Year 2, Day 293: Proverbs 2

Context of Proverbs

Before I talk about the text, I need to talk about the context.  The book of Proverbs is generally attributed to Solomon.  Now, we know the story of Solomon.  He asked God to be wise and God blessed him with wisdom. 

But we also know that the man had multiple hundreds of wives and concubines.  I’m talking about 700 wives and 300 concubines.  Honestly, we do know that many of them were not marital wives as much as they were political arrangements.  However, I do think that it is fair to say that Solomon had more than one woman with whom he had marital relations.  There is more than one woman that he let get close to him and influence his heart greatly.  We know this to be true because of 1 Kings 11:1-8.  We also know that because of these wives, concubines, and political arrangements that Solomon chased after foreign gods.

As we read this second chapter of Proverbs, we should not forget that it is not only important to learn these lessons when we are young but that we should also adhere to these lessons as we grow older.  Mature followers of God are just as susceptible to sin as anyone else.  These words could have saved Solomon from pursuing foreign gods.  As Proverbs 2:16 says, had Solomon remembered these lessons himself – had he heeded the advice of Proverbs 2:1-3 – he could have been delivered from forbidden women.

Wisdom From God

Looking at this chapter of proverbs, the one theme that jumped out at me is the understanding that wisdom comes from God.  Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom as we learned last chapter.  It is when we humble ourselves to God that we genuinely grow in our faith.  It is when we accept, believe, and act as though God is the source of what we need in life that we truly live.

It is the Lord who guards the paths of the wise.  It is the Lord who enables people to walk in righteousness.  It is the Lord who plants wisdom and understanding into our spirit.  It is the Lord who gives us the discretion to overcome the influence of evil.  It is the Lord that enables us to not get sucked into the plots of evil.  Wisdom – and a good life – are found in God, not anywhere else in this world.

Forbidden Women

As we move to the end of this string of proverbs, I want to return more generically to the topic of the “forbidden women.”  Notice the dangers that are presented here.  The forbidden women are the ones who turn us away from the faith of our youth.  The forbidden women turn us away from our covenants with God.  The paths of the forbidden women sink down into the earth, departing from the high road of the righteousness of God.  Those who fully go to the forbidden women do not return to the path of life.

What a wonderful analogy for the world – especially for the world’s influence of sin. 

• I remember being very young – less than 10 years old.  I was so on fire for God.  I was memorizing scripture.  I was helping in the church.  I wanted everyone to know about Jesus.  
• Then I hit puberty.  Suddenly girls were more important than God.  Suddenly television was more important than God.  Suddenly going out cruising on Friday nights was more important than God.  Computer games, social networking, and being entertained were more important to me than God.  Making money was more important than God. 
• As I went to college, there was a bunch more stuff that was more important than God.  In fact, almost everything was more important than God.  The “forbidden women” – the lust after the things of this world – nearly dragged me down into the pit of the earth.  I consider myself favored – only by the grace of God! – to have played so fervently with temptation and not gotten permanently pulled away from God.

As I read through this set of Proverbs, that is the message that resonated with me.  It is easy to be passionate about God when we are young and dwelling in the protection of the maturity of our parents, pastors, and faithful adults that surround us.  But the temptation of the world is strong.  It is so easy to be pulled into the world.  Once a person is pulled into the world, it is quite difficult for them to be extracted out of the world.

This is all the more reason to walk in the integrity of God.  This is all the more reason to talk to our young people about how much we have struggled with the world.  People need to hear how difficult it is.  People also need to hear about those who have overcome by the grace of God so that when they fall they know to whom they can turn!

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