20 ¶ There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up.
Here’s another Proverb that on the surface is talking about frugal spending and thrifty living. Over and over again, God tells the Hebrews to live in a way that preserves their wealth and to use what they have, little or great, wisely; that in a wise man’s house there is treasure and oil, the kind for lamps and for cooking. A foolish man, though, is wasteful and will have nothing of what he needs.
The follower of Christ should store up treasure in Heaven, his forever dwelling place.
Matthew 6:19 ¶ Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
It’s not important what you make here on this earth in the way of money, possessions, or land but what you lay up as treasure in heaven. We are told to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). We look up to God with our prayers, showing our complete dependence on Him. Our prayers precede us to heaven.
Psalm 5:3 My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
Our treasure is in heaven. Its there we look forward to and await with expectation.
2 Corinthians 5:6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: 7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) 8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
As you get older, more and more people you love have gone on before you; parents, children, and friends. You begin to lose your feeling of longing for this life and begin the process of longing to go on yourself. If we are truly saved and really believe what we say we believe then the process of dying becomes a journey we know we must begin in order to get to where we want to be. The world loses its sparkle and its glitter. You see a pretty sunrise and imagine how much more spectactular it will be when creation is restored to what God wants it to be, without the taint of sin.
You love someone here and you wonder just how much more complete and perfect that love will be in heaven when you and they are like Christ. Every good and proper feeling, every good thing, every joy will be magnified an unspeakable number of times when we are in His presence and we are like Him for ever and ever.
2 Corinthians 12:2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) 4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
There are no words to describe it on earth.
Isaiah 64:4 For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.
1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
The wise person, the person who has received Christ as his or her Saviour, who trusts in Christ’s righteousness and not their own to get to Heaven and eternal life, who believes who Christ said He was, and believes in His resurrection has great treasure in his dwelling place. There is grace that has been bestowed on man at the Cross where God loved all mankind.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
1Timothy 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
But, the fool wastes it. He either doesn’t believe in God.
Psalm 14:1 and 53:1 both say, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God...”
Or, the fool says that, if there is a God, that he is pretty much an okay guy or girl so he’s sure, if there’s a heaven, he’ll be there. After all, he’s a good spiritual person and maybe even an adherent of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism or some other faith. He does what he’s told, never misses church, temple, or mosque and repeats the prayers he’s given. So, he or she is trusting in their own righteousness to get to heaven and not God’s.
Philippians 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
The fool has only one thing to look forward to, destruction, long, painful, and unending.
2Thessalonians 1:8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
But, Christ is our treasure.
2 Corinthians 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. 7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
Oil is a type of the Holy Spirit, which we have living inside each of us when we received Christ. As David was anointed by Samuel with oil and the Holy Spirit came upon him so we are anointed by the Holy Spirit itself as it comes to dwell inside of us.
1Samuel 16:13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.
Ephesians 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
In the dwelling of the wise, the bodies and minds of Christians, is a treasure; the Lord Jesus Christ, whom we have by virtue of His Spirit living in us, as oil is a type of. But, the foolish, at the end of their lives, will have nothing but an eternity of agony to look forward to. Our treasure, also, is in heaven, which we hungrily await and look forward to, and which we have as our destination if we trust in Christ and His righteousness and not our own to get there.
Contrast that to what a fool has waiting for him and, at least for the fool, it is a sad Proverb, indeed. Can they not understand why we keep pleading with them to turn to Christ?
We have a treasure also in our dwelling place, the words of God in His Book. God, who has seen every moment of existence from the beginning and lives in eternity (Isaiah 57:15) could have left us a Bible we’d never be able to read but instead He left us one around 1200 pages or so. Don’t you think every word is important? It’s settled in heaven (Psalm 119:89). It was given by inspiration (contrast 2 Timothy 3:16 with Job 32:8). It has been preserved for us (Psalm 12:6-8). God has placed it even higher than His name to which every knee shall bow and every tongue confess (Psalm 138:2; Isaiah 45:23; Romans 14:11). It’s generally not rocket science to those who believe and who know how to rightfully divide it which isn’t a big secret (2 Timothy 2:15). God uses it to sanctify the wise Christian (John 17:17).
A wise man has this treasure in his dwelling also and the oil of the Holy Spirit to guide him (John 14:26) and a Pastor to teach him (1 Timothy 3:2). What does a fool have? Dr. Phil? Oprah Winfrey? Anthony Robbins? Some right wing or left wing political pundit?
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