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The following notes are for the 2015 Vacation Bible School Adult Bible Study on Proverbs:

(so far we’ve considered the ears, the heart, the tongue and the hand. And now…)

Be Wise – Have Feet that Walk With the Wise

Your choice of partnerships/friendships/associations carries consequences!

Memory verse:

He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed (Proverbs 13:20).

Reading: 1 Kings 11:1-11 (Solomon’s demise)

Related passages in Proverbs:

Proverbs 20:19 A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoide a man who talks too much.

Proverbs 22:24 Do not make friends with a hot-tempered man, do not associate with one easily angered

Proverbs 24:21 Fear the Lord and the king, my son, and do not join with the rebellious

Related passages elsewhere in Scripture:

1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

Amos 3:3 Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?

2 Corinthians 6:14-16a

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Messiah and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the Temple of God and idols?

Bad examples:

Amnon’s ‘friend’ Jonadab (2 Sam. 13)

Rehoboam ‘friends’ (1 Kings 12:1-16)

David’s unwise alliance w/Achish (Philistine king 1 Sam. 27/28)

Lot’s choice to live in Sodom (Gen. 13:12-13)

Good examples:

Abraham’s loyalty to King of Salem (Melchizedek), not King of Sodom (Gen. 14:17-24)

David’s friendship with Nathan (2 Sam. 7, 12, 1 Chron. 17)

Hezekiah’s friendship with Isaiah (2 Kings 19)

An ancient rabbinical saying:

“Ascend a step and choose thy friend.”