Proverbs 29:3 commentary; keeping company with immoral people

3 ¶ Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father: but he that keepeth company with harlots spendeth his substance.

I am reminded of the story of “The Prodigal Son” in the gospel according to Luke that begins like this;

Luke 15:11 ¶ And he said, A certain man had two sons: 12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. 13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.

In earlier Proverbs the young man had been warned.

Proverbs 7:6 ¶ For at the window of my house I looked through my casement, 7 And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding, 8 Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house, 9 In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night: 10 And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.

Clearly, in one respect, this is a prophetic reflection of God as the Father and Israel as the son, as Israel is called in;

Exodus 4:22 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:

Here is the opinion of one student of ancient religion; “The connection between sexuality and spirituality is so strong and so ancient that the first “coin” ever minted granted access to sacred sex rites. The shekel in ancient Sumeria represented a bushel of wheat donated to the Temple of Inanna to feed the orphans and priestesses who lived there. In recognition of the offering, the donor received a token with a picture of Inanna on one side and a sheaf of wheat on the other. This coin was redeemed at the temple on feast days in order to participate in the fertility rites. The fertility rites included sex with the Goddess – represented by one of the Temple Priestesses – and insured a fertile, prosperous year for those who honored the Goddess in this way.

The ancient Sumerians were not the first—nor the last—to recognize a strong connection between sex and spirit. A long tradition of sex practiced in connection with spirituality lurks in the history of many world religions. Hinduism has a history of sacred sexual practices that continues to this day. Erotic teachings, derived from Tantra and other belief systems, have been incorporated into some Buddhist and Hindu sects. Ancient Judaism had separate words for whore and sacred whore, indicating a spiritual connection with sex—under certain circumstances.

Egyptians, Persians, Semites, and Babylonians all had sacred whores—variously named Horea, Houris, Harine and Hor, all precursors to the word “whore” —in their temples. Greek priestesses performed sexual rites in the Temples of Aphrodite. Rome had her Vestal Virgins and held orgies, called Bacchanalia, dedicated to Bacchus.”

Israel’s dealings with the pagan religions of Satan that God had deliberately opposed when He separated them from the Gentile world consisted of compromise and embracing the sensuality and carnality of those religions. That included consorting with temple prostitutes both male and female and mixing that religious practice with the one that God had given them.

Deuteronomy 23:18 Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the LORD thy God.

2Kings 23:7 And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove.

Temple prostitution continued down through the years and the city of Corinth had nearby Acro-Corinth (Upper Corinth, the Acropolis of Ancient Corinth) where the Temple of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of sex, had 1,000 short haired, sometimes with head shaved, temple prostitutes in a culture where both women and young boys engaged in the practice. Hence, Paul acknowledges the Biblical legitimacy of the Corinthian Christian demand that women have long hair, possibly to distinguish them from prostitutes, just before he comments that if any man be contentious that this is not a concern in other churches. Unfortunately, many agenda driven preachers don’t read the entire passage and have created a doctrine for all Christian women out of thin air.

Bringing the focus down to an individual neither the Hebrew son nor the Christian son would honor his parents if it was his practice to participate in such wicked religious rites. Although we don’t have a specific institution of religion that honors such practices today there is still and always will be a strong religious component to sexual matters. Young Christian men and women have abandoned their faith because of the allure of sex and the siren song of a lover who regards not God. This is because of the sinful nature of their own hearts and the failure of adult Christians to extol the joys of legitimate marital union with God’s blessing.

Hebrews 13:4 Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.

Certainly, the number two reason for the apostasy of Christian youth with regard to sexual matters after the wickedness of the human heart is being shown all their lives by sick example and twisted word that what God has given a man and a woman to enjoy with each other is somehow morally dirty, clumsy, or ungodly.

Clearly, by this Proverb, immoral behavior is not wisdom and it is a way by which a young man is brought to poverty.

Proverbs 6:26 For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.

It does not honor your parents to be wicked and immoral. It is not wise to follow that path. It is not what God has laid out for any Christian. It will destroy you and rob you of more than your substance, your money, your inheritance, in the end. Immoral behavior, young man or woman, will rob you of your joy and make your life a misery, plus make a shambles of the lives of the innocent children that come from it. Don’t be a wicked fool and spend your life in regret with unhappy marriages or living arrangements, unexpected children, disease, and ruin. Search out God’s word for the fulfillment of your personal desires and needs and find a partner who loves Christ, not by searching for them, but by being the kind of person you should be for Christ and waiting on God to provide.