Welcome to chapter 2! I have prayed for you and hope you have gotten much out of your time in God’s word.
Today as we look at chapter 2 the repetition of the phrase “my son” (2:1; 3:1, 11, 21; 4:10, 20; and “my children” 4:1,) reminds us that the book of Proverbs records a loving father’s wise counsel to his family.
While the Proverbs of Ch 1-9 are directed toward young people, the principles supporting them are helpful to all believers, male and female, young and old. Anyone beginning his or her journey to discover more of wisdom will benefit greatly from these wise sayings.
Proverbs chapter 2 teaches the doctrine of two ways.
Chose the Way of God 2:1–4 and 2:5–11
Chapters 2-4 all begin with a challenge to listen to God’s words and take them to heart, because that’s the only way we can walk with God and live skillfully. Eight essentials in this paragraph reveal our responsibilities toward God’s truth: accept God’s words and store them up in our minds and hearts; turn your ear and apply your heart; cry out for understanding, look for wisdom and search for it.
Avoid the Way of Death
10-19. Here we meet 2 more people “the wicked man” and “the adulteress” two people who are dangerous because they want to lead God’s children away from the path of life. The evil man holds out the promise of easy money (vv. 12–15; cf. 1:10–19), and the adulteress holds out the promise of easy sex (vv. 16–19; cf. 5:1–23).
The wicked man is known for his perverse (crooked) words (see vv. 12, 14; 6:14; 8:13; 10:31-32; and 16:28, 30). That is, he justifies his way of life with a distorted set of values in order to persuade others to join him. He walks on the dark path of disobedience and enjoys doing that which is evil. He belongs to the crowd Solomon warns us about in 1:10-19. The person who walks in the way of wisdom would immediately detect his deceit and avoid him.
The “adulteress” has no respect for God, because she breaks His law (Ex. 20:14); she has no respect for her husband because she violates the promises she made to him when she married him. She no longer has a guide or a friend in the Lord or in her husband, because she has taken the path of sin. Those who enter the house of the immoral woman find only the ghosts of those who preceded them and discover too late that there is no exit (vv. 18–19). This is a powerful image accurately and graphically describing the situation of those who have followed the allurement of sexual sin. Anyone who listens to her words and follows her path is heading for death.
Then You Will Walk in Ways of Good Men.
Note the argument that Solomon gives in this chapter that begins with the “if” of verse 1 and continues with the “then” of verse 9 and the “thus” of verse 20. If we receive God’s words and obey them, then we will have wisdom to make wise decisions, and God will keep His promise and protect us from the wicked man and the adulteress woman. When you obey God, you have the privilege to “walk in the ways of good men” (v. 20).
The wicked may appear to be succeeding, but their end is destruction (Ps. 37). The godly will be rooted in the place of God’s blessing (Ps. 1:3), but the ungodly will be uprooted from the land. The safest and most satisfying path is the path of wisdom, the path of life.
May we walk in God’s way, Darrell
Ps. talk to you tomorrow
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