Proverbs Chapter10 John Karmelich

1. Well, we finally made to the proverbs of Proverbs. ☺

a) Remember what a "proverb" is: A biblical proverb is a two-part "saying". It is short so it is easy to remember. It is designed to teach us something about biblical wisdom.

b) The biblical proverbs are two thoughts where the first thought connects to the second thought. For example, it may say something in effect of, "A good guy does this, but a bad guy does that". Sometimes it is "A good guy does this, and here is what else happens to that good guy". The point is each of the two thoughts connects to the other thought.

c) If half of a two-line Proverb is confusing, study the other half. Since they are designed to be connected, one thought can help you understand what the other thought means.

2. I call this lesson, "behavior matters". The idea is we are to judge other's behavior and take inventory of our own behavior as we go through our lives. Often our behavior stems from some internal issue. For example, if we're angry, we may express it on the next person we meet. Our behavior is often reflective of our emotions. The goal of Christians is to be effective witnesses for God. To be such a witness, our behavior does matter. Therefore, we often have to look inside of us to deal with our "output". Most of these proverbs deal with behavior to model or avoid.

a) Remember wisdom is the application of biblical knowledge. It is God saying in effect, "You want to live a happy life that is pleasing to Me? Terrific, model this behavior". Proverbs is God's way of saying "This is the way life is supposed to work. Deal with it!"

3. Let's do a quick overview of the whole Book of Proverbs. Chapter 10 begins a major new section.

a) Chapters 1 through 9 have a style that is a combination of narration and poetry. Those nine chapters are a continuous narrative on the benefits of wisdom.

b) From Chapter 10 through Chapter 29 we have a new narrative style: None. ☺ What I mean by that is other than the general topic of wisdom, each chapter does not have an overriding special topic. All of these chapters are simply one big discussion of wisdom.

c) Chapters 10 through 24 are proverbs by King Solomon. Chapters 25 through 29 are other proverbs written by Solomon but were not added to this collection until centuries later.

i) The final chapters, (30-31) are written by other authors and added to this book.

d) What we get in Chapters 10-29 is a collection of two line proverbs. The thought of the first line is somehow connected to the second thought. Sometimes the two lines compare similar themes and sometimes they contrast each other.

e) What is hard to do is summarize these chapters. There does not appear to be any particular organizational effort. The chapter breaks don't help either. The chapter breaks were added in the 12th Century AD. It as if somebody decided, "OK, about thirty proverbs is enough for one chapter, let's put a chapter break right here." ☺

f) Again, if a particular proverb is confusing, sometimes reading it in context of the previous and next proverb often helps. Even though each proverb is a two-line saying, the context of a proverb with the surrounding proverb often helps to explain the meaning. There is some organizational structure as often groups of proverbs are together in a cluster.

4. I want you to notice this chapter starts off in comparison to the way Chapter 1 starts off:

a) Chapter 1, Verse 1: "The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel".

b) Chapter 10, Verse 1a: " The proverbs of Solomon".

c) Chapter 10, Verse 1 essentially repeats Chapter 1 Verse 1. Chapters 1 through 9 are written as a dialogue from a father to a son. That is why King Solomon mentions his father David. It is as if Solomon is giving David much of the credit for the inspiration behind those first nine chapters.

d) From Chapters 10 through 29, it's "pure Solomon". It's his stuff. The only key difference is in Chapters 26 through 29, we had some other Proverb-writings that were never combined with Solomon's original "intended collection" of Chapters 10 through 25.

5. Chapter 10, Verse 1: The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother.

a) The basic idea of this verse is that if you live a life pleasing to your parents, you will make your parents happy. If you don't, you will cause them grief.

b) Just about all parents want to see their kids live out a happy and productive life. If a son or daughter turns to say, a life of crime, it becomes a grief and a source of disappointment to the parents. If a child goes bad all parents naturally think, "I must have done something wrong raising them. Look at the way they turned out". (The older I get, the more I'm convinced a good part of raising one's children is based on upbringing, but there is still some aspect of plain "random luck", for a lack of a better word. In other words, some people turn out really well despite a horrible upbringing and vice-versa.)

c) I thought about something else about this verse: Why put it first?

i) This verse essentially says, "live a good life, and it will make your parents happy". You would think the first proverb would be about obeying God or maybe about not killing too many people. ☺ Why have this proverb first?

ii) What occurred to me is this verse is a great transition from the previous section.

iii) The last nine chapters were written in the form of a dialogue between a father and a son with the main point being "get wisdom". So here we are in the first verse of the next chapter, and the first proverb is on making one's parents happy. In that context, the verse makes perfect sense.

iv) The other thing that occurred to me is that at any one time, society is always one generation away from messing up real bad. All it takes is one generation failing to teach good biblical values to the next generation, and society falls apart. Reading the Old Testament, the history of Israel had its difficulties due to such a failure. God had to send prophets if for no other reason, parents failed to pass on their religious traditions and teachings to the next generation.

d) The last thing to say on this, which is obvious to most adults, is children watch what their parents do far more than what they say. Children eventually think, "If this is not that important to my parents, why should I take it seriously?" This ties directly to Verse 1. If one wants to have a child that is pleasing to God, the parents have to "walk the walk". It doesn't mean the parents have to be perfect. It is essential to apologize to the children when you mess up. Even young children know the difference between parents who mess up but still want to do the right thing, and those who don't care at all when it comes to the issue of being pleasing to God.

6. Verse 2: Ill-gotten treasures are of no value, but righteousness delivers from death.

a) We move from parent-to-children advice to dealing with money.

b) Let's take the second half of the verse by itself: "Righteousness delivers from death".

i) It's better to think of this Proverbs another way: Can one have long-term happiness from living a life of crime? There can be short-term material benefits, but in the end, the guilt eats one up or one is caught.

ii) The idea of "righteousness delivers from death" does deal with eternal salvation. Let's face it, if one is not sinning, one is heading in the right direction. ☺ I think this verse is more than that. It is about how to live a happy life.

c) Let's face it; if you do steal something and "get away with it", one can spend the money for a while. Most people eventually are caught, but some do get away with it. The underlying point is mainly about how to live a happy life.

d) Now let's look at the first part: "Ill-gotten treasures are of no value".

i) This is true in the sense of salvation. One cannot buy their way into heaven.

ii) I'll also argue that ill-gotten treasures do not bring satisfaction as well. Again, God designed us with an internal sense of right from wrong. One cannot satisfy a guilty conscious with material benefits.

e) Most of us know, or know of people who appear to be getting away with something for the sake of growing rich. The only way I can sleep at night about this issue is to accept the fact there is a God, and He is fair. If this world was all there is to life, it would not be fair. One has to take comfort in the fact that eternity is a lot longer than this lifetime. God is a god of judgment as well as a god of love.

7. Verse 3: The LORD does not let the righteous go hungry but he thwarts the craving of the wicked.

a) One can read this verse and think, "Does this mean all I have to do is be born-again and I'll never starve to death? Woo hoo! Time to quit my job, God is going to feed me!" ☺

i) There have been Christian martyrs who have died in jail of malnutrition. I don't believe that is what the verse is talking about.

ii) Look at the King James Version of this verse: "The LORD will not allow the righteous soul to famish". The key word is soul. God does not let our soul famish. The verse does not say anything about our stomach.

iii) Even here in the NIV version, one can see a hint that this verse is talking about spiritual nourishment and not food nourishment. Remember if the first half of the verse is confusing, look at the second half. The second half says "craving of the wicked". I don't think the wicked are craving about raiding a refrigerator! ☺

b) This verse is a promise that if we seek God, He will satisfy our soul. What does that mean? It means God promises us comfort despite whatever our situation.

i) Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." (Matthew 11:28-29 NIV)

ii) I am convinced Jesus is talking about the same thing as this verse in Proverbs. It does not mean that if we are in physical pain, that pain will immediately go away. It means we can have comfort through whatever is the situation of the moment.

iii) Let me give a prayer example of this situation: "Lord, right now I am in a lot of pain. It really hurts and I need Your help. I don't know how long this is going to last, but You do. You promised Me this would not last forever and I trust in that promise. Help Me to learn what You want Me to learn from this situation. Grant me Your peace through this process and help me to focus on You to give me strength, Amen.

a) It is through that type of prayer that God gives us comfort in bad situation.

c) Jesus also said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. (Matthew 5:3 NIV). That is a similar idea to "not let the righteous go hungry". The idea is that if we have a "hunger" to live a life pleasing to God, He (God) in turn, satisfies that "hunger". There is a sense of satisfaction and joy that comes with obedience to God. That is the idea being portrayed in these verses.

d) Let me talk about physical hunger and the phrase, "The LORD does not let the righteous go hungry". David once wrote, "I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread." (Psalm 37:25 NIV). That verse in the Psalm does imply that God does feed those who seek Him.

i) Again, there have been Christian martyrs who have died of starvation. With that exception stated, I will argue the principal is generally true that one can count on God to feed those in need. Through the years, I have heard some tremendous miracles of people who have sought God and have been financially "down to nothing" and somehow, God got them through that situation and fed them.

e) The second half of this Proverb says, "thwarts the craving of the wicked". The idea is that God will not let the wicked get away with it forever. Sooner or later, the wicked either goes to jail or dies. One can take comfort in this half of the verse. When somebody appears to be "getting away with it" for awhile, one can take comfort it's not for forever.

8. Verse 4: Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.

a) Every now and then Proverbs gives a truth about "how life works".

i) People who are financially successful in life work hard it at. As my father used to tell me, "If getting rich was easy, everyone would do it."

b) This is a proverb that is self-evident. The question becomes why is this proverb here? What is Solomon's point other than success requires hard work?

i) First, it is a warning against laziness. Yes, it applies to the business world, but the theme of Proverbs has to do with wisdom.

ii) I'll argue the underlying point has to do with seeking God. To put it another way, you can't learn the bible by sleeping with the book on top of your head, hoping the words literally sink into the brain. One has to have the diligence to study it.

iii) To live a life pleasing to God requires effort and plain old hard work. One has to make an effort to study. One has to make an effort to pray. One has to make an effort to help others.

iv) My point is this verse is about "bringing wealth". Yes, the principal applies to the business world, but it also applies to our relationship with God. The "long term wealth" we gain is by living a life pleasing to God.

c) I can just hear people saying, "I've been busting my tail all of my life and I still don't have wealth. Where is my share of this proverb?" Think of it this way, if being a born again Christian is a guarantee of financial prosperity, people would convert for the material benefits and not for the need to be forgiven of one's sins. My point is being a Christian and even "working hard" is not a guarantee of financial success. That's why this verse is not talking about "work hard and one will be financially more successful than one's neighbor". It is talking about reaping spiritual blessings that last for an eternity.

9. Verse 5: He who gathers crops in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.

a) One has to remember that when Proverbs was written, society was primarily farming. When it came time to gather the crops, there was usually a short window of time before the crops would go bad. Every person in sight was needed to gather the crops. With that said, this verse is saying in effect, "A son who works hard during the harvest time makes the father happy. If the son is lazy during this time, the father will think the son is a worthless bum, and the father will be right!"

b) In other words, how do you know if a person is lazy? Watch their actions when it counts!

c) Remember one of the Ten Commandments is to "Honor one's father and mother". (Exodus 20:12). Therefore, if one is a farmer and dad runs the farm, would be a sin not to help out when one's father needs one's help.

d) Let's also talk about this from another perspective. The first part of this verse says, "He who gathers crops in the summer is a wise son". This verse is talking about farming, but the word-picture is much bigger than that. The idea is to take the opportunities when they come. To quote the Living Bible here, "A wise son makes hay when the sun shines!"

i) Need an example as it applies to our faith? Let's say you know someone who needs help. This verse is saying in effect, "Offer your help when the opportunity arises!" (The corollary is don't force yourself on this person, but offer help.)

ii) Remember the most valuable commodity one has is their time. A point of this verse is not to waste that time when opportunities arise.

10. Verse 6: Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.

a) Let's suppose one is trying their best to live a life pleasing to God. Yes, we mess up, but when we do, we confess that sin and move on. We set goals for ourselves higher than our actions, but generally we live our life trying to please God. One can ponder, "Where is my blessing? I don't feel any crown on my head? Where is my reward?"

i) My point here is that rewards don't necessarily come in this lifetime. Jesus said about His second coming, "Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done." (Revelation 22:12 NIV)

b) The second part of this Proverb says, "Violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked".

i) The point here is to compare and contrast the first and second part of Verse 6.

ii) So what does "violence overwhelm the mouth of the wicked mean? Does it mean God punches them in the mouth every time that evil person sins? No, but I'm guessing might help. ☺ The general idea is that if one goes down the wrong path in life, eventually, one ends up either in jail or dead. At the least, that person is sent to hell for judgment. In that sense, it is like a "punch in the mouth".

iii) Again, it is best to see these two as a contrast: If the righteous person has this "invisible crown" on their head (in the sense that the saved will be rewarded for their efforts), so the wicked have this "invisible punch in the mouth" coming their way for their actions.

11. Verse 7: The memory of the righteous will be a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.

a) Remember much of Proverbs is about "This is the way life works". That is true for this proverb as well. If a person has a good reputation, that reputation will continue after they die, and if a person has a bad reputation, it will continue after they die.

b) A point of this verse is one's reputation lasts longer than one's lifetime. If one cares about one's legacy, one should strive to have a good reputation.

c) The underlying tone of this verse has to do with salvation and condemnation as well.

d) Let's pause from a verse-by-verse study for a moment and take all of this in: What is the big-picture being presented here?

i) Verse 1 dealt with passing on wisdom from father to son.

ii) Verse 2 is about not wasting time on "ill gotten treasures.

iii) Verse 3 is a promise that God satisfies the soul of the righteous.

iv) Verse 4 is about the importance of diligence in being wise.

v) Verse 5 is also about diligence in wisdom. It was about working at harvest time.

vi) Verse 6 is the promise about blessings on the head of the righteous.

vii) Verse 7 here says the memory of the righteous will be blessed.

e) What does all of this have in common? It is about motivating us to have wisdom. The underlying message is God is trying to motivate us with both positive and negative illustrations on the importance of seeking Him. The basic idea is if we seek Him we have wonderful eternal rewards in heaven and if we don't we suffer in hell. (Yes, there is more to the salvation message, but that's not my point here.)

f) These verses are God saying in effect, "I know living a life for Me (God) is difficult at times. It is easy to want to quit at times and walk away. I (God) am trying to teach you that it is worth it. You'll appreciate life more if you will follow these guidelines and it will affect your life after you die!" Like I said in the lesson title, our behavior matters!

12. Verse 8: The wise in heart accept commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruin.

a) This verse is more fundamental. It is saying in order to act in a way that is pleasing to God, first we have to be teachable in the first place. If a person is not teachable, their life will eventually come to ruin.

b) Remember the definition of a biblical "fool" is one who doesn't care about being accountable to God and doesn't care if they sin or not. Whether that fool realizes it or not, their lives will eventually come to ruin. It may be financial ruin, social ruin or an eternal condemnation in hell. Remember Proverbs is about "this is the way life works". Just because one doesn't want to play by the rules, doesn't mean they can avoid the consequences of disobeying those rules.

13. Verse 9: The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out.

a) To paraphrase this verse, "If somebody doesn't have a guilty conscious, they have nothing to worry about. If someone goes down the wrong path in life, you can bank on the fact that sooner or later, word will get out about them."

b) Remember the motivation for these verses: To get us to act in a way that is pleasing to God. If it doesn't motivate us to have a clear conscious, then the motivation of knowing we will be caught eventually should motivate us to do the right thing.

i) I have heard from policemen that some criminals are actually grateful when they are caught. The guilt was eating up the criminals and there is a sense of relief when they actually get caught.

ii) The motivation of this verse is to understand that guilt is a powerful force. It is to be avoided. That is why confession is so important. We carry around guilt because we think we should have done better. Our big egos won't let us forgive ourselves because we mistakenly think we should have been better than that.

iii) God wants us to have a personal relationship with Him. Guilt over some issue blocks that relationship. That is why confession is so essential. Getting back to the verse, living a life pleasing to God alleviates that guilt. One can walk securely not be being perfect, but by accepting God's forgiveness for our lives.

c) As to "he who takes the crooked paths will be found out", take comfort in that fact. This world has a lot of injustice and many innocent people who get hurt. Again, if there was no God, I couldn't handle all the pain this world happens. One has to have faith that a god will "right the wrongs" of the world, if for no other selfish reason, than to have peace in our hearts and not let that anger block our relationship with God.

i) The corollary of this verse is not to be passive about the sin caused by others. Society is not to say to the criminal, "Oh well, God will punish you, we'll just let you go." There are times to get involved for justice sake. It is unloving to the victim if we don't get involved in punishing those who have done the crime.

14. Verse 10: He who winks maliciously causes grief, and a chattering fool comes to ruin.

a) So far in Proverbs we've had pairs of good and bad people. So far, it is always, "the good person acts this way and the bad person acts that way". It is so we can recognize both types of behavior and know the final outcome of each type. Here in Verse 10, we have two "bad types" in the same verse. My point is not every Proverb will be a contrast of good and bad people.

b) My final point in Verse 9 was about not being passive when others sin. That in a sense is the same thing being said in the first part of Verse 10. The idea of "winks maliciously" is one who "winks" at sin when it occurs as if they concur or don't care.

c) A point is we as a society are to step in and not allow sin (i.e., crime) to occur. It doesn't mean the world is to live by biblical standards, only those laws that are on the books.

i) As for Christians, should we be the sin police in church? Matthew 18 lays out a model of how to approach sin. Essentially, we confront people one on one. If they don't repent, we come back with witnesses, so it is not one person's word against the other. The final act is ex-communication from the church group until that person is willing to confess that sin is wrong.

ii) Gee John, that's great. What does this have to do with Verse 10? ☺ The point of Verse 10 is those who "wink" at sin, causes grief to the world around them. They are subtlety giving their approval to that sin.

d) The second part of this verse is a "chattering fool". Remember a fool is someone who lives their life in the sense they don't care if they are accountable to God. The idea of chattering fool (or "prating fool" KJV) is simply the idea that again, this person doesn't care about the consequences of sin.

e) Putting both halves of the proverb together, we have two examples of a person who doesn't care about the sins of the world that exist around them. The ultimate point is that in either case, it causes grief to others around them and that type of person will suffer in the end for their actions and lack of actions.

15. Verse 11: The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.

a) Notice the word "mouth" is used twice:

i) The "good mouth" is a fountain of life in the first half of the verse.

ii) The "bad mouth" suffers from violence in the second half of the verse.

iii) This does not mean that Christians only speak beautiful things and God punches wicked people in the mouth. ☺ A better way of looking at this verse is we can judge people's behavior by what comes out of their mouth.

b) Jesus had a similar thought: "But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. (Matthew 15:18,19 NIV)

i) The point is what comes out of the heart (i.e., our thoughts, our inner most "being") is expressed by what we say and what we do.

c) I'll also add that it never ceases to amaze me what I'll say in a situation after I have just prayed about it. The Holy Spirit can "do wonders" when we let Him take over.

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