Proverbs 6:20-35

Proverbs 6:20-35

If there was ever a place that a chapter break was needed but not given, it is here. This section, if followed, will save endless grief in any life.

As parents we are often big on education. From preschool to college, we are very attentive to the value of our children's education. No doubt academic education is important, but marriage and sexual purity are a million times more important. A person with no formal education who has a good marriage and is sexually pure is better off than a triple PhD whose life is marked by immorality. How could someone follow the godly teaching of parents (vs. 20-23) if their parents never gave them these teachings? From an early age, we need to teach our children the priority of pursuit of a godly spouse.

This foundational teaching serves to protect our children from adulterous women. The word “to keep” in Hebrew is “shamar.” It can mean a hedge made of thorns or a guard or sentry on duty. Without this guard in place, our children are unprotected from the flirtations of evil people (vs 24-26). By the time puberty arrives and sexual attraction begins, it is almost too late to begin talking about the importance of a godly spouse.

The man who is pulled away by such a woman has endless grief. He does harm to himself (vs 27-29); he is marked with shame and reproach by the community (vs 30-32); he also faces the fury of an enraged husband, and there is no bribe to solve that problem (vs 33-35).

“Lord, grant me the wisdom to hold as a priority a godly spouse. AMEN."

Proverbs 6:1-19

Proverbs 6:1-19

It is very tempting to look at this chapter as a collection of five sets of warnings about individually unwise people or behaviors. That is true, but if that is as far as we go, we miss a powerful and important progression. This chapter can represent a continuous journey to ruin.

The first section, verses 1-5, is a warning against debt. The time to heed the advice to get out of debt is not when bankruptcy is about to occur. There's no indication of a financial crisis in these verses. While many Christians will advocate for not paying interest or being in debt, they advocate holding debt on others in the form of stocks, bonds, etc. Perhaps this hypocrisy is caused by our love of money and wealth. We claim to have our money working for us, rather than working personally, but in reality we are extracting wealth from others.

Which brings us to the next section, verses 6-11. Let's face it: easy money and consumer debt are two sides of the same coin. The slugger wants to get goods but doesn't want to work. Go to any community of non-working, able-bodied adults, and you will find high debt levels but low-effort people. Do you remember the stories from the past of college students with full class loads and two jobs? Now student loans cover all expenses, recreation included. Apathy about education goes hand in hand with the loans to have the college experience. In many welfare communities where poverty is rampant, you will find easy credit is the norm. Complete with high interest rates. Never doubt easy credit brings debt, and debt enables indolence, which leads to poverty.

Ever been in a community where welfare and government aid are the primary income sources? You see it described in verses 12-15. Without work to do, there is plenty of time and room for drama. It is no accident that crime and welfare always fall on the same community. Able-bodied adults who do not work, who overspend and are in need, will gravitate to plots, schemes, and plans to get ahead.

In verses 16-19, we see the behaviors of the conspirators; it is descriptive of the drama of verses 12-15. The person involved in the drama is described in verse 12 as “worthless.” The word literally means "no" plus "value." We have sentimentalized the poor as if they are all characters from a Dickens novel. We think of them as victims of a “system” or “circumstance” or the "environment." We pour endless resources into solving the economic problem. But economics is not the problem at all. Certainly there are systems that are unjust and unfair, but we must not avoid asking the questions of the moral culpability of the poverty class.

The failure to address the underlying sins that lead to the disastrous condition in the economic condition is not compassion; it is denial. 

“Lord, grant me a work ethic that will honor You. AMEN."