Proverbs 30:33 Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth
butter, and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood: so the forcing of
wrath bringeth forth strife.
This verse can be literally linked to the
previous ones. If you think of starting trouble put your hand over your mouth.
Loving drama is not a trait God wants in Christians. Stirring up trouble is not
a good Christian testimony as much fun as it may be to some people. When we are
spreading the gospel of Christ or ministering to our brothers and sisters, as Paul
tells a young preacher and evangelist named Timothy;
2 Timothy 2:23 But foolish and unlearned
questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.
24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt
to teach, patient,
25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure
will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; 26 And that they
may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by
him at his will.
This sort of undermines the concept of screaming
Bible verses at people on the street and walking away smugly thinking you have
done your job.
And we are not to be troublemakers in any of our
dealings as Paul tells another preacher named Titus;
Titus 3:1 ¶ Put them in mind to be subject to
principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,
2 To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness
unto all men.
If you live Godly you are going to stir trouble
up just because the world hates Christ.
2Timothy 3:12 Yea, and all that will live
godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
Without deliberately trying to tick people off.
In your homes, remember when you have a
disagreement with your spouse and everything seems to be calmed down, the next
thing you say is often the opening salvo of a new argument. It is almost always
better to reconcile each other to yourselves. Sometimes, many couples need to
argue a bit just to clear the air but it should not be done in a spirit of
picking, insults, and humiliation.
I suppose the key is, whenever possible, avoid
drama and don’t start trouble or incite people to anger and wrath. That doesn’t
mean a woman has to tiptoe around a childish, hot-tempered man or vice versa.
The hot temper needs to get right with God, not everyone else live in fear of
his or her wrath. But, you know what I mean by digging and trying to “get
someone’s goat,” which is annoying them slowly to the point where they are
ready to explode, rather than just saying something you know will immediately
start a fight.
Don’t “force” anger and the resultant strife by playing up to
it or stirring it up deliberately.
Proverbs, chapter 31
Proverbs 31:1 ¶ The
words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him. 2 What, my son? and what, the son of my womb?
and what, the son of my vows? 3 Give not
thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings. 4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it
is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink: 5 Lest they drink, and forget the law, and
pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted. 6
Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those
that be of heavy hearts. 7 Let him
drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more. 8 Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of
all such as are appointed to destruction. 9
Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and
needy.
I have read commentators that say that Lemuel was probably a
pet name given to Solomon by his mother. One meaning of Lemuel is “for God”.
She warns him here about giving his strength to women. It is rather ironic that
Solomon, along with breaking other rules laid down by God for a king in
Deuteronomy 17:16,17 and context broke the one about multiplying wives. This
led to him going along to get along with his many wives’ religious beliefs (I Kings
11:4).
Here is the admonition against a king drinking
fermented alcoholic beverages. Pharaoh’s butler’s statement shows how a just
king handled the fruit of the vine.
Genesis 40:11 And Pharaoh’s cup was in my
hand: and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I gave
the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.
This is the “new wine”.
Isaiah 65:8a Thus saith the LORD, As the new
wine is found in the cluster,
Squeezed grape juice was pure from adulteration
and fermentation.
Deuteronomy 32:14b ……. and thou didst drink
the pure blood of the grape.
Strong drink was to be given to
condemned criminals to make them less aware of the agony that they were about
to experience. These Proverbs go on to say that wine is for the depressed and
the sad, to forget their poverty and misery.
The king here is told that his duty lies in
speaking for the condemned and judging the cause of the poor and needy
righteously. The king was not only the giver of laws but he was a judge of
men’s issues and conflicts, the final judge on earth. The three functions (our
branches) of government are bound up in God, and the earthly king imitates
these. James Madison did not quote the following verse in the United States’
Constitutional convention and the philosopher that was quoted, Montesquieu,
does not quote it in his works either, but it existed for thousands of years
before either Madison or Montesquieu.
Isaiah 33:22 For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our
lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.
Notice the king’s mother said that his duty was
to speak for the condemned, the poor, and the needy. Many of our Founders spoke
of the duty of government being to ensure the rights of man or, in some cases
they said its duty was to seek the common good. However, in God’s Book He says
over and over that the purpose of government is to see justice is done and to
be the voice for the poor and needy. It has been said that the rich don’t need
help. Rich and powerful men only need the help of government to get more wealth
and more power. The poor and needy need government’s help just to survive. Just
type in “poor and needy” into any online King James Bible and you will get a
slew of verses about God’s concern for them.
Most of our Founders did not fear God. He was
someone to worship and respect but not much of a concern. Even the aged Ben
Franklin who said at the Constitutional Convention that he believed that God
judged nations and men on the earth didn’t live his life in a way that showed
he took that very seriously. The Bible was a guidebook for living but hardly a
living Book that judges the thoughts and intents of the heart. If government is
to be Godly and after His own heart, it must be compassionate and champion the
cause of those who have nothing, the condemned, and the destitute. A government,
a king, without compassion for the poor and needy is Satan’s own kingdom and an
excuse for atheistic ideologies like Marxism and Communism to enter in.
Next, I’m going to look at one of the greatest
pictures of the church found in the Bible. Then, I’ll be through with Proverbs
for this go around.
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