Proverbs 1 • Introduction

proverbs chapter 1 right now proverbs chapter 1 when my youngest son was little he would refer to this as the book of problems and actually probably closer to the truth is is the the book of solution to problems maybe so let's pray thank you father for giving us time tonight to be in your word and we pray that you would minister grace to us wisdom and insight we ask it in Jesus name Amen little introduction here to the book of Proverbs if I could the Hebrew Bible has the very same name for this book it's taken after the first couple of words the Proverbs and that's usually the way the Hebrew Bible named their books after the first word or two that is actually in the text in the Hebrew term proverbs literally means a comparison and we find that throughout the book of proverbs where it'll actually compare it'll contrast you know the righteous and the wicked or something like that and you're gonna see that a lot during the book of course the term proverb more broadly came to mean any really any piece of wisdom anything that might come from a basic rule of conduct or from an observation from life or something of that nature solomon is believed to have written the Proverbs it says so at the very beginning except for three sections in this book which are referred to as the sayings of the wise will mention them when we get to them in proverbs 22 chapter 24 and then also 30 and 31 those are the sayings of the wise and it's ooh it's possible Solomon compiled those writings but it is fairly generally agreed that he did not write them just a little bit on the author Soloman just so you kind of know how old this book is Solomon reigned as king over Israel from 971 BC to 931 BC and of course most scholars believe that he wrote the majority of the Proverbs early on in his reign before his heart had been drawn away from the Lord it appears the book of Proverbs was then actually compiled about 250 years later these writings existed but they were compiled in fact when we get to the 25th chapter of Proverbs it's actually going to say these also are the Proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied and it would appear that it was at that time that they kind of made the final comp compilation of the the book and as you well know the book of Proverbs is really all about wisdom presents statements of life alcohol you know covering all facets of life and then the Book of Proverbs basically kind of lays them out there and then asks the simple question is this wisdom or is this folly you know that's the basic essence and and yet you know wisdom is always the focus it's always the goal and the reason it's the goal is because in Jewish thought wisdom means skillful living so it was obviously something the Jews sought after it was something they wanted to attain to skillful living are you a skillful liver you know is your life skilful well you know we have a different term for it today we usually refer to it in the negative sense we say he or she is making poor choices that's another way of saying they're not very skillful in their living so rather than us talking about poor choices they talked about good choices skillful living wisdom that's what the Book of Proverbs is all about and of course the perspective is God's it's his perspective it's not skillful living from man's perspective from the standpoint of you know I'm gonna work hard make money and you know and then relax for the rest of my life that might be a worldly way of living skillfully but not necessarily in the kingdom of God a couple last little points here you know you have to be careful when you're reading through the book of Proverbs to in your interpretation of this book because it's not all to be interpreted literally for example there's a verse in Proverbs 22 that says that if a man is skillful in fact the proverb actually says do you see a skill this skillful man or this man skilled in what he does it says he will serve before Kings well obviously you know that's not a literal promise from the standpoint of you know you and I being skillful and then serving before Kings it's simply a saying that tells us that skillful work or excellent work is going to be recognized and rewarded for you know what it is and and you know we should understand that kind of thing because you know we have our own proverbs that we understand aren't to be taken literally you know you've probably no doubt you've heard an apple a day keeps the doctor away well obviously it's not true but it is the essence of it is that you know if you if you eat healthfully is healthfully a word if it isn't I just made it up if you eat that way you know there you're gonna have positive benefits and and that's what that proverb is literally saying rather than you know there's a guarantee being there if you eat an apple a day and so forth so you know we we we understands that that that a proverb is something that conveys and reinforces a truth whether it's taken literally or not isn't the issue it reinforces a basic fundamental principle of truth and as we get into Chapter one of the book of Proverbs you're going to notice here there might be some headings in your your Bible it's essentially laid out two parts what you have is the first six verses which are kind of an introduction to the entire Book of Proverbs so let's go ahead and read that the first six verses and we'll kind of see how it it lays out an introduction it says verse one the Proverbs of Solomon son of David king of Israel so it begins by naming the author verse two to know wisdom and instruction to understand words of insight to receive instruction and wise dealing in righteousness justice and equity which of course is fairness and then it goes on to say to give prudence to the simple and and prudence by the way is the ability to make good choices okay prudence if you define it literally it literally means ability to soundly judge and to make determinations on that judgment that's a prudent person it's it kind of speaks of someone who has a common sense which by the way is gravely lacking in our culture today knowledge and discretion to the youth that's obviously where prudence is needed the most verse five let the wise hear an increase notice it's not just the simple and the youthful he says let also the wise hear an increase in learning and the one who understands obtain guidance as it meaning further guidance to understand a proverb and a saying the words of the wise and their riddles so you can see here that our target audience just got enlarged not just simple not just youthful but also wise even the wise can read the Proverbs study the Proverbs and learn and grow in their wisdom so it's a reminder here to never stop growing in wisdom and then verse seven lays down kind of a launching point really for all of the book of Proverbs it says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge later on we're going to find out that the fear of the Lord is the beginning also of wisdom in other words it's the starting point for obtaining knowledge wisdom whatever it is the it's the fear of the Lord what is the fear of the Lord yeah I think there's still some confusion in in some hearts and minds about this because the fear of the Lord doesn't mean being frightened of God there are people who are frightened of God but that's not what the fear of the Lord is the fear of the Lord if you're gonna look it up in like a dictionary it's going to say to have reverence for God but I don't know about you but that definition is woefully unsatisfactory to me it just doesn't satisfy me because it doesn't go deep enough yeah it does mean that but I think it means so much more I mean to acknowledge God to honor God to respect God to obey God all those are descriptions of to fear the Lord what it is to fear the Lord okay so it's it's it's a very far-reaching sort of an idea but notice the he says that this fear of the Lord this acknowledgement this honoring this respect and obedience to the Lord it's the very beginning it's the very starting point of all knowledge and this is where we begin it is how we proceed and you can't jump over it and be wise and then this verse ends with a contrast which is very typical of the Proverbs as we said before or a comparison it says fools despise wisdom and instruction and by the way the word fool as it's translated in the Hebrew or from the Hebrew describes someone who is stubborn and that means they're unwilling to listen to instruction that's what stubbornness means they're not teachable when when we refer to someone as teachable that would be the opposite it talks about somebody who lacks understanding who refuses to take in knowledge you know who's filled with their own personal pride and and because of their pride they are belligerently quarrelsome I don't know if you've ever met anybody who's like that but that's the biblical fool and it says they despise wisdom they despise instruction so this is the antithesis of what it means to fear the Lord right now as we move on here Solomon is is going to be in these next verses kind of preparing us for the actual Proverbs you know the the the the proverbs these first like nine chapters of proverbs are like preparatory I mean they give us great information but they're fairly preparatory to bring us to the place of launching into the actual proverbs that started like chapter 10 this is all to get our hearts in the right place and these next chapters and we're not going to get that far tonight but they're going to include a lot of warnings very very practical in nature and all kinds of exhortations that are laid out for us so that we might ready our hearts to understand the proverbial wisdom and so he begins with some of that preparatory information here in verse 8 when he says here my son your father's instruction and forsake not your mother's teaching for they are graceful they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck now so the first group of people that Solomon speaks to to prepare for the Proverbs to come are those who are of a youthful age but who are still under the direct supervision and instruction of their parents by the way these verses are not saying that you know you that that this is kind of an ongoing thing there's an assumption in the Word of God that there's a point where you are really kind of on an equal plane you know with your parents depending on how you end they how long you you and they live but but it you know this is speaking to those who are still under the supervision of their parents and the word here is listen to their instruction be guided you know in fact by their teaching because this is going to be good for you you know there's a point in time when we begin to flirt with adulthood I I'm not sure exactly when that is I'm still waiting to get there but I like to say I'm an adult but not really an adult we kind of begin to recognize that our parents are human beings and at that point we realize they're fallibilities their weaknesses and their challenges in life and that usually begins probably in our preteen to teenage early teenage years we you know before that your parents are kind of like they can kind of do no wrong from the standpoint of you know they're who they are but then our eyes are opened as we get older and and we begin to question and then we go through what people refer to as those rebellious years well the rebellious years which aren't necessarily mandated for a teenager are common for a teenager because we recognize we're beginning to recognize that our parents are human beings and they're fallible they're not always right we thought they were but we realized they're not and so we consider ourselves free at that point to begin to reject their counsel in fact if our peer group is influencing us enough we actually begin to believe that their counsel is not just unnecessary it's stupid we believe that right I remember believing that as a teenager my parents don't know a thing not a single thing man if they only knew how as much as I did when I was 13 you know then they'd be really smart and that is just kind of a natural progression for a teenager to begin to kind of as they grow up recognizing wow you're just like me you you really don't know what you're doing half the time do you and so we find ourselves free to reject their council reject their information the word that's given here initially to young people is do not forsake those things from your parents don't forsake them because you see it's pride in a teenager that leads them to believe they've got the life dialed in and they know what's going on and they're smart their parents are dumb and they don't need to listen to them that's pride the opposite of that is humility yes your parents for anyone you know who's young yes they are human beings yes they are fallible and yeah they don't have life dialed in but neither do you and so respect and humility would suggest very strongly that it would be wise of you to consider and be guided by their counsel he goes on in verse 10 to say my son of sinners entice you do not consent if they say come with us let us lie in wait for blood let us ambush the innocent without reason that term without reason you and I would say it this way just for the fun of it let's go do this just for the fun of it they get they go on speaking like she allure the grave let us swallow them alive and whole like those who go down to the pit we shall find all kinds of precious Goods and we'll fill our houses with plunder throw in your lot among us and we will all have one common purse that's what they say and that's the enticement Solomon says my son do not walk in the way with them hold back your foot from their paths for their feet run to evil and they make haste to shed blood for in vain is a net spread in the sight of any bird but these men lie in wait for their own blood they set an ambush for their own lives in other words as foolish as it is to set a trap for a bird in the view of the bird it is it is as just as foolish for these men to plan what they're planning because they are fools and the fact of the matter is they're ambushing their own lives and this is a warning basically aimed at the seductive comments of worldly thinking that promise excitement and wealth if we'll just come along and do it even though it's done at the expense of others but we also hear the voice of the father the persuasion of the father urging the young person to understand the danger of those worldly voices that would draw us away from the protection of our parents and into the ways of the world and then the voice of wisdom and verse 19 lays out this universal principle for his exhortation by saying in verse 19 such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain in fact he says it actually ends up taking away the life of those who run after it or possess it or whatever and and and and this is the idea those who seek the life and the livelihood of others are actually forfeiting their own life and livelihood that's the bottom line and then the last section of chapter 1 kind of personifies wisdom as one crying out for people to listen and respond listen to the voice of wisdom as it cries out it says wisdom cries aloud in the street in the markets she raises her voice at the head of the noisy streets she cries out at the entrance of the city gate she speaks first of all you'll notice that wisdom is personified here in a female term and wisdom is not only personified but wisdom is crying and the word in the Hebrew that is translated cries out literally means a ringing cry and that suggests an excited and-and-and-and passionate kind of insistence to listen in other words wisdom is constantly you know trying to get our attention saying listen up listen you know won't you won't you stop being dumb and foolish and listen to my voice and here's what she says verse 22 how long o simple ones will you love being simple how long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge do you notice in this one single verse that there are three different groups that are mentioned here we have the simple and that's the the naive person the simpleton who doesn't doesn't know and doesn't care no no don't care and then we have the scoffer who's the defiant and cynical person who loves to hear the sound of their own voice and loves to scoff this is the same thing essentially as the mocker and then finally we have the fool and the biblical term for fool always refers to somebody who is morally deficient in other words they are constantly rejecting that which is moral propriety and laughing at it rejecting it I don't need that stuff and you'll notice that all of these three descriptions have something in common did you notice that in verse 22 he says how long will you love how long will you delight did you notice that they are satisfied with their ways and they refuse to listen to the voice of wisdom and reason because they're satisfied they're satisfied with the way things are going which is one of the reasons why you know when people tell me that they're praying for somebody in their family like a child or family member or friend or whatever who is living just a foolish worldly life I was telling hey if you really wanna you know God to get their attention pray that he'd make him miserable you know pray that they would no longer be satisfied pray that they would no longer you'll love being simple or delight and scoffing you know pray that it would come back to them as something that is very distasteful very dissatisfying you know it's probably about the only way in some cases that their attention is going to be gained okay wisdom goes on to say verse 23 if you turn at my reproof and a reproof is an expression of disapproval okay so wisdom is saying if you turn around at my expression of disapproval if you listen to me and hear what I'm saying and you turn behold here's the promise from wisdom I will pour out my spirit to you I will make my words known to you so wisdom promises that insight and understanding will be given if an individual would simply respond to the warnings the expressions of disapproval because verse 24 I have called you and you refuse to listen I have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof I also will laugh at your calamity I will mock when terror strikes you when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind when distress and anguish come upon you all right pause their wisdom is saying because you've spurned my counsel my insight again and again and again I will mock or laugh at your calamity the idea here isn't that God is finding any kind of delight or joy in the tragedies that happen in people's life this is a figurative expression and it basically is wisdoms way of saying that when you come to the end and things fall apart in your life I'm not going to be there I'm not gonna be around you won't find me and that's wisdoms way of mocking the foolish and in fact wisdom goes on to say that very thing in verse 28 look with me there then you will call upon me but I will not answer see this is that figurative mocking the wisdom responds to the fool with they will seek me diligently but will not find me why because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord they would not choose to acknowledge God to respect God to honor God they would have none of my counsel and despised all of my proof therefore what are you gonna do they shall eat the fruit of their way and they have have the fill of their own devices and and this might sound cruel to you but it's not you know we even have a saying you know hey you made your bed now you got to sleep in it you ever heard that little proverb that sounds maybe a little cruel too but what we're kind of saying is you created these circumstances that you're now in so now you're forced to live in it did you think that you are gonna create these circumstances and then not have to be subject to them so we're recognizing that what a man sews he also reaps and that's what wisdom is saying in these verses he's you're gonna have to eat the fruit of your way because this is what you sought this is what you wanted this is what you ran after now that doesn't preclude the idea of forgiveness and restoration because there's always that there's not one of us in this room who has received everything that our sins deserve not one God does not treat us as our sins deserve the Bible flat-out comes out and says that what that means is we have not reaped everything that we've sown that doesn't that doesn't deny the principle of sowing and reaping it just simply says that where sin abounds grace much more abounds and there is mercy in God's kingdom and and I can specifically think about things in my life that where I denied the Lord and went contrary to the will and the word of the Lord and the Lord rescued me out of my foolishness without allowing me without causing me to walk out the full brunt of what I should have reaped from that situation I'm aware of those situations painfully aware and and I've seen it in the lives of other people I look at what they've done in the decisions they've made and I think this should go a whole lot worse for you than it really has but God is merciful he delights to show mercy right and and so what makes the difference in those people's lives well usually it's because they've repented they've cried out to God you know for forgiveness and God has relented and he has shown such incredible mercy and tenderness toward his people that he didn't bring upon them the full brunt of what they should have reaped based on what they had sown God is good right so we want to put this thing into perspective here you know but wisdom is simply saying because you have turned your back and sought your own way then your own way is what you're going to get right it's kind of like wisdom saying when all this stuff is falling apart around you I'll be standing nearby saying I was here all along and I could have saved you from all this trouble all this heartache all this loss had you just listened to me had you just opened your your heart to me and then the chapter ends with these words verse 32 for the simple are killed by their turning away look at that statement and what is it that destroys fools it's their complacency so the complacency of fools actually destroys them but here's the comparison but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease without dread of disaster those last two verses again are the meaning of the word proverb because they show a comparison the simple are killed by their turning away the complacent the complacency of fools is what destroys them but those who listen who respond to wisdom will find that their lives are secure and the dread of disaster is nowhere to be found you know if this sounds very similar to what jesus promised for those who hear his word and obey your right it is as jesus said and we've repeated several times the man who hears my word and does what it says is like a man who built his house on a foundation and even though the wind and the waves crashed against it it stood but the man who refused to listen who refused to put into practice what came from God's Word is that man whose house was destroyed completely destroyed because it built on nothing more than the ground the sand the dirt so these these strong exhortation to listen and we're gonna hear this over and over again in the The Book of Proverbs listening you know as we get into chapter 2 which we're not going to tonight the the you know he's gonna say incline your ear that's that's a poetic biblical way of saying turn to listen to the voice of the Lord you ever stop to think about your life before you really were walking with the Lord you ever stop to think about the ways that you could have saved yourself so much difficulty in heartache had you just been willing to listen to respond had you just been willing to humble yourself not be prideful not to think you knew it all but instead to learn you know that's so important isn't it so the book of Proverbs is going to remind us to do this and I think that this is really a very appropriate study for this day and age I have to be honest with you the I have to be careful how I say this because we have as a nation rejected God and rejected his word we have of course rejected the wisdom of God's Word it was it was not an overnight rejection you know when I was when I was born and in those years not that long after I grew up in a world where the Word of God was largely embraced even though people may not have been born again or really truly had faith in God I grew up in a world that embraced biblical values even though it wasn't embracing the God of the Bible largely but people still lived by biblical values you know when people got married they got married you know with the intention of staying married for life you know there was no such thing as a prenup you know which is a plan to fail it was a different world even just you know when I was a young boy because the wisdom of God's Word was still somewhat you know embraced and and followed well now we're not only living in a post-christian America or some people like to say we're living in a pre-christian America which is the positive spin on that particular thing but we're living in a time when it has been now generations since we've truly embraced the wisdom of God's Word and foolishness abounds foolishness about moral depravity abounds scoffing it's everywhere it's everywhere you know you don't have to go very far at all and all the other things that the book of Proverbs tells you and I to steer clear of they're all very prevalent in our society today so as we go through and study the book of Proverbs this is something you know that we really need to open our hearts to get back to the Lord just fill me with wisdom and and for those of you that have small kids at home what a privilege you have to teach your kids the wisdom of God and by the way teaching your kids the wisdom of God is not gonna happen about you just bringing them to church you got to teach them you got to sit him down and teach them teach him the wisdom of God then he's teach him right and wrong teach him prudence teach them understanding from from God's perspective teach them what is right what is good what is true what is holy don't rely on other people to teach them and then parents remember this too you are teaching by the way you live E when you don't open your mouth you're teaching your children what are you teaching them about marriage what are you teaching them about church what are you teaching them about the Bible what are just by how you live what are you teaching them what are you saying to them you know how are you instructing them it happens probably even more so from the way we live

Channel: Calvary Chapel Ontario

Views: 35,523

Rating: 4.8643146 out of 5

Keywords: Bible, Bible teaching, Thru-the-Bible, verse by verse, Calvary Chapel, Bible study, Christianity, New Testament, Old Testament

Id: UEnDE8KPWjM

Length: 36min 5sec (2165 seconds)

Published: Thu May 30 2019