Today is April 5, 2011. Read Proverbs chapter 5, if you haven't already. Most chapters of the Proverbs are not as cohesive as this one. The entire chapter stems off of a single thought: being enticed by an adulteress (literally, "a strange woman" who is not your wife). The proverb starts out there, and then gives several sound reasons why you should not get involved with a "strange woman". I'll outline this one for you because it is all one thought.
I. Teacher implores students to listen to him - Proverbs 5:1-2, 7
II. Description of an adulterous woman - Proverbs 5:3-6
A. She's a smooth talker (Prov. 5:3)
B. She's a fraud and a backstabber (Prov. 5:4)
C. She's destined for Sheol (hell) (Prov. 5:5)
D. She doesn't think. She has no idea what she's doing, no direction to her life (Prov. 5:6)
III. Advice to stay away from an adulterous woman and always be satisfied with the wife of your youth - Proverbs 5:8, 15, 18-19
IV. Reasons to stay away from an adulterous woman - Proverbs 5:4-6, 9-11, 21-23
A. She's a backstabber (Prov. 5:4)
B. She's destined for Sheol (hell) (Prov. 5:5)
C. She doesn't think. She has no idea what she's doing, no direction to her life (Prov. 5:6)
D. The blessings that were meant for you will be given to others (this is a divine and natural judgment) (Prov. 5:9)
1. Your power and sway will be given to strangers (Prov. 5:10)
2. Your possessions will be given away to people you don't know or like (Prov. 5:10)
E. Your flesh and body will be consumed and you will suffer (this sounds an awful lot like an STD, they are not new on the scene) (Prov. 5:11)
F. You will regret it later (Prov. 5:12-14)
G. God is watching everything you do and will judge you accordingly (Prov. 5:21-23)
V. Reasons to be always satisfied with the wife of your youth - Proverbs 5:16-18, 21
A. How would you like it if your wife was out cheating on you? (Prov. 5:16)
B. You will keep all of your possessions and position (Prov. 5:16-17)
C. You will be blessed (Prov. 5:18)
D. God is watching everything you do and will judge you accordingly (Prov. 5:21-23)
That is the main idea of the chapter. This collection of proverbs was probably written all together, judging from the cohesion of its ideas. Although the chapter numbers were added later, to aid in memorization, the chapter breaks were not always arbitrary and this one holds together pretty well.
A couple things I wanted to point out (please read the chapter on your own):
Proverbs 5:11 seems to talk of STD's. These were no stranger to the ancient world. According to William H. McNeill in his excellent take on world history Plagues and Peoples, there are fairly well documented cases of diseases like AIDS and HIV, as well as Syphilis, Gonorrhea and others way back into ancient human history. The media hyped up the AIDS crisis in the 80's (and conveniently used it as a way to slam President Reagan) because we had an outbreak that is still rampant today. McNeill argues that these outbreaks have happened before. These are not new diseases, just recycled ones. The Bible clearly speaks in many places about debilitating, flesh-eating and even incurable diseases (Job 2:7-10, Psalm 38:7, Exodus 9:10, Leviticus 26:16, Deuteronomy 28:22, 27, 1 Samuel 5:6, 12, Isaiah 1:6, to name a few). In Proverbs 5:11, Solomon clearly pairs a flesh-eating disease that consumes with sleeping with an adulterous woman. I don't think this is a coincidence. The dude had 1,000 wives (1 Kings 11:1-3). I'm sure he knew a lot about this topic.
Proverbs 5:21-23 speak clearly about God's position in relation to us. Nothing you do is in secret. He watches everything you do. And this does not have to be a bad thing. My wife sees Psalm 139 as absolute comfort, although some (as I used to) might see this as stifling and claustrophobic, kind of sickening really, that God would micro-manage so much. The point is, though, that this is absolute love. He loves you this much. He wants to know everything about you. If you return this sentiment, you'll have no problem with God's omniscience (ability to know all things). If you are running from your Creator, this will cause you great distress. In most cases, only those who are guilty have a fear reaction to the police. If you have a cop on your tail and you are doing nothing wrong (once again, in most cases), there is no cause for worry. You may freak out a little though if you've got a corpse in the trunk (a skeleton in the closet, perhaps?), a sawed off shotgun on the passenger side floor, etc. Watch C.O.P.S. You'll get the idea. God is the perfect judge, and is perfectly righteous. There is no reason to fear His wrath if you are on His side.
What's this Proverb Of The Day thing anyway?
I. Teacher implores students to listen to him - Proverbs 5:1-2, 7
II. Description of an adulterous woman - Proverbs 5:3-6
A. She's a smooth talker (Prov. 5:3)
B. She's a fraud and a backstabber (Prov. 5:4)
C. She's destined for Sheol (hell) (Prov. 5:5)
D. She doesn't think. She has no idea what she's doing, no direction to her life (Prov. 5:6)
III. Advice to stay away from an adulterous woman and always be satisfied with the wife of your youth - Proverbs 5:8, 15, 18-19
IV. Reasons to stay away from an adulterous woman - Proverbs 5:4-6, 9-11, 21-23
A. She's a backstabber (Prov. 5:4)
B. She's destined for Sheol (hell) (Prov. 5:5)
C. She doesn't think. She has no idea what she's doing, no direction to her life (Prov. 5:6)
D. The blessings that were meant for you will be given to others (this is a divine and natural judgment) (Prov. 5:9)
1. Your power and sway will be given to strangers (Prov. 5:10)
2. Your possessions will be given away to people you don't know or like (Prov. 5:10)
E. Your flesh and body will be consumed and you will suffer (this sounds an awful lot like an STD, they are not new on the scene) (Prov. 5:11)
F. You will regret it later (Prov. 5:12-14)
G. God is watching everything you do and will judge you accordingly (Prov. 5:21-23)
V. Reasons to be always satisfied with the wife of your youth - Proverbs 5:16-18, 21
A. How would you like it if your wife was out cheating on you? (Prov. 5:16)
B. You will keep all of your possessions and position (Prov. 5:16-17)
C. You will be blessed (Prov. 5:18)
D. God is watching everything you do and will judge you accordingly (Prov. 5:21-23)
That is the main idea of the chapter. This collection of proverbs was probably written all together, judging from the cohesion of its ideas. Although the chapter numbers were added later, to aid in memorization, the chapter breaks were not always arbitrary and this one holds together pretty well.
A couple things I wanted to point out (please read the chapter on your own):
Proverbs 5:11 seems to talk of STD's. These were no stranger to the ancient world. According to William H. McNeill in his excellent take on world history Plagues and Peoples, there are fairly well documented cases of diseases like AIDS and HIV, as well as Syphilis, Gonorrhea and others way back into ancient human history. The media hyped up the AIDS crisis in the 80's (and conveniently used it as a way to slam President Reagan) because we had an outbreak that is still rampant today. McNeill argues that these outbreaks have happened before. These are not new diseases, just recycled ones. The Bible clearly speaks in many places about debilitating, flesh-eating and even incurable diseases (Job 2:7-10, Psalm 38:7, Exodus 9:10, Leviticus 26:16, Deuteronomy 28:22, 27, 1 Samuel 5:6, 12, Isaiah 1:6, to name a few). In Proverbs 5:11, Solomon clearly pairs a flesh-eating disease that consumes with sleeping with an adulterous woman. I don't think this is a coincidence. The dude had 1,000 wives (1 Kings 11:1-3). I'm sure he knew a lot about this topic.
Proverbs 5:21-23 speak clearly about God's position in relation to us. Nothing you do is in secret. He watches everything you do. And this does not have to be a bad thing. My wife sees Psalm 139 as absolute comfort, although some (as I used to) might see this as stifling and claustrophobic, kind of sickening really, that God would micro-manage so much. The point is, though, that this is absolute love. He loves you this much. He wants to know everything about you. If you return this sentiment, you'll have no problem with God's omniscience (ability to know all things). If you are running from your Creator, this will cause you great distress. In most cases, only those who are guilty have a fear reaction to the police. If you have a cop on your tail and you are doing nothing wrong (once again, in most cases), there is no cause for worry. You may freak out a little though if you've got a corpse in the trunk (a skeleton in the closet, perhaps?), a sawed off shotgun on the passenger side floor, etc. Watch C.O.P.S. You'll get the idea. God is the perfect judge, and is perfectly righteous. There is no reason to fear His wrath if you are on His side.
What's this Proverb Of The Day thing anyway?
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