I dedicate this book to my loving wife, Erica, and my two daughters.

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2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 - INTRODUCTION 5 - HOW TO STUDY PROVERBS 13 - CHILDREN, OBEY YOUR PARENTS PROVERBS STAY AWAY FROM ADULTERY PROVERBS SEVEN THINGS THE LORD HATES PART SEVEN THINGS THE LORD HATES PART THE CRY OF WISDOM PROVERBS THE WISE VS. THE FOOLISH 63 - WISE USE OF THE TONGUE 71 - WISE USE OF YOUR TIME 79 - WISELY TREATING YOUR NEIGHBOR 87 - WISELY USING YOUR ANGER 95 - WISELY CONSIDERING YOUR WEALTH 103 WISELY TREATING YOUR FRIENDS AND YOUR ENEMIES The New King James Version Copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All right reserved. (All Scriptures are taken from the New King James version unless otherwise stated). 1

3 I dedicate this book to my loving wife, Erica, and my two daughters. 2

4 INTRODUCTION The Book of Proverbs contains words to live by. Solomon wrote many of these timeless sayings, but other wise men added to the wisdom of this book which teaches one how to conduct his life. Though written long ago, the wisdom found in this great book applies to us today. With its practical advice on daily living and how we should treat those around us, it should be read and studied often by Christians. This study on Proverbs is designed to walk you through various chapters and topics that will teach you about practical Christian living. While the New Testament is our authority, the Book of Proverbs will help you be a better servant of God, which will help you become more effective at leading others to Christ. This study will challenge you to take a closer look at yourself and how you are living for the Lord. I hope this study will help you grow stronger in the faith, and cause you to focus more on serving God with your whole heart, mind, and soul. 3

5 HOW TO STUDY PROVERBS The Book of Proverbs has a universal appeal because of the diverse topics it covers. It provides the knowledge of living a moral life and how to treat others just to name a few. Knowledge itself has little value unless it is understood and then used wisely. Before studying this book of wisdom, there are several things we should understand that will help us get the most out of this timeless book. Background of Proverbs The Book of Proverbs is primarily ascribed to Solomon (Proverbs 1:1). However, he is not the only writer. Consider the following outline of Proverbs: 1 9 Solomon teaches his son the value of wisdom and why he should pursue it :16 Contains many two-line proverbs in which Solomon gives advice on morality and many other topics. 5

6 22: Attributed to Words of the wise (22:17) and These things also belong to the wise (24:23). We are encouraged to obtain wisdom and to keep it Contains the writings of Solomon that were copied by the men of Hezekiah who lived over 200 years after Solomon, which gives practical advice about wisdom and compares the righteous with the wicked. 30 Written by a man named Agur. Contains thoughts about God and a plea for purity. 31 Written by King Lemuel as taught to him by his mother. This chapter is famous for its description and praise of a virtuous woman (10-31). Our outline shows that Solomon wrote most of the Book of Proverbs. When Solomon took over as king, God said he could ask for whatever he wanted (1 Kings 3:5). Solomon asked for understanding (9), which pleased God (10). God said: 1 Kings 3:11 Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, 12 "behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. Solomon became famous for the wisdom God blessed him with (1 Kings 4:29-31). The Book of Proverbs only contains a small portion of the 3000 proverbs Solomon spoke (1 Kings 4:32-34). Notice a few definitions of a proverb: A trite maxim; a similitude; a parable (Dictionary.com. Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary). 6

7 proverb, parable proverbial saying, aphorism byword similitude poem sentences of ethical wisdom, ethical maxims (Thayer s Greek Lexicon (IBT) [electronic version]). Mr. Hailey describes a proverb as: a short, Pithy, Axiomatic Saying, the life of which is Antithesis or Comparison. They are wholly Unconnected. Designed primarily for the Young: a form of Teaching: repetition of Practical Thoughts in a form that would stick in the mind (Halley, Henry H. Halley s Bible Handbook p. 269 Zondervan Publishing House). The Book of Proverbs is written in the style of Hebrew poetry, which does not rhyme, but it does draw a parallelism of thought. The main three parallelism styles used are: 1. Synonymous parallelism: the thoughts of both lines express the same thought with different words. An example would be: Proverbs 9:10 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. 2. Antithetic parallelism: the basic thought of the first line is made clearer by a contrasting thought in the second line. An example would be: Proverbs 11:13 A talebearer reveals secrets, But he who is of a faithful spirit conceals a matter. 3. Synthetic parallelism: The second line explains or adds something to the first line. An example would be: 7

8 Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. Many times the proverbs will use humorous images to make its point such as: Proverbs 19:24 A lazy man buries his hand in the bowl, And will not so much as bring it to his mouth again. This causes one to imagine a man being so lazy and void of energy that he will not even lift his hand to his mouth. Using exaggerated examples like these make the sayings more memorable. Jesus used exaggerations to make His points as well (Matthew 7:3; 19:24). Speaking of making things more memorable, another style used in Hebrew poetry is to make an acrostic pattern using the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet in which each line or stanza begins with the next successive letter. This style is used to describe the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31: When interpreting and understanding the proverbs, we need to consider several guidelines: 1. One of the most important things to remember is that many of these proverbs are general truths. For example: Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. This proverb is not saying that every child raised in the right way will not depart from the truth, but usually this is true. Even the Book of Proverbs recognizes the free will of a child and his ability to depart from the truth (Proverbs 19:27). So, keep in mind that some of the proverbs speak of general truths 8

9 that will apply most of the time, but not all the time. However, there are also absolute statements such as: Proverbs 30:5 Every word of God is pure; 2. We must consider the history and the culture during the time of Solomon to have a deeper appreciation of the text. For example, when it talks about the gates of the city it has little meaning to us, but during ancient times, the city gates were a place for trade, public forums, and general conversations, which helps us gain greater insight to passages like: Proverbs 31:23 Her husband is known in the gates, When he sits among the elders of the land. 4. Do not build a theology from Proverbs alone. Instead, examine what the Bible says as a whole. As David wrote: ESV Psalm 119:160 The sum of your word is truth. 5. Many of the proverbs are designed to be memorable. So, many exaggerations are used that were not intended to be taken literally such as: Proverbs 10:25 When the whirlwind passes by, the wicked is no more, But the righteous has an everlasting foundation. When we come across such proverbs, we should look for the general truth that is being taught just as we do when studying the parables of Jesus. 6. Many of the proverbs will give helpful general advice, but due to their brevity, they do not offer many details of how to follow the advice such as: 9

10 Proverbs 16:3 Commit your works to the LORD, And your thoughts will be established. The theme of Proverbs is wisdom. As we read through the proverbs, we will discover that wisdom in contrasted with foolishness many times. The righteous - who are obedient to God - are portrayed as the wise, and the unrighteous - who are disobedient, self-centered, and wicked are portrayed as the foolish. The purpose of Proverbs is found in Proverbs 1:2-7. 1:2 To know wisdom and instruction, To perceive the words of understanding, 3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, Justice, judgment, and equity; These proverbs will help us to learn about wisdom so we can recognize its benefits and make it part of our lives. They will cause us to know instruction, which includes discipline, chastening, and correction. Our goal is not just to know wisdom, but to understand the words of wisdom. One could memorize all the proverbs and quote them on demand, but if they are not understood, they will not make one wise. Before we can ever hope to gain wisdom from the proverbs, we must first be willing to receive them into our hearts and contemplate what they say. There is much for us to learn, and we should never stop learning. 1:4To give prudence to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion -- Understanding the proverbs can help sharpen the wit of the gullible so they will not be easily fooled. Also, when a young man - who is still immature in wisdom - will heed the words of 10

11 the wise, he will increase his knowledge and be better at making wiser choices. 1:5 A wise man will hear and increase learning, And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel, One of the wisest men of all wants us to understand that no matter how wise we think we are, there is always room to learn more. A wise man will never think too highly of himself and will seek the wisdom of others. The moment we become too wise in our own eyes is the moment we start becoming void of understanding. 1:6 To understand a proverb and an enigma, The words of the wise and their riddles. This synonymous parallelism teaches us that the proverbs are designed to help us understand them and their overall meaning. Sometimes the words of the wise seem like a riddle or an enigma, but if we take the time to listen and meditate on what is being said, great pearls of wisdom will be found. Jesus spoke in parables that many did not understand (Matthew 13:10-15). It was not because these wise sayings could not be understood, it was because many would not take the time to think the parables through so they could be enlightened. The proverbs challenge us to think and continue to dig deeper as we examine them from all sides. 7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction. This verse points out how the purpose of the Proverbs will be achieved. We must fear the Lord, which means we are to show reference to Him knowing that He is our creator and that all wisdom comes from Him. Without Him, we would know nothing and we would be nothing. To fear the Lord will 11

12 motivate us to want to learn as much as we can about Him and what He wants from us. As the contrasting line of verse 7 teaches, those who do not fear God are fools because they despise wisdom and instruction. APPLICATION If we want to gain a deeper understanding of God s Word and the wisdom it offers, we must dig a little deeper to find out when the book was written, who it was written to, the style it was written in, and its purpose. We must also consider if the writer is using symbolisms and exaggerations to make a point. Knowing this information will help us better understand any book of the Bible we examine. Though we are not under the authority of the Old Testament, it was written for our learning (Romans 15:4), and we can enhance our understanding of the New Testament by learning from the wisdom of the Old Testament. One of the most important things we should take from the Book of Proverbs is that we should never stop growing in our knowledge of the Scriptures and increasing our understanding so we can use what we learn wisely. QUESTIONS 1. Name three parallelism styles used in the Book of Proverbs. 2. Why is it important to understand that some of the statements made in the proverbs are generally true instead of being absolute guarantees? 3. Why should we not create a theology from the Book of Proverbs alone? 4. What is the beginning point of fulfilling the purpose of the Book of Proverbs? 5. Discuss some of your favorite sayings and how you use the Book of Proverbs in your life. 12

13 CHILDREN, OBEY YOUR PARENTS PROVERBS 1-3 Imagine a child being raised in the wilderness with no one to teach him or give him guidance. Now imagine that kid being found and then put into society to see if he could survive. While it would be rare for this to happen, many parents neglect to give their children the proper training they need to be successful in life. It is like they have been raised in the wilderness alone, which we call the world. The only thing they know and understand is the way of the world because their parents have failed to instill in them the knowledge of God and how to understand that knowledge and use it wisely. Solomon wanted to make sure his son had the opportunity to know God and His wisdom. So, he provided great instructions for his son to follow. In our last lesson, we learned that the purpose of the Book of Proverbs is found in the first 7 verses of Chapter 1, and the beginning point of achieving the purpose of the Book of Proverbs is to fear God. Let us examine the wisdom Solomon gives his son. 13

14 Listen to your parents (Proverbs 1:8-9) There are far too many parents who do not take the time to offer instructions to their children. Instead, they allow Hollywood, the Music Industry, their worldly friends, and the internet to teach their children in the way they should go. Then the parents wonder why their children turn out the way they do. As Christian parents, we must be willing and dedicated to offer our children instruction. Our children need to learn to respect us and the wisdom we can offer them. Some children think their parents are clueless about life, but just about every child eventually learns that neither mom nor dad were clueless after all. We should instill in our children that they should listen to wisdom because we have their best interest at heart whether they realize it or not. Besides, God commands children to obey their parents (Ephesians 6:1-3). Do not listen to the sinner (Proverbs 1:10-19) Just as we can count on the sun rising in the east, we can know there is always going to be a sinner who wants to entice us to his way. No matter what the sinner offers, he always has his own best interest at heart. Many young men have been enticed to join gangs with a promise of protection, money, and all the worldly pleasure they want. The gangs do not hide the fact that they are willing to kill people for their money and are willing to commit crime because that is their passion. People who get involved in gangs are sometimes killed by their own because, if someone gets jealous about another gang member s popularity or wants to take his cut of a robbery, it is not a big deal for them to kill their own. As the saying goes, there is no honor among thieves. The best advice is to stay 14

15 away from such sinners no matter what they offer because a life of crime will never pay and it will cause us to miss heaven. Wisdom personified (Proverbs 1:20-33) In our text, Solomon personifies wisdom. Wisdom is available to all who seek it. It can be found in many places, but we have to look for it and heed what it is trying to teach us. Wisdom is seen as warning and encouraging people to listen, but the foolish do not because they hate knowledge. When the foolish refuse to take heed, wisdom laughs when they fall because they had every chance to listen to it. People cannot escape the consequences of their actions. To call on wisdom during our fall or after our fall is too late because the damage has already been done. So, the main idea is to listen to wisdom now so our way will be secure, and we will have no need to fear evil. When we listen to the wisdom of the Scriptures, which brings about salvation (Romans 1:16; James 1:21), we can know that God will be with us and that our eternal home will be in heaven. Seek out wisdom (Proverbs 2:1-9) Before we can learn from wisdom, we must first have a willing spirit. Solomon says, if you receive my words. There are plenty of people who will pretend to listen to wisdom, but all they are really doing is allowing the words to go in one ear and out the other. Obtaining wisdom takes more than just having a willing spirit to learn because Solomon says we must be willing to diligently seek it out like people seek out silver or hidden treasure. When people want to find precious metals like silver or gold, they do not just blindly walk around a field hoping to find it lying on top of the ground. No, they seek it out where they think it is, 15

16 and they dig for it for days, months, and even years. All it takes to motivate them to dig deeper is for them to find bits and pieces of whatever they are looking for. We should have this same approach to wisdom as we seek it out diligently. Every time we find a little more wisdom, it should motivate us to dig deeper for more, especially when it comes from the Word of God. When we grow in the way of the Lord and put His wisdom into our hearts, we can know that we have the words of life in our possession (John 6:68). Learning to understand God s wisdom and following it will cause God to be our shield and defender, and we will become better at choosing the righteous path, which is that difficult road that leads to heaven (Matthew 7:13-14). Let wisdom dwell in your heart (Proverbs 2:10-21) When we allow the wisdom of God to dwell in our hearts and we consider the knowledge of God as being pleasant to our soul, we will have the wisdom and understanding to exercise great discretion against the way of evil. The more wisdom we obtain from God s Word, the better prepared we will be at facing whatever Satan and the world throws our way. Since Solomon is trying to educate his young son, he includes things that would be more tempting to the youth, which is falling prey to sexual sins with immoral women. Of course, this same advice should be heeded by young women as well. The key to overcome the temptations of sin is by allowing God s wisdom to remain in our hearts always and to fear the Lord. So, when temptation presents itself, our entire being will scream out saying, no, this is wrong and God will not be pleased. Also, we will know that if we allow sin into our lives it will only lead to destruction and separation from God. Therefore, let us take the advice of Solomon and stand fast in the way of the Lord knowing that God will bless us. Paul gives 16

17 us similar advice about being prepared to face our spiritual battles with Satan (Ephesians 6:10-18). Also, we need to use discretion when it comes to whom we hang around because the wrong kind of companionship can drag us down that dark road where righteousness does not dwell. As Paul said, Do not be deceived: Evil company corrupts good habits (1 Corinthians 15:33). Do not forget the law (Proverbs 3:1-4) The law of God is a beautiful thing, but it is possible for us to forget how beautiful it is (Hebrews 2:1). However, if we continue to put God s Word in our hearts on a daily basis and live our lives by it, it is generally true that we will lengthen the days of our lives on this earth, have peace in our lives, and be at peace with those around us. When we treat our bodies like the temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16), and we stay away from drugs and loose living, our chances of living longer are much greater than those who do not. When we focus on being merciful like our Father in heaven and cling to truth, not only will we have the respect of our fellow man, we will please God. Perhaps the greatest advice that will help us achieve this lifestyle, which sums up the plea of Solomon and should be followed by every Christian, is found in our next verses: Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil. 8 It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones. This worthy advice sums up what every faithful servant of God should be working toward because this advice will cause a 17

18 person to be humble and be confident in all that God promises. One of our biggest problems is thinking we are wiser than we are and thinking we can do things better than God. When we learn to follow this advice, we will reap physical and spiritual benefits from it. Put God first every time (Proverbs 3:9-10) God must be put first in every aspect of our lives. While these verses do not guarantee every person that gives to the Lord is going to reap physical blessings, it is generally true that those who are givers are usually blessed with more, but the greatest blessings are the spiritual ones. The main point is to put God first and then everything else will fall into place (Matthew 6:33). Do not despise correction (Proverbs 3:11-12) The writer of Hebrews gives the best commentary of what Solomon is saying (Hebrews 12:5-11). Living for the Lord is not going to be without its trials, but these trials will make us stronger if we allow them to train us. The trails we face will increase our faith (James 1:2-4). So, we should not view our trials, whether from man or God, as being something bad. We can look for inspiration at facing the trials of life by looking at examples like Job and others in the Bible that persevered in their faith in God despite their fiery trials. The importance of wisdom and understanding reemphasized (Proverbs 3:13-24) When we make it our aim to seek out the wisdom of God and understand it, it will benefit us in many ways because the more wisdom and understanding we have, the more like Christ we will be. 18

19 Fear not (Proverbs 3:25-26) Those who trust in God should not fear the things of this world or the trouble the wicked bring forth. Even if we lose our lives at the hands of the wicked, we can still keep our confidence in God because man cannot harm our souls or keep us out of heaven. Finally, Solomon gives some good advice on how to treat our neighbors, how to deal with the wicked, and tells us the benefit of following this advice. How to treat others (Proverbs 3:27-35) If we follow this simple advice, we will be better neighbors and good examples of how Christians should treat others. APPLICATION Every Christian parent must take responsibility for training their children in the way of the Lord. Far too many parents have become so busy living life that they have little or no time to teach their children about God or respecting His wisdom. We need to sit down and examine how our time is being spent so we can reevaluate our priorities. If we do not break the cycle we are in, we are going to raise children who have little or no respect for God or His Word. In order to be the greatest influence to our children, we must set the example by being diligent seekers of God s wisdom. Our children need to see our passion for serving God and studying His Word. They deserve every opportunity to know more about God and what He expects so they will have the foundation they need to make wise decisions after they leave the home. We can always hope they will pass on the wisdom we taught them to their children. 19

20 Even after our children leave home, our quest for wisdom should never end. We should never think we have learned enough or that our duty as Christians is over. Let us continue to make God s Word part of our daily lives till the day we did. QUESTIONS 1. Please give some examples of how you train your child in the way of the Lord. 2. Discuss some helpful ways you have found that makes more time available for teaching your children about God. 3. Discuss some of the problems you have seen caused by a lack of training children in the way of the Lord. 4. Discuss what motivates you to keep your passion strong for serving the Lord and learning from His wisdom. 20

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