Proverbs Sermon
Pastor spoke to us last week about knowledge, wisdom & understanding. She used the example of the Woman at the Well to illustrate how we can transition from one to another. And how we need all three. That got me to thinking about the knowledge the Samaritan woman had. You will remember that she was able to tell Jesus about the coming Messiah. Did you ever wonder how she knew that?
When we think of Samaritans we think of non-Jews, foreigners so to speak. But in fact Samaritans can trace their lineage back to the tribe of Ephraim. History tells us that most of their people were led off into captivity and that those who remained to tend the fields intermarried with locals. Some grew to worship local gods and others remained faithful. After the exile Samaritans were not allowed to help rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem; their fellow Jews referred them as half-breeds and not true Jews.
You will remember too that when the Exiles returned, Ezra told the Jews who had stayed behind to work the land that they had to divorce their foreign wives and abandon their children. Many would not do this. So in desperation they constructed their own place of worship at Shechem and called it Bethel, or the house of the Lord.
So it should come as no surprise to us that the woman at the well had understanding of the coming Messiah. The cool part about that for me is that all she had was the Torah, or the first 5 books of the Bible to get that knowledge from. But as Pastor said last week, it took an encounter with Jesus to turn that knowledge & understanding into Wisdom.
If you were to study the writing styles in the Bible you would discover that the individual books fall into categories. I mentioned one earlier – the Torah or the Pentateuch is the name for the first five books of the bible.
Another classification we’ve looked at quite a bit this year is Minor Prophets – small books written by prophets.
Major Prophets would be large books written by prophets. This morning we’ll be looking into a new class Wisdom Literature. The wisdom literature of the Old Testament consists of 3 books - Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes, and a few of the psalms (Psalm 1; 19; 37; 49; 104; 107; 112; 119; 127; 128; 133; 147; 148).
Wisdom Literature was a very common in the ancient world.
Wisdom Literature takes 2 forms: practical and speculative.
· Practical wisdom consists mainly of wise sayings, mostly commonsense insights and observation that lead to a successful and happy life.
o The Book of Proverbs is a good example of practical wisdom;
§ it encourages the pursuit of wisdom and the practices of strict discipline, hard work,
and high moral standards as the way to happiness and success.
· Speculative wisdom goes beyond commonsense to the philosophical looking for deeper meaning. It asks questions like what is my purpose? why is there evil in the world?
o The Book of Job seeks to explain the ways of God to humankind.
o And although the Book of Ecclesiastes also contains rules for living, it has a skeptical and pessimistic tone, - “All is meaningless”
o The wisdom psalms struggle with the problem of evil and sin in the world.
This morning we’ll be looking at the Book of Proverbs
What do we know about proverbs?
Most of them are written by Solomon
· 22:17–24:34 predate Solomon
· Chapter 30 are the words of Agur
· Chapter 31 the words of Lemuel
· The book as we know it was complied by Hezekiah (about 200 years later)
1 Kings 4:32 tells us that Solomon wrote 3000 proverbs.
· The Book of Proverbs contains 513 of them in 31 chapters one for each day of the month
Before I go any further, let me challenge you starting May 1st to read 1 proverb a day.
Why? Turn to Proverbs 1
2 for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight; 3 for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair;
4 for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young—
Proverbs may be divided into 3 categories
· Man’s relationship to God
Drop down to verse 7
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
· Man’s relationship to Himself
Back up to verse 7
5 let the wise listen and add to their learning,
and let the discerning get guidance—
· Man’s relationship to Others
Flip over to Proverbs 3
My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart,
2 for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity.
Wow, in 9 verses we have seen that we can prosper if we apply the wisdom found in Proverbs to our lives. I think that’s worth 31 days of study, don’t you?
The average length of a proverb is 30 lines. You can read 30 lines a day, can’t you?
Sure you can, but I want us to do more than read, I want us to gain knowledge and understanding so we can apply wisdom. How do we do that? By looking with expectation.
Remember when you were in school and the teacher would say, The test will be on Chapter 9. You’d go home and read Chapter 9 looking for things that would probably be on the test.
It’s the same way with our May reading program. When you read a Proverb each day, look for answers for the areas of testing you or your loved ones are facing.
Let me give you some insight on what you may find.
Proverbs 1-7 all begin with what words?
My son
These are the words of a parent to his child.
Anyone here have children or grandchildren? Have you ever given them advice? Have you ever been in a situation where you wish you had just the right words to say to them? Your answer may be in one of these Psalms.
Proverbs 1
10 My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them.
Sinners are people who don’t have a relationship with God. Are all your children’s friends saved?
11 If they say, “Come along with us;
They here is peer pressure. Are any of your kids or grandkids dealing with peer pressure?
Proverbs 3
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.
We all know someone who thinks they know it all, who has an opinion about everything, who doesn’t need to read the Bible…
Read the next verse,
8 This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.
Fear of the Lord brings health to your body.
Just a thought… Think about Mr. Know-it-all is he physically, emotionally, psychologically healthy? We know spiritually he is sick.
What other treasures can you gain by fearing the Lord? Anyone have trouble sleeping?
Proverbs 3:24
24 when you lie down, you will not be afraid;
when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
How can that be? Because you will:
25 Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked,
26 for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared.
Any one have a child or grandchild with low self esteem? Any one in need of a promotion at work?
Proverbs 4:8, We are talking about Wisdom, what you will gain when you apply what you have learned in reading the Proverbs 1 each day in the month of May
8 Esteem her, and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honor you.
9 She will set a garland of grace on your head and present you with a crown of splendor.”
Wisdom will cause you to succeed. Wisdom will exalt you. When you win a prize, how does that make you feel? When you child gets an A or passes a difficult test, doesn’t that boost their self-esteem?
Proverbs 5, 2/2 of 6, 7
We know that Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. A man with that many women must know something about keeping them happy and suffering the consequences of not. Proverbs is full of advice about what does and what doesn’t contribute to a good marriage.
Anyone have unmarried children? Proverbs can really help them get through the dating stage and know what to look for in a godly mate.
Proverbs 6
Has anyone ever asked you to loan them money? And not paid it back? Have you ever borrowed money from someone? Did you pay it back with interest?
6 1 My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge for another, 2 if you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth,
3 then do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands: Go and humble yourself; press your plea with your neighbor! 4 Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids.
Wisdom says, Don’t do it! Don’t borrow money. And if you feel you have to, then get a second job to pay off the debt. It says, don’t co-sign someone else’s loan unless you are prepared to pay the whole thing. Don’t loan money with the intent of making a profit. And if you do loan someone money, do it with the conviction in your heart that it was a gift. Don’t lord it over their heads. If you ever see your money again, than consider it a bonus.
Beginning with Proverbs 10 thru Proverbs 22:16, you will see 375 of Solomon’s individual proverbs. They are in no particular order. Occasionally you may see a recurring theme.
The word “proverb” means “to be like”
· Proverbs 10-15 are mostly contrast– 2 lines depicting opposites
o Wisdom is contrasted with folly
o Life is contrasted with death
o The diligent are contrasted with the sluggard (lazy)
· Proverbs 16-22:16 are mostly comparisons
o A nagging woman is like a clanging gong
o There is a friend that sticks closer than a brother
I mentioned earlier that Solomon didn’t write all the Proverbs. 22:17-24:34. These 77 proverbs are different in style one, two or three verses each as opposed to the one verse in 2 lines we just looked at. These were written by wise men who predate Solomon.
They expand on the theme of wisdom for focusing on proper behavior for instance, Proverbs 23
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has strife? Who has complaints?
Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
30 Those who linger over wine,
who go to sample bowls of mixed wine.
31 Do not gaze at wine when it is red,
when it sparkles in the cup,
when it goes down smoothly!
32 In the end it bites like a snake
and poisons like a viper.
33 Your eyes will see strange sights
and your mind imagine confusing things.
34 You will be like one sleeping on the high seas,
Lying on top of the rigging.
35 “They hit me,” you will say, “but I’m not hurt!
They beat me, but I don’t feel it!
When will I wake up
so I can find another drink?”
Proverbs 25-29:27 contain another 137 Proverbs of Solomon. When you read them you will see David’s influence on Solomon: In these verses there are references to Kings, the royal court, judges and judgments.
And in 27 you will see the language of the man who wrote the 23rd Psalm. Go there,
Proverbs 27:23
23 Be sure you know the condition of your flocks,
give careful attention to your herds;
24 for riches do not endure forever,
and a crown is not secure for all generations.
25 When the hay is removed and new growth appears
and the grass from the hills is gathered in,
26 the lambs will provide you with clothing,
and the goats with the price of a field.
27 You will have plenty of goats’ milk
to feed you and your family
and to nourish your servant girls.
Proverbs 30 was written by Agur. It is unlike the rest of the Proverbs in many ways.
The 1st line tells us that he was a prophet and that he had students
The sayings of Agur son of Jakeh—an oracle:
This man declared to Ithiel, to Ithiel and to Ucal:
Then Agur does a very wise thing, he admits he doesn’t know it all
2 “I am the most ignorant of men;
I do not have a man’s understanding.
3 I have not learned wisdom,
nor have I knowledge of the Holy One.
But he does know that wisdom comes from knowledge of God
Now if you jump down to verse 5, Agur quotes someone else (Any idea who?)
5 “Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. (2 Sam 22:31)
6 Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar. (Psalms 18:30)
(Agur was quoting David.)
Then in verses 7-9, Agur does something new in Proverbs,
he prays:
7 “Two things I ask of you, O Lord;
do not refuse me before I die:
8 Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.
The rest of this Proverb looks like the Proverbs 22-24 with long or multiple verses used to describe a thought.
32 “If you have played the fool and exalted yourself,
or if you have planned evil,
clap your hand over your mouth!
33 For as churning the milk produces butter,
and as twisting the nose produces blood,
so stirring up anger produces strife.”
And finally, The Proverb we are most familiar with is Proverbs 31. The first verse tells us that the author is King Lemuel. Jewish tradition says that the author is actually Solomon. The first part of the Proverb are a mother’s advise to her son the king. Who was Solomon’s mother? Bathsheba, her husband was a great King. He unified the 12 tribes into one nation. She had seen his highs and lows and was qualified to give him advice.
The remainder of the Psalm describes a wife of noble character. Again remember Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Leave it to his mother, to tell him what he should be looking for.