Fear God/ Fear Sin

Proverbs 23:10-11 Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the FIELDS OF THE FATHERLESS: 11 For THEIR Redeemer is mighty; He shall plead their cause with thee.

Do Not Lie To Take What Is Not Yours

Before we left the last chapter, Solomon wrote:

Proverbs 22:28 (KJV) Remove not the ANCIENT LANDMARK, which thy fathers have set.

Ancient boundaries were based on distinct landmarks. Some landmarks were valleys or mountains, rivers or streams. But where there was no distinct boundary, people would set boundaries of pillars and rocks. This is what happened between Laban and Jacob:

Genesis31:51-52 (ESV) Then Laban said to Jacob, “See this heap and the pillar, which I have set between you and me. 52 This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass over this heap to you, and you will not pass over this heap and this pillar to me, to do harm.

In this case, Laban and Jacob made a pact that one would stay on one side of the boundary, and the other on the opposing side. The other reason for landmarks was to set property boundaries. People could steal land by moving the landmark (especially if it was a man made landmark). God tells His people:

Deuteronomy 19:14 (ESV) You shall NOT MOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR’S LANDMARK, which the men of old have set, in the inheritance that you will hold in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.

God’s people are forbidden to move landmarks, or to feed your livestock on another person’s property. God despises sin, but particularly despises covetousness and theft. The Tenth Commandment says:

Exodus 20:17 (ESV) You SHALL NOT COVET your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, OR ANYTHING that is your neighbor’s.

God does not allow theft of an inheritance – moving the ancient landmark – from anyone. He said of the rulers of Israel:

Hosea 5:10 (ESV) The princes of Judah have become LIKE THOSE WHO MOVE THE LANDMARK; upon them I will pour out my wrath like water.

Moving the landmark was like rustling. You took your brand, and pressed it over the lawful owner’s brand. That’s theft!

Before Israel went into the Promised Land, God told His people “you are CURSED if you move your neighbor’s landmark” (Deuteronomy 27:17). Some would be particularly crooked. They would wait until someone’s father passed away, then they would move the landmark and steal land from those in mourning. Without a father to bring such a person before a priest for judgment, there would be no one to prove the landmark had been moved. God warned those who would move the landmark:

Proverbs 23:11 For THEIR Redeemer is mighty; He shall plead THEIR CAUSE with thee.

God is the REDEEMER (Isaiah 43:14; 47:4). He says not “YOUR” Redeemer is mighty, but “THEIR” Redeemer is mighty. Those who would move the ancient landmarks in order to steal from a neighbor are those who are NOT redeemed from sin. They walk in darkness. The Bible says that Jesus Christ died for us,

Titus 2:14 … gave Himself for us to REDEEM US FROM ALL LAWLESSNESS and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are ZEALOUS FOR GOOD WORKS

Those who steal what is not theirs by subterfuge are not children of God saved by Grace, but lost people walking in darkness. God will fight against those who move the landmarks!

Application For Us: The Apostle Paul warned Christians against twisting and modifying the Word of God. We must be particularly careful to maintain the “ancient landmark” of the Gospel. When Pharisees enter the Gentile Church at Galatia and began to teach that Gentiles must be circumcised, just as the Jews were, the Apostle wrote:

Galatians 1:8-9 (LSB) But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to the gospel we have proclaimed to you, LET HIM BE ACCURSED! 9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is proclaiming to you A GOSPEL CONTRARY TO WHAT YOU RECEIVED, let him be accursed!

The word “ACCURSED” (Greek anathema) means to “be cursed from the presence of God, to be doomed to destruction”. Those without Christ are INDEED FATHERLESS – they are separated from the glory of God’s Kingdom by sin and Satan. They need to hear the GOSPEL, not our opinions.

God’s Word – clearly presented – is an ancient landmark that must not be moved. The Bible says “EVERY WORD OF GOD IS PURE” (Proverbs 30:5-6). When God sent Israel into the Promised Land, He told His people:

Deuteronomy 4:1-2 (LSB) So now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I am teaching you to do, so that you may live and go in and take possession of the land which Yahweh, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2 YOU SHALL NOT ADD TO THE WORD WHICH I AM COMMANDING YOU, NOR TAKE AWAY FROM IT, that you may keep the commandments of Yahweh your God which I am commanding you.

And as God ended the Bible, He wrote:

Revelation 22:18-19 (LSB) I bear witness to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: IF ANYONE ADDS TO THEM, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book. 19 And IF ANYONE TAKES AWAY FROM THE WORDS OF THE BOOK of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.

We do not help the cause of Christ – nor ourselves – when we move the ancient landmark of the Scripture to suit ourselves (2 Peter 3:16).

Learn From God, And Teach Your Children

Proverbs 23:12-14 Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge. 13 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. 14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.

In order to benefit from God’s Word, there must be meditative listening and application. Many people “learn” the Word of God, knowing what it says. But learning without application is absolutely useless. Our Lord Jesus said:

Matthew 7:24-27 (NKJV) Therefore whoever HEARS these sayings of Mine, and DOES them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 “But everyone who HEARS these sayings of Mine, and DOES NOT DO THEM, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.

It is good to HEAR the Word of God. But to HEAR it, then walk away, profits nothing. If you want to have a rock solid faith and a blessed life, you must both HEAR and DO. There are many times when the doing of God’s Word is extremely difficult. The Bible tells us about a rich young man who – under conviction – came to seek eternal life from Jesus. We read:

Mark 10:17-18 (LSB) as He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and began asking Him, “GOOD {agathos} Teacher, WHAT SHALL I DO TO INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? NO ONE IS GOOD EXCEPT GOD ALONE.

Let’s look at this for a moment. Jesus refused the title “GOOD” {Greek agathos} because the young man called Jesus a “TEACHER” {Greek didaskalos}. A lot of people see Jesus as just a “Teacher”, even a “Good Teacher”. But Jesus is more than a mortal teacher. Jesus is God in the flesh. This young man is coming to Jesus and asking Him “How do I INHERIT {klēronomeō, receive as a child of God} eternal life”? Jesus is the Source of Eternal Life (John 3:15; John 5:39; John 6:54, 66). He is more than a human teacher. He is God among us! Jesus went on to say:

Mark 10:19-20 (LSB) You know the commandments, ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.”

Jesus made it very clear: the saved, those who will “INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE” are obedient to God and His Word. The things that God commands are not optional – EVER. The young man kept the commandments, it’s obvious, for Jesus does not correct him (and Jesus is God Incarnate).

Now Jesus Christ as God Incarnate gives this young man who claims to be saved another command: WILL YOU OBEY JESUS? That’s where the proof of salvation is, whether you will obey Jesus or not.

Mark 10:21-22 (LSB) And looking at him, Jesus loved him and said to him, “One thing you lack: GO AND SELL ALL YOU POSSESS AND GIVE TO THE POOR, and YOU WILL HAVE TREASURE IN HEAVEN; and COME, FOLLOW ME” But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for HE WAS ONE WHO OWNED MUCH PROPERTY. And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!”

To enter the Kingdom of God, the salvation you claim to possess must be marked with obedience to God.

Salvation without repentance will not save a dandelion. Repentance means that the hearer STOP doing life HIS way, and start doing it GOD’S way. It was not the young man’s bank account that kept him from having treasure in Heaven. It was that the young man worshiped the things he owned MORE than he worshiped Jesus.

There is a dearth (that’s a King James word that means “a scarcity or a lack of something”) of obedience in our world today, a precursor to another Sodom and Gomorrah on America. Christianity properly understood is to FOLLOW JESUS. To hear the Word of God and not DO it, applying it to your heart, is an exercise in futility. The Stepbrother of Jesus, James wrote:

James 1:22 be DOERS OF THE WORD, and not hearers only, DECEIVING YOURSELVES

And the Apostle John said “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18). Throughout the Bible the Lord tells us over and over again that, “to OBEY GOD is better than sacrifice” (1 Samuel 15:22).

Good Parents Raise Obedient Children

How can we raise a generation of children who understand the importance of obedience? By effective parenting.

Proverbs 23:13-14 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. 14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt DELIVER HIS SOUL from HELL.

Word Study: Loving discipline trains a child, teaching that child to avoid evil. The word translated “HELL” is the Hebrew šᵊ’ôl, which means “the grave, the pit, the place where the dead souls are held unto Judgment Day”. Solomon tells us that to punish the child corporally, though it may cause the child temporary suffering, such punishment may keep the child from a greater hurt.

Children who are not disciplined grow up to be adults who have no respect for authority. These undisciplined adults haunt the court system, bring confusion and anarchy to civil order, and many die deaths at an early age from rebelling against order.

Though children may become adults and wander from God, the Bible tells us that “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). The Bible says of God our Father that:

Hebrews 12:6 (ESV) … the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives

My commentary notes, “Loving, sincere parents may protest that they “love” their children too much to discipline them. Yet this only trains the child to expect a world without consequences—a world which does not exist. A parent who genuinely loves the child should recognize the need for reasonable discipline and apply it accordingly”.

It Pleases Our Heavenly Father When We Guide Our Hearts To Follow His Word

Proverbs 23:15-18 My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine. 16 Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when THY LIPS SPEAK RIGHT THINGS. 17 LET NOT thine heart envy sinners: but BE THOU IN THE FEAR OF THE LORD all the day long. 18 For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.

The world teaches that we are to be “guided by our hearts”. This is contrary to the teaching of Scripture. We are to guide our hearts by the Word of God.

The Christian is not to live following the flesh, nor the ways of the world. The Bible says that “those who are IN THE FLESH CANNOT PLEASE GOD” (Romans 8:8). We are not to desire the things that sinners have, but we who are saved by Grace are to love God and His Word. We fear to do that which shames our Lord. God wants to hear our “LIPS SPEAK RIGHT THINGS”. We are to say what God has said. We are not to compromise with the world, but to be light in the midst of darkness. The Bible commands us to:

Ephesians 4:15 (ESV) Rather, SPEAKING THE TRUTH IN LOVE, we are to grow up in every way INTO HIM who is the Head, into Christ,

The goal of the believer is to be like Christ. We facilitate this by not compromising with the false teachings of the world. Though Noah lived in a time when “the wickedness of humanity was great on the earth, and every intention of the thoughts of man was continually evil” (Genesis 6:5), Noah kept speaking God’s Word. Noah was “a herald of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5).

When we as children of God speak the Word of God, though despised and rejected by the world, we bring intense joy to our Heavenly Father.

There will come a day when we will meet our Maker face to face. A payday is coming, and a time of reward will be ours if we have honored our Lord on this earth.

1Peter 1:3-5 (ESV) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, HE HAS CAUSED US TO BE BORN AGAIN TO A LIVING HOPE through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 TO AN INHERITANCE IMPERISHABLE, undefiled, and unfading, KEPT IN HEAVEN FOR YOU, 5 who by God ‘s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Though the worldly may take your possessions, though the godless may move the ancient landmarks, God has a place for His children, “KEPT IN HEAVEN FOR YOU”.

Avoid Gluttony And Drunkenness

Proverbs 23:19-21 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way. 20 Be not among WINE BIBBERS; among RIOTOUS EATERS OF FLESH: 21 For THE DRUNKARD AND THE GLUTTON shall come to poverty: and DROWSINESS shall clothe a man with rags.

Word Study: The word translated “WINEBIBBERS” is the Hebrew sāḇā’, which means “those who drink heavily or largely, who imbibe to excess”. The word “GLUTTON” as well as the words “RIOTOUS EATERS OF FLESH” is the Hebrew zālal, which means “those who squander or are lavish with, those who shake or flow down”. This is a reference to those who “party hardy”, who chase after excess of food and drink, who live catering to the flesh.

When Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos was married to Lauren Sanchez, the wedding and following celebration cost between 46.5 – 55.6 MILLION dollars. The dress the bride wore was custom made, and cost over $300,000.00. As Bezos is worth 254$ billion many say that this is nothing. But what good came from it? Nothing.

Seneca, the Stoic (4 BC to 65 AD) wrote about the ancient Roman Empire, “They vomit so they may eat, and eat so that they may vomit.” What destroyed Rome, and many other cultures, was excess without restrain. Another good example is found in the Book of Daniel. King Belshazzar, the last King of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, loved wild drinking and eating parties. On the night that Babylon fell Belshazzar took the holy vessels that his father Nebuchadnezzar took from the Temple in Jerusalem, and used them in his feast. As he and his guest drank to drunkenness and ate, they mocked God by worshiping the false gods, toasting them. The Bible says that God caused a

Daniel 5:5 (ESV) … the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, opposite the lamp stand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote.

Belshazzar could not understand the words written on the walls, so he called for Daniel. Daniel chastised Belshazzar for his greed, and his ingratitude – and attributed all that he had to God. Daniel told Belshazzar:

Daniel 5:26-28 (ESV) This is the interpretation of the matter: Mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; 27 Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; 28 Peres, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

Belshazzar did not repent. He did not humble himself before God, and seek His grace. Instead Belshazzar proclaimed Daniel to be the third ruler in the Babylonian Empire …

then he was killed that night (Daniel 5:20).

Babylon died that night because of wild partying, and Darius the Mede received the Kingdom. The wild lifestyle is self destructive. But in the end, Daniel was blessed. God looks after those who love Him and His Word.