribbles only at the hem of the universe. And going to heaven to take a look at it, is a lot different. Whoever did that? Or who came down from it to tell something of its secrets?

We know that Christ ascended into heaven. This happened after He had completed the work of redemption on the cross, had been in death, and had risen. From there He sent the Holy Spirit. In the Spirit He comes down to tell what is in heaven (Jn 14:18; 16:13-15). When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He could say: “No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man“ (Jn 3:13). He Who, after His work on the cross, was to ascend to heaven, was when He was on earth at the same time in heaven. That was so because He is the only begotten Son of God. He is the answer to the questions of Agur.

When we look under heaven, here on earth, we see things there too that man cannot grasp or control. The invisible “wind” is elusive and its power irresistible, but not to Him. In spiritual application the wind represents difficulties that enter in our lives. We have no influence on this, but we may know that Christ also has the wind in our lives in His hand.

The same applies to the tangible “waters”, over which man has no control at all. Waters speak of trials that may come into our lives and in which we feel we are drowning. But He is with us in the waters of trial (Isa 43:2). And what to think of “all the ends of the earth”, who “determined” it, or gave it stability? Here too He is the answer. He gives our life stability.

The atmosphere (wind), the liquid (waters) and the solid (ends of the earth), everything is beyond man’s control. Yet they are controlled. Agur asks for the Name of Him Who does this and for the Name of His Son. The “Name” and the “Name of His Son” are rightly written in capital letters, for Agur speaks of God. But God is still so incomprehensible to him, so inimitable, so full of secrets. To ask for the Name is to ask for the Being, for His features and attributes. Who will be able to know it fully?

He also asks for the Name of His Son. If God is so exalted and so incomprehensible, is there perhaps Someone Who can represent Him? Is there perhaps someone who can speak for God, or explain Him? His question does show that he lives very close to God and feels that there may be a Son who shares in the attributes of God because He is His Son. We must remember that the Son does not speak for God, but that He speaks as God, for He is God.

God “has spoken to us in [His] Son in these last days” (Heb 1:1-2). The prophets were people through whom God addressed Himself to His people. But the Lord Jesus, the Son, is not a means through whom God speaks. The speaking of the Lord Jesus is the speaking of God Himself! The prophets spoke on behalf of God. The Lord Jesus did not speak on behalf of God, but in His capacity as God. Certainly He did so as Man on earth, but that Man is God the Son. God Himself speaks as the Divine Person and that Person is the Son.

As remarked above, the truth of the triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is only fully revealed in the New Testament. Here, in the Old Testament, that is still hidden. We know that the Lord Jesus is the eternal Son to whom God has not transferred certain qualities, but Who is completely one with Him and has revealed Him completely on earth: “The only begotten Son Who is in the bosom of the Father, Who has explained [Him]” (Jn 1:18). At the same time, for us too, it remains an unfathomable mystery of Who the Son really is, for “no one knows the Son except the Father” (Mt 11:27).

For us, the questions of verse 4 have been answered in the New Testament. There we see that they are about God and His revelation in the Son. Wherever God reveals Himself, He does so in the Son. We also see that the Son is the Creator and Sustainer of all things (Jn 1:1-3; Col 1:16; Heb 1:2). Everything is under His control and He brings creation to the goal He has set Himself. God will once submit everything to His feet (Heb 2:8) because He has accomplished the work of salvation.

Pro 30:5-6 | God Reveals Himself in His Word

5 Every word of God is tested;
He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.
6 Do not add to His words or He will reprove you,
And you will be proved a liar.

From his questions about God in relation to creation, Agur switches to the words of God, to what God has said (verse 5). God reveals Himself in creation and He reveals Himself in His Word. Agur knows that God’s Word contains the answers to the questions he has just asked. God can only be known by His Word, for therein He reveals Himself fully, while in creation He only shows His eternal power and Divinity (Rom 1:20).

With Agur there is no doubt whatsoever about anything God has said. “Every word” God has spoken, without one exception, “is tested”, it is pure, immaculate (Psa 12:6). Tested means that it has endured every test of fire and that its uncontaminated purity has been demonstrated. It also means that the whole Word of God is reliable. Nothing in it is deceitful or false, whether it is history, commandments, promises, or threats.

The second half of the verse gives the enormous value of the Word for our daily lives. Whoever is convinced of the value of the Word will “take refuge in Him”. Here we see the identification of the Word with the Person of the Son. We also see this identification in Hebrews 4, where we read that no creature is invisible to the Word of God (Heb 4:12-13). For those who take refuge in the Word, which is in the Son, the Word is, He is, a shield. If we are tested in our faith, God’s Word and His promises will prove to be a shield and protection. It is safe to hide in Him, what we do when we read and keep His Word (Psa 18:30).

The trust mentioned in verse 5 is followed by a warning in verse 6 not to add anything to the words of God (Deu 4:2; 12:32; Rev 22:18-19). This tendency is all too often present. The Word does not need to be checked for errors or completeness. It is faultless and complete. What has been proven to be pure becomes impure again through an addition.

Whoever adds is conceited and attributes divinity to himself. Every addition of foreign elements makes it impure. Whoever does so, proves that he is a liar, someone who is not in the truth. Additions we see, for example, when human writings about the Bible are in practice given the same authority as the Scriptures or even prevail over the interpretation of the Bible. Of the latter, the (theistic) theory of evolution is an example.

Pro 30:7-9 | The Prayer of Agur

7 Two things I asked of You,
Do not refuse me before I die:
8 Keep deception and lies far from me,
Give me neither poverty nor riches;
Feed me with the food that is my portion,
9 That I not be full
And deny [You] and say, “Who is the LORD?”
Or that I not be in want and steal,
And profane the name of my God.

After God’s revelation in creation (verse 4) and in His Word (verses 5-6) comes prayer (verse 7). Word and prayer always go together. Agur has expressed his absolute trust in God’s Word. Now he turns to God in prayer. He lives with the God Whom he trusts and with Whom he hides. Through his prayer he takes up the position of someone who is dependent on God. He has no confidence in himself, but all confidence in God. In this trust he prays a short and powerful prayer.

He asked for “two things”. He will call them shortly, but first he asks if God doesn’t want to keep him from these two things before he dies. “Before I die”, means for as long as I live. By saying it, Agur shows that he lives in the awareness that life on earth is finite, and also that it comes down to perseverance until the end. The thought of dying also means that he will have to account for what he has done in his life. Agur wants to live for the glory of God and not to be condemned by Him.

What Agur says in verses 8-9 shows great self-knowledge. He was aware of the dangers of sin. First of all, he recognized the danger of “falsehood” in his heart and “false language” in his mouth (verse 8a). Here it is about the mind, the interior, the motives. It is about sin and lies through which sin is expressed, about forgery in thinking and lies in speaking.

His prayer is that God will keep it far from him. He told his children or pupils Ithiel and Ucal in verse 6 that they should not add anything to God’s Word so that they would not prove to be liars. Now he himself acknowledges his weakness and tendency to sin and asks God not to lead him into temptation, but to keep him from evil and his influences (Mt 6:13). Whoever warns others must pray that he himself will be saved from the evil for which he warns others.

Agur acknowledges that only God’s grace can save him from it. He knows that he is capable of falsehood and lies and that he has no strength in himself to resist this. But with God this power is present. Thus he finds peace in God with regard to these dangers.

But there are other dangers as well, dangers that lie more in the circumstances in which the motives or the character may be in danger (verse 8b). He wants balance in his material circumstances. He does not seek great things in life. In concrete terms, he asks if God does not give him poverty nor wealth. What he wants is that God will feed him with the “the food that is my portion”.

The portion is the daily bread, which is needed daily. It corresponds to what the Lord Jesus taught His disciples to pray: “Give us this day our daily bread” (Mt 6:11). More is riches, less is poverty (cf. 1Tim 6:8). Agur does not mind about poverty or riches in itself, for God can make rich and poor, but about what is connected with it, where it can lead to. He speaks about this in verse 9.

Agur desires the happiest way of life. Poverty and riches both have their dangers. He wants to be free from the worries of poverty and he does not want to be vulnerable to temptations associated with riches. Being kept from both dangers is the best way to serve God.

He does not prescribe as if this is the only way a person can be happy and serve God. God can make someone rich. Then such a person may serve God with his riches. If God makes someone poor, he may trust in God in his circumstances. Paul has learned to deal with both circumstances (Phil 4:12).

In verse 9 he says what the dangers of both wealth and poverty are. If he were to end up in either of these dangers, it could lead him to sin. As a result, his life would no longer produce fruit for God. He then resembles seed sown between the thorns, about which the Lord Jesus says in the parable of the sower: “And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful” (Mt 13:22). “The deceitfulness of wealth” is found in “full”, and “the worry of the world” is found in “in want”.

Agur recognizes that if he has too much, he is in danger of becoming independent of God, of no longer needing Him and thereby denying Him (Deu 8:11-14). If he did deny Him, he would do so as if he were a rebellious unbeliever like the Pharaoh, who also said, “Who is the LORD?” (Exo 5:2). The challenging question “Who is the LORD?” means that someone does not feel obliged to Him, can live without Him and has enough in himself. Agur’s desire not to have too much is related to his contact with the LORD. His thinking is about God.

The danger associated with poverty lies more in doing what is wrong. Poverty implies the great temptation to be dishonest and to steal. What would you do if you have a gnawing hunger and see something edible somewhere that belongs to someone else? You can also tell yourself that the other person can do without it and you need it to stay alive. Maybe it is even for your children who are hungry. Then it seems justified in every way. But stealing can never be justified, how much it can sometimes be understood in case of hunger (Pro 6:30-31).

Why is Agur afraid to steal? Because he would end up in prison? No, he is afraid to steal because it would affect the Name of God. Agur was known as a faithful, God-fearing believer. What insult would he cast upon the Name of God if he were to steal? He emphatically calls God “my God”, which indicates that he lives in a personal and living relationship with Him. Therefore, he cannot bear the thought that he would violate his confession of that Name by a sinful act. That is why he asks God not to put him in such a situation of poverty. As with the danger of riches, we see that the danger of poverty is about God in his thinking.

Agur is the rare example of someone who knows his weakness and openly confesses it. He pronounces that he does not trust himself. We are well able to talk in general terms and say that man cannot be trusted. But it is something else to say: ‘I don’t trust myself.’ Agur did not trust himself, but he did trust God.

We have seen Agur acknowledging his own ignorance (verses 2-3) and calling upon God’s Word for safety in life (verses 5-6). We have also seen him praying that God will keep him from falling in temptation (verses 7-9). He has spoken of his ignorance, but his appeal to God’s Word and his prayer bear witness to great wisdom and knowledge. In this he is much wiser and has much more knowledge than man in general. He recognizes the danger of poverty and he knows the serious dangers of wealth, on which man so easily relies, forgetting that he owes everything to God.

This prayer is reminiscent of that of Jabez (1Chr 4:10), but as an opposition. Perhaps we should admit that we are more inclined to pray the prayer of Jabez than this prayer of Agur.

Pro 30:10 | Do Not Slander a Slave to His Master

10 Do not slander a slave to his master,
Or he will curse you and you will be found guilty.

The life of a slave who does not already have privileges, should not be made even harder by accusing him to his master of things he has not done, with the hope that he will suffer even more. The master will not thank anyone like that for that. He will revenge the one who tried to do this evil. He will let it return on his own head in the form of a curse and declare him guilty of slander.

In spiritual application, this verse fits in well with Agur’s prayer. He has prayed for himself before God without at the same time denouncing others who are not like him. It is not for him to judge someone else’s relationship with his Lord. Paul points out to the believers in Rome the personal relationship that each had with the Lord (Rom 14:4). Judging the slave of another means stepping into the rights of his lord, which for us means: the exclusive rights of the Lord Jesus. We do not have to accuse our fellow slaves before the Lord Jesus (cf. Phlm 1:10-11; cf. Deu 23:15-16).

Pro 30:11-14 | Four Apostate Generations

11 There is a kind of [man] who curses his father
And does not bless his mother.
12 There is a kind who is pure in his own eyes,
Yet is not washed from his filthiness.
13 There is a kind—oh how lofty are his eyes!
And his eyelids are raised [in arrogance].
14 There is a kind of [man] whose teeth are [like] swords
And his jaw teeth [like] knives,
To devour the afflicted from the earth
And the needy from among men.

Agur lists four things six times in verses 11-31. With this he draws the world as it functions after the fall. He begins with four generations that have the characteristics of the devil, their father. Every verse of verses 11-14 begins with the Hebrew word dor, which is “generation”, that is, a class of people characterized by certain characteristics.

Agur observed the characteristic features of the people around him. Generations are therefore not successive descendants. They can, so to speak, take place in the life of one person. In the four generations he describes, we see a gradual increase in depravity. It goes from bad to worse:
1. Revolt against authority, no respect for parents (verse 11).
2. Blindness regarding their real moral condition and their sinful life (verse 12).
3. Arrogance and pride (verse 13).
4. Aggressiveness and oppression of the poor (verse 14).

The first characteristic of a generation that does not recognize God is the contemptuous rejection of parental authority (verse 11). They are people who do not fear God and do not care about the authority given by Him. On the contrary, they curse it. They have no natural love for their parents, there is no respect for them.

They curse their father who conceived them. Their mother, who has carried and tenderly cared for them, does not receive a single word of thanks from them. “Does not bless” is a soothing expression, which also means ‘cursing’. It is one of the characteristics of the last days that children disobey their parents (2Tim 3:1-5). We see the actuality of it around us.

Sin begins in the family, in the attitude towards the parents. The beginning of all deviation is the renunciation of God’s authority in family relationships. We are commanded to honor our parents because they have been God’s instruments to create us. Without them, we would not exist. Not recognizing that we owe our lives to our parents and that as a result we are obligated to honor them means that we do not recognize God as our Creator Whom we are obligated to praise. In our world full of disrupted families and broken families, this saying sounds like a destructive condemnation.

A generation that has renounced God’s authority by the parents sees itself as pure (verse 12). This is the second characteristic of a generation that does not recognize God. The cause is that they have not been washed from their filth. That means they see their filth as purity. How foolish and blind is such a generation. “Filthiness” often refers to physical impurity, but here it is moral defilement (cf. Zec 3:3-4). This filthiness is neither physical nor can it be washed away by any human means (Job 9:30-31; Jer 2:22). The filthiness of sin can only be washed away by the blood of the Lamb and the Name of the Lord Jesus and the Spirit of God (Rev 7:14; 1Cor 6:11).

These people are proud to perceive the outward religious rituals, but not to pay any attention to the inner purification (Lk 11:39). They are busy with a clean exterior, but blind to their corrupt inner self. Everyone sees the filthiness except they themselves. They are clean in their own eyes and completely blind to their own shortcomings (Lk 18:11). But God sees the filthiness from outside and inside.

It is the generation that claims that filthiness is no longer filthiness, but clean. The open promotion, proclamation, and acceptance of homosexual expressions and connections, such as through the gay pride, is one of the most obvious examples. If God and His Word disappear from view because they are removed, the standard by which everything should be measured has disappeared. We must have the original to see the deviations. Only the Holy Spirit can convince us of sin.

Whoever is pure in his own eyes (verse 12) looks down with despise on others (verse 13), the third characteristic of this generation. This generation radiates pride, arrogance and brutality. They look down on their neighbor with contempt, while showing off like peacocks. They think they are stealing the show while making themselves despicable in God’s eye. It is a generation of proud people who pour out their contempt on anyone who resists them (cf. Psa 131:1).

The fourth and last characteristic of that generation is cruelty (verse 14). The pictures of the first half of the verse symbolize their cruel rampages. Their teeth are like swords and their jaw teeth like knives. The second part of the verse shows who their victims are. Like a voracious and insensitive beast, they open their ripping mouth to “devour the afflicted from the earth and the needy from among men” (Amos 8:4). Those who exploit and destroy other people are like animals.

It is a generation without compassion. The highly acclaimed tolerance they advertise is only a varnish. They demand it only for themselves. Everyone must accept them, but they themselves do not accept any other opinion. There is no trace of mercy in them, but only tearing brutality. We see this in the killing of children in the womb and the killing by euthanasia of the elderly or of those who are suffering ‘unbearably and hopelessly’.

Because of his belief in the theory of evolution, man thinks he is a higher developed animal. In reality he sinks deeper and deeper and decays to a behavior that can only be compared with that of the cruelest animals. He shows the characteristics of a ripping animal.  He even surpasses that animal in cruelty, because he acts consciously and justifies his violent, cruel behavior by giving a twist to it that it is actually a good thing to act like that. It is the deepest form of depravity. The fact that man is the picture of the Creator who gives life and maintains it, has completely disappeared here. Every relation with Him is broken. The human being has changed into a predator with Satan as his model, who is a murderer from the beginning.

Pro 30:15-16 | Four Insatiable Things

15 The leech has two daughters, “Give,” “Give.”
There are three things that will not be satisfied,
Four that will not say, “Enough”:
16 Sheol, and the barren womb,
Earth that is never satisfied with water,
And fire that never says, “Enough.”

The four generations mentioned above (verses 11-14) are the leeches of verse 15. The leech is the symbol of greed. He sucks blood through the suction cups at both ends of his body. Agur calls her “two daughters” here, one named “Give” and the other also named “Give”. The name “Give” is a “brand name” that you can stick on any form of greed. It is always about nothing but the satisfaction of a desire that in reality is never satisfied. Always the desire for more or different remains.

Satan is the great bloodsucker. He sucks life out of people. The instruments he uses for this are the ‘two daughters’ who are also leeches. The expression “three, ... four” (verses 18,21,29) is a Hebrew expression indicating that it is not something incidental, but something more common.

The “three things” are Satan and his ‘daughters’. This can be applied to the sinful desires of a human being, for they never say, “It is enough.” Satan and his daughters are insatiable leeches. To illustrate the dark nature of the sinful, insatiable desires of man, Agur uses “four” examples. So there are two daughters, three insatiable things, and four things that never say, “It is enough.”

The first example of what is insatiable is “sheol”, the realm of the dead (verse 16; Hab 2:5). The realm of the dead is like a house that is always open and where there is always room when someone has died. Numerous have preceded us since the fall. Never will the door close with a sign saying: Full. The door of that house closes only when eternity arrives and death and hades are thrown into the pool of fire (Rev 20:14). This is not because sheol is full, but because there is no one left who can enter it.

The second example is “the barren womb”. She always takes up the seed again, but never gets the satisfaction she desires to give life to a child (Gen 30:1; 1Sam 1:2-8). Her womb is thus equal to sheol.

The third example is the earth or a dry land. “Earth” that “is never satisfied with water”, will absorb water with the greatest eagerness, and will never say that it is enough (cf. Psa 63:1-2). Poured out water is a symbol of the pouring out of life, which always continues (2Sam 14:14). In this way this example can also be linked to death.

The fourth example is “the fire”. The fire is never satisfied with what it can digest. It devours everything it encounters on its way and continues to do so insatiably as long as there is something that is flammable. Also everything that is thrown in is eaten up by the flames. Never do flames reach a point that they give back what was thrown in them because they have had enough. This is reminiscent of hell, the eternal fire, a fire that never comes to an end that always keeps burning and is not satiated forever.

Only the Creator can satisfy the deepest desires of a person, this is a life in communion with Him. Only He can fill the emptiness of the heart He created just to fulfill the desire for Him.

Pro 30:17 | Mocking a Father and Scorning a Mother

17 The eye that mocks a father
And scorns a mother,
The ravens of the valley will pick it out,
And the young eagles will eat it.

It is not excluded that one who is not satiable may fall to the lowest sin, which is mocking and scorning the parents. As if they were to blame for the fact that his desires, which could not be satisfied, are not satisfied. Agur thus returned to the first characteristic of the generation in the midst of which he lives (verse 11). Here he speaks of “the eye that mocks a father”. The eye reveals the inner attitude of the heart, and that eye is full of contempt. The contempt is deep. This is also evident from the scorn he has for “the mother” by not obeying her. God watches with which eyes a child looks at his parents.

The punishment is in accordance with sin. The eye that radiates so much mockery and scorn, will first be picked out by “the ravens of the valley”. Then it will be eaten by “the young eagles”. We can consider the picking out of the eye and eat it literally. It points to the dying of an early death, after which the body is not buried, but given to the birds of prey. God makes sure that these birds will pounce upon the eyes of this sinner. This judgment also confirms that such a person is blind to God as Creator. This severe punishment is applied to him who looks at his parents with such scorn.

Pro 30:18-20 | Four Incomprehensible Things

18 There are three things which are too wonderful for me,
four which I do not understand:
19 The way of an eagle in the sky,
the way of a serpent on a rock,
the way of a ship in the middle of the sea,
and the way of a man with a maid.
20 This is the way of an adulterous woman:
She eats and wipes her mouth,
and says, “I have done no wrong.”

Agur now looks at nature, where many things are wonderful and at the same time “too wonderful” or incomprehensible (verse 18). Four times it is about “the way of” as an illustration of the ways God goes in creation and with people (Rom 11:33b). Agur cites a few examples as an anthology. We know that God only includes in His Word what is important to us. So we may expect that we can learn lessons from these examples. Not that these lessons are always immediately clear to us, but that is typical of the book of Proverbs. We have to think about things, including things of which we have to say that they “are too wonderful for me” and of which we have to acknowledge “I do not understand”.

It is not easy to discover what the four things have in common (verse 19). They are connected by the use of the word “way” and also by a sense of mystery and incomprehensibility. All four of them go a way that cannot be traced. When they have shown themselves, they disappear again without leaving a trace. Of the areas where they go their way, there are three geographical (air, land and sea) and one social (marriage relationship). The first three serve as illustrations of the fourth. The fourth is also the greatest miracle.

When we observe “the way of the eagle in the sky”, we are impressed. We can’t know in advance which way he is going. And when he has gone that way, we don’t see a trace of it again. The same goes for “the way of a serpent on a rock”. We can look at the fast and targeted movement of a reptile without feet. But we can’t predict what way he will take over the rock. When he crawls away in a crevice, he has left no trace of the way he has gone.

“The way of a ship in the middle of the sea” is just as unpredictable. There is no marked out path which makes it predictable which way the ship will go. When it has passed and the water behind it has calmed down, there is no trace left of the way it has gone. The movements of these three are beautiful to see. They focus our attention on the majestic and mysterious movements in the air, on the land and on the sea.

After covering the areas of air, land and sea, our attention is drawn to “the way of a man with a maid”. Herein we see the designation of the miracle of the attraction between a man and a woman and of unification in sexual intercourse. How a man gets love for a girl is a miracle that cannot be described in advance. And when the time comes for him to seek contact, it is also impossible to predict how that will go. Perhaps “the way of a man with a maid” is mainly about the most intimate part of the marriage relationship. That is completely cut off from any perception. It is the secret between two people, of which no one else knows anything.

We can make another spiritual application of the four “ways” described here. The way of the eagle in the sky can be connected to the coming of the Son of God from heaven to declare God on earth. It also shows His way back to heaven. This cannot be understood by the natural man (Jn 6:60-63).

Also the way of the serpent on the rock is incomprehensible. What is the way chosen by the serpent, the devil (Rev 12:9), to enter the creation created by the righteous God, Who is a Rock and free from deceit (see Deu 32:4)? And what is the way the serpent is constantly going and moving in God’s creation? How is it possible that the evil one can constantly come into God’s presence to accuse the brethren (Rev 12:10; cf. Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6)? We also see the way of the serpent on the rock in Satan’s attempts to tempt the Lord Jesus, the Rock (1Cor 10:4; Mt 4:1-11). He left no trace in Christ, for he found nothing in Him (Jn 14:30).

In the ship in the middle of the sea we can see the church among the nations of the world. The church has now sailed through the sea of nations (Isa 17:12-13) for two thousand years. All this time the evil one has tried to destroy the church in order to make her suffer shipwreck. But she has been preserved in an inimitable way throughout all efforts (Mt 16:18), for God leads her. God’s way with His church is in the sea (cf. Psa 77:19-20).

The way of a man with a maid leads us to the way of the Lord Jesus with His church. The way He has gone to possess her is inimitable. How did He take our hearts, how did we get the new life? We cannot verify this (Jn 3:8), we can only conclude. His love for us brought Him into the greatest suffering, into the anxieties of Gethsemane and the horrors of the cross, especially in the three hours of darkness, when He was made sin and His God had to leave Him. We can only worship Him for that.

We neither can verify how He is constantly engaged with and for His church. We know that He does so through His Word (Eph 5:25-27), but not in a way that we can perceive. Maybe He will tell us and show us when we are with Him. Then we will know as we have been known (1Cor 13:12).

Another way is described in verse 20. This way is in stark contrast to the way of love of the previous verse. It is “the way of an adulterous woman”. She also doesn’t leave any trace of her unfaithfulness. Here again we find the opposition that goes through the whole Book of Proverbs, the opposition between Wisdom and folly, between the faithful woman and the unfaithful woman. This contrast is also found in Revelation, between the wife of the Lamb, the church, and the great Babylon, the great harlot, the mother of the harlots (Rev 17:1-6; 19:1-8).

The latter indicates that we can also apply this verse spiritually. The verse shows that the love that Christ has revealed to the church is answered with unfaithfulness by the church. We see how Christianity, horrifyingly, is becoming increasingly unfaithful to Him Whom it confesses as its Lord. She connects herself in the most intimate way with the world by bringing in all kinds of worldly methods and adapting God’s Word to the vision of modern man.

The fact that this verse was placed immediately after verse 19 supports the idea that the preceding verse is focused on sexual intimacy in marriage. The pictures that she eats and wipes her mouth are a covered indication of sexual activity (cf. Pro 9:17). What she does in her unfaithfulness is nothing more than a dinner for her. She removes all traces of the sin she committed and continues her daily activities as if nothing had happened.

It is astonishing that people can sin and then very easily shake off a sense of guilt or responsibility. This is only possible because there is a callous indifference to what the Lord’s will is for sexuality.

Pro 30:21-23 | Four Things That Are Not to Bear

21 Under three things the earth quakes,
And under four, it cannot bear up:
22 Under a slave when he becomes king,
And a fool when he is satisfied with food,
23 Under an unloved woman when she gets a husband,
And a maidservant when she supplants her mistress.

The common element in verses 21-23 is what is unbearable. Agur gives four examples of this, which are equally divided between the two sexes. Each example indicates the abuse of power and prosperity obtained by persons who will take or receive a position that is inappropriate for them. They go against the order God has established. If God’s order is reversed, this will cause the earth to quake (verse 21). They can’t bear up under that. It makes the whole of society unstable. The maintenance of God’s order brings stability and peace. In this way He wants everything in the church to happen “properly and in an orderly manner”, that is to say with His order (1Cor 14:40).

The first example is that of “a servant when he becomes king” (verse 22a). For a servant to reign s not meant for him. If he gets that place anyway, it becomes a mess in the land, because he simply has no understanding of it. He who suddenly is elevated in his status, becomes an unbearable person. Everything starts to quake, because there is no clear government anymore. Such a change shakes the order of life. In the church everything also quakes when someone who is supposed to serve starts to rule (3Jn 1:9-10).

The second example is that of “a fool when he is satisfied with food” (verse 22b). It is a lazy fool. The fool excludes God by definition. That makes him foolish. To feed such a man until he is completely full of it, turns the order of God upside down. Someone who does not want to work will not eat either (2Thes 3:10). If you do feed such a person, then he is not only feeling satisfied in his belly, but also full of arrogant self-satisfaction. Because he is satisfied, he doesn’t think about going to work. He spends his time proclaiming and performing follies. With such a person the chaos only gets worse.

The third person among whom the earth trembles is “an unloved woman, when she gets a husband” (verse 23a). An unloved woman means a woman who has nothing attractive, she has a bad character. That appears as soon as she is married. Then she takes control of the family. She does not use the power she has for good, but for evil. The relationships in the family are disturbed. Underneath that the earth quakes.

The fourth person is “a maidservant when she supplants her mistress” (verse 23b). She is similar to the servant who becomes king in verse 22a. The possessions she inherits suddenly give her a whole new life. She was a maidservant, but suddenly she feels like a mistress because of the inheritance. Instead of obeying, she now gives orders. This cannot be borne by those with whom she used to serve her mistress.

Pro 30:24-28 | Four Little but Wise Animals

24 Four things are small on the earth,
But they are exceedingly wise:
25 The ants are not a strong people,
But they prepare their food in the summer;
26 The shephanim are not mighty people,
Yet they make their houses in the rocks;
27 The locusts have no king,
Yet all of them go out in ranks;
28 The lizard you may grasp with the hands,
Yet it is in kings’ palaces.

What the “four” which are “small on the earth” have in common is wisdom (verse 24). The four little animals Agur mentions know how to deal with their natural disadvantages or limitations in order to survive. This instinct is placed in them by the Creator. He has made them “exceedingly wise”. How great is His wisdom! Man is naturally inclined to admire what is great, strong, and impressive. Here we see that this is not the case for God, not even in creation. We must not despise the weak things in creation, but learn from them. In God’s creation, God’s wisdom manifests itself in different ways. People can thus learn the value of wisdom (Job 12:7).

These little animals are “not a strong people” (verse 25), “not mighty people” (verse 26), they have “no king” (verse 27), and without defense (verse 28). The same goes for the church in the world. The church is weak, but in Christ all wisdom is available to her (1Cor 1:26-29,30).

The wisdom exhibited in “ants” concerns their thinking ahead and their organizational ability to build up a food supply for later (verse 25). The fact that ants are a people without strength is no excuse for them to be lazy. They know how to survive physically for the future. They are diligently preparing food in the summer, so they have something to eat in the winter.

They teach us to live in a future-oriented way (Pro 6:6). Just as ants gather food for their future needs, so should we read God’s Word as our spiritual food not only for today, but also for the future. Then at some point the Holy Spirit can use from that what is needed.

The rich fool had also gathered many goods for many years, but on earth. He never saw the future years for which he had gathered so much, because for him the future was only the earth (Lk 12:16-21).

We see the wisdom of the “shephanim” (badgers) in their ingenuity to find a place of safety and build their house there (verse 26). They know how to survive in a hostile environment (Psa 104:18b). They seek their safety in the rocks. Their condition is extremely weak, but their position is very strong. It teaches us that our sense of weakness and inability must bring us to the rock, which is Christ (1Cor 10:4), to build our house there (Mt 7:24-25).

The wisdom of the “locusts” consists in the orderly cooperation among them, which allows them to march on like a massive military division (verse 27). He knows how to organize, he has a remarkable organizational talent. There is spontaneous unity and order. He does not have a king or queen like the bees, “yet all of them go out in ranks”, like a well-organized army. A single locust has no power, you can kill it just like that. But in swarms, locusts are invincible and all devastating (Exo 10:13-15; Isa 33:4; Joel 2:25; Rev 9:1-11).

God has put that moving up together into them. The lesson for us is that the feeling of weakness must keep us as members of the church together and that we must strengthen each other. We can experience this in a local church if the invisible Person, the Holy Spirit, can govern it. This was the case with the Colossians. Paul could say to them: “For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ” (Col 2:5). Are there any local churches to which he can say this today?

The wisdom of the lizard is its ability to even enter the palaces of kings (verse 28). The weak, defenseless lizard, who can be grasped easily, knows how to get into the most secure, but also the most important, homes, such as “the king’s palaces”.

Numerous Christians have been seized and killed in the course of church history without defending themselves, but they have a home with God. Those who are weak may know that they have a prominent and secure place in Christ. Believers have royal dignity and are “fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household” (Eph 2:19). With the suction pads on its feet, the lizard can move on the smoothest surfaces. He sticks, as it were, to it. In this way faith may attach itself to the dwelling place of God.

Pro 30:29-31 | Four With a Stately March

29 There are three things which are stately in [their] march,
Even four which are stately when they walk:
30 The lion [which] is mighty among beasts
And does not retreat before any,
31 The strutting rooster, the male goat also,
And a king [when his] army is with him.

To prevent us to belief that the small things in the previous verses are always better than the big things, Agur gives four illustrations of stately creatures. They are all leaders (verse 29). The contrast with the previous four is clear. They are not powerless beings with whom you can do whatever you want, but they impress. They possess leadership qualities. The way they move has something majestic. They are “stately in [their] march” and “stately when they walk”. First we get three examples from the animal world. They form the run-up to the fourth, the king who has warriors with him, which increases the impression of his majesty.

The first animal with a royal appearance is the lion, which is mighty among the animals (verse 30). “And does not retreat before any.” On the contrary, everyone avoids him and gives him free rein. His way of moving incites awe. It radiates power. He will not accelerate his walk to flee, because he does not fear anyone. By his power and majesty, he illustrates Christ, “the ruler of the kings of the earth”, “the Lion from the tribe of Judah” (Rev 1:5; 5:5).

We also see in “the strutting rooster” (verse 31) a royal radiation when he parades among the chickens. We find something of it in the Dutch proverb ‘he is the rooster in the hen house’ (= he wins the victory). The rooster crows when the sun rises, at the beginning of a new day. It is a sign of a new beginning. We see this at Peter’s denial of the Lord Jesus. When the rooster crowed, he was as it were awakened and repented of what he had done (Mt 26:75). That was the beginning of the way back.

We can therefore see the rooster as a symbol of the announcement of the coming of the King. Christ will appear in majesty as Judge to judge the world and establish His kingdom of peace.

The walk of “a male goat” is also stately. With his head up, he walks proudly in front of the herd (Jer 50:8), he is at the head of it. The male goat is the animal par excellence that was used as a sin offering. It reminds us of the Lord Jesus Who went to Jerusalem with royal dignity to die as the sin offering. He intended to go that way and do that work, and no one could stop him in it (Lk 9:51). That work is the basis for His return to earth, for through that work He has regained the right to creation.

Christ comes back to earth as “a king [when his] army is with him”. A king with his army makes a great impression. Nobody dares to resist him and nobody can withstand him. This will happen when Christ returns as King with His whole army (Rev 19:11-21). It is the people whom He has sanctified for Himself and for whom He has brought the sacrifice. That people may reign with Him.

Pro 30:32-33 | Pressing Produces Something

32 If you have been foolish in exalting yourself
Or if you have plotted [evil, put your] hand on your mouth.
33 For the churning of milk produces butter,
And pressing the nose brings forth blood;
So the churning of anger produces strife.

Agur does not end with the dignity that has been presented in the previous verses. That would have been a beautiful ending. But he ends with a warning that is a last call to humility (verses 32-33). The examples in verses 30-31 are about leaders. A fool can draw a wrong lesson from this and presume to be that and exalt himself (verse 32). Therefore, the warning sounds against pride in the heart (“exalt”) and bad thoughts (“plotted”).

Let him in whom this is found quickly realize that this is folly, and let him not express his proud thoughts (verse 32). So, put your “hand on your mouth” (cf. Job 40:4-5). With Job it is his hand on his mouth before God. With Agur it is his hand on his mouth in mutual relationship. It is bad to think bad, it is even worse to pronounce that bad thing. When the latter happens, people give in to the bad thought and others are influenced by it.

Exalting oneself and plotting is not yet the act. Yet Agur says that when pride and bad thoughts are present, this means that someone is acting foolishly. Thoughts are equated to deeds. The Lord Jesus confirms it. He says that if anyone “looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Mt 5:28). Therefore not only wrong deeds should be condemned and confessed, but also bad motives and thoughts.

Verse 33 presents three equations of what the result is if the hand is not put on the mouth. We see it in the word “for” with which the verse begins. If he continues to carry out his arrogant thoughts, he only causes disagreement. In his moderate leadership, he puts pressure on others. Pressing on something has an effect.

When pressure is put on milk, when it is stirred vigorously, butter is produced. The original healthy drink is no longer drinkable. If pressure is applied to the nose, if someone gets a blow on his nose, blood comes out of the nose. The original function of the nose to absorb odors, is switched off. On the contrary, blood loss occurs. The last example of pressure is what it is all about. Someone can be put under such pressure that he becomes angry and subsequently quarrels arise.

The examples illustrate the purpose of this concluding advice. Agur encourages us to strive for peace and harmony through a spirit of humility and righteousness. He ends his proverbs with the same thought he began with.

Proverbs 31

Pro 31:1 | The Words to Lemuel

1 The words of King Lemuel, the oracle which his mother taught him:

This section is the only one in this book in which a king is directly addressed. It is also a whole chapter that comes from a woman filled with Divine wisdom. The teaching contains two warnings (verses 2-7) and one advice (verses 8-9). The mother warns her son, the king, of the dangers of sexuality and drinks. She takes her time and does not mince her words. Even today it is important that parents speak frankly and clearly with their children about these subjects. If we warn children in their youth, they will keep to this when they are older (Pro 22:6).

Lemuel means ‘devoted to God’ or ‘belonging to God’. His name occurs only here. Lemuel was taught by his mother. It was “the oracle” or “the burden“ she had on her heart. This fits in with the way in which Proverbs teachings are passed on. The book began with the words of a father to his son: “Hear, my son, your father’s instruction“ (Pro 1:8a). There the father also says to him: “And do not forsake your mother’s teaching“ (Pro 1:8b). This instruction or teaching is given in detail in this last chapter.

It confirms the great influence mothers have on their children. In the books 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles the name of the mother of a king is often mentioned (f.i. 1Kgs 11:26; 14:21; 15:2; 2Chr 12:13; 13:2; 20:31). It is a great blessing to have a God-fearing mother (2Tim 1:5; 3:15). The mother of Lemuel is honored by God because He gives her a whole chapter in His Word for her teaching. This proves the value of her words for every generation through the centuries to this day. After his mother, his wife is the second woman to have a great influence on a man. Lemuel’s mother speaks of her value from verse 10.

Her words also apply to us. For we are kings (Rev 1:6). We do not yet exercise the kingship, but we do possess its dignity and should therefore also behave ‘royally’. We must therefore take to heart the warnings of the mother.

Pro 31:2 | Appeal to Listen to Advice

2 What, O my son?
And what, O son of my womb?
And what, O son of my vows?

In the threefold use of the word “what“ we hear the passionate desire of the mother that her son will fulfill his high calling. She speaks as one who thinks about what advice she will give to her son, so full of care she is for her son. The question, which is also a call, comes as a deep sigh from the heart of the mother who is concerned about the welfare of her son. She wants to tell him what is to his advantage, and to do so in words that strike him and stick with him: “The words of wise men are like goads, and masters of [these] collections are like well-driven nails; they are given by one Shepherd“ (Ecc 12:11).

The mother addresses her son in a penetrating way with a voice full of love. She wants his full attention. The triple repetition of “son“ shows the seriousness of the warning. He is first “my son“. This indicates her direct relationship with him. Then she addresses him as “son of my womb“. With this she says that he is her own son, he is not adopted, but born of her. Finally she calls him “son of my vows“. This indicates that she had dedicated him to the LORD. This reminds us of what Hannah did with Samuel (1Sam 1:11). Like Hannah, she must have undoubtedly prayed a lot for this child, both before and after his birth (1Sam 1:26-28).

Pro 31:3 | Warning Against Women

3 Do not give your strength to women,
Or your ways to that which destroys kings.

The first danger she points out to him is that of women. She advises him not to give his “strength to women”. Her warning is that he shouldn’t spend his time fulfilling his sexual desires. There are plenty of women in his environment. But he should not focus his attention on them. If he does, his strength will be consumed by it. He will no longer have the strength to perform his actual task as king.

Many kings have been made powerless in the exercise of their kingship by giving in to their sexual desires. Among them are David and especially Solomon. To their shame they have experienced in their lives the truth of what the mother says here (2Sam 12:9-10; 1Kgs 11:1-11; Neh 13:26). It is not wrong to have a wife. He who has received a wife has received a great gift from God. What is wrong, sinful, and pernicious is to have more than one.

Pro 31:4-7 | Warning Against Wine

4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel,
It is not for kings to drink wine,
Or for rulers to desire strong drink,
5 For they will drink and forget what is decreed,
And pervert the rights of all the afflicted.
6 Give strong drink to him who is perishing,
And wine to him whose life is bitter.
7 Let him drink and forget his poverty
And remember his trouble no more.

The other danger, often associated with the danger of women, is getting dependent on drink (verse 4; Hos 4:11; Rev 17:2). Wine in itself is not wrong (Jdg 9:13; Psa 104:15a). It is wrong to drink too much of it. For a king it applies even more emphatically. He should neither drink it nor ask for it. It is about the excessive consumption of alcohol or the need for it because of the constant pressure on him. If you want to be able to reign over a people well, you must first of all be able to reign over yourself. This is where Noah failed when he was given reign over the purified earth (Gen 9:1-7,20-24).

The mother tells him what the consequences are when he drinks and gets drunk. Then he “will … forget what is decreed“ (verse 5). He will forget the royal law in which God has said how to behave to be a good king (Deu 17:17-20). Drinks blur the mind. Those who are drunk no longer see things sharply and cannot make a righteous judgment in disputes.

A drunken king is disgusting (1Kgs 16:8-9; 20:16). When it comes to speaking justice in a lawsuit, he will do nothing but “pervert the rights of all the afflicted“. None of the afflicted will get his right, because the king is blurred in his mind. In addition, the rich who exploit the afflicted can manipulate him (cf. Hos 7:5). They will tell him what kind of statement he should make.

The verses 6-7 are most likely intended to be sarcastic. It cannot be a serious advice that strong drinks should be better given to those who are in agony (“who is perishing“), who are deeply depressed (“whose life is bitter“), or who are in deep “poverty“ and “trouble“. The advice then would be: Give them so much strong drinks and wine that they get drunk. Then they forget their misery and no longer think about it. This advice cannot be intended seriously because when the intoxication is over, the problems will not have disappeared, but are still fully present. Then you just have to drink again. And so it becomes an addiction. It is much more so, that people in agony or bitter sorrow need God’s Word and understanding and practical help.

For a king who is under high pressure, who is looked up to and expected to be righteous, the use of alcohol is not an option. He must not shirk his responsibilities or seek relief from them by drinking for a while. A king who knows that his task has been given to him by God will expect everything from God to perform that task. Then he will get what he needs.

The advice that king Lemuel receives from his mother is also important to us. We are kings and may reign with the Lord Jesus (Rev 1:6). We do not yet reign as kings, but we do have the dignity of a king. We lose that dignity by being wrong with sexuality and drink. If we give into this, we lose the purity and simplicity of our devotion to the Lord (cf. Rev 14:4-5) and become objects of contempt and manipulation.

Pro 31:8-9 | Open Your Mouth to Judge Righteously

8 Open your mouth for the mute,
For the rights of all the unfortunate.
9 Open your mouth, judge righteously,
And defend the rights of the afflicted and needy.

The mother tells her son, the king, that he shouldn’t open his mouth to pour wine into it, but to be a voice “for the mute“ (verse 8). This is not someone who cannot talk. It may be someone who is too timid to say something. Someone can also be dumbfounded, because of the unjust charges or the verbal violence of the other party. In any case, it is about someone who cannot speak for himself to defend his own cause.

The king must also open his mouth to speak justice for “all the unfortunate“. They may have words, but they lack the strength to speak up. In both cases it requires insight into the circumstances of those who are in a miserable state and turn to him for a just verdict.

The king seems to be both a lawyer and a judge. As a lawyer he has identified himself, in verse 8, with the case of a mute man and of all those who are unfortunate. This allows him to act as a judge in verse 9. Because he did not drink wine, but remained clear in his mind, he is able to open his mouth and judge with righteousness, and defend the rights of the afflicted and poor (cf. 2Sam 14:4-11; 1Kgs 3:16-28; Psa 45:3-5; 72:4; Isa 9:6-7).

Pro 31:10-31 | Introduction

Much has been written in the previous chapters about the Woman of Folly, about foolish, wrong women. Also in this last chapter we hear the warning about her from the mouth of Lemuel’s mother to her son (verse 3). That is why it is so beautiful that the book concludes with a song of praise for the Woman of Wisdom, for the woman in the full value she has for God, for her husband and for her children.

Wisdom is personified by a woman, because the woman is an excellent example of wisdom because of the variety of applications. Wherever she is, her wisdom becomes visible, and in everything she does, we see how wise she is. We see her at home, at the market, in proving charity and in business. By personalizing wisdom, the writer makes all lessons concrete.

We see her in action in daily life. She is called “someone weaker“ (1Pet 3:7). Yet she acts vigorously. The cause of this is her God-fearfulness and wisdom. In this way, she did her work diligently and at the same time calmly and self-controlled. We see these qualities in her devotion to her husband and children, how she treats her staff, and in her business activities. She is decisive in her performance, without leaving her place as wife next to her husband. She honors her husband, who is honored in the gate. Her behavior is such that he trusts her completely in everything she does. She is honored by her husband, her children and her works.

This song of praise about the woman is an example or model for all women who want to develop a life of wisdom. But because it is about the essence of wisdom, what is said of her contains important lessons not only for women, but also for men. This portion teaches that the fear of the LORD inspires women and men to be faithful stewards of the time and talents God has given. This stewardship is best taught and experienced in the domestic atmosphere. The wisdom with which this stewardship is exercised, becomes visible in a balanced life, paying attention to domestic tasks as well as to business activities and the demonstration of charity.

This homage to the wife is written in the special style form that we encounter for instance also in Psalms: Psalms 9; 10; 25; 34; 37; 111; 112; 119; 145. This form is sometimes called an ‘acrostic’. In an acrostic the first word of every verse or group of verses begin with a next letter of the 22 letters of Hebrew alphabet. The acrostic begins in verse 10 with the first letter, the aleph, and ends in verse 31 with the last letter, the taw.

The fact that the whole alphabet is used to sing the praises of the excellent wife, can symbolically indicate that we have a complete description of her, that nothing is missing. It is a perfect whole. It has been pointed out that love is not mentioned. But would an effort as this wife shows, be possible without love being the motive? We see a woman joyfully performing her duties. If we want a description of the relationship of love between man and wife, we can refer to the book of Song of Solomon. In Proverbs 31 it is about the dedication of the wife to her husband which becomes visible in everything she does.

The description of this wife is not a description that applies to every wife without reservation. The wife presented here is a rich and distinguished person with, like her husband, a high social status. She runs a house with an estate and servants. She trades in real estate, vineyards and merchandise. Domestic affairs are under her control and she proves charity, for which she also has the means. Not many wives are in such a position with these circumstances.

Apparently, it is more about the general thought, which a woman is capable of if she is completely guided by wisdom. The ideal wife is presented, the perfect wife, the devoted help of her husband, sincere, God-fearing, economic and wise. The characteristics mentioned will be found in every God-fearing wife according to the measure of her possibilities. It is about making oneself available to others. That is why this part also applies to the God-fearing man.

Behind the description of this wife we see the picture of the church as the wife of the Lamb, or the church as the Lord Jesus sees her, in her fullness, without defect. In practice, He works through His Word to present her to Himself in this way (Eph 5:26-27). We will often be able to apply what is said about the excellent wife to the church.

Pro 31:10 | The Value of the Excellent Wife

10 An excellent wife, who can find?
For her worth is far above jewels.

The introductory question in this verse assumes the wife that the mother will describe is not easy to find (cf. Pro 20:6; Ecc 7:28). But if she is found, she is a treasure of great value. Above all, the mother of king Lemuel warned him in verse 3 not to give his strength to women. Now she is going to teach him about the wife who will be a real help to him. She describes the characteristics and qualities of this wife. He must pay attention to this in his search for her.

What matters to her is that her son goes in search of “an excellent wife“. With this she gives at the beginning of the description of the qualities a ‘total description’. The word “excellent” means that this wife has all the virtues that are mentioned in this song of praise on her and that she also puts them into practice. This wife, like wisdom, is worth more than rubies, yes, she is “far above“ their value (Pro 3:15; 8:11).

Spiritually we can apply this to the church. She is the wife of the Lamb, which is Christ. She is for Him “a pearl of great value“ for whom He was willing to do everything to possess her (Mt 13:45-46).

Pro 31:11-12 | She Looks After the Interests of Her Husband

11 The heart of her husband trusts in her,
And he will have no lack of gain.
12 She does him good and not evil
All the days of her life.

After the value of the wife that cannot be expressed in money has been determined, the description of her virtues, her good features, follows. But before that description follows, it is first said how her husband sees her, what she means to him (verse 11), and the other way around: how she sees him, what he means to her (verse 12). Her husband trusts her with all his heart. Not love, but trust is the most important basis of a good marriage. Love may be sometimes a little bit less, but trust must always be present. A trusting husband and a faithful wife form an unbreakable unity.

Her husband leaves her with full confidence in the morning to go to work (Psa 104:23). When, so to speak, he closes the door behind him, he does so with the complete confidence in his heart that she will look after his interests at home while he is absent. He leaves everything to her with peace of mind, allowing him to focus fully on his role in society.

She is in stark contrast to the adulterous woman who takes advantage of her husband’s absence to commit adultery (Pro 7:18-19). The same contrast is with the wives whom the prophet Amos calls “cows of Bashan“ and of whom he says that they say to their husband: “Bring now that we may drink“ (Amos 4:1).

She does not betray the trust that her husband has in her in any way. His property is with her in safe, trusty hands (verse 11). His wife has no hole in her hand, she is not a wasteful woman, but someone who manages his property with wisdom. When he comes home from work, she has not abused any of his possessions. In every marriage, and certainly if there is a large household, such confidence in her devotion to him and his house with all possessions is essential.

“She does him good and not evil“ (verse 12), because she is intimately related to him. If she did not do him good but evil, she did so against herself. In a good marriage, husband and wife always aim for the good for each other, and will never seek to harm each other. Here the emphasis is on the actions of the wife. She is in a position where her husband has entrusted everything to her and she has a great freedom of action. But everything she does, she does with a view to him. She illustrates in her life what Paul writes: “But one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband“ (1Cor 7:34b).

In this way she does not act incidentally, when it suits her, but “all the days of her life”. It points to her continuous fidelity in marriage. She remains faithful to the oath she swore when she married him: until death separates her from him. Even when both of them are old, she continues to do him good.

She is independent, but not self-centered. Her activities do not serve to develop herself, but to support her husband. She is focused on him and not on her career. There is no question of her going a separate way apart from her husband, as often happens in our modern society and to which people are also encouraged to do.

This relationship of trust and doing good shows how the Lord Jesus trusts His church. He knows her, takes care of her and trusts her to look after His interests on earth while He is absent. The fact that the church as a whole has become unfaithful to Him is not the aspect that comes forward here. This is about Him seeing in faithful, devoted believers the faithfulness and devotion that He appreciates.

Pro 31:13-15 | She Cares of Clothing and Food

13 She looks for wool and flax
And works with her hands in delight.
14 She is like merchant ships;
She brings her food from afar.
15 She rises also while it is still night
And gives food to her household
And portions to her maidens.

In verse 13, the list of activities begins. She appears to be a wife whose adornment “as it suits women who confess to be pious“ consists of “good works“ (1Tim 2:10). Her first concern is that the family should be well dressed (verse 13). She does not buy or outsource the making of the clothes. She could do that, because she has the means for it. She doesn’t even buy the fabrics for the clothing on the market, but the raw materials, “wool and flax“, to make the fabric herself. Even the purchase of the raw materials she does with care. “She searches“, which means that she tries to get the best material.

When she has the raw materials, she goes to work. She doesn’t work reluctantly, but with pleasure. This is evident from the expression that she “works with her hands in delight“. Wool comes from sheep and flax grows on the land. Wool is used to make clothes that keep the body warm when it is cold. Flax is used to make linen for airy clothing that is more suitable for warmer days. She has the right clothing for every temperature.

As a spiritual application, the following can be said about this. When it comes to wool, it indicates that the church is a place where there is a warm or loving interest in every member. Linen represents righteousness (Rev 19:8). The church is also a place where each one is given what he is entitled to. Each is recognized in his specific qualities. Space is given to develop these qualities.

The church is looking for this. This means that the church prays for it. She seeks from the Lord what she needs to radiate loving interest and righteousness.

Besides the care for clothing, she also takes care of food (verse 14). Just as she carefully selects the materials for the clothes she makes, she also carefully selects the food. In her search for food she is compared, not with ‘a ship’, but with “ships”. There is variety in her activities to get food. She gets the best from everywhere. It is “her food“ and she brings it “from afar“. It is food from which she lives and which she also gives to her house. She has no other food for her housemates than what she eats herself.

In the spiritual application it is about the spiritual food for the church and for all who belong to it. That food comes “from afar“, from heaven, where Christ is. He nourishes and cherishes the church (Eph 5:29), which means, He provides it with food and warmth.

The food must not only be bought, but also prepared and put on the table (verse 15). For breakfast, this must be done before everyone wakes up and comes to the table. She does not order the maids to prepare and set up everything, but she does that herself. She gets out of bed early for that. She wants to make sure that her husband, her children and also the maids start the day with a good meal.

The church consists of believers who are out to serve each other with the food of God’s Word. They realize that they need each other in this. One learns from the other. The believers are not only members of God’s house with all the privileges that go with it, but they all have a task. In order to perform this task properly, they need the power of the food of God’s Word. Everyone gets the part assigned to him, as much as necessary to be able to do the service.

Pro 31:16-18 | Her Sound Financial Management

16 She considers a field and buys it;
From her earnings she plants a vineyard.
17 She girds herself with strength
And makes her arms strong.
18 She senses that her gain is good;
Her lamp does not go out at night.

After taking care of her family and all those who are part of it, she has the hands free to take actions that increase the family budget (verse 16). She increases her husband’s income. In this part of the enumeration we see that the woman is also a good businesswoman, who invests wisely. There is no question of foolish purchases or entering into debts. After acquiring the field, she turns it into a vineyard by herself.

In the spiritual application it is about things we set our minds on. A field is an area on which we work in order to grow something on it and to benefit from it. She turns the field into a vineyard by herself. A vineyard speaks of joy. In this context, the field can be seen as a picture of the family. The congregation also consists of families. Every family that lives for God is a joy for Him. We can also buy a field for ourselves (Lk 14:18). Then we think only of our own pleasure and leave God outside. This is not in accordance with the calling of the church.

Everything she does, she does with all her strength (verse 17). To gird the hips means that the clothing is pulled up and tied around the hips, so that you can walk freely. At the same time, the belt gives strength to the hips. An arm is also a symbol of strength. She makes her arms strong. She does not possess that power in herself. She is a woman who fears God (verse 30). This means that her strength lies in her fellowship with God.

The church has no strength in herself. She strengthens herself in the Lord and in the strength of His might (Eph 6:10).

While she is busy, she senses “that her gain is good“ (verse 18). She evaluates what she has done and sees a positive result. That encourages her to continue like this. She is busy until late at night. Of course she needs her rest and sleep and will not continue working at night. It is about her commitment. This is not limited to a number of hours that are laid down in a contract.

Of Anna it is said that she was “serving night and day with fastings and prayers“ (Lk 2:37). This does not mean that Anna never slept. It is about what characterized her. It is the same with this woman. The fact that her lamp does not go out at night can also mean that her house is kept from disasters that come upon the wicked (Job 18:6; Jer 25:10).

When the church lives with the Lord and seeks and finds her strength in Him, she sees that her work is blessed. We see this especially at the beginning of the book of Acts (Acts 2:47). The church lives in the night of the world. Then her lamp should not go out, but burn brightly. This points to the testimony she gives of Him Who is the light of the world. We may all give that testimony individually. It can also be seen in our homes (cf. Exo 10:23).

Pro 31:19-21 | She Works for the Family and the Poor

19 She stretches out her hands to the distaff,
And her hands grasp the spindle.
20 She extends her hand to the poor,
And she stretches out her hands to the needy.
21 She is not afraid of the snow for her household,
For all her household are clothed with scarlet.

She bought raw materials for the clothing (verse 13) and did her business. In the evening, by the light of the lamp (verse 18), she turns the wool and flax into fabrics (verse 19), from which she can make clothes. She knows how to use the distaff. We see her skill in the description.

The church also needs to know how to make clothes, that means that she is conscious in which way she is clothed with spiritual clothing. Thus the believers are clothed with the garments of salvation and with the cloak of righteousness (Isa 61:10). Paul knew how to clothe the believers with this, that is to say he explained to them what their position in Christ is. The believers are clothed with Christ. In several letters Paul, especially the letter to the Ephesians, explains what that means.

The woman takes care of her family, but she does not forget those who are poor and needy (verse 20). She is socially engaged. She may have made garments for them too, or at least distributed to them what she had (cf. Acts 9:36-39). The fact that she opens her hand to the needy means that she gives voluntarily and mildly to them (Psa 112:9). She does not fob them off with a tip. Her reaching out to the poor adds the thought of compassion. It is the hands that have been doing hard and skillful work, not the hands of a lazy, rich woman. She used her zeal generously and mercifully.

The church may share what she has acquired concerning spiritual insight with the less fortunate. She is not isolated from the world and does not sit with a booklet in a corner selfishly enjoying all truths. There are many people who are spiritually needy and poor. For them she will open her hand and to them she will reach out and hand out the spiritual blessings she has discovered.

She thinks not only about the here and now, but also about the future (verse 21). It will be winter again. At the end of summer, every wife who has to manage a family, will start thinking about winter clothes again. She wants to prepare her family well for the coming cold. When the cold comes, her family wears warm clothes. The clothes are not only warm, but also attractive. Husband and children look good. She has taste.

The cold in the world does not hurt her, because she provides a soothing warmth of love in her home. In this way, the church also keeps the cold of the world out as warmth and love are present in her. This is especially necessary now, because we know that the end of all things is near (1Pet 4:7). The coldness of God’s judgments is slowly forcing in. That is why we are told that above all we should have fervent love for one another (1Pet 4:8).

Pro 31:22-23 | She and Her Husband

22 She makes coverings for herself;
Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is known in the gates,
When he sits among the elders of the land.

When caring for others, she does not forget to take care of herself (verse 22). The “coverings“ give her warmth. Her clothing “of fine linen and purple“ prove her wealth and high rank. It is reminiscent of the rich man about whom the Lord Jesus tells, who was also dressed in purple and fine linen (Lk 16:19). The problem was not the clothing he was wearing, but that he was “joyously living in splendor every day“, ignoring the poor who was lying at his front door. With him the charity of this woman was completely absent.

The church has a high calling. Paul speaks about this in detail in Ephesians 1-3. There he shows the congregation, as it were, coverings and her dignified clothing. She “has been made pleasing in the Beloved“ (Eph 1:6), clothed with Him. Then he calls her to walk “worthy of the calling“ with which she is called (Eph 4:1). How she can do this, he tells in the following chapters (Ephesians 4-6).

Her dignity is not of herself, but she derives it from her husband (verse 23). The ‘gates’ is the place of the meeting of the elders, of the city council, where court cases are discussed (Rth 4:1-12). Her husband is busy looking after the interests of the city. He is not sitting unobtrusively among the “elders of the land“, but is a distinguished man, a well-known leader.

The church is connected to a Spouse Who is constantly working for the interests of the city, with which also His church is meant. In Revelation 21, the description of the bride is suddenly transferred to the city without any explanation (Rev 21:9-10). The question is whether He is so well known everywhere and especially in the gates, the places of justice, where we can think of the local churches. Does He take the lead there? Is authority there given to Him?

The expression “sits among the elders“ is reminiscent of Revelation 5 (Rev 5:1-14). There we see the Lamb among the elders. The Lamb is not sitting, but is standing as slain. It can also be said of the Lamb that it is known in the gates. As said, the gates are the places of government and administration. The throne of God speaks of this. The seven spirits that depart from the throne show this. The knowledge of the twenty-four elders of the Lamb is evident from the falling down and worshiping, as we read at the end of Revelation 5. When John cries because there is no one worthy of opening the book and breaking the seals, one of the elders comforts John. He is familiar with the Lamb and points out to John the Lion from the tribe of Judah.

Pro 31:24 | She Sells and Delivers

24 She makes linen garments and sells [them],
And supplies belts to the tradesmen.

She has taken care of her family, she has cared about the poor, and the position of her husband has been clearly presented. Now she gets to work for the people around her. She also wants to serve them with her capacities. But she does ask a price for her services. That will increase her capital, but also make the other person richer. What she sells and delivers is quality.

The church has a lot to offer, but sometimes a price has to be asked for it. The truth must be bought (Pro 23:23). The sinner cannot pay anything to be saved. One is saved by grace (Eph 2:8). But the truth of God’s Word does not just come to us. Learning to know the truth takes time and effort.

Pro 31:25-27 | Wisdom and Prosperity

25 Strength and dignity are her clothing,
And she smiles at the future.
26 She opens her mouth in wisdom,
And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
27 She looks well to the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.

What characterizes her is expressed in the way she dresses. Her clothing shows who she is (verse 22). In verse 25 there is another reference to her clothing, but now in a different way. Her clothing, what is seen of her, is “strength and dignity“. She is a woman who radiates strength and excellence. Everything about her is dynamic and beauty. She faces life every morning with a smile. This is not overconfidence, but the firm trust in God who leads her life and gives her the strength for everything she does.

The church owes all the strength and dignity with which she is clothed to the Lord Jesus. Strength and dignity belong to Him and He has laid them upon her, clothed her with them (Lk 24:49). Strength and dignity are Divine attributes. They are qualities of God Himself and she exhibits them. Here we see the picture of the church as the wife of the Lamb who has prepared herself in a cloth of linen. On the one hand she has made this cloth herself, because it speaks of the righteous deeds she has done. On the other hand, that garment is given to her, for it is God’s grace that has enabled her to do those righteous deeds (Rev 19:7-8).

This awareness makes the church smile at “the future“. We can think of looking forward to the coming of the Lord for His own, and also of His coming to earth with His own. She rejoices at what is coming, because everything is connected with Him Who is to come. Therefore she rejoices at Him Who is to come. She loves His appearance (2Tim 4:8).

The excellent wife is not known as a talker, and certainly not as a chatterer or slanderer (cf. 1Tim 5:13; Tit 2:3). The statement here that she opens her mouth means that she usually does not talk. But when she talks, words of wisdom come out of her mouth. Then it appears that there is “teaching“ on her tongue that she speaks “with teaching of kindness”.

Her discussions to convince someone stem from common sense. And her teaching, the instructions she gives, is reliable. The second line of verse 26 literally says that “the law of kindness“ is on her tongue. What she says does not repel, but invites to accept what has been said. It is pleasant to listen to her.

Teaching in the church is characterized by wisdom and kindness. Kindness does not mean a characterless sweetness. If opponents must be reprimanded, this must be done in an unmistakable manner. Yet it is important that it happens out of kindness, that is, that the motive is to win the other (2Tim 2:24-26).

Before others speak about her in verses 28-31, her watchfulness is pointed out as the last of her excellencies (verse 27). She does not allow herself to be misled by her prosperity, as if, because of all her efforts and the desired results, she can now continue her path carelessly. No, while she is working, she keeps a close eye on everything in her house. That is where the focus of her activities lies. Everything revolves around her family.

She knows from every member of the family what he or she is doing. She is alert to who and what enters into her family and what the consequences are. In this way, she can intervene in time if she sees something that threatens the devotion of a family member to the service to God. There is no room for idleness. Even if she was ‘successful’, she “did not eat the bread of idleness”. She does not withdraw arrogantly to look at the results of her efforts with a sense of self-satisfaction. Her task is not finished as long as she has a family to manage.

Nor should the church think that everything is fine and that no one can rob her of the blessings she has. Paul warns the Thessalonians about this kind of complacency. He says to them, involving himself: “So then let us not sleep as others [these are the people of the world] do, but let us be alert and sober“ (1Thes 5:6). The order is: “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving“ (Col 4:2), “and having done everything, to stand firm“ (Eph 6:13).

Pro 31:28-31 | She and Her Works Are Praised

28 Her children rise up and bless her;
Her husband [also], and he praises her, [saying]:
29 “Many daughters have done nobly,
But you excel them all.”
30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain,
[But] a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.
31 Give her the product of her hands,
And let her works praise her in the gates.

The characteristics of the excellent woman are described in detail in the previous verses. This provokes a reaction in which the appreciation for her is expressed. This appreciation comes from four sides: from her children and from her husband (verses 28-29), and from the LORD and from her works (verses 30-31). Of all men, her children and her husband know her best. They are best able to judge the value of who she is and what she does and has done.

“Her children“ are the first who express themselves (verse 28). They “rise up“. This expression describes an activity that prepares the expression of their appreciation (cf. Gen 37:35a). It is like rising up to give someone a standing ovation. It is an attitude that fits what they are going to say. It expresses not only appreciation but also admiration and reverence. Then they bless her. Through her all honor goes to God Who blessed her so much. To be praised by the children is worth much more than anything gained from trade.

“Her husband … praises her.” He expresses his great appreciation for the support she had always given him and for the dedication with which she had always served him. This has enabled him to fulfil his calling. She has run his household more than excellently. The family actually belongs to both the husband and the wife, but the wife does provide the lion’s share in the management. How good and important it is that a husband openly expresses his appreciation for his wife.

He adds that she surpasses all other women, including their daughters who, like she, have “done nobly“ (verse 29). The daughters have done this following her example, they have learned it from her.

Whether the words of verse 30 are also said by the husband is not entirely clear. Perhaps Lemuel’s mother has spoken them to warn her son not to rely on the appearance. Behind a charming appearance, a corrupt character can hide. And external beauty is transient, not permanent, but eventually disappears.

He must be aware that the virtue of a woman is not in her outer beauty, but in her inner relationship with the LORD (cf. 1Pet 3:3-4). Therefore, when choosing a wife, he must in particular pay attention to whether she is a woman “who fears the LORD“. That woman “will be praised“ by the LORD and also by her family. The same goes for the church. It is not about all kinds of externally attractive things, all kinds of gifts of spirit that are attractive to the eye. It is about respect and devotion to the Lord. This is important when we judge a local church.

“The product of her hands“ (verse 31) speaks of what she has achieved with hard work. The results of her work may give her satisfaction. She has earned it. She herself will say that it is all grace. And that is what it is. At the same time there has also been an unbridled effort, which is appreciated by the Lord and by everyone who looks at her with His eyes. The Lord will reward all that has been done for Him.

Her works are of exceptional quality. They must be praised “in the gates”. Where her husband sits among the elders of the land (verse 23), there must be appreciation for her. A woman who runs a family well is an example for any form of government. City governments and national governments would do well to acknowledge the work of such women and to follow their example. Then there would be hope for a society that is now a mess because of the many broken families, among other things because of women who only pursue their own interests.

Not the beauty of the woman, but her works praise her. She was praised for the product of her hands. The tree is known by the fruit. If the fruit is good, the tree is also good. She gains honor from all that she had sown in investing in education, from all the care she had given to her husband and her children.

The driving force in her is the fear of the LORD. At the end of the book, the emphasis is once again on this most important aspect of wisdom with which the book also began (Pro 1:7).

That is not different for the church. Only through reverence for God is she able to express herself in a way that will receive tribute from God.

Other Publications

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