Today, I am reading and commenting on  Proverbs 29-31.

I do not exactly have a theme I want to write about today, but there are a few things written here that I want to pull out to highlight.  The writer tells us that the righteous detest those who are dishonest while the wicked detest the upright.  When we feel hostility towards those with whom we disagree, we need to make sure that our hostility does not result from feeling called out by them.  We must strive to make sure that we are honest in our attempts to change their minds.  As we debate others let us strive to base our arguments on what God has said, because God’s words are flawless.  Let us rely on His word, but make sure that we do not put our words into His mouth.  If we ask Him, and trust Him, God will keep us honest, will keep us from falsehoods and lies.  The writer then ties the idea that we should seek enough wealth to meet our worldly needs, but not so much that we think we do not need God.  As we seek to allow God to keep us honest we should also seek to depend on Him for our material needs.  And as we seek to depend upon Him for our material needs we should depend upon Him to keep us honest.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Proverbs 25-28.

When I first read through today’s passage I did not see any common themes running through the various proverbs in it.  So, I pulled out a few phrases around which I struck me as a basis to build what I would write.  Then I looked at them to begin to write and realized that at least some of them fit together.  The first thing I saw was how the writer emphasized the value of gentle patience.  When we seek to convince others gently and patiently reasoning with them from love will accomplish more than angry and forceful rhetoric.  Closely related to that, the writer warns us against hastily reaching conclusions.  Instead, we should wait for all of the facts to come out before we reach a conclusion about events.  Speaking of waiting for the facts, the writer tells us that gossip provides fuel for quarrels between people, and some people stir up strife for their own entertainment.  Neither succeeds if we do not allow them to convince us with partial information.  Rather than form an opinion about what others have done based on gossip, or the partial information provided by those who seek to generate strife, let us patiently wait for all of the facts.  Let us find others who will similarly seek to do God’s will, and ask them to test our thoughts before we reach a conclusion.

The writer gives us two proverbs together which seem to contradict each other:
Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
    or you yourself will be just like him.
 Answer a fool according to his folly,
    or he will be wise in his own eyes.
These two represent two important things to keep in mind when having a debate with someone.  The first one means that you need to make sure that you do not debate someone on issues where they make assertions which are not supported by their assumptions.  For example, if an atheist argues that God cannot be good because He allows for evil.  Ask him to explain what evil means.  Ask the atheist to explain what makes it evil.  Which in a way leads us to what the second of those two proverbs means.  When debating someone who has taken a foolish position (as defined by the Bible), take their assumptions to their logical, foolish conclusion.  Finally, when debating, or in any other sort of confrontation, with someone who is hostile, treat them well, do not return their hostility.  Instead, treat them with respect and provide for their needs.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Proverbs 22-24.

Throughout the Bible we are told to fear the Lord.  Today’s passage talks about the behaviors which follow from that.  The writer tells us that fear of the Lord leads to humility.  More precisely he tells us that if we are not humble it means that we do not truly fear the Lord.  Also, if we fear the Lord we will not envy the wicked, nor we will fret because of the apparent success of those who do evil.  Fear of the Lord will quell any desire we might have to share in their lifestyle because we will realize that they have no hope for the future.  As importantly, we will not gloat when misfortune comes upon those who have tried to bring us harm.  We will not rejoice when their actions come back on them.  Instead, we will mourn that one whom God loves is suffering.  The writer also tells us that those who fear the Lord will not turn a blind eye to injustice and mistreatment of the innocent.  When others are being led to their deaths, do not pretend that you do not see what is happening.  While this applies to not pretending that something like the Holocaust is happening, as some Germans did during World War II, it also means not turning a blind eye when people are being convinced to harm themselves.  Which brings me to one of those short proverbs which means more to me every day, and which all too many of those who speak in the “public square” today do not heed:
Buy the truth and do not sell it—
   wisdom, instruction and insight as well.
All too many who claim to be in the business of informing others willingly sell the truth for their own agenda and spread lies instead.  Often choosing to believe the lies themselves, even though they know them to be lies.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Proverbs 18-21.

When I started reading through the Book of Proverbs this year I intended to write each day about a summary lesson from the contents of the passage.  I am finding it difficult to come up with a summary lesson from the sections, such as today’s and yesterday’s which are collections of short proverbs.  I am going to try and go over the lessons which came to me as I went through today’s passage(not necessarily in the order they appear in the passage) and try to connect them to each other.

I am going to start by talking about the connection I see here between the ways in which fools (who are by definition in this context morally deficient) speak without thinking and do not have any desire to know what they do not know.  Throughout the Book of Proverbs the writer warns us that only fools speak without thinking or listening.  He also tells us that they do not desire knowledge or understanding.  From looking at the world around me, I realized how many people fail to pay attention to what those who disagree with them actually think and then wonder why they cannot convince them to change their minds.  These foolish ones spend a lot of time talking about why they think they are in the right, but refuse to listen to why their opposition thinks they are wrong.  Let us remember to listen to what those we disagree with say that they actually believe.  By doing so, we may learn that they are not so wrong, and/or we may learn how to show them a better way to attain their goal.  Which leads me to another point the writer makes.  Wisdom leads to patience, which makes one willing to overlook insult.  Those whose gullibility inclines them to evil do not learn from their own suffering, but they may learn to be more cautious when they see others suffering from the results of their wicked ways.  On the other hand those who seek knowledge and wisdom, learn when they are called out for their mistakes.

Early on in this passage we have these two short snippets:
The name of the Lord is a fortified tower;
    the righteous run to it and are safe.
And:
 The wealth of the rich is their fortified city;
    they imagine it a wall too high to scale.
Usually when I read this passage I see these as two separate lessons.  Today I realized that together they give us a better lesson than what can be gained from looking at them separately.  Wealth does provide some protection from the vagaries of life, but relying on wealth leaves one open to trouble when those troubles rise higher than the wall of our wealth.  On the other hand, if we instead run to the Lord and rely on Him for our protection, we will be safe.  The storms of this life will never rise higher than the walls which God will put around us when we turn to Him.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Proverbs 14-17.

When I started reading the Book of Proverbs this year I became convinced that the link between foolishness and moral depravity which is implied by the Hebrew words used for “fool” and for “the simple minded” provided a key understanding of this book.  The wise build up, the foolish tear down.  Many of the ideas expressed in the proverbs in today’s passage relate to that idea.  Fools use their words to lash out at those whom they perceive as being in their way, while the wise choose their words in order to build others up.  Throughout today’s passage the writer contrasts the ways in which wise and righteous people speak to the ways in which foolish and wicked people use words.  I want to point out that to the writer saying wise and righteous is redundant, as is saying foolish and evil.  Being evil is foolish and wisdom teaches us to do what is right.  There is another word which the writer uses that our society views differently from the writer.  That word is “mocker”.  The writer considers a mocker to be a wicked person and a type of fool.  Whereas our society often admires those who mock others.  Mockers hold people up for scorn, while the wise seek to teach those who have made foolish decisions.  Wisdom teaches us to choose our words with care and to be silent when unsure of what to say.  The temptation to speak when we should remain silent sometimes leads us to say things which make matters worse.   There is one other important, and related, point which the writer brings up in today’s passage.  The wise seek to avoid quarrels and settle quarrels which come up between others.  Fools like to stir up quarrels between others and sometimes find amusement in angering others.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Proverbs 9-13.

The writer tells us that both wisdom and folly invite the simple, the gullible, those inclined to evil, to come to them.  Wisdom offers discipline and hard work leading to insight.  Folly offers stolen water and secret pleasures.  Wisdom tells us that those who mock others and the wicked get angry when told that they have made, or are about to make, a mistake, while the wise welcome such advice.  In fact, the wise welcome being rebuked.  Those who seek righteousness listen to those who seek to correct their behavior, even when their behavior did not need correcting.  Wisdom recognizes that they can always gain more wisdom and listen to the advice of others, even when that advice seems foolish.  The wise embrace discipline and being disciplined while the foolish resent being corrected.  The writer also tells us that we find in others what we seek in them.  If we look for good in others, we will find it, but if we seek evil, we will find that.  In part this means that people will tend to respond to what we expect of them.  If we expect people to respond with goodness, and treat them accordingly, most of the time they will do so.  On the other hand, if we expect people to respond maliciously, they often will do so.  More importantly, if we expect people to be good, we will usually find ourselves around those who are good, while if we expect people to be evil, we will usually find ourselves around those who do evil.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Proverbs 5-8.

The writer warns against adultery.  He speaks of the lure of an adulterous woman, but the same thing holds true of adulterous men.  He writes about how they offer what a pleasurable experience which disguises pain, hurt, and a loss of dignity.  The writer contrasts getting involved with an adulterer to acting with discipline.  He tells us how much better living a disciplined life is than living one of instant gratification.  Instead, the writer tells us we should reserve our most intimate activities to one to whom we have committed ourselves and who has committed themselves to us.  Our ways will be examined by God, and the wicked will be destroyed by their lack of discipline.  The writer speaks of how wisdom calls out to us.  As he does so, he reminds us once again that  being inclined to evil and/or being morally deficient leads one to act foolishly.  Those who give in to temptation have failed to exercise wisdom and have allowed themselves to be deceived by foolishness.  Those who act righteously and seek justice (and not justice in the abstract, but specific case by case justice) learn wisdom.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Proverbs 1-4.

The purpose of the Book of Proverbs is to help us gain wisdom and understanding.  It gives instruction on prudent behavior and how to do what is good and right.  Here in the introduction it tells us that these writings give prudence to the simple.  Then a little later it tells us that fools despise wisdom and instruction.  Both the word “simple” and the word “fool” have translator notes which tell us something important about them.  The translator note for “simple” says that the word translated there means someone who is gullible.  That is not that significant, since that is how we understand the word.  But, the note also says that it denotes someone who is without moral direction and inclined to evil.  Then the note for “fool” tells us that the word so translated implies someone who is morally deficient.  In our society today, we have a tendency to give the word simple, and to a lesser degree the word fool, the opposite connotation.  Our society thinks that someone who has clear moral direction and is inclined to do good is “simple” and that those who have moral principles are fools.  Once we understand that our society gets the meanings of those words exactly backwards we are on our way to true wisdom.  Doing so starts us well on the way to realizing the truth of the statement that fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.  There is much more in this passage, but I am going to leave you with this quote from the passage:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Proverbs 29-31.

Today’s passage wraps up the Book of Proverbs with more single verse proverbs followed by the Sayings of Agur and the Sayings of King Lemuel, perhaps the last bit about a wife of noble character is part of the Sayings of King Lemuel, or perhaps it is a separate piece of its own.  Both the individual proverbs and the Sayings of Agur contain a warning against arrogance and pride.  While the passage gives general warnings that being proud will lead to your downfall, the passage also warns against bragging on yourself.  The writer tells us that we should not praise ourselves, rather we should let others honor us based on their own observations.  The writer contrasts the benefits of being humble against the dangers of being arrogant.

However, I was truly struck by this proverb for an explanation of our society today:

Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint;
but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.

I think this refers more to acknowledging the revelations which God has already made than it does to receiving new revelations from God.  I believe we are seeing that around us today.  People refuse to acknowledge that God has revealed Himself, or refuse to accept what He has revealed about Himself, so that they can justify doing what they please.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Proverbs 25-28.

Today’s passage contains some of my favorite advice from Scripture.  In several different ways the writer tells us to avoid excess and instead do things in moderation.  Perhaps one of my favorite passages is Proverbs 26 verses 4 and 5

Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
or you yourself will be just like him.
Answer a fool according to his folly,
or he will be wise in his own eyes.

These two verses seem to contradict one another, but with some thought they make sense.  Verse four tells us not to allow those we are arguing with to set the terms of the debate, while verse five tells us to take the fool’s argument to its logical conclusion in order to demonstrate its foolishness.  The writer also warns us against those who will misuse wise sayings to support foolish ideas or Scripture to support ungodly behavior.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.