Proverbs 7:1-5 My son, keep My words, and lay up My commandments with thee. 2 Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye. 3 Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart. 4 Say unto WISDOM {chokmâh pronounced khok-maw’}, Thou art my sister; and call UNDERSTANDING {bîynâh pronounced bee-naw’} thy kinswoman: 5 That they may keep thee from the STRANGE {zûwr pronounced zoor} woman, from the stranger which FLATTERETH {châlaq pronounced khaw-lak’} with her words.

In Proverbs Chapter 7 God contrasts two women, one called Wisdom who is to be your sister and her kinswoman Understanding, to one unnamed STRANGE woman who wants to take advantage of you. The word translated “STRANGE” is the Hebrew zûwr {pronounced zoor} which is used in Scripture for strangers, foreigners, enemies, profane people. The “STRANGE WOMAN” uses her words to “FLATTER” you. This is the Hebrew châlaq {pronounced khaw-lak’}, which means “to separate, to draw away, to divide from what God wants for you”. Let’s look first at

God’s Word is Wisdom, The Kinswoman Understanding
– Want To Bless You

Proverbs 7:1 My son, KEEP My WORDS, and LAY UP My COMMANDMENTS with thee.

Word Study: To “KEEP” {shâmar, shaw-mar’} God’s Word is to “guard it, to put a hedge about it, to treasure it, to protect it”. How do we guard God’s Word? We guard His Word by adding nothing to it (like our opinion) or by taking anything away from it. We consider God’s Word to be complete, something to be cherished and done. God said of His Word:

Revelation 1:3 (ESV) Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

We are not to be a judge of God’s Word, but are to guard it from opinion and cultural influence.

When we cease guarding God’s Word and instead begin to judge His Word, it is not long before we find ourselves, like Adam and Eve, in a very bad situation. Our Lord Jesus said:

Luke 11:28 (ESV) Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and KEEP {phylássō, foo-las’-so – guard it, preserve it, obey it} it!

Jesus chastised the Pharisees for, though they knew the Word of God, they allowed their opinions to enter into what God clearly said. In so doing they violated the commands of God, but established their own golden calves that they expected others to follow. Jesus told the Pharisees:

Mark 7:6-9 (ESV) Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 7 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ 8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” 9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!

When we fail to GUARD and DO the Word of God, and instead begin to twist it and add what suits our sensibilities to it, we lose the protections that the Word of God gives us. Take for instance the Social Gospel, a nonsense preached from many pulpits today. When the Social Gospel replaces the Gospel of Repentance and Obedience, virtue signaling people begin to think they are saved and Heaven bound because the have appeased the culture. When we love and support the culture more than we do the Word of God, we become part of the darkness. Jesus said:

John 14:23 (ESV) If anyone loves me, he will KEEP {tēréō, tay-reh’-o, to OBSERVE or HOLD FAST TO} my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

The Genuine Christian is the one who “Hears the Word of God, and HOLDS ON TO IT with honesty and sincerity, bearing fruit with patience” (Luke 8:15).

Word Study: We are to “LAY UP” {tsâphan, tsaw-fan’, to TREASURE} God’s Word. What the Lord has said to us is valuable, more precious than gold or silver. Why? Because we are told:

Proverbs 7:2 Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.

It is the Word of God that brings life, and light. It is the Word of God that brings us from Satanic Darkness and into the Light of God. We who are saved by the preaching of the Word are resurrected beings.

Our Lord Jesus said in

John 8:12 … I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

And again in John 12:46, “I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.”

Those who walk in the darkness, walk apart from God and stumble through life. Those who walk with the Lord walk in the Light of His Word. We have eternal life because of His Word. We guard and treasure God’s Word. HOW we do so is next very graphically described:

Proverbs 7:3-4 Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart. 4 Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman:

The Word of God is bound on your fingers. Does this mean to write Bible verses on your hands? It could. God told His Israel:

Deuteronomy 11:18-20 (ESV) You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes …

Deuteronomy 6:8-9 (ESV) You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

The Word of God is to be treasured. It should drive what you DO with your hands. It should direct your heart to the things that are pleasing to God. Write God’s Word on your heart, then follow what God has said.

God’s Word will …

Proverbs 7:5 … keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.

The Strange Woman Lies In Wait
For The Simple Minded

Proverbs 7:6-10 For at the window of my house I looked through my casement, 7 And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding, 8 Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house, 9 In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night: 10 And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtile of heart.

Word Study: God now gives us an illustration through King Solomon. Solomon said that he was looking out his window, observing “SIMPLE ONES” {pᵉthîy, peth-ee’, “foolish, naivete, simple or open minded”}. We have some “SIMPLE ONES” like this not far from this Church. On their church sign they have:

“Open HEARTS, Open MINDS, Open DOORS”

What’s wrong with that? The Bible calls “OPEN MINDEDNESS” simple minded, foolishness, ignorance. The Bible says that as God’s Children:

1 Corinthians 2:16 … But WE HAVE THE MIND OF CHRIST …

The believer is not called to have “Open MINDS”. Our minds are to be on Christ and God’s Word. Our focus is on “with ONE MIND GLORIFYING GOD, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 15:6). Our minds are to be closed to the world, closed to darkness, closed to Satan, but filled with the Word of God. The Bible commands us:

1 Corinthians 1:10 … by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

Philipians 1:27 … stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel

1 Peter 1:13-15 (ESV) … preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct …

It saddens me that professing Christians and so called pastors have succumbed to the culture, and departed from the Word of God. No good ever comes of it.

We who are Christians are to “walk in the light as He is in the light” (1 John 1:5-7)

Where does the “STRANGE WOMAN” lurk?

Proverbs 7:9-10 … In the TWILIGHT, in the EVENING, in the BLACK AND DARK NIGHT: 10 And, behold, THERE MET HIM A WOMAN with the attire of an harlot

The devil and his agents hide in the darkness. They whisper lies over the phone, gossiping, murmuring. Here you meet the “WOMAN WITH THE ATTIRE OF A WHORE”. In the Book of Revelation, God calls the false religions of the world

Revelation 17:5-6 … MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

The Whore does not want to bless you, but to curse you. The Whore of false religion is “drunk with the blood of the Saints”. Who was instrumental in killing Jesus? Was it not the false religion of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Herodians? Was it not a vile judge Pilate who, though he found no fault in Jesus, sentenced Him to a criminals death? Who was the first Martyr in the Church after Christ our Lord? Was it not STEPHEN (Acts 7:54-60). And who killed Stephen. Was it not Pharisees, hypocrites, religious self righteous bigots? Who was the second martyr in the Church? It was Herod the King (Acts 12:1-3) who wanted to please the Jews, the Pharisees.

The whore walks in darkness, not light. The whore is part of the culture. She is not quiet, but LOUD and INSISTENT.

Proverbs 7:11-12 (She is LOUD AND STUBBORN; her feet abide not in her house: 12 Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.)

Word Study: The whore is “LOUD AND STUBBORN”. The word “LOUD” is the Hebrew hâmâh, {pronounced haw-maw’}, which means “to RAGE, to CLAMOR, to make a scene, to be in an uproar”. She is not just noisy, but “STUBBORN”, the Hebrew çârar, {pronounced saw-rar’} which means “to be rebellious, against that which is civil”. She has no shame. She may go about shouting at diners, ruining their meals while demanding “Say BLACK LIVES MATTER”, or angry because you did not use her pronouns of choice.

Proverbs 7:13-18 So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him, 14 I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows. 15 Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee. 16 I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt. 17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. 18 Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves.

The whore offers peace and love if you will compromise with her. She claims to want nothing from you. She is no whore for profit. She says “I HAVE PAID MY VOWS”. She is wed to another, and does not want to marry you, but to be with you. She is not seeking wealth from you. She says, “I have decked my bed” with the finest weaving, the finest linen. The bed itself is top of the line.

Illustrate: The most expensive bed in the world today is the Baldacchino Supreme Bed. There are only two of these in the world. Hand built by Italian furniture makers, it is intricately carved. The canopy over the bed is 250 pounds of 24 carat gold, silk and cotton sheets, and diamonds adorn the headboard. It’s value? $6,300,000. This woman’s bed is much like this. Very expensive – she claims to want nothing of you but your presence.

But she wants your soul.

She claims her husband is not at home – that he has sufficient funds to stay away, and will not return until the appointed time (verses 19-20). Because the young and simple man did not have God’s Word in his heart, we are told:

Proverbs 7:21-23 With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him. 22 He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks; 23 Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.

The devil knows how to entice you into his trap. And when you fall into the trap, it is like “an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks”. In ancient times (and I wish they would bring it back) they would take criminals who broke the Law (but not a CAPITAL offense) and put them into the public stocks. It was for misdemeanor crime. Your hands and feet were bound in front of you, and you were publicly ridiculed – and sometimes pelted with food – until your time in the stocks was passed. This is where we get the noun “laughingstock”. You were in the stocks, and people made fun of you, and laughed at you, mocking you, up to and even after the time you were released.

The point: If you do not store the Word of God in your heart, and instead follow after the whore, the least you can expect is to be made a laughingstock of. At the most – it will KILL you!

You can be trapped as a bird in the snare, or have a “dart strike through his liver”. If you are shot in the liver you have a 40-60% chance of death, even with emergency treatment. Rejecting God’s Word and chasing after the cultural whore can not only kill you – but send you to damnation. We end with these words:

Proverbs 7:24-27 Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth. 25 Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths. 26 For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her. 27 Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.

Nothing good comes of following the ways of this world. The best thing you can do is store God’s Word in your heart – then run from the cultural whore. Going into her house will lead to – at the least – shame, but at the most – death and damnation.

Cling to God’s Word, His Wisdom, and do as He says for abundant life. May God touch your hearts with His Word.