YOG - February 7, 2024

Icebreaker - Puzzling Question

An old man comes home one day and gets on his computer to check email when he discovers Myrtle lying on the floor, dead. There is broken glass and a large quantity of water on the floor.

ANSWER: Myrtle is a fish and a broken fish bowl

Introduction

What is a life hack you have either learned recently or heard of before?

Recap

Proverbs 1:1–7 CSB

The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: For learning wisdom and discipline; for understanding insightful sayings; for receiving prudent instruction in righteousness, justice, and integrity; for teaching shrewdness to the inexperienced, knowledge and discretion to a young man— let a wise person listen and increase learning, and let a discerning person obtain guidance— for understanding a proverb or a parable, the words of the wise, and their riddles. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Open in Prayer

Making the old guy move last week

SHORT LESSON

Solomon, representing God's chosen king, embodied wisdom in the Old Testament.

Isaiah prophesied a future wise prince who embodies God's spirit and knowledge.

Jesus, descendant of David, surpasses Solomon as the ultimate source of wisdom.

He restores humanity and creation, redeeming them from sin's consequences.

Christians inherit the task of living wisely in a fallen world, guided by God's revelation in Christ.

Knowing Jesus grants understanding of reality through his life, death, and resurrection.

After the intro verses (1:1-7) we find ten “instructions” that begin with “My son…” Let’s look at the first one.

Proverbs 1:8-19

Proverbs 1:8–19 CSB

Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and don’t reject your mother’s teaching, for they will be a garland of favor on your head and pendants around your neck. My son, if sinners entice you, don’t be persuaded. If they say—“Come with us! Let’s set an ambush and kill someone. Let’s attack some innocent person just for fun! Let’s swallow them alive, like Sheol, whole, like those who go down to the Pit. We’ll find all kinds of valuable property and fill our houses with plunder. Throw in your lot with us, and we’ll all share the loot”— my son, don’t travel that road with them or set foot on their path, because their feet run toward evil and they hurry to shed blood. It is useless to spread a net where any bird can see it, but they set an ambush to kill themselves; they attack their own lives. Such are the paths of all who make profit dishonestly; it takes the lives of those who receive it.

Discussion Questions

Going back to last week, What is meant by ‘the fear of the Lord’, and in what sense is it the beginning of knowledge?

What is the son called to do, and what is the reward for doing that (Proverbs 1:8-9)?

(hear his father’s instructions, he’ll be given this picture of beauty and riches – garland/pendants)

What is the alternative to hearing (Proverbs 1:8b)?

(forsaking your mother’s teaching)

What instruction does the father give the son (Proverbs 1:10, Proverbs 1:15)?

(not to consent or go along with sinners trying to peer pressure them)

Commentary

Proverbs: The Tree of Life (Comments on Proverbs 1:8–19)

This section is in the form of ‘instruction’ (see chapter 4 above, ‘Understanding the different forms within Proverbs’). It begins with the teacher’s call to the pupil to pay attention to the teaching. Here the tutorial takes place in the home and both father and mother are involved.

1:8 instruction … teaching. Synonyms. Both terms indicate more than mere information giving; rather, the imparting of knowledge that is life—or character-shaping.

1:9 If we may assume that the ornamental imagery had a similar meaning in Israel as in Egypt—is a symbolic metaphor signifying victory and vindication over enemies, power and life, as well as prestige and high social status. The Egyptian wreath is granted only in the spheres of the cult of the dead, the cult of the gods, and the cult of the king. But Solomon’s teachings are democratized so that all children who obey their godly parents and embrace the teachings of this book wear the teachings as heroes wore “the great wreath.

1:10–19 Possibly a new unit, or it may continue the previous two verses by giving specific content to the instruction. The authority of true wisdom is seen in the commands that are typical of the instruction form (vv. 10b, 15).

1:11 lie in wait. Folly is not mere ignorance or inexperience. Here it is to pursue actively a course of evil. Though wisdom is not to be reduced to morality, the moral dimension is still there.

1:12 the grave (Hebrew: sheol). The place of the departed. Here it is used as a metaphor of being completely overwhelmed.

1:13 valuable things. It is not wealth as such that is condemned but the use of evil to get it. Wisdom recognises the legitimate place of material wealth (e.g. in Solomon’s kingdom) but shows that there is greater wealth to be had in wisdom itself (e.g. 2:4; 3:13–16; Job 28:12–19).

1:16 See Romans 3:15.

1:17–18 This proverbial saying seems to have been introduced to give extra force to the motive. Not only is the way of sinners wrong; it is stupid. In the antithetical verses of the second couplet, the folly of sinners, who are blind to the deed-consequence connection, is contrasted with the insight of birds, who can see the connection. Every flying creature has the God-given instinct to avoid the fowler’s net (v. 17), but these sinners set an ambush for themselves (v. 18)!

1:19 Proverbs presupposes an orderliness in the universe that is born out in the bulk of experience. Those who live foolishly will come to a sticky end. Sometimes experience contradicts this and we have the problem of why the righteous suffer (e.g. Job) while the wicked prosper (e.g. Psalm 73).

Proverbs 1:20-33

Proverbs 1:20–33 CSB

Wisdom calls out in the street; she makes her voice heard in the public squares. She cries out above the commotion; she speaks at the entrance of the city gates: “How long, inexperienced ones, will you love ignorance? How long will you mockers enjoy mocking and you fools hate knowledge? If you respond to my warning, then I will pour out my spirit on you and teach you my words. Since I called out and you refused, extended my hand and no one paid attention, since you neglected all my counsel and did not accept my correction, I, in turn, will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when terror strikes you, when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when trouble and stress overcome you. Then they will call me, but I won’t answer; they will search for me, but won’t find me. Because they hated knowledge, didn’t choose to fear the Lord, were not interested in my counsel, and rejected all my correction, they will eat the fruit of their way and be glutted with their own schemes. For the apostasy of the inexperienced will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them. But whoever listens to me will live securely and be undisturbed by the dread of danger.”

Lesson

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” - CS Lewis

Proverbs: The Tree of Life (Testimony to Christ)

The author personifies wisdom as a woman actively urging people to heed her teachings.

The message is urgent, with strong warnings for those who ignore or mock wisdom.

"Simple ones," "mockers," and "fools" face consequences for rejecting wisdom, not from God's direct judgment, but from the natural order of things (ignoring wisdom leads to disaster).

The consequences worsen with continued rejection, but true seekers can always find wisdom.

Old Testament Wisdom: Question - how to live responsibly before God.

Wisdom "Gospel": Gift of wisdom offered by God, but requires acceptance.

Receiving Wisdom: Requires active pursuit of knowledge.

Christian Application: Understand the message in its original context first, then find its meaning in the Christian Gospel.

Christ as Wisdom:

Self-revelation of God: Knowing Christ is essential for life.

Fulfills humanity's role: Jesus embodies perfect wisdom for us.

Covers our failures: His righteousness makes up for our shortcomings.

Discussion Questions

Now we come to the first of the ‘wisdom sections’ where wisdom is personified as a woman.

What is Wisdom doing, and where (v20-21)?

(she is giving a warning by crying out and raising her voice in public places – meaning: God’s call to be wise is for everyone)

Who is she speaking to and what does she long for them to do (v22-23)?

(the simple, scoffers, fools to turn from their foolishness, a picture of repentance)

What do the following verses tell us about the possible responses to Wisdom, and the consequences of them?

vs 29-31 – (they hated knowledge, despised reproof and got what they deserved basically)

vs 32-33 – (listening to Wisdom brings security, ease, and no fear of disaster)

This poetic picture is intended to help our imaginations and hearts to hear the voice of God to us.

How much of a struggle is it for you to listen to the pressure of your peers versus listening to the voice of your parents?

Closing Thoughts

Definitions