Proverbs 7

We are nearly coming to the end of our series through the first 9 chapters of Proverbs. These last chapters are like the closing arguments in a debate. Today we are going to hear again from the seductive lady, next week we will hear from Lady Wisdom, and then in chapter 9, both give their closing arguments, for you to decide which way you want to live.

And today, it may feel like we are coving the same ground we have seen before. In chapter 5 it said adultry is wrong and here again we have another adultry story. Why do we have to do this again? It’s already one of the ten commandments. Its like the teacher is trying to make a point. Solomon, thought this was a key lesson for his son to learn. Repetition is good education so that this point can stick. Solomon himself came out of an adulturals relationship, maybe he knew first hand what trouble this causes.

The main difference in this chapter to chapter 5 is that we get to see more of the temptation, so we might be able to see how we can avoid it. So today we are more looking at temptation and the heart.

Temptation is more than an intellectual problem. People know that adultry is wrong and yet they still do it. This contradiction in behaviour is trumped by certain assumptions about self-fuillfilment, and being true to your feelings and self entitlements to unmet needs. This is not just in the relam of sex, but we also can justify our actions and behaviours thru this self-frist grid all the time.

This is not how socierty has always thought. Rousseau from the 18th Century has dramatically shaped the West’s way of thinking about ethics. His basic idea is that humans are naturally good and free and uncorrupted. He champianied the native and indigous people in primitiative contions, having escape this curruption of society. Yet he still desired to live out the rest of his life in France.

Rousseau wrote a book called Confessions and in that, he talked about stealing some pears as a youth with some mates. The reason he did this wasn’t because he needed them but because he was peer-pressured into doing it. In this sense, we see that it was society that corrupted his way. You see, being in a community provokes envy, hatred, lying, competition for the other etc. And he would say, in our own natural state - our free state - we do not feel these things, but when we have to relate to others, that is when restrictions and shame and punishment are put on people. ‌ You may see this today. Peer pressure is a real thing, which is why any good parents ask their teens two very important questions when they are about to go out. They ask, “Where are you going” and “Who are you going with”. ‌ You might also find the corrupting nature of society in the workplace. You might be doing something just fine, but when someone comes along doing the same thing, then there may be envy, comparison or competition between the two. The effect of having more people around can corrupt your mindset and actions. ‌ But the problem with Rousseau and this dominating idea we have today is that it is foolish. I’m not just talking about the obvious observational bias he - and everyone who agreed with him - had about how good and pure they are. Of cause everyone wants to think that left to themselves they will be good, Rousseau just said what everyone wanted to think. But the main problem with Rousseau was that he was riping off Augustine.

Augustine in the late 4th century wrote a book called Confessions and in that he talked about stealing apples when he was a youth with some mates. He didn’t even want apples and they didn’t even taste that good, but there was something inside of him that just enjoyed the thrill of eating stolen apples, which is why he did it. ‌ Rousseau blamed society for corrupting people, as he thought that deep down people are good. Augustine blamed his own internal desires for corrupting him and saw that he needed an external change for him to do good. ‌ Ethics in a Christian context begins with a belief in the depravity of humans and their need for repair and restoration. Because Adam took God’s credit card and put it in the negative, we are all born into his debt. We all need a new external help, for we can not do it on our own.

And Proverbs is all about living, how can we live a new life. We are reminded of this in the opening verses

Path of Wisdom (v1-5)

Proverbs 7:1–5 NIV

My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you. Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and to insight, “You are my relative.” They will keep you from the adulterous woman, from the wayward woman with her seductive words.

To live we are to keep these commands, we are to guard and bind and write them in our eye, and fingers and heart.

Wisdom is to be kept in the family. We are to keep her close because this family member will protect. And in particualr they will protect from seductive words.

We are in a battle for words here, we need the words of the teacher and their commands - that is how we can combat the many seductive words around us. We need the right words bound in our heart. We need to know that the seductive words promise much, but deliever only death. Before we hear these seductive words, the teacher sets up the story.

Path of Deception (v6-13)

Proverbs 7:6–13 NIV

At the window of my house I looked down through the lattice. I saw among the simple, I noticed among the young men, a youth who had no sense. He was going down the street near her corner, walking along in the direction of her house at twilight, as the day was fading, as the dark of night set in. Then out came a woman to meet him, dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent. (She is unruly and defiant, her feet never stay at home; now in the street, now in the squares, at every corner she lurks.) She took hold of him and kissed him and with a brazen face she said:

There were a group of youths who are described as “simple”. They might be young and they don’t know much, they are directionless. The issue with the simple is weather they are teachable or not. The teacher then sees one who one breaks away from the group to walk down the street, in the dark, at twilight. Not to go home, but in the direction of her house. He is perhaps testing the waters, or putting himself in harms ways.

This is tieing a few things we have already seen in Proverbs, the warning of the wrong company, being idle, not fleeings and going down a different path, nor listening to the teachings of parents.

This simpleton perhaps might like the cover of darkness, hoping that no one else will see, but the lady sees and comes out to him. Exposing much, but not who she really is. She is dressed in a revealing way, and yet with her crafty intent, her heart is not revealed.

The young man doesn’t flee at this point, the complete opposit of Joseph in Genesis, who when put in a tempting situation like this fled right out the door, leaving his coat behind. There is something in this young man that is keeping him whre he is. He is is liking her assertiviness and attention, so he stays to hear her out.

Path of Destruction (v14-23)

Her seductive words are now said:

Proverbs 7:14–23 NIV

“Today I fulfilled my vows, and I have food from my fellowship offering at home. So I came out to meet you; I looked for you and have found you! I have covered my bed with colored linens from Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. Come, let’s drink deeply of love till morning; let’s enjoy ourselves with love! My husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey. He took his purse filled with money and will not be home till full moon.” With persuasive words she led him astray; she seduced him with her smooth talk. All at once he followed her like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose till an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare, little knowing it will cost him his life.

Here we see the bait and the hook.

Her words are the enticing bait. She comes forward with a little religiousness; she has been to the temple and made scrafices. Back then, if you made the fellowship offereing you could take the meat home with you and you had to eat it that night. She was saying, “come, I have meat, eat with me, it will be tasty.” She then moves from the dining room, to the bed room. She has luxury linnon from Egypt, and it has been prepared for all the sense. She says: “Come and experience all of this and then we can enjoy ourselves together, till morning”. And she reassures there is nothing to fear about being caught, for her husband is away on business for the whole month.

This is enticing, arousing a fantisy of pleasure and enjoyment. She has meat, clean sheets, promises of sex and it’s risk free. There will be no consequences. But that is not true. God always sees, and sin always entanges and complicates things. What she is offereing is only for marriage, it is all a lie. She has compartmentalies her religion and her marriage, and her inner-desires, so the these things do not have to relate to each other.

And so we see here that the bait works, and the young man doesn’t know what it is costing him. The hook is spelled out. It is like an ox going to the slaugher, it is like having a noose around your neck, or an arrow in the liver. It will cost him his life. This sin leads to death.

In verse 21 we are told again, it is her persuavie words, and not her appearence that has led him astray. She seduceds him with her smooth talk and he took the bait.

This enticment that plays on the heart is as old as human history.

In Genesis 3 we are told how our first parents fell. There is one line about the attractive ness of the fruit

Genesis 3:6 NIV

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

But before this act, there was a conversation and there we see the enticement from the serpent.

Genesis 3:1 NIV

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

The serpant like the woman was crafty. He simply asked a question, Did God really say what it was that he said? He is just asking, just checking and perhaps throwing a little bit of doubt. Are you sure that is what God said?

And then after her answer the serpant again just rejects out of hand what God said

Genesis 3:4–5 NIV

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

The serpent rejects and reframes the situation. He says, even though you are made in the image of God, God doesn’t want you to be like Him. God is holding back on you. He is mean. He doesn’t really know what you want. God has His own agender that He is keeping from you.

These persuavice words is how sin works. It reframes the situation, it rejects God’s word; it questions the character and wisdom of God.

We sometimes can get ensared by the bait of sin, thinking it will be plesauable, it will easy, it will not cost anything, no one will know.

Temptation to sin, is as old as the creation story, but while it is old, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t work. We still haven’t got rid of it, and that is because we do not pay attention in how to avoid it.

What websites do we visit? What shows do we binge watch? How much money do we hold on to and how much do we give away? What is going on in our hearts when it comes to ourselves? How do we try and justify what paths we slowly walk down only to get enticed and then ensared?

Path of Deliverance (v24-27)

The teacher ends their warning about this

Proverbs 7:24–27 NIV

Now then, my sons, listen to me; pay attention to what I say. Do not let your heart turn to her ways or stray into her paths. Many are the victims she has brought down; her slain are a mighty throng. Her house is a highway to the grave, leading down to the chambers of death.

We are told that this is not a one off, many people have gone on this highway that leads to death. The key issue here is that the son is to pay attention to what the father says, and not to let their heart turn to these stray ways.

This simple guy is not an innocent victem in this story. The women didn’t currupt him and make him do it. The adultrous women has her own things going on , but the guy is persuaded because he wants to be. His heart wanted to go down that path. The fault is not with a problem out there, but it is with his heart inside.

It sounded good, so he went that way. He didn’t think about anything broader, he may in principal think cheating is wrong, but when the woman put it in her words, he thought it was ok for him to cheat.

The external temptation expolits an internal condition. And we all face this.

We do the things that we love, and today in the West we even elevate our own self-love to define who we are. We are proud of what we love. Weather it be our nation or who we are attracted to. Our culture says your attractions are your identity. It says who you love is who you are. It say “Love is God”, but they have it backwards because we know “God is Love”.

If we base our idenity on something from within, we are at the wim of our own fickleness, and our own hearts which can be decieful. Instead we should base our idenity on something beyond us. John, the Apostle, identifies himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. His idenity was based on who was loving him, not who he loves. This is a more stable and comforting identy on who we are, for it is not based on something within, but from something external. If we are in Christ we are dearly beloved.

In writing to the messed up church in Cronith Paul says:

1 Corinthians 6:18–20 NIV

Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

(I didn’t fact check this, but) I think it was C.S. Lewis who said picture society as lake with a bunch of large boats on it. And on this lake we generally think, if we are not bumping into others we can do what we want on our own boats. We can add this modification here, we can ues the sail as a bedsheet, even use the mast for firewood if we want to. If it isn’t harming others, then we are free to do what we please. We can board others boats, as long as they consent to it, but doing anything by force is bad. Lewis said this seems very true, but what happens if we find out we don’t actually own the boats, that we are all renting them from the owner. Then we can’t do anything we want on the boats, we can’t tweak it how we want, it doesn’t belong to us. And that is our bodies. We have been given these, and will be judge by what we do with them.

If you are a Christian, your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. God has come and dwelled in you. He has given you a new heart, and external one has come interally. When you become a Christian

Proverbs—Wisdom that Works Where to Find the Love We Long For

You become joined to the Lord Jesus Christ, in body and spirit, through his finished work on the cross. He gives himself to you completely by grace, and you give yourself to him completely by faith… From head to toe, all that you are is not only for Christ but also of Christ. That includes your sexuality, married or single, because you are married—to Christ. You have been joined by grace to the Lord.

Elsewhere in the Bible, married couples are considered to be one flesh, but here, with Christ, we have become one spirit, which is even more profound and deeper and richer.

God has sent His Spirit to renew our hearts from the inside, so that we can walk in His ways that keeps us from giving into temptation. May we not listen to the seductive words of the world, or go to be put in situations that might entice us, but instead listen to Jesus’ voice, knowing that it is in Him that we have our idenity and that He loves us and wants what is best for us.

Faithful God, write your commands upon our hearts, that we may love your wisdom as our closest companion. Keep us from the snares of temptation, and deliver us from voices that would lead us astray. Turn our eyes from fleeting desires, and fix them on your ways that bring life. Grant us purity, steadfastness, and joy in you, until we find our eternal rest in Christ. Amen.