Tag: Proverbs 1

In the Spirit – OR – in the Flesh

Old Testament: 2 Samuel 12

Poetry: Proverbs 1

New Testament: Galatians 5:24-26

In 2 Samuel 12 we read all about how King David is rebuked for his sinful ways and the real consequences he would suffer as a result of his sin. 

9 Why have you despised the word of the Lord by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. 10 Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 11 Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. 

Proverbs 1:31 from today’s reading gives us a sobering reminder of what happens when we choose to be ruled by the flesh rather than by the Spirit.


“So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way

And be satiated with their own devices. (NASB 1995)

If we want to avoid disastrous consequences brought on by sin, Galatians 5 gives us some sound advice:

24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. 

Proverbs 1:7 further instructs us on how to live wisely:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;

Fools despise wisdom and instruction. (NASB 1995)

The Bible is full of examples from which we can learn. Sometimes I read the story of David and think how on earth could he do those things, but then I quickly remember that saying, “As soon as you point a finger at someone, you have four fingers pointing right back at you.” God’s word is a mirror for our hearts. If we are left to our own devices and follow the ways of our flesh, disastrous consequences inevitably ensue. We must make a conscious choice to live and walk by the Spirit. The good news is that we are not irredeemable if we have been led astray by our flesh at one point. The story wasn’t over for David and it doesn’t have to be over for us. We can make that choice to reconcile with God and we can be assured by the parables of the prodigal son and the lost sheep that He will welcome us with open arms. Your story is not over while you still have breath. If you’ve walked away from God, please know His heart yearns for you to return to Him and He will welcome you back with loving arms. The choice is up to you.

Romans 8:37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Did you notice that nothing can cause God not to love us? God forgave King David and He can certainly forgive you.

-Kristy Cisneros

Reflection Questions

  1. What consequences for sin have you experienced or are you still experiencing? What would you recommend to someone (including yourself) contemplating the sin which brought the consequences?
  2. What role did Nathan play in 2 Samuel 12? Who sent him to David and why? As uncomfortable as it may seem, is there someone God wants to send you to?
  3. Living by the flesh or living by the Spirit – what are the pros and cons of each? Which will win in your life?
  4. What does reconciliation with God look like in your life? What blessings did David receive after his sin and reconciliation? What blessings have you received after sin and reconciliation? How would you describe God’s love?
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The Beginning of Knowledge

Old Testament: 1 & 2 Samuel Intro Below

Poetry: Proverbs 1

New Testament: Luke 20

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”  (Proverbs 1:7) This seems like such a simple verse, and yet how I misunderstood it for so long as I didn’t think of the LORD as the Father alone. It’s so important to first fear and love the LORD/YHVH, and yet so many believe in a twisted version like I did.  I recently read the golden calf incident to our grandkids and was reminded that they called the golden calf, YHVH! And as the rest of the verse says, “fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Many don’t want to be corrected for being wrong, I know I sure didn’t want to be at first. ☹ Fearing YHVH is just the BEGINNING of knowledge! We should continually be willing to learn wisdom and gain instruction no matter our age. “Fools hate knowledge.” (1:22)

“Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but they will not find me because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD.” (1:28,29)

We must continue to choose to fear the LORD and not despise knowledge.  I am encouraged in reading the Scriptures how it helps us by continually pointing us in the right direction. 

Jesus’s goal was to fear the LORD. The chief priests and scribes sought to destroy him. “They watched him and even sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on his words, in order to deliver him to the power and the authority of the governor.”  (Luke 20:20) 

Jesus walked about in the streets of Jerusalem and here I am some years ago doing just that. All of our 5 children were born in Israel, four in Jerusalem and our first in Bethlehem (like Ruth’s first;).

“They could not catch him in his words in the presence of the people.” (Luke 20:26) “He taught the way of God in truth.” (20:21) Such fear of God he had, giving us an example and thus providing wisdom and instruction. How can we fear God more in our daily lives? And be more open for wisdom and instruction?

-Stephanie Schlegel

Reflection Questions

  1. How can we fear God more in our daily lives? And be more open for wisdom and instruction?
  2. In Jesus’ example and in his teaching how did he display and teach fearing God?
  3. In order to have a proper fear of the LORD we need to have an understanding of who He is, what He does, what He desires so we don’t end up calling something the LORD/YHVH that isn’t. What do we learn about God in today’s passages? Why is the Bible the perfect place to find out who He is? What else is the Bible useful for?

1st & 2nd Samuel Introduction

The books of First and Second Samuel are named after the man Samuel – the last judge of Israel (1 Samuel 7:15), a prophet (1 Samuel 9:9), priest (1 Samuel 3:1), and kingmaker (1 Samuel 10:1; 1Samuel 16:13).  Samuel oversaw the transition from Israel’s being ruled by Judges to it’s being ruled by a king.  As a prophet, priest, and ruler, the man Samuel was a foreshadowing of Christ. 

We don’t know who wrote the books of First and Second Samuel.  But whoever wrote them clearly had inside information about Samuel, and Kings Saul and David, since the books record such detailed information about each, including what they were thinking, in addition to what they did and said.

From the time of Moses until Samuel, Israel was a theocracy – a nation ruled by God.  1 Samuel 8 details Israel’s rejection of God as king, when they wanted a king to lead them “like all the other nations have” (1 Samuel 8:5).  God let them go their sinful way by telling Samuel in 1 Samuel 8:7, “…Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.”  God then led Samuel to anoint Saul as King.  He was tall and strong – impressive from any human standpoint, and was just the type of king the people wanted.  Unfortunately, he didn’t follow God wholeheartedly.

It wasn’t that God didn’t want Israel to have a king, it was just that the timing wasn’t right.  God eventually directed Samuel to Jesse’s family to anoint the next king to replace Saul.  1 Samuel 16:6-7 records, “When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, ‘Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.’ But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’”  God then directed Samuel to anoint David, a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14), to be the next king over Israel.

Some of the more familiar passages in 1 & 2 Samuel include:

1 Samuel 3 – God calling Samuel

1 Samuel 17 – David and Goliath

1 Samuel 28 – Saul and the Witch of Endor

2 Samuel 7 – God’s promise to establish an eternal dynasty for David

2 Samuel 11 – David and Bathsheba

2 Samuel 15 – Absalom’s conspiracy

2 Samuel 22 – David’s song of praise

Even though David wasn’t sinless (e.g. David and Bathsheba), he was called a man after God’s own heart because he put God first and sought to live for God.  I challenge you to live your life like David, who was able to say in 2 Samuel 22:21-25, “The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me. For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I am not guilty of turning from my God. All his laws are before me; I have not turned away from his decrees.  I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin. The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in his sight.”

-Steve Mattison

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He Creates. He Destroys.

Fear the Lord.

Proverbs 1

Saturday, July 16, 2022 

                “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,  but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Proverbs 1:7)

                The Hebrew word yir-aw can be translated fear, terror, reverence, respect, piety.  We are to fear, be in terror of, reverence, respect, show piety to God.

            But God doesn’t really want us to fear Him, does he?  Isn’t God all about love and grace and mercy and forgiveness?  Why should we fear God?

            Jesus knew God, his heavenly father better than any human being has ever known God, and here is what Jesus had to say: “Never be afraid of those who can kill the body but are powerless to kill the soul! Far better to stand in awe of the one who has the power to destroy body and soul in the fires of destruction!” (Matthew 10:28 JB Phillips translation of New Testament).  That’s what Jesus said about his own Dad.  Ever heard of the, “My dad can beat up your dad” game?  Jesus says, “Wise up people, my Dad can throw you into the lake of fire where you will be completely destroyed forever.”

            Of course God want us to love him.  God longs to have a loving personal relationship with all of His children.  God loves us so much that he allowed his perfect and sinless son to endure the betrayal and beatings and crucifixion and agonizing death on the cross so that we might have salvation and not be cast into the lake of fire which consumes all those who reject God’s grace and mercy through Christ.  God’s love is 100.  If you need a reminder of this go back to Thursday’s reading “His love/mercy/faithfulness endures forever.”  That’s where God wants every single one of us to end up, fully surrendered to His divine love for us.

            But not everyone is there yet.  In order to fully love God we need to know God.  God is powerful beyond words.  God speaks the word and trillions of galaxies are birthed.  Stars with planets swirling about them.  God speaks the word and living things come into being, plants, birds, fish, mammals.  God scoops up a pile of mud and blows into it and a human person is created.  God rolls back a stone and sends forth his spirit and the dead Jesus comes to life everlasting.  That same powerful God speaks a word and a star explodes.  That same powerful God speaks a word and the earth shakes, volcanos erupt, powerful winds swirl and destroy all that is in their path.

            When God was leading the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt they were terrified to go near the mountain where God came down to speak to them.  After Moses was in God’s presence receiving the ten commandments his face was glowing and the people were afraid to come near Moses because he had been near God.

            To truly Love God we must know God, and to know God means to recognize his unimaginable power to both create and destroy.  In Jude 7 Jesus’ younger brother writes: “ Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.”  Yes, our loving God, who so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son (John 3:16) is the same God who completely destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of their sexual immorality and perversion.  I’m not making this stuff up, it’s there in the Bible.

            I love God, but it took some time to get there.  Before I could truly love God I had to know who God is and I had to understand that God, who is capable of such great love, is also capable of destroying those who rebel against him and his word.  Fear and Love are not mutually exclusive.

            A great old hymn by Isaac Watts begins:

“Before Jehovah’s aweful throne,

ye nations, bow with sacred joy;

know that the Lord is God alone:

he can create, and he destroy.”

To know God is to know that he can both create and destroy.  To know God is to know that he is capable of incredible acts of love and mercy, and the power to destroy those who reject his love.

I like a lot of modern worship music, and yet, I think too much modern worship focuses only on God’s love and mercy and grace, grace, grace.    Maybe some of the old hymns need to be dusted off and revisited.  We need to be reminded that “he can create and he can destroy” because the “fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom” and God knows our world is running way short of wisdom these days.

Isaac Watts hymn started with God’s aweful throne and a reminder that he can create and destroy, but it ended with God’s love:

Wide as the world is thy command,

vast as eternity thy love;

firm as a rock thy truth must stand,

when rolling years shall cease to move.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but it ends with Love for those who embrace all of who God is.

-Jeff Fletcher

Reflection Questions:

1.        What is your favorite Love passage of the Bible?

2.       What passage in the Bible really scares you?

3.       How can you hold these two polarities in your mind?

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