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The book
of Proverbs is a collection of short and wise
principles for living from some of the wisest
men who ever lived. Why is this book important?
God designed the universe out of His great wisdom
and understanding. The universe reflects His wisdom.
We need wisdom to live lives that will successfully
work in this God-created universe. The subject
of Proverbs is wisdom.
The subject
of Proverbs is wisdom. Wisdom is knowledge that
is properly applied to a situation. First you
have to know the right information, but then you
have to apply it correctly. There is an essential
prerequisite for wisdom: yirat Adonai - the fear
of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. A human being must know that God exists,
and who the true God, the God of Israel is, that
He is the Supreme Being, great and powerful and
wise, righteous and just, and He judges the righteous
and wicked, rewards the righteous and punishes
the bad. In addition, since God the Father sent
Messiah the Son, to be wise, a human being must
accept Yeshua as the Messiah, and receive the
Holy Spirit, and be saved.
Some human
beings are wise about the way that the world works,
but are ignorant of the ways of God. Some human
beings are knowledgeable about spiritual things
- about God and Messiah and salvation, but not
wise about the way the world works. Proverbs helps
us to be wise in the ways of God, and wise in
the ways of the world. The spiritual world and
the physical world meet in a special way here
on Earth. Heaven is where God’s throne is at,
but Earth is His footstool. Man is a combination
of physical and spiritual. He is made from the
dust of the Earth, but also the Lord breathed
into him the breathe of life. Proverbs has wisdom
for both successful spiritual life and successful
physical life. It helps us to be well rounded,
balanced, successful human beings.
We are
going to start with chapter 10, with the proverbs
of Solomon. These proverbs are almost 3,000
years old, and truly are ancient wisdom, but even
though they are so old, they are just as relevant
today as they were 3,000 years ago, since God
hasn’t changed, and human nature hasn’t changed.
And, they were written by one of the very wisest
men who ever lived.
A proverb
is a principle that is generally true, but not
always in every circumstance true. For example,
the first proverb in chapter 1 is generally, but
not always, true. 10:1 A wise son makes
a father glad, but a foolish son is a grief to
his mother. Most fathers and mothers are happy
when their children are wise and do well, but
there are exceptions. There might a father or
mother who is immoral or corrupt, and are happy
when their children follow them into corruption.
But, that is the exception. The general rule for
parents living in Jewish society is that they
are happy when their children are wise, and saddened
by foolish children.
If wisdom
is the proper application of knowledge, then foolishness
is the opposite - not knowing or not applying
knowledge. It is grievous to see a child making
foolish decisions that will harm their lives,
or the lives of others. What you do, and who you
become, affects those around you, especially those
who love you. So, if you love those around you,
make godly choices and wise decisions. Don’t just
live for yourself, but take into consideration
how your choices will affect others.
The proverbs
found in 4-5 teach us about the importance of
good hard work. 10:4-5 Poor is he who
works with a negligent hand, but the hand of the
diligent makes rich. He who gathers in summer
is a son who acts wisely, but he who sleeps in
harvest is a son who acts shamefully. Human
beings don’t like to work hard. Hard work is hard!
We don’t enjoy the consequence of the Fall - having
to toil the cursed ground, eating food by the
sweat of our face. We would prefer to live the
kind of life that was in Eden before the Fall
- without having to do hard work. But, if you
are going to have a successful life in this world,
you must be willing to work regularly, work hard,
and work especially hard when there is extra work
to do - like gathering the crops when they are
ready, since there is limited time for the harvest.
There will be times that you will have to work
harder than others. To encourage us to be good
workers, Solomon lets us know that good results
come to those who work regularly and diligently,
and work hard when there is extra work to do.
They will become rich. They will have more than
enough for themselves and for their families.
And, to encourage us not to act shamefully, he
warns us that there are bad consequences for the
lazy and negligent - they will not have enough
for themselves and their families. They will become
poor.
10:7
The memory of the righteous is blessed, but
the name of the wicked will rot. Just like
what you do, and who you are, and who you become,
affects those who love you in the present - like
father and mother, so your life will affect those
who come after you. In the future, when people
think of you, they can think of you as someone
whose life was rich and meaningful and successful,
or someone whose life was like a rotten piece
of meat. Don’t live just for the present. Live
for beyond this life. Live your life in such a
way that those who come after you will praise
God for your life that was well-lived, your good
character, your wise choices, and your blessed
memory.
10:9
He who walks in integrity walks securely, but
he who perverts his ways will be found out.
Be a person of integrity. Function the way God
intended human beings to operate - with good morals,
good character, being honest, keeping your word,
doing what you say, keeping your promises. What
you claim to be in public, be in private. Who
you are in private is a better indicator of your
character than you who present yourself to be
in public. If you do, you will have a clean conscience,
and you won’t have to worry about getting caught
and punished. You won’t be embarrassed to talk
to God, or appear before Him on the Day of Judgment.
Don’t pervert your ways. Don’t cheat, steal, lie.
Don’t say one thing and do another. Keep yourself
to God-ordained sexual expression within marriage.
Keep in mind the one who perverts his ways will
be found out. Your sins will find you out. Not
only will your sins corrupt you, but they will
be found out and embarrass you, so think about
that before you do something wrong. That affair,
that theft, that lie will come to light - if not
in this life, than surely on the Day of Judgment.
10:11
The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of
life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals “chamas”
- violence. The righteous - those who are
right with God, who are in a right relationship
with God, and are living the right way, and doing
the right things, will be able to say wise things
to others that will help them live a better life
in this world, and enter into eternal life in
the world to come. Wow! May the Lord help us to
realize that our words can be used so greatly,
so powerfully, for the good of others!
In contrast
to the righteous and their good words are the
words of the wicked - those who are still in a
state of war with the Creator, who haven’t been
reconciled to Him, and who don’t live the way
He wants them to. The things they say will often
conceal their real agenda - chamas - violence.
Why are they hiding violence?
The criminal
element who would steal from you, or take advantage
of you, need to conceal their violence. Their
words indicate that they are good citizens, but
they employ violence in their arsenal of intimidation.
Governments
can conceal violence. Communism employed violence
against those unfortunate enough to be under its
control, promising a utopian society, but death
to those who won’t submit to the state. Something
close to 100 million people were murdered in the
20th Century by Communist regimes, and the murder
and the violence continues right now in places
like China.
Religion
can conceal violence. Islam uses words of peace
to conceals its violence. Jihad, war and killing
are part of its core beliefs. From its beginning
until now, Islam has a long history of violence,
war, conquest, intimidation and suppression. Islam
has a history of making a treaty with a group
of people and then breaking the treating and killing
them, and declaring this to be justified. Al Queda
is the norm, not the exception, and the fact that
hundreds of millions of Muslims have a favorable
opinion of Bin Laden, and view him as a hero,
shows this to be true.
And, I
find it fascinating and particularly instructive
that this Hebrew word for violence is chamas,
especially since a terrorist organization that
insists that Israel be destroyed, and uses murder
and suicide bombings of men, women and children,
and justifies this in the name of Allah, is now
the governing body of the Palestinian Authority.
Anyone who tells you that Islam is a religion
of peace is ignorant, or is telling you a lie.
10:12
Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all
transgressions. Those motivated by hatred
stir up strife. They are angry, and want to inflict
pain on the ones they are angry with. And so they
are unforgiving, and harsh. They try to cause
trouble for the people they are angry with, so
they give out information that will cause more
problems; they attack with their words and actions
and strategies. But, if you love someone, you
don’t want to see them hurt. People want to help
those they care for. It is natural to want to
cover for the sins of those you love, to minimize
the consequences of their actions. If you are
a Republican, it is normal to want to go easy
on a fellow Republican caught in some transgression;
but if a Democrat is ensnared in a similar error,
you want to really go after that Democrat. If
he is a bad guy, well, at least he is your bad
guy, and not so bad, and you can deal with it.
Among the community of believers, we want to love
everyone - especially our fellow believers. We
want to help those we love. We want to see the
sins and problems of others dealt with, but we
want redemption extended wherever possible. If
someone is caught in a transgression, and that
situation can be redeemed, we want to do so. We
try to ignore the slights of others, and be quick
to forgive, and help those we love be redeemed
from their transgressions.
10:15
The rich man's wealth is his fortress, the
ruin of the poor is their poverty. Believers
are not to make attaining wealth their goal in
life. However, wealth and poverty are realities
of life, and they have advantages and disadvantages.
Poverty can be ruinous - not having enough food
or clothing or shelter, or access to doctors and
medicine can cause real harm. The money of the
rich can protect them from many of the problems
that others face. They eat well, live well, have
access to the best lawyers, send their children
to the best schools, get the best medical care.
Money can also become their god, and distract
them from the true riches found in Heaven. They
can also be kidnaped in order to get a ransom
- something that won’t happen to the poor. I like
the balanced attitude toward money expressed by
Agur and found toward the end of this book. Here
is Agur’s prayer: Lord, “give me neither poverty
nor riches; feed me with the food that is my portion,
let I be full and deny You and say, ‘Who is the
Lord?’ Or lest I be in want and steal and profane
the name of my God.”
10:17
He is on the path of life who heeds instruction,
but he who ignores reproof goes astray. Many
people are so proud that they won’t take correction
from others. Don’t be too proud to learn from,
or receive correction from those who are giving
you good advice. Be humble enough to learn from
others. Learn how to recognize good advice when
you are getting it, especially when t comes from
the Word of God, or someone who is wiser than
you are. If you do, you are on the path of life.
Your life in this world will be better, and if
you listen to those who are wise about salvation,
you will be on the wondrous path that leads to
the gates of the New Jerusalem.
10:19
When there are many words, transgression is
unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is
wise. Out of the mouth of human beings comes
nonsense and silly things, hurtful statements,
erroneous ideas. Why? Because stupidity, spite
and errors are in our hearts. It is hard not to
make mistakes when you talk. Think about what
you say before you say it. Is what you want to
say true? Is it helpful? What are the consequences
if you say this? Are you saying this at the right
time, in the right way, to the right person? Solomon’s
advice: try to talk less. My grandmother used
to tell me, “Loren, you have been born with two
ears and one mouth. So listen twice as much as
you talk.”
10:20
The tongue of the righteous is as choice silver,
the heart of the wicked is worth little. I
like that phrase - “choice silver.” Choice silver
is excellent silver. It is silver that is refined
and pure and silvery valuable. It is something
that almost everybody that first read these words
understood very well, but it is a concept that
most Americans no longer understand very well,
and here is why. In nature, silver is very rare,
and therefore very precious. Because it is beautiful
and rare, and easy to divide and transport, and
lasts a long time, it formed the ideal money.
People have tried to exchange goods and services
using other things, but silver, along with gold,
turned out to be the best forms of money. In fact,
the Biblical world for money is kesef - silver.
But, our nation, beginning in 1971 tried a novel
experiment. In 1971 we stopped using gold and
silver as the basis of our money. As a result,
the last several generations don’t have much contact
with or experience with silver, except for the
silverware that grandmother may have had and that
we might use on a formal dining occasion. Most
of us don’t appreciate “choice silver.” Let me
tell you more about silver.
The Lord
in His wisdom created silver and gold in approximately
a 17 to one ratio. In much of recent history,
a person could exchange one ounce of gold for
about 15 ounces of silver. Right now the ratio
is 60 to one. With one ounce of gold you can buy
60 ounces of silver. That tells me that silver
is cheap. It is undervalued. I expect the ratio
to go back to 15 to one, or lower, because for
the first time in human history there is less
silver on Earth than gold! Silver is a great conductor
of electricity, and it has been used in electrical
applications. Silver responds to light, and it
has been used in photography. Silver kills bacteria,
and it has been used in medical applications.
Over the past 30 to 40 years we have used up most
of the silver that has been mined in the past
several hundred years! There are about five billion
ounces of gold on Earth, but right now there is
less than one billion ounces of available silver
left. In addition, there is a huge short position
on silver on Comex, which is the main place that
silver is publicly bought and sold in the United
States. In addition, a new silver ETF (Exchange
Traded Fund) could be available soon, which will
make it very easy for investors to buy silver.
With silver in very short supply, the price of
silver could increase dramatically. I expect choice
silver to become even more choice!
10:21
The lips of the righteous feed many, but fools
die for lack of understanding. The righteous
- those who are right with God, who are in a right
relationship with Him, who believe in Him, and
who are living the right way and doing the right
things, know a lot, and out of their understanding
are able to say things that will help, encourage,
guide, direct, teach, building up and sustain
many. Those are the righteous and those who listen
to the righteous. Then there are fools. Fools
die for lack of understanding, and their lack
of understanding is their fault; it’s their responsibility,
since wisdom and knowledge surround us everywhere.
It is your responsibility to know the laws of
God and the laws of man. It is your responsibility
to know the laws of the road before you get on
them. It is your responsibility to know how God
has designed life to work. It is your responsibility
to know about God and salvation and eternal life.
It is your responsibility to seek out the truth.
Don’t plead ignorance.
Truth
is everywhere. Sublime nature, all of this glorious
creation, all of the universe, from the mighty
galaxies to the smallest subatomic particles tells
us about the reality, wisdom and power of God!
The history of Israel is the voice of God speaking
to this world. The history of the Church is God
telling us the truth. Hundreds of millions of
Bibles, translated into hundreds of languages,
have been printed and are available everywhere.
There are millions of wise religious books in
print. There are churches and Messianic Congregations
preaching the truth in many parts of the world.
If that weren’t enough, on radio, TV and the Internet
there are teachings by godly pastors and rabbis.
There are good religious songs on the radio. There
are friends who tell you the truth. There are
evangelists and missionaries who come to your
area. There are people who will hand you a pamphlet
while you are out on the street. Wisdom surrounds
us. Ignorance is no excuse. You are not an innocent
victim!
10:23
Doing wickedness is like sport to a fool, and
so is wisdom to a man of understanding. Just
as many people get a thrill out of sports, so
there are people who get a thrill from doing bad
things. They get pleasure from stealing, from
committing adultery, from defying authorities,
from engaging in all kinds of illegal activities.
And likewise, those who strive to become wise
derive pleasure from knowing God and His ways,
and seeing that knowledge successfully applied
to their own and others lives. The older they
are, the more they learn, the more they know,
and their wisdom grows and becomes more powerful,
and that brings them pleasure.
10:25
When the whirlwind passes, ayn rasha - the
wicked is no more, but the righteous has y’sod
olam - an everlasting foundation. The wicked
- those who defy God and His ways, who live in
a world dominated by the Wicked One - the god
of this world, usually rise to the top. They seem
so strong and powerful, and so much in control.
They seem successful and invincible. The righteous
- those who are in a right relationship with the
Lord, and are living the right way, can seem so
powerless, so weak, so vulnerable. But that is
only the outward appearance of things. The reality
of the situation is that in this chaotic and unstable
world, the righteous are stronger, their lives
are more secure, their existence has more stability,
and they have greater enduring power, especially
since God has designed the universe so that the
righteous have an everlasting foundation. They
will live forever because their lives are built
on the foundation of the everlasting God the Father
who loves us, the ever-existing Messiah the Son
who cares for us so much that He died for us,
the eternal Holy Spirit who indwells us; their
lives are built on the foundation of truth, which
endures forever. The wicked, who seem so powerful,
so successful - well, one day, ayn rasha - the
wicked will simply be no more.
10:26
Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the
eyes, (or like chalk or fingernails scratching
the chalkboard - annoying, unsettling, unpleasant,
just let it stop!) so is the lazy one to those
who send him. Make sure that you pick a diligent,
faithful person to get a job done. Don’t use a
lazy man for an important task. Just as it is
not good to be lazy a man, so too it is not good
to have lazy jobs. Here is an example: The UAW
negotiated a deal with GM which includes a do-nothing
job. Here is the job: a person sits at a desk
in front of a GM company gym, and makes sure that
people sign in before using the facility. The
work is very light - almost non-existent, yet
that person, with benefits, is getting paid 60
dollars an hour. The individual might be a hard
worker, but the job itself is a lazy job. This
kind of attitude is one of the reasons why US
manufacturers are finding it increasingly difficult
to compete in the global economy.
10:27
The fear of the Lord prolongs life, but the
years of the wicked will be shortened. The
fear of the Lord brings peace to the soul and
wisdom to the mind, and wisdom results in good
living, and living properly means that, in general,
you will live longer and be happier.
10:29
The way of the Lord is a stronghold to the
tohm - the upright (those who live a life
of integrity), but ruin to the workers of iniquity.
The Lord is perfect, and out of His moral and
spiritual and other perfections He designed this
universe. The universe reflects the Lord. The
Lord has a way, and His way benefits the upright.
His way favors those who are moral and honest
and faithful and true. Life simply works better
for them. In spite of the occasional twists and
turns and setbacks that everyone encounters in
life, everything ultimately winds up going in
the right direction, because the upright has lined
himself up with the Lord and His way. So, live
in a way that is upright, that is righteous, a
life of integrity.
In contrast,
the way of the Lord is against, is opposed to,
will ultimately reduce to nothing, those who do
aven - iniquity. There are about a dozen Hebrew
words for sin, and each word emphasizes a different
aspect of sin. Aven emphasizes that aspect of
sin that turns out to be unprofitable for the
one who does it. Aven shows evil to be false,
shallow, unreal, unrewarding, empty, meaningless.
The one who defies the Lord and His way, and engages
in iniquity will find that the universe works
against Him. He will not attain happiness or find
ultimate meaning. His life, which could have been
eternally meaningful, will be ruined; it will
turn out to be empty and insignificant.
Shalom!
Rabbi Loren
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