1 My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to
my understanding: 2 That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips
may keep knowledge. 3 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an
honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: 4 But her end is bitter as
wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword. 5 Her feet go down to death; her
steps take hold on hell. 6 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life,
her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them. 7 Hear me now
therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth. 8 Remove
thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house: 9 Lest thou
give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel: 10 Lest
strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a
stranger; 11 And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are
consumed, 12 And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised
reproof; 13 And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined
mine ear to them that instructed me! 14 I was almost in all evil in the
midst of the congregation and assembly. (Prov
5:1-14)
As we undertake the study of chapter 5 of Proverbs today. There is one point
that we must understand. This lesson on sexual virtue for young folks
(regarding purity) is not far from the same counsel given to the Church for not
remaining faithful to their First Love (idolatry). (see Rev 2:4) How are these
two alike? ADULTERY is sexual infidelity to one’s chosen spouse while IDOLATRY
is SPIRITUAL infidelity in the Church to the Word of God – i.e. worshipping the
true God with the lips, and serving Mammon with one’s hands and heart.
This chapter under our study today has two cardinal parts: 1) The Woman
in the Street – Flee from her - her false pleasures, the price
extracted; and 2) The Wife in the Home – faithfulness
required, her love a satisfaction to be cherished. If our home will be heaven,
we must be faithful to the Bridegroom of the Church – Jesus Christ. If we are
not faithful to the Spouse of our Church, then we are flirting with the false
idols of the world and are making our beds in Hell. SIMPLE! The explanation in
this chapter is quite graphic and describes the outcomes better than my feeble
vocabulary can effect. We clearly, without much stretch of imagination, can
determine that there can be two Commandments addressed in this first part of
our devotion –
The First:
I am the Lord thy God, which have
brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt
have no other gods before Me.
& the Seventh:
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Solomon is addressing his son, or sons, on the pitfalls of sin and,
particularly, the sin of adultery and fornication. But the principle holds true
across the spectrum of both Commandments (and even the Second). Part I is
comprised of two sub-parts: a) Beware of the cunning and sensual words of the
woman on the Street (1-6); and b) Beware the destructive consequences of
adultery (7-14). What father would wish his beloved child to fall into
damnation of soul and heart? If this is true, why are so many youth allowed to
go astray by permissive parents? A liberal permissiveness is not an act of love
but of complacency. Love is demanding, not permissive. The love of God grants
many wonderful benefits, but it also demands conditions.
Solomon begins by introducing a solemnity that is matched by the crucial nature
of the warning: 1 My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine
ear to my understanding: 2 That thou mayest regard discretion, and that
thy lips may keep knowledge. Discretion of the wise is essential.
It is not only the immoral converse that we must avoid but even precedent to
that is avoiding ungodly company. (see Psalms 1-3) If we associate with profane
persons, our language will become profane as theirs.
There is a heartless method the Eskimos use in trapping wolves. They freeze a
sharp knife blade in ice – sharp edge facing upward. They cover the blade with
snow. They then soak the snow and ice with blood. When the poor wolf smells the
blood, he comes to the place and begins to lick the blood up with his tongue.
As he licks, the depth of snow and blood reaches the sharp knife blade. His
tongue is cold and the wolf does not realize that he is cutting his own tongue
as he laps at the blood – now his own blood. This process continues until the
wolf bleeds to death. The cunning of a promiscuous woman on the street
carries an equal terror to the innocent youth whom she encounters. Physical
disease and corrupted conscience follows on the heels with growing enormity.
3 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her
mouth is smoother than oil: 4 But her end is bitter as wormwood,
sharp as a twoedged sword. Even a poisoned honeycomb will
attract bees – for their last flight. The two-edged sword is to both attract
and to destroy. The Word of God, too, is a two-edged sword – to either convict
of sin, or to condemn IN sin.
The road of sin is a broad road that seems easy to follow for it leads always
downward, and there is much company on that road. Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and
broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in
thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto
life, and few there be that find it. (Matt 7:13-14) So what of
the wayward and unfaithful woman (or man)? 5 Her feet go down to
death; her steps take hold on hell. The destination of all will
full sinners is the same. Such a sinful woman or man has no fixed place –
no anchor of the soul. They are as wandering stars and cannot be relied upon
for truth.6 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways
are moveable, that thou canst not know them.
Now we come to the consequences of sins of infidelity to both our spouse and
our Lord. . 7 Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart
not from the words of my mouth. 8 Remove thy way far from her, and
come not nigh the door of her house. We must not only HEAR the
Voice of Wisdom, but we must adhere to that voice. Make a wide path around
temptations to sin. How much fairer would mankind have been had Eve listened to
this voice of Wisdom and avoided even approaching the ill-winded tree in the
Garden! If we are sensible in avoiding temptation, we shall not succumb to it.
Next are some enumerated consequences of coming near to tempting sins.
A woman, or man, of a sensual nature is not apt to honor confidences. Your sin
of promiscuity will certainly become known. Quite likely is it that your
actions will be used to cruelly blackmail you for all you are worth. How much
simpler just to avoid this predicament in righteous living? 9 Lest
thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel.
The sinner is less likely to show any hint of mercy than the certainty of mercy
of the righteous.
Sin leads to ruin – to financial and spiritual bankruptcy. Through blackmail
and bribery, the sinner boy will be eaten up in debt and depravity. 10 Lest
strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a
stranger. Just as the Prodigal son, the boy will lose his unearned
inheritance and fall into the merciless hands of strangers who will use him
egregiously. And not many days after the
younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and
there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all,
there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that
country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. (Luke
15:13-15)
Like the Prodigal, there will come a moment when the memory of past blessings
will be a great pain and cause a longing to return to the days of innocence. 11 And
thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed.
When one looks about at the pig sty that has become home, memories of lost
virtue and love will be magnified in our pining hearts. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks
that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself,
he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare,
and I perish with hunger! (Luke 15:16-17)
The same predicament of the Prodigal leads to confession,
resolution, and, hopefully, right action to return to the blessed land. 12 And
say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; 13 And
have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that
instructed me! The youthful sinner will, in time, awake to
righteous indignation if he has been “trained up in the way that he
should go.” I will arise and go
to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and
before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy
hired servants. (Luke 15:18-19)
The Prodigal will recognize, when Godly conscience awakes, that he could have
become a profligate and reprobate sinner had his conscience not been keen to
recognize in time his profligacy. 14 I was almost in all evil in
the midst of the congregation and assembly.
Friend, it might be wise for us to make a regular examination of our hearts to
see that there remain no chambers to which Christ and His Holy Spirit have been
not been granted access.
