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PART ONE (A)
Chapter 1
The ten special words.
Solomon begins his proverbs with a short summary, in which he uses ten
‘special’ words, which have all been translated from the Hebrew with a
reasonable degree of accuracy. They are wisdom, instruction, understanding,
wisdom (another word), justice, judgment, equity, subtlety, knowledge and
discretion.
These ten words mean different things to different people, and since
they are all drawn from Hebrew words we can only reach hopefully in their
direction. Using a Bible dictionary I found some other English words which may
help to expand the meanings a little:
1:2
Wisdom
= skillfulness. The
ability to use knowledge correctly.
Instruction
= by chastening, or
disciplining.
Understanding
= intelligence, or
discernment.
1:3
Wisdom
= to bereave; i.e. to
learn through the unhappy experiences of others.
Justice
= righteousness, or
right living, or right behaviour.
Judgment
= decisions, being
able to compare and try the things that differ.
Equity
= uprightness, moral
integrity, the principles of right living.
1:4
Subtlety
= prudence; i.e. to
be as "wise as a serpent" (Mat.10:16)
Knowledge
= information.
Discretion
= thoughtfulness.
5,6
Readiness to learn is essential. God has deliberately hidden His truth
from those who think they know it all. 2Tim.2:15 "Study to show yourself
approved . . ." We came across a young man, a new convert, who said
repeatedly that all he wanted to do was read the Bible. He was bubbling with
enthusiasm, and, unlike most Christians I meet, his love for God’s Words was
pure, irrepressible enthusiasm. Nothing else was more important to him than
incessant reading of the pure water of life. He reminded me of a newborn lamb
which hungrily buts into mother’s belly, drinking eagerly as soon as it can.
There are, sadly, a lot of very sick lambs about, who will drink anything
except God’s Word.
7
The end of knowledge is to justify God and condemn one’s self – Job
28:28,
8,9
ornament = garland. Neck – showing willing and cheerful obedience, not
stiffneckness – Ex.32:2 or pride – Is.3:16. Obedience to father and to mother
is the same as obedience to God – Ex.20:12. Children are expected to obey their
parents – Eph 6:1 and Col 3:20. Apostasy is reflected in the form of rebellious
children – 2Tim 3:1-5.
10-19
In verse 17 we have the words "in vain" which mean ‘it avails
not". Or "it makes no difference’. The sight of the net does not
deter the birds. They still go to their capture and death. The next verse
brings this out, for men go on in their evil ways, even though they know it is
to their own ruin. It pleases the world to have a Christian join in with its
sinful behaviour (Gen. 49:6) and Ps.1
I recall some visitors to highschool who presented very graphically, to
the whole school, the terrible consequences of smoking. Black and diseased
lungs, skin cancers, emphisema and so on. Coloured slides graphically presented
the truth, yet afterwards several of my friends laughed and carried on smoking.
20-23
The following call from ‘Wisdom’ is a form of language called Personification.
The quality of wisdom is dressed up to look like an actual person,
so the following verses must not be taken out of context, otherwise some
unfortunate errors can come along.
God’s wisdom is practical and relevant to all people, which is why He
calls to and appeals to the people on the streets. The response is very
disappointing. The people refuse to listen, and cling instead to non-wisdom.
Hardened sinners follow their well-worn paths.
24-33
Gal. 6:7,8 "Be not deceived . . ." God includes everyone in
this rebuke, Christians and non-Christians. God never laughs at our grief, but
Wisdom Personified does, if we despise Wisdom – Ps 32:10, Eph 5:15,17
We have heard quite a lot of foolish teaching on this subject so the
following is a little more on it, to help explain how Personification works.
(If you find this tedious you are welcome to skip to Chapter Two.)
It has been suggested that this is actually God who laughs with delight
as sinners are destroyed. This is quite absurd.
Ezekiel ch 18 shows how God longs for the wicked to repent, but we also
know that He MUST judge unrepentant sinners (18:4) but twice God says He has NO
PLEASURE that any wicked person should die (v23 and 32). He says "Repent,
and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your
ruin." The whole of verse 30 shows that sin brings judgment, in which God,
without delight, must intervene. 2Peter 3:9 says God is "longsuffering
toward us not willing that any should perish . . ." Could such a God also
laugh at the wicked when they are judged?
Psalm 2 speaks in a different tone when it says "He that sits in
the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision" (v4) Here
God is not laughing at the death of the wicked, but at the imagined might of
the ungodly nations. He is pictured as a king facing other kings, and as such
He can rightly laugh at the supposed threat of the enemies.
Again, in Psalm 37:13 the Lord laughs at the puny strength of the wicked
who plot against the just, as if they could ever prevail against the meek or
just ones. It is not the death of the wicked that God laughs at here,
but the supposed power of the wicked.
Psalm 59:8 pictures God laughing at the strength of those who would
think of killing David.
But turning this round, let us suppose that God actually does laugh at
the wicked. If so, we should expect to read this a few times at least in the
Bible, for example in the life of Manasseh (2Chron. 33) This man’s wickedness
goes beyond description. God took this wicked man and sent him to
After reading Mat.23, where Jesus declares the terrible wickedness of a
certain cluster of people – their hypocrisy, blindness, foolishness and so on –
we do not see Jesus gloating over their coming destruction. Instead, He weeps.
Another example of God hating the death of the wicked is in the book of
Jonah. It was Jonah, not God, who was unwilling to try to help the inhabitants
of
Finally, when we consider the cross, and the incredible sight of God’s
only Son suffering there, surely this is proof that God has a tender and loving
heart, which could never mock the death of sinners. It was while we were yet
sinners that Jesus died, and logically, if God laughs at the death of sinners,
He must have had a really good laugh when His only Son died!