Wednesday Bible Study: A Deep Dig Into Proverbs VIII

Although I probably could mine the shaft of Proverbs 1 for yet more treasure, I am at last moving on to chapter 2, where we see what an apt metaphor I have just used.  Outside of a rather lengthy explanation of what goes into 'the evil man' and 'the forbidden women', chapter two breaks neatly into 3 sections of 3s.  The first explains how to seek the benefits of wisdom, the second, what God does about your seeking, and the third is the benefits you can get from it.  In the chapter, it is written 'vertically'; by that I mean that the writer gives you one of those sections at a time.  I want to present them to you horizontally- going to the first part of each set, then the second, and so on, so that you can see beyond the words to the point being made.

The firsts

Pro 2:1  My son, if you will receive my words, and treasure up my commandments with you, 
Pro 2:2  so that you attend to wisdom, you shall extend your heart to understanding. 

Pro 2:6  For Jehovah gives wisdom; out of His mouth are knowledge and understanding. 

Pro 2:7  He lays up sound wisdom for the upright; 

Pro 2:10  When wisdom enters into your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul, 

So we start with vv 1-2, how to obtain.  And here you obtain by "receiving and treasuring up."  A lot of the description of the simple and the fool is that they either have not or will not receive instruction.  To gain what God wants to give, you start by listening with an open ear.  But more, you have to keep what you hear like a treasure; you have to hear, and it has to stick.

If you do, then God will open the stores of His Wisdom TO you.  This is why debating atheists is a sad thing; they will all say, "I've read your Bible and all I get out of it is blah blah blah", because the door was never approached with openness and the thought of finding value, so it was never opened.

The benefit comes from the change of heart; unlike the simple and the fool, seeking God becomes a pleasant thing.  You want to do it all the more.

The seconds

Pro 2:3  For if you cry for discernment, lifting up your voice for understanding; 

Pro 2:7  ....He is a shield to the ones who walk in integrity, 

Pro 2:11  discretion shall keep you, understanding shall watch over you, 

Look at vv 2-3; this is a command to PRAYER.  You have to come in prayer before seeking if you want to learn.  Tell God you WANT to know more.

The earnestness of seeking God, the prayerful change of attitude, they will combine to build integrity within you.  That change in life, in heart, will be protected by God.

And as you learn, WHAT you learn will speak to you in every situation; it will pop up when your old ways challenge you, and be your guide.

The thirds

Pro 2:4  if you seek her as silver, and search for her as hidden treasures, 

Pro 2:5  then you shall understand the fear of Jehovah and find knowledge of God. 

Pro 2:8  to guard the paths of judgment, and He protects the way of His saints. 

Pro 2:12  to deliver you from the evil way, from the man who speaks perverse things, 

Pro 2:16  these will deliver you from the strange woman, from the foreigner who flatters with her words, 

As you seek, you have to treat what you seek as not just 'trivial pursuit', or seeking some magic formula;  your attitude must be that of what you seek has EXTREME VALUE.  "Yeah, I'd like to know the Bible better so God will like me" just doesn't cut it, if you really want the treasure house opened to you.

At this point, God begins to protect your judgment; it becomes less and less easy for others to get you turned off the path.  It strikes me here that a safe can be valuable in protecting your costly possessions, but only if you PUT THEM INSIDE IT.  Otherwise, it's just another box.

The benefit is obvious- you will be delivered from those who seek to harm you through deception and seduction.  Because, you will have cultivated  the other benefits- judgment, integrity, discernment, and all the rest.

And the pathway to it all is as simple as listening, praying, and valuing.