“Fret not thyself because of evil men,
neither be thou envious at the wicked” – Part 2

(Pro 24:19-34)

[Study Aired January 15, 2026]

Pro 24:19  Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked;
Pro 24:20  For there shall be no reward to the evil man; the candle of the wicked shall be put out.
Pro 24:21  My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change:
Pro 24:22  For their calamity shall rise suddenly; and who knoweth the ruin of them both?
Pro 24:23  These things also belong to the wise. It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment.
Pro 24:24  He that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous; him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him:
Pro 24:25  But to them that rebuke him shall be delight, and a good blessing shall come upon them.
Pro 24:26  Every man shall kiss his lips that giveth a right answer.
Pro 24:27  Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house.
Pro 24:28  Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause; and deceive not with thy lips.
Pro 24:29  Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me: I will render to the man according to his work.
Pro 24:30  I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;
Pro 24:31  And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.
Pro 24:32  Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction.
Pro 24:33  Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
Pro 24:34  So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.

In this section of Proverbs 24 we’ll look at how these verses, as we do with all of God’s word, apply to us inwardly as we examine ourselves whether we be in the faith or not, using God’s word to prove our own selves to that end (2Co 13:5, Col 1:27).

2Co 13:5  Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Col 1:28  Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
Col 1:29  Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

Pro 24:19  Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked;
Pro 24:20  For there shall be no reward to the evil man; the candle of the wicked shall be put out.

The candle in (Pro 24:20) represents God’s word (Rev 1:12-13) that we have wrapped around the idols of our hearts (Eze 14:3, Mat 6:21-23), idols that need to be destroyed by the brightness of Christ’s coming into our heavens (2Th 2:3, Col 1:24) so that we can be one body full of light, “if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light”, overcoming through Christ (Mat 5:14, Joh 8:12, Joh 5:30, Joh 15:5, Col 1:27).

Satan’s ongoing goal is to sift the body of Christ by taking away that singleness (2Co 11:3) that is in Him, and Christ’s goal through His body is to give us the might and strength to fight a good fight of faith to maintain that unity of the spirit (1Ti 6:12, Eph 4:13)

Mat 6:21  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.[wrapped around an idol of the heart Eze 14:3 or set on things above Col 3:2]
Mat 6:22  The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
Mat 6:23  But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

1Ti 6:12  Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity^G572(singleness) that is in Christ.

Eph 4:13  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

G572 haplotēs hap-lot’-ace
From G573; singleness, that is, (subjectively) sincerity (without dissimulation or self seeking), or (objectively) generosity (copious bestowal): – bountifulness, liberal (-ity), simplicity, singleness.
Total KJV occurrences: 8

In verse 19 we are admonished to fret not because of the evil in this world [within and without]. Notice the words “men and man” are in italics in these opening verses, taking the focus off of the sin within ourselves, “Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked”. We are not to be beset by the destruction of sin process (Heb 12:1-4) which we are enduring through Christ, even though no chastening “seemeth to be joyous” when you’re going through it (Heb 12:6, Heb 12:11). We are not to be envious at the wicked of our past (Php 3:13), or the wicked in this world, our former conversation (Mat 24:17-19, Gal 4:7-11, Eph 4:22, Eph 2:1-4). Rather we are to flee to Christ who gives us the power to flee fornication (1Co 6:18), idolatry (1Co 10:14), youthful lusts (2Ti 2:22) and riches (Pro 23:5), so we can receive a reward (Rev 20:6).

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Heb 12:3  For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Heb 12:4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.[the contradiction of sinners against himself, against His body]

Mat 24:16  Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: (flee to Christ, look to Christ Psa 121:1)
Mat 24:17  Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
Mat 24:18  Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
Mat 24:19  And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!

Eph 4:20  But ye have not so learned Christ;
Eph 4:21  If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
Eph 4:22  That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man,[your former “house”, your former “clothes”] which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; (Jud 1:23)

Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

(These verses in (Eph 2:4-5) remind us that God loves us and knows the daily struggle we have against sin in our members and yet He is “rich in mercy”, mercy that is shown by giving us much tribulation as we die daily, so we can inherit the kingdom of God within, day by day (Act 14:22, Luk 17:21, Rev 11:15))

Act 14:22  Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

Pro 24:21  My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change:
Pro 24:22  For their calamity^H343 shall rise suddenly; and who knoweth the ruin of them both?

God does not change (Mal 3:6) in a world that is unstable and ever changing where we are blessed to know the whole counsel of God’s will is being fulfilled (Eph 1:11-12). Our calling is to “fear thou the LORD and the king”(Ecc 12:13) and to not fear or meddle with the unstable affairs of this world, the wars and rumours of wars without, of which God has willed without so that His children can be witnesses of His power that makes it possible for us to be ambassadors and soldiers for in Christ in this dark world, and who are not troubled by such things (Mat 24:6-7, 2Co 4:15).

Mal 3:6  For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Ecc 12:13  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

H343 calamity ‘êyd ade
From the same as H181 (in the sense of bending down); oppression; by implication misfortune, ruin: – calamity, destruction.
Total KJV occurrences: 24

The calamities that “rise suddenly” are connected to the plagues that God is going to pour out upon this world when Christ returns with the saints, also likened unto the days of Noah (Mat 24:37-39). The elect will be used to baptize the world with the undefiled word of God, that will be a plague against all carnal thinking (Rev 18:4, Hab 2:14). God knows the ruin of them both (those who don’t fear the Lord and are given to change), and commands us to “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues”. God’s judgement is upon His people now (1Pe 4:17), as we experience those calamities via the seven last plagues [seals, trumpets and vials] being poured out upon us now, so we don’t need to be judged later (Rev 15:8, 1Co 11:31-32).

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

Mat 24:37  But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Mat 24:38  For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
Mat 24:39  And knew not until the flood came (Mal 3:18), and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

1Co 11:31  For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.(Heb 12:6)

The good news is that God is moving the world (Act 17:28) in the direction that is according to the counsel of His will (Dan 2:20-22, Act 17:28), with a desire within Him that will be obtained to save all of His creation in time, each man in his own order (Eph 1:11, 1Co 15:22,  Job 23:13-14).

Job 23:13  But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.
Job 23:14  For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

Pro 24:23  These things also belong to the wise. It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment.
Pro 24:24  He that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous; him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him:
Pro 24:25  But to them that rebuke him shall be delight, and a good blessing shall come upon them.
Pro 24:26  Every man shall kiss his lips that giveth a right answer.

Inwardly we are being told in this proverb to not shun to declare the whole counsel of God, which is what Babylon does when they call “light” ‘dark’, and “dark” ‘light’ (Act 20:27, Isa 5:20). We judge this way when we think that anyone, including Christ, in this sinful flesh, can judge righteous judgement of himself independent of God (Joh 5:30).

Act 20:27  For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.(Eph 1:11)

Joh 5:30  I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. (When we seek God’s will we will judge justly like Christ, and be his brothers, sisters or mothers Mat 12:48-50, 1Jn 4:17)

Christ knew he couldn’t judge righteous judgement independent of His Father, and He is showing us in this proverb why man’s judgements fail and don’t produce the righteousness of God (Rom 10:2-6, Jas 1:19-20). It takes God’s spirit within us (Rom 8:9) to clearly see that there is none righteous, no not one (Rom 3:10), and we call no man good, there is one who is good, even God (Mar 10:18).

Rom 10:4  For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.(Christ and his body are sealed with the holy spirit of promise and have become the end of the law for righteousness Joh 6:27, Eph 1:13)

If we are blessed to judge as Christ did, who is our example (1Pe 2:21, 1Jn 4:17), we will not say to the self-righteous man of sin within us [the carnal mind apart from God’s spirit] that he is our righteousness, but rather we will acknowledge it is Christ working in us who is our righteousness (Php 3:9), even as Christ acknowledged it was the Father working in him. This ongoing realization of understanding of who is doing the work (Php 2:12-13, Joh 14:20) is accomplished by the dying daily process, which is also only possible by the son setting us free from sin, “by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Joh 8:36).

If we don’t judge matters as Christ did on this earth, that person, me, will be cursed and abhorred by Christ’s body for not binding mercy and truth around my heart (Pro 3:3-4), which mercy and truth makes it possible for us to rebuke the wicked within ourselves (Rom 2:4),  a delight unto God that brings a good blessing upon all who take such actions.

Pro 3:3  Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:
Pro 3:4  So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man [“a good blessing shall come upon them”].

Judging righteous judgement is what will happen if we kiss the son while it is today (Psa 2:11-12, Heb 3:12-13). Kissing Christ and his Christ with a holy kiss, symbolizes our having a right relationship with our judge and high priest who alone knows how to judge every matter correctly (Joh 7:24).

Psa 2:11  Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

Joh 7:24  Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

He is the reason we can give “a right answer”, just as Christ said of himself that his answers were right because of his right relationship with His Father (I can do nothing of my own self Joh 5:30-31, the branch cannot bear fruit of itself (Joh 15:4-5).

Contrast of the spiritually zealous vs. the spiritually slothful

Pro 24:27  Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house.
Pro 24:28  Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause; and deceive not with thy lips.
Pro 24:29  Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me: I will render to the man according to his work.

These verses help us understand how we can fulfill this commandment of not fretting: “Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked”. If we are diligent, we will by God’s grace “prepare thy work without”, and we will be fit today in the hands of the fit man who is working with us in this world (Lev 16:21). Laying up that foundation of good works is essential against the day of evil, and will give us peace knowing that God does not forget our labour of love for one another (1Ti 6:19, Heb 6:10-11).

1Ti 6:19  Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

Heb 6:10  For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
Heb 6:11  And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:

“and afterwards build thine house” is another way of saying “seek the kingdom first and his righteousness and all those things shall be added unto you” (Mat 6:33). It is the Lord who gives us the diligent spirit, it is the Lord who makes it possible for us to be in the world [the field is the world Mat 13:38] and not of it [“fit for thyself in the field”].

We need to mind, or be mindful of, our own business which is what Christ declared to His disciples when He said he has food that they don’t know of yet, prior to Pentecost (Luk 2:49, Joh 4:32). When we are witnesses against our neighbour without cause, “Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause; and deceive not with thy lips”, we are not about our Father’s business (Mat 7:6, Pro 26:17).

Meddling in strife that should not be our concern, or taking vengeance that belongs to God, “I will do so to him as he hath done to me: I will render to the man according to his work”, is the opposite of, “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Mat 7:12). Vengeance is God’s. He knows how to deal with the unjust ways of mankind and calls us to trust Him against all the adversaries we will be presented with in this life (Rom 14:4, Isa 54:17).

Rom 14:4  Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.

Isa 54:17  No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.

Pro 24:30  I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;
Pro 24:31  And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.
Pro 24:32  Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction.
Pro 24:33  Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
Pro 24:34  So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.

When we are void of God’s understanding, we will be spiritually slothful in this world, not being quickened by the word of God (Joh 6:63) because we are not being drawn to labour in it (Joh 6:44) as we should (Act 17:11, Tit 2:14).

“The field of the slothful” is “grown over with thorns” which represent false doctrines (Gen 3:18), and nettles “had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down”, saying the same thing: that there is no healthy foundation that is laid without Christ and His words of life (1Co 3:11, Mat 16:18).

1Co 3:11  For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Mat 16:18  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

What causes this slothful condition is then explained as being a lack of diligence: “Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.”

Christ comes as a thief in the night (1Th 5:2-6, Mat 24:43, Rev 16:15), and if the Goodman in us (Col 1:27) is not being neglected, we will stir up this gift of prophecy (2Ti 1:6-7) that has been given to us so that, Lord willing, we will not be caught unawares when the He returns (Mat 24:45-47).

1Th 5:2  For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
1Th 5:3  For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
1Th 5:4  But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief [“if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come”(watch and pray, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, because the Father knows the hour and the day and Christ is working within us both to will and to do our Father’s will– Mat 24:24, Mar 13:33, Mat 26:41, Php 2:12-13)].
1Th 5:5  Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
1Th 5:6  Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.

2Ti 1:6  Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.
2Ti 1:7  For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.(Luk 18:1)

Mat 24:43  But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up [If we are being judged in this age our house is being “broken up” and when Christ abides in us we become the goodman who can now watch and pray so that we will be ready when He returns outwardly (Rev 11:15)].
Mat 24:44  Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

Rev 16:15  Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

Mat 24:45  Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
Mat 24:46  Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
Mat 24:47  Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.

Christ tells us to not fret because of the evil, “Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked”, wicked that is manifested in the wars and rumours of wars that will escalate as evil men wax worse and worse, producing this spirit of spiritual slothfulness, along with iniquity abounding and the love of many waxing cold (Mat 24:48-51).

Mat 24:48  But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
Mat 24:49  And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;[Mat 24:12-13]
Mat 24:50  The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
Mat 24:51  And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

We ask the Lord to not let us grow weary in well doing, praying to “receive[ed] instruction”, or correction, that must come upon all those who are being dragged to Him in this age (Gal 6:9, Heb 12:22-29)

Gal 6:9  And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

Heb 12:12  Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
Heb 12:13  And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
Heb 12:14  Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
Heb 12:15  Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;[1Co 9:27]

Heb 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23  To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Heb 12:24  And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
Heb 12:25  See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
Heb 12:26  Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
Heb 12:27  And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Heb 12:28  Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: [Tit 2:11-12, Heb 12:6]
Heb 12:29  For our God is a consuming fire.

“A false witness shall not be unpunished” Part 3

(Pro 19:21-29)

[Study Aired October 2, 2025]

Pro 19:21  There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.
Pro 19:22  The desire of a man is his kindness: and a poor man is better than a liar.
Pro 19:23  The fear of the LORD tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil.
Pro 19:24  A slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.
Pro 19:25  Smite a scorner, and the simple will beware: and reprove one that hath understanding, and he will understand knowledge.
Pro 19:26  He that wasteth his father, and chaseth away his mother, is a son that causeth shame, and bringeth reproach.
Pro 19:27  Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge.
Pro 19:28  An ungodly witness scorneth judgment: and the mouth of the wicked devoureth iniquity.
Pro 19:29  Judgments are prepared for scorners, and stripes for the back of fools.

Christ is the true witness within God’s elect who causes us to stand (Eph 6:10-18, Php 2:12-13), and only Christ can be Christ, and so if we have this unction, this anointing of God, then we are witnesses of these things (Rev 11:3, Luk 24:48) as His power gives us victory over our flesh by little and little (Deu 7:22), making it possible to die daily and see the Lord increase as we decrease (Joh 3:30).

There is no part of these verses (Eph 6:10-18) that do not confirm the fact that we must be actively about our Father’s business, fulfilling His will, working out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Heb 5:7, Eph 5:30, Joh 4:32, 1Jn 4:17, Heb 13:10), knowing that “it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure”, and it is God’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom that will be obtained by our Father giving us the will to put on the whole armour of God so we can stand (Eph 6:11-18).

We’ve all been false witnesses as described in these verses in the book of John (1Jn 2:1-20), with words that confirm and remind us of what a false witness looks like in this world as well as a true witness, a disciple indeed of God (1Jn 2:1-29). These confirming verses declare God’s faithfulness toward the body of Christ, and they help set the stage for these last few proverbs that will look at in chapter 19.

1Jn 2:17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof:[false witness] but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever [true witness].
1Jn 2:18  Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; [false witness] whereby we know that it is the last time.
1Jn 2:19  They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: [true witness] but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
1Jn 2:20  But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. [true witness]

[John contrasts the true witness of Christ within the elect with those who were false witnesses coming as angels of light but were yet in darkness (2Co 11:14), again more contrast of what is happening in the lives of the true witnesses and the false witnesses of this world, that must be burnt out of us (Php 3:13-21)]

1Jn 2:21  I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
1Jn 2:22  Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. (conversely we read Joh 17:3, Joh 14:20)
1Jn 2:23  Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father:(Joh 17:3) (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
1Jn 2:24  Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.(Joh 17:3)
1Jn 2:25  And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.(Joh 17:3)
1Jn 2:26  These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.

Pro 19:21 There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.

God made mankind to have many devices^H4284 in his heart, devices that deceive us into thinking that we have free moral agency when the truth of the matter is “nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand” whether that is light or darkness, peace or evil, the Lord is working it all according to the counsel of His own will, all the devices, the laws, and the vices that flesh is subject unto (Isa 63:17, Isa 45:7, Eph 1:11, Rom 8:28, Eph 1:12, Rom 8:18-21, Jas 4:12).

Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

Jas 4:12  There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?

“devices” H4284 machăshâbâh  machăshebeth makh-ash-aw-baw’, makh-ash-eh’-beth
From H2803; a contrivance, that is, (concretely) a texture, machine, or (abstractly) intention, plan (whether bad, a plot; or good, advice): – cunning (work), curious work, device (-sed), imagination, invented, means, purpose, thought.

Pro 19:22 The desire of a man is his kindness: and a poor man is better than a liar.

God’s love that is shed abroad in our heart (Rom 5:5-8) far exceeds the “kindness” and even sacrificial spirit (Rom 5:7) that He has given mankind to be able to express in this life and so the contrast is drawn with the “poor man” who represents those who are of a poor and contrite spirit formed by God’s love being shed abroad in us (Rom 8:9, Heb 12:6), against those who cannot help but lie to themselves thinking they are responsible for their many wonderful works, their kindnesses to others (Mat 7:22). We unknowingly lie to ourselves until the man of perdition is destroyed by the brightness of Christ’s coming into our heavens (2Th 2:8), to then be able to give Him all glory for whatever kindness we express in this life, as we go forward in that process dying daily (1Co 15:31, Act 14:22).

We are to be kind and do good unto all men, especially unto the household of faith, and it is only the elect who can truly see that any goodness that is expressed in our lives is from the Father and not of our own, even as Christ told us of himself (Joh 5:30, Mar 10:18).

Mar 10:18  And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.

Pro 19:23  The fear of the LORD tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil.

This is the whole duty of man, to fear God and work righteousness, “The fear of the LORD tendeth to life” (Isa 41:10 , Act 10:34-35, Ecc 12:13-14), so that we won’t “be visited with evil”. God’s desire has never changed toward His children, “that we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ” (Eph 1:12).

Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

The fear of the LORD is a gift from God that leads to a lifetime of abiding in the light of God’s word (1Jn 3:3) that satisfies our souls and keeps us from being visited with evil (3Jn 1:2, Joh 4:23-24, Jer 29:11).

1Jn 3:3  And every man that has this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

3Jn 1:2  Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. [If we must it’s because we will as His children (Php 2:13)]

Jer 29:11  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil [“he shall not be visited with evil”], to give you an expected end.

Pro 19:24  A slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.
Pro 19:24 The slothful man buries his hand into the dinner-bowl, Yet he does not bring it back to his mouth.”[CLV]
Pro 19:24  The sluggard burieth his hand in the dish, And will not so much as bring it to his mouth again. [ASV]

The spiritually slothful man is the man of perdition who must be destroyed by the brightness of Christ’s coming into our lives (2Th 2:3-12). We know that Judas is a type of the man of perdition (Mat 26:23) who is within all of mankind who are not able to see the dominion that sin has over us being blinded by the god of this world (2Co 4:4), especially regarding the spirit of self righteousness, that abounds at the end of the age (Mat 24:12), and can only be overcome through Christ alone.

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

2Co 4:4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Mat 24:12  And because iniquity (Eze 33:13, Pro 3:5-8) shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

Pro 19:25  Smite a scorner, and the simple will beware: and reprove one that hath understanding, and he will understand knowledge.

The scorner within me needs to be smitten so that the singleness that is in Christ can again be understood (2Co 11:3). It is God’s word that is reproving us and rebuking us with all longsuffering (2Ti 4:2, 1Co 9:27, and faithful are the wounds of a friend who reproves us, that friend being Christ in each of us our hope of glory (Col 1:27))

2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity^G572 [singleness] that is in Christ.

2Ti 4:2  Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

1Co 9:27  But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

Pro 19:26  He that wasteth his father, and chaseth away his mother, is a son that causeth shame, and bringeth reproach.

The prodigal son wasted his father’s inheritance and he represents the elect who, at their appointed time, chase away his mother, meaning we all must lose our first love, and cause shame and bring reproach unto God as the prodigal son did, and then by the brightness of Christ’s coming into our lives when we are at our lowest point, we begin to see the true purpose of all our trials and suffering in this life and how it is all to the glory of God, who will have all men to be saved in time (1Jn 2:2, 1Ti 2:4, 1Co 15:22). This story perfectly illustrates the false witness that we all are at first, that must be destroyed by the humbling experiences that the Lord gives us, to then renew us into something glorious in His service and purpose for all of mankind (Luk 15:13, 18-21).

Luk 15:13  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.

Luk 15:18  I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
Luk 15:19  And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
Luk 15:20  And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
Luk 15:21  And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

Pro 19:27  Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge.

This proverb is another admonition unto the elect to “come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you” (2Co 6:17). When we stop listening to the vain babbling of Babylon (2Pe 2:19), we are no longer going to err or be in bondage from those supposed words of knowledge, that by God’s grace we can now see through (Luk 8:10, Rom 11:25, Eph 4:14, Rom 11:32).

Luk 8:10  And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.

Rom 11:25  For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

Eph 4:14  That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
Eph 4:15  But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Eph 4:16  From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Pro 19:28  An ungodly witness scorneth judgment: and the mouth of the wicked devoureth iniquity.

When someone is an ungodly witness they will not be able to bring forth fruit meet unto repentance as we see in these verses (Mat 3:8, Mat 7:18, Joh 15:16).

Mat 3:8  Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:

Mat 7:18  A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

Joh 15:16  Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. [Eph 2:10]

What they do bring forth is a hunger and thirst, “the mouth of the wicked devoureth iniquity”, to keep the man of perdition on the throne of their hearts, thinking they are the masters of their own destinies, in matters of sin and not sinning, exposing that they are yet a false witness, whose iniquity which is self-righteousness (Eze 33:13, Eze 33:18, Eze 18:26) is in full display keeping the beast on the throne of their hearts and not Christ who rightly belongs there (Mat 7:22).

Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? [strong delusion]
Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Pro 19:29  Judgments are prepared for scorners, and stripes for the back of fools.

God has devised a means to deal with his banished [all the world] (2Sa 14:14), just as He did with the elect at first, who are the first to trust in God to his glory (Eph 1:12) as we receive the necessary “stripes for the back of fools” which will cause blueness (Pro 20:30) that symbolizes the healing that God’s chastening grace brings (Tit 2:12-13) to those who are blessed in this life to believe and suffer for his name sake (Php 1:29,  Php 3:7-9, Mat 10:22).

2Sa 14:14  For we must needs die (Tit 2:12-13, Joh 12:24), and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him (Rom 11:32).

Php 1:29  For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

Php 3:7  But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Php 3:8  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Php 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:

“A false witness shall not be unpunished” Part 2

(Pro 19:11-20)

[Study Aired September 25, 2025]

Pro 19:11  The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression.
Pro 19:12  The king’s wrath is as the roaring of a lion; but his favour is as dew upon the grass.
Pro 19:13  A foolish son is the calamity of his father: and the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping.
Pro 19:14  House and riches are the inheritance of fathers: and a prudent wife is from the LORD.
Pro 19:15  Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.
Pro 19:16  He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his own soul; but he that despiseth his ways shall die.
Pro 19:17  He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.
Pro 19:18  Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.
Pro 19:19  A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment: for if thou deliver him, yet thou must do it again.
Pro 19:20  Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.

The false witness within each of us is being burnt out by God’s grace and the faith of Christ, little and by little (Eph 2:8, Deu 7:22) as we mature into living by these verses (Mat 5:37, Luk 21:19), that can only be accomplished by His power, Zec 4:6).

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Deu 7:22  And the LORD thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.

Mat 5:37  But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

Luk 21:19  In your patience possess ye your souls.

Zec 4:6  Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

If God will grant us the patience and faith we need, then the following verses that speak about God’s vengeance (Luk 21:22) against our old man of sin will be accomplished in this life to His glory:

Luk 21:20  And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. [within us 2Th 2:2-8, Mat 24:15, Dan 9:27, Dan 11:31]
Luk 21:21  Then let them which are in Judaea (come out from being under the law by being a spiritual Jew Rom 2:28-29) flee to the mountains; [standing in the holy place (Mat 24:15) is fleeing to the mountain, fleeing to Christ and His Christ (Heb 10:25)] and let them which are in the midst of it depart out;[Rev 18:4] and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. [our new country in earnest is Jerusalem above and we’re being told to not enter back into the law symbolized by Judea Heb 11:14-15]
Luk 21:22  For these be the days of vengeance, [vengeance is God’s against our man of sin. God will come and save us through judgement Isa 35:4] that all things which are written may be fulfilled.

God can make a way for us to apply these verses (Mat 5:37, Luk 21:19) in our day to day sojourn making a way for our yes to be yes and our no to be no, as we learn to bring every thought into subjection to Christ becoming a true witness of God.

Pro 19:11  The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression.

The discretion that God gives us is formed through the fiery trials that we’re put through in this life that makes it possible for us to rule over sin in our members (1Pe 4:1-2, 2Ti 2:12, Php 1:28-29), deferring our anger, overcoming evil with good (Rom 12:21). This is when our yes will be yes, and it takes these trials for us to be able to possess our souls patiently as well.

1Pe 4:1  Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
1Pe 4:2  That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.  (let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay)

With such a spirit of being slow to wrath, we can “pass over a transgression”, overlooking the wrong doing of others in this world to the glory of God, and being pitiful and forgiving to each other “even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Eph 4:32). Christ is our example who forgave humanity of their transgressions (Luk 23:24), and suffered for the world so that in due time the world could all be redeemed by the stripes of Christ and his body (1Pe 4:17, Isa 53:5, 1Jn 4:17, Lev 16:21-22, Lev 19:9-10).

Eph 4:32  And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

Isa 53:5  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment:(1Pe 4:17) because as he is, so are we in this world.

[being bruised, and growing in boldness through the trials given (Act 16:23-25), are the tokens of our salvation in this life that bear witness that we are His workmanship]

Pro 19:12  The king’s wrath is as the roaring of a lion; but his favour is as dew upon the grass.

The prerequisite for us being able to be given the heathen as our inheritance, is described in (Psa 2:8-12), which remind us that God is no respecter of persons and we are called to rule over the heathen within us in this age first, being faithful to the end, Lord willing, so that we don’t have to experience the king’s wrath as the roaring of a lion to our destruction, but rather in measure “as dew upon the grass”, the dew representing the word of God that judges us as the grass that is positively preserved as a result of the word of God, the dew that rests upon us (Deu 32:2, Mic 5:7, Dan 4:33).

Psa 2:8  Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
Psa 2:9  Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
Psa 2:10  Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
Psa 2:11  Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
Psa 2:12  Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little [The king’s wrath is as the roaring of a lion]. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him [but his favour is as dew upon the grass].

Deu 32:2  My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:

Mic 5:7  And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.

Dan 4:33  The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws. [the elect are represented as that dew that will in due time be upon the kingdoms of this world (Rev 11:15)]

Pro 19:13  A foolish son is the calamity^H1942 of his father: and the contentions^H4079 of a wife are a continual dropping.

Psa 57:1  To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave. Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities^H1942 be overpast.
Psa 57:2  I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me. (Heb 5:7, Eph 5:30)

H1942 calamity havvâh hav-vaw’
From H1933 (in the sense of eagerly coveting and rushing upon; by implication of falling); desire; also ruin: – calamity, iniquity, mischief, mischievous (thing), naughtiness, naughty, noisome, perverse thing, substance, very wickedness.

These verses above in Psalms (Psa 57:1-2) remind us that we all start off with these calamities within us that must be overcome by God’s mercy being extended to us as His children. It is each of us who are represented by “the contentions^H4079 of a wife are a continual dropping”. But like the calamity mentioned above, this is also burnt out of us if we are God’s elect going from being in a “wide house” which represents Babylon, the broad path that leads to destruction (Mat 7:13-14), unto the narrow, or strait way which is obtained by losing our lives with a spirit of contentment found with the cornerstone Jesus Christ who is our sufficiency in this life. This ‘Godliness with contentment’ spirit is all being represented by dwelling in the corner of the housetop, the top representing being raised in heavenly places where there is peace that passes all understanding (Eph 2:6, Php 4:7), “better to dwell in a corner of the housetop” (Pro 21:9).

Mat 7:13  Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Mat 7:14  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

H4079 contentions midyân mid-yawn’
A variation for H4066: – brawling, contention (-ous).

Pro 21:9  It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house.

Pro 19:14  House and riches are the inheritance of fathers: and a prudent wife is from the LORD.

Christ is our Olam father and we are his inheritance (Eph 1:11-14). A prudent wife represents the church, and her prudent spirit is “from the LORD”(1Co 1:29-31).

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 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,
Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

1Co 1:29  That no flesh should glory in his presence.
1Co 1:30  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
1Co 1:31  That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

Pro 19:15  Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.

This proverb is a reminder to stir up God’s spirit within and don’t neglect so great a salvation (Heb 2:3).

Heb 2:3  How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;

The end result of not being diligent is to be put into “a deep sleep”, meaning a deep spiritual sleep. We live for Christ, therefore our death, our positive version of a deep sleep is gain (Rev 11:8, Rom 6:11, Php 1:21, Mat 9:24), unlike the world without who are not at this time able to partake of the altar that quickens us (Heb 13:10).

Rev 11:8  And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

Rom 6:11  Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Php 1:21  For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Mat 9:24  He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.

Heb 13:10  We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.

Pro 19:16  He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his own soul; but he that despiseth his ways shall die.

We despise God’s ways at first by going in the way that seems right unto us that leads to death (“he that despiseth his ways shall die”).

And it is only by the grace and the faith of Christ (Eph 2:8) that we can keep our own souls by keeping the commandments of God (Mat 19:17, Joh 14:6, Joh 6:44).

Mat 19:17  And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

Joh 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me [unto life Joh 17:3], except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Pro 19:17  He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.

We are to do good unto all men, but especially unto the household of faith, those who are the poor in spirit (Gal 6:10). We are called to “continue[d] stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers” (Act 2:42), walking in the light where we are cleansed from all sin (1Jn 1:7). But we also know that the LORD loves all of his creation, and he has another fold that he loves and wants us to know are precious to him as well (Joh 10:16). When we salute not just our own (Mat 5:47), and love everyone even as Christ loved us while we were yet sinners (Rom 5:8), then we are truly lending unto the LORD and laying up treasure in heaven for giving to those who can’t spiritually pay us back today (Mat 25:27).

Mat 5:47  And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?

Mat 25:27  Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.

The relationship that we have with the unconverted and those who we meet every day is really like an investment in God’s eyes, treasure laid up in heaven, with ‘interest’ that will be garnished as a result of God giving us the ability to see the need to be at peace with all men, and do good unto all men, making friends with the mammon of this world (Luk 16:8-9).

Luk 16:8  And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.
Luk 16:9  And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.(1Pe 2:12)

Pro 19:18  Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.

Think of your son as a false doctrine, a little leaven trying to leaven the whole lump of your mind. God tells us that as our Father we are going to be received through chastening and scourging (Heb 12:6), and the by-product of that is that we will cease from sinning, gaining dominion over sin in our members, that son who we are not to allow ‘our soul to spare for his crying’. On the other hand, the positive use of ‘right knowledge’ or ‘wisdom’ crying like a son, is found in these verses, (Heb 5:7, Pro 1:20-23).

Heb 5:7  Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; (Luk 12:5)

Pro 1:20  Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:
Pro 1:21  She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,
Pro 1:22  How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
Pro 1:23  Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

Pro 19:19  A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment: for if thou deliver him, yet thou must do it again.

It is the man of sin who is “A man of great wrath” whose great wrath represents our carnal nature that can only be conquered by Christ whose positive wrath abides on us for that very purpose (Rom 1:18).

Rom 1:18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

We are being told in this proverb that we are delivered in stages, “thou must do it again” [stumbling unto Christ in Babylon, and then being crushed under the stone (Mat 21:44)], a second time which is a witness of the truth that it is the son of God [the true witness] who is setting us free by God’s power in our life (Joh 8:36, Zec 4:6). A just man falls seven times but does get up at the end of the exercise (Pro 24:16).

Mat 21:44  And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

Joh 8:36  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Pro 24:16  For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.

Zec 4:6  Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

Pro 19:20  Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.

Some of the best counsel and instruction we can ever receive in this life is found in the opening verses that I mentioned, in (Mat 5:37, Luk 21:19), and if God will grant that we “receive instruction” and be persuaded of those whom he has given to us to bring that instruction, then “thou mayest be wise in thy latter end” (2Ti 3:14-17, Heb 13:17, Heb 6:7-10). We are a many membered body whose safety is found in the multitude of counsellors and by every joint that supplies in love through Christ the chief cornerstone who supports us all.

2Ti 3:14  But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;
2Ti 3:15  And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
2Ti 3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2Ti 3:17  That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

Heb 13:17 Be persuaded by your leaders, and be deferring to them, for they are vigilant for the sake of your souls, as having to render an account, that they may be doing this with joy, and not with groaning, for this is disadvantageous for you.”[CLV]

Heb 6:7  For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God:
Heb 6:8  But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.
Heb 6:9  But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.
Heb 6:10  For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.

Mat 5:37  But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

Luk 21:19  In your patience possess ye your souls.

Pro 16:1-10 “The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy”

(Aired on July 17, 2025)

Pro 16:1  The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.
Pro 16:2  All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.
Pro 16:3  Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.
Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Pro 16:5  Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.
Pro 16:6  By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.
Pro 16:7  When a man’s ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
Pro 16:8  Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right.
Pro 16:9  A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.
Pro 16:10  A divine sentence is in the lips of the king: his mouth transgresseth not in judgment.

God is working a desire in the hearts of His children to be pleasing in our Lord’s sight (Heb 13:20-21) who is “full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy”, and the road toward the completion of God’s workmanship is being accomplished through His judgement upon us (Heb 12:6, 1Pe 4:17) as Christ works in us both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure (Php 2:12-13, Col 1:24). Giving the kingdom of God to us in earnest is God’s good pleasure to do today through Christ, as we are raised in heavenly places (Luk 12:32, Eph 2:6).

Heb 13:20  Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
Heb 13:21  Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

In this chapter of proverbs there is a lot of instruction on how the Lord is working in the lives of His children to develop within us this gracious, full of compassion, slow to anger and of great mercy, mind, that is the very nature of our Father in heaven and Jesus Christ.

This is eternal life, “that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent”(Joh 17:3).

When we know someone we understand them and we perceive that they know us, or rather in the case of our Father and Christ, we are known of them as a result of having their life within us (Gal 4:9, Joh 14:20).

Gal 4:9  But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

Joh 14:20  At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

What replaces the weak and beggarly elements within our hearts and minds is accomplished through a life that is being matured through ordained works that we are admonished to be careful to patiently keep in God’s service (Tit 3:8). The works of faith that God accomplishes in us through Christ create a foundation that stands up against the iniquity that will abound at the end of this age and produce nothing but dead works that don’t acknowledge God’s complete sovereignty over all things (Heb 6:1, 1Ti 6:19).

Tit 3:8  This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God (Joh 6:28-29) might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.

Heb 6:1  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God (Heb 6:1-3, Joh 8:31-32, Joh 8:36-37,  Jas 2:19)

1Ti 6:19  Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come (These verses Mat 24:8-12, 2Ti 3:1-4, describe the time to come and has already come for those who are dead in their graves, awaiting the first resurrection), that they may lay hold on eternal life. [through patient continuance in well doing Luk 21:19, Heb 10:36-38, Rom 2:6-7, Luk 8:15].

Luk 21:19  In your patience possess ye your souls.

Heb 10:36  For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
Heb 10:37  For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.
Heb 10:38  Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

Rom 2:6  Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
Rom 2:7  To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:

Luk 8:15  But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

The preparation of the heart of God’s children is what is first and foremost in the mind of the Creator who is preparing our hearts so that we can worship Him in spirit and in truth (Joh 4:23-24). That right relationship is something that only God can form within us through Christ, and we rejoice in knowing that what He seeks out by the counsel of His will, He will find (Isa 14:27, Job 23:13, Rom 5:10).

Pro 16:1  The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.

What part of this proverb leaves room for us to say that we have free will? It takes a miracle from God to have our eyes open and see this straightforward statement from Him that tells us that all things are being worked according to the counsel God’s own will, both to will and to do. “The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue” (Eph 1:11-12, Php 2:12-13), is what He has determined to do in the lives of His creation, “and who can turn him?”

Job 23:13  But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.

Pro 16:2  All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.

Our sins are being purged and cleansed by God, and many of them are hidden, and some are overt, which we express with the saying, sins of omission and sins of commission (Psa 19:12). Some men’s sins (Lord willing us today if we are being judged and dragged to Christ 1Pe 4:17,  Joh 6:44, Heb 12:6) “are open beforehand [commission], going before to judgment; and some men they follow after” (1Ti 5:24). This sinful flesh is a means to an end and as the carnality is burnt out of us (Tit 2:12-13), then the good works become manifest, “Likewise also the good works of some are manifest beforehand; and they that are otherwise cannot be hid”(1Ti 5:25).

Psa 19:12  Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.
Psa 19:13  Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous (Rom 11:20) sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.[self-righteousness Php 3:9]

1Ti 5:24  Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.
1Ti 5:25  Likewise also the good works of some are manifest beforehand; and they that are otherwise cannot be hid.

If we judge ourselves in this age, it is because the LORD is working that work within us and “weigheth the spirits” within us today. God’s judgements in our lives bring us to see ourselves for what we really are, leading us to repentance (Rom 2:24), and that is the only way we can receive a reward: from that ground of a broken and contrite heart that is being saved in this life and learning of His righteousness as a result of His judgements in our earth (Isa 26:9), otherwise our judgement will be in the great white throne judgement (1Co 3:14-15).

Pro 16:3  Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.

We commit not just our good works unto the LORD, but we also confess our faults and go humbly before our advocate in time of need and in doing so our “thoughts shall be established” (1Jn 2:1, 1Pe 5:6-9).

1Jn 2:1  My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

1Pe 5:6  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
1Pe 5:7  Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
1Pe 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
1Pe 5:9  Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

Committing our good works to the LORD requires much tribulation in this life (Act 14:22), that we must go through in order to be those who first trust in Him (Eph 1:12, 2Co 1:9).

Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

2Co 1:9  But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:

Our flesh naturally wants to supersede God’s will and not trust him or commit our ways to him (Pro 14:12, Pro 3:5-9), and to whatever degree we are yet conformed to this world, (1Jn 2:16), the Lord is in the process of daily burning those things out of our life little and by little (Tit 2:12-13, Exo 23:30) as we look to the Lord (these are the thoughts that God is establishing within the body of Christ Heb 12:1-2, Rom 12:1-2).

Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

Sin, and the sinful flesh that we are in is a means to an end that God created for himself, so that all of His creation would be in a position of needing to be redeemed of God. The initial day of evil for Adam and Eve was the day that they were created [omission, hidden sins] in marred vessels of clay (Jer 18:4-6, Rom 9:1-3), and their inability to rightly divide God’s word when tempted of the devil was the predestined failure and overt sin of commission that all flesh must experience, the “the wicked for the day of evil”. The judgement of this marred vessel is the one event that is common to all men, and each man will be judged in the order God has ordained within His plan of the salvation of all men. The master Potter has devised a means to save all this banished wicked flesh, that is as spilt water, through those who will be the first to be redeemed by the precious blood of Christ (2Sa 14:14, Oba 1:21).

Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
Jer 18:5  Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Jer 18:6  O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

2Sa 14:14  For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.

Pro 16:5  Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.

Pro 16:5 An abhorrence to Yahweh is everyone haughty of heart; A hand upon hand, he shall not be held innocent.”(CLV)
Pro 16:5 Every one proud in heart is an abomination to Jehovah. Though they unite they will all be punished.(NSB)

The ecumenical world of religion that all of God’s elect have come out of, is represented by this ‘hand in hand’, proud spirit that takes God’s silver and gold and wraps it around the idol of our hearts, which actions are “an abomination to the LORD”. This wrapping around our hearts at that time in Babylon is inevitable and leaves us unknowingly with no stay of bread or water (Isa 3:1, Luk 8:18).

Isa 3:1  For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,

Luk 8:18  Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.

Pro 16:6  By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.

It is God’s mercy and truth that purges the iniquity (Heb 9:22, 1Pe 1:18-19) in our lives if He is working with us in this age, otherwise we will have no fear of God resulting in our inability to “depart from evil”.

Heb 9:22  And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

1Pe 1:18  Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; [wrapped around the idol of our hearts]
1Pe 1:19  But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

Only Christ can bring us to that point where we are not a foolish virgin leaning unto our own understanding, not departing from evil, which is what we do when our confidence is in our own flesh (Eph 1:12, 2Co 1:9) and not trusting in the living God (Php 3:3, 1Ti 4:10).

Php 3:3  For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

1Ti 4:10  For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.

Pro 16:7  When a man’s ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.

We see that enemy in the mirror every morning, and God is encouraging us with this proverb that we can be more than conquerors through Christ over this inward enemy of the cross, by dying daily and by being granted to be cursed to hang on the tree through the power of God’ holy spirit (Gal 3:13), that keeps us on that cross where we find life through death (Gal 2:20).

Gal 3:13  Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.(Joh 12:24)

We can only save ourselves from this untoward generation by being on the cross with Christ, acknowledging that we are the first generation to come to see that we are guilty of all (Mat 24:34), learning that our victory over sin comes by being bound to the altar which is the cross (Mat 27:40, Mar 15:30, Psa 118:27), this is what brings us peace that passes all understanding “he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him”.

Mat 27:40  And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.

Mar 15:30  Save thyself, and come down from the cross

Psa 118:27  God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.

Pro 16:8  Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right.

Whether we have a little or a lot, if Christ is not in the center of our life, we have nothing, even if we gain all the riches of this world (Mar 8:35-38, Mat 25:29).

Mar 8:35  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.
Mar 8:36  For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

Mat 25:29  For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

Great revenues is what this world is all about, and yet God’s elect are the wealthiest people on this planet unbeknown to the world. We are that wealthy because we acknowledge that Christ must be in the center of our lives accomplishing our Father’s will for us at all times (Jas 2:5, Heb 13:5, Rom 8:28). We have peace that passes all understanding in this life as a result of God’s judgements upon us in His house (Psa 84:10-11)

Jas 2:5  Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?

Heb 13:5  Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Psa 84:10  For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
Psa 84:11  For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

What some may see as ‘little’ God calls ‘precious and abundant’ in his sight, as we are dragged to His son (Joh 6:44) and present our widow’s mite that represents our weak unprofitable flesh, that by God’s grace becomes a living sacrifice with Christ’s spirit that has power to go without the camp with our Lord, as an acceptable living precious sacrifice through Christ (Heb 13:13, Psa 116:15).

Heb 13:13  Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.

Psa 116:15  Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

Pro 16:9  A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.

It is not in the heart of man to direct his steps, and the way that seems right to our flesh will lead to death (Pro 14:12). The LORD is the one who directs our steps out of the darkness and into the light of a right relationship with Him as His bride symbolized by Christ’s relationship with the carnal nation of Israel (Leah) to then have a relationship with the Israel of God (Gal 6:16), typified by (Rachel)(Gen 29:16-29).

Gal 6:16  And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

Pro 16:10  A divine sentence is in the lips of the king: his mouth transgresseth not in judgment.

If we are blessed to not be offended in Christ (Mat 11:6) our mouths will not transgress in judgment, because it will be the judgement of Christ working within us, both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure, which is to give us the kingdom of God.

Mat 11:6  And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.

A ‘divine sentence’ can only come about by our lips being burnt with hot coals (Isa 6:6-7) that symbolize the word of God, and Peter who thought he had a divine sentence on his lips said this to Christ, “Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended”(Mat 26:33) .

Isa 6:6  Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
Isa 6:7  And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

Christ’s answer to Peter represents the hot coals that in time were going to deeply burn Peter’s then self-righteous lips that represent all of us in our appointed time, “Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.”(Mat 26:34)

These actions of Christ toward Peter demonstrate what it means when we read, “The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy”, and as was the case with Peter it is our own iniquities, our own self-righteousness that so often corrects us, to then bring us to see our gracious LORD, who is full of compassion, slow to anger, and a very merciful Father who is ready to forgive all our sins and transgressions if we will only be granted to confess our iniquities to him (1Jn 2:1-2).

1Jn 2:1  My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
1Jn 2:2  And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

“Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge” Part III
(“A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth”)

(Pro 12:14-21)

Pro 12:14 A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of [his] mouth: and the recompence of a man’s hands shall be rendered unto him.
Pro 12:15 The way of a fool [is] right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel [is] wise.
Pro 12:16 A fool’s wrath is presently known: but a prudent [man] covereth shame.
Pro 12:17 [He that] speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit.
Pro 12:18 There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health.
Pro 12:19 The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue [is] but for a moment.
Pro 12:20 Deceit [is] in the heart of them that imagine evil: but to the counsellors of peace [is] joy.
Pro 12:21 There shall no evil happen to the just: but the wicked shall be filled with mischief.

This second to last section of proverbs chapter twelve that we’ll look at is primarily focused on the subject of the fruit of our mouth, and how we are to rule over our lips. God’s people are a peculiar and zealous people in this world who are warning, through our actions and witnessing with God’s fear within us (1Pe 3:15-16), that the world around us is going to fall (Babylon has fallen Rev 18:2), and that we need to strive towards ‘saving ourselves from this untoward generation’ (Act 2:39-40).

1Pe 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and [be] ready always to [give] an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
1Pe 3:16 Having a good conscience;(1Jn 3:20) that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.

It takes God’s cleansing of our temples (Heb 9:23, Rom 2:4) to know that Babylon is falling within us, as the life of Christ increases within us and we decrease (Joh 3:30, 2Co 6:17, Eph 1:6). We all miss it at first but the temple spoken of in (Joh 2:19) does not just represent modern day Christianity that is not torn down, rather Christ is speaking of His own body which is the church that must be torn down and rebuilt in three days, by coming out of her (Joh 2:19, Mat 12:40). This is another witness of how Babylon within us must fall, and a new creation be formed through Christ “To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved” (Joh 2:19, 2Co 5:17, Rev 21:5).

If God is working with us in this life we are going to see Babylon falling within us through the chastening and scourging process that we’ve been called unto that will in time bring us to be able to bring our tongue under control, and when our thoughts are under control our tongue will be as well (2Co 10:5-6, Jas 3:8).

2Co 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;
2Co 10:6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

Jas 3:8 But the tongue can no man tame; [it is] an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

Babylon will be busily trimming their lamps at the end of this age as God’s elect will also be (Mat 25:4-5), and iniquity will abound that can only be overcome by the faith of Christ, or extra oil He has promised those who have been predestined to endure unto the end (Mat 24:13). We know we are unprofitable servants having done that which “was our duty to do” (Luk 17:10) because God wrote those actions in our books, “both to will and to do of his good pleasure” which is to give us the kingdom of God that is now within us (Luk 18:8, Php 2:12-13)

Mat 25:4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
Mat 25:5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

Mat 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
Mat 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

God’s elect will be given the ability to wholeheartedly acknowledge the unprofitableness of our flesh and how only Christ can bring us to be scarcely saved (1Pe 4:18, Eph 2:8) vis-a-vis the extra oil that the body of Christ will be granted, making them prepared for those ‘end of age’ moments. If we think otherwise, the man of perdition will be right back on the throne of our hearts telling us surely we were the ones willing and doing the trimming of our own lamps (Rev 19:7-8, Php 2:12-13).

Rev 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
Rev 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

Php 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.(Luk 5:35, Act 17:11)
Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of [his] good pleasure.

If we truly are given to love God’s instruction and love God’s knowledge, our diligence will be directed in a path of Godly fear that will have us being about our Father’s business in this life, speaking his words, and doing his works (Eph 2:10), as we lose our life (Mat 10:38-39) in order to build up the body of Christ, the church which is likened unto the ark that Noah built to the saving of his household (Heb 11:7).

Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Mat 10:38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

Heb 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

With these verses as a backdrop to our study let’s look at the hope that we have today, if Christ is judging us as our hope of glory within (Col 1:27).

Pro 12:14 A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of [his] mouth: and the recompence of a man’s hands shall be rendered unto him.

It takes God’s reproach in our lives to purify our lips, and what He is reproaching is our iniquity (Isa 6:7).

Isa 6:7 And he laid [it] upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

If we are blessed to have this experience of judgement in this life we will know that “the recompence of a man’s hand” that is rendered unto us has nothing to do with us, but rather what God does within us through Christ both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Php 2:12-13).

The “fruit” of God judging His elect in this age is being discussed in type and shadow in these verses (Heb 11:26-27).

Heb 11:26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.
Heb 11:27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

Pro 12:15 The way of a fool [is] right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel [is] wise.

By God’s estimation a self-righteous man is a fool. A fool in his heart has said there is no God (Psa 14:1), and the believer may say, well that’s not me, but in reality that is you when you deny God as being the one who is doing the works within you, to which we have nothing to boast about (Rom 3:27, Eph 2:8).

Rom 3:27 Where [is] boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God:

A fool is self-righteous and has no need to “hearkeneth unto [the] counsel” of the “wise“. We are told several times throughout scripture, being warned and admonished to heed such counsel, because we simply do not by nature (Pro 19:20, Pro 24:5-6).

Pro 19:20 Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.

Pro 24:5 A wise man [is] strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.
Pro 24:6 For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors [there is] safety.

Pro 12:16 A fool’s wrath is presently known: but a prudent [man] covereth shame.

The prudent man is the brother who mercifully covers the shame of his weaker younger brother who can’t help at this immature stage in his walk to openly or “presently” make known his foolishness that is manifested in wrath that demonstrates he has no control at this point over the entirety of his spirit (Pro 16:32).

Pro 16:32 [He that] is slow to anger [is] better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.

But God is merciful who not only bears our iniquity but also gives us the opportunity in due time to bear the iniquity of others in love. Notice how Joseph’s brothers acknowledge that they are the ones who brought this evil upon themselves (Gen 42:21), not yet acknowledging what Joseph is going to say to them in regard to God’s sovereignty (Gen 45:5).

Gen 42:21 And they said one to another, We [are] verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.

Gen 45:5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.

Pro 12:17 [He that] speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit.

This proverb seems pretty self evident regarding speaking truth that is not possible without Christ in us, who is the truth (Joh 14:6). So too, we can speak the truth as a false witness with a deceitful heart, because speaking the truth in love or in righteousness is only made possible by the righteousness of Christ being shed abroad in our hearts by which we are saved (Rom 5:5, Rom 8:28). Christ, in other words, is our righteousness (1Co 1:30) and only Christ can be Christ! (1Jn 2:20, Mat 13:16)

Rom 5:5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, [Rom 5:5] to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.

1Co 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus [Col 1:27], who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

Pro 12:18 There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise [is] health.

If we look throughout history, it is the basest of men that God has used to demonstrate this spirit of speaking words that pierce like a sword, “There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword“. In that sense, this is the negative example of the two edged sword that witnesses against our flesh, but “the tongue of the wise [is] health“. We pierce the heart of others at first, leaving Mary who represents the true bride of Christ pierced in her heart for the revelation of her son’s plight that we are all guilty of (Luk 2:35).

Luk 2:35 (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed […”but the tongue of the wise [is] health“].

It takes God bringing us to acknowledge our own personal part in piercing Christ (Zec 12:10) and killing him, in order for us to then be able to have a tongue that is wise and able to bring the health of God’s word to others, “but the tongue of the wise [is] health“. God is dragging us to the tree of life (Joh 6:44) for that very purpose, to fulfill our joy as we “retaineth her” (Rev 1:3), so our earth and heaven can be founded and established through Christ (Pro 3:18-19, Mat 16:18, Mat 6:10).

Zec 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for [his] only [son], and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for [his] firstborn.

Pro 3:18 She [is] a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy [is every one] that retaineth her.
Pro 3:19 The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.

Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Mat 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as [it is] in heaven.

With that establishing of our hearts and minds, we can then care for our brothers and sisters both now and in the age to come, with encouraging words and admonitions of Truth that brings the healing we all need, “being oppressed of the devil” (Mal 4:2, Mat 9:35, Act 10:38, Rev 22:2).

Pro 12:18 There is talk that is like stabbings of a sword, Yet the tongue of the wise is healing.” (CLV)

Mal 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

Mat 9:35 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.

Act 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

Rev 22:2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, [was there] the tree of life, which bare twelve [manner of] fruits, [and] yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree [were] for the healing of the nations.

Pro 12:19 The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue [is] but for a moment.

The lying tongue, unknowingly to the world, is within themselves, in Babylon (Pro 30:20), as it was with us in our former conversation (Eph 2:2-4). We didn’t believe we were wrong in our convictions of ‘truth’ at that time, but at God’s appointed time we came to learn of His eternal purpose for his children that involved our being strengthened, settled and established, “The lip of truth shall be established for ever” (Mat 16:18) in Christ (1Pe 5:10-11).

1Pe 5:10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle [you].
1Pe 5:11 To him [be] glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Pro 12:20 Deceit [is] in the heart of them that imagine evil: but to the counsellors of peace [is] joy.

It is our own deceitful and wicked hearts (Jer 17:9) that wants us to stop examining ourselves and stop being introspective. However, as we die daily by keeping under ourselves, God will lead us unto repentance by His holy spirit so we can gain victory over sin in our life through Christ our hope of glory within (Rom 2:4, Eph 2:13-15).

Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition [between us];
Eph 2:15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, [even] the law of commandments [contained] in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, [so] making peace;

We become the fool spoken of in (Pro 26:12) when we stop seeing the need for the body of Christ in our lives and the safety that is found in a multitude of counsellors (Pro 11:14, Pro 24:6, Pro 20:18-19).

Pro 26:12 Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? [there is] more hope of a fool than of him.

Pro 11:14 Where no counsel [is], the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors [there is] safety.

Pro 24:6 For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors [there is] safety.

Pro 20:18 [Every] purpose is established by counsel: and with good advice make war.
Pro 20:19 He that goeth about [as] a talebearer revealeth secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips.

Conversely, our peace and joy in this life comes when the understanding of His salvation is restored unto us (Psa 51:12-15), and in this we greatly rejoice, “but to the counsellors of peace [is] joy“, knowing that we serve a merciful God in heaven who, in time, will save all of His children, each man in his own order.

Psa 51:9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
Psa 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Psa 51:11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
Psa 51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me [with thy] free spirit.
Psa 51:13 [Then] will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
Psa 51:14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: [and] my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
Psa 51:15 O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

Pro 12:21 There shall no evil happen to the just: but the wicked shall be filled with mischief.

Our former conversation in this world (Eph 2:1-3) was “filled with mischief“, and being the sinning machines we were made to be, it came to us naturally. The result of that mischievous spirit is that evil would happen to us, and if the Lord is working with us in this life He will deliver us from that spirit so that “There shall no evil happen to the just“. That means that the evil which wants to overtake us as it used to, will not be able to do so through Christ, through whom we are more than conquerors (Rom 8:35-39).

Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? [shall] tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Through Christ we can now have dominion over sin as we go onto perfection on the third day as God’s little remnant that have been separated from the world, and for this very purpose of demonstrating the power of God that takes the weak of the world and brings them to love knowledge and love instruction, which will be the fruit of the mouth of God’s ‘kind of first fruits’ (Rom 9:27, Rom 11:5, Jas 1:18).

Rom 9:27 Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:

Rom 11:5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

Jas 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

We’re not perfected, but we are going onto perfection (Php 3:14, Luk 13:32), we are not sinless, but we are sinning less, and confessing our faults, and knowing that the Lord is cleansing us through this great process we’ve been incredibly blessed (Heb 9:23, 1Pe 4:17-18) to be partakers of, for the rest of the world (1Jn 1:8, Rom 7:24-25, Oba 1:21).

Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Oba 1:21 And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.

“Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge” Part I

(Pro 12:1-7)

Pro 12:1 Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof [is] brutish.
Pro 12:2 A good [man] obtaineth favour of the LORD: but a man of wicked devices will he condemn.
Pro 12:3 A man shall not be established by wickedness: but the root of the righteous shall not be moved.
Pro 12:4 A virtuous woman [is] a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.
Pro 12:5 The thoughts of the righteous [are] right: [but] the counsels of the wicked [are] deceit.
Pro 12:6 The words of the wicked [are] to lie in wait for blood: but the mouth of the upright shall deliver them.
Pro 12:7 The wicked are overthrown, and [are] not: but the house of the righteous shall stand.

The opening verse and last verse of this chapter of proverbs (Pro 12:1, Pro 12:28) work in conjunction with each other, and remind us how all the verses that we’ll study in proverbs or elsewhere in God’s word (2Ti 3:16-17), point to the blessing that will be given to those who are blessed to love instruction and love knowledge, in this life.

Pro 12:1 Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof [is] brutish.
Pro 12:28 In the way of righteousness [is] life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death.

2Ti 3:16 All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2Ti 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

The reward for loving instruction and loving knowledge is stated in the last verse this way, “In the way of righteousness [is] life; and [in] the pathway [thereof there is] no death”, which is another way of saying that those who are blessed in this life to read, hear and keep the sayings within all of scripture (Rev 1:3), will be sanctified and purified by living by every word that proceeds from God’s mouth (Joh 17:17), and will enter into life (Mat 4:4, Mat 19:17). Living by those words means those words are changing us and are no longer being cast behind us (Luk 6:46), as we’re now led of God’s spirit which His words are (Rom 8:14, Joh 6:63).

Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time [is] at hand.

Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Mat 19:17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? [there is] none good but one, [that is], God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.[“In the way of righteousness [is] life”]

The words of eternal life will perfect holiness in time in each person who is blessed to abide in the truth and endure to the end (Mat 24:13), thoroughly furnishing us unto all good works in this life and the next by recognizing that we are the ones who first “hateth reproof”, and hold fast to “wicked devices” and live with a heart that is “deceitful above all [things], and desperately wicked” (Jer 17:9, Rom 7:24), the negative spiritual state that can only be overcome by the “life” of Christ within us (Rom 8:9, Col 1:27) who makes a way for us through God’s spirit to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts in this age in advance of all the world (Eph 1:11-12, Tit 2:12-13, 2Co 4:4, Rom 8:28-29).

Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ [2Co 1:9, Psa 23:4].

Tit 2:12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; (“enter into life”)

2Co 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.
Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate [to be] conformed to the image of his Son, (“enter into life”) that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

With God’s mercy being shown to us in this life (Rom 11:30-32, Rom 11:25-26) through judgement that includes fiery trials (1Pe 4:12), we can lie dead in the street of that great city of (Rev 11:8), and gain great hope that saves us (Rom 8:24-25 , Rom 5:5, Rom 5:10) as we come to be convinced through this dying daily process that we are more than conquerors through Christ, and that nothing can separate us from the love of God (2Co 4:7, 2Co 4:14-18, Rom 8:31, Rom 8:38).

Rom 8:24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25 But if we hope for that we see not, [then] do we with patience wait for [it].

Rom 5:5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Rom 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. (“enter into life”) [“And hope maketh not ashamed” Col 1:27]

2Co 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels (Rom 8:9), that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

2Co 4:14 Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present [us] with you (now in earnest Eph 2:6).
2Co 4:15 For all things [are] for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.
2Co 4:16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward [man] is renewed day by day.
2Co 4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding [and] eternal weight of glory;
2Co 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen [are] temporal; but the things which are not seen [are] eternal. [“For we are saved by hope”]

In short, “In the way of righteousness [is] life; and [in] the pathway [thereof there is] no death” is telling us that those who are blessed to endure unto the end of this life, through a lifetime of judgement, will be able to extend that same mercy and goodness of God to the rest of humanity (Rom 11:30-32, Rom 11:25-26), having been judged and made ready to do so (Rev 19:7-8, Rev 21:2).

That “righteousness” of God that is formed in this “life” is the greatest of all gifts that God bestows upon very few (Mat 22:14, 1Co 15:46, Joh 18:8-9, Joh 10:28-29) that are prepared by God alone who makes a way for His people to endure to the end of this life, changing our hearts so these words can be spoken of us, “Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge”, no longer being that brutish first man who “hateth reproof” (Rev 22:7, Rev 20:6).

Rev 22:7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed [is] he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Pro 12:1 Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof [is] brutish.
Pro 12:2 A good [man] obtaineth favour of the LORD: but a man of wicked devices will he condemn.

If God blesses us to become as children, we will be entreatable like that little child of (Mat 18:3-6), loving the instruction of a loving Father as His spirit leads us into all truth (Rom 8:14, Joh 16:13). It is by God’s favour, His grace that chastens us (Heb 12:6), that we have the “wicked devices” of our life burnt out of us.

Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

Joh 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that] shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

Pro 12:3 A man shall not be established by wickedness: but the root of the righteous shall not be moved.

God must deal with that first root and branch within us by destroying it (Mal 4:1-2) if we are to become “the root of the righteous” that “shall not be moved”.

Mal 4:1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
Mal 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

Here are some encouraging verses that explain why the root of the righteous will not be moved, and point us to the truth that in time all will be saved and made holy.

Rom 11:16 For if the firstfruit [be] holy, the lump is also [holy]: and if the root [be] holy, so [are] the branches.
Rom 11:17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
Rom 11:18 Boast not against the branches [the rest of the world to be grafted into the body in the second resurrection]. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee [boasting against the world is excluded by the law of faith, Christ faith that is given to us as a gift from God (Eph 2:8, Rom 3:27)].

Rom 15:12 And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust.[Christ will rule over all gentile flesh, starting with the Gentile nations within the body of Christ who are first judged in this life, so that one day they can outwardly rule over all the gentile nations of this world, which all flesh is to God. (1Pe 4:17, Col 1:27, Oba 1:21)]

Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Oba 1:21 And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.

Pro 12:4 A virtuous woman [is] a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed [is] as rottenness in his bones.

We are Christ’s flesh and bones (Eph 5:30) and can only become that virtuous woman who is a crown to her husband by having that “rottenness in his bones”, in our bones, destroyed and removed through judgement.

Eph 5:30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

Rev 2:10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast [some] of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. [“a crown to her husband”]

Rev 3:11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.[our crown is the righteousness of Christ that is represented by the fine linen that is given to us in this age (Rev 19:8)]

Rev 4:10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
Rev 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things,(Rev 19:8) and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

The “virtuous woman” represents the church, the bride of Christ; and the crown being on the head of our husband, Christ, signifies that the Lord directs the church and leads us in paths of righteousness for his name sake (Psa 1:1-3, Psa 23:3). We cast our crowns before the throne of God which is symbolized in these verses (1Ch 29:15-16).

Psa 23:3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

1Ch 29:15 For we [are] strangers before thee, and sojourners, as [were] all our fathers: our days on the earth [are] as a shadow, and [there is] none abiding.
1Ch 29:16 O LORD our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee an house for thine holy name [cometh] of thine hand, and [is] all thine own.(Rev 19:8)

Pro 12:5 The thoughts of the righteous [are] right: [but] the counsels of the wicked [are] deceit.
Pro 12:6 The words of the wicked [are] to lie in wait for blood: but the mouth of the upright shall deliver them.
Pro 12:7 The wicked are overthrown, and [are] not: but the house of the righteous shall stand.

More and more contrast is given to us in these next three verses that remind us that, when we lean unto our own understanding, we are being positioned to find out that the counsels of the wicked within me will lead to deceit (Jer 17:9). If God blesses us to not lean unto our own understanding and trust the Lord with all our hearts, which can only happen through judgement (Pro 3:5-7, 1Pe 4:17), then our thoughts will be right before God, “The thoughts of the righteous [are] right”.

Pro 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Pro 3:6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Pro 3:7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

Satan constantly wants to sift us like wheat, as described with these words, “The words of the wicked are to lie in wait for blood” (Luk 22:31), and it takes the mouth of the upright, those who have God’s holy spirit within them, “the mouth of the upright”, to speak to us spiritual words in due season (Luk 12:42, Gal 6:9) so that those words “shall deliver them”(1Ti 4:16, 1Jn 4:6).

Luk 12:42 And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom [his] lord shall make ruler over his household, to give [them their] portion of meat in due season?

Gal 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

1Ti 4:16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee. [Joh 8:31-32]

The wickedness or wretchedness within us can only be overthrown by the Lord building the house (Psa 127:1, Rom 7:24-25) is what we are being shown in this proverb, “The wicked are overthrown, and are not: but the house of the righteous shall stand”.

Psa 127:1 A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh [but] in vain.

Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Christ has promised God’s elect that this first corrupt marred-in-the-hand-of-the-Potter temple or vessel that we are, is going to be torn down and built up in three days, speaking of his own body, the church which is his flesh and bones, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (Col 1:24, Eph 5:29-30, Joh 2:19-21).

Col 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

Eph 5:29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
Eph 5:30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

Joh 2:19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
Joh 2:20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?
Joh 2:21 But he spake of the temple of his body. (Eph 5:30)

It is the Lord alone who will stand, “but the house of the righteous shall stand”, as He builds the church up and blesses us to come to a point where we have the whole suit of armour on us by God’s grace (Eph 6:13-14, 1Pe 4:17, Rom 14:10), and having done all, are now able to stand, through Christ (Php 2:12-13, Eph 6:13). The whole suit of armour tells us that there is a process that is required to put on the righteousness of Christ that is revealed to “Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge”

Eph 6:13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Eph 6:14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

Having done all, Lord bless us to be found with your righteousness and not our own on that glorious day of your return (Luk 17:10, Php 3:9).

Luk 17:10 So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.[Php 2:12-13]

Php 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:

Proverbs 5:1-23

“Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father,
and attend to know understanding”

[Study Aired Nov 28, 2024]

There are two words that I want to draw our attention to, which summarize for us the central point being given to us in this fifth chapter of Proverbs. Those two words are attend^H7181 found in the first verse, and the word instruction^H4148 found in the last verse of this chapter.

If we look at the root of the word silver^H3701, which we know is connected to repentance (Rom 2:4), it is similar to the word attend^H7181, in that we won’t repent without a strong desire to do so, and that desire comes about by hearing the word of God that we are blessed to hear in this life if God is working with us (Rev 1:3, Mat 13:16). For a more in-depth study on this concept, please see Mike Vinson’s 7-part series on Silver, of which Part 1 starts here.

Rom 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

attend H7181 kaw-shab’

silver H3701 H3700 kaw-saf’

H7181 Attend qâshab kaw-shab’
A primitive root; to prick up the ears, that is, hearken: – attend, (cause to) hear (-ken), give heed, incline, mark (well), regard.
Total KJV occurrences: 46

H3700 root word of silver – kâsaph  kaw-saf’
A primitive root; properly to become pale, that is, (by implication) to pine after; also to fear: – [have] desire, be greedy, long, sore.
Total KJV occurrences: 6

God considers His leading us to repentance as the riches of his goodness where we learn of his forbearance and longsuffering spirit (Jas 5:7, Luk 21:19) not knowing at first that it is God’s goodness that leadeth thee to repentance for an extremely valuable purpose (Heb 11:24-25, Mat 19:27-28). It is instructive to note that the first time H7181 qâshab kaw-shab’ is used, it is in the context of what God considers most valuable in our relationship with Him, and that is that we hearken unto Him and obey him (1Sa 15:22, 1Jn 5:2-3).

1Sa 15:22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken^H7181 than the fat of rams.

If God has granted us a humble and contrite heart (Isa 66:2), then this process of going from glory to glory as we acknowledge our shortcomings by looking into His word, that is likened unto a mirror, (2Co 3:17-18) will turn us into a peculiar and zealous people toward the Lord through this examination of self, becoming doers of the word and not hearers only. Hearing the word but also attending to what those words say as they motivate us to move with fear in obedience toward our heavenly Father (2Co 7:11, 1Pe 2:9, 1Co 11:31-32).

1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: [the light that reflects off this mirror we look into, and remember what we see, and then attend to what God shows us in the process]

1Co 11:31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
1Co 11:32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

The second word we are considering is instruction^H4148, which is in the last verse of this study. It takes on a much brighter meaning when we see how it is used in the context of this fifth chapter of proverbs. As we noted, it is God’s forbearance and longsuffering spirit that needs to be working within us (Php 2:12-13) in order for us to not grow weary of His correction, as we are received as sons of God through it [Heb 12:6]. This word instruction^H4148, is connected to ‘chastening’, ‘chastisement’, ‘correction’,’ discipline’,’ doctrine’, and ‘rebuking’.

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

H4148 Instruction  mûsâr  moo-sawr’
From H3256; properly chastisement; figuratively reproof, warning or instruction; also restraint: – bond, chastening ([-eth]), chastisement, check, correction, discipline, doctrine, instruction, rebuke.
Total KJV occurrences: 50

There’s no getting around this point. Every son has to suffer in this life in order to cease from sinning and fulfill the will of God, which is to prepare us to become kings and priests who will rule and reign under Christ (1Jn 2:16-17, 1Pe 4:1-2, 2Pe 3:11-12).

1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1Jn 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

1Pe 4:1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh (Eph 5:30), arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
1Pe 4:2 That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

Christ is the one who can take us through these humbling experiences (Ecc 1:13) that will bring us to cease from sinning, being given a humble and contrite heart that is subject to our Creator and to one another as unto Christ (1Pe 5:6, Heb 12:2, Php 1:6, Eph 5:21). God will be exalted through Christ who washes us of all our iniquities and cleanses our hearts and creates in us a new spirit that is zealous for the Lord (Psa 51:10-12, Eze 36:26). These are the wonderful works within us that God’s elect are to offer up as a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to our merciful Father (Psa 107:22-30, Heb 13:15).

We must go through a process as His children, bringing us to see the hypocrisy of our own flesh, and also how, in the end, the Lord is far greater than the power that sin has over us (Joh 8:36). We will deny him less and less, and if He is working with us in this age, he will abide faithful to finish this work of grace through faith in us (Eph 2:8), not denying himself as the author and finisher of our faith (2Ti 2:13, Mat 26:34).

Pro 5:1 My son, attend^H7181 unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:
Pro 5:2 That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.

We’ve looked at the word attend^H7181, showing how it is connected to repentance, and in this opening couple of verses we are being shown that ‘attending unto wisdom’ requires that we go through a humbling process, bow thine ear to my understanding. The fruit of that experience of being humbled under God’s hand is that we will be able to regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge. It is only through having our senses exercised that we can then grow in that discreet and discerning spirit of the Lord and truly have lips that keep knowledge (Heb 5:14, Rev 13:4, Isa 6:5-8, Rev 5:2-5).

Heb 5:14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Rev 13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

Isa 6:5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. [Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?]
Isa 6:6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
Isa 6:7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
Isa 6:8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.[After we go through a process of purification we have a strong desire [silver – kaw-saf] to serve the Lord and to be sent Joh 20:21, Joh 3:17, 1Jn 4:17].

Rev 5:2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?
Rev 5:3 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. [no one is worthy and no one can open the book, but Christ in us as our hope of glory]
Rev 5:4 And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. [Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?]
Rev 5:5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals [free indeed Joh 8:36] thereof.

Pro 5:3 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:

The lips of a harlot that represent mystery Babylon the mother of harlots (Rev 17:5) is contrasted with those who have lips that keep knowledge in the previous verse. This strange woman [whose lips] drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil is a perfect description of the churches of this world who are estranged from Christ and speak words that are easy to digest like honey, and smoother than oil which is no oil at all (Isa 3:1, Mat 25:8, 2Co 11:4).

Rev 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

Isa 3:1 For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,

Mat 25:8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.

2Co 11:4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus [strange woman [whose lips] drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil], whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, strange woman [whose lips] drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

Pro 5:4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.

The end of those who are seduced by this harlot system is one that is bitter as wormwood^H3939, and not in the positive sense of God’s word being sweet in the mouth like honey and bitter in the belly. No, this is the exact opposite of that, just as this sharp as a twoedged sword does not represent the word of God (Heb 4:12), but rather is a counterfeit sword that is used to pierce Christ and keep the words of life that He wants to bring us, dead and hidden (2Co 4:3, Joh 19:34, 2Sa 14:14).

H3939 wormwood la‛ănâh lah-an-aw’
From an unused root supposed to mean to curse; wormwood (regarded as poisonous, and therefore accursed): – hemlock, wormwood.
Total KJV occurrences: 8

Joh 19:34 But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.

2Sa 14:14 For we must needs die, [Gal 2:20] and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.

Pro 5:5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell^{H7585(‘sheol’, grave)}.
Pro 5:6 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.

Pro 5:6 Lest you should ponder the path of life, Her routes rove about, yet you know not where.”(CLV)
Pro 5:6  For she goes not upon the paths of life; but her ways are slippery, and not easily known. (Brenton)

This harlot system directs the laity down to death as her steps take hold of hell , all telling us that the spiritually dead can’t help but bury their spiritually dead, as the world is further and further deceived and being deceived (Luk 9:60, Mar 13:22, 2Ti 3:13).

Mystery Babylon is a mystery to those who are blinded to how the god of this world operates (2Co 2:11), but unto the elect, Babylon is falling within and is being exposed by the grace of God (Eph 2:8) as we ponder the path of life which path of life is Christ (Joh 14:6).

Studying to show ourselves approved is how we can avoid being deceived by the myriad of lies in Babylon (Rev 9:2), not laying hold of Christ, having ways that are slippery, deceiving even the very elect if it were possible (Mar 13:22).

It is through the judgement that comes upon the elect in the house of mourning where we die daily (1Co 15:31, Ecc 7:2) that we can continue to overcome the lies of the harlot system that God’s people are blessed to come out of (2Co 6:17) in this life, through judgement (Psa 84:10, 2Pe 3:8).

Pro 5:7 Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
Pro 5:8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:
Pro 5:9 Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:
Pro 5:10 Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;
Pro 5:11 And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
Pro 5:12 And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
Pro 5:13 And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!
Pro 5:14 I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.

In order to Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth, we must be given to attend to the instruction in these verses in the book of James (Jas 1:19-24). Right after telling us to hear and not depart from God’s word, we are shown the consequence of not doing this when we don’t remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house. This harlot represents Mystery Babylon and all the false religions of this world of whom God says we are not to give thine honour unto nor thy years unto the cruel. This section of our study is an admonition to give heed unto Christ’s words and hold fast to the crown that God has given us, not being seduced by the lies and falsehoods of Babylon. Giving our honour to others and our years unto the cruel is what we do when we cast our pearls before swine (Mat 7:6) who represent the unconverted that we witness to with fear and trembling, when the Lord requires it of us, as opposed to carelessly casting our pearls to the unconverted who never asked an answer of the hope within us in the first place (1Pe 3:15, Php 2:12).

Mat 7:6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

1Pe 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts (Jas 1:19-24): and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

Php 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

The pearl of great price is Christ who is hidden within us and we must walk circumspectly in this world we’ve been sent forth into, “I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves” (Mat 10:16, Mat 7:6).

If we’re not wise then strangers [will] be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger. This grave mistake of saying too much to the unbelieving, filling their house with our wealth in other words, is what was typified as being done in the life of Hezekiah (2Ki 20:13). The end result for Hezekiah and the nation he ruled (2Ki 20:16-21) is what the proverb continues to reveal would happen: you will mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed.

2Ki 20:13 And Hezekiah hearkened unto them [from Babylon], and shewed them all the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.

Hezekiah’s house was his empire which does represent a kingdom within that he was supposed to rule over properly, but he did not. We all must go into Babylonian captivity to come out of it and so How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof are words that discuss our own inability, without Christ, to be faithful to God’s words as we come to realize, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me! I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly. It is in the midst of the congregation and assembly for a reason, as this is talking to us about how we can just naturally take for granted God’s exceedingly great and precious promises (2Pe 1:4), until we are chastened and scourged of Him for doing so.

Pro 5:15  Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.
Pro 5:16Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.
Pro 5:17 Let them be only thine own, and not strangers’ with thee.
Pro 5:18 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
Pro 5:19 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.

We are not left in the dark to know what the solution is to overcome that typical spiritual apathy of Hezekiah, that caused the nation to go into Babylonian captivity, or exile, which is where God intends we will lose our first love. If He shows mercy toward us in this age, we will come out of her and be drawn to the living waters that are found in Christ alone, and not in the churches of this world (Isa 1:3, Isa 3:1, 1Jn 4:6).

The singleness of our relationship with Christ (2Co 11:3) and his body is being discussed with these verses, (Pro 5:15-19).

2Co 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity^G572, that is in Christ.

G572 Simplicity haplotēs hap-lot’-ace
From G573; singleness, that is, (subjectively) sincerity (without dissimulation or self seeking), or (objectively) generosity (copious bestowal): – bountifulness, liberal (-ity), simplicity, singleness.
Total KJV occurrences: 8

That singleness which we share in Christ as His flesh and bones (Eph 5:30) is likened unto the fidelity that we are to have between husband and wife, and this is the mystery that is hidden from this world (Eph 5:32, Col 1:27), where there is no fidelity but rather many lovers, many churches, vain philosophies, and only infidelity to the word of God (1Co 3:4). Therefore we are told to Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well, meaning we are to protect the word of God and not let it be defiled by the iniquity that is abounding more and more in this age (Mat 24:12). We protect God’s word by labouring in it, and sowing bountifully in this life so that we can reap bountifully (2Co 9:6). His word goes with us in our day-to-day affairs, as we pray without ceasing and bring every thought into “the obedience of Christ” (2Co 10:5). That is how we Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.

2Co 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;

Again, as we go about our life being led of the spirit of God (Rom 8:14-15), we are ready to give to others an answer for the hope that is within us, not being ashamed of the gospel, but we are not forcing our faith on others, and so it is written, Let them be only thine own, and not strangers’ with thee. Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. The wife of our youth is the wife of Christ who we are associated with as a many membered body of Christ that makes up his wife. We protect and hold fast to the words that God has given us and Let them be only thine own, and not strangers’ with thee. Once again, this relationship that we have with Christ and His body is described in the most intimate of terms, Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love, because that is the way Christ feels toward His wife, and how we should respond to the body of Christ as no spiritual man [the body of Christ] ever hated his own flesh (Eph 5:29-30).

Eph 5:29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
Eph 5:30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

Pro 5:20  And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?
Pro 5:21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.
Pro 5:22 His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.
Pro 5:23 He shall die without instruction;^H4148 [Heb 12:6] and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

Nothing is hidden from God “with whom we have to do” (Heb 4:13-14) and so the question is asked, why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?

Heb 4:13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
Heb 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

All of our ways are before the Lord and he knows that this is exactly what will happen to all of us at first. We will be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger, and that won’t be hidden from God but rather is caused by Him (Eph 1:11) in order to snare us in Babylon, which represents this stranger that we first embrace. Our own sins will correct us, our own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins (Jer 2:19), until the son of God sets us free (Joh 8:36) by binding the sacrifice to the altar (Psa 118:27). The simple truth is that we will die without instruction^H4148 [Heb 12:6] and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray, speaking of what happens to all of us until God shows mercy to us and causes us to attend^H7181 unto his words. Lord willing, or God permitting that will happen to each of us in this age, we pray (Heb 6:3).

Proverbs 4:1-27

“Keep thy heart with all diligence;
for out of it are the issues of life”

[Study Aired Nov 28, 2024]

The body of Christ can and does benefit from the wisdom that God gave to Solomon who passed this wisdom onto his physical children. That relationship that he had with his children typifies the spiritual relationship that God’s children have with Christ who is our wisdom (1Co 1:30-31), who freely gives to us what we freely give away (Mat 10:8 , Joh 3:21 , 1Co 12:4-6 , Eph 4:7-16) as his wisdom and knowledge is made manifest to us via the church (1Pe 1:12 , Eph 3:10-12 , Col 1:26).

1Co 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
1Co 1:31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

Righteousness, and Sanctification, and Redemption:

Php 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:

2Th 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:

Rom 6:19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. (sanctification)

Rom 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Rom 3:25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

Eph 3:10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
Eph 3:11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
Eph 3:12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

It is one thing to apply the wisdom of Solomon in a very practical earthly way, versus seeing the hidden messages that are there for the benefit of the few branches that are called and chosen to be connected to the vine, Jesus Christ, who is typified by Solomon. Being connected to the vine requires the faith of Christ, otherwise our house will not stand in the day of adversity (Mat 22:14 , Pro 24:10 , Luk 22:32).

Keeping our heart with all diligence, spoken of in (Pro 4:23), is speaking about not neglecting the mind of Christ that has been given to the body of Christ (1Co 2:16). With these principles in mind we can now look at chapter four of proverbs and, Lord willing, be spiritually enriched as we are reassured of the benefit and blessing that has been promised to those who are blessed in this life to read, hear and keep the sayings of the prophecies of this book, from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21.

Pro 4:1 Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.

These opening words are so instructive, as they represent Christ pointing to God the Father who is ultimately the one who is giving all the instruction that we receive through Christ and His body. Christ attended to the instruction of His Father as we must attend ^H7181 to what Christ our head tells us.

H7181 qâshab kaw-shab’

A primitive root; to prick up the ears, that is, hearken: – attend, (cause to) hear (-ken), give heed, incline, mark (well), regard.

Total KJV occurrences: 46

“Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father” is a verse that reminds us that we are to hear Him through Christ just as wives are to hear Christ in their husband who is the head (1Co 11:3). Christ heard the Father and obeyed him, setting us an example of how we are to be subject onto Him and to Christ in each other (Deu 6:4 , Eph 5:21-25).

1Co 11:3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

Deu 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:

Eph 5:21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
Eph 5:22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
Eph 5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
Eph 5:24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

Pro 4:2 For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.

He has given us “good doctrine” and, when we value the things of the spirit, we, like Peter, will say “to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life” (Joh 6:68). Only God can give us the power to not forsake His law, “forsake ye not my law“, and only Christ can give us the faith and strength to not faint in the day of adversity, so boasting is excluded by the law of faith as we “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Luk 22:32 , Php 3:14).

As an important side point, when we forsake the assembling of ourselves together, we are forsaking that part of the law that tells us not to do that (Heb 10:25), thereby robbing God and ourselves of the true riches that come to us when we do present our whole life unto Him as a living sacrifice (Mal 3:10 , Rom 12:1). You may have, by physical circumstances beyond yourselves, never attended a gathering of the saints and yet because of a dedicated wholehearted desire to serve God, you have never forsaken the assembly of God. Conversely, we can show up physically and be guilty of abusing our time together (1Co 11:20-22). The point being, God looks on our hearts and we are striving together in heavenly places to be sanctified through Christ wherever we are, and blessed by the occasions that we can do so physically, or via Zoom or email etc. (Php 3:14 , 1Co 9:24 , Eph 2:6 , Eph 3:10 ,  Heb 10:14).

Mal 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

Rom 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.

Pro 4:3 For I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.
Pro 4:4 He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.
Pro 4:5 Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.
Pro 4:6 Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.

These next verses explain that Christ was born of a virgin and came in corruptible flesh (Mat 1:23 , Psa 51:5). He was the only begotten of the Father (Joh 1:18) and “tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother“, which signifies Christ and our blessed relationship with the church that is typified by Mary.

As a physical man, Christ was taught of his Father just as we are taught of Christ now via the church of whom Christ is the head. What the Father taught Christ is what Christ teaches the church and that is, “Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live“(Rev 1:3).

Christ was told to “Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth” and these following verses show that relationship of growth that both the head and the body of Christ must experience: (Luk 2:52 , 2Pe 3:18 , 1Jn 4:17). If we are granted to not forsake God’s law which is found in his doctrine, not forsaking the words of His mouth (Luk 6:46), “she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee“, again the “she” representing the body of Christ, in the feminine.

Luk 2:52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.

2Pe 3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

We are as Christ in that regard as well (1Jn 4:17), needing to be judged in this life (1Pe 4:17) as we learn obedience by the things we suffer (2Ti 2:12 , Col 1:24). We are called to not “decline from the words of my mouth“, growing in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (Heb 5:8 , 1Th 5:21 , Joh 8:31-32 , 2Pe 3:18).

If we “Forsake her not“, we are told that we will be blessed with wisdom, and Christ will “preserve thee“. If we show love to Christ and the church by keeping God’s commands (1Jn 5:2-3), the church will keep us, “she shall keep thee“.

The church is also represented by Noah’s ark, whose family was preserved. The ark did not build itself either, it took planning and consistent hard work on the part of Noah and his family. We are told specifically that Noah moved with fear, which is the spirit that we must have if we are going to go unto perfection on the third day (Heb 11:7 , Heb 5:7).

Heb 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

Heb 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

Pro 4:7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
Pro 4:8 Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.
Pro 4:9 She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.

Christ’s mind is the principle thing, and it is through our Lord who is the head of the church that we can “get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding“.

We exalt Christ and glorify our Father in heaven as Christ did when we have a desire and hunger to know the Lord and His body with all our hearts. Therefore we are told, “Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her“. The “her” again in these verses represents Christ in the church and we “embrace her” by following each other as we follow Christ (1Co 11:1).

When the Lord builds the house within us (Psa 127:1), it is being done through the church and so when we read, “She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee“, we are looking at words that typify the earnest of our inheritance (Eph 1:14) that will ultimately lead to our being in that blessed and holy first resurrection as kings and priests (Rev 20:6). The goal is reached via the many members that supply their part in love (Eph 4:16 , Rom 8:17) within the church (1Co 9:24 , 2Co 9:6), provoking one another unto love and good works, thereby helping each other obtain “an ornament of grace” and a “crown of glory“.

Eph 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Rom 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: (1Jn 3:1)
Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.(Rev 1:13)

Pro 4:10  Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many.
Pro 4:11 I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths.
Pro 4:12 When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.

If we receive the sayings of Christ and continue in them, they will set us free and “the years of thy life shall be many“. This is a spiritual statement telling us that if we are blessed to read, hear and keep the eternal words of God, enduring until the end of this life, we will be saved and be in that blessed and holy first resurrection. The years of our life are abundant and many when Christ’s life is in us (Col 1:27 , Joh 10:10).

Joh 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

We are that angel to each other that not only strengthens Christ in the garden (Luk 22:43 , 1Jn 4:17), but also the angel that God uses to help each other remain on the “right paths” so that we don’t stumble (Mat 4:6 , 1Jn 4:17). When we move forward together as one body, with one spirit, as one bread, then “our steps shall not be straitened“, and when we run we “shall not stumble”, seeing we will hold each other up in those moments when we need to bear each other’s burden and so fulfill the law of Christ (Gal 6:2).

Pro 4:13 Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.
Pro 4:14 Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.
Pro 4:15 Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.

Taking fast hold of instruction; and not letting go is saying the same thing as (1Th 5:21).

1Th 5:21  Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

The mystery that has been hidden from the ages is this very relationship with our “life” which is Christ (Joh 14:6) who is the only “way” by which we can come to know the Father as we continue in the “truth” (Eph 5:32 , Col 1:18 , Eph 5:25 , Joh 8:31-32).

With Christ as our shepherd in this life, the holy spirit is going to lead us into right paths “not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil“. Through Christ we will be compelled to “Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away” as he leads us by still waters, for His name sake (Psa 23:1-3 , Rom 8:14-16).

Psa 23:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Psa 23:2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
Psa 23:3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Psa 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Rom 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Rom 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

Pro 4:16 For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.
Pro 4:17 For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.
Pro 4:18 But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
Pro 4:19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.

“They sleep not” means the world does not rest in the Lord but rather lives in spiritual darkness being mischievous (2Co 4:4 , Rev 12:9 , 1Jn 5:19), and can only find rest after they have caused others to stumble. This causing others to stumble and not even knowing what they are stumbling at, “The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble“, is what Christ calls the dead burying the dead (Luk 9:60). It is not the true bread of life, it is the mammon of this world and the pursuit of evil that sustains the first man Adam described as “the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence“. It seems right but it leads to death (Pro 14:12).

The sleeplessness of the wicked is contrasted with the path of the just which is “as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day” (2Pe 1:19 , 1Pe 2:9).

2Pe 1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

Pro 4:20 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.
Pro 4:21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.
Pro 4:22 For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.
Pro 4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
Pro 4:24 Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.
Pro 4:25 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
Pro 4:26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.
Pro 4:27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.

In conclusion, with these last verses of chapter four, Christ brings us back to the principle points that we are to know, as we sojourn in the Lord who tells us we can be victorious through Him when we are granted to know and believe [blessed eyes that see and ears that hear Mat 13:16] that we are more than conquerors through Him, as these verses demonstrate: (Rom 8:28 , Rom 8:31-39 , Rom 5:5 , Rom 5:10).

The earmarks of a true son of God (Rom 8:14) and the blessing of knowing our Father and Christ are made very clear in these last few verses (Pro 4:20-27). We simply must attend to God’s word, which Christ brings to the body, and we are told to incline our ears unto these sayings, and never let them depart from our eyes, keeping them in the midst of our hearts, binding mercy and truth on our hearts as we die daily, and stand on God’s word (Rev 1:3).

Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

God’s words are the spiritual manna that sustain us, and it is meat and drink indeed as Christ told us to eat the body of Christ and drink his blood, which is the true bread from heaven that the manna only typified in the wilderness. That bread will be “life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh“(Eph 5:30 , Pro 3:6-9), unto those who “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life“, who will as a result of that diligent search caused by Christ (Php 2:12-13), be able to “Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee” from within primarily, but also knowing when we need to leave a situation of evil communications that will corrupt good manners, fleeing fornication, idolatry, and youthful lusts (1Co 15:33 , Gal 6:7).

Pro 3:6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Pro 3:7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
Pro 3:8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. “health to all their flesh”
Pro 3:9 Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:

[We honour God by simply acknowledging that He is the one who gives that increase in our lives (1Co 3:6), and He is the one who leads us unto repentance (Rom 2:4), and He is the one who gives us the ability to confess our iniquities (Psa 32:5  , 1Jn 1:9), it is all of the Lord.]

The elect must first experience not letting “thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee” before we can teach this way to others (Isa 30:21), and it is when we “Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established” by committing our ways unto the Lord (Psa 37:5), that we will be given the spiritual strength to “Turn not to the right hand nor to the left:“, “removing our foot from evil“!

Rom 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

Rom 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

“Whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil”

[Study Aired October 31, 2024]

A foundational point to consider in this study of the book of proverbs is that Solomon is a type of Christ and David, being the father of Solomon, is a type of our heavenly Father from where “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (Jas 1:16-17, 2Ti 3:16). We know David can represent Christ, but in this instance the wisdom of God is expressed through Solomon who reveals the Father as Christ did. Solomon typifies Christ our wisdom in this instance (1Co 1:18-25) who has come to reveal the Father. The proverbs were written so that we can come to know Christ who is our wisdom and in so doing we can come to know the Father through Christ which is eternal life. Therefore in type and shadow we need to know both Solomon and David but not after the flesh “Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more”. (Joh 14:9-10, Mat 11:27, Joh 17:3-4, 2Co 5:16).

1Co 1:18  For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. [“whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil” (Pro 1:33)]
1Co 1:19  For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
1Co 1:20  Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
1Co 1:21  For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
1Co 1:22  For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
1Co 1:23  But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
1Co 1:24  But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
1Co 1:25  Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Joh 14:9  Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
Joh 14:10  Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

Mat 11:27  All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.
Mat 11:28  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Mat 11:29  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. [“whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil” (Pro 1:33)]
Mat 11:30  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Joh 17:4  I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.

The message of the old covenant proverbs are found throughout the New Covenant and are used in very foundational ways to build spiritual concepts (Mat 16:18  “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”). Here are a few examples to that point:

Pro 3:11   My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:

Heb 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:

Pro 3:34  Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly.

Jas 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

1Pe 5:5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

Pro 10:12  Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.

Jas 5:20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

1Pe 4:8 And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

There are three distinct sections to this first chapter of proverbs. The first section explains the purpose behind having proverbs in the first place, the second talks about the positive spiritual effect these proverbs can have upon us if we heed them, and the third section explains the negative consequence of not holding fast to the wisdom that God gives us through the church, Solomon, being a type of Christ who is the head of the church (Eph 1:22-23), and makes manifest God’s knowledge through the church (Eph 3:10-11).

Eph 1:22  And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
Eph 1:23  Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

Eph 3:10  To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
Eph 3:11  According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:

The purpose for having Proverbs

Pro 1:1  The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;
Pro 1:2  To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;
Pro 1:3  To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;
Pro 1:4  To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.
Pro 1:5  A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
Pro 1:6  To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.

Solomon is the king of Israel, Israel representing the world, and as stated he is the son of David who, in this instance, is a type of God the father who created our Saviour and King (Col 1:15-19).

Col 1:15  Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Col 1:18  And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Col 1:19  For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;

Christ received the wisdom and instruction his Father gave him, perceiving the words of understanding with the spirit of God that was given to him. “All things are delivered unto me of my Father” (Mat 11:27-29). If we are as Christ in this life with His mind (1Jn 4:17), then we likewise should be growing like Christ did (Luk 2:52 , 2Pe 3:18) by “receiv[ing] the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgement, and equity”.

Mat 11:27  All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.
Mat 11:28  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Mat 11:29  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

Luk 2:52  And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.

2Pe 3:18  But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

It is truly the glory of God to conceal a thing and the honour of kings to search out a matter (Pro 25:2), and if we are granted that hunger and thirst to search for the Lord with all our hearts in this age (Jer 29:13-14), we being the weak of the world (1Co 1:26), we will be “given subtilty” [H6195 prudence, discretion, wisdom], even when we are young in the faith, He will give us knowledge and discretion. As we grow in grace and in knowledge, the Lord will increase within us and we will decrease through this lifelong endeavor of overcoming, and by God’s mercy we will go from glory to glory (2Co 3:18), or faith to faith (Rom 1:17), until the author and finisher of our faith completes that which he has started in us. That is our hope and that is our confidence in this life (Heb 12:2-4 , Php 1:6 , Col 1:27 , 1Jn 3:3).

Jer 29:13  And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
Jer 29:14  And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Heb 12:3  For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Heb 12:4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

Php 1:6  Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

1Jn 3:3  And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

God has called the elect unto this endeavor of being “A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels” but it can only be accomplished through Christ (Php 2:12-13) who is our wisdom and the reason we can then “understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings”. It is all to our Father’s glory!

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

The positive fruit that can be born when we heed the proverbs of God

Pro 1:7  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

This opening statement in the first chapter of proverbs can be bookended with this verse in (Ecc 12:13) which states, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man”. These two verses then, make it clear to us that without the fear of the LORD within our hearts we will not have even a starting point to build properly (1Co 3:9-11), nor be able to come anywhere near the perfection of our faith unless the Lord builds our spiritual house (Psa 127:1) that he alone can built within a heart that moves with fear (Luk 12:5 , Heb 11:7 , Heb 5:7).

1Co 3:9  For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.
1Co 3:10  According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
1Co 3:11  For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Luk 12:5  But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.

Heb 11:7  By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

Heb 5:7  Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

Pro 1:8  My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

“Hear[ing] the instruction of thy father, and not forsak[ing] the law of thy mother”, is how we honour our spiritual father and mother (Eph 6:2-3), and in doing so God’s elect become the first recipients of being blessed to have our life built upon a sure foundation, Jesus Christ, the gates of hell not prevailing against us, so that we might be in that blessed and holy first resurrection where we will be blessed with long life on the earth (Mat 16:18).

Eph 6:2  Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;)
Eph 6:3  That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.

Mat 16:18  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Pro 1:9  For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.

This idea of keeping the instruction of our father and mother, who represent our Father in heaven and the church, is reiterated in (Pro 3:3-6), and the blessing that springs forth from this obedience, “an ornament of grace”, is that God (“thy head”) will direct all our steps.

Pro 3:3  Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:
Pro 3:4  So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
Pro 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Pro 3:6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Pro 1:10  My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.

When we consent to spiritual fornication we are becoming one with a harlot who represents the false churches of Babylon (Pro 5:8)

Pro 5:8  Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house

Pro 1:11  If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:

The innocent are all of us in our appointed time as naive Christians who are drawn into the churches who aggressively make proselytes for their folds (Mat 23:14-15, Mat 11:12).

Mat 23:14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
Mat 23:15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

Mat 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

Pro 1:12  Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:

Christ tells us that this is where the dead are burying the dead, swallowing the new Christian ‘up alive as the grave’, taking them down into the pit of false doctrines that are multitudinous (Rev 9:2-3).

Rev 9:2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
Rev 9:3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

Pro 1:13  We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:
Pro 1:14  Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:

What is considered one of Babylon’s greatest riches that has become a mantra, is the saying ‘let there be agreement in the essentials and tolerance in the non essential and love in all things’. In other words, Babylon takes Christ’s pure doctrine and “carries into your temples my goodly pleasant things” (Joe 3:5), taking “thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them” (Eze 16:17). Babylon will also tell us what is essential and non-essential and it does not agree with the sum of God’s word, but rather with the ecumenical spirit of this world that says “let us all have one purse”.

Pro 1:15  My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:

What we are told to do is “walk not in the way with them”. In other words, flee spiritual fornication and go nowhere near her door (Pro 5:8)

Pro 5:8  Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house

Pro 1:16  For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
Pro 1:17  Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.
Pro 1:18  And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.

Christ tells us the elect are likened unto a dove in (Lev 14:6) and Satan’s objective is to snare us like a bird with his lies in the churches of Babylon, but as we learned, ‘the gates of hell will not prevail against the church’, so in the end that trap is set in vain, just as Cain was told, “sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him” (Gen 4:7). Babylon is divided regardless of the ecumenical spirit that serves to unite the churches of this world against Christ and his Christ (Act 4:27). In the end they are ‘laying wait’ for their own fall in God’s appointed time, and great will be the fall of Babylon (Rev 18:10).

Rev 18:10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.

Pro 1:19  So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.

All of these verses (Pro 1:12-19) reveal what it is that God will deliver his people from who are being led by the spirit of God (Rom 8:14-15). The main root of these actions of evil are “the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof”. Christ, as our example, was tempted in all diverse manner and so we take great comfort in knowing that regardless of what has been written in our books regarding temptations and trials to come, we have a high priest who can and will deliver us from them all (2Co 1:4) no matter what ‘the gates of hell’ throw at us (Heb 4:15).

Rom 8:14  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Rom 8:15  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

2Co 1:4  Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

Heb 4:15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

Pro 1:20  Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:
Pro 1:21  She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,

Christ our husband is known in the gates, (Pro 31:23) and is the one who “Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets”. Our husband Christ is known in the gates that represents our hearts, out of which springs words that come forth from the church, “in the city [Jerusalem above] she uttereth her words”.

Pro 31:23  Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.

“She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words”, is a statement telling us that the word of God will go forth and bring healing to the nations, each man in his own appointed time, who will come to acknowledge His words are the words of eternal life and that they are manifest through the church (Joh 6:68  , Mat 24:14 , Eph 3:10).

The negative consequence of not holding fast to the wisdom of God

Pro 1:22  How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?

This rhetorical question already has an appointed time in God’s mind when ‘the simple will stop loving simplicity and scorners will no longer delight in their scorning and fools will one day love knowledge’. We all must start off as being simple, and blind, scorners, and fools who hate the knowledge of God, so that when we are blessed to be given eyes to see and ears to hear, there will be a great contrast created in our hearts going from darkness to light (Php 3:7-9 , Luk 16:26 , Pro 24:7).

Php 3:7  But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Php 3:8  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Php 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:

Luk 16:26  And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

Pro 24:7  Wisdom is too high for a fool: he openeth not his mouth in the gate.

Pro 1:23  Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

We surely can’t turn at God’s reproof unless He softens our hearts, but God does have an appointed time in mind when He will visit us, by His spirit that will judge us and soften our hearts through that judgement (Luk 19:44 , 1Pe 2:12).

Luk 19:44  And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.

1Pe 2:12  Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

The prophesy of a new heart given in (Eze 36:26) is only possible by God’s spirit dwelling within us. It is then that we will be able to obey God as Christ works in us both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure (Act 5:32 , Rom 8:9 , Php 2:12-13). By God’s grace we will at long last have the ability to “turn you at my reproof” (Tit 2:11-12) instead of despising God’s goodness that leads us unto repentance, which we will also still do in fleshly moments of weakness (despise his goodness), but grace will much more abound “where sin abounded (when we despise his goodness), grace did much more abound”, to burn that spirit out of us as the Lord sees fit (Rom 2:4 , Rom 5:20). It is through judgement that God can continue to make his words known unto us as the comforter leads us into all truth, sanctifying us through this life (Joh 16:13 , Joh 17:17). This is a life-long process that is happening to those who have been apprehended by Christ in this age, explained this way by the apostle Paul (Php 3:9-14):

Php 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:
Php 3:10  That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Php 3:11  If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
Php 3:12  Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Php 3:13  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Php 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Pro 1:24  Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
Pro 1:25  But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
Pro 1:26  I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
Pro 1:27  When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
Pro 1:28  Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:

The consequence of not heeding the words of God after he has called us and stretched out his hand to us reminds us of (Heb 6:3-6). God permitting, His chastening grace upon us will motivate and bring us unto maturity and perfection on the third day (Heb 12:6 , Luk 13:32).

Heb 6:3  And this will we do, if God permit.
Heb 6:4  For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
Heb 6:5  And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
Heb 6:6  If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening (Php 4:13), God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

Luk 13:32  And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

We would simply set at nought all of God’s counsel and our hearts would be hardened at His reproof if the Lord was not working within our heavens giving us a humble and contrite heart (Isa 66:2). These words that define our rejection of God (Pro 1:24-28) are an admonition that, Lord willing, we will hear, so that we don’t find ourselves in the terrifying dark place where we call upon the Lord and he does not answer; where we seek him early and we can’t find him. Of course in due time all will find him, but what these verses reveal is the severity and goodness of God who alone determines who it is that will hear, and who it is whose heart will be hardened (Rom 11:20-22).

Rom 11:20  Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
Rom 11:21  For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
Rom 11:22  Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

Pro 1:29  For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:
Pro 1:30  They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
Pro 1:31  Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
Pro 1:32  For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.

Again, God does not hide the hard-core facts of what a curse it will be if we do not “choose the fear of the LORD”, or that “They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof”. We eat the fruit of our own way, “our own devices”, when we are those who are found in our own righteousness and not that of the LORD (Php 3:9).

Php 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:

We eat “the fruit of their own way”, when we do our many wonderful works independent of acknowledging God’s sovereignty, which will ultimately lead to us being filled with our “own devices” that will lead to death unless God brings us to repentance (Pro 14:12).

Pro 14:12  There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

These following translations render the end result of ‘the fruit of our own way, and our own devices’ and how they will ultimately lead to our old man’s demise, and great will be the fall thereof, killing us spiritually (Mat 7:26-27).

Pro 1:32 For the instability of the simple, it shall kill them(Pro 14:12), And the carelessness of the stupid, it shall destroy them(Pro 14:12). (CLV)
Pro 1:32 For the instability of the simple, it shall kill them(Pro 14:12), And the carelessness of the stupid, it shall destroy them(Pro 14:12). (ERV)

Mat 7:26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
Mat 7:27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

Pro 1:33  But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.

The last verse of this first chapter of proverbs is the title of the study and represents those who are blessed to read, hear and keep the saying of the prophecies of the entire bible (Rev 1:3). Salvation is a gift of God (Eph 2:8) and the fruit of that gift being given to God’s elect in this age is that we “shall be quiet from fear of evil” (Php 4:7).

Php 4:7  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

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