This Friday we will begin meeting at the Dandurand's house at 7PM. We will continue our study of Proverbs in the 6th chapter. Here are the questions to ponder as you prepare for the study.
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Proverbs 6
Read through chapter 6, focusing on verses 1-19, once a day, this week, if possible.
Summary questions – What natural break do you see in chapter
6? e.g. what familiar expression do you see twice in chapter 6? Do you notice
that this introduces a slight thematic shift in the text? If not, or if you
disagree, let me know as you read through this. Or you can bring it up in the
study.
You might notice that some bibles separate verses 1-5, 6-11,
12-15, and 16-19 into smaller chunks divided by whitespace, almost like
separate paragraphs. Do you notice a different topic in each section? How would
you summarize verses 1-5?
Proverbs
6.1 My son,
if you have put up security for your neighbor,
have given your pledge
for a stranger,
Proverbs
6.2 if you are snared in the words of your mouth,
caught in the words of
your mouth,
Proverbs
6.3 then do this, my son, and save yourself,
for you have come into
the hand of your neighbor:
go, hasten, and plead
urgently with your neighbor.
Proverbs
6.4 Give your eyes no sleep
and your eyelids no
slumber;
Proverbs
6.5 save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of
the hunter,
like a bird from the
hand of the fowler.
:1 – What does it mean to put up security for?
:2 – What does verse 2 tell us about how the son, in this
hypothetical situation, has gotten himself into trouble?
Another proverb that deals with a similar situation is Proverbs 18:13 - “If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and
shame.” Can you think of some examples where this might happen?
:3 – How would you summarize this verse?
:4-5
– How would you summarize these verses?
Proverbs
6.6 ¶ Go to the ant, O sluggard;
consider her ways, and
be wise.
Proverbs
6.7 Without having any chief,
officer, or ruler,
Proverbs
6.8 she prepares her bread in summer
and gathers her food in
harvest.
Proverbs
6.9 How long will you lie there, O sluggard?
When will you arise from
your sleep?
Proverbs
6.10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the
hands to rest,
Proverbs
6.11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want like an armed
man.
:6 -
We can learn wisdom from an ant?!?! How often have you
thought of learning how to keep the house better or study or work better by
observing an ant? How might this add to your ongoing understanding of the nature of wisdom?
:7 –
What do we learn from the ant here?
:8 –
How would you summarize what we can learn from the ant here?
:9-11 – What can
we learn here? What does this tie to in the previous section: verses 1-5?
How would you
summarize verses 6-11?
Proverbs 6.12 ¶ A
worthless person, a wicked man,
goes about with crooked
speech,
Proverbs 6.13 winks
with his eyes, signals with his feet,
points with his finger,
Proverbs 6.14 with
perverted heart devises evil,
continually sowing
discord;
Proverbs 6.15 therefore
calamity will come upon him suddenly;
in a moment he will be
broken beyond healing.
Often the latter part of
a verse helps define the former part. So let’s examine the action, instead of defining words like "worthless" and "wicked."
:12 – This
person is characterized by what type of speech?
:13
– All of these gestures are meant to show that this person is involving
others in his crooked speech. Or rather has involved others already and
these gestures reference back to the crooked speech that took place
behind the victim's back. Picture the victim saying or doing something
in a group and this person signals to his cohort as if to say, "see,
just like I told you."
How might we do this in our group?
:14 – What does
this person’s actions result in with others?
:15 – What
happens to the person who does this?
This begins with
crooked speech behind people’s backs, signaling and creating allies against
others.
Verse 14 ties to which verse in 16-19?
Proverbs 6.16 ¶ There
are six things that the LORD hates,
seven that are an
abomination to him:
Proverbs 6.17 haughty
eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed
innocent blood,
Proverbs 6.18 a
heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that make haste to
run to evil,
Proverbs 6.19 a
false witness who breathes out lies,
and one who sows discord
among brothers.
This puts
troublemaker or person who talks behind other’s backs on par with what, in
verses 16-18?
Do you believe that?
In both verse 14
and 18, what is at the center of the problem? Consequently, where do we begin
to fix problem with ourselves? What verse might you point someone to who struggles with this issue of talking behind another's back?
How might verses
6-11 help motivate us to change?
