Proverbs Chapters 6-7 - John Karmelich

1. I call this lesson, "Don't let this happen to you!" Let me quickly summarize the bible text of this lesson before whatever happens, happens to you. ☺

a) First, we are going have a bunch of verses saying in effect, "Don't be liable for a loan you shouldn't be liable for in the first place." (Chapter 6, Verses 1-5).

b) Then comes a bunch of verses saying in effect, don't be lazy. (Chapter 6, Verses 6-11).

c) Then comes some verses saying, "This is what an evil person is like". (Chap.6, Vs. 12-15).

d) Then comes a list of "seven things God hates". The interesting thing is murder is third. Pride is the first thing on the list! (Chapter 6, Verses 16-19).

e) The rest of Chapter 6 gets back to the adultery issue. Chapter 7 gives an illustration of a prostitute who "sets up" men. After he is allured in the trap, he is presumably robbed.

f) What does all of this have in common? Beat's me. ☺ (Just kidding!) What all of these verses have in common is about watching one's behavior in various situations.

2. It's best if we stop at this point and talk about where we are in Proverbs:

a) Chapters 1 through 9 are a set of do's and don'ts that revolve around the topic of wisdom. The idea of wisdom is the application of biblical laws and rules to one's life. These nine chapters are saying that to live a happy and fulfilled life, one needs to be wise.

b) One has to remember that much of the bible is one big instruction book on how to live. Ever notice that the bible has relatively little text about life in heaven? Most of the bible text is telling either the Israelites or Christians how we are to live right now. That's the idea. Most of the bible is text is teaching principals to live by in this lifetime.

c) Which brings us back to Proverbs: The first nine chapters are on the topic of wisdom. Every now and then Proverbs sort of yells out "Get wisdom! It's more important than money or fame or anything else in this life!" Proverbs Chapters 1-9 makes that statement every now and then and gives examples and illustrations to go with that principal.

i) When we get to Chapter 10, the topic doesn't change, but the writing style does. Chapter 10 begins a nineteen-chapter section where Proverbs is primarily two-line "sayings" designed to teach us about wisdom and how life works best.

d) With all of that said, we're still in the middle of this opening nine chapter section.

i) This chapter deals with co-signing on a loan (I'll explain that later); it deals with the danger of being lazy in life; it gives specific examples of things God hates; and finally tells the story of a woman who uses sexual appeal as a temptation to trap a man and presumably, steal his money.

ii) If you think about it, these are all negative examples of behavior to be avoided. That is why I call this lesson, "Don't let it happen to you!"

3. Let's quickly discuss the idea of "Behavior and Christians".

a) The idea of this chapter is live in a way that is pleasing to God. That involves behavior.

b) A false idea about Christianity is all I have to do is believe Jesus died for my sins, and then I can go live however I want. Some treat Christianity like it's a life insurance policy in which you make your payments and then not think about it very much! ☺

c) Since I'm a guy, let me explain this principal use a golf illustration: ☺

i) Suppose you and I are on the putting green. I'm 30 feet away. I brag to you that I'm positive I'm going to make this shot and have no doubt I'll miss it. If the other golfer is a typical guy, he will say, "OK, put your money where your mouth is!"

ii) In a strange way, that is what living the Christian life is all about. No, it's not about betting on golf. ☺ It's about being willing to "back-up" whatever we say or proclaim in church. If we say Jesus is Lord, then the word "Lord" means He is in charge of our lives. It means we obey what He commands us to do.

d) Doesn't Paul say in Ephesians 2:8-9 we are saved by faith alone? Yes. James also says (in Chapter 2) that if we are saved by faith, then ones "work" naturally follows. I compare it to breathing. If one takes in a lot of air, one just "naturally" lets it out. If one does call Jesus "Lord", one should behave in a manner that follows that belief. Getting back to the golf illustration, we are "putting our money (and our lives) where our mouths are!"

e) This leads us back to Proverbs: The first nine chapters are written in a style of a father talking to a son. That doesn't mean Proverbs is only for young men. It means we should take the advice of Proverbs the same way a good son listens to the advice of a good father.

f) These two chapters are full of "negative behaviors" we are to avoid. Part of living a life pleasing to God is not only doing what is right, but also learning to avoid what is wrong. We are going to get some specific examples in these two chapters.

g) With that said, let's get started and we'll tie it all together at the end of the lesson.

4. Verse 1: My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge for another, ² if you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth, ³ then do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor's hands :

a) Verse 1 through Verse 5 deal with the topic of being a "guarantor".

b) As the son of a bank president, I know this topic all to well. Let's say somebody wants a bank loan. Let's say the borrower is not credit-worthy to get that loan. Sometimes, a second person will also sign on the loan document. That second person is equally as liable for the loan payments as the first person.

i) In other words, if you are the second person signing that loan document, you have gone into partnership for that loan whether you realize it or not. What you have said in effect is, "I'll guarantee the first person makes his or her loan payments. If not, I'm going to make those payments myself.

c) What one has to understand is that this verse is not talking about signing a loan document for one's wife or say, one's children. The "loan partner" is described in these verses as a neighbor. The Hebrew word implies this neighbor is well, "flaky" for a lack of a better word. The idea is this borrower isn't credit worthy and we can't make the person a better person by signing on the loan documents.

d) The important thing these verses are warning against is getting into partnerships with people who one shouldn't be in partnerships in the first place. Getting back to the banking business, the term used is a "cosigner", as the second person is signing the loan document as a guarantee for the first person.

i) There is a Jewish term for a cosigner that I can't resist sharing: A cosigner is, "A schmuck with a pen". (A "schmuck" is someone who does something stupid.)

e) I was thinking about this sentence in context of Proverbs. Why now bring up this issue?

i) Let me put it this way: Here we are in Chapters 1 through 9, talking about the importance of making good godly decisions in life. The previous chapter dealt with adultery. That's an important topic as two of the 10 commandments deal with the topic of adultery.

ii) You would think the next issue in Proverbs would be another "biggie". Maybe the next topic would be on the danger of killing someone or the danger of stealing or maybe bearing false witness. Instead, we get a relatively trivial thing like cosigning on a loan document. Back to the question: Why have this issue now?

iii) First, while they didn't have formal loan documents like bankers today, it was a common practice at that time to "guarantee" payments on a loan.

iv) The answer to the question of "why bring up this issue" is to understand the important issue at hand: Getting involved with people we shouldn't be involved with in the first place". This part of Proverbs is teaching is about bad business relationships and the danger of forming bad "any type" of relationships!

f) Paul said that Christians should not be "yoked" with nonbelievers. (See 2nd Cor. 6:14). The idea of a yoke is a harness that connects an animal with another animal. People assume Paul was only talking about marriage (i.e., Christians should only marry Christians.) The point is that topic is broader than just marriage. The idea is Christians should not be partners with nonbelievers.

i) Getting back to Proverbs, the topic avoiding partnerships with someone we should not be partners with in the first place. The bible text says nothing about whether or not the neighbor is a God-fearing person. We have to make the discernment ourselves whether or not to partner with that person. The idea of this verse is when in doubt, don't make the commitment in the first place.

g) What about the command to "Love Your Neighbor as Yourself"? (Ref.: Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 19:19b). Jesus said in effect this is one of the two greatest commandments. (Ref.: Matthew 22:39). The question is, if we love our neighbor, shouldn't we help them in their hour of need? If they are asking us to cosign a document, shouldn't we help them?

i) Here is where one has to balance one bible verse with another. Most people have to learn the hard way that we can't fix people's bad habits with money.

ii) Let me give an illustration: Suppose someone had a drug problem and you were trying to help them out by cosigning to buy a new house. They end up using what money they made to buy more drugs instead of making the house payments. You are now stuck making those payments. We are not helping them in this situation by buying them a new house.

iii) Let's suppose that same person claimed, "They are now born again" and ask you to help them financially. A good "balance in life" might be to give them a small amount of money and see if they use it wisely. The mistake as it applies to this chapter of Proverbs is to give them all one's money just because they now claim they found God. The idea is to test them and work with them a little before becoming partners with them.

h) Remember that this whole section of Proverbs is written like a father to a son. The son is young and is naive in his knowledge of right and wrong. Along comes a "neighbor" who says to the son, "Hey buddy, I have a great business proposal for you in which we can both make lots of money!" The idea is not to trust that person until they can prove themselves trustworthy. Don't cosign the loan! (That is, partner with them!).

i) In these situations, if a person is "so" trustworthy, why does the person making the loan want to have a second person also sign the loan documents?

i) The reason these verses are here in Chapter 6 is God is teaching us the importance of making good decisions of who we choose as friends and business partners. While cosigning a loan appears to be a trivial thing in comparison to say, adultery or murder, the idea is God is teaching us the wisdom of choosing the right people to be with in life.

i) The reason these verses are so prominent is to teach us to have wisdom in choosing our friends. Do you know the expression, "You are what you eat?" That also applies in friendship. We become like the people we hang out with! This is especially true for young people.

5. Verse 3: (cont.) Go and humble yourself; press your plea with your neighbor! ⁴ Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids. ⁵ Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.

a) The rest of Verse 3 through Verse 5 talk about what to do once one does "cosign" and one is stuck in that situation. The short answer is "Do anything and everything you can to get out of the loan, short of killing the guy!" ☺ Beg the "neighbor" to the point of being obnoxious about it to get out of the situation.

b) The idea of these verses is to ask to beg and plead to get out the commitment. Obviously, when the "deal" falls apart, the partner is very unlikely to let you out of the deal.

c) Remember the word being used here is "neighbor". We're not talking about one's wife or one's children. The situation is more of a business relationship. The underlying message is the importance of choosing good friends in life.

d) Let's suppose one made a commitment and one is now stuck. What should one do at this point? I'll argue there is nothing left but suffer the financial consequences. Another verse to be balanced with this verse is "let your yes be yes and your no be no". (Matthew 5:37). The idea is once one has made a commitment and the partner won't let you out, one is stuck in that commitment.

i) Let's suppose we made a loan commitment and then "just walk away" because the deal went bad. The problem is we are committing a greater sin by not sticking to our commitment.

ii) Let me put it another way: If we can't be trusted to keep our word in a business deal, how can we be trusted if we tell other people about God? If we have the reputation of being "flaky" in our words and deeds, will anyone ever trust us when we share with them the Good News about Jesus?

e) Now let's get back to Paul's issue of being "equally yoked" with nonbelievers.

i) Let's say one is in a marriage with a nonbeliever and now we want out. Paul says we are to stick to that commitment to hopefully win over our spouse to Christ. Paul talks about this topic in 1st Corinthians Chapter 7. An underlying point of that chapter is, "if we're stuck, we're stuck". We can't just leave our spouse just because you and I are believers and our spouse is not. Again, we are back to the idea of keeping a commitment. God wants us to have the reputation of sticking to our commitments even when they go bad.

ii) Remember the last topic in Proverbs (Chapter 5) was about adultery. Adultery is cheating on one's previous commitment. Here, we are talking about avoiding bad commitments in business and sticking to those commitments once we have made them. In that sense, this topic of "cosigning" is a natural progression from the previous topic.

6. Verse 6: Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! ⁷ It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, ⁸ yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. ⁹ How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? ¹⁰ A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest-- ¹¹ and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.

a) Beginning in Verse 6, we change topics. The new topic at hand is laziness. These verses say in effect, "Son, study ants sometimes. They are small creatures, but work hard. Be like them in that they are diligent. If you are a lazy person, you'll end up poor."

b) One of the themes of Proverbs so far is that if one follows godly advice, one will live a happy and successful life. Again, it is not a guarantee of how much money one makes or how long one lives. It is a guarantee that one will live a satisfying life and one will make a difference for God in this world. With that said, plain old "hard work" is involved. One cannot be lazy and expect to live a life pleasing to God.

i) Let's put it this way: Does being a Christian mean angels come to our house, get us dressed and spoon feed us our meals? Of course not. One has to get out and work to make living to support oneself and one's dependants.

ii) Let me "modernize" these verses, "Son, you can't sit around all day lying on the couch playing video games. I don't have a problem with you taking a break, but you have nothing to take a break from! I'm not going to financially support a lazy son. Maybe its time you got your own place. See if you're new landlord will let you play video games in order to pay the rent!" ☺

c) The underlying message is not only for the son to avoid laziness. It is also for the father to not put up with it either. We are not helping our children by enabling laziness.

d) Let's get back to the theme of this lesson, "Don't let this happen to you!"

i) Remember the previous chapter (Chapter 5) dealt with the danger of adultery.

ii) We just talked about the danger of being partners with a "flaky" person.

iii) Now we are talking about the danger of laziness.

iv) I don't have a problem with most forms of recreation as time to unwind. The question of any hobby becomes, "Do you control it, or does it control you? If God asked you to give up that hobby tomorrow, could you do it?

v) The older I get, the more I realize the most valuable asset I have is time. This is the most precious commodity we own. The older I get, the more I realize the danger of wasting time. Does this mean I never watch television? No. It does mean that I want to use what precious time I have to make a difference for God in this world.

vi) The main point of these verses, using the illustrations of a diligent ant and a lazy sluggard, is the importance of having the self-discipline to use one's time wisely and use it for God.

e) I thought of these verses another way: When God punished Adam and Eve, part of Adam's punishment was he had to "work the ground". (Genesis 3:17-19). It is God's intent for men to work hard in life and not by lazy.

f) Here's another guilt-ridden exercise: ☺ If you knew today was your last day on earth, would you live it differently? Would you spend a lot of time in front of the television? Remember the only thing we are going to take with us into the next life is relationships. I'm convinced God let's us keep some or all of our memories into the next life. The key is to develop healthy relationships in this lifetime so we can carry them in the next one.

i) God put us on this world to make a difference for Him. That requires the diligence and the discipline to follow through with what He commands us to do.

7. Verse 12: A scoundrel and villain, who goes about with a corrupt mouth, ¹³ who winks with his eye, signals with his feet and motions with his fingers, ¹⁴ who plots evil with deceit in his heart-- he always stirs up dissension. ¹⁵ Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant; he will suddenly be destroyed--without remedy.

a) Remember the theme of this section is, "Don't let this happen to you!"

i) We started off with the danger of going into bad partnerships. (Verses 1-5).

ii) We talked about the danger of laziness. (Verses 6-11).

iii) The next four verses are talking about the danger of evil people.

iv) In these four verses, it is describing an evil person, who in the end will die suddenly. The implication is they go hell. The context of these verses is to teach us how to recognize such a person so we can avoid them.

b) Let's talk about "winks with his eyes, signals with his feet". The idea is this villain is talking to his victim, but the villain is giving a secret signal to his partner, to say mug him at just the right time. It would be like a villain saying, "When I move my foot to the left for no apparent reason, that is when I want you to strike the victim on the head from behind". The point is we can recognize this evil person because they have the habit of using secret signs in order to accomplish their goal.

i) These verses have to do with choosing who our "friends" are. A sign that we have chosen the wrong friend is that use coded messages to commit sins.

c) An underlying point is we are to judge behavior. To choose friends, we are to watch people's behavior. Yes, it's ok to start with someone, and then choose to walk away from that friendship because of that person's bad behavior. Remember the previous verses were about avoiding partnerships with bad people. These verses are implying we are to avoid even being around such people.

d) Verse 15 says such people will suffer disaster when they least expect it. It means they could get caught and go to jail at any moment. Their "victims" could kill them in self-defense. An unrepentant person like this could die or go to jail at any time.

8. Verse 16: There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: ¹⁷ haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, ¹⁸ a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, ¹⁹ a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.

a) Verses 17 through 19 give a list of seven "bad things" that God hates. Remember my theme for this chapter is about avoiding bad behavior. Here in these verses, we have a list of seven specific things. Obviously, this is not a complete list. It is a specific list designed to make a specific point, which I'll get to in a moment.

b) First, I want to talk about a style of "Hebrew Poetry". Every now and then in the Old Testament one will read a poetic style where it says in effect, "I have a list of six things. No wait, make that seven things on my list". The writer is not saying, "Oh, I forgot something". It is just a poetic writing style of saying in effect, "Here is a list, and now, let me make it complete!"

c) The number "seven" in the bible is associated with completeness, as God rested on the seventh day from creating the world. The idea of a "seventh thing" added to the list means the list itself is now complete. Again, this list is not a complete list of all possible sins, it is complete in that this is "all" the writer wants to say at this point in time.

d) OK, on to the list of the "sinful seven": ☺ The first on the list is "haughty eyes".

i) This is a more literal translation of the Hebrew. The idea is one has a proud look. The idea is one's eyes give off a "holier than thou" look to other people.

ii) Pride is all about putting one's one will above God's will. It is about willfully doing something that is not pleasing to God. It is about gratifying one's ego.

iii) There is a view that pride is the root of sin. It starts with an internal desire to sin, and then we act on that desire. If one can deal with the internal desire, one cannot sin. Christianity teaches the importance of "taking thoughts captive" (See 2nd Corinthians 10:5) and not act upon them. The idea is when we have such thoughts, we "give them to God" as opposed to acting upon them.

e) The second item on the list is a "lying tongue". This is a violation of one of the 10 Commandments to not bear false witness. (Ref.: Exodus 20:16).

i) Why is lying listed second? Among this list of things God hates, there is no mention of say, stealing or idolatry. Why is lying singled out second on this list?

ii) One reason is that lying is more common than theft and idolatry! I would argue that almost everyone lies at sometimes. One of the keys to living a life pleasing to God is to be known as having a truthful reputation.

iii) The key is to put this in context: The subject is to teach us how to have wisdom as we go through life. The first thing that usually causes us to turn from God is "pride". The idea is our ego gets in the way of God's will. The second most common thing is to lie in some situation. Lying is often our "mouth" following through on some sinful desire of our heart.

f) The third item on the list is "shedding innocent blood". This is murder. This is a sin we expect to be on the list.

i) Again, the key is to see this in context. This list is not designed to be a complete list of all things God hates. The second on the list was lying. The third one here is murder.