Day 37
Proverbs 7:1-27
My son, keep my words
and treasure up my commandments with you;
keep my commandments and live;
keep my teaching 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 call insight your intimate friend,
to keep you from the forbidden woman,
from the adulteress with her smooth words.
For at the window of my house
I have looked out through my lattice,
and I have seen among the simple,
I have perceived among the youths,
a young man lacking sense,
passing along the street near her corner,
taking the road to her house
in the twilight, in the evening,
at the time of night and darkness.
And behold, the woman meets him,
dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.
She is loud and wayward;
her feet do not stay at home;
now in the street, now in the market,
and at every corner she lies in wait.
She seizes him and kisses him,
and with bold face she says to him,
“I had to offer sacrifices,
and today I have paid my vows;
so now I have come out to meet you,
to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.
I have spread my couch with coverings,
colored linens from Egyptian linen;
I have perfumed my bed with myrrh,
aloes, and cinnamon.
Come, let us take our fill of love till morning;
let us delight ourselves with love.
For my husband is not at home;
he has gone on a long journey;
he took a bag of money with him;
at full moon he will come home.”
With much seductive speech she persuades him;
with her smooth talk she compels him.
All at once he follows her,
as an ox goes to the slaughter,
or as a stag is caught fast
till an arrow pierces its liver;
as a bird rushes into a snare;
he does not know that it will cost him his life.
And now, O sons, listen to me,
and be attentive to the words of my mouth.
Let not your heart turn aside to her ways;
do not stray into her paths,
for many a victim has she laid low,
and all her slain are a mighty throng.
Her house is the way to Sheol,
going down to the chambers of death.
If you will notice today’s passage contains the last several days passages from the book of Proverbs. And it is our focus today because it gives us a great warning against something that is vitally important to us as followers of Christ. If you have been reading along hopeful you have picked up that this entire chapter in Proverbs is geared more towards men then it is towards women. However, that does not mean that you can tune this out ladies, because you might actually learn something that will help you understand men better, whether they be your husbands, your sons, your fathers or your brothers.
Solomon originally wrote these words to his son, but more importantly it was a warning to his son. But what was Solomon warning his son about? Solomon was warning his son about the danger of letting your eye’s make a decision that your head, i.e your brain, should be making. Keep in mind that Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Which means that even though Solomon said that he saw these events happening from his window, he is in actuality describing an event that in all probability happened to him as a young man. Solomon knew and understood that men are particularly vulnerable to “the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life” (1 John 2:16).
The young man that Solomon is seeing has clearly fallen for “the desires of the flesh”. How do we know this? Because it is our natural desire as men that when we see an attractive woman that we want to procreate with her. Which also means that this young man fell for “the desires of the eyes”. Because clearly the woman described here was good looking otherwise the young man would not have been “passing along the street near her corner, taking the road to her house in the twilight, in the evening, at the time of night and darkness” (Proverbs 7:8-9). Which shows that he fall for the “pride of life”, because this young man clearly believed that nothing bad would happen to him for the simple reason that he was only taking what nature or “the flesh” said he should have. Which is where the warning comes in.
Solomon here is warning against taking part in ungodly sexual activity and behavior in the name of “love”, explaining the disaster that is sure to follow. We can avoid sexual immorality by being firmly committed to all that God says is right and good, by not allowing our thoughts to dwell on lustful pleasures, by avoiding tempting and compromising situations and by remembering that this sin leads to sorrow, regret and death. Men we must remember what John wrote 1 John 2:16, “For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.” Ladies you must remember that the men in your life are more vulnerable to the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes and pride of life and, therefore, you should do what you can to help guide and direct them away from those things that appeal to their flesh, to their eyes and to their pride. Remember that we do not walk through this life alone and that life is better when we understand and are able to guide those we love away from the pitfalls of the devil.
Tomorrow’s Bible Readings:
Exodus 26-27, Matthew 25:1-30, Psalm 31:1-8 and Proverbs 8:1-11