Proverbs, chapter two, commentary

1 ¶ My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
These first five verses are one long sentence and I’m going to break them down, linking them to other verses, which I believe is the only way to properly study the Bible.
Notice these wonderful words from God that I have shown previously apply to both young men and young women;
Psalm 119:1 ¶ ALEPH. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD. 2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. 3 They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.
4 ¶ Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently. 5 O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes! 6 Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.
7 ¶ I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments. 8 I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly.
9 ¶ BETH. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.
10 ¶ With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.
11 ¶ Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
12 ¶ Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes.
13 ¶ With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth. 14 I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches. 15 I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways. 16 I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.
17 ¶ GIMEL. Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word.
18 ¶ Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.
19 ¶ I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me.
2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
“Incline thine ear” implies tilting your head to hear something that interests you. Notice its use in some cases in the great prayers in Psalms.
Psalm 17:6 I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God: incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech.
Psalm 45:10 Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house;
Psalm 71:2 Deliver me in thy righteousness, and cause me to escape: incline thine ear unto me, and save me.
Psalm 88:2 Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry;
Psalm 102:2 Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me: in the day when I call answer me speedily.
It is important to apply your heart to understanding.
Ezra 7:10 For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.
The phrase “apply thine heart” comes again twice in Proverbs. We have discussed understanding before and how it is the one thing animals don’t have. Neither do many wealthy and powerful people. It shows you can be clever, even successful in life, have power, money, and prestige, and still be as without understanding as one of my cats.
Understanding is something that people must apply themselves to. You need to prepare your heart. God does not make His unsearchable judgments known to a person who doesn’t care or just reads the Book like a duty, not regarding what it says. When you read this Book, apply your heart to understanding. Incline your hear, listen intently, and apply your heart.
3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
Here are some conditions laid out. You have to actually pursue knowledge and understanding before you receive it. God will not give either one to someone who doesn’t want them. So, here is an “if”, giving what you are to seek and the direction you are to seek it from, “up”. Cry out to God.
Isaiah 45:8 Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.
Here, the direction from which the right “wisdom” comes is made clear.
James 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
The person who is looking for these things from God; His words, His commandments, His wisdom, and His understanding, must look for them like a precious metal and look in the right direction, looking and digging for them like you would for buried treasure. Remember all the stories of Spanish gold and Pirate’s riches buried secretly or lost at sea. Imagine the millions that have been spent on retrieving them.
The Russian newspaper, Pravda, reports that people hunting for treasure off the coast of Florida will spend $2,000 to $10,000 just to get a couple of gold Spanish doubloons off the ocean floor. What would you pay for just a small amount of the treasures from God He mentions? It takes time and purpose and intent as you can get a King James Bible for just a dollar. With this Book the situation is reversed. While a carnal man might spend thousands to retrieve one piece of gold, a Christian has all the unsearchable riches of God available to them for a dollar.
5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.
Job 28:28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.
Psalm 19:9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
Psalm 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.
Let’s go back to chapter one, verse seven and then also verse 29.
Hosea 6:6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
Romans 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
2 Corinthians 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
Colossians 1:10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
6 For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
God is the source of all wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. Any of things that do not come from Him are not of Him and cannot be called honestly by those names. There is no wisdom, no knowledge, and no understanding that doesn’t come from God.
7 He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.
The righteous man or woman is easily defined further down in verse 20. God’s wisdom is sound, solid, and real. Something is sound when it is real and true.
1 Timothy 1:9 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, 10 For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; 11 According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.
2Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
2Timothy 1:13 Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
2Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
Titus 1:9 Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.
Titus 1:13 This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;
Titus 2:1 But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine: 2 That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.
Titus 2:8 Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.
A buckler is a small shield for defense and for offense. It can be used to block and parry and to punch and cut.
8 He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.
Remember this verse;
Jeremiah 6:16 Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.
To keep is to preserve as this makes clear (notice the linkage between the two phrases), and to guard, like the Keep of a castle, as well as to hold fast.
Genesis 2:15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
Genesis 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
Genesis 28:15 And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.
The path’s of God’s judgment are to be the ways of His saints. God’s way for His saints doesn’t change. His ethics aren’t what we used to call situational ethics. His ways are absolute and always true. He keeps them, preserves them. Don’t misunderstand this and think He’s going to preserve whatever way you want to go. There is only His way. I’ll give you an example. There is a law of gravity. You can hate it. You can defy it. But if you jump off a height far enough from the ground you are probably going to break your leg, your opinion or desires notwithstanding.
9 Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.
Follow God’s ways. Imagine a road and on the road a sign with mileage distances pointing to righteousness, judgment, and equity, as different roads. Every good path. You aren’t going to find these paths if you change God’s words, twist God’s words, or use God’s words to suit your own modernistic agenda, even if you want to call it holy and righteous. You ignore these paths at your peril. There’s nothing but quicksand to either side. Define these words by the Bible’s clear definitions, not some internet or TV preacher’s ignorance and flights of fancy.
10 ¶ When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;
Your spiritual heart is where wisdom must enter in. It is from the heart that God rules a born again Christian who listens to God speak to his spiritual heart through God’s own words.
Matthew 15:19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
Matthew 12:35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
It’s a wonderful thing when knowing God becomes something that is sweet to you. When you find delight in reading his word, and it isn’t a chore, and when you hunger to pray and to hear his word spoken. Later on in Proverbs, pleasant words are said to be sweet and healthy.
11 Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:
We discussed discretion back in verse 4. Let’s go back and review what was said. The ability to act responsibly with restraint will preserve you. Let’s review what was said about understanding earlier as well. Animals have teeth and claws and imparted wisdom which the Discovery Channel crowd calls instinct. You, on the other hand, need understanding that comes from God. This is something that not only animals don’t have but men in high position and wealth without God lack. Notice, also that the way this verse is written that preserve and keep are shown to be synonyms, or words with the same meaning.
12 To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;
Discretion can preserve you by keeping a young woman from being alone with a young man. Discretion can preserve you by keeping a young man off the streets late at night. Discretion can preserve you by eating wisely, exercising, getting enough sleep, and helpful personal habits. Discretion can keep you from fights, prison, and being isolated from your family. Discretion can save your life. Here, discretion can deliver you from “the way of the evil man” and “from the man that speaketh forward things”.
The evil man does wickedness.
Psalm 10:15 Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till thou find none.
Genesis 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Wickedness is committing sin against God, here in the context of sexual sin.
Genesis 39:9 There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?
The evil man is a violent man.
Psalm 140:1 Deliver me, O LORD, from the evil man: preserve me from the violent man;
Proverbs 17:11 tells us that the evil man is a rebellious man. Sexual sin, violence, and rebellion pretty much sum of the spirit of the age, don’t they? Contrast that with righteousness, judgment, and equity.
Froward can mean having no faith, a faithless person.
Deuteronomy 32:20 And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith.
Unsavoury as the opposite of pure.
2Samuel 22:27 With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself unsavoury.
Crafty, clever, and sneaky.
Job 5:13 He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.
Wicked.
Psalm 101:4 A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person.
We’ll see Froward again in Proverbs soon and later. Discretion will keep you, young women from boys with smooth words and flattering tongues. Discretion will keep you young man from a girl who is not quite right upstairs and who will cause you much grief and sorrow. I’ve known young men who ran off to be with the first girl who paid them any attention because she propped up his ego, only to find that she was pretty like a poisonous snake. I’ve known young women who were taken in by abusers and immoral, wicked boys who just knew the right things to say, “the silver tongued devil”, we used to call him.
Cultivate discretion, young people, and you will be spared much grief. Judge everything by the Book. Many evil people don’t even know they’re evil. Their heart and conscience are so seared they can’t even understand how wicked they are. But, there are many people; handsome and pretty, clever, church going, right dressing, Bible toting, people who know exactly what they are doing. They will use you and leave you bewildered at what happened.
Discretion, acting responsibly with restraint, and letting God’s words speak to your heart every day can help preserve you from the ways of the evil and froward.
13 Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;
The evil person can’t help but leave all the paths of uprightness that God has laid out, the old paths mentioned in Jeremiah 6:16 wherein lies the good way, and walk in the ways of darkness. He or she will lead you there if you let them. Notice this in Paul’s brief history of the moral state of mankind in Romans 1 and 2.
Romans 1:32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
We are not called to walk in darkness.
Isaiah said of Israel in Isaiah 59:9 Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.
John 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
1John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
2Corinthians 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Now, there’s a lot of wiggle room in these verses for someone with bad intent to define what uprightness is or darkness is based on their own paranoia, self righteousness, and personal agenda. I’m not going to do that. You want to know what God wants from you? Read the Bible prayerfully and ask Him for His will. Follow the convictions He lays on your heart faithfully. Run them by your Pastor, your parents, some wise person in the church who has led a good life by example and who walks close to God; a woman if you are a woman and a man if you are a man. Don’t be lazy and let someone define righteousness outside of the literal confines of scripture.
If someone tells you that God wants you to be a vegetarian because of 1 Corinthians 8:13 then you better know this Book back and forth and have an intimate relationship with Christ through it or you might be led to believe what he’s saying is true. Many a preacher has taken one verse out of the Bible and made it such an irrevocable and undeniable doctrine that many have been harmed because they weren’t capable of discerning between truth and error.
I used vegetarianism as an example but a brief listen to some of the so called great preaching on the internet will reveal to you just how deceitful some can be, if you know the word of God and define the words in the Book by its own definitions. As a further example, I’m not laying down guidelines for how you dress. I am concerned what’s in your heart. The person who comes in here in a long dress can have as much sin on their mind and in their heart as a person who comes in wearing shorts or a miniskirt. A standard is a good thing but it is not the same thing as having the fruit of the Spirit pouring out of every part of your life.
Uprightness of heart leads to righteousness according to Deuteronomy 9:5 and 1 Kings 3:6. It is integrity of heart in 1 Kings 9:4. It is doing what God has commanded you and following His statutes and judgments. The specific statutes and judgments for the Christian can be found laid out in Paul’s letters.
Job 33:3 links uprightness of heart and knowledge.
Job 33:3 My words shall be of the uprightness of my heart: and my lips shall utter knowledge clearly.
Verse 10 says knowledge is pleasant to the soul. Chapter one, verse twenty two says that fools hate knowledge.
14 Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked;
The evil man or woman, as the Bible and our own experience make clear, rejoice and are happy to do evil. People, in fact, run to do evil and are very good at it. No one has to teach a child to do wrong.
Jeremiah 4:22 For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
They delight in the faithless ways of other wicked people. Mark Twain is said to have made the observation that the “only native American criminal class is Congress” and that “no one’s life, liberty, or property is safe while Congress is in session”. The one thing that people do better than doing evil by themselves is doing it as a group.
Think of the reason that the phrase “he’s bad” has come to mean something good in our culture. Even the word “wicked” has been used by many to describe something that they approve of or take pleasure in.
As in chapter one, verse 16 talks about the person with evil intent runs to do it, let’s look at Isaiah.
Isaiah 59:7 Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths.
There are a lot of people out there who fit this description. You aren’t going to change them. Some of them claim to be Christians and faithfully attend church, dress right, and do good things, at least on the surface. Many more have rejected Christ, if they have ever heard of Him outside of being a swear word. Some are rich, some are poor, and they are born into every race and culture on earth.
In fact, you have to be very careful. Some of the most corrupt people I’ve ever met in business will either have a Bible on their desk, a picture of the Anglo-Saxon representation of Jesus on their wall, and wear that little fish symbol on their suit jacket. Be wise. Don’t judge by outward appearances.
Certainly, it is unlikely that a person wearing a t-shirt that proclaims “White Zombie, 666” is going to be a born again blood bought Christian, but don’t be taken in by someone wearing a “Jesus Saves” t-shirt either. Judge a righteous judgment.
15 Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:
Psalm 125:5 As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the LORD shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity: but peace shall be upon Israel.
There is a list of what forwardness and evil lead mankind to in the end of the first chapter of Romans.
Romans 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; 29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
And again, a list of the kind of people who shall reject Christ.
1 Corinthians 6:9 ¶ Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
(Remember that “will” is used in regard to a choice and “shall” is a consequence of that choice. For instance, as an aside, in Revelation 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. God will dwell with them and as a consequence they shall be his people and by dwelling with them, as a consequence God shall be with them.)
And again in Galatians crooked paths are revealed.
Galatians 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Even in the Christian Church the birds of the air, representing devilish forces, will take shade in its branches as it says in Mark 4:32. (Remember, the corresponding version of this parable in Matthew 13 refers to the evil of the kings in Christ’s millennium who will rise at the first beckoning of the released Satan and the devils. They lodge in the physical kingdom of heaven’s, Christ’s millennial kingdom, branches while in Mark’s Kingdom of God which Christ says is not seen and lies within his followers, the devils can only rest in its shadow but that’s another lesson.)
Here are some crooked ways found in the Christian church at the end of its history.
2 Timothy 3:1 ¶ This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
God has given us sufficient warning to avoid the crooked ways of evil men. Notice in many verses how God hates the way the poor are treated and the ways of violent men. These are the crooked and froward ways of the evil man and woman.
16 To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;
In Bible parlance, a stranger is a foreigner to Israel.
2Chronicles 6:32 Moreover concerning the stranger, which is not of thy people Israel, but is come from a far country for thy great name’s sake, and thy mighty hand, and thy stretched out arm; if they come and pray in this house;
Ezekiel 14:7 For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel,…
Foreign women were the biggest curse to the children of Israel and introduced all sorts of pagan religious ideals and gods and practices which brought the Israelites down. From Balaam’s counsel;
Numbers 31:15 And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive? 16 Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD.
To Solomon’s folly;
1Kings 11:1 But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites;
1Kings 11:8 And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.
There is a principle in the Bible that the one who belongs to God is not to be unequally yoked to one who does not. Like two oxen in a yoke, they can’t plow a field if both are going in different directions.
2Corinthians 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
Amos puts it this way.
Amos 3:3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?
According to Snell’s “Life in the Ancient Near East”, the woman of the ancient Near East, no matter what her social class, was expected to at some point in her life upon reaching her age of adult responsibilities deposit herself in some temple of the version of the goddess in her land and wait for someone to toss a coin into her lap in order to have intimate relations with her.
These religions, including that of Canaan, included child sacrifice, bestiality, incest, and pedophilia. The ancient religions were riddled with it so much so that the Greek historian, Herodotus, makes the claim in his work that the Persians learned their love of one particular perversion from his people.
Foreign woman were the great polluters of Ancient Israel, most of them not being like Ruth but more like Jezebel, bringing their foreign gods and practices with them and lowering the standards of the Hebrews, encouraging them to violate every commandment.
Strange can also refer to someone who has taken on the airs and ideas of the pagan nations around. We have many so called Christian girls in our society who are worldly, carnal, and who totally embrace the ways of the pagan world, then poison other youths within the church with their ideals. You can make yourself seem strange or foreign, as Joseph did to his brothers in order to disguise his true identity.
Genesis 42:7 And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.
Here, in this verse in Proverbs, we seem to have a woman who may be a Hebrew, but has adopted the morals of the pagan, just as we have in the Christian church today, if they were ever taught Godly moral behavior at all. She flatters the simple youth, lacking in experience or discipline, who himself may not have been taught properly. So, now, let’s narrow this down even further. We are talking here about an immoral woman who has adopted the ways of the heathen.
17 Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.
And here is the evidence that she is a Hebrew, or by application to us, a Christian girl raised in church. She has forsaken and forgotten the covenant of her God, the guide of her youth. She has turned her back on the Bible and its precepts. She has rejected what is right and cares about only what she wants. She has become a devil in the flesh. Now, she wants to bring someone else down to her level.
This is the church in the last days of history. Read 2 Timothy 3:1-5. Young men and women have turned their back on the guide of their youth and forgotten the covenant of their God. There is no one more willing to lead you down the wrong path than a Christian who has quenched the Holy Spirit in their lives. Just as in history, the most dangerous men have been apostate Jews, in love with the world, and even rejecting their own people as the Catholic Conversos did in the Spanish Inquisition. They were the most virulent Jew haters, the ones who had been born Jews.
Remember, young people. Beware of so called “former Christians”. There are some, even in IFB churches, that have turned their backs on Christ and are just living a culture of Christianity, reveling in their own sin, wallowing in their own filth, and yet making a pretense of spirituality.
18 For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.
Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25 will give us a clear warning.
There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
I believe this verse goes far beyond the limited historical application and leads us into a theological perspective where paganism and heathenism and non-Biblical Christianity. These religions lead to death. They are manifestations of Satan’s feminine side, the Goddess Ishtar, as many ancient gods, who we know were all Satan in disguise, had a masculine and a feminine form. Goddess worship leads to death and destruction and Satan has deceived the entire world.
Mankind turned their back on God and the covenant’s He made with them a long time ago. They have embraced enticing, attractive, comely, and deadly philosophies and religions. Only Christ can save.
Her ways lead to death. They aren’t simply immorality but idolatry. The modern religion is be nice, and it’s all good, and it doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you believe something. On the other side are murderers and empire builders. Just as the American Neo-conservative, descended from Stalin’s Soviet beliefs, wants American business and politics to cover the entire earth, the Islamist sees that one day the banner of Islam will fly over every capital of the world. From murderers to smarmy snake oil salesman like Joel Osteen or Benny Hinn, it’s all against what the Bible teaches is right and the path of God.
All roads don’t lead to Rome. They lead to Hell. Or, as the famous rock song says, “This ain’t no upwardly mobile freeway, this is the road to Hell.”
Don’t walk away from the Bible, even if someone charismatic or apparently righteous beckons you to do so or if someone who has a worldly or fleshy appeal to you entices you. The end result is death.
19 None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.
This is a general rule and not a dogmatic statement. When you read things like this keep in mind verses like;
Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Apparently, Enoch nor Elijah died and were judged afterwards, according to Scripture. So the verse, while true, is not applicable in 100% of circumstances.
People who walk after false religion, as people who walk after sin, lured away by sensual promises of personal spiritual power or personal carnal pleasure usually slide down the proverbial slippery slope to death after a lifetime of ignorance, having been led like a sacrificial animal to the slaughter, unaware or uncaring of their eventual destruction.
Those people who follow “her path” will not take hold on the paths of life. Here is a list of the following people who identify with a certain sin and by their identification, as a consequence of their believing things like “I am a party animal” or “I am a swinger” or “I am a gay person” or “fillintheblank is what I am and I can’t help myself, take it or leave it” will not receive Christ as their Saviour. Their own will results in a shall.
1 Corinthians 6:9 ¶ Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
Galatians 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
20 That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.
Here is a plea to follow good men, not the bad. That is not a popular sentiment in our modern culture.
Psalm 12:8 The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.
It is interesting to note that this verse in Psalms comes immediately after the verses that deal with God’s preservation of His word. Perhaps we could add, “when the vilest men are exalted” in the church.
Do right. Follow the way of right.
21 For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. 22 But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.
Clearly this verse applies to Christ’s reign on earth as the wicked have no more in history been cut off from the earth than the good. The Hellbound writer, Ernest Hemingway, said in his book, A Farewell to Arms, the world breaks every one, the good and the bad, only it makes more of an effort in breaking the good. God promised the Jews, if they had obeyed Him, that He would give them success and prosperity in the land. The wicked would have been driven from a pure nation of Israel but it was not to be. However, when Christ rules on earth, the wicked will be cut off from the earth. When Satan is loosed, though, it doesn’t take long for the leaders whom Christ has permitted to lead, the birds of the air in Matthew 13:32 lodging in the uppermost branches of the Kingdom of Heaven to rise up against Him, only to be destroyed by Him. Read Psalm, chapter 2 on that.
Here, along with the verses that show perfect to be complete, we have upright and perfect linked as synonyms. What are some traits we can find about the upright man or woman?
They keep themselves from iniquity.
2Samuel 22:24 I was also upright before him, and have kept myself from mine iniquity.
They fear God and avoid evil.
Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.
They are pure.
Job 8:6 If thou wert pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.
They are righteous, as in verse 20.
Psalm 33:1 Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.
Their end is peace.
Psalm 37:37 Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.
There are many other statements about the upright man, the most perfect example of which would be Jesus Christ just as the ultimate example of the wicked in human form would be the Beast of Revelation. You can find more information out about God and Jesus Christ, as well as about Satan and his wicked servant, in the Bible than anything else. If you read every verse looking for clues, character identification, and nature you’ll find out everything about the Beast but the color of his socks almost. Particularly pay attention to the words “the wicked”.
Although these verses are something that can be easily applied as a promise under the Law, we can see it coming afar off, as we wait expectantly for Christ’s return. Satan and his Beast, his anti-Christ will be removed from the earth.