Proverbs Introduction
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· 13 viewsA Study of Proverbs for Youth
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Introduction
Introduction
Solomon Asks for Wisdom
At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”
Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.
“Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties.
Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number.
So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”
The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this.
So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice,
I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.
Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings.
And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.”
Then Solomon awoke—and he realized it had been a dream. He returned to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then he gave a feast for all his court.
2. The Lord grants Solomons request.
God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore.
Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt.
He was wiser than anyone else, including Ethan the Ezrahite—wiser than Heman, Kalkol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations.
He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five.
He spoke about plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also spoke about animals and birds, reptiles and fish.
From all nations people came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom.
God had granted Solomon Wisdom beyond comprehension…but…
Interesting note: Solomon made lot of bad decisions.
In spite of all the warnings Solomon did exactly what the Kings of Israel were forbidden to do.
He mulitplied wealth, wives, and sexual exploits. Deuteronomy 17:14–20 “When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,” be sure to appoint over you a king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your fellow Israelites. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not an Israelite. The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not c…”
He built altars to the pagan gods of his wives. 1 Kings 11:1–8 “King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done. On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. He did the same for all his…”
This one thing is true. God can grant you wisdom and you will still be a fool if you don’t use it. WISDOM DOES NOT CHANGE HUMAN NATURE.
The Book of Proverbs is a grouping of clever sayings to help gain understanding.
To help you gain a set of practical skills for living well in God’s world.
Proverbs 1
Proverbs 1
for gaining wisdom and instruction; for understanding words of insight;
for receiving instruction in prudent behavior, doing what is right and just and fair;
for giving prudence to those who are simple, knowledge and discretion to the young—
let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance—
for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise.
To gain wisdom and instruction = (knowledge) - (The Message)
To Discern the sayings of understanding = To Understand, The word, The Information
Prudent behavior, doing what is right and just and fair = That you can make the right choices on your own.
Wise People - continue to grow. They embrace growth. The opposite of that is also true, fools reject growth and often blame others, shift the blame.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. - FEAR = is not afraid. It is a reverant awe of who God is and my place in his creation. Fear of the Lord recognizes that I AM NOT GOD, and I DO NOT GET TO JUST MAKE UP MY OWN DEFINITIONS OF GOOD AND EVIL.
I need to humble myself before God and embrace God’s definition of what is good and evil.
VIDEO: PROVERBS THE BIBLE EXPLAINED
Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.
My son, if sinful men entice you, do not give in to them.
If they say, “Come along with us; let’s lie in wait for innocent blood, let’s ambush some harmless soul;
let’s swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder;
cast lots with us; we will all share the loot”—
my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths;
for their feet rush into evil, they are swift to shed blood.
How useless to spread a net where every bird can see it!
These men lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush only themselves!
Such are the paths of all who go after ill-gotten gain; it takes away the life of those who get it.
A. Come along with us; let’s lie in wait for innocent blood, let’s ambush some harmless soul;
Is there any moment in today’s society, at school, or in your home where we see this?
What do you think it means, “such are the paths of all…”
Are you ever guilty of joining a crowd of friends and attacking, maybe with your words, someone else?”
Repent at my rebuke! Then I will pour out my thoughts to you, I will make known to you my teachings.
but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.”
