Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Introduction

Introduction

Making decisions is hard, especially when there are a lot of potential options.

The Venezuelan ice cream shop, Heladería Coromoto, boasts of having 860 different flavors.

And all of a sudden Baskin Robbins 31 flavors seems to fall short.

I struggle trying to pick which bag of M&M’s I’m going to choose from the Dollar General.

I love the classic milk chocolate, but some of those bags mix caramel, mint, peanuts . . .

It’s simply too much!

Our decisions in life can often feel that way as well.

When we are confronted with decisions a little more serious than whether you’re going to get double stuffed or mint oreo’s, we tend to feel the weight and anxiety of multiple options.

One of the really helpful realities in the book of Proverbs is that it never gives you more than two options.

The challenge though is that one decision leads to life and blessing and the other leads to destruction and death.

Yikes!

You better be careful with those decisions.

presents the reader with a father and a son.

The father, longing to rear a godly son, instructs him in the way of wisdom.

These first nine chapters inform the son of two possible paths that he may take: one is the way of wisdom and the other is the way of folly.

He must take an initial step; and that step must be in the right direction or he will find himself on a permanent path away from his goal.

The step that must first be taken is to obtain a fear of the Lord.

“Before we even start to take hold of wisdom we must recognize the one who has control of our lives and approach Him in faith and reverence.”[1]

“For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding” ( ESV).

Authors.

Although we are able to read the entire book of Proverbs as one complete unit, this has not always been the case.

This book is a collection of writings from a number of men.

With that said, it is clear that the majority of the book is either written by or offered by Solomon.

The first line of Proverbs reads, “The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel” ( ESV).

The first section, which consists of the first 9 chapters of the book, is written in the format of wisdom poems.

These are different than the short pithy statements many of us think of when we think of a proverb.

These instead present wisdom teaching as a fully developed poem.

The second section of Solomon’s collection begins in chapter 10, ends at the end of chapter 24, and takes on the more familiar format of short concise proverbial statements.

Most of these seem to find their origin in Solomon, although there are a few collections of “sayings of the wise” that Solomon includes in this section (starting in 22:17 and 24:23).

Hezekiah’s scribes.

Starting in chapter 25, “these also are proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied” ( ESV).

Similar to the preceding proverbs, these are individual proverbs organized into small collections.

Lemuel and Agur.

The last two chapters of the book of Proverbs were written by Agur, son of Jakeh, and King Lemuel concerning what his mother taught him.

Genre of Proverbs.

The book of Proverbs is included in a broad genre of wisdom literature.

It is true that Israel’s wisdom literature is one of many collections of wisdom literature, but we approach it with the confidence that it has a unique divine author, that being God.

There are a few dynamics present within wisdom literature that will be helpful for us to consider as we meditate on Proverbs.

(1) Wisdom literature deals with the black and white (wisdom vs. foolishness).

There are never three options for a decision offered in Proverbs.

You either follow wisdom or folly.

You are either wise or a scoffer.

You either love wisdom or you hate wisdom.

You either receive life or you receive destruction.

It is this type of writing that leads us to understand that (2) wisdom literature approaches each decision as if it were the last.

You may at times feel like the book of proverbs doesn’t seem to offer much grace or hope to those who make a bad decision.

We, unlike the proverbs, tend to caution others with potentiality instead of certainty.

“If you follow this course of action you could end up being destroyed.”

On the other hand, Proverbs presents consequences as certain.

“If you follow this course of action you will be destroyed.”

The proverbs don’t allow you to underestimate the potential danger in any decision.

No decision is light.

Every decision could be your last, so make it carefully.

(3) Choices determine character which determine consequences.[2]

This reality can be clearly seen in chapters 1 through 9 in which the Father shares two potential paths with his son.

If the naïve son chooses to follow after the rebellious characters in chapter one or the foolish but tempting woman of chapter 7, he will become a proud individual who scoffs at the truth and is destroyed.

On the other hand, if he follows after lady wisdom displayed in the second half of chapter 1 and chapter 8, he will become wise and will possess life.

Purpose Statement: Wisdom is acquired by fearing God.

Too often we foolishly fear man instead of God.

We must fear God alone.

“The righteous/wise way of life begins by fearing God, that is, recognizing his superiority, and responding in awe, humility, worship, love, trust, and obedience to God.” [3]

As we fear God we will attain Wisdom.

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” ().

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom” ().

It is these two verses which make up the inclusio of ‘fearing Yahweh’ in chapters one through nine.

The focus of such fear is towards God.

Is this not a rather obvious statement?

What is the alternative?

Fear of man.

We may clearly know that we should be driven by a fear of God and yet every day we are tempted to succumb to a fear of man - what man might think of me, what man might do to me, what man might take away from me.

Too often our decisions are directed by the fear of man.

“The person who fears God will fear nothing else.”[4]

“If everything in the universe is dependent upon Yahweh, the sovereign creator, then nothing should be interpreted independently from him.”

[5] “[I]t is consequently impossible to obtain an understanding of man’s place in the design and purpose of living without a humble approach to Him.”[6]

The first appearance of such fear is seen in , and the end of this section is as well bookmarked by the same theme.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” ( ESV).

Therefore, it is vital that all those seeking wisdom first fear the Lord.

Fear of God may be the dread of disappointing and disobeying God.

“To fear the Lord does not mean to live in terror of the Lord, but neither is the phrase to be weakened by any lip service about awe or reverence that does not bring the heart into total submission to God.” [7] It is true that we ought to stand in terror at the wrath of God, if we stand there as an unbeliever.

The apostle John writes, “whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” ( ESV).

Paul as well writes, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth” ( ESV).

It is also true that a believer does not need to stand in terror of God’s wrath.

begins with “whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.”

It is only then that he goes on to talk about those who do not believe in the Son.

And once again, Paul adds, “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God” ( ESV).

But there is still a healthy fear of God due to the fact that we realize the Lord disciplines his children.

“For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives” ( ESV).

Fear of God is characterized by awe and reverence for Him.

The motivation for fearing God is similar in all people.

As someone learns a truth concerning God, it affects them, but the manner in which it affects them is dependent on their position with God.

For instance, if a believer and an unbeliever hear and understand that God is righteous, they are both going to fear God.

Their fear, though, is going to be expressed very differently.

The unbeliever will stand in terror of God’s righteousness as he realizes his own unrighteousness.

A believer will worship God due to his knowledge that he possesses the righteousness of God found in Christ.

They both fear, but their fear is exhibited dramatically different.

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The phrase, “fear of God” is the theme for the book of Proverbs.

It is not only used in and 9:10 but as well in twelve other verses.