Proverbs 7 is a warning to young men and women about the dangers of sexual desires when they are not pursued properly within God’s intended design, which is within the covenant of marriage. It is written from the viewpoint of a father warning his son about not being enticed by women and drawn away after them. There is an assumption in the text that the young man is marriage, and the warning is about being lured into an adulterous affair with a woman who is not his wife, referred to as the “strange” or “foreign” woman because she is “strange” or “foreign” to his covenant of marriage—she is an outsider.
While this extended speech in Proverbs 7 is aimed at marriage faithfulness and loyalty, its application extends beyond that. Faithfulness and loyalty are not necessary in just a marriage relationship, they are necessary in any relationship, whether it is a family relationship, friendship, or even professional relationship. Anyone will quickly come to learn the importance of faithfulness and loyalty if they betray a relationship and break that bond of trust and commitment. In a family, privileges might be taken away from you. In a friendship, the other person may not confide in you any longer. In a professional relationship, you might lose responsibility, or worse, lose your job entirely.
In Proverbs 7:1-4, the father is telling his son to hold on to his teaching and instruction. The metaphor that he uses is to “bind” them on your fingers,” and “write them on the tablet of your heart.” Furthermore, the son is to treat Wisdom as like a sibling—someone who is part of your family. The purpose for this figurative language is to reinforce the attitude that the son is supposed to have toward Wisdom and living with the fear of Yahweh. Not only that, but the admonition of the father is to also build desire for Wisdom. And the explicit purpose is “in order to keep you from the strange woman, from the foreign woman who flatters with her words” (v. 5).
I think that having a heart that desires Wisdom is vitally important for young people to develop. The world is filled with foolishness, especially in regard to sexuality. It implicitly condones a “do whatever feels good” mindset that is completely opposed to God’s intended way for humans to view sex and to enjoy it. But if a young person doesn’t listen to Wisdom, but follows the ways of the world and allows themselves to be enticed and led astray into sexual passions, they will inevitably suffer and learn the hard way that the world’s way of living is not what produces healthy, loving relationships that lead to the life-long commitment of marriage where sex is intended to be fully explored and enjoyed as God designed for it to be.
-Jerry Wierwille
Reflection Questions
What dangers are warned of in Proverbs 7?
What are some examples of worldly foolishness in the area of sexuality? Why are these problems?
How can you increase your faithfulness and loyalty?
The story of David and Bathsheba is probably familiar to most of us. King David, described elsewhere as a “man after God’s own heart”, had a little too much time on his hands while his army was away fighting. One evening, he got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of his palace; and from his roof, he saw a beautiful woman taking a bath. I’m reminded of 1 Corinthians 10:12, “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!”
You might be tempted to stop right there and ask what this beautiful woman was doing taking a bath in public. Wasn’t she inviting unwanted attention? Presumably, she was in her own fenced backyard, and nobody could see her unless someone was on the roof of the palace next door – and who would be walking around on a roof? Regardless, she isn’t the real topic of the story, David is.
The fact remains that David took a long look at her. David lusted after her. David violated one of the 10 commandments: “Don’t covet your neighbor’s wife…”. Lust is a trap, especially for men – even for a “man after God’s own heart”. David should have stopped right there, confessed, and asked God for forgiveness. Instead, he asked one of his servants who she was. He was definitely showing too much interest.
Once he found out that she was the wife of Uriah, one of his bodyguards, and the granddaughter of Ahithophel, his chief advisor, he certainly should have walked away. But she was gorgeous, so instead, he invited her over and slept with her. David violated another of the 10 commandments: “Don’t commit adultery” – and the punishment for this one was supposed to be death.
When David found out that Bathsheba was pregnant, he recalled her husband from the battle so he could go home – to try to hide the fact that David was the father. But Uriah didn’t cooperate; he didn’t go home. Ultimately, David then schemed to have Uriah put on the front line of the battle, and have everyone else withdraw, so Uriah was killed. And so he violated another of the 10 commandments: “Don’t kill”.
David seemed to successfully hide all of this until after the son was born. But God sent Nathan, the prophet, to confront David. Nathan told David that God was going to discipline David, according to his sins.
David wrote Psalm 51 after Nathan confronted him about his adultery with Bathsheba. In this psalm, we find in verse 1, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion, blot out my transgressions.” In verses 11-12, “Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your Salvation…” David’s heart was broken, he confessed, and was reconciled to God.
The discipline came a little later. During Absalom’s rebellion, Absalom slept with 10 of David’s concubines in public; David’s daughter Tamar was raped by her half brother Amnon; four of David’s sons died: this baby, Amnon, Absolam, and Adonijah; and David had problems for the rest of his life. God forgave David’s sins, but David still had to live with the consequences of his sins.
God’s discipline isn’t punishment handed out by an angry God bent on vengeance, it’s difficulty allowed by a loving Father who wants to see his children develop godly character. Otherwise, it would be too easy to just accept and live with sin, and God loves us too much to let that happen without a fight.
This brings us to our application for us today.
Do you consider yourself to be Godly? If so, “If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” If you don’t consider yourself to be Godly, what do you think your long-term future (eternity) looks like? Isn’t today the best time to solve that problem?
Look at the progression in David’s life. A glance, lust, adultery, then murder. Are there places in your own life where you are at that “glance” stage? The “lust” stage? Further down the path (to destruction)? Wherever you find yourself, don’t continue down the path of sin. Turn around.
Was David’s wild fling worth it? Absolutely not! Is the pleasure of your sins worth it? It never is! I’m reminded of Hebrews 11:25-26, where we’re told that Moses “chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time… because he was looking ahead to his reward.” Are you strong enough to forgo “the pleasures of sin for a short time” and instead look ahead to your reward? If not, ask God to help you.
And when you do sin, don’t just try to hide it. Remember 1 John 1:9, where God promises, “If we confess our sins, he [God] is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” It was only after David’s confession that he was reconciled with God. The same is true for us.
You may be tempted in similar ways as David, or you may be tempted in other ways, but you will be tempted. 1 Corinthians 10:13 reminds us, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”
-Steve Mattison
Questions for Reflection and Discussion
In your own experience, have you ever observed (or are currently in) the downward spiral of sin where one sin leads to another? Where would have been the best place to stop? How? How do you turn around now – look at David’s example (Psalm 51 is a beautiful place to start).
To avoid the painful and long lasting consequences of sin in your own life how can you build your resolve to forego the “pleasures of sin” which last a short time? What can you do now to help yourself stand strong when you are tempted? What can you do when you are right in the the middle of a strong temptation? How can you help others stand firm against their temptations?
Like David, sometimes we need our sin pointed out to us before we reach a point of confession. Read 2 Samuel 12. Have you ever needed a Nathan to help you see your own sin? Pray to see your own sin clearly. Then confess it. Have you thanked those who have helped you see your sin. Then, as David said in Psalm 51 – with a pure heart he could, “Then…teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you.”
This chapter can be broken into two sections. The first section is about how we deal with situations where we owe something to someone. Some of you may be thinking that you don’t owe anything to anyone, and you have not offered a security for what someone else owes, so this doesn’t apply to you. That is good, but remember it is unlikely you will go through life without owing anything, so be prepared.
So, how do we deal with owing someone? Verses 3 and 4 say:
So do this, my son, to free yourself,
since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands:
Go—to the point of exhaustion—
and give your neighbor no rest! 4 Allow no sleep to your eyes,
no slumber to your eyelids.
We need to work hard to free ourselves. We need to repay what we owe as quickly as possible. We also need to repay this through honest measures. Verses 16-19 talk about this:
There are six things the Lord hates,
seven that are detestable to him: 17 haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood, 18 a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil, 19 a false witness who pours out lies
and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.
These verses by themselves are good wisdom, but don’t seem to have anything to do with owing someone. However, in the context of working hard to repay what we owe, it could be tempting to scheme, or cheat our way out of what we owe. Doing this would cause us to do at least one of the things God hates. So, when we owe anything, we need to take responsibility for it , and work hard and honestly to pay it back as quickly as possible.
The chapter then transitions to talking about adultery. This seems to be an abrupt transition to me, and I thought about that for a while. Then, I thought of the 10 commandments, and specifically Exodus 20:17:
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
So, both parts of this really come back to wanting what we don’t have. We borrow to get what we don’t have, and adultery comes from wanting what we don’t have.
Acting on either of these will cause us trouble, but the problems caused by adultery will be much greater. Verses 30-33 show this:
People do not despise a thief if he steals
to satisfy his hunger when he is starving. 31 Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold,
though it costs him all the wealth of his house. 32 But a man who commits adultery has no sense;
whoever does so destroys himself. 33 Blows and disgrace are his lot,
and his shame will never be wiped away.
I think the chapter really shows the perils of not being content with what we have. We can be content with everything we have in live because God is always with us as stated in Hebrews 13:5:
5 Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,”
There are many things that man has come up with that God really didn’t create us to do. The Pharisees loved to bring the complicated subjects up to Jesus and see what he said. They were always comparing his teachings to the teachings of Moses. So the Pharisees go to Jesus and start discussing divorce. Jesus says for them to go ahead and tell him what Moses commanded. They say that Moses said it was okay “to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.” Jesus admits that this is true, but reminds them that the Hebrews Moses was dealing with were a rebellious and ungrateful people. This was not the best way. In the beginning God wanted man and woman to “become one flesh” and stay that way. In Mark 10:9 Jesus says “What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”
Jesus’ disciples wanted to make absolutely sure that they understood Jesus on this subject. So later they bring it up again. In verses 11 and 12 Jesus says, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.” They knew without a doubt that adultery is wrong. It’s one of the ten commandments. “You shall not commit adultery.” Exodus 20:14
We might ask “Why is this so?” Ultimately we have to trust that God knows what is best and wants what’s best for us. We can look at divorce in our society and see some of the ramifications of it and see for ourselves that it’s hard on families. Does God want us to be happy? Without a doubt, YES! Read Psalm 37:3-5 God wants to give us the desires of our hearts. We need to trust Him, be committed to Him and His ways, and do good. Our Father will take care of the rest.
Hello, Everyone! I hope your week has gone well; can you believe it is Friday already?!
Today’s passage is Proverbs, chapter 5. This chapter is about one topic, and this topic is a piece of wisdom in itself. Again, thank you for joining us today, and I encourage you to go ahead a read this chapter on your own as well.
Proverbs 5, is full of warnings; warnings against disobeying, warnings about temptation, warnings about not realizing the good of what you have already been given.
The beginning of chapter five, tells us to listen and heed the wisdom being given. Verses 1-3 “My son, pay attention to my wisdom, turn your ear to my words of insight, that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge. For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil.” This specific example speaks about giving in to adultery, however, it can be applied to any temptation we have. At any point in your life, someone might not have your best interest in mind, and they are only seeking to please themselves, and they might drag them down with you if you let them. This is later depicted in verses 11-14: “At the end of your life, you will groan, when your flesh and body are spent. You will say, ‘How I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction! I would not obey my teachers or turn my ear to my instructors. And I was soon in serious trouble in the assembly of God’s people.” The person who gave in to their temptation later realize their mistake, and they regret that they did not listen to what many were trying to tell them.
The end of this chapter reads, “Why, my son be intoxicated with another man’s wife? Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman? For your ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all your paths. The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them; the cords of their sins hold them fast. For lack of discipline, they will die, led astray by their own great folly.” Proverbs 5:20-23
While these verses specifically talk about adultery, it can be applied to many other temptations in our lives. Why would we envy something someone else has when we have our own house, or our own life, our own family, our own job? God gives us what we need, and sometimes what we want, especially if both align with his will for us. Our God is an awesome God, who loves us so much, that he sent his only son to die for us, that we might live with him, forever. He knows our every need, he knows our every desire, and he likes to give gifts to those who are faithful.
We should not give in to temptations set in front of us because God can and does give us so much more. We should listen to the wisdom our elders, parents, friends, and peers give us because so often God has placed them in our lives to be a part of our journey.
Thank you for reading today, and I hope you have a great rest of your day and a great weekend. Don’t forget to memorize the verse this week, Proverbs 3:5-6. & Check in with us tomorrow for the last post this week.
Seek Grow Love 