Proverbs 20:25 ¶ It is a snare to the man who devoureth that
which is holy, and after vows to make enquiry.
This is one of those verses that are not easy to
spiritualize for a Christian. According to Gill and Henry this refers to a man
using something for himself that was set apart for God and also that man making
a vow to God and then looking afterwards for an excuse or a way out of it.
Since our temple where God abides is our body
and we don’t have holy tables and holy utensils and other such things this is
not easy for us to understand. But let’s look at it from our perspective.
Imagine setting apart money you were going to give to missions or to the church
offering and then deciding at the last minute to stop at a fastfood restaurant
for breakfast and spending it there. Or picture a church body setting aside a
building they’d purchased to meet and worship in and then renting out that
building to a company that leased gambling equipment the rest of the week.
The view here is that something you’ve committed
to God, you decide to use in a profane manner. God would be saying that this is
a snare, a trap to you. Would you use the communion cups and plates for a party
you were having or rent out the church grounds to some family to have a drunken
reunion gathering? The sense here is the danger of taking something that has
been set aside, set apart for God, and using it in a personal manner or even a
profane manner.
The other snare mentioned is making a vow, a
promise, to God and then trying to think of an excuse not to perform it.
Christians would do well not to make vows to God. These solemn statements are
often just a big show that try to use something seemingly important as an
excuse for not having a day-to-day relationship with God. There are many
stories about someone, in a moment of doubt or fear, promising God that if
He’ll deliver them from this or that they’ll be more faithful to church, to
Bible reading, or giving. While this is foolish as trying to make business
deals with God is a kind of sacrilege, it has been done time and time again.
Afterwards the promise made was so rash and desperate that the person tries to
find a way out, in his own mind, from performing it.
Ecclesiastes 5:4 ¶ When thou vowest a vow
unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which
thou hast vowed. 5 Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou
shouldest vow and not pay. 6 Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin;
neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God
be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?
Remember the agony of Jephtath;
Judges 11:30 And Jephthah vowed a vow unto
the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon
into mine hands, 31 Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors
of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon,
shall surely be the LORD’S, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering. 34 And
Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to
meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her
he had neither son nor daughter. 35 And it came to pass, when he saw her, that
he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very
low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto
the LORD, and I cannot go back. 36 And she said unto him, My father, if thou
hast opened thy mouth unto the LORD, do to me according to that which hath
proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the LORD hath taken vengeance for thee
of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon.
Remember, these are things under the Law, which
was a spiritual and a civil restraint on the ancient Jews. God doesn’t want
your empty promises, He wants your day-to-day obedience and faithfulness. He
doesn’t want you dedicating a glass as a Holy cup. He wants you to use
everything you have as well as your own body as His property.
Romans 12:1 ¶ I beseech you therefore,
brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And
be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of
God.
Going into this verse deeper, then, let’s
understand that if your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which it is (1
Corinthians 6:19), and if the house of God is the church which is the living
body of Christ on earth (1 Timothy 3:15; Ephesians 1:22,23; 1 Corinthians
14:23; Colossians 1:18), as in people, and as the verses in Romans 12 point out
that you and I are holy, living sacrifices and that is our reasonable service
to be so then what you do with your body should not be taken lightly. And we should
not be looking for ways to go around our commitment to Christ which is as good
as any vow as He has paid for us in His own blood.
Acts 20:28 Take heed therefore unto
yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you
overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own
blood.
Binge drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes,
immoderate diets, lack of regular exercise, and lack of adequate rest are not
the ways one would think that God would want His temple treated.
2Corinthians 10:5 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;
You’d think we’d want to be careful how we used
things sanctified to God as how we use them can be a snare. What are you
putting in front of your eyes? I can talk about porn all day and you’d agree
but how about the things you willfully put in front of your eyes and in your
ears that enrage you and make your blood boil? When was the last time you
arrived at a destination in your car after having been enraged at the words of
some fool on the radio?
What about the idolatrous and covetous creating
messages that blast you in your newspapers and magazines?
Folks, if you are a Christian your mind and body
is holy to the Lord. It is the temple of the living God. How do you use it? Is
your use of what is holy a snare to you? Is your promise of yourself to Christ
by way of the new birth something you’re constantly looking into to see what
excuses you can use to act in a way that is not pleasing to God? These are
questions this verse in Proverbs raises for the believer.
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