Category Archives: Proverbs

Right Place, Right Time

Proverbs 27:8 As a bird that WANDERETH {nāḏaḏ} from her nest, so is a man that WANDERETH {nāḏaḏ} from his place.

Word Study: The word translated “WANDERETH” is the Greek nāḏaḏ, which means to “stray, retreat from the safety of, to be chased from”. The safest place for a bird to be is in its nest. It is when the bird leaves its nest to seek food or freedom that it is subject to being attacked by a bird of prey. God even gave a special provision in the Law:

Deuteronomy 22:6-7 (LSB) If A BIRD’S NEST happens to be before you along the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, with the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you SHALL NOT TAKE THE MOTHER WITH THE YOUNG; 7 you shall surely LET THE MOTHER GO, and TAKE THE YOUNG FOR YOURSELF, that it may be well with you and that YOU MAY PROLONG YOUR DAYS.

If you came upon a bird sitting on her eggs, it was acceptable to take the eggs for food – but not to kill the mother. The nest was a place of safety. How does this relate to the man? In the Bible, there are times when the relationship we have with our God is poetically expressed, as if God is a Mother Bird and we are the chicks. This is particularly found in the Psalms: Continue reading

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Hungry For God

Proverbs 27:2 Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.

The Bible has a lot of prohibitions against bragging. The person who loves to brag on their own accomplishments, their great feats, is in a very dangerous position. Goliath mocked David, and boasted:

1 Samuel 17:44 Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field.

Goliath filled himself with himself, with his own power, with his own prowess. David on the other hand emptied himself. Rather than boast back to Goliath, he bragged on the power of God in him:

1 Samuel 17:45-47 (LSB) David said to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I COME TO YOU IN THE NAME OF YAHWEH of hosts, the God of the battle lines of Israel, whom you have reproached. [46] This day YAHWEH WILL DELIVER YOU INTO MY HANDS, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the camp of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, [47] and that all this assembly may know that Yahweh does not save by sword or by spear; for THE BATTLE IS YAHWEH’S, and He will give you into our hands.”

Goliath’s power and size were given to him by God. That which we have, be it beauty, or wit, or charisma, or power, the station we occupy in life, these all come from the hands of God. “Pride goes before destruction” we are told in Proverbs 16:18. “When pride comes, then comes disgrace” notes Proverbs 11:2. If you have been given great gifts, give God the praise, not yourself. … Continue reading

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The Deceiver, The Lāhâ (Pronounced law-hah’)

Proverbs 26:18-19 As a MAD MAN {Lāhâ} who casteth firebrands, arrows, and death, 19 So is the man that deceiveth his neighbour, and saith, Am not I in sport?

Word Study: Last week we learned about the meddler, who sticks his nose in where it doesn’t belong. The meddler “meddles with strife that doesn’t belong to him”. The Bible warns that this is like “taking a passing dog by the ears”. He brings his own punishment on himself. But this week we look at the “MAD MAN” or the Lāhâ, “the arsonist or person who loves to see things burn, or to make others weary or faint”. The Lāhâ is not self destructive, but loves to start trouble. The Lāhâ is described only one other time in the Scripture, in the Book of Genesis during the time of Joseph. The Scripture says:

Genesis 47:13 (KJV) And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan FAINTED {Lāhâ} by reason of the famine. Continue reading

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What NOT To Find In A Christian

In the King James text, the word SLOTHFUL or SLUGGARD (Hebrew ʿāṣēl, “a sluggard, one who is lazy) is found 14 times in the Book of Proverbs – and never in a good way. The word ʿāṣēl refers to the person who idles away the gift of life that God has given them. We aren’t talking about those who occasionally take a rest, for God established a Biblical Sabbath where we are to rest ourselves, and focus upon our Savior and Lord. Life is a gift from God: “GOD GIVES TO ALL LIFE, and BREATH, and ALL THINGS” (Acts 17:25). The soul of man is made by God. The Prophet Job wrote:

Job 33:4 The SPIRIT OF GOD HATH MADE ME, and the BREATH OF THE ALMIGHTY HATH GIVEN ME LIFE.

Our God is the One Who kills, and makes alive (Deuteronomy 32:39). He is “the FOUNTAIN OF LIFE” (Psalm 36:9). God does not give us life so that we can squander it. The man on his deathbed knows how precious every minute is. No man dies wanting one more dollar, one more acre, one more thing, one more social media follower, one more truck or car. The one on his deathbed wants one more minute of quality life, one more breath without pain and suffering, one more good day.

We realize how precious life is when we reach the end of our race. When we leave HERE, we go to Him Who made us. We will be judged for damnation, or be judged for what we did for Him before continuing His Presence forever (Ecclesiastes 12:7).

God never made us immune to work. When God put Adam in the perfect Garden of Eden, He gave him the command “Tend My garden, and guard it” (Genesis 2:15). Had Adam spent more time DOING what God said rather than JUDGING what God said, we would all still be in Paradise this very day. Continue reading

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Don’t Play The Fool

Psalm 14:1 (KJV) The FOOL {nāḇāl} hath said in his heart, [There is] no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, [there is] none that doeth good.

Psalm 53:1 (KJV) The FOOL {nāḇāl} hath said in his heart, [There is] no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: [there is] none that doeth good.

Word Study: The Hebrew nāḇāl or “fool” refers to a godless person, a person who has rejected Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and who lives their lives totally apart from their Creator. In Proverbs 26:1-12 we aren’t necessarily talking about lost people. There are five Hebrew words for “fool”:

nāḇāl – the godless person
baʿar – the person who acts brutish, like an animal
lets – the arrogant, mocking fool
pethi – the simple minded fool in the making

It is the fifth type of “fool” Proverbs 26 addresses: kesil, the morally stubborn person who knows better, but refuses wisdom or Bible truth.

It was this type of “fool” that Jesus spoke of when He said:… Continue reading

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Living As Faithful Witnesses

Proverbs 25:1 These are also proverbs of Solomon, which the MEN OF HEZEKIAH King of Judah copied out.

Solomon was a flawed, but wise man whom the Lord used. When King Hezekiah came to the throne (about 270 years after Solomon’s reign), the King had his scribes search the royal vaults to collect additional sayings of Solomon. These words make up chapters 25-29 of this Book.

God used humans in writing His holy Scripture. He could have written the Scriptures through angels had He wanted, but God used man created in His image (Genesis 9:6) to relay His Word.

King Hezekiah was a good and Godly King. He loved the Lord Christ. He wanted to honor God in his office. The Bible says:

2 Kings 18:2-7 (NKJV) {Hezekiah} was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name [was] Abi the daughter of Zechariah. 3 And HE DID WHAT WAS RIGHT IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD, according to all that his father David had done. 4 He removed the high places and broke the [sacred] pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan. 5 HE TRUSTED IN THE LORD GOD OF ISRAEL, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him. 6 For HE HELD FAST TO THE LORD; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the LORD had commanded Moses. 7 The LORD WAS WITH HIM; HE PROSPERED WHERE EVER HE WENT. And he rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.

Hezekiah (Hebrew ḥizqîyâ, meaning “Jehovah is my Strength”) was not the only good King Judah (Southern Israel) had. The Southern Kingdom of Israel had eight good Kings who loved God, who were saved by faith in Christ. The Northern Kingdom had NO good kings, for they departed from God’s Word and God’s Commandment. When Hezekiah became King, the wisest thing he did was seek out the Word of God, and expand the Book of Proverbs. The Bible tells us that Solomon wrote about 3000 Proverbs (1 Kings 4:32), and many of those had not been transcribed up to this point. If Hezekiah was going to be an effective King, he wanted to cling to the Word of God! We are told in 2 Timothy 3:16 that “all scripture is God breathed”. Further the Apostle tells us: Continue reading

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The Way Of The Wise (Believer)

The “WISE” (Hebrew ḥāḵām) are those whom “God has FILLED with the SPIRIT of WISDOM” (Exodus 28:3). God is the Giver of Wisdom. The Bible says:

Proverbs 2:6 (LSB) YAHWEH GIVES WISDOM; From His mouth [come] knowledge and discernment.

Job 12:13 (LSB) WITH {GOD} ARE WISDOM AND MIGHT; To Him belong counsel and discernment.

There are few “WISE” people in our world today. Since the time of Adam and Eve, we have been eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and considering ourselves gods. We are not gods. God is God, and we are not. God tells us:

Proverbs 24:23 It is not good to have RESPECT OF PERSONS in judgment

Our God has a standard, and His standard is revealed in the Bible, the Word of God. God judges by His standard, and wants us to do the same…. Continue reading

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The Righteous Fall But Rise

Proverbs 24:15-16 Lay not wait, O WICKED {rāšāʿ} man, against the dwelling of the RIGHTEOUS {ṣadîq}; spoil {šāḏaḏ} not his resting place: 16 For a JUST {ṣadîq} man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the WICKED {rāšāʿ} shall fall into mischief.

Word Study: God addresses the wicked here with a warning. The warning is that God Himself looks after the RIGHTEOUS or the JUST person, but the WICKED will fall and stay fallen. Let’s look at a few of these words in their original text. Let’s start with the words RIGHTEOUS and JUST. This is the same word in the Hebrew, the word ṣadîq (pro. tsad-deek’) which means “the lawful or right walking, the one justified and vindicated by God”.

The Righteous or Just Are Declared So By God Based On Faith In Christ

When a person repents and receives God as Lord and Savior, as Abraham did, the Bible says:

Genesis 15:6 {Abraham} believed in the LORD; and He COUNTED IT {ḥāšaḇ} to him FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

This scripture is quoted numerous times throughout the Bible. In … Continue reading

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Building A House That Stands

We need to be careful who we associate with. Close friendship and close relationships with those who are ungodly can lead us into a trap, destroying our lives. There are two heart – emotions that we need to understand, jealousy and envy. Jealousy is when you are possessive about that which is rightfully yours. Jealousy is not necessarily a sin. God Himself is jealous:… Continue reading

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Fear God/ Fear Sin

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: Continue reading

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