Scripture Reading: Proverbs 1—9; 31
What the book of Proverbs is to us and what the entire Bible is to us depend on what kind of person we are. For the apostle Paul every book of the Old Testament was Spirit and life. But for many of today's Christians the Bible, including the New Testament, is mainly a book of proverbs. Such Christians do not understand a verse like Eph. 3:8, which speaks of the unsearchable riches of Christ for the producing of the church to fulfill God's economy. They may have no interest in these matters. However, they may be very interested in what Ephesians 5 says about husbands loving their wives and about wives submitting to their husbands. This illustrates the strong tendency among Christians to try to understand the New Testament according to their ethical mind. They are not interested in anything that cannot be understood in an ethical way. In particular, they do not understand the New Jerusalem and do not seek to understand it. From this we see that the kind of person we are determines what the Bible will be to us.
In this message we will consider from Proverbs the principles for man to live a proper human life. Each of these principles — revering God, needing wisdom, honoring one's parents, and holding marriage in honor — is a nugget.
The first principle for man to live a proper human life is revering God. We should not only worship God but also revere Him. To revere God is to consider and regard Him in everything, never forgetting that He is the wonderful God who has created us. When we are about to lose our temper, we should revere God. Revering God stops us from doing evil. Revering God also causes us to be touched by the sufferings of others and to show mercy and compassion to them.
Even though I was born into Christianity, before I believed in the Lord Jesus I never revered God. But from the day I got saved, I began to revere God. In everything I respected and regarded God. That caused a great change in my life.
To revere God is to fear God. The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding (Prov. 1:7; 9:10; 15:33a). Knowledge, wisdom, and understanding come from God. If we fear Him, revering Him, these will be our possession. If we seek wisdom like silver and search for her like hidden treasures, then we will understand the fear of Jehovah and find the knowledge of God (Prov. 2:4-5). The fear of Jehovah is to hate evil (Prov. 8:13). The fear of Jehovah prolongs days, but the years of the wicked will be shortened (Prov. 10:27). He who walks in his uprightness fears Jehovah, but he who is perverse in his ways despises Him (Prov. 14:2). In the fear of Jehovah is strong confidence, and his children will have a place of refuge. The fear of Jehovah is a fountain of life, that one may turn aside from the snares of death (Prov. 14:26-27). Better is a little with the fear of Jehovah, than great treasure and turmoil with it (Prov. 15:16). If we are rich in the fear of Jehovah, we will have peace.
To revere God is also to trust in Him. Proverbs 3:5-8 charges us to trust in Jehovah with all our heart and not to rely on our own understanding. In all our ways we should acknowledge Him, and He will make our paths straight. We should not be wise in our own eyes; we should fear Jehovah and depart from evil. This will be healing to our body and refreshment to our bones.
He who gives heed to the word will find good, and blessed is he who trusts in Jehovah (Prov. 16:20). In my frequent travels by airplane, many times Satan has threatened me within by saying that my plane would crash. At those times I spoke to the Lord, saying, "Lord, I am not in a plane; I am in You. You are my plane." This is to trust in the Lord.
According to Prov. 3:26 Jehovah will be our confidence, and He will keep our foot from being caught. Every word of God is tried; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. We should not add to His words, lest He reprove us and we be found a liar (Prov. 30:5-6). We must not change His word by adding something to it according to our point of view. This is dangerous.
To revere God means that we also honor God. Prov. 3:9-10 says that we must honor Jehovah with our substance and with the firstfruits of all our produce. Then our barns will be filled with plenty, and our vats will burst open with new wine. If we make more money to lay up treasure for our future, that is pitiful. At least one tenth, the firstfruit, of our produce must be given to God. We should always be very generous in giving of the things which God has given us. This honors God.
The second principle, the second nugget, is needing wisdom. Notice that I do not say seeking wisdom but needing wisdom. We are always in need of the wisdom of God.
Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, for her profit is better than the profit of silver, and her income is better than gold. She is more precious than corals, and nothing we desire compares with her. Length of days is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her, and happy are those who hold her fast (Prov. 3:13-18; 8:11).
We should not let wisdom depart from our sight, but we should keep sound wisdom and discretion. They will be life for our soul and a graceful ornament for our neck (Prov. 3:21-22). The real beauty is wisdom and discretion.
The wise will inherit honor, but fools increase their own disgrace (Prov. 3:35).
We should get wisdom. We should not forsake her, and she will keep us; we should love her, and she will guard us (Prov. 4:5-6). "The beginning of wisdom is this:/Get wisdom; and in all your getting, get understanding./Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;/She will honor you if you embrace her./She will give a garland of grace for your head;/A crown of beauty will she bestow on you" (Prov. 4:7-9).
According to 7:4 we should say to wisdom, "You are my sister."
Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn out her seven pillars (Prov. 9:1).
In certain portions of Proverbs the wisdom of God is personified. This personification of God's wisdom is the second of the Trinity, the Son of God. Christ is the personified wisdom of God.
Jehovah by wisdom founded the earth; He established the heavens by understanding (Prov. 3:19). This One by whom Jehovah founded the earth and established the heavens is Christ, who is the wisdom of God.
In Prov. 8:22-31 personified wisdom says that Jehovah possessed her in the beginning of His way, before His works of old. Wisdom was set up from eternity, from the beginning, before the earth was. When there were no depths, wisdom was brought forth, when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills, wisdom was brought forth; when He had not yet made the earth and the fields, nor the first dust of the world. When He established the heavens, wisdom was there; when He inscribed a circle upon the surface of the deep, when He made firm the skies above, when the fountains of the deep became strong, when He set for the sea its boundary, that the waters should not transgress His commandment, when He marked out the foundations of the earth; then wisdom was by Him, as a master workman. Wisdom was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him, rejoicing in His habitable earth; and wisdom's delight was in the sons of men. Again, this personified wisdom refers to Christ.
In verses 12 through 21 we are told that wisdom dwells with prudence and finds knowledge and discretion. Counsel and sound wisdom are hers. Wisdom is understanding and has might. By wisdom kings reign, and rulers decree justice. By wisdom princes rule, and nobles — all who judge righteously. Wisdom loves those who love her, and those who seek wisdom diligently will find her. Riches and honor are with wisdom, enduring wealth and righteousness. Wisdom's fruit is better than gold, even fine gold; and her yield than choice silver. Wisdom walks in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of justice, that wisdom may cause those who love her to inherit substance and that she may fill their treasuries. Once again, this personified wisdom signifies Christ. If we have Christ as wisdom, we have everything, including spiritual things and material things.
In the New Testament the personified wisdom of God is Christ as its reality. First Corinthians 1:24 says, "To those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." Verse 30 continues, "Of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption." Christ became wisdom to us from God in three vital things in God's salvation: righteousness (for our past), by which we have been justified by God, that we might be reborn in our spirit to receive the divine life (Rom. 5:18); sanctification (for our present), by which we are being sanctified in our soul, that is, transformed in our mind, emotion, and will, with the divine life (6:19, 22); and redemption (for our future), that is, the redemption of our body (8:23), by which we will be transfigured in our body with the divine life to have His glorious likeness (Phil. 3:21).
The third nugget, the third principle, is the honoring of one's parents. After God, we should respect our parents, having regard for them, honoring them, and obeying them. Honoring our parents will prolong our days.
Revering God and honoring one's parents are mentioned together in Proverbs. In the Ten Commandments the first four, concerning God, and the fifth, concerning honoring our parents, are on the first of the two tablets. This indicates that our parents are ranked with God. To honor our parents is to remember our source. Ultimately, if we trace back to our source, we will reach God. Therefore, to honor one's parents is nearly equal to revering God. If we revere God, we will honor our parents.
We should hear the instruction of our father and not reject the teaching of our mother; for they will be a wreath of grace for our head and ornaments for our neck (Prov. 1:8-9).
We should receive our father's words and treasure up his commandments within us, making our ear attentive to wisdom and inclining our heart to understanding. Indeed, if we cry out for discernment and lift up our voice for understanding and if we seek her like silver and search for her like hidden treasures, then we will understand the fear of Jehovah and find the knowledge of God. For Jehovah gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding (2:1-6).
Proverbs 3:1 and 2 charge us not to forget our father's instruction but to let our heart keep his commandments; for length of days and years of life and peace will they add to us. Here longevity and peace are related to honoring our parents. Verse 4 goes on to speak of our finding favor and a reputation for fine understanding in the sight of God and man. In verse 5 we are told to trust in Jehovah with all our heart and not to rely on our own understanding. We should not despise the chastening of Jehovah, nor be weary of His discipline; for whom Jehovah loves He disciplines (vv. 11-12). Verses 21 and 22 say, "My son, do not let them depart from your sight;/Keep sound wisdom and discretion;/And they will be life for your soul/And a graceful ornament for your neck."
The writer says in 4:3 that he was a son to his father, tender and the only beloved in the sight of his mother. In verses 10 through 13 he says, "Hear, my son, and receive my words,/And the years of your life will be many./I have taught you in the way of wisdom;/I have led you in the paths of uprightness./When you walk, your steps will not be hindered;/And when you run, you will not stumble./Take hold of instruction; do not let go;/Guard her, for she is your life." Verses 20 through 22 say, "Be attentive to my words;/Incline your ear to my sayings./Do not let them depart from your sight;/Keep them in the midst of your heart./For they are life to those who find them,/And healing to all their flesh."
Prov. 8:32, 34-35 say, "Now therefore, my sons, listen to me;/For blessed are they who keep my ways....Blessed is the man who listens to me,/Watching daily at my doors,/Waiting at my doorposts./For whoever finds me finds life,/And will obtain favor from Jehovah."
A wise son makes a father glad, but a foolish son is a grief to his mother (10:1).
The eye that mocks at his father, and despises to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley will pick it out, and the young eagles will eat it (11, Prov. 30:17). This is a serious warning regarding the honoring of our parents.
The fourth nugget is to hold marriage in honor. In order to live a proper human life, we must hold marriage in honor.
I love America, but the marriage life in America bothers me very much. In American society the contact between males and females is too loose, without restriction. In this sense, the United States today is like Sodom. I am concerned about this because it offends God to the uttermost.
Marriage produces not only children but also parents. So that man can exist on earth to continue God's economy, honoring parents and holding marriage in honor are necessary. I hope that all the saints in the Lord's recovery will bear a strong testimony of honoring their parents and of holding marriage in honor.
Females should always be restricted by a sense of honorable shame. Today in America young women have physical contact with young men without shame. This kind of loose contact can easily lead to fornication. The co-workers who serve the Lord and often contact people must be careful. Many useful servants of the Lord have been spoiled because of their careless contact with the opposite sex. Revering God, honoring our parents, and holding marriage in honor are a real protection to us.
In holding marriage in honor man's faithfulness is the base. Regarding this, Prov. 5:5-19 gives us a warning about the "strange woman," whose feet go down to death and whose steps hold fast to Sheol. She does not make straight the path of life. Her ways wander, and she does not know it (vv. 5-6). Verses 7 through 14 are a charge to young men to keep their way far from her and not to go near the door of her house; lest they give their honor to others, and their years to the cruel; lest strangers be filled with their wealth, and their labors go to the house of a foreigner, and they mourn at their end, when their flesh and body are consumed, and they say, "How I have hated instruction,/And my heart has despised reproof!/And I have not listened to the voice of my teachers/Nor inclined my ear to my instructors;/I was almost into every evil/In the midst of the congregation and assembly." Verses 15 through 19 conclude with a charge to married men to drink waters out of their own cistern (wife) and running water out of their own well. Their springs should not be shed forth like streams of water in the streets but should be theirs alone and not for strangers. Verses 18 and 19 say, "Let your fountain be blessed,/And rejoice in the wife of your youth,/A lovely hind and a graceful doe./Let her breasts satisfy you at all times./May you be ravished with her love always."
Whereas in holding marriage in honor man's faithfulness is the base, woman's virtues are the building up. A gracious woman lays hold of honor (Prov. 11:16a). A worthy woman is the crown of her husband (Prov. 12:4a). The wise woman builds her house — 14:1a. Regarding woman's virtues, we need to read Prov. 31:10-31.
