Live In The Land

Proverbs 2:16-22 – Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman, from the wayward woman with her seductive words, who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God. Surely her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead. None who go to her return or attain the paths of life. Thus you will walk in the ways of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous. For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it; but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be torn from it.

Exodus 20:14 – “You shall not commit adultery.

Deuteronomy 4:1 – Now, Israel, hear the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you.

Psalm 37:9,11 – For those who are evil will be destroyed, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land…But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity.

Application:

• ·         The “marriage bed should be kept pure”.
• ·         A life of immorality leads to the destruction and death of all who are involved.
• ·         God’s call to His people to hear and obey is a frequent theme in Deuteronomy and elsewhere in the Old Testament.
• ·         Those who hope in the Lord—i.e., trustfully look to Him to bestow life and its blessings as a gift—will inherit the land, not those who apart from God and by evil means try to take possession of it and its wealth.
• ·         Meek are those who humbly acknowledge their dependence on the goodness and grace of God and betray no arrogance toward others.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Delight...Rejoice In...Evil

Proverbs 2:12-17 – Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, who have left the straight paths to walk in dark ways, who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways. Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman, from the wayward woman with her seductive words, who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God.

Proverbs 1:11-16 – If they say, “Come along with us; let’s lie in wait for innocent blood, let’s ambush some harmless soul; let’s swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder; cast lots with us; we will all share the loot”—my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths; for their feet rush into evil, they are swift to shed blood.

Proverbs 5:20 – Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife? Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?

1 Kings 11:2 – They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love.

Application:

• ·         The author uses two major enticements that confronted the young man as examples of the way of folly: (1) to get rich by exploiting others and (2) to be drawn into illicit pleasure by immoral women who fail to honor their marriage vows.
• ·         The book of Proverbs teaches that wisdom brings the greatest riches people could ever gain.
• ·         Wayward woman means literally “stranger” and “foreigner” because anyone other than one’s wife was to be considered off limits, like a foreigner who worshiped another god.
• ·         In light of the sheer joy found within the bonds of marriage and the “serious trouble” outside it, why commit adultery?
• ·         “They will surely turn your hearts after their gods”, as indeed they did.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Straight Paths

Proverbs 2:12-15 – Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, who have left the straight paths to walk in dark ways, who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways.

Proverbs 3:5-6 – Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Romans 3:12 – All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”

• ·         People love darkness instead of light.
• ·         Be ever mindful of God and serve Him with a willing, faithful and obedient heart. He will remove the obstacles from your pathway and bring you to your appointed goal.
• ·         The night is the present evil age. 

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Understanding Will Guard You

Proverbs 2:10-18 - For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you. Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, who have left the straight paths to walk in dark ways, who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways. Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman, from the wayward woman with her seductive words, who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God. Surely her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead.

Proverbs 4:6 – Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you.

Proverbs 1:11-16 – If they say, “Come along with us; let’s lie in wait for innocent blood, let’s ambush some harmless soul; let’s swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder; cast lots with us; we will all share the loot”—my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths; for their feet rush into evil, they are swift to shed blood.

Application:

• ·         To love wisdom is to prosper; to hate wisdom is to “love death”.
• ·         The term wayward woman means literally “stranger” and “foreigner” because anyone other than one’s wife was to be considered off limits, like a foreigner who worshiped another god.
• ·         People love darkness instead of light.
• ·         A life of immorality leads to the destruction and death of all who are involved.
• ·         The author uses two major enticements that confronted the young man as examples of the way of folly: (1) to get rich by exploiting others and (2) to be drawn into illicit pleasure by immoral women who fail to honor their marriage vows.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Right And Just And Fair

Proverbs 2:7-9 – He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path.

Hebrews 5:11,14 – We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand… But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

Psalm 23:2-3 – He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.

Application:

• ·         Instead of progressing in the Christian life, the readers had become spiritually sluggish and mentally lazy.
• ·         “Mature” were those who had progressed in spiritual life and had become Christians of sound judgment and discernment.
• ·         As a shepherd leads his sheep in paths that offer safety and well-being, so David’s Shepherd-King guides him in ways that cause him to be secure and prosperous.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Blameless

Proverbs 2:1-8 – My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding—indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.

Genesis 15:1 – After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.

Job 1:1 – In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.

Application:

• ·         Whether “shield” or “sovereign” is meant, the reference is to the Lord as Abram’s king. As elsewhere, “shield” stands for king.
• ·         “Store up…within you” just as the psalmist hid God’s word in his heart to avoid sin.
• ·         “Blameless and upright” means spiritually and morally upright.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Knowledge Of God

Proverbs 2:1-5 – My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding—indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

James 1:5 – If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

Proverbs 1:7 – The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Philippians 3:10-11 – I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

Application:

• ·         Wisdom is not just acquired information but practical insight with spiritual implications.
• ·         “Knowledge of God” involves having a personal relationship with God and knowing what He is teaching.
• ·         Fear of the Lord is a loving reverence for God that includes submission to his lordship and to the commands of His word.
• ·         This knowledge is not merely factual; in includes the experience of “the power of His resurrection”, of “participation in His sufferings” and of being “like Him in His death”.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV