Proverbs

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Proverbs Chapter 23

 

  • Proverbs 23:1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee: 
  • 2 And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. 
  • 3 Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat. 

Don't appear to be gluttonous and devour everything. Take heed to choose the food wisely. Some foods are unhealthy and make one fat. Some are addictive and are set before us to tempt us to over indulge. Eat with thanksgiving and prayer. Overeating when we've been invited out to dinner may cause us to become unwelcome and it makes us appear gluttonous and even selfish. This passage though seems to indicate being at a place where one is invited to dinner to bribe or deceive someone.

We see the need for occasional fasting here. Fasting helps us overcome our addiction to food and we can learn to eat to live and not be controlled by our appetite which leads to bad heath physically and spiritually. Fasting also helps us in the spirit. We get our minds off food and begin to seek God for His guidance. Since the lust for food and knowledge beyond what God allowed tempted our first parents, Adam and Eve, we need to fast and pray to overcome those things even now. To return to the subject of the passage above, to have control of our appetites would help us not fall for any deceptive bribery.

In the physical realm, by over eating and eating processed foods and fast foods, we are killing ourselves with diabetes, high blood pressure, and many other diseases. In the spiritual realm lack of prayer is separating us from the fellowship we need with God. 

Think about this. If we are married and we never communicate with our spouse on a daily basis, sooner or later we would grow apart and the marriage would end in divorce. We need to talk to God a little more than just a short prayer when we go to church on Sunday morning. In many cases, someone else is doing the praying and we are just listening. We don't need a priest to pray for us any more. We can pray ourselves. Through Christ all of us are priests. We need to stay in touch with Him daily. 

  • Proverbs 23:4 Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. 

Laboring for riches gets us concerned with this life only. It leads to greed self centeredness and leads us away from God because we are not dependent upon Him. We cannot save ourselves. We need the salvation God provides for us through His Son Jesus Christ. There are many poor and needy people who need help while we eat, drink and live in comfort. We need to divorce our desire to be rich and trust in the Lord. This is the opposite from the prosperity message we hear today. We need to seek the riches of God which are spiritual and everlasting, not the riches in this world. 

  • Matthew 19:23 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. 
  • 24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. 

Many have tried to water down this teaching to justify their love for riches but we can't water it down with a made up fable about a gate in Jerusalem called the needle's eye. There is no such gate and never has been. It makes a good story and sounds good but it is not true. Lets take the words of Jesus at face value here. A needle is a needle we use for sewing. 

  • Proverbs 23:5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven. 

The moment a person dies, his riches flee. It does him no good. It may pay for the funeral and be left for his family to fight over but for him it is gone, never to return. I've seen families sue each other by law over money left by a rich relative. They spend so much on attorneys that the money is gone before they get it. So stupid. Make a living by working hard and then use the money wisely being happy with what God provides without seeking excessive wealth. 

  • Proverbs 23:6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: 
  • 7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. 
  • 8 The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words. 

This returns to the idea of being used and deceived by being plied with dainty eats and drinks. There are people who will wine and dine a person to get something out of them, close a deal, or other ulterior motives. There are wondeful people though that like to have feasts with relatives and friends without any motive. Even once in a while someone with compassion will come along and feed the hungry or poor.

  • Proverbs 23:9 Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words. 

This verse goes along with "Cast not they pearls before swine." This type will usually turn again and rend you. Once we sense our words are rejected and disrespected, it is better to stop and say no more. 

  • Proverbs 23:10 Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless: 

This use to happen so often when people are greedy for land and seek to take it from someone else. They will remove the old landmarks and claim it for themselves. Some are so low as to rob the widow and fatherless of what land they have. None of this goes unnoticed to our Father in Heaven. 

  • Proverbs 23:11 For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee. 

Unless our sins are under the blood and we have forsaken sin, we will face the Judge of all the earth for every deed we did. The biggest sin of course will be the rejection of His Son, Jesus Christ which paid the way for our salvation if we receive it. This is the way out of sin and the only way. If we do not come the free holy way of salvation through Christ that cleanses us from all sin, we will have to answer for our own sin. 

  • Proverbs 23:12 Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge. 

This of course means the knowledge of God, not the wisdom of this world. 

  • Proverbs 23:13 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. 
  • 14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell. 

This does not mean beating like we think in today's world that someone beats a child unmercifully and cruelly. This means giving them a spanking safely to correct them from serious error and disrespect. To do it in anger and cruelty does more harm than good. 

  • Proverbs 23:15 My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine. 
  • 16 Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things. 

So true. To see our kids follow wisdom and not be given to foolishness and vanity is a blessing to any parent. To hear that wisdom proceed from their mouths and then reflect how they live, is a double blessing. 

  • Proverbs 23:17 Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long. 
  • 18 For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off. 

We are never to seek vengeance or be jealous over what the wicked have as possessions. It is better to keep our eyes on the Lord and receive His blessings whether they are spiritual or material. Not worrying over having the latest fad or possessions is to have contentment and really "be happy." 

Meanwhile if we saw the final end to the wicked and to wickedness, we would not have anything to envy. We would be wise to pray that they repent and get right with God now. 

  • Proverbs 23:19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way. 
  • 20 Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh: 
  • 21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. 

There is a modern teaching that is creeping in the church that tells us that drinking in moderation is not wrong. They even use the story of Jesus turning water into wine as justification. Usually though a person that drinks moderately will find a time when he is so troubled that he drinks to excess. A person who is drunk or even influenced by alcoholic beverages without being drunk is not in control of his own actions. 

Drinking will lead to poverty eventually because we lose control of time and responsibility. It has destroyed marriages, harmed innocent children, killed many innocent people in traffic accidents, and it eats up the liver with disease. It does so much damage to innocent people and to oneself that taking that one drink is just not worth it. Recently we've discovered that alcohol in the body turns into sugar. Sugar has been proven to feed cancer and do a lot of damage to our bodies.

Language has changed so much and there has been so many translations and such that we don't know for sure what Jesus drank. It could have been grape juice. Even if it was real wine that we think of, we do not know the alcoholic content if any that it contained but we do have a thing we call common sense. We can see with our eyes what it does to people. It is a drug just like the illegal drugs that harm all that partake of it. When I see people condemn alcoholics yet see them sit and indulge in casual drinking right in front of those that struggle with alcoholism, I cringe with shame. That is not brotherly love. Recently though I've discovered that wine they drank in biblical times was mixed with water.  Remember Jesus did instruct them to fill the water pots with water so who knows, it might have been deluted to a safe substance yet taste good.

  • Proverbs 23:22 Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old. 

Until it gets to be impossible because of medical reasons, take care of both father and mother when they are aged. 

  • Proverbs 23:23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding. 

Knowledge is knowing something. The right kind of knowledge is great to acquire but we also need godly wisdom that He alone can give us in order for us to apply the knowledge we have. It is possible to know all things but not live by what we know. To those the know to do good and they do it not, it is sin. 

If we lack knowledge, we can get this from God:

  • James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 
  • 6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 
  • 7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 
  • 8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. 

Over and over is both Old and New Testaments we see that God requires us to have faith and trust in Him.

  • Proverbs 23:24 The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. 
  • 25 Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice. 

We are so proud of our children when they do right. This is why we must bring our children up right. When they are old, they will not depart from it. If we live unrighteous before them though, it will cancel out anything good thing we teach them. 

  • Proverbs 23:26 My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways. 
  • 27 For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit. 
  • 28 She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men. 

A prostitute lives that way for money and gain. Seldom will she sincerely care for the man that falls prey to her. Men too can be those that use women like that and then care not for them as a person. But men who follow after strange women will end up sick, diseased and on the way to hell. They could even bring disease upon their own wives who may be innocent of any sin themselves. 

There is a danger for any of us who live by our feelings instead of by wisdom. If we give into our craving for food, we get overweight and we are in danger of diabetes, heart disease, strokes and many other physical diseases. If we give into our desire to dull our senses with drugs or alcohol, we could destroy our liver and lose control of our ability to think rationally.

If we do not control our fleshly passions, we could destroy our marriages, homes and the future danger of our children following our footsteps is great. Many marriages break apart when one spouse desires someone else.

We think we may not be getting enough attention from our spouse, or we just plain lust after the beauty of another. It is dangerous to live selfishly or only for self. Yet that is how we live. We live by our feelings instead of living by the spirit of God. 

I've actually met a few women who purposely go after someone even if they are married and break up the marriage or else they are married themselves and it breaks up their own marriage. Stay safely away from those that are committed to someone else. It is a way of confusion and death. It hurts the children.

  • Proverbs 23:29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
  • 30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. 
  • 31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. 
  • 32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. 
  • 33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. 
  • 34 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast. 
  • 35 They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again. 

Drugs and alcohol will dull the mind, greatly reduce one's ability to discern right from wrong, weaken a strong person, and get people in trouble. For some types of people it will cause them to pass out in various places where they can be robbed or even killed.

For other types, it causes them to become mean and cruel. Many children and even adults have been abused and killed by a person that has had too much to drink. I talked to one woman whose husband nailed her shut in a bathroom while he was drunk. They are all apologetic when they are sober but it will happen over and over again until it finally breaks up a marriage and ruins the childhood of the children. Like the scripture says, the mind will imagine strange women or strange perverse things. We have trouble with our thoughts anyway but alcohol will make it worse. 

  • Galatians 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 
  • 17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 
  • 18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. 
  • 19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 
  • 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 
  • 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 

From chapter 5 in Galatians, we read that those that are given to drunkenness will not inherit the kingdom of God. It also mentions envy, murder, reveling, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred and other things that will keep us out of the kingdom of God. 

Jesus Christ came to cleanse us of all these things and create in us a clean heart. We can be filled with the spirit of God and then walk in the spirit resisting the old nature that was in us in the past. Those old things are to pass away and all things are to become new. 

What better way to never be drunk than to just not drink strong drink. Its just not worth the risk to even social drink. We still retain our freedom of choice but if we yield to the righteousness of Christ, we inherit the kingdom of God. If we return to the sin Christ saved us out of, we are in danger of influencing others to do the same. They watch our lives.  Dorna Chambers

 

 
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