Wednesday Bible Study: A Deep Dig Into Proverbs XVII

In many ways, Proverbs is the same lesson repeated through many examples.  And as I look at the back part of chapter six, we have a similar set up again.  The writer starts out with a structure for the lessons he and his wife have tried to impart onto the child; then follows with the dark reflection if the child refuses.  Here again, he also stretches the description of the adulterous woman.  Rather than dig through the structure again, I want to dig a nugget we might otherwise miss in this story.

The verses 24-35 all focus on the evil woman- except for two verses in the dead center:

Pro 6:30  People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry, 
Pro 6:31  but if he is caught, he will pay sevenfold; he will give all the goods of his house. 

So this would seem a contrast between sins; thievery for motive is a lesser sin than adultery.  But, that isn't the point being made- the point is about sin's consequences.  Need can drive sin.  Or desire can drive sin.  Does the man who commits from 'need' get a free ride?  No, he pays far worse than he took.  But over and over, Solomon shows the difference of when desire is the driver...

Pro 6:29  So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife; none who touches her will go unpunished. 

Pro 6:32  He who commits adultery lacks sense; he who does it destroys himself. 

Pro 6:33  He will get wounds and dishonor, and his disgrace will not be wiped away. 

I guess what I see most here is that, needs we can't control, though we can control our reactions to them.  But desire can control us, and it is the opposite of the lesson Solomon is teaching.  There is one verse that I struggled with at first, but because of the way it was translated.  The clearest reading is from the LITV:

Pro 6:26  For on account of a woman, a harlot, a man comes to the last loaf of bread, and another man's wife hunts for the precious soul. 

Some translations make it sound like the harlot only costs a loaf of bread, but that's not what it means.  Otherwise, you'd have guys thinking that the Bible allows them to go out and ask, "What can I get for a crescent roll?"  No, this verse again splits desire into two parts- the desires that seem to 'harm nobody but me', and the desire that can screw up whole strings of lives.  One might cost him everything on this earth; but the deeper desire drags you into the forbidden, the more it is your soul that comes into question.  And there comes a point that desire will drag you so deep, there's no coming back:

Pro 6:34  For jealousy makes a man furious, and he will not spare when he takes revenge. 

Pro 6:35  He will accept no compensation; he will refuse though you multiply gifts. 

Fallen women apparently was a great way for Solomon to make the point to Rehoboam.  But I think it is also a metaphor for the progression of sin;  First, need excuses it.  Then desire rationalizes that it is of no consequence.  Before you know it, a point of no return is reached.  How do you get off this path?  Well, there we go back to the beginning of this section:

Pro 6:20  My son, keep your father's commandment, and forsake not your mother's teaching. 

Pro 6:21  Bind them on your heart always; tie them around your neck. 

Pro 6:22  When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you. 

Pro 6:23  For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life, 

Pro 6:24  to preserve you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress. 

As David Jeremiah said earlier the week I write this, the Word consists of two parts- the written Word and the Living Word.  One is the Bible, which you take into your heart; but the Living part is Jesus THROUGH the Bible, and it comes out of you like an ornament worn around the neck.  Being the same outside and inside, fear of the Lord hand in hand with Wisdom.  One is the Lamp (the commandment, the written Word), which does no good unless it is lit (the teaching, the Living Word), which then shows you the way.  If you do this, God gives you three guarantees:

-as you live life, working and doing, it will become your principles and LEAD you;

-when you are at leisure, it will WATCH OVER you, keeping you from sin and hopefully temptation;

-and when you begin the day anew, it will SPEAK to you- lessons you've taken to heart will come to mind as needed.

So then, the question is, do you wear the ornaments of Wisdom, or get distracted and destroyed by the ornaments of sin?