#910 Proverbs 6 Smarter Insects

My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor,

have given your pledge for a stranger,

2 if you are snared in the words of your mouth,

caught in the words of your mouth,

3 then do this, my son, and save yourself,

for you have come into the hand of your neighbor:

go, hasten, and plead urgently with your neighbor.

4 Give your eyes no sleep

and your eyelids no slumber;

5 save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,

like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

6 Go to the ant, O sluggard;

consider her ways, and be wise.

7 Without having any chief,

officer, or ruler,

8 she prepares her bread in summer

and gathers her food in harvest.

9 How long will you lie there, O sluggard?

When will you arise from your sleep?

10 A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the hands to rest,

11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber,

and want like an armed man.

12 A worthless person, a wicked man,

goes about with crooked speech,

13 winks with his eyes, signals with his feet,

points with his finger,

14 with perverted heart devises evil,

continually sowing discord;

15 therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;

in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.

16 There are six things that the Lord hates,

seven that are an abomination to him:

17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue,

and hands that shed innocent blood,

18 a heart that devises wicked plans,

feet that make haste to run to evil,

19 a false witness who breathes out lies,

and one who sows discord among brothers.

Warnings Against Adultery

20 My son, keep your father's commandment,

and forsake not your mother's teaching.

21 Bind them on your heart always;

tie them around your neck.

22 When you walk, they will lead you;

when you lie down, they will watch over you;

and when you awake, they will talk with you.

23 For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light,

and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,

24 to preserve you from the evil woman,

from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.

25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart,

and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes;

26 for the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread,

but a married woman hunts down a precious life.

27 Can a man carry fire next to his chest

and his clothes not be burned?

28 Or can one walk on hot coals

and his feet not be scorched?

29 So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife;

none who touches her will go unpunished.

30 People do not despise a thief if he steals

to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry,

31 but if he is caught, he will pay sevenfold;

he will give all the goods of his house.

32 He who commits adultery lacks sense;

he who does it destroys himself.

33 He will get wounds and dishonor,

and his disgrace will not be wiped away.

34 For jealousy makes a man furious,

and he will not spare when he takes revenge.

35 He will accept no compensation;

he will refuse though you multiply gifts. Proverbs 6 ESV

Proverbs 6

My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor - We should not be quick to give our names  for another just as we should not be quick to lay on hands. It is not wrong to lend to those who would borrow from us, but we must be good stewards of what God has placed in our care. We must take into account their character, their work ethic, integrity. At work, I cannot say, "do what you want, money is no object", there needs to be a budget, a plan, expectations. I need to insure that my employer is getting the most for his dollar. This should greatly apply to those that govern as well.

This wasn’t really like loaning someone money, nor exactly like cosigning a loan. In modern financial terms, it was more like guaranteeing someone’s open line of credit. “The New Testament shows us Paul accepting Onesimus’s past liabilities, but not his future ones (Philemon 18, 19).” (Kidner)

Caught in the words of your mouth - You have pledged yourself. We take words lightly, but God does not, and everything He has said will come to pass, but you do not know for certain what tomorrow may bring. Be careful what you say.

…21 If you make a vow to the LORD your God, do not be slow to keep it, because He will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin. 22 But if you refrain from making a vow, you will not be guilty of sin. 23 Be careful to follow through on what comes from your lips, because you have freely vowed to the LORD your God with your own mouth.… Deuteronomy 23: 21-23

…11 See how blessed we consider those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen the outcome from the Lord. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. 12 Above all, my brothers, do not swear, not by heaven or earth or by any other oath. Simply let your “Yes” be yes, and your “No,” no, so that you will not fall under judgment. 13 Is any one of you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises.… James 5: 11-13

Go, hasten, and plead urgently with your neighbor - Humble yourself. This reminds me of the covenant of the law, where the people agreed to do all that it said so they could live. 10 steps, it seemed simple enough, but the law really only revealed man's inability. The humble rejoice over the new covenant, Christ becomes their surety. I cannot trust in my own merit for tomorrow, for my righteousness is as filthy rags and another man's the same. Christ is the only way.

…31 Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt— a covenant they broke, though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. 33“But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people.…

…34 No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.” 35 Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day and orders the moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the LORD of Hosts is His name: 36“Only if this fixed order departed from My presence, declares the LORD, would Israel’s descendants ever cease to be a nation before Me.”… Jeremiah 31: 31-36

Give your eyes no sleep - This is nothing to sleep on, for you cannot guarantee that you will wake on the morrow. It's urgent, procrastination on this is a snare, a trap, death.

…14 We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly to the end the assurance we had at first. 15 As it has been said: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion.” 16 For who were the ones who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt?… Hebrews 3: 14-16

Go to the ant, O sluggard - Laziness is a joke in our culture, a funny thing to us because we have much of this world's goods. We teach our children that childhood should come with little duty and even less responsibility. Parents worry more about entertaining than teaching, but Solomon is educating his sons, who have more than any in this world, about the importance of work. 

She prepares her bread in summer - No one needs to tell her that there is planting, preparing, storing to do. Life is caloric, everything demands calories, nothing is free, someone has to pay for it. What we put off today makes tomorrow more grievous. Those that expect different defy God's word, nature, reason, and do not love those they take from. Those that would implement a system for you to get paid not to work are only buying your vote, and if you take it you are helping them steal from someone else. 

…9 Not that we lack this right, but we wanted to offer ourselves as an example for you to imitate. 10 For even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “If anyone is unwilling to work, he shall not eat.” 11 Yet we hear that some of you are leading undisciplined lives and accomplishing nothing but being busybodies.… 2 Thessalonians 3: 9-11

…10 And indeed, you are showing this love to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to excel more and more 11 and to aspire to live quietly, to attend to your own matters, and to work with your own hands, as we instructed you. 12 Then you will behave properly toward outsiders, without being dependent on anyone.… 1 Thessalonians 4: 10-12

And poverty will come upon you like a robber - You will cry that you have less, but it was within your ability, your grasp to have more. You started your day late, you knew that winter was coming, but now you want; consider the ant. All God owes you is the wages of sin. All a fallen world owes you is weeds, thorns, hunger and thirst. God is gracious in that he gives us hands and feet, a mind, abilities, talent, history, and even the testimony of the ant.

Points with his finger - This is a wicked man, one who bares false witness, who puts people at odds with each other. He will always take the responsibility for what goes well, but he will never own it when the situation goes down hill. 

And forsake not your mother's teaching - This goes back to Honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise, that it may go well with thee. What are you teaching your children?

Can a man carry fire next to his chest - You will get burned and hurt others in the process. Again, much of this pertains to adultery in this Proverb as the preceding, and much of Solomon's life was affected by this sin.