The Lamp, Light, and Path

Proverbs 6:20-23:

20 My son, keep your father’s commandment, and forsake not your mother’s teaching.
21 Bind them on your heart always; tie them around your neck.
22 When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you.
23 For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,

Here the Biblical role of parents is reiterated and so is the idea of generational education. If we take our parent's (or those we give authority to) teachings to heart, they will lead us, keep us safe, and remind us of our path in the morning. The image of the lamp perfectly describes the process. The command is the device, the actual teaching is the light, and the daily discipline is the revealed path.

Several Things God Hates

Proverbs 6:16-19:

16 There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that 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 make haste to run to evil,
19 a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.

When God lists six things He hates and one that he strongly dislikes, it's important to take notice. Not only is the content important, but the presentation is also noteworthy. These passages create a poetic image of the wicked persons that Proverbs mentioned earlier.

Double Speak

Proverbs 6:12-15:

12 A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech,
13 winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger,
14 with perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord;
15 therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.

This isn't the first time (here and here) there has been a warning against the deception of the wicked. We've all experienced and practiced this kind of double speak. You say one thing with your words, but another with your body language. But as we've mentioned before, these kinds of actions do not go without punishment.

Wisdom from the Ant

Proverbs 6:6-11:

6 Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.
7 Without having any chief, officer, or ruler,
8 she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest.
9 How long will you lie there, 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 and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.

Sometimes God's social hierarchy can be astonishingly backward compared to ours. Here wisdom is gained not from scripture, not from our elders, but from a lowly ant. The intense work ethic of an ant is not because it is directed by some corporate boss or central government, but but because it is necessary for survival. A nap here and there although not sinful themselves, can lead to full fledged slothfulness. The result of which is poverty.

I wonder how the wealth and social safety net of the United States has impacted these verses. Perhaps they have softened the blow of slothful sin, much like epidural for painful child birth. I assume that's a good thing, but i'm not positive.

Rectifying Unwise Debt Decisions

Proverbs 6:1-5*:

1 My child, if you have put up security for a friend’s debt or agreed to guarantee the debt of a stranger—
2 if you have trapped yourself by your agreement and are caught by what you said—
3 follow my advice and save yourself, for you have placed yourself at your friend’s mercy. Now swallow your pride; go and beg to have your name erased.
4 Don’t put it off; do it now! Don’t rest until you do.
5 Save yourself like a gazelle escaping from a hunter, like a bird fleeing from a net.

So far Proverbs has discussed where to get wisdom, the spiritual benefits, and the practical benefits. Here we see a specific situation where an unwise decision is discussed. On my other blog, mostly about my personal thoughts and ideas of the world, I've discussed how I think it isn't a good idea to loan money to friends. Instead I suggest giving the money away, without any expectation of repayment. It's good to see that I wasn't too far off. Here are told that guaranteeing another's debt is not a good idea, especially when we have been called to fulfill all out financial obligations. If we have already done so, we should not be proud, but admit our mistake to our those who were involved, without hesitation.

*Normally I used the English Standard Translation, but I felt that in these specific verses The New Living Translation was more clear.

God and Santa Claus

Proverbs 5:21-23:

21 For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and he ponders all his paths.

22 The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.

23 He dies for lack of discipline, and because of his great folly he is led astray.

Here we are reminded that God is all seeing. Not in the way Santa Claus is, comparing you to the other children between Thanksgiving and Christmas. God holds us to the standard of perfection, anything less is beneath him. Luckily he is willing to live the life we were supposed to live, in form of Jesus. Like Santa, God's desire for our purity is for our benefit. Sinning is not freedom, it's slavery. It's not life, it's death. And of course, by following him, we get a pretty sweet gift.

Committed and Infatuated

Proverbs 5:11-20:

15 Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well.
16 Should your springs be scattered abroad, streams of water in the streets?
17 Let them be for yourself alone, and not for strangers with you.
18 Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth,
19 lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love.
20 Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?

Continuing the theme of marital faithfulness from this chapter, the warning of infidelity is strong. Conservative Christians, myself included, can sometimes be guilty of taking the romance out of Biblical marriage. Commitment to your spouse, although included in these verses, is paralleled with the enjoyment of your spouse. Infatuation it seems, is not to avoided, just appropriately directed to our partner.

Regretting Regret

Proverbs 5:11-14:

11 and at the end of your life you groan, when your flesh and body are consumed,
12 and you say, "How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof!
13 I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors.
14 I am at the brink of utter ruin in the assembled congregation."

Something we are all familiar with is regret. There is a gap between what we are and what we want to be. That sinking feeling in your stomach when you realize things haven't panned out as planned is one of the worst feelings. Luckily how to avoid this is described: listen and follow the words of those we trust. If there isn't anyone you can submit to their rebuke when (not if) needed, find one.

High Price of Immorality

Proverbs 5:1-6:

7 And now, O 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 lest you give your honor to others and your years to the merciless,
10 lest strangers take their fill of your strength, and your labors go to the house of a foreigner,

Not only is it wise to be weary of being influenced by those in complete insubordination to God, but in some instances the temptation is so strong we shouldn't even be in the neighborhood. It could cost us our honor, our life, or our money.

Temptation's Letdown

Proverbs 5:1-6:

1 My son, be attentive to my wisdom; incline your ear to my understanding,
2 that you may keep discretion, and your lips may guard knowledge.
3 For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil,
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 follow the path to Sheol;
6 she does not ponder the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it.

In a culture inundated by sex, the temptation of lust is all too familiar. Attractive women are used to sell everything from jeans to hamburgers, all with the promise of satisfaction. That satisfaction will not come. What seemed like a refreshing drink will in reality leave you feeling sour. And it is not only the sinful man that misunderstands what path with bring him joy. Often the tempters are wardering thoughtlessly into their own destruction.