The Sayings of the Wise – Part 18

THIRTY SAYINGS OF THE WISE

SAYING NUMBER SEVENTEEN

“My son, give me your heart and let your eyes delight in my ways, for an adulterous woman is a deep pit, and a wayward wife is a narrow well. Like a bandit she lies in wait and multiplies the unfaithful among men.” (Proverbs 23:26–28, NIV)

The call of the parent/teacher to the child/student is to “give me your heart”.  “To give the heart is to entrust it to the one who will direct it through teaching, although some affection is certainly involved.”^[1]  This is a profound statement.  As the ESV Study Bible notes: “The preface, give me your heart, guides parents in their nurturing task: their target must ever be the deepest core of the child’s inner life.”^[2]  So many times, we parents tend to ask our children “Give us your attention.  Give us your obedience.  Give us your ….. .”  The task of the parent is to seek to gain the heart of the child. 

Proverbs 4:23 (NIV), reminds us that “above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”  So Jesus could say, “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” (Luke 6:45, NIV).

Focusing on the heart enables us to change the behavior.  Dr. Tedd Trip writes,

“Parents often get sidetracked with behavior. If your goal in discipline is changed behavior, it is easy to understand why this happens. The thing that alerts you to your child's need for correction is his behavior. Behavior irritates and thus calls attention to itself. Behavior becomes your focus. You think you have corrected when you have changed unacceptable behavior to behavior you sanction and appreciate.”[3]  [I encourage you to read the entire cited article.]

But the emphasis of this proverb is less on the parental responsibility and placed on the child.  They are to give their heart to the wisdom of the Teacher.  It is their obligation. One of the reasons a child should “give their heart” to their godly parent/teacher is that the wisdom that flows out will protect them from “an adulterous woman”, a “wayward wife” and her occasion to lead the young man in “unfaithfulness”.  “The passage portrays two types of harlots: unmarried (zonah "prostitute") and married (nokriyah "wayward wife") (v.27). In either case there is danger, for their way is a "pit," the gateway to Sheol; and those who enter are as good as dead.”[4]

The wisdom that flows out to a teachable learner is a wisdom that will not fall prey to lesser gods – particularly the god of sex.  This important application toward sexual promiscuity is often the pit that young men fall into – young men; unfaithful to the wisdom they have been taught.  Immoral sexual conduct is the primary means that captures the young (men and women) leading them into the pit of sin and corruption.  It is entrapping and costly to disregard the Lord’s teaching on sexual propriety.

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^[1] Koptak, P. E. (2003). Proverbs (p. 549). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

^[2] Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 1175). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[3] http://www.familylife.com/articles/topics/parenting/foundations/spiritual-development/getting-to-the-heart-of-your-childs-behavior

[4] Expositor's Bible Commentary, The, Pradis CD-ROM:Proverbs/Exposition of Proverbs/IV. The Sayings of the Wise (22:17-24:34)/A. Thirty Precepts of the Sages (22:17-24:22), Book Version: 4.0.2

The Sayings of the Wise – Part 17

THIRTY SAYINGS OF THE WISE

SAYING NUMBER SIXTEEN

“Buy the truth and do not sell it— wisdom, instruction and insight as well. The father of a righteous child has great joy; a man who fathers a wise son rejoices in him. May your father and mother rejoice; may she who gave you birth be joyful!” (Proverbs 23:23–25, NIV)

The subject of honoring parents seems to continue. One honors their parents by honoring their teaching.   The child is wise who “buys the truth and does not sell it.”   You cannot buy truth, but you can view it as a commodity that is worth acquiring and investing in.  In other words you are prepared to give up something(s) to procure this valuable asset.  By using the word “buy” the author implies that a child that gets wisdom, etc. will find that it costs him or her.

This investment of wisdom, instruction and insight is also a commodity that should be preserved. “There are some things that ought not to be sold at any price.”^[1]  I wonder what some of us are selling wisdom for these days.  The Truth is what matters here. “Wisdom, self-discipline, and understanding are all children of the truth.”^[2]  The gaining and retention of Truth is the life that pleases God and brings great joy to godly parents.

There is also an implicit parental responsibility in this passage.  “A man who fathers a wise son rejoices in him.”  This Hebrew verb, “to father” is from the word יָלַד, לֵדָה [yaw·lad/]^[3].  It means to bear, to be born, to deliver, to labor.  It’s a word that actually relates to childbirth.  Fathers are to “father” their children.  Paradoxically the verb used here might rightly refer to a mother laboring, bringing forth a child, birthing.  The father is to exert the same.  Such a father will rejoice at the outcome.

Listen to Paul as he agonizes over the spiritual condition of the Galatian believers.  “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,” (Galatians 4:19, NIV).  The Greek word that Paul employs is ὠδίνω [o·dee·no/]^[4].  Again it is a verb that refers to feeling the pain of childbirth.  In this case the labor of Paul was to see Truth personified, i.e., the Lord Jesus Christ “formed in them”.  “This word (Gr morphoō) means to give outward expression to one’s inward nature. Paul wants Christ to be seen in the lives of the Galatians. A living Christ on the inside will manifest Himself on the outside (Gal 2:20; Rom 8:29).”^[5]

What joy it is to mothers and fathers who each and together labor earnestly to see their children embrace the Truth and allow the personage of the Lord Jesus Christ visibly reveal Himself in and through them.  This is a righteous child!    To all who have godly parents:

May your father and mother rejoice; may she who gave you birth be joyful!

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^[1] Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 1241). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

^[2] Ibid,

^[3] Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship.

^[4] Ibid,

^[5] Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 2393). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

The Sayings of the Wise – Part 16

THIRTY SAYINGS OF THE WISE

SAYING NUMBER FIFTEEN

“Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.” (Proverbs 23:22, NIV)

Immediately the Bible believer will think of the admonition to children found in the Ten Commandments: ““Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12, NIV).   This is cited several times in the Gospels (Matt. 15:4; 19:19; Mark 7:10; 10:19; & Luke 18:20) and notably in Ephesians 6:2 (NIV), “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise—.”

“The word ‘honor’ means to treat someone with the proper respect due to the person and their role.”^[1]  Notably this is the only promise that carries with it a promise of God’s favor[2].   Indeed the child is warned that “the eye that mocks a father, that scorns an aged mother, will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley, will be eaten by the vultures” (Proverbs 30:17, NIV).

What is implied and often overlooked in this passage is that the child is to listen to their parents (“listen” as paralleled with “do not despise”) to their mother who is now aged.  This implies that the child is also an adult.  Our culture assumes that once a child leaves home and once they are of an age of responsibility that God no longer places such familial obligation on them.  No so! 

Matthew Henry offers good advice here:

“When the mother was grown old we may suppose the children to be grown up; but let them not think themselves past being taught, even by her, but rather respect her the more for the multitude of her years and the wisdom which they teach. Scornful and insolent young men will make a jest, it may be, of the good advice of an aged mother, and think themselves not concerned to heed what an old woman says; but such will have a great deal to answer for another day, not only as having set at nought good counsel, but as having slighted and grieved a good mother.” ^[3]  

Rather than absent oneself from listening to parents when children get older, they should be all the more concerned about heeding the good advice of their fathers and mothers.  Their parents have grown and learned as they have progressed in life, also!

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^[1] Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 176). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[2] “This did not merely mean a long life, but one that experienced God’s presence and favor: that it may go well with you.” - Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 340). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

^[3] Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 1007). Peabody: Hendrickson.

The Grace in the Genealogy of the Godly Seed

I started to read 1 and 2 Chronicles in my personal reading plan, today.  Reading genealogies is somewhat like reading a phone book.   “First and Second Chronicles, originally one book, was written sometime after Judah began to return from the Babylonian exile in 538 B.C.”^[1]  “First Chronicles was probably written to reassure the returned exiles of God’s faithfulness toward his people.”^[2]

“The Hebrew title of the work, Dibre Hayyamim, is derived from 1 Chronicles 27:24 and may be translated ‘the events of the years’ or ‘annals.’”^[3] “The central theme of Chronicles is the significance of the Davidic covenant as the enduring basis of Israel’s life and hope.”^[4]

1 Chronicles starts this way: “The descendants of Adam were Seth, Enosh,” (1 Chronicles 1:1, NLT).  This is the beginning of the story of redemption. “God promises victory over Satan by the offspring of the woman (Gen. 3:15) and of Abraham (Gen. 17:7) . . . The line of chosen offspring goes from Adam through Seth and Noah (1 Chron. 1:4) to Abraham (vv. 27–28), Isaac (v. 34), and Israel (v. 34; 2:1), earlier called Jacob (Gen. 32:27–28). It will culminate in Christ (Matt. 1:1–16; Gal. 3:16).”^[5]

This chosen seed, the promised offspring of Genesis 3:15 can be listed this way:

• The seed of the woman (Eve)  (Genesis 3:15; 4:25)
• The seed of Abraham  (Genesis 12:2-3; 15:1-6, etc.)
• The seed of Isaac (Genesis 21:12, etc.)  
• The seed of Jacob  (Genesis 25:23, etc.) 
• The seed of Judah  (Genesis 49:8-10) 
• Seed of David  (2 Samuel 7:12-16) 
• Seed of a virgin  (Isaiah 7:14) 

Satan has always sought to destroy this Seed (e.g., “. . .  I saw a large red dragon . . .  He stood in front of the woman as she was about to give birth, ready to devour her baby as soon as it was born. She gave birth to a son who was to rule all nations with an iron rod . . .” (Revelation 12:3–5, NLT).

The Good News for all of us today is that “. . . all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith” (Galatians 3:9, NLT); and “Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith” (Galatians 3:14, NLT).

  

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^[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (1 Ch). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

^[2] Ibid.

^[3] Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 697). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

^[4] Ibid.

^[5] Ibid.