Mothers and Fathers
Okay, just
as a total aside … I love how in Proverbs 6:20 we hear about the combination of
the mother and father in the parenting role.
A few days ago I posted a lot about fathers and apologized for not being
able to speak to mothers. Here in this verse,
I love how the author ties the work of the mother and father together so
nicely!
Practical Warnings
As I now
turn to the rest of Proverbs 6, I will separate this post into two sections as
the author separates this chapter into two sections. The first section contains what the Bible
headings often call “Practical Warnings.”
The opening part of Proverbs 6 is a list of honestly practical advice
about how to get through life.
What is
really neat for me to see as I read through this is just how much of the advice
is based on community. The opening set
of verses speaks about what to do if you are caught in the grasp of your
neighbor. Perhaps you did something
wrong and got caught. Perhaps you didn’t
intend to offend your neighbor but in one way or another you accidentally
did. Whatever the case, we can’t help
occasionally offending our neighbors as we go through this life. Of course, this leads to the New Testament
question: Who is my neighbor?
The author
gives some great advice. Go to your
neighbor. Plead with your neighbor. Seek peace with your neighbor. Life is always much easier when two people
come together and are able to work through their differences by themselves. Life gets really ugly when people hold
grudges. Life gets really ugly when
people cannot resolve their differences and the courts must get involved. Life is far better when an offending person
tries to make amends as soon as possible after recognizing that an offense has
in fact occurred.
Or as the
author of this chapter speaks of next, perhaps a person is suffering from
laziness. Perhaps a person is never
prepared. It begins to affect a person
and affect their relationships with the people around them. Have you ever had to work with a naturally
lazy person? Have you ever had to work
with a person who lived with a “Why do it today when you can put it off to
tomorrow” kind of attitude? It’s
frustrating to have to work in that manner.
Therefore,
the author of the proverb gives good advice.
Prepare yourself. Do the work
that is expected of you when it is expected.
If you are willing to do the simple work when it is expected, you won’t
be caught unaware. And for the record,
when you do the work that is expected of you people don’t genuinely mind
helping you out when you need it, too!
Then we get
this wonderful passage. I will confess
to being amused by the last few verses of the opening section. There are 6 things the Lord hates, but 7 that
are an abomination? Which one does the
Lord hate that isn’t an abomination to Him?
{I know, that’s not what is being
said here. This is a linguistic tool used
to build suspense in the listener. But
it does sound funny.} The 7 things
that the Lord hates are pride, lies, murder, deception, lust for evil, false
witnesses, and people who intentionally sow discord. What is the common theme through all seven of
these qualities? All seven destroy
community. All seven destroy
relationships. All seven are deadly to
us being at peace with God and at peace with one another.
As a bit
of an aside, I am curious in noting that no form of avarice or greed made this
list. Isn’t that interesting?
Warning Against Adulterous Action
As me move
to the second section, we begin a conversation that we will carry on
tomorrow. The author begins talking
about adultery. I’m going to speak about
adultery and fornication together. While
the Bible speaks in this section about adultery (sex by a married person
outside of the marriage covenant) I think the lessons here apply to any sex
outside of the marriage covenant regardless of whether the people involved are
married or not.
I really
love how the author writes in verse 27 about this idea of sex apart from one’s
spouse. Can a person hold fire next to
their chest and not get burned? Can a
person be on hot coals and not scorch their feet? I love that description. It makes such a great connection between the
physical analogy and the emotional reality.
Sex is a powerful event.
Spiritual and emotional bonds of vulnerability and trust are created
between two people and God during a sexual encounter that should never be
violated.
Yet, when
we have sex outside of marriage we are perpetually in danger of having those
emotional and spiritual bonds violated.
Honestly, think about that.
- In the case of adultery, the adulterer is putting all those bonds with the true spouse in serious jeopardy. The adulterer is also creating false bonds that will never be able to be realized in truth with their adulterous partner. Adultery smashes and mocks – nay, burns - the spiritual and emotional bonds that God genuinely desires to be between two people during a sexual encounter.
- In the case of fornication, the sexual act still creates spiritual and emotional bonds that do not genuinely have the safety net of “marriage” to support them. When two people have sex – a bond is created. But when that bond is created outside a genuine marriage it is easily forgotten, tossed aside, and violated. Soon people learn to not create that bond because it hurts to have that bond go unfulfilled. People begin to view sex as an activity, not as a genuine act of spiritual formation between two people.
I agree
with the author of Proverbs. Sex is a
powerful thing. The bonds that are
created during a sexual encounter are some of the strongest bonds that a person
can experience. When we play with sex outside
of the security of marriage where God intended it to reside, we are asking to
get burned. Usually, we get burned quite
badly.
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