My son, keep my words
and treasure up my commandments with you;
2 keep my commandments and live;
keep my teaching as the apple of your eye;
3 bind them on your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
and call insight your intimate friend,
5 to keep you from the forbidden woman,
from the adulteress with her smooth words.
6 For at the window of my house
I have looked out through my lattice,
7 and I have seen among the simple,
I have perceived among the youths,
a young man lacking sense,
8 passing along the street near her corner,
taking the road to her house
9 in the twilight, in the evening,
at the time of night and darkness.
10 And behold, the woman meets him,
dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.
11 She is loud and wayward;
her feet do not stay at home;
12 now in the street, now in the market,
and at every corner she lies in wait.
13 She seizes him and kisses him,
and with bold face she says to him,
14 “I had to offer sacrifices,
and today I have paid my vows;
15 so now I have come out to meet you,
to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.
16 I have spread my couch with coverings,
colored linens from Egyptian linen;
17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh,
aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let us take our fill of love till morning;
let us delight ourselves with love.
19 For my husband is not at home;
he has gone on a long journey;
20 he took a bag of money with him;
at full moon he will come home.”
21 With much seductive speech she persuades him;
with her smooth talk she compels him.
22 All at once he follows her,
as an ox goes to the slaughter,
or as a stag is caught fast
23 till an arrow pierces its liver;
as a bird rushes into a snare;
he does not know that it will cost him his life.
24 And now, O sons, listen to me,
and be attentive to the words of my mouth.
25 Let not your heart turn aside to her ways;
do not stray into her paths,
26 for many a victim has she laid low,
and all her slain are a mighty throng.
27 Her house is the way to Sheol,
going down to the chambers of death. Proverbs 7 ESV
Proverbs 7
Keep my teaching as the apple of your eye, bind them on your fingers - To be so cherished as the prize, and held so high that one would write a reminder like a piece of string around your finger. If we lose sight of the finish line then we are no longer running in the race.
14 Remind the believers of these things, charging them before God to avoid quarreling over words, which succeeds only in leading its listeners to ruin. 15 Make every effort to present yourself approved to God, an unashamed workman who accurately handles the word of truth. 16 But avoid irreverent, empty chatter, which will only lead to more ungodliness,… 2 Timothy 2: 14-16
10 You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, 11 my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. 12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3: 10-17
To keep you from the forbidden woman - So this theme is not going away, and when God repeats Himself, gives exposition of a concept, then we must pay careful attention to heed. When he gives clear instruction and teaches through the examples, word pictures of the lives of men and women in Scripture, how can we put it aside for preference of cultural norms?
…3 For even Christ did not please Himself, but as it is written: “The insults of those who insult You have fallen on Me.” 4 For everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope. 5 Now may the God who gives endurance and encouragement grant you harmony with one another in Christ Jesus,… Romans 15: 3-5
…1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.… Psalms 1: 1-3
A young man lacking sense - He is not smart enough to not go down her street. If he is like me in my youth, he is hoping for an encounter, his heart is already enticed by the idea. Why did he lack wisdom? Did no one teach him?
At the time of night and darkness - He recognizes an element of wrong, but not so wrong as to dissuade him. He has no godly fear, for the cover of night does nothing to hide us from God. It is, if anything, the rule of the hypocrite, that what happens in secret, what is consensual, that is not hurting anyone and therefore not a sin.
…18 Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light, because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.… John 3: 18-20
Dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart - She is advertising, cunning, knows the weakness of her prey, and he is an easy kill. It is like a Venus fly trap or an eyelash viper, the prey comes for something that looks like food or refreshment. The fly becomes the meal, and the humming bird finds the flower to be a snake, but too late. The Bible lays out many a word picture; here are a few:
…7 Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in your faith and in the knowledge that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering.… 1 Peter 5: 7-9
And with a bold face, she says to him - In complete confidence, without hesitation, with a straight face, she claims that this is okay by the articles of her faith. She anticipates his possible objections, and reassures him that she has got it covered.
I have peace offerings with me: The sexually immoral woman Solomon described was not against religion, just against the moral code of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. She favored a god who would receive her peace offerings while she lived as she pleased when it came to her sexual desires. - Enduring Word
i. “She pretends religion to her filthy practices… So did King Edward IV’s holy whore, as he used to call her, that came to him out of a nunnery when he used to call for her.” (Trapp)
To seek you eagerly and I have found you - He's special, and who could argue, "Egyptian linens, myrrh, aloe, cinnamon", it is quite a spread. I use to go to church, thinking there was this middle ground, if I really liked the girl, was nice to the girl, then what did it matter? The culture said, "boys will be boys, they're going to do it anyway, consent removes sin, it's part of dating", but God kept calling it fornication, and where one of the consenting individuals was married to someone else, He called it adultery. If God is Holy, eternal, perfect, like the Bible says, then He is not going to change. If I am trying to change God, lessen the meaning of the cross, then I am not worshiping the God of the Bible. If I say something that God has called sin is not a sin, then I am deceiving myself, and the person I am trying to draw into it with me.
…7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.… 1 John 1: 7-9
Let us delight ourselves with love - This is not God's definition of love, leading people to do the things which He hates. We readily call good evil and evil good when it suits our wants and ideals. This is self serving, self worship, there is no dying to the self here. This is pride offering a sacrifice to the ego; it only wants the object for what it can take from it. "Hath God really said?"
…3 If I give all I possess to the poor and exult in the surrender of my body, but have not love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs.…
…6 Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1 Corinthians 13: 3-7
He has gone on a long journey - She assures him some more, look, there are no consequences. What my husband doesn't know can't hurt him, and he is not going to know because no one sees us, and he will not be back for a long time. Her religion is vane, God knows, God sees, God has spoken against this, but she has no fear or love for God. Her vows to her husband are empty, and the bar is set as low as a secret.
All at once he follows her - It is in his heart to do this, and so he is an eager student to every justification. I use to use the excuse of alcohol, but I was there looking for someone at the bar anyway. If I woke up with someone I didn't know, it was the alcohol, hit on my "friend's girl friend", the alcohol, but then if drinking was the problem why didn't I just quit. Drunk or sober it didn't matter; I had decided that this was not sin, and it was more important to get laid than to do what God said. If what I thought or what someone said appealed to what my flesh already desired, then that was gospel to me. The culture condoned it, many in the churches I went to practiced it on the sly, so it couldn't be that bad.
…9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.… 1 Corinthians 6: 9-11
For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. Romans 1: 21-32
He does not know that it will cost him his life - Pretty strong words for something we think doesn't matter.
Do not stray into her paths - Don't trip yourself up. With the new norm and social distancing, you have to stay six feet apart anyway. This is going to cripple the sex trade, how will prostitutes make a living? But you don't want to die from Covid, right?
Her house is the way to Sheol - It's the way of the dead.
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