Warning Against the Adulteress
7:1 My son, keep my words
and treasure up my commandments with you;
2 keep my commandments and live;
keep my teaching as the apple of your eye;
3 bind them on your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
and call insight your intimate friend,
5 to keep you from the forbidden [1] woman,
from the adulteress [2] with her smooth words.
and treasure up my commandments with you;
2 keep my commandments and live;
keep my teaching as the apple of your eye;
3 bind them on your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
and call insight your intimate friend,
5 to keep you from the forbidden [1] woman,
from the adulteress [2] with her smooth words.
6 For at the window of my house
I have looked out through my lattice,
7 and I have seen among the simple,
I have perceived among the youths,
a young man lacking sense,
8 passing along the street near her corner,
taking the road to her house
9 in the twilight, in the evening,
at the time of night and darkness.
I have looked out through my lattice,
7 and I have seen among the simple,
I have perceived among the youths,
a young man lacking sense,
8 passing along the street near her corner,
taking the road to her house
9 in the twilight, in the evening,
at the time of night and darkness.
10 And behold, the woman meets him,
dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart. [3]
11 She is loud and wayward;
her feet do not stay at home;
12 now in the street, now in the market,
and at every corner she lies in wait.
13 She seizes him and kisses him,
and with bold face she says to him,
14 “I had to offer sacrifices, [4]
and today I have paid my vows;
15 so now I have come out to meet you,
to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.
16 I have spread my couch with coverings,
colored linens from Egyptian linen;
17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh,
aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let us take our fill of love till morning;
let us delight ourselves with love.
19 For my husband is not at home;
he has gone on a long journey;
20 he took a bag of money with him;
at full moon he will come home.”
dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart. [3]
11 She is loud and wayward;
her feet do not stay at home;
12 now in the street, now in the market,
and at every corner she lies in wait.
13 She seizes him and kisses him,
and with bold face she says to him,
14 “I had to offer sacrifices, [4]
and today I have paid my vows;
15 so now I have come out to meet you,
to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.
16 I have spread my couch with coverings,
colored linens from Egyptian linen;
17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh,
aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let us take our fill of love till morning;
let us delight ourselves with love.
19 For my husband is not at home;
he has gone on a long journey;
20 he took a bag of money with him;
at full moon he will come home.”
21 With much seductive speech she persuades him;
with her smooth talk she compels him.
22 All at once he follows her,
as an ox goes to the slaughter,
or as a stag is caught fast [5]
23 till an arrow pierces its liver;
as a bird rushes into a snare;
he does not know that it will cost him his life.
with her smooth talk she compels him.
22 All at once he follows her,
as an ox goes to the slaughter,
or as a stag is caught fast [5]
23 till an arrow pierces its liver;
as a bird rushes into a snare;
he does not know that it will cost him his life.
24 And now, O sons, listen to me,
and be attentive to the words of my mouth.
25 Let not your heart turn aside to her ways;
do not stray into her paths,
26 for many a victim has she laid low,
and all her slain are a mighty throng.
27 Her house is the way to Sheol,
going down to the chambers of death.
and be attentive to the words of my mouth.
25 Let not your heart turn aside to her ways;
do not stray into her paths,
26 for many a victim has she laid low,
and all her slain are a mighty throng.
27 Her house is the way to Sheol,
going down to the chambers of death.
4 comments:
v19 For my husband is not at home..
The book of proverb exhorts us again and again to the path of wisdom which is grounded on the fear of God.
The problem with man is that we are more conscious of people than of God. We fear man more than God. We are mindful of man's judgement/ reaction/approval more than God's.
Hence when being tempted to sin, we give in because we have this false sense of security of not being discovered by man.
We forget that God is the only one that we need to fear. And He is omnipotent, and all knowing and He tolerated no sin. He cannot be called a righteous God if He doesn't judge sin.
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AS a NT believer, the Spirit of God is always at home with us.
"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body," (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
God had paid a great price with the blood of His son to atone us, make us righteous so that the Holy Spirit can dwell in us in love, fellowshipping with us, guiding and teaching us, giving us the blessing of His presence (joy ,peace, protection...).
Our fear should be that if we fail to response 'reasonably' to this great mercy and grace toward us. (Roman 12:1)
Our rational response and our concern should be how to love Him in return, how to honor Him back. How to walk a life worthy of that calling and how to walk in awe of the glory of His presence
So when being tempted the next time, "my husband is not at home.."
resist the devil,
"Devil, you have no place in my heart, the lover of my soul is at home with me"
And whisper to the Lord
"I am wholly thine.."
v2a keep my commandments and live;
The OT people in Moses' time understood this much better than we do today. They saw God's swift judgement and learned the hard lessons:
1) In Exodus 32, when people broke his commandment and sinned in making the golden calf
2) In Numbers 14, when people were treating God in contempt, refusing to believe God's word (His promise/commandment) to enter the Promised Land.
In both occasions God threatened to wipe out the whole generation there and then and make a new nation out of Moses.
What brought out such a fierce anger of God?
God told Moses " ..They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them.." Exodus 14:8a
"How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me.." Number 14: 11
Unbelief and breaking God's commandment is despising the holy God!
Although through Moses' intercession, the wrath of God was withheld for a moment but eventually the whole generation wandered and die in the wilderness and were not able to enter the promised land.
Keeping the commandment and the Word of God is a serious matter.
Only the believing minority i.e. Joshua and Caleb lived to see the promise of God because they believed and kept the commandment of God
The promise and commandment of God was still living and burning in 85-year-old Caleb's heart even though it was after 40 years of wandering in the wilderness with his other unbelieving Israelites as a result of God's judgement.
"Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day (i.e. 40yrs ago).. I will drive them out just as The Lord said" Joshua 14:12
Joshua and Caleb lived to see the promise.
Keep my commandments and live..(v2a)
"Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live. Proverb 4:4b
What's more..eternal life is now given to us who obey the words of our Lord Jesus Christ:
Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.. " John 6:68
Sister Vimala (vimala@hla.hongleong.com.my) commented..
"Prov 7 basically starts with exhortation reminding us to keep the laws and commandments of God close to us, in our hearts, minds, etc - almost like building a shield of protection around us.
Then we are told why we need to do this - the things that lead us astray confront us when we least expect them, they can come disguised in any form. Then slowly lure us to accept & allow behaviours as 'little trespasses' that are forgiveable. Its only when it's too late, does one realise that they have been led to the pathway of death. This is scary but so true.
If we are confronted with things that are outrightly despicable we know how to quickly reject them. But, more often than not, temptations that snare us don't happen that way. They chip away our resolve to stay faithful and challenge our beliefs with half truths; unless we are clear in our minds - what God's Commandments are, we can be lured away.
The other important thing - we cannot afford to think that we are righteous because of who we are. We need to be 'shielded by God and only He can keep us from the wiles that are around us. The moment we start thinking that we are strong enough to withstand any temptation, we will surely fail. Its the mercy fo God that keep us!
Prov 7, I think teaches simple lessons - know & be sure of God's laws and then, lean on Him to keep you safe, knowing His Word and Walking in His Grace."
2 keep my commandments and live;
keep my teaching as the apple of your eye;
two word which is very interesting - KEEP and LIVE.
many people before they came to know the Lord , very frequent think that the moment they accepted Christ they will live a miserable life.they have the idea that they can't do this and that. as it life have been taken away from them.
but in Proverb 7..commanded us to keep and live. well.. does it means that we don't keep, we will live miserable?
here the word "keep" and "live" is actually a command from God.. that call us to keep and to live what we keep. we cannot just keep and don't live it out. or rather live and don't keep. both must come hand in hand.
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