The Bible says in Proverbs 1:1-5, The proverbs
of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;[2] To know wisdom and
instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;[3] To receive the
instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;[4] To give
subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.[5] A
wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding
shall attain unto wise counsels: Proverbs is a practical book of
the Bible. We need to be both spiritual and practical in order to serve the
Lord on this earth. God made a material world, and we need to know how to live
in this material world. Solomon called it in verse two: wisdom and instruction.
There are many words that human beings write and say, but what we need are
words of understanding. King Solomon knew what we need, and so Solomon wrote
these words of wisdom. Notice that Solomon said in verse 3, To receive the
instruction. Verse two said To know wisdom and instruction. How do you come to know? You must willingly receive the
instruction. Who gives the instruction? The teacher gives the instruction.
Jesus ascended on high and He gave gifts unto men. Among these gifts are
pastors and teachers. The Lord teaches His children through the teachers
that Jesus calls and gifts to be teachers.
After we are saved by faith in Jesus,
we must learn many things about the Bible and the Christian life. If you grow
in the knowledge of these things, you will also grow in the knowledge of the
practical things of life. Solomon said in verse 4 that his purpose was To give
subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion. When you are
young, you do not know as many things as you need to know. If you have the
right instruction book and the right teachers and the right attitude toward
learning, then you will grow in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and
man. That is exactly what happened in the life of Jesus. Jesus came into the
world, giving up His divine privileges, and then the Son of God lived the life
of a human being: the same as all of us except without sin.
In Proverbs 1:5 Solomon wrote, A wise man
will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain
unto wise counsels. One of the benefits of being a Christian is that you can be a
total fool, turn to Jesus and get saved, and then start growing in the
knowledge of the truth, and then end up being a very wise person. But you must
hear. That means to give ear to, to receive, and to obey what you hear. That
is the only way to learn, and the only way to grow. Someone who thinks they already
have the answers will not learn.
The Bible says in Proverbs 1:6-7, To
understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their
dark sayings.[7] The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but
fools despise wisdom and instruction. How will you
understand what you need to understand? How will you enter into true wisdom?
There is a lot of wisdom to be known, but only a few know the wisdom. Verse 7
tells how to get on the path where you start acquiring wisdom. It says, The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but
fools despise wisdom and instruction. Why
would anyone fear the Lord? If you understand the greatness of your sins, and
if you realize that God is Judge, then you know that you need a Savior. As you
turn to the Savior Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, you gain the
most important knowledge, and you start on a path to gaining more wisdom and
knowledge as you go through life feeding on the Word of God and walking in
fellowship with Jesus. What does Solomon call those who do not fear the Lord: fools.
The Bible says in Proverbs 1:8-9, My son, hear
the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
[9] For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains
about thy neck. The book of Proverbs is written in the context of a
father giving advice to his son. That is a process that has taken place
millions of times, except that this advice is the advice that comes from God
the Father. One of the roles of a parent is to give good council and
instruction to the children. It is not just the father who does this, but the
mother too. The New Testament says the same thing in regards to the
responsibility of parents. It says in Ephesians 6:4, And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but
bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. The word nurture refers to the training of children.
There is a certain type of training that children need, and parents are
responsible to give it. The word admonition refers to verbal teaching in
which issues are clarified. For example, the same word is used in First
Corinthians 10:11, Now all these things
happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon
whom the ends of the world are come. To
admonish others is to teach moral, ethical, and spiritual values so that they
will be prepared for a life of faith and so that they will avoid the snares
that some fall into.
The fact that the book of Proverbs is
written from the standpoint of a father giving advice to his son is a good
reminder that those who do not have an earthly father, can have something even
better: the heavenly Father. If you come to know Jesus as your Savior, then you
will have the heavenly Father to teach you better things than any earthly
father ever could have taught you.
When Solomon wrote in Proverbs 1:8, My son, hear
the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother, in a way
Solomon was pleading with his son to listen. Every person has a free will. That
means every child has a free will. You can listen carefully to what your
parents tell you, and you can listen carefully to what God tells you, or you
can close your ears. The choice is yours. But there are rich rewards to those
who choose to listen and receive the good instruction. That is what Solomon was
talking about in verse 9 when he wrote, For they shall be an ornament of
grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck. It is strange when people
think that they will lose by listening to Gods Word, when the opposite is
true.
The Bible says in Proverbs 1:10-19, My son, if
sinners entice thee, consent thou not.[11] If they say, Come with us,
let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:[12]
Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down
into the pit:[13] We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill
our houses with spoil:[14] Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one
purse:[15] My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot
from their path:[16] For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed
blood.[17] Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.[18]
And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.[19]
So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life
of the owners thereof. One of the things that can destroy anyone, especially
young people, is to follow the wrong people or to get involved with the wrong
crowd. The devil uses bad people to destroy innocent people. You have an
important power that if you exercise it, it will save you: the power of your
own will. No one can make you do anything, but since human beings are naturally
followers, be careful who you follow. Better yet: be determined to follow
Jesus, and become a leader instead of a follower.
Solomon wrote in Proverbs 1:10, as a
father giving the best advice that he can think of to his son, My son, if
sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If you are raised in a godly home,
one of the first decisions that you will be faced with as you go out into the
world to live you own life, is this: are you going to continue with what you
were taught, or are you going to conform to the group of people that beckon you
to their way? It says in Psalms 1:1-2, Blessed is the man that walketh not
in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the
way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the
scornful.[2] But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law
doth he meditate day and night.
It is interesting that both the book of Psalms and the book of Proverbs start
off with this warning to young people.
If you have never had a real father-figure
growing up, or maybe not even a mother-figure when growing up, the Lord can be
both mother and father to you. When the Bible says, My son, if
sinners entice thee, consent thou not, those can be the words of your
father to you. Remember that Jesus said to pray, Our Father
who art in heaven
The heavenly Father is the most important father. One reason for
a human father is to symbolize and to help give understanding of the heavenly
father. A human father lives for only so many years, but a heavenly father is
there forever.
In Proverbs chapter one what is it
that the bad influences are trying to get the young man involved in
evil deeds
and the breaking of the law: both the law of God and the law of man. The evil
ones say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for
the innocent without cause. They are out to harm innocent people. Because
evil exists in this world, there are those who are attracted to the innocent to
harm them. That is one of the reasons for child molestation, violence against
children, and teaching children to do wrong. It is a terrible evil, and Jesus
Himself pronounced a special judgment for anyone who harms children. Jesus said
in Mark 9:42, And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe
in me, it is better for him that a millstone were
hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.
In Proverbs 1:13 the bad people of the
world will say to the young man, We shall find all precious
substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil. They promise a financial
benefit from doing all these evil deeds and accompanying the evil ones. The New
Testament says, The love of money is the root of all evil. Never do
wrong in order to gain a benefit. Many people commit such sins who are not
violent, but who harm others by cheating them because of their desire to gain
financially. Lying to others to cheat them is a type of stealing.
What is the final end of those who
chase after evil and of those who follow the evil ones? It is stated very
clearly in Proverbs 1:18-19 how this always ends: And they lay
wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.[19] So
are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of
the owners thereof. It says in the New Testament, Be not deceived, God is not
mocked. Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap.
The Bible says in Proverbs 1:20-23, Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her
voice in the streets:[21] She crieth in the
chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,[22] How long, ye simple
ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and
fools hate knowledge?[23] Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour
out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
When verse 20 says, Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her
voice in the streets, it means that wisdom is
available everywhere you go. You can learn what you need to learn anywhere. Why
is it that more people do not understand true wisdom? Remember that verse 7
said, The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Verses 22 and 23 of Proverbs chapter one are an invitation. Verse 22 is a reminder to those who do
not have wisdom, that they have made the wrong choices spiritually speaking, And so verse 23 tells the spiritually foolish person to turn
to God: Turn you at my reproof. Those who turn to the Lord Jesus have
innumerable benefits among which are the forgiveness of sins and eternal life,
and what is listed in verse 23: the Spirit of God and the Word of God. When you
turn to Jesus as your savior, you become baptized by the Spirit and sealed by
the Spirit. You need the Spirit to be able to understand truth. The Spirit
enlightens every believer in Jesus. And you also need the Word of God. Gods
truth is not based upon feelings or individual ideas. Gods truth is based upon
His precious written Word.
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Copyright; 2017 by Charles
F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved