The Bible says in Proverbs 5:1-6, My son,
attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:[2] That thou
mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.[3] For
the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother
than oil:[4] But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged
sword.[5] Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.[6]
Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou
canst not know them. In these verses in Proverbs chapter 5 the subject of
faithfulness in marriage is emphasized. If you had the best life possible, this
is what would happen to you: you would leave your mother and father at some
point and cleave unto your wife. From that point on it would be you and your
wife faithfully loving each other until death do you part. Of course, there are
a small minority of people who will never get married. Paul the Apostle was one
of those. There are two possible plans for a life that are Gods will:
faithfulness in marriage or faithfulness to God in celibacy. There are women
who depart from that plan and there are men who depart from that plan, and
there are men who foolishly chase the women who depart from Gods plan. It does
not end well because it is not Gods will. The results are listed here as bitter as wormwood, a
sword, death, and hell. It also says in verse 6 that her ways are moveable.
Something that is movable is not steady, or firm, or sure. One of the goals in
life is to have a stable life with a good foundation. A husband and wife
faithful to each other will have that stability of a family.
It says in Proverbs 5:7-13, Hear me now
therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.[8]
Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:[9]
Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:[10]
Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a
stranger;[11] And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body
are consumed,[12] And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart
despised reproof;[13] And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor
inclined mine ear to them that instructed me![14] I was almost in all evil in
the midst of the congregation and assembly. There are several
more negative consequences that will result from chasing after immorality
instead of finding faithfulness in marriage. One of the main reasons that
people will offer themselves in an immoral life-style is for money. They will
want your money, and they will get it. Family will get you a stable life. An
unstable life will get you poverty. In verse 11 the scripture tells us: when thy flesh and thy body are consumed. Perhaps this is reminding us of the venereal diseases
that will result from a loose life-style. These diseases are terrible, and of
course, in the first century they had no antibiotics. And today there are
diseases that are incurable, and that cause death unless you take the very
expensive medicine for the rest of your life. Verses 12 and 13 give the final
results of immorality: regret and sorrow, at least for anyone who has a
conscience. How have I hated instruction,
and my heart despised reproof; And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers,
nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me.
The Bible says in Proverbs 5:15-19, Drink waters
out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.[16]
Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.[17]
Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.[18] Let thy
fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.[19] Let her
be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all
times; and be thou ravished always with her love. God created sex. God designed it like everything
else about human beings. God designed sex in such a way so that the male and
female would be attracted to one another and would make a union that would
result in children. God designed the union of a man and a woman so that it
would be pleasurable and enjoyable. It appears that Gods design is working
very well in that there are billions of people on the earth. One of the
purposes of the attraction between the male and the female is to help you find
that one person that God has prepared for you to be your soul-mate. Once you
find that one and become united in marriage, you are to forsake all others and
enjoy in every way only the one God gave you. That is Gods plan.
The Bible says in Proverbs 5:20-23, And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange
woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?[21] For the ways of man are
before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.[22] His
own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the
cords of his sins.[23] He shall die without instruction; and in the
greatness of his folly he shall go astray. In
Proverbs 1:7 we were told, The fear of the
LORD is the beginning of knowledge. Fear means
fear. Whatever you do, God sees and knows; and if He says do not do something,
then you better not do it. It says in verse 21, For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth
all his goings. Verses 22 states an important
principle of human behavior. It says, he
shall be holden with the cords of his sins.
Once you give yourself over to commit a sin, you can be easily held to commit
that sin again and again and again. And once that happens, your destiny is
formed. It works like this: sow a thought and you reap a deed. Sow a deed and
you reap a habit. Sow a habit and you reap a destiny. That is why repentance
from sin is so important. You get out of that rut by repenting (having a change
of mind), and asking the Lord Jesus to forgive you. He will always forgive and
give you a new chance for a new start at following Him no matter how many times
you fail.
The Bible says in Proverbs 6:1-5, My son, if
thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,[2]
Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of
thy mouth.[3] Do this now, my son, deliver thyself, when thou art come
into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend.[4]
Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.[5] Deliver
thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of
the fowler. Verse 1 is saying that is you have made a verbal
commitment to someone, whether they are a friend or a stranger, and for some
reason, maybe no fault of your own, Thou
art snared with the words of thy mouth. In
other words, you were not able to do what you said you would do. Go and make it
right. A man is only as good as his word. If you said that you would do
something, and you did not do it for whatever reason, then you must go to that
person and explain to them why you did not do what you said, and apologize.
Your word is your bond. Your word is your seal. Your word is your honor. Your
word is who you are. You do not want to have a reputation that your word is no
good. That is why it says in verses 4 and 5, Give
not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.[5] Deliver
thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of
the fowler.
The Bible says in Proverbs 6:6-11, Go to the
ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:[7] Which having no
guide, overseer, or ruler,[8] Provideth her meat in the summer, and
gathereth her food in the harvest.[9] How long wilt thou sleep, O
sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?[10] Yet a little sleep,
a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:[11] So shall
thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.
Of course, the Bible is a very spiritual book, but it is also a very practical
book. There is a spiritual side and a practical side to living on this earth.
If you want to have the best life possible, you must know and put into effect
both the spiritual and the practical. The spiritual side to having your
material needs met is found in the teachings of Jesus from Matthew 6:33, But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his
righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. In other words, put the Lord first in your life along
with doing the right thing, and God will take care of you. Trust in the Lord.
That is the spiritual side. The practical side has to do with your own efforts.
And that is what these verses in Proverbs are talking about. Why did God create
the ants? He created them for His own pleasure, but He also created them to
teach people how to work and how to be productive. Things do not happen by
accident. People must do things to make them happen. Verse 7 says that the ants
are motivated. They do not need a supervisor to tell them what to do. They are
ready and willing to do whatever needs to be done. If you owned your own
business, that is exactly the kind of employee you would want. Verse 8 says
that the ants prepare for the future. They work now while there is an
opportunity. Save what you can while you can. A day will come when you will
need the savings.
Why are people lazy? One reason is
given in Proverbs 5:9, How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard. They would
rather rest than work. But they do not understand. This is not the time to
rest. This is the time to work. Jesus said, I must work the work of Him
that sent me while it is day. The night cometh when no man can work. What is the
result of being lazy? The answer to that is given very clearly in verse 11:
poverty. There are several reasons that some people are poor and sometimes it
is no fault of their own. But here is one of the reasons for poverty: laziness.
The Bible says in Proverbs 6:12-15, A naughty
person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.[13] He winketh with
his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers;[14]
Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth
discord.[15] Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall
he be broken without remedy. When someone is evil, everything
about them is evil. Notice that every part of the body is mentioned: the mouth,
the eyes, the feet, the fingers. In other words you can look at what a person
says, where they go, what they watch with interest, and what they do and
thereby see their wickedness. The real problem is the heart, as it says in
verse 14. He does wrong because he has been planning wrong-doing: he deviseth mischief continually. What you think about will eventually determine what you
do. But for the evil ones, something is sure to come: judgment. Verse 15 says,
Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly. But God is merciful. Turn to Jesus while you have
time.
The Bible says in Proverbs 6:16-19, These six
things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:[17] A
proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,[18] An
heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to
mischief,[19] A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth
discord among brethren. It is not surprising that human pride is the first thing
on the list of the things that God hates. God wants everyone to go to heaven,
but pride will keep people from turning to Christ for forgiveness of their
sins. Also, we should be humble before God in the face of our great sinfulness
and Gods many blessings towards us. Pride goes before a fall. God hates a
lying tongue. Jesus is the Truth. God wants us to tell the truth. We are told
in the Ten Commandments, Thou shalt not lie.
According to Proverbs 6:16-19, the
third thing that God hates is hands that shed innocent blood. God loves
everyone on the earth. God wants everyone to be treated properly. Jesus said, Do unto
others as you would have them do unto you. But also, God gives life, and
therefore only He should be allowed to take it. Life is precious because God
gives it. God lives forever. Every human being should do everything that he or
she can to preserve their own life and to preserve the lives of others.
God hates the heart that
deviseth wicked imaginations. God sees the heart. That is why He is Judge. He
knows. It must be terrible to see all the thoughts of human beings. They can be
really bad. Before God destroyed the earth with a flood, it says in Genesis 6:5
that God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every
imagination of the thoughts of his heart were only evil continually. Thoughts
precede action. If your thoughts are wrong, then some very bad sins will soon
follow.
God also hates feet that be
swift in running to mischief. We are all sinners, but some people have given
themselves over willingly and purposefully to sin. Always seek to do the right
thing, and always turn away from evil. One of the reasons that a person will
turn to Christ is because they want to turn from evil to good. One of the
reasons that a person will not turn to Christ is because they do not want to
stop running after evil. The path they are on will lead to hell.
God hates A false
witness that speaketh lies. This is the second time in this list in Proverbs
that lying is mentioned. This time lying is mentioned in relation to a false
witness. This implies that the lying words hurt someone. Lies cause a lot of
damage. They hurt the liar because he diminishes himself or herself. And lies
hurt other people. Some innocent people have spent a lifetime in jail because
of lies that were told. It is no wonder that God hates liars. If you want to be
on Gods side, always tell the truth. Do not be a liar.
And finally, God also hates he that
soweth discord among brethren. God likes unity. He is united as the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit in One. God wants unity in the family, unity in the
nation, and unity in the church. It is easy to be a negative trouble-maker and
cause divisions. But if you sow discord, you will be doing the work of the
devil. Those who help create unity are doing the work of God. If you do not
know Jesus as Savior, you can be united with the rest of Gods people forever
by coming to Jesus.
___________________________________________________
Copyright; 2017 by Charles
F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved