Straightforward

Greetings everyone. Let’s turn to Proverbs 22:13. Proverbs 22:13 says:

13 The slothful man says, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.

In other words, a lazy, indolent, ne’er–do–well individual always finds excuses not to get busy, not to go to work, not to carry out their responsibilities, not to labor in order to bring in food and clothing and the needs of the home or the needs of their lives, and they come up with ridiculous excuses instead of valid reasons. And here is an example:

13 The slothful man says, There is a lion without,—

“I can’t go out of the house and go to work today, there’s a lion in the streets.”

And of course we know that lions are not in the streets. They’re in zoos or they’re in animal parks. That’s only a rare occasion that you would ever find a lion in the street. But what this proverb does, it just shows how ludicrous the excuses are of a lazy person not to get up and get going and go to work. They’ll come up with excuses that are tantamount to saying, “There’s a lion in the street.” They might say, “Oh well, I might get in a car wreck,” or “Oh well, I might pick up a disease or some germs,” or “Well, somebody might get mad at me,” or you know, “I might not be able to do the job,” etc. Dumb, inexcusable reasons for not carrying on with responsibility and with work and with the things of life that we all have to carry on with in order to make it through life.

So there’s an example of someone who is slothful and who wants to stay slothful and who will stay slothful because it doesn’t come down to being slothful for any valid reason. It comes down to being slothful and lazy and indolent and a ne’er–do–well individual because that’s what they like to be. That’s the comfort level they have reached. That’s where they want to be. They want to be slothful. It’s comfortable. And in order to stay slothful or lazy, they can justify it by saying such ridiculous things as, “Well, there’s a lion out there. I may be eaten alive by a lion. I’ll be slain in the streets.” And of course it doesn’t stand up to any measure of scrutiny when those kinds of excuses are given for being lazy. Not in God’s eyes and not in the eyes of a thinking individual.

14 The mouth of a strange woman is a deep pit:—

A better translation is: An immoral woman.

14 —he that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein.

We can’t be taken in by temptation of other people, be it a woman or a man. Lust and wrong desires will lead us in that direction, and all it’s doing is leading us over the edge, into the bottomless pit, into a crevice or a trap or a canyon or a deep pit. The results are disaster and horrible and no amount of little fleeting sensual pleasure is worth giving up your health, giving up your family, giving up your reputation, and giving up your life to such an act and to such a person.

14 —he that is abhorred of the Lord—

In other words, he that has turned his back on God and therefore is punished by God—someone who doesn’t serve God and worship God and obey God, someone that God is angry with because of wrong actions or wrong attitude—God will not keep them from such a woman. God will not guide them around such an individual. God will not protect him from such a trap because they’re not walking with God. So He leaves them on their own, and therefore then they end up falling into the pit.

But someone who’s walking with God and who’s pleasing in God’s eyes, He will guide them around such a situation and such an individual. And so that’s what we want to do—make sure that on a day by day basis, we’re praying and studying and walking with God and we can avoid such pitfalls as Proverbs 22:14 is mentioning.

15 Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child;—

It’s just that way. Human nature is there, and so as sweet and kind and cuddly and wonderful and interesting as children are, there’s also some foolishness, some rebellion, and some unpleasant actions and attitudes that’ll be there as well. And so what do we do about that? Well, it takes diligence. It takes patience. Sometimes it can get rather exasperating, this matter of rearing children. It takes endurance.

But, you know, if you really try to do it the right way and with God’s help and you get counsel and guidance, and especially from God’s word, and you proceed with love and patience and determination, you will succeed in training children and they will turn out to be beautiful, wonderful, successful, happy, healthy, respectful, obedient young men and women, and later on adults that are wonderful and successful.

But it does take courage, and it does take diligence, and it does take determination, and it does take stamina, and we have to be consistent. In fact, one of the most important principles in child–rearing is consistency. Not sending mixed signals. Not saying one thing one day and reversing ourselves the next day. Although if we’re wrong, of course, we have to get that squared around. But as a pattern, we must be consistent and we must be steady and stable and dependable and predictable in the eyes of our children so they know where the parameters are, they know where we’re coming from, they know where we expect them to go. And those parameters have to be godly parameters.

And sometimes it’s going to involve, this matter of child–rearing, sometimes it’s going to involve correction. And sometimes it could involve rather strong correction in order to drive this attitude of rebellion and foolishness out from the little girl or the little boy or the young girl or the young boy that just won’t listen to instruction and won’t listen to direction and won’t listen to anything else.

But when that takes place, that type of correction, there should never be injury, there should never be abuse, there should never be kicking and pinching and pulling hair and shaking and thumping ears or any kind of action like that. It should be done in love, and it should be done in firmness. But this type of correction should be done in a way that you make the point with the child without in any way, shape, or form breaking their spirit or harming their body. That would never be acceptable to God if that happened, and that is never consistent with true Christianity.

16 He that oppresses the poor to increase his riches, and he that gives to the rich, shall surely come to want.

It’s not logical. It’s incongruous. You never want to succeed or get ahead or acquire wealth on the backs of others, and yet that happens all the time. It doesn’t go unnoticed in God’s eyes because He does not like that, this matter of bullying people and taking advantage of others, no matter who they might be, including the poor. And yet people do that in order to get rich. I mean, there’s slave labor going on all over the world today. And as a result of that slave labor, there are a few at the top that are getting filthy rich. Well, that’s disgusting, and it’s especially disgusting in God’s eyes.

16 —and he that gives to the rich,—

Why give to the rich when they already have more than they can use? That usually turns out to be a bribe, but it certainly is not going to be profitable for you or the rich. They don’t need that. And so the result of that kind of contradictory action will lead to poverty on the part of the one who engages in that. That’s not wise to do that or to follow either course of action mentioned in verse 16.

17 Bow down your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart unto my knowledge.

That’s what God wants us to do. He wants us to seek knowledge, to seek understanding, to cry out for it, to desire wisdom passionately. And if we do, He will give us wisdom, He will give us understanding, He will give us knowledge. But if we’re casual and careless about it, and we could care less, or we kind of give it a lick and a promise, we’re not going to really acquire true understanding and a depth of knowledge and an amount of wisdom that we need and that would be good throughout our lives. So we have to feel passionate about it. We have to have an intense desire, and we have to apply ourselves, to sweat and toil and dig and push and seek it, and then knowledge will be given to us.

18 For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you; they shall withal be fitted in your lips.

In other words, to acquire knowledge and not to apply it is what? It’s vanity. To acquire knowledge and then to forget it is what? It’s a waste of time. So when we seek knowledge, we then must apply it. And as we apply it, we won’t forget it, and that’s what is profitable. And verse 18 says:

18 —they shall withal be fitted in your lips.

Or fixed upon your lips. They will be solidified in your mind and they will be permanent in terms of the way you talk—these points and these nuggets and these principles of knowledge that come as a result of wanting that kind of knowledge, digging for that kind of knowledge, looking for that kind of knowledge from the ultimate source, God and Jesus Christ and the word of God, and then applying it and using it and sharing it with others. That’s how we will not forget that knowledge.

19 That your trust may be in the Lord, I have made known to you this day, even to you.

That’s where we must place our trust. We have confidence in others based on their reputation and patterns, and we can have confidence that comes from God and the things we can do, but ultimate, total, unqualified and undiluted trust—100% trust, trust that is not in any way, shape or form watered down—can only be placed in God Himself because only He is perfect. And that’s where we have to place our total unqualified, undiluted trust. We must place it in God and only in God because He’s perfect, He’s God and we can always count on Him. He will never make a mistake. He will never let us down. He will never disappoint us.

19 That your trust may be in the Lord, I have made known to you this day, even to you.

20 Have not I written to you excellent things in counsels and knowledge,

This is Solomon talking, but God is inspiring him to say this, so this doesn’t come from Solomon. It comes from God. So in essence, Solomon is representing God when he says these things about, “Listen, I’ve given you excellent things in counsel and knowledge. I’ve given you understanding and wisdom. So now what are you going to do with it? Are you going to appreciate it? Are you going to take notice of it? Are you going to inculcate it into your innermost being? Are you going to live by it? Are you going to practice it? Are you going to share it with others? That’s why I gave it to you.”

Notice verse 21:

21 That I might make you know the certainty of the words of truth;

It’s all about truth. It’s all about truth. That’s different to opinions. That’s different to even educated opinions. That’s different to dogmatic, powerfully stated, and loud opinions because all of those things still add up to one thing: They’re just opinions. They’re just what other people think. We want something more than that, if we’re really trying to live life the right way and if we’re really planning for the future and moving out in the right direction toward our ultimate goal. We want the truth, and where is the truth?

The source of truth is God’s word. The word of God is the foundation of knowledge—true knowledge. And this book right here, this Bible, and this book of Proverbs in this Bible, is where we’ll find truth. And that’s what we’ve been going through here as we go through this book. We’ve been studying the words of truth, these words that are inspired of God, the source of truth. And so He says I’ve given you these things

21 That I might make you know the certainty of the words of truth;

You can absolutely stake your life on truth. Truth is certain.

21 —that you might answer the words of truth to them that send unto you?

Or that send you. In other words, your answers are going to be truth. You’re going to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. You’re not going to lie, and neither will I. And you’re going to base your thinking and your decisions and your words and actions on truth, on God’s word because that’s what stands up through time. That will never fail you. That will never wane and disappear and wind down. Truth is always there. As they say, “It has legs.” It has wings. It floats, it runs, it flies, and can’t be done away with.

And so that’s what God wants us to do. Spend energy, spend time, spend effort on seeking, searching for, finding and solidifying and engraining and indelibly stamping into our very character and being and mind—truth. And so then our life is based on truth, and flows and thrives and develops from the foundation of truth, and that’s what these words are for. So we will know the truth and we will pass it on to others freely because we’ve received it freely. Verse 22:

22 Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate:

Some people pick on disadvantaged people. They take advantage of the poor. They love kicking him around and beating them up and snatching things from them. Well, God condemns that, and He said, “You better not do that, you better not rob anybody and you certainly better not rob the poor just because he’s poor. What else does he have after you take that from him? That’s going to come back on anybody who does that.”

And people who break into houses and take advantage of people, on elderly people, and snatch purses and pick pockets and abscond with money and come up with schemes, and con artists who practice their wares on unsuspecting people—that’s all going to come back on them in crushing terms. And corporate thieves that maneuver and move funds around and come up with all kinds of tricks and shenanigans and techniques to drain off funds from others that’s not theirs—it’s just robbery. It’s just stealing. It’s just breaking the eighth commandment, which says, “You shall not steal.” That’s oppressing others and the penalty is going to be tremendous. Don’t

22 —oppress the afflicted in the gate:

In the place of government, in the place of decision making, you have a chance to extend mercy if there is remorse. And certainly if there’s genuine repentance, then that’s the time to extend mercy. That’s not the time to kick them while they’re down. That is not a godly attitude or action.

23 For the Lord will plead their cause,—

See, what He says here. If you do that to the poor and if you do that to the afflicted, here’s who you are up against. You’re up against the great Eternal Almighty God. There won’t be a lawyer there pleading their cause. There won’t be an advocate there speaking for them. The Lord Himself will plead their cause, and He will get involved and He will take charge of the situation and you will have to answer to Him. And that’s not a healthy, good position to be in.

23 For the Lord will plead their cause, and spoil the soul—

or plunder the soul

23 —of those that—

Plundered them. That’s what will happen. And God is the one who’ll see to it that justice is done. “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” God says in other places in the Bible. So therefore we don’t want to be conducting our lives in a way to where we end up face to face with God and fighting Him. We’ll lose every time and we’ll lose big. So we’re to love our neighbor, not mistreat and take advantage of them.

24 Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man you shall not go:

25 Lest you learn his ways, and get a snare to your soul.

People who can’t keep their emotions in control. People who spout off and vent and spin out of control. They get mad and start wreaking damage and violence, and hurting other people and hurting property and hurting things. And they get furious and they don’t even know what they’re doing, they’re so enraged.

And sometimes that can open their minds and emotions up to even being demon–influenced. Better not be around people like that. Better not spend time with men or women who go into that state of mind because if you do, you know, you can be guilty by association by being with them when they do all these horrible things. You can be accused of being a part of it because you were there. And most of all, the admonition is, if you stay around them, you can begin to kind of pick up on what they’re doing and you can begin to be infected and polluted and influenced by their attitudes and actions. And you can start to slip over into having those same attitudes and actions, and suffering the same consequences they do, which is very, very painful and powerful.

So He says here, God through Solomon says, “Don’t make a friendship with an angry man”—someone who’s known for having a temper—and with a furious man or woman, don’t go around with them.

25 Lest you learn his ways, and get a snare to your soul.

26 Be not thou one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts.

We’ve covered this before. Once again, repetition is the greatest form of emphasis, and God does repeat things so that we do get the point. He says, “You better be careful about cosigning. You better be careful about taking a pledge to be good on somebody else’s debt or be good on somebody else’s contract because you can end up in trouble yourself.” But it’s really not a smart idea. That’s what verse 26 is telling us and verse 27 tells us why.

26 Be not thou one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts.

27 If you have nothing to pay, why should he take away your bed from under you?

As we’ve already said, you cosign for somebody, you better be prepared to pay the debt, buy the house, and pay for the car or lose everything you’ve got including, as it says here in verse 27, your own bed.

See, that’s not smart. That’s not smart for them, that’s not smart for you. So why go down that road? That’s the consideration that we ought to ask God to help us understand and see. We have to be careful about those things.

28 Remove not the ancient landmark, which your fathers have set.

Of course, this is done all the time. The way God wants it done is: We respect another person’s property. And, you know, you start removing landmarks, then confusion sets in, and legalities start entering the picture, and litigious actions start being taken. So it’s just respecting other people’s property, respecting the boundaries, respecting the land of other people or the property of other people.

And don’t remove the spiritual landmarks either. Respect the trunk of the tree doctrines. Respect the clearly established truths from God’s word. Don’t start tinkering with that and watering that down and changing that and tailoring that and fixing that where it fits your ideas. But rather bring your ideas to fit the truth, not twist the truth to fit your ideas.

This verse here, verse 28, has spiritual as well as physical implications. Uphold the foundation. Uphold the trunk of the tree doctrines. Recognize the order and organization of a community or of a person’s property and don’t encroach and don’t move the fence row, but abide by the property line. And when there are landmarks, traditions in a community that tie one generation in with another generation, don’t just bulldoze that over in order to build some kind of strip mall. But keep that landmark which ties one generation in with another, and that historical point or that historical property, so that the roots and the foundation can go deep and can lend stability and steadiness to a community, to a family, and frankly, to an institution.

29 You see a man—

a woman, an individual, that’s

29 —diligent in their business? They shall stand before kings; they will not stand before mean men.

A better translation of verse 29 is this: Seest thou a man who excels in his work? He shall stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure or unknown men.

It’s a wonderful verse. If we just go ahead and day by day do our jobs, and improve in our jobs and educate ourselves to do even a better job, and we’re dependable and we can be counted on, and we turn out good work, and we admit our mistakes and correct our mistakes, and we just keep on growing and moving forward, that’s going to take us to good places and we’re going to end up having wonderful things come our way because a producer is a producer is a producer. And when a wonderful worker, or a wonderful individual, diligently carries out their responsibilities, fruit is going to be born, it’s going to be noticed, it’s going to be rewarded, most of all, from the King, Jesus Christ and God the Father. But it’ll also be noticed and rewarded and appreciated from others around him or her who have the wit to see it. And they will end being very, very successful and happy people who have rewarding lives. And why is that? Because they have the character to do their jobs, they have the character to carry out their work on a day by day basis, year after year. I tell you, that’s one of the most important things that we can consider in our lives when it comes to responsibility, when it comes to doing our work, when it comes to carrying out what’s been given to us—this matter of diligence.

We’ll stop there and pick it up next time in Chapter 23.

Until next time, this is Charles Bryce with the Enduring Church of God.