Proverbs 22:14 commentary; strange women

14 ¶ The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the LORD shall fall therein.

Let’s review what strange and stranger is before we dig into this Proverb. Strange, in the Bible, doesn’t mean weird. It means alien to Israel, not sharing in the Hebrew culture or believing in the Hebrew God exclusively as the God of all.

Exodus 2:22 And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.

Exodus 18:3 And her two sons; of which the name of the one was Gershom; for he said, I have been an alien in a strange land:

Exodus 12:19 Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land.

Leviticus 16:29 And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you:

The Canaanite women that the Israelites permitted to live after they invaded the land given to them by God and the foreign women around them were a danger to their walk with God.

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 11:4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.

Let this be a lesson to parents. When you send your son of to college in a faraway place he is likely as not to find him a wife of the people there and not return home to live. I’ve seen it in many families and in my own. Wives have a tremendous influence over where the family nest is made. My grandparents fully expected my father to return from the Air Force and marry the girl they liked back home. It was not to be.

The strange women that lived among the Hebrews corrupted the Israelites with their pagan gods just as they did to the wisest human king who ever lived, Solomon. Even wisdom was no match against feminine beauty and charm.

The mouth of strange women spoke abominations: encouraging worship of other gods and alien ways to worship God of which He did not approve. The pervasive influence of these strange women goes all the way through the figure of the woman mixing in leaven, a type of pollution and false doctrine (see Exodus 12:15 and Matthew 16:5-12) , into three measures of meal; Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, and the so called Orthodox Church in Matthew 13:33 and Luke 13:21.This doctrine carries all the way to Mystery Babylon, the woman of Revelation 17 who may be represented by Mary, the goddess of Rome, who is in reality Ishtar, Diana, Venus, and Isis in Christian disguise.

But what about in your day to day life? Who are these strange women that those who are God’s enemies will be destroyed by? Christians watch television, movies, and listen to popular rock and country music. The sirens on the stage and screen, evil women speaking great abominations encouraging you to self destruct, even being deceived themselves as their lives’ end up like a Janis Joplin or an Amy Winehouse or a Marilyn Monroe, have a great influence on the weak, carnal Christian who has enjoyed the benefit of the gift of eternal life and yet holds no regard for God’s standards or doctrines.

Every day around the nation, Christians choose to hear these strange women speaking soothing, fleshy, and false doctrines, their mouths a great pit of despair and anguish which the Christian who is not walking with God falls into, taken captive by Satan at his will (2 Timothy 2:26). Christians will hear Satan speaking through them, appeasing their flesh, exciting their baser nature, turning the beauty of things like sexual union that God gave to man and wife into vile, disease ridden torture of blind obsessions and exploitation. These same Christians do not have the time to read or hear God speak to them through His word but they do have time for American Idol on television or their favorite nearly naked vixen singing songs of debauchery and broken heartedness on the radio.

Christian, every time you hear a song by Britney Spears or see a movie with Angelina Jolie you are falling slowly but surely into that pit mentioned in this Proverb. These strange women speak doctrines that are against this Bible and against the God of this Bible. With great amounts of money and fame they have the “bully pulpit” and can preach their false doctrines to a world that is hungry for Jesus Christ but thinks all they really need is a racy music video by Christina Aguilera. Everything is dragged through the dirt by these sirens. Every Bible doctrine from not getting revenge to not defrauding your brothers and sisters and even to a disdain and contempt for Christ Himself is preached non-step, 24/7 around the world from radios, movies, and TV by these people and their handlers. And you say, it’s all good. Its just music. There’s nothing wrong with it.

Certainly, a literal application of this verse can only be made to ancient Israel. God does not abhor any Christian and those who are going to Hell by virtue of their rejection of Christ are doomed anyway and don’t need any additional pushing into the pit. But, to apply this spiritually to you, to make this part of your daily life just look around at the world of religion and false female teachers like Joyce Meyer, a swine of Matthew 7:6 and a sow of 2 Peter 2, a false female teacher, the godless and wicked of the music and entertainment world, like Madonna, or the political world, all these worlds of which have their god of Satan (2 Corinthians 4:4). Don’t fall into the pit of their open mouths, Christian. Don’t even hear their siren cry. Homer’s Odysseus had to contend with three bird-women named Sirens whose music and voices lured sailors to their deaths. The danger is no less here than in Greek mythology.

Be discerning, Christian. Let God’s word, not their false doctrines, permeate your mind, and stay away from the deep pit of their mouths lest your witness and testimony for Christ be destroyed.