This Friday we will be meeting for our second lesson in Proverbs 5. I hope to cover verses 7 to 23, though this might be overly ambitious. But if we have another great discussion like last time, that will be a wonderful blessing too.
Proverbs
5.7 ¶ And now, O
sons, listen to me,
and
do not depart from the words of my mouth.
Proverbs
5.8 Keep your way
far from her,
and
do not go near the door of her house,
VS
7-8: How do you respond to such a person? How is "do not depart from the words of my mouth," in verse 7 practically demonstrated in verse 8?
Verses 9 to 11 show the consequences of a person who has departed from the words of wisdom.
Proverbs
5.9 lest you give
your honor to others
and
your years to the merciless,
Proverbs
5.10 lest strangers
take their fill of your strength,
and
your labors go to the house of a foreigner,
Proverbs
5.11 and at the end
of your life you groan,
when
your flesh and body are consumed,
To see a good example of this you can read about Samson in Judges 14-16.
Samson takes three women, two wives and a prostitute, from the Philistines. Both his wives deceive him and betray him to the Philistines. His second wife, Delilah, betrays him to the Philistines and they gauge out his eyes. His last act of strength kills himself and 3,000 Philistines with him. Before he took his first wife, "his father and mother said to him, 'Is there not a woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?' But Samson said to his father, 'Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.'"(Judges 14.3)
Verses 12 to 14 are a lament, of sorts, of the person who has departed from the way of wisdom. This acts as a warning for us.
Verses 12 to 14 are a lament, of sorts, of the person who has departed from the way of wisdom. This acts as a warning for us.
Proverbs
5.12 and you say,
“How I hated discipline,
and
my heart despised reproof!
Proverbs
5.13 I did not
listen to the voice of my teachers
or
incline my ear to my instructors.
Proverbs
5.14 I am at the
brink of utter ruin
in
the assembled congregation.”
VS 13-14: What are the things that the person pictured here rejects? What would the lesson for us be then? What things should we love and cherish?
What does it practically mean to love discipline and seek reproof? What would it meant to incline your ear to instructors?
Verses 9-11 show the consequences of a person who departs from wisdom and verses 12-14 show us the person's lament after they have departed from that wisdom. That departure from wisdom was all from a simple command in verse 8: "Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house,"
Does this seem a little drastic to you? Why or why not? How would you support your position using scripture?
What general principle can you learn from Matt
12:30? In Genesis 2:24 we learn that a man and a woman become one flesh in marriage. If we pair this idea with 1 Cor 15:33 how does that help you to understand why marrying an unbeliever or even going near the door of her house might be so dangerous?
Verses 15-18 are an extended metaphor. As you read these verses see if you can distil out the common theme.
Proverbs
5.15 ¶ Drink water
from your own cistern,
flowing
water from your own well.
Proverbs
5.16 Should your
springs be scattered abroad,
streams
of water in the streets?
Proverbs
5.17 Let them be
for yourself alone,
and
not for strangers with you.
Proverbs
5.18 Let your
fountain be blessed,
and
rejoice in the wife of your youth,
Proverbs
5.19 a lovely deer,
a graceful doe.
Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight;
be
intoxicated always in her love.
What
common theme (i.e. consistent language about a subject matter) flows through 15-18?
If verse 15 were only speaking about water, how would you paraphrase it?
How about verses16-17?
What is this theme tied to in verse 18?
How is this metaphor further developed in verse 19?
How is this metaphor further developed in verse 19?
How would your paraphrasing for verses 15-17 change in light of verses 18 & 19?
Proverbs
5.20 Why should you
be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman
and
embrace the bosom of an adulteress?
Proverbs
5.21 For a man’s
ways are before the eyes of the LORD,
and
he ponders all his paths.
"To Ponder" here is the same word as in verse 4:26 and 5:6. It means to make level, to prepare
the foundation, as you would a road – roll flat, ponder, think about.
As we discussed in the previous Proverbs, this pondering is a considering and a thinking about the consequences of where you've been and preparing your path to head in the direction you desire to go.
As we discussed in the previous Proverbs, this pondering is a considering and a thinking about the consequences of where you've been and preparing your path to head in the direction you desire to go.
If you agree with this, how would you interpret the idea that God ponders all our paths?
Can you think of any verses to support this idea?
So then, this verse says much more than simply, God sees everything we do. How might this provide encouragement as you battle with sin?
Proverbs
5.22 The iniquities
of the wicked ensnare him,
and
he is held fast in the cords of his sin.
Proverbs
5.23 He dies for
lack of discipline,
and
because of his great folly he is led astray.
VS
22-23 – This describes the man who does not do ponder the path of life. What happens to him?
If we pair these verses with Galatians 5:16-17, what does this teach us, again, about the nature of discipline? Can you think of any examples of this in your own life?
