Pearls From Proverbs – Chapter Five
We now turn to chapter five of Proverbs.
AVOID SEDUCTION
1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom; Lend your ear to my understanding, 2 That you may preserve discretion, And your lips may keep knowledge. Proverbs 5:1-2 (NKJV)
Again we have the instruction of a Father to his son. Every child of God should listen to the Father – if they listen and heed – that is what makes them a disciple of Christ. We are to carefully and diligently listen and obey our Father.
All parents have a responsibility to impart wisdom to their children. In this case when a parent imparts wisdom it is to have two outcomes:
1. That you may preserve discretion
2. That your lips may keep knowledge
I have heard that it is better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and confirm it. This seems to be the case here. We are to have good sense and to speak it. What comes out of our lips should be Godly wisdom not worldly foolishness.
3 For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil; 4 But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword. 5 Her feet go down to death, Her steps lay hold of hell. 6 Lest you ponder her path of life-- Her ways are unstable; You do not know them. Proverbs 5:3-6 (NKJV)
Here is a description of the immoral woman:
1. She speaks words that seem sweet
2. What comes out of her mouth seems smooth to the ears
But:
3. What she says is bitterness
4. Her words will slice you and dice you
5. She will lead you on the paths of death
6. Her destination is hell
We are instructed not to ponder her path because her ways are unstable. A godly person is to stay clear – do not seek the understanding of these ways. Do not try to know them. Be very careful where you are being led – look at the map and see what the destination is. If the person you are with is leading you to Hell – stay clear. Godly ways lead to Heaven. Seek the path of righteousness. God’s way – although it may pass through the valley of death at times – always leads to His heavenly kingdom.
7 Therefore hear me now, my children, And do not depart from the words of my mouth. 8 Remove your way far from her, And do not go near the door of her house, 9 Lest you give your honor to others, And your years to the cruel one; 10 Lest aliens be filled with your wealth, And your labors go to the house of a foreigner; 11 And you mourn at last, When your flesh and your body are consumed, 12 And say: "How I have hated instruction, And my heart despised correction! 13 I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me! 14 I was on the verge of total ruin, In the midst of the assembly and congregation."
Verse seven starts with the word “therefore”. This means that what has gone before these next verses has led up to this point. What has been said in the first six verses has brought us to this point.
Therefore:
1. Listen to My words of wisdom
2. Do not depart from My counsel
3. Stay away from the immoral woman
4. Do not even venture near her house
If you go the path of wickedness:
1. Foreigners will be filled with you wealth
2. All that you have acquired will go to the house of strangers
3. You will mourn
4. Your flesh will be consumed
5. You will say to yourself:
a. I hated the words of my father
b. My heart did not like his correction
c. I did not obey or listen to those who had my best interest in mind
d. I ignored those who would have instructed me
e. My path led me to a cliff of ruin
d. All my godly friends knew my plight
There is no right time to do wrong. Wickedness will always lead to destruction. Be therefore to keep one’s heart clean and pure. Do not seek the path of sin. Do not just listen to the words of wisdom – but heed the warnings. Walk in the path that leads to life – stay away from the highway of death. Stay away from the honey of the immoral woman.
ENJOY MARRIAGE
15 Drink water from your own cistern, And running water from your own well. Proverbs 5:15 (NKJV)
"Drink water from your own cistern" is a picture of faithfulness in marriage. It means to enjoy the spouse God has given you. In desert lands, water is precious, and a well is a family's most important possession. In Old Testament times, it was considered a crime to steal water from someone else's well, just as it was a crime to have intercourse with another person's spouse. In both cases, the offender endangers the health and security of family.
Why steal water from another when there is plenty of water in your own well? Why lay with another man’s wife when you have a wife of your own? All marriages take work and it is in this relationship that the sexual desires are to be fulfilled. Commitment of a husband to his wife will provide stability in the relationship.
16 Should your fountains be dispersed abroad, Streams of water in the streets? 17 Let them be only your own, And not for strangers with you. 18 Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice with the wife of your youth. 19 As a loving deer and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; And always be enraptured with her love. Proverbs 5:16-19 (NKJV)
Our sexual drives are natural and are not sinful. As one drinks water to quench his natural thirst so too, to have a sexual relationship satisfies our sexual drives. God has designed the marriage as a place where our sexual desires can be satisfied in a way that is safe for us and pleasing for Him. Our sexual desires are not to be used “for stranger” – but to be expressed in the covenant relationship of marriage.
In contrast to much of what we read and hear today, this passage urges couples to look to each other for lifelong satisfaction and companionship. Many temptations entice husbands and wives to leave when marriage becomes dull in order to find excitement and pleasures elsewhere. But God designed marriage and sanctified it, and only within this covenant relationship can we find real love and fulfillment. Don't let God's best for you be wasted on the illusion of greener pastures somewhere else. Instead, rejoice with your spouse as you give yourselves to God and to each other.
The New Testament tells us:
Wives, understand and support your husbands in ways that show your support for Christ. The husband provides leadership to his wife the way Christ does to his church, not by domineering but by cherishing. So just as the church submits to Christ as he exercises such leadership, wives should likewise submit to their husbands. Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ's love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives. They're really doing themselves a favor—since they're already "one" in marriage. No one abuses his own body, does he? No, he feeds and pampers it. That's how Christ treats us, the church, since we are part of his body. And this is why a man leaves father and mother and cherishes his wife. No longer two, they become "one flesh." This is a huge mystery, and I don't pretend to understand it all. What is clearest to me is the way Christ treats the church. And this provides a good picture of how each husband is to treat his wife, loving himself in loving her, and how each wife is to honor her husband. Ephesians 5:22-33 (MSG)
20 For why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman, And be embraced in the arms of a seductress? 21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, And He ponders all his paths. 22 His own iniquities entrap the wicked man, And he is caught in the cords of his sin. 23 He shall die for lack of instruction, And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray. Proverbs 5:16-23 (NKJV)
Marriage is a blessing in the eyes of God – adultery is a sin. After all is said and done – why would you follow the path to destruction? Why would you step out of the will of God? Is it only to follow your own lustful desires? Yes – but it is a trap. It will leave you ensnared and you will be tied up with the ropes of sin. Remember that God is always watching the path that you choose. “For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He ponders all his paths.”
Let this be a great warning to us – for even godly people can slip on this path. King David did when he had his affair with Bathsheba. Perhaps some of you have slipped or fallen into this path. You feel dirty and guilty. Let me tell you now – God is a forgiving God. He is a God of restoration. He can cleanse you of your sin. David when he fell prayed this prayer:
“Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight…Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. Psalms 51:1-4; 10-12 (NKJV)
If you have fallen – God is able to restore you.
