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12:1
Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but
he who hates reproof is stupid. Knowledge
is a good thing. The more we know, the more we
can do. Knowledge brings power. So, we love knowledge.
But, if you love knowledge you must love discipline,
and that doesn’t come naturally or easily to us.
Human beings don’t like to be scolded, corrected,
admonished, disciplined or punished. It’s unpleasant.
It makes us look bad. It hurts our pride. But
the wise man understands that all of us make mistakes.
Now we only see through a glass darkly. Mistakes
come from being born into a fallen world. Mistakes
come from inexperience. Mistakes come from ignorance.
The wise man understands that mistakes need to
be corrected for progress to occur, and he wants
to advance in knowledge, wisdom and power. Therefore
he is willing to humble himself, and take correction.
The wise man understands this, and comes to the
point that he welcomes discipline.
12:2
A good man will obtain favor from the Lord,
but He will condemn a man who devises evil.
The Lord is real. He is not just a Supreme Being
of great intellect and infinite understanding,
and almighty power, but He is a God of morality.
He is good, just, faithful and true. All His ways
are just. He is a God of faithfulness and without
any injustice. He is righteous and upright. And,
He is very concerned that His creatures reflect
His morality. He wants us to be like Him. That
human being who becomes like Him - who does good,
not bad, who is righteous, not unrighteous, who
is straight, not crooked, will find that the Lord
delights in him. The Creator takes pleasure in
him and has good will toward him and therefore
wants to do good things to him and succeed and
advance more and more.
A man
who devises evil, a man of craftiness, who thinks
up ways to get around the laws of God, who schemes
involve violations of the moral and spiritual
laws that God has built into this universe, the
Lord will condemn. The Almighty will declare him
to be guilty. He will be declared guilty of wrongdoing,
condemned, punished and rejected. Morality is
essential to a truly successful life. Does your
morality reflect the character of the Lord, or
do your values contract who He is?
12:3
A man will not be established by wickedness,
but the root of the righteous will not be moved.
Most human beings would like to be established.
They want a life that will last. They would like
a life that would endure. If presented with a
choice between living and dying, between eternal
life and death, most would chose to live. But
you can’t have a good life, a meaningful life,
the kind of life that will endure by using wickedness
- by rebelling against the Lord, ignoring Him
and His ways, and doing what you want to do. You
can’t rebel against the Lord and His commands
and have a life that is successful or significant
or lasting. Those who go against the Lord, disregard
His ways, or defy His morality will be like a
plant with very shallow roots that will be uprooted
and blown away by the strong winds of reality.
One day they will be gone. They will not have
a place on Earth, nor a place in Heaven.
But those
who have been reconciled to the Lord and are in
a right relationship with the Almighty will be
established. They are attaching themselves to
God and committing themselves to please Him and
do what is right. They are like a strong and healthy
tree that sinks its roots deep into the soil.
Their lives will last. Their souls will endure.
The life that they are establishing on Earth will
continue into the New Earth, where they will be
established forever. You want to have an enduring,
meaningful life? Get to know the God of Israel.
Learn about Messiah Yeshua, and then follow the
Lord with all of your heart and soul.
12:4
An excellent wife is the crown of her husband,
but she who shames him is as rottenness in his
bones. The Eyshet Chayil, the virtuous woman,
is a woman of excellent moral and spiritual qualities.
She knows the Lord. She is intelligent. She is
wise. She conducts her life according to God's
standards. She works hard. She is a good mother.
She is active for the good of her family. She
is a good wife, supporting her husband. She enables
her husband to accomplish the maximum he can.
Just as a king needs a kingdom, and a people,
and a castle and a throne and a scepter, and last
of all a crown on his head to complete him and
show the people his glory, so a woman of excellent
moral and spiritual qualities brings honor to
her husband.
But the
woman who shames her husband, who has shallow
values, who is not committed to the Lord, who
is unfaithful, immoral, lazy, who doesn’t do enough
around the house, and doesn’t properly take care
of the children; the woman who does inappropriate
things that embarrasses her husband, is like rotten
bones in a human body. She causes him pain. She
gives him trouble. She causes him aggravation.
She hinders hinder him from accomplishing what
together they could accomplish if only she was
an Eyshet Chayil. Young woman, made a decision
to be a woman of virtue. Young man, it is crucial
for your well-being and happiness that you chose
this kind of woman to be your wife, so commit
yourself to marry someone like her.
12:5
The thoughts of the righteous are just, but
the counsels of the wicked are deceitful.
The man who is genuinely right with God, and who
is doing the right things, he is concerned with
justice. He longs to see people treated fairly.
He hates it when there is injustice anywhere.
He thinks about ways to make things more fair.
He thinks about what his responsibility may be
to intervene in a situation where someone is being
treated unfairly. He knows what is right and fair
and good and prays and works toward those goals.
But the
wicked, who don’t care about God or what the Lord
wants, who won’t develop a proper relationship
with their Creator, often will not care about
those who are made in His image. Because they
don’t know the Lord, and don’t understand Him
and His ways, and His passion for justice, they
wind up deceiving themselves and deceiving others.
They might think that the advice they are giving
will help, and make for a better life, but it
won’t. So, they will give people advice, but often
it will be bad advice.
They will
tell you that if you want to be happy, you should
engage in sex with whoever you want and of whatever
sex you want and whenever you want. But that is
deceptive advice because it ignores the terrible
consequences of illicit sex - an offended Deity,
broken hearts, broken homes, and diseased bodies.
They may tell you that it isn’t important what
you believe. They may tell you that everything
is relative, and there are no absolutes, no ultimate
truths, and your truth is good for you, and their
truth is good for them. They may tell you that
religion isn’t crucial to a successful life. They
may tell you that all religions are alike, and
all will bring you to the same place. They may
tell you that it is good to kill a child growing
in its mother’s womb but wrong to execute a mass
murderer.
12:7
The wicked are overthrown and are no more,
but the house of the righteous will stand.
The wicked - those who are unreconciled to the
Creator, and refuse to submit themselves to the
King, and live the way He wants them to, will
often seem to be successful. They can be rich,
powerful, famous, influential and respected. The
righteous, who have been reconciled to the Lord
of the universe, and who are living according
to His right ways, will often seem to be unsuccessful.
They can be poor, weak, unpopular, and scorned.
But the wicked, no matter how successful they
may seem, will be overthrown. One day they will
be turned upside down. The turn of events will
be so thorough, so complete, so total, and so
final, that Solomon says of them: “ay-nahm” -
they are no more. Everything that they had, everything
that they were, will disappear. Poof! Gone! What
a mistake then, to continue to defy the Living
God, no matter how rich, how successful and how
powerful you may be! But the righteous will stand!
Their deeds will be rewarded. Their sacrifices
will be recompensed. Their sins will be atoned
for. Their names will last. Their bodies will
be resurrected. Their lives will endure.
12:8
A man will be praised according to his insight,
but one of perverse heart will be despised.
The one who is worthy of praise is the man who
has sechel - wisdom and insight. He knows that
the Lord exists, and that this is a God-designed
universe. He knows that the Creator has built
into the cosmos natural laws, and moral laws and
spiritual laws, and he lives by those laws, and
encourages others to live by them. He will be
praised by those whose praise really counts -
God the Father and the Messiah the Son. Can you
imagine one day, after having lived an honorable
life, having received little honor here on Earth,
being praised by the glorious God, and hearing
Him say to you, “Well done My son! I am so proud
of you, so pleased with the way you conducted
yourself during your short time on Earth.”
There
are many others of perverse heart, who down at
the core of their being are twisted and crooked.
They don’t care about the Creator, and are not
interested in living according to His laws. Their
warped minds think it OK to contradict God’s good
laws and wise principles, to place their thoughts
above the Lord’s thoughts, to put their ways above
His ways. They will encourage children to have
safe sex, and use a condom, because children will
do it anyway, and can’t restrain themselves, even
though they can restrain themselves, should restrain
themselves, will harm themselves if they don’t
restrain themselves, and the sex activity isn’t
safe. They may tell you that it is OK for an underage
child to have an abortion, even without notifying
the parents, but wrong for that same child to
bring aspirin to school. They may tell you that
tolerance of other’s thoughts is a great virtue,
but attack you for your values. They may tell
you that you must not violate the separation of
Church and State, which they interpret to mean
that you can’t pray in public, or post portions
of the Bible in public, or share your faith, or
bring a Bible to school, when the Word of God
and the founding fathers and their writings and
history don’t support those twisted concepts.
The wicked may be popular, influential, praised
by many of their contemporaries for a time, but
ultimately they will be despised by those whose
opinions really count - the Three-In-One God,
the holy angels and the sons and daughters of
God.
12:9
Better is he who is lightly esteemed and has
a servant, than he who honors himself and lacks
bread. The person who is lightly esteem is
the person who doesn’t spend too much of his hard-earned
money on himself in order to impress others. The
person who honors himself is the one who uses
too much of his money for the purpose of impressing
others. He is the person who will buy or lease
a car that is too expensive, will wear designer
clothes and shoes. He will buy a house or take
vacations that he really can’t afford because
he wants others to think that he is a success.
As a result, he is financially stretched. He has
little savings for difficult times, and difficult
financial times often come. His credit is maxed
out. He is living paycheck to paycheck and is
under financial pressure, which makes his life
stressful and unenjoyable.
The man
who is lightly esteemed yet has the servant is
the one who not make a display of his wealth and
doesn’t care what others think. He drives a car
he can afford. He buys a house that fits his budget.
The clothes he buys don’t have to be the most
fashionable or expensive. He takes the money he
saves and invests it and has it where it counts,
where it will really benefit him. He is not financially
stressed.
You want
to get wealthier? Then don’t care what others
think about the kind of clothes you dress in,
the kind of car you drive, the size or location
of the house you live in, or what kind of vacations
you take. Don’t use your hard earned money on
vanity purchases. Live carefully, save your money,
and invest wisely. You will be better off, and
able to rest and relax, buy the things you really
want when you need to, and enjoy the things you
have.
12:10
A righteous man has regard for the life of
his beast, but the compassion of the wicked is
cruel. Man was given authority over the animals,
but that authority should not be abused. Even
though animals are lower on the scale of being,
and are of less value than human beings, and we
have been given dominion over the animals, and
can manage them, and keep them as pets, or eat
them, human beings don’t have the right to neglect,
abuse, inflict unnecessary pain or torture animals.
But there are human being who don’t care about
what is right, and have no regard for the laws
of God and have no compassion for other living
creatures, and they can be cruel. However, those
who are right with God act properly toward the
animals that the Lord has entrusted to our care.
They take good care of their cats, dogs, horses,
cows, children. They treat them humanely. They
honor the Creator of the creatures, who is aware
when even one little sparrow falls to the ground.
12:11
He who tills his land will have plenty of bread,
but he who pursues vain things lack sense.
12:24 The hand of the diligent will
rule, but the slack hand will be put to forced
labor. You want to have plenty? You want to
advance at work? Work hard, improve yourself so
that you are capable of more. Make sure that you
have a job. Get a second job if necessary, Learn
a little about money and economics and investing.
Cut your spending, live frugally, invest wisely.
Don't pursue vain, empty, useless gimmicks. Don't
go for get rich quick schemes, spiritual ones
or otherwise. Don't gamble or play the lottery.
The majority of those who win easy money, because
they don’t appreciate it and don’t know how to
manage it, wind up blowing it. Don’t send in “seed
money” to ministries and expect a hundred fold
return. Don’t make foolish investments.
12:13
An evil man is ensnared by the transgression of
his lips, but the righteous will escape trouble.
12:14 A man will be satisfied with good
by the fruit of his words, and the deeds of a
man's hands will return to him. The Lord has
designed the universe in such a way that your
our actions and words, be they good or bad, produce
consequences not only for others but also for
ourselves. Good words and actions will produce
good results, and will have positive consequences
for us and keep us out of trouble. Bad words,
lying, false teaching, blasphemy, harms others
and come back to bite us. So, speak up for the
Lord, for the truth, for the Word of God, for
what is right. Don’t be afraid to be a witness
to others about the Good News about the Messiah,
and what you have learned about God. And, do good
things. Work hard on the job, take care of your
family, come to the congregation regularly, find
some way to serve, read the Scriptures, pray.
You will be helping others and it will wind up
blessing you as well!
12:15
The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,
but a wise man is he who listens to counsel.
The fool is the person who does not fear the Lord
and will not live according to the wise principles
found in the Word of God. The fool may have some
knowledge, even much knowledge, but he doesn’t
know how to properly apply the knowledge he has.
He may have a Ph. D., but he is unable or unwilling
to take his knowledge and mix it with faith and
summit everything it to God and His Word. If you
tell him about the Lord, and give him great arguments
for Christian Faith, and the reliability of Scripture,
he will come with reasons why it can’t be so.
The fool rarely understands that he is a fool.
He may think that he is smart, and understands
the world, and his ideology and values are right,
even though they are wrong. It’s not only what
you don’t know that will harm you, but what you
know that is not so that will also hurt you! In
contrast to the fool is the chacham - the wise
man, who is humble, who knows that he can always
learn more, and will listen to good advice, sound
doctrine, and a well reasoned argument.
12:16
A fools' vexation is known at once, but a prudent
man conceals dishonor. 12:18 There
is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a
sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
When a fool is upset or angry, everyone knows
it right away, because he responds out of anger.
Because he is angry, he will say and do things
that are inappropriate and harmful to others and
embarrassing to himself. The wise man knows that
there are things and circumstances and situations
that annoy and upset him. He understands that
there are “buttons” that people who know him well,
particularly his family members, can push. He
knows that it is not hard to lose one’s temper,
and to do so makes a situation worse. He knows
that it can be embarrassing or harmful to lose
one’s temper. So, he takes this knowledge about
himself, and the things that annoy him, and he
prevents himself from losing his temper. He does
not allow himself to be easily angered. He learns
not to immediately respond. He slows down his
reaction time. He will take his time, and think
through the situation before he responds. He will
overlook some things, and deal with other things
later, when he is calm, in his time, in his way.
He will formulate an appropriate response for
the maximum benefit of all involved.
Shalom,
Rabbi Loren
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