Proverbs 22:6

All My Life, My Dad Has Worked on Cars and Trucks

He Loves Working on Motors and Fixing Broken Down Vehicles

Just Today He Gave Me a Lawn Mower that He Replaced the Motor in

My Brother Also Enjoyed Tinkering With Four-Wheelers and Motorcycles

Most of My Best Friends in High School We’re Fascinated With Working on Vehicles

Most of My Life I Have Been Surrounded By Men Who Love Working on Vehicles

You Want to Know the One Thing I Know and Care Nothing About?

Working on Vehicles

Though it Was a Large Part of My Growing Up…

I Never Took Interest

It Never Shaped the Person I Became

Being Raised to Enjoy Certain Things is Not a Guarantee That We Will

Proverbs 22:6 (NASB)

Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.

This is a Verse That Most of Us Know By Heart

It’s Probably the Most Popular Verse That We Tell Parents of Small Children

We Tell Them That if They Train Their Children to Behave Like Good Christian Children…

Then They Will Turn Out to Be Good Christian Adults

But When We Do That…

We Set Them Up For the Possibility of Future Disappointment, Pain, and Sorrow

Because There are Many Christian Parents Whose Kids Are Not Going to Be Christians When They Grow Up

Many of Them Because Their Parents Don’t Truly Teach Them to Love God and Dedicate Themselves to Him

But There are Many More Parents Who Tried Their Best, Yet to No Avail

Then They May Begin to Wonder What They Did Wrong

Or Worse, They Will Wonder Why God Failed to Keep His Promise

We Can Rest Assured That God Doesn’t Fail On His Promises

So it Must Be Us Who Have Misunderstood/Twisted His Word to Mean Things He Never Meant

Proverbs 22:6 is One of Those Verses That We Have Misunderstood/Twisted to Our Own Disappointment

So Let’s Figure Out What is Going On With Proverbs 22:6

Understanding Proverbs

The First Things We Need to Grasp Before Looking at Our Specific Verse is:

Proverbs is Not a Book of Promises

Proverbs Isn’t Saying, “If You Do X, Then God Promises That Y Will Always Be the Result.”

The Book of Proverbs is Wisdom Literature

It’s Full of Wise Sayings That are Meant to Be Short and Memorable

When We Study, Memorize, and Live By These Proverbs…

They Help Us to Appreciate Wisdom, Righteousness, and Godly Living

They Help Us to Have a Much Better Life

Each Proverb Summarizes a Particular Truth About Wise Living

And They Do So in a Poetic Form Called “Hebrew Parallelism”

The Purpose of Proverbs is Not to Exhaust Any Subject

The Purpose of Proverbs is:

To Help Those Who Remember and Live By its Truth to Have a Much Better Life

Summary:

Proverbs are Not Promises

They Are Wise Truth Sayings That, When Lived By, Will Lead a Person to Have a Better Life

So Let’s Look at Proverbs 22:6

Proverbs 22:6 (NASB)

Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.

The Word for “Train” is Found in 3 Other Verses in the OT

Deuteronomy 20:5 (NASB)

“The officers also shall speak to the people, saying, ‘Who is the man that has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him depart and return to his house, otherwise he might die in the battle and another man would dedicate it.”

1 Kings 8:63 (NASB)

Solomon offered for the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to the Lord, 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the sons of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord.

2 Chronicles 7:5 (NASB)

King Solomon offered a sacrifice of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. Thus the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.

Every Other Time This Word is Used, it is Referring to Dedicating Something

Sometimes it Referred to Dedicating a New House

Sometimes it Referred to Dedicating Something to God

It Carries the Idea of “Starting” or “Initiating” Something

The House is Now Built or Bought, So it’s Time to Dedicate it

This Could Refer to Throwing Some Type of Celebration

But Essentially it Meant to Start Living in it

The House of God is Built, So it’s Time to Give it Over to Him to Dwell in and For Us to Serve Him in

So Getting Back to Proverbs 22:6

To “Train Up” or “Dedicate” a Child Means:

To Start a Child in a Certain Direction or On a Certain Path

To Initiate Early On Setting a Child On a Certain Direction or Path

Proverbs 22:6 (NASB)

Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.

The Word “Should” Isn’t in the Original Hebrew Text

The Phrase Literally Means “In His Way”

The Word “Way” is Found 69 Times in Proverbs

It Refers to Both the Way of Wickedness and the Way of Righteousness

“His Way” Simply Refers to His Manner of Life/Lifestyle

So it Could Be Translated Something Like:

“Start a Child On His Way/Initiate a Child On His Path, Even When He is Old He Will Not Depart From it.”

What Does That Mean?

That We are Set On a Path as Children and We Rarely Veer Off of That Path

This Proverb Could Be Taken as a Warning

If I Start My Children Off On the Wrong Path…

I Will Have a Hard Time Getting Them Off That Path

Just a Few Verses Down We Read:

Proverbs 22:15 (NASB)

Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of discipline will remove it far from him.

Children Are Naturally Inclined to Follow the Path of Foolishness

And it Takes Discipline While They are Still Young to Keep Them From Going Down That Path

(Put Proverbs 22:6 Back Up)

But This Proverb Could Also Be an Encouragement to Dedicate/Initiate Our Children On a Better Path

To Start Them On the Path of Holiness, Righteousness, and Wisdom

If You Get a Child Started On His Path of Doing What is Right When He is Young…

It Will Be Harder For the World to Pull Him Off of That Path When He is Older

How You Grow Up as a Child Has So Much to Do With How You Live Your Life as an Adult

Children Tend to Follow the Footsteps of Their Parents

What You Do, They Want to Do

What You Say, They Want to Say

How You Behave is How They Behave

How You Treat Others is How They Treat Others

Your Relationship With God Will Shape Their Relationship With God

And as They Grow Down the Path You Set Them On…

They Will Increasingly Become Less Likely to Leave That Path

That’s Not to Say Adults Can’t Change

But It’s Much Harder and Less Likely

Proverbs 22:6 Twisted

If We Train Our Children to Live Righteosly, Then They Will Live Righteously as Adults

Proverbs 22:6 UnTwisted

If We Dedicate/Start/Initiate Our Children Down a Certain Path…

It’s Very Likely That They Won’t Depart From That Path as Adults

It’s Not a Guarantee, But It’s Likely

Let’s Make Sure We Are Dedicating Our Children and Grandchildren to Paths That Lead to Holiness, Righteousness, Godliness, and Faith

Proverbs are Not Absolutes

But They are General Truths That are More Likely Than Not to Come to Fruition

In Order to Live a Holy, Righteous, and Happy Life…

Live By the Proverbs

Tie it Back to the Kingdom

Tie it Back to Jesus, the Embodiment of Wisdom