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The fear of the Lord us the beginning of wisdom!
(Proverbs 1 & 2)
Fred R. Coulter—September 23, 2023
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How you can use the book of Proverbs to help someone understand what God is about.
Well, we just got yesterday delivered the new book, The Holy Spirit, The Power of God: A Scriptural Perspective.
That's an important thing because everyone who doesn't know anything about the Bible, when they come to the Bible, they want to try and find something there that they can either ignore, reject, or that they can say, 'I think of it a different way.'
So, let me just read you the first couple of paragraphs in the Forward of the book so you understand the complete approach that we need all the time with:
- the Word of God
- how we live
- what we do
- what we think
- how we interact with other people
- how we interact with the world
but more importantly
- our relationship with God
Of course, the 'trinity doctrine' is one of the most cemented in place in Orthodox Christianity that the Catholic Church killed and martyred true Christians who would not believe the trinity and who would not yield to the pope.
When the Protestant Reformation began, the motto of the Protestant Reformation was 'Sola Scriptura,' which means Scriptures only. However, they didn't stick to it! So here's the first part.
This book will be one of the most important books you can read. The Holy Spirit, the Power of God, will address common erroneous assumptions on this subject, and answer the question: "What is the Holy Spirit of God?"
Because they think it's a third person in the Trinity. This book exposes that as the greatest lie that the Orthodox Christian world can have today, because it is not taught in the Scriptures. That's why this is called A Scriptural Perspective!
And it will be a Scriptural perspective. That means it will be based on the true teachings of the Bible—the inspired Word of God—not broadly accepted teachings and doctrines of Orthodox Christendom….
normally called 'traditions! Look at what some of the religions of the world have had. They had traditions of human sacrifice!
When you analyze all the civilizations of the world—and they're digging them up like nobody's business today in many places in the world—in China, in India, in Egypt, especially in Central America.
In every case, every society ended up being destroyed because of human sacrifice three ways:
- children
- adults
- the unborn
because they could perform abortion back then as well! They were destroyed.
So, what we have to do is follow the Word of God, and always remember that the Word of God is the Truth of God from the God of Truth Who cannot lie.
- Who is the father of lies? None other than Satan the devil!
- Who wants to be God?
And as a matter of fact, is called the 'god of this world' (2-Cor. 4).
That is the answer to whom the third person of the trinity is. It's Satan the devil trying to make himself equal with God. Now, most of the world won't believe that.
Here you go, a brand new book. It's being mailed out by Unit Packaging. The other book that we just recently published, The Apostle Paul's Teachings On the Laws of God, is absolutely fundamentally important. If you need extra copies to give to other people or to help other people begin to understand the Word of God, those would be very helpful indeed.
As Lyall brought it out, this world is becoming crazy. Why is it becoming crazy? First of all, we know that Rev. 12: 9 says Satan the devil is actively deceiving the whole world, which means that more people believe more lies than ever before.
In the study done by Unwise that I have given some messages on here and also on Church at Home, he said that:
When a nation has good moral sexual laws and there are no exceptions, no premarital sex, and no adultery, that those nations flourished. When they began to relax the moral code, they began to go down. And if they didn't change and turn around, by the third generation…
which we're halfway through it now, and what does that involve? It involves what Unwise says is:
…the destruction of rational thought!
What does that mean? That means thoughts which lead to good; that's what the Bible is all about!
Even Unwise didn't believe in God, but he could make this survey, write this book, and show it with statistics. Then as you look at every society in the world that has collapsed—and they have all collapsed—because of that very thing.
Now, the Apostle Paul writes this of the last days. Let's see what happens, because when people get all involved in a society like it is today, the self becomes the most important thing! Human activity becomes the most important thing!
- they leave out God
- they hate God
It's like one person, who is a homosexual, said, 'Why do Christians hate gays?' Look at the perspective having no knowledge of what is right and wrong, but people who know right and wrong don't want to get caught into the trap of same-sex anything.
Today we've gone further, and they are following after something which is 100% guaranteed to fail, and that is to change the gender! Why do all of these things take place?
2-Timothy 3:1: "Know this also, that in the last days perilous times shall come."
Do we have that today? Yes! Look at what happened to that chief of police riding his bicycle, and the 17-year-old who killed him and ran over him actually had his cell phone recording what he was doing, because he was so engaged in evil that he wanted everyone to know! That's how it is!
How about if you go to a store? Look at how many businesses they're closing because thieves can come in and take anything they want to and not be prosecuted. If the owner tries to protect himself, maybe he has a gun and kills one of these robbers, he will be charged for murder by the lawless system. "…perilous times shall come." What is it that does it?
Verse 2: "For men will be lovers of self…" They want whatever pleasure comes to them!
What's one of the pleasures that they take which kills them in a very short period of time? They want to experience sensational, almost out of the body experiences with drugs! Then what happens? It's like the deception of drugs!
It's written this way: the deception of drugs, 'You try it once, I may let you go; but if you try it twice, I own your soul!' That's what happens when they get into loving self.
"…lovers of money…" (v 2). Isn't that true? Look at everything that's on television:
- games
- gambling
- even legalized gambling on sports events
- liars
- cheats
- thieves at the highest level
- in the stock market
- in the government
- in all of the corruption and bribery that people take
Look at what is happening with the Biden Mafia and others in the Democrat party. That doesn't mean that Republicans might not be involved in it because some of them might be.
"…lovers of money… [lust of money] …braggarts…" (v 2).
How great I am, how great this is, all focused on self!What is the way that can be used with the Word of God to help those people come out of those things if they desire to do so? There has to be a desire to do so first!
"…proud, blasphemers… [Doesn't that sound like the conversation of most people?] …disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, implacable…" (vs 2-3).
You couldn't change their mind for anything. Why? Because they're so devoted to evil and so hateful of God!
"…without self-control…" (v 3). Now, that is quite a statement! We talked about this!
What does God want with us? He wants us with His Word and with His Spirit to have self-control! That is based on love.
"…savage, despisers of those who are good" (v 3). Oh, they make fun of anyone who is good!
Verse 4: "Betrayers, reckless, egotistical, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God."
That is emphasized in all of the sports activity in the world:
- the pleasures of sport
- the pleasures of illicit sex
- the pleasures of drugs
- the pleasures of ridiculing those who are good
So, this is the world that we live in!
We'll begin in the book of Proverbs to see God's way of beginning to answer them. It will be a real education for us when we examine the first three chapters, and the fourth chapter of the book of Proverbs. How that this can be used rightly to help people recover from the whole mess that the world is in today.
The book of Proverbs is a very interesting book in the Bible because of the way that it is written and how it can be applied in many different ways. Also, it shows that God is concerned about every single individual, that they listen to what is right. You have to start to do that before you can find God!
Proverbs also shows the love of God and all the commandments of God. For those who are youth, it's particularly calibrated toward them, but it is beneficial to everyone because we can look at it:
- as God the Father speaking to us through Christ
- as our parents speaking to us
- as God Himself speaking to you through what is called wisdom in the book of Proverbs
What is that? God defined it that way so that everyone would realize that there are things that are automatic. There are things that happen automatically when you do good or when you do evil. They're all based on the commandments of God. All of these are like God talking to us to let us know what He wants us to know. Are we willing to listen?
I might mention we have a whole book of Proverbs designed especially for teenagers, which is this, to take one chapter of Proverbs and read it every day. We have this recorded on CDs and we also have the Scriptures on the CDs so you can read them at the same time. Do this every day for a month. There are 31 chapters in Proverbs. So, if you do one a day, it'll take about a month. You might have to double up on the months that are 30 days. You might have to double up a day or two, and in February you might have to double up on three.
But you go through that and when you get done with it, you come back and start again. And the reason is that when you go over things and you repeat things, you learn new things, because you've had other things come into your mind and other lessons that you have learned that you can think about and meditate on as you study the book of Proverbs.
Prov. 1 is very similar to what parents would tell their teenagers. So, God has it as Wisdom rather than Him directly talking so that those who do not have a grasp of God may be willing to listen.
Proverbs 1:1: "The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel."
What is this for? He tells us what everyone wants to be:
- they want to learn knowledge
- they want to learn understanding
- they want to be smart
- they want to be able to be successful
Verse 2: "To know wisdom… [that's what's lacking today] …and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding"—as compared to words lacking understanding!
The book of Proverbs talks a lot about the one who lacks understanding is a fool.
Verse 3: "To receive instruction in wisdom…"
You have to be able to receive it; no one's going to force it down your throat. So you have to be willing to listen and think about, and yes, even meditate on what is being presented and see how it fits into your life and what you need to do.
"…righteousness…" (v 3).
That is to know every right way and that's hooked up with the commandments of God.
"…and judgment…" (v 3).
- how to make right decisions
- how to analyze things properly
- how to figure out what you need to do
"…and equity; to give prudence to the simple…" (vs 3-4).
People don't like to be called 'simple' so you might say to the uneducated or to the unlearned. That's what this means.
"…knowledge and discretion to the young man" (v 4).
To help keep youth from being impetuously led into things by emotion. Today everything is based upon emotion:
- very little is based upon truth
- very little is based upon right logic
It's all emotional!
When you watch television look at how it's all emotional and all sexual, every bit of it, especially the advertisements. Then look at all of the things concerning:
- murder
- demonism
- adultery
- fornication
- homosexuality,
- gender changing
All of these come about because of where we started, love of self rather than love of true knowledge and of God!
Verse 5: "A wise man will hear and increase in learning…"
The truth is we learn all the time. I'm still learning at 89.
They're told in the world well after you're 24 your intelligence starts going down. NO! After 24—IF you have the right things to put into your mind in the Word of God—your intelligence goes up rather than down.
Verse 5: "A wise man will hear and will increase learning, and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsel."
What does that mean? That means that you will have wisdom and people will come to you for what you can tell them so they can live their lives in a way that they should, because it comes from the Word of God. That's what the whole Bible is about:
- how we should live
- how we should learn
- what we should do
- everything about life
Verse 6: "To understand a proverb and its interpretation…" That means IF you understand it:
- you think about it
- you read it
- you apply it
- you mull it over in your mind
"…the words of the wise and their dark sayings" (v 6).
So, you can look at some arguments that people present and then because of the knowledge that you have from the Word of God and the Truth of God you'll be able to understand whether that is good advice or not.
Verse 7 is the key: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge…"
The best way to keep out of trouble is to fear to go against God's way!
A lot of people say, 'I don't like fear in the Bible.' Well there's a good fear to keep you from trouble, and there's a wrong fear that you don't want to have anything to do with God! God has it that it's the "…beginning of knowledge…."
We'll see that you have to come to knowledge first and then the steps to come to wisdom! Notice that right in the beginning is warning!
"…but fools despise wisdom and instruction" (v 7).
They're just going to do it their own way anyway. They despise wisdom and instruction!
Verse 8: "My son…"
It's very interesting here; this is David talking to Solomon. We could also look at it as God the Father talking to us through Christ!
Verse 8: "My son, hear the instruction of your father and forsake not the law of your mother"—commandment #5: honor your father and mother that your days may be long on the earth!
Look at all the rebellion against parents today, taught even in the schools. Where has it led to? Look at all the countless hundreds of thousands of people destroying their lives with drugs. That's just one example. Hundreds of thousands. They didn't listen to what their mom and dad said, 'Oh, don't get involved with that, bad things are going to happen.'
Oh, well you don't know anything, mom and dad, I'm the center of all knowledge. I'm eighteen and know what I'm doing.
Too many people think that way!
Verse 9: "For they shall be an ornament of grace to your head and chains of honor around your neck."
Then God gives a direct warning—v 10: "My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent."
That's what happens. 'Oh, try it, you'll like it. Let's do it'—whatever!
What is sin? The Bible tells us sin is rejecting and breaking or transgression of the laws and commandments of God!
The carnal mind doesn't like to hear the word law! But everything that there is in the whole world operates by law. Different laws pertaining to different things.
- how to take care of growing food
- how to take care of the water
- how to take care of the land
- how to take care of animals
the Word of God is
- how you take care of your life
"…do not consent" to sinners!
Verse 11: "If they say, 'Come with us…"
What is this? This is the gang mentality that they try and foster in the world! That you must belong to a group, and this group you must do whatever the group does.
Well, IF it's a group to love God and serve Him, that's one story. But IF it's a group to go out and do whatever they want, to lie, cheat and steal, whatever that may be, that's another story.
That's why you need wisdom and understanding to make the decision. "…do not consent."
Verse 11: "If they say, 'Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood…"
That sounds like San Francisco today! Look at what's happening to all of the stores. Look at what's happening to people. Youth running wild, blacks running wild. Oh, they don't like to say about black racism against whites, Orientals and Latinos. But if a white man does it, it's broadcast far and wide. Well, God doesn't discriminate against anyone!
"…'Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood we will watch secretly for the innocent without cause; let us swallow them up alive as the grave, and whole…[that is, completely take them down] …as those who go down into the pit… [murder; into the grave] …We shall find all precious substance; we shall fill our houses with plunder…. [no working, no earning, no understanding at all] …cast in your lot among us, and let us have one purse'" (vs 11-14).
Verse 15: "My son, do not walk in the way with them!…. [that's what happens] …Keep back your foot from their path." This is so true!
I remember the instruction my dad gave me when I joined the Army and about what would happen with the situation sexually that happens to soldiers. Gave me very graphic details of what occurs because he saw it. I listened and I learned because I didn't want any of that coming upon me.
Verse 16: "For their feet run to evil and make haste to shed blood. Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird, but they lie in wait for their own blood; they watch secretly for their own lives" (vs 16-18).
This is just a way of saying that when you get involved in this kind of thing, you're going to die young. There's no way around it. You're either going to change and reform and get out or you're going to die young.
Verse 19: "So are the ways of everyone who gets gain by violence, who takes away the life of its owners."
What comes to mind right now is carjacking, thievery, walking into the stores, gangs coming in with wheelbarrows to load everything up, and walk away with it. Lawlessness and no consequences!.
Verse 20: "Wisdom cries outside; she utters her voice in the streets."
What is this? This is saying that whenever there is gross sin like this, sooner or later people are going to have to come to their senses, and it's typified by what it's saying here, wisdom! Look at all of the official foolishness and lawlessness that's going on in the world today.
Verse 21: "She cries in the chief place of gathering, in the openings of the gates; in the city she utters her words, saying, 'How long will you love simplicity, simple ones? And will scorners delight in their scorning? And will fools hate knowledge?'" (vs 21-22).
It always comes back to this: you're either going to change your ways or you're going to suffer terribly! That happens automatically.
Verse 23: "Turn back at my reproof… [in other words, listen to what is right] …behold, I will pour out My Spirit to you; I will make My words known to you."
You have to come to the knowledge of the Truth; that's what Proverbs is all about. This is the introduction to it. Now notice the warning:
Verse 24: "Because I called, and you refused to hearken…"—don't listen!
Have you ever watched on NatGeo To Catch a Smuggler and all the deceptive things they do to try and hide in the luggage of people traveling by air; to hide cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, and even marijuana? They put it in there, but officials know how to detect it, but they go ahead anyway. Then when the officials pull out the cocaine that's been hidden in their luggage, they start lying, they start crying, 'Oh, this is not mine, I didn't do this.' They didn't listen in the first place!
"…you refused to hearken, I stretched out my hand, and no one paid attention" (v 24). It should be that everyone should say:
I will not get involved in those things of drugs, or in the things of sex, or in the things of gangs because all of these lead to trouble.
Verse 25: "But you have despised all my counsel and would have none of my reproof."
What is reproof? Reproof is correction! People don't like to be told:
- to stop doing it
- that they are doing what is wrong
This is in every level of life, all the way down from the greatest to the least. The ones most responsible for all of this are the religious leaders who reject the laws of God!'
- they want people to be good
- they want them to believe in a Jesus that they can do anything they want to do
Maybe they are not out there killing and stealing and robbing, but what they are doing, they're setting up the whole society to become that way in the long run. So, here is what happens.
Verse 26: "I also will laugh at your calamity..."—how stupid that was! We all need to ask the question:
- How are we leading our lives?
- Are we following Truth, righteousness and goodness?
ultimately meaning
- Are we following God and Jesus Christ and keeping His commandments?
- What are all of these things leading up to if we do this?
All of these lead up to loving God!
That's what everyone claims that they want, but they don't get it!
Verse 27: "When your calamity comes like a storm… [you're caught] …and your destruction comes like a whirlwind, when trouble and pain come upon you, then they shall call upon Me…" (vs 27-28).
In other words, what are all these troubles for? They happen automatically! They come so that IF you are wise enough to understand, to get out of it, you get out of it!
All the difficulties that people go through is to bring to your attention what you need to do. That applies in every facet of life, spiritually to us day-by-day:
- What are we going to do?
- Are we going to really honor God?
- Are we really going to live His way?
- What are we going to do?
- What are we going to allow into our mind?
- What are we going to let our imaginations run to?
- What is it that we are going to do?
That's why troubles come! They can be very simple. You can overcook something on a stove and you burn it. You learn the lesson from the experience, and you won't burn it again. Same way with all the commandments of God.
Notice it says here, "…they shall seek Me early, but they shall not find Me" (v 28).
Why? Because unless there is repentance, you're not going to find the wisdom to apply it. You will never know.
People wonder why things never work out in their lives because they never think about the consequences of what they are doing. When the punishment comes automatically, they don't respond and change.
Rather, we should think ahead so we don't get involved in that, whatever it is. Here's why they won't find the wisdom:
Verse 29: "Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD."
Go right back to v 7: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction."
Verse 29: "Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD."
Look at what happens when you refuse it:
Verse 30: "They would have none of My counsel; they despised all My correction."
The best correction is self-control, and that comes by choice!
Verse 31: "Therefore, they shall eat the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices."
On To Catch a Smuggler, they're always sorrowful when they put on the handcuffs and lead them away to go to prison. They don't want to go to prison. They don't want to face up to the fact that they were trying to smuggle.
Verse 32: "For the waywardness of the simple shall slay them… [that's a perfect description of the problems with drugs] …and the complacency of fools destroys them."
Complacency means you put off doing what you need to do, and you know you need to do it, but you never do it!
Finally, it comes to a head and you have a problem—whatever that may be—and then it becomes harder to solve.
What God is telling here is that everyone, especially the youth, listen to what your parents tell you, listen to the wisdom of what happens automatically when you do wrong! Pay attention to it! That's 'wisdom crying in the streets.'
Listen and that you will have a conscience when you're starting to do something wrong that you will be self-correcting!
"…the complacency of fools destroys them. But whoever hearkens to me shall dwell safely and shall be secure without fear of harm" (vs 32-33).
In other words, your life is going to turn out right. It's like the homosexual who said, 'Why do Christians hate gays?' That would seem like a logical question to them, but it's not! That's the wrong question.
Why do the gays hate the knowledge of God, which says, 'Don't do this abomination'? Likewise with abortion. Especially today there are enough contraceptive ways of preventing children if you don't want them without having to commit murder to get rid of the pregnancy! Now then, here comes the alternative:
- IF you're willing
- IF you want truth
- IF you want what is right
- IF you want your life to be good
- IF you want your life to be successful
- IF you want to be able to handle the problems of life as they come to you
Rather than be overwhelmed with it and you get carried away with your emotions and your emotions:
- rule everything
- rule your heart
- rule your mind
and you're never satisfied with anything! That's what we have today.
- that goes into depression
- that goes into self-loathing
- that goes into suicide
Prov. 2—here's what you need to do; the choice is yours! God is not going to force you. He doesn't have to, because He's made these laws automatically:
- IF you break them, you're going to suffer the penalty
- IF you keep them, you'll receive the blessing
But you have to educate yourself now with the right knowledge, the knowledge from the book of Proverbs, so that you can learn to think correctly! Most people who believe in:
- all of the lies and the subterfuge
- the false religion
- the false politics
- the false education
do not know how to think! So, here's how you learn:
Proverbs 2:1: "My son, if…"—can be daughter as well!
A lot of trouble comes when men get in trouble, but when women get in trouble, it magnifies itself even more, especially if they get pregnant.
Verse 1: "My son, [#1]if you will receive My words…"
- Will you take the words of God and receive them?
- What are you going to do with them when you receive them?
"…and treasure up My commandments within you" (v 1). All of this has to do within your heart and your mind!
Verse 2: "So that you incline your ear to wisdom and apply your heart to understanding." Learning and educating yourself is work:
- you have to read
- you have to study
- you have to think
- you have to meditate
- you have to analyze
- you have to learn every day
Every day is a different situation!
You treasure them in your heart and in your mind. Why? Because as you think in your heart, so do you act! As you believe in your mind, so do you conduct your life within you!
If you ask people:
- Do you have a Bible at home? Yes!
- Do you read it? No!
You'll never learn anything if you don't open it!
People who think that they know to do good, those are the ones who have destroyed this society because they have left the goodness of God for the goodness of men and for the goodness of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which comes from Satan the devil!
Here's what it is; v 2: "So that you incline your ear to wisdom and apply your heart to understanding." These are conditional! God leaves it up to us:
- What are we going to choose?
- How are we going to do it?
Someone walks into a store and steals something, they choose to do it. Someone plans to have a sexual encounter with someone, commit adultery or homosexuality, they choose to do it because the IF applies to us.
People like to make the IF apply to God but He doesn't need any IF applied to Him. We do! So, it shows you have to apply yourself,
Verse 3: "Yea, [#2]if you cry after knowledge and lift up your voice for understanding."
That's a full-time job all our lives long! We can't say; I can't say, look at what I've done. The answer would be: Why haven't you done more? What is it that God really wants you to do?
Verse 3: "[#2]Yea, if you cry after knowledge and lift up your voice for understanding; [#2]if…" (vs 3-4).
Notice how we are to apply ourselves with diligence!
Verse 4: [#3]"If you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures."
Our house has a slab foundation. I know what's under the foundation and what's under the slab. But if by chance that there may have been a chest of gold that got covered up, what do you think I would do?
I would do everything to find out where is it. I would get a metal detector. When I came to the place it sounded its buzzer, what would I do? I'd get a jackhammer. I'd get a concrete saw and I would dig it up and I would find it.
Now that is diligence! That's how we have to apply ourselves to God's Word. Notice what happens. You have the if, if, if…
Verse 5: "Then… [you have to have a certain level of understanding] …you shall understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God."
Notice how long it took to get to the Lord and God. Prov.1 all the way up here to Prov. 2. Now you are ready to begin to listen to God. You find a knowledge of God. What is there in the Bible? Everything you need to know:
- about life
- about God
- Who God is
- who we are
- why God made us
You need to get the book we have: From a Speck of Dust to a Son of God: Why Were You Born?
We all come from that little speck of dust, and we all have a bodily scar that we can never get rid of to remind us where we came from. It's right in the middle of your body, called the belly button. Permanently there.
What does that tell you? You came from your mother and father! Your mother and father came from their mother and father. That goes all the way back to God creating Adam and Eve who set in motion through the power of procreation through genes and chromosomes through the spirit of man to create new life within the body of the mother to be born.
Then when we grow up, when we come to God; the knowledge of God. You have to first understand:
- God exists
- He's Creator
- He designed everything
- He has made everything from the smallest—even the invisible to the visible—and the vastness of the universe
When you grasp that in your mind, which is a thing that you increase all the time. That's why I'm thankful that Jonathan put on my laptop the James Webb website. I can view some of the stars out there. Think about this:
None of the patriarchs of old could come even close to what we can see with those pictures. I was watching the sun in slow motion for 133 days—{https://www.space.com/see-133-days-of-the-sun-in-minutes-nasa-video}—and what's going on at the sun with all that heat and with all of those explosions and all of that! Yet, it doesn't destroy itself! God made that! We need the sun. We go out the sun is out today. We wake up the sun and we can't look very long. But if you look at it on the James Webb telescope site, you can see there is great power and great activity going on.
What does it say? In the beginning, God made the heavens and the earth and everything in them!
This is the knowledge we need to have when we come to God. We don't come to God because we're important. We don't come to God because He somehow has made us super special above anybody else. That's not true. We have to choose God's way and then He selects us!
Verse 6: "For the LORD gives wisdom; out of His mouth comes knowledge and understanding."
What did Jesus say? Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God! Here it is, right here, the whole Bible! God spoke the Ten Commandments. It's very interesting about the Ten Commandments. You think about it. There are two commandments that are positive.
- the 4th commandment, remember this Sabbath Day to keep it Holy; that's positive
- the 5th commandment: honor your father and mother
Why? We're just told here to listen; it'll save your neck in the long run as you get older. The other commandments are:
- you shall not have any other gods
- you shall not make any images
- you shall not take the name of God in vain
- you shall not murder
- you shall not commit adultery
- you shall not steal
- you shall not bear false witness
- you shall not covet
Then you begin to understand that all of these Laws are for our good. What is that to lead to? That is to lead to a relationship with God, to love God with all your heart, with all your mind, all your soul and all your being! (Deut. 6; Matt. 4 & 22; Luke 4 & 10 & 28).
Notice what happens; you get something that no one else has except those who follow God.
Verse 7: "He lays up sound wisdom for the righteous… [He makes you more educated] …He is a shield to those who walk uprightly… [He will protect you with His angels?] …He keeps the paths of right judgment and preserves the way of His saints" (vs 7-8).
God then becomes active in your life through His Spirit. The Spirit of God comes to you before you're baptized, but it will lead you. Now IF you don't follow it, THEN it will be withdrawn. Notice what that leads to; see what this is building to:
Verse 9: "Then you shall understand righteousness and judgment and equity, every good path."
That's what you call true education from God, and this is worth more than all of the degrees of all of the colleges everywhere in the world! IF you are connected with God through the things we've covered, and IF you know the commandments of God and all about that, you have the greatest education in the world, better than all the Ph.D.s in the world.
Many of you may have seen the Ph.D. from Stanford—Victor Davis—He is smart, intelligent, and understands right and wrong. But I don't know how much he knows about God.
- he knows a lot about politics
- he knows a lot about human behavior
- he knows the things of right and wrong
So, I suspect that he is in sync with God with certain things, because he couldn't think the way that he does. There's an example of just someone in the world if they apply themselves.
Verse 9: "Then you shall understand righteousness and judgment and equity, every good path. Wisdom shall enter into your heart…" (vs 9-10).
In other words, all of these things collected together will give you wisdom in your heart and mind.
"…and knowledge will be pleasing to your soul" (v 10). That is the knowledge of God! Amazing, isn't it?
Verse 11: "Discretion shall preserve you and, understanding shall keep you, to deliver you..." (vs 11-12).
You'll know what to do so you will escape being captured by sinners.
Verse 12: "To deliver you from the way of the evil man, from the man who speaks wicked things, those who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness" (vs 12-13). That's what they do!
Verse 14: "Who rejoice to do evil and delight in the perversities of the wicked, whose ways are crooked, and are devious in their paths" (vs 14-15)—to save you from all of that!
That's an amazing thing! What a tremendous blessing that is!
Verse 16: "To deliver you from the wanton woman…"—today the wanton man!
You will know that what God has said, 'You shall not commit adultery' means no adultery. You won't get carried away with lust. You won't get carried away in imagination of your heart.
Verse 16: To deliver you from the wanton woman, even from the stranger who flatters with her words… [sounds like almost every commercial you watch today] …who forsakes the guide of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God, for her house sinks down to death, and her paths to the dead. None that go unto her return again, nor do they take hold of the paths of life" (vs 16-19)—unless they repent!
But even if they repent, look at the difficulties that come. All you have to do is read the life of David and Bathsheba and look what happened.
All of these things are done that we just read here; v 20: "In order that you may walk in the way of good and keep the paths of the righteous. For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it." (vs 20-22).
Of course, that gets right into the Feast of Tabernacles.
This shows you the power of the Word of God and how God takes it from where we are in the world and how we come to Him and how we come to the knowledge of it. The New Testament adds to it:
- Jesus Christ
- forgiveness of sin
- the grace of God
- the love of God
All of those things together!
This is why the book of Proverbs is one of the most important books in the Bible, especially for young people!
Scriptural References:
- 2-Timothy 3:1-4
- Proverbs 1:1-29, 7, 29-33
- Proverbs 2:1-22
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- 2 Corinthians 4
- Revelation 12:9
- Deuteronomy 6
- Matthew 4; 22
- Luke 4; 10; 28
Also referenced: Books:
- The Holy Spirit, The Power of God: A Scriptural Perspective by Fred R. Coulter
- The Apostle Paul's Teachings On the Laws of God
- From a Speck of Dust to a Son of God: Why Were You Born?
FRC:bo/po
Transcribed: 9/28/23
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