Wednesday Bible Study- a deep dig into Proverbs 1

So I thought a good subject to continue on would be a deeper dig at some of the sections of Proverbs.  And I'm going to start with the beginning, and a section that pretty much defines what I try to do here.  A section that, not surprisingly, ends with its beginning:

Pro 1:1  The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel: 
Pro 1:2  To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight, 
Pro 1:3  to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity; 
Pro 1:4  to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth-- 
Pro 1:5  Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance, 
Pro 1:6  to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles. 
Pro 1:7  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. 

Now I am sure we will address more fully that last "beginning"- especially what constitutes a fool- as we go on.  For now, I want to concentrate on vv 2-6, because the way I read it, it has a set of goals (2-4), and a set of ways to go about it (5 and 6).  So let me start by dissecting the goals.

"To know wisdom and instruction"

This is essentially the goal of looking at a whole thing, the good and the bad.  The word "Wisdom" in the concordance is tagged with the parenthetical "in a good sense"; the word "instruction" comes from "Chastisement".  You have to learn from both of these, and that is a theme throughout Proverbs- remembering that you learn from bad as well as good.

"To understand words of insight"

I like the KJV here, "to perceive the words of understanding".  It breaks down to the ability to mentally separate the elements of a thing considered.  See God is trying to teach us to CONSIDER things more deeply than we usually do.  These first two COULD be boiled down to, "training yourself to hear more than just what you WANT to hear".

To receive instruction in wise dealing, righteousness, justice, and equity"

So there are four things it should be our goal to seek out.  And remember, we said the word for "instruction" is "chastisement", so we are essentially weighing our considerations of a subject based on:

Wise dealing:  "To make or be circumspect, and THUS intelligent" is how the concordance puts it.  Like I've mentioned along the way, this involves not making up your mind about a thing before studying it.

Righteousness: Looking for the true moral right of a thing.

Justice: This refers to a whole process of hearing a cause, gathering evidence, and sound judgment based on facts.

Equity: Basically, "the straight way".

To give prudence to the simple

As I looked at the concordance meanings, I realized our last two were going to be two ways of doing the same thing- getting on that straight way.  One part is for those who are just starting out in life; the first is for those who are already adult and want to transition from the Biblical "fool" to wise.  Basically you can turn this one into the goal of making the naive think.

Knowledge and discretion to the youth

Here we are looking at "youth" as any point from babyhood through adolescence, so this is about teaching.  A few Sundays back, I mentioned Dr David Jeremiah saying, the first thing you need to combat sin is a structure going into it, and this is exactly what this means.  The words for "knowledge and discretion" boil down to having a stratagem and a plan.  A stratagem for learning, a plan of action, so that in any event, you can maintain the straight path.


How do we do that?  VV 5-6 give us a "structure" for that...

Let the wise hear

That means that the chapters you read, the sermons you hear, can't just be "flyover territory" for your mind.  You have to apply all this "mental separation" to them, and not be afraid of the parts that sting.

and increase in learning

Study.  Apply.  Meditate.  Make it sink in.  Let it build.

and the one who understands obtain guidance

KJV turns guidance into wise counsel, and both get concord-ized into "proper steerage".  You need to follow mentors who can show you how to apply your new-found knowledge.

to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles

This is actually understanding four different things here.  One at a time:

A proverb:
Amazingly to me, the word proverb essentially breaks down into something you use to rule your mind, your understanding.  So, get a grasp on the rules of God, and HIS logic.

A saying:
KJV turns "and a saying" into "and the interpretation".  In other words, like in everything else, it is important to understand the "why" of a rule and not just the "what".

The words of the wise: 
Honestly, here is where I get hung up the most in this process: Struggling with the wisdom of those who have been at it longer and more prayerfully than myself.  That kind of humility is needed to get to the point of "accepting chastisement", or hearing what is being said and not what I want to hear.

And their riddles:
This word breaks down to the idea of a tied knot that must be untied.  And that is what wisdom is to the beginner- a tied knot that must be untied.


Which is what we have done here.  And it all starts with "The fear of the Lord".  The first step in being truly wise that MUST be taken is to realize it comes from God.  And as we go along, we will see that God is ready to get started anytime we are.