Proverbs 13:10 Only by PRIDE {zāḏôn} cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.

The source of man’s fall from Paradise, the source of every war or division in the history of mankind is “PRIDE”.

Word Study: The word used for “PRIDE” here is the Hebrew {zāḏôn}, which means “pride, insolence, presumptuousness, arrogance”. Pride always looks for something shinier and prettier than the glory of God, and seeks to secure it for oneself. My commentary notes:

“The word translated “insolence” comes from a Hebrew verb literally meaning “to boil.” This suggests a kind of inward, bubbling pride that refuses to learn anything from anybody … An insolent person is a contentious, know-it-all, egotistical individual with a superior attitude. He is quick to quarrel and unwilling to agree with anyone with a different view. Such persons create a great deal of drama but accomplish little else.

The Apostle advises us:

Titus 3:9-11 (NKJV) But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless. 10 Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, 11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned.

When someone in their arrogance has their heart and mind hardened to any discussion, to any other thought than what pumps up their self, the Apostle said to REJECT THAT DIVISIVE PERSON. Love them, but do not spend time in argument with them. They will deflect and find fault, and in short do anything and say anything in order to cause you to lose your composure.Get away from that person before they draw you into their web.This is akin the what the Scripture says:

Proverbs 26:4 (NKJV) Do not answer a fool according to his folly, Lest you also be like him.

Proverbs 13:10 Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.

Word Study: The person who is “WELL ADVISED” {yāʿaṣ} is the person open to receiving counsel from various others, then reaching your own conclusion. In our day Satan has taken over the airwaves, leading reporters and social media activists to spout either far right or far left propaganda. In chapter six of Adolf Hitler’s book Mein Kampf he explained how he used propaganda to manipulate the German people. He wrote:

“The function of propaganda is, for example, not to weigh and ponder the rights of different people, but exclusively to emphasize the one right which it has set out to argue for. Its task is not to make an objective study of the truth, in so far as it favors the enemy, and then set it before the masses with academic fairness; its task is to serve our own right, always and unflinchingly.”

Our greatest Advisor if God. The well advised or well counseled person will examine all worldly “truths” through the lens of God’s Holy Word. God has given us His Holy Spirit to not only SAVE us, but to SANCTIFY us with the truths of God. Jesus said:

John 17:17 Sanctify them by Your Truth. Your Word, dear Father, is Truth.

John 14:16-17 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 [Even] the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

We have the counsel of God’s Word and the guidance of God’s Spirit – a PERSON and not a FORCE. We also have the counsel of God through other persons called Pastors and teachers that we can heed. The Bible says:

Romans 12:16 (ESV) Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.

The arrogant will never learn – but the humble will. May God lead us all to humility.

Cheap Riches Quickly Lost

Proverbs 13:11 Wealth gotten BY VANITY shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labor shall increase.

This proverb compares the wealth that a person gathers “BY VANITY”. The Pulpit Commentary notes:

“literally, wealth by a breath; i.e. wealth obtained without labor and exertion, or by illegitimate and dishonest means, is soon dissipated, is not blessed by God, and has no stability. {the Latin}Vulgate {translates this as}, ‘riches acquired hastily’; {whereas the Greek Translation of the Old Testament, the}Septuagint {translates this as}, ‘substance gotten hastily with iniquity’.”

Money represents an expenditure of your life, invested in work. God commissioned work in the Garden of Eden. Though creation was perfect, God created Adam to work. We are told in:

Genesis 2:15 (KJV) the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

Even in a perfect environment God required WORK. When Adam and Eve were not doing that which God ordered, it wasn’t long before Satan came in and offered prideful sin. Proper Work always honors God. Jesus said:

John 5:17 (ESV) My Father is working until now, and I am working.

Believers are to honor God in their work, whether secular or religious.

God does not honor welfare for those who are able bodied but lazy. When we honor ourselves but ignore God, the Lord will not bless it. He spoke through the Prophet Haggai:

Haggai 1:6-10 (NKJV) “You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, Earns wages to put into a bag with holes.” 7 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways! 8 Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified,” says the Lord. 9 “You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?” says the Lord of hosts. “Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house. 10 Therefore the heavens above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit.

Wealth gained through God honoring labor increases, and establishes a lasting legacy. “he that gathereth by labor shall increase”. A person unashamed to work and glorify God in that work shall increase their soul, and appreciate the things that they have. The magazine Business Insider did an article on purchasing Lottery Tickets.

William (Bud) Post won Pennsylvania Lottery 16.2 million
but was 1 million in debt within a year.

Evelyn Adams won $5.4 million, but gambled it all
away in Atlantic City.

Pentecostal Preacher Billy Bob Harrel, Jr. won the Texas Lottery $31 million dollars. He died penniless, saying “Winning the lottery is the worst thing that ever happened to me”.

Janite Lee won $18 million lottery jackpot in 1993, but filed for bankruptcy in 2001 – about 7 years later.

This is just a few of the over 20 cases that Business Insider spoke of. This secular publication concluded with, “While it may be tempting, buying a lottery ticket is almost certainly not worth it. History has countless examples of winners whose lives took a turn for the worse after hitting the jackpot.”

That which we earn with honest work, and that which we do which glorifies God, will certainly last. When Satan offered Jesus the whole world if He would bow down and worship him (Matthew 4:5), Jesus quickly replied:

“It is written: You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve” (Matthew 4:8)

We All Need Blessed Hope

Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.

A life without hope is a miserable life. I see so many today walking around with dead eyes. They are ciphers, just existing, because they have wandered from the Source of Hope. The Source of all hope is God.

One of the main teachings in Scripture concerning Christianity is “HOPE”. The hope of the Christian is not in the flesh, nor in our abilities. Our hope is in the Lord. The Bible says:

Psalm 31:24 Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.

Psalm 33:18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;

Our God is actually called “The God of Hope” (Romans 15:13). Hope for the believer in Christ is not wishful thinking, but a calm assurance that God is in control, and that our loving God will work all things out for our good. When the Apostle wrote about love, and described how great and persistent love is, he wrote:

1 Corinthians 13:13 and now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

An article in “Our Daily Bread” the devotional notes:

“Hope that is reduced to the level of wishes and dreams can be like soap bubbles that look beautiful to the eye but disappear at the slightest touch. … One of the Bible’s most comprehensive statements on hope is Paul’s crowning comment on the subject in Romans 15: ‘Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit’ (v. 13). This marvelous prayer reveals … God is the God of hope. Our joyful expectation isn’t without foundation. Hope’s foundation is not a theory or a philosophy; it is a Person. Paul wants us to embrace hope as a reality rooted in God Himself, not as something we have to work up in our own strength.”

God is the foundation of our hope. Not our abilities, but God’s empowerment. The lost put their hope in insecure and unable things and people. I have heard this quoted:

“For those who don’t know Jesus, ‘hope’ is a verb. For the Christian, ‘hope’ is a Noun. Hope IS God. We possess hope because the God Who possesses us is the God of Hope.”

How Do We Respond To God’s Word?

Proverbs 13:13 Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.

Those who turn away from the teachings of God’s Word are on a pathway that will ultimately lead to destruction and death. When the Prophet Jonah heard the Word of God directing him to go to Nineveh and preach the Gospel,

Jonah 1:2 (KJV) Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

Jonah despised God’s Word. We are told:

Jonah 1:3 (KJV) But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD …

God sent a GREAT WIND, a Hurricane to attack the ship, and a GREAT FISH to swallow Jonah and bring him to Nineveh. What is our takeaway on this? If you will not heed God and His Word, you can expect misery, darkness, and eventually you will be swallowed by the darkness until you REPENT or DIE.

The blessing or the cursing of every person – saved or unsaved – depends on their positive response to or rejection of the Word of God. Those who respect God’s Word and do that which He says “SHALL BE REWARDED”. But those who “DESPISE” God’s Word {Hebrew bûz, pro. Booz}, “those who hold it in contempt or as insignificant, unworthy of consideration”, their reward shall be destruction. God considered the rejection of His Word so severe that He told His Israel:

Numbers 15:30-31 (NKJV) ‘But the person who does anything presumptuously, whether he is native-born or a stranger, that one brings reproach on the Lord, and he shall be cut off from among his people. 31 Because he has despised the word of the Lord, and has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; his guilt shall be upon him.’

The Israelite that despised God’s Word were “cut off from among his people”. They were not killed, but exiled for rejecting the clearly presented Word of God. This did not apply to accidental or unintentional sin, but to deliberate rejection of what God said. Israel did not follow this rule. As a result, wickedness grew in Israel.

In 2 Chronicles chapter 36 our Lord gives us the account of various kings who – though they sat on the Throne of David – did not honor God.

The King of Egypt put Jehoiakim on David’s Throne (2 Chronicles 36:4-5). Jehoiakim “did evil in the sight of God” and God caused him to be overthrown by Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon. Then Jehoiachin sat on David’s Throne (vs 9), but “did evil in the sight of God”. Once more God used Nebuchadnezzar to dethrone the king. Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon put Zedekiah on David’s Throne (vs 10-12), but once more “Zedekiah did evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the Lord” (vs 12).

God tells us:

2 Chronicles 36:15-17 And the Lord God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. 16 But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy. 17 Therefore He brought against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, on the aged or the weak; He gave them all into his hand.

God is serious about His Word, and we need to be just as serious. To reject His Word, to belittle what He has said, to refuse to obey Jesus Whom God has sent, is a terrible error in judgment. We are told by the LORD:

Isaiah 66:1-2 (ESV) Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? 2 All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at My Word.

What impresses God, the Creator and Savior of all, is that we HUMBLE ourselves and HONOR His Word!

Proverbs 13:14 The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.

The reason I believe that many who profess Christ as Lord and Savior and yet are frightened to death of death is because they have not fed their faith the Word of God. A person may be saved by simple faith in Christ, but sanctification and the calm assurance of STRONG FAITH only comes by reading, studying, and meditating on God’s Word. The phrase “a fountain of life” reminds me of what our Lord Jesus said in:

John 4:14 (NKJV) … whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.

The Christian who holds God’s Word in low regard never grows into the “FOUNTAIN OF LIFE”. To this sad creature faith in Christ is a ticket to a paradise one day. It is like the traveler who buys a ticket to Hawaii or the Caribbean, then puts it into a drawer, pulling it out occasionally to look at it and dream. If you are doing this, you are robbing yourself of the quiet joy of God’s Kingdom RIGHT NOW IN YOUR HEART. That is what the Apostle called “receiving the Grace of God in vain”:

2 Corinthians 6:1 (AP) We then, as WORKERS TOGETHER WITH CHRIST, plead with you to NOT RECEIVE THE GRACE OF GOD IN VAIN …

The Christians at Corinth received God’s Grace, but fed their flesh rather than feeding their spirits. Compare them to the Church at Thessalonica, who:

1 Thessalonians 1:6 (AP) … RECEIVED THE WORD {of God} in MUCH AFFLICTION, with the joy of the Holy Spirit ..

and again, Paul told Thessalonica:

1 Thessalonians 2:13 (AP) … when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers

The lazy believer, the believer who will not heed God’s Word will not grow in their faith. They will not find the favor of God, but darkness and tribulation. Whether you claim to be a Christian or not,

Proverbs 13:15 Good understanding giveth favor: but the way of transgressors is hard.

Jesus said:

John 7:37-38 (Amplified) “If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink! He who believes in me, who cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me, as the Scripture has said (some believe Jesus is referring to Isaiah 58: 11), from his innermost being shall flow continuously springs and rivers of living water”. But He was speaking here of the Spirit, Whom those who believed, trusted, had faith in Him were afterward to receive”

Pastor Sam Storms writes:

Perhaps receiving the grace of God in vain pertains not so much to salvation per se, or its forfeiture, but to the loss of potential blessings related to spiritual growth, knowledge, and joy that they would suffer by rejecting Paul as their apostle. In other words, the people are truly saved. They have genuinely received the gospel and believed it, but they have failed to progress in their Christian growth and stand in danger of losing those spiritual blessings and rewards they otherwise might have obtained. Philip Hughes embraces a similar view and suggests that “for them to receive the grace of God in vain meant that their practice did not measure up to their profession as Christians, that their lives were so inconsistent as to constitute a denial of the logical implications of the gospel, namely, and in particular, that Christ died for them so that they might no longer live to themselves but to His glory”.

Salvation is given by Grace. But once saved, we HEED AND OBEY the Word of God. We do not minimize it or consider it inconsequential, but cherish God’s Word. We seek to understand it through prayerful meditation and careful observance.

May God bless you as you grow into Christ’s image. Amen.