* The engraving from a book titled "Les Images de la mort [de H. Holbein] : avx quelles sont adioustées douze figures ... La medecine de l'ame. La consolation des malades. Vn sermon de mortalité, par sainct Cyprian. Vn sermon de patience, par sainct Iehan Chrysostome ..." by Holbein, Hans (1497-1543) Totentanz is now in public domain. A skeleton dressed as a bishop with a mitre and crosier, and representing death, takes the cloak of an abbot who holds a prayer book. In the tree is an hourglass representing human mortality. The 54 images of Hans Holbein's "The Dance of Death" (Lyon, 1538) were cut by Hans Luetzelburger and here appear in the 1547 Latin edition of the work. Courtesy of the Digital Image Archive, Pitts Theology Library, Candler School of Theology, Emory University: http://www.pitts.emory.edu.
>1. What two things will be gained with wisdom and the Lord's words of insight? (1-2)
* Proverbs 5:1-2 "My son, pay attention to my wisdom, listen well to my words of insight, that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge."
* "My son" -Repeated many times in the first nine chapters of Proverbs. Solomon is addressing his sons. However, the Father is also addressing his sons, especially his son Jesus, the son of Mary.
* "pay attention to my wisdom" -Hearing and listening is not the same thing. Paying attention here means to consider and take to heart.
* "listen well to my words of insight" -Listen well here is also translated "open your ears" and "incline your ears." The point is to bring your full attention to what is being said. The mind is prone to wonder when someone is speaking.
* "that you may maintain discretion" -This is a continuous act. It is not one time and all that is needed is obtained. Rather, it is like a tank that continually needs to be filled because it is continually tapped into.
* "your lips may preserve knowledge" -Preserve knowledge is also translated "keep knowledge", "knowledge will guard your lips", and "speak with insight".
*
>What is discretion?
* Discretion can be defined as "the quality of behaving or speaking in such a way as to avoid causing offense or revealing private information" and "the freedom to decide what should be done in a particular situation."
* "discretion" -Discretion in the original Hebrew is "mezimma". It appears 19 times in the Old Testiment. It is also translated "device", "thought", and "intent". "Mezimma" is linked to an intent, usually wicked though sometimes good.
* Discretion is mentioned five times in Proverbs (1:4, 2:11, 5:2, 8:12, and 11:22)
*
>How can our lips preserve knowledge? (Malachi 2:7; Colossians 3:8)
* Malachi 2:7 "For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, and from his mouth men should seek instruction-because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty."
* Matthew 15:8-9 "'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'"
* Colossians 3:8 "But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise - the fruit of lips that confess his name."
* Zephaniah "Then will I purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and serve him shoulder to shoulder."
* Leviticus 20:10 "If a man commits adultery with another man's wife--with the wife of his neighbor--both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death."
* Proverbs 6:32 "But a man who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself."
* Matthew 5:27-30 "You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell."
* Matthew 15:18-20 "But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him 'unclean.'"
>How does adultery appear when we are tempted to violate the commitment with our spouse? (3)
* Proverbs 5:3 "For the lips of an adulteress drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil"
* "For the lips of an adulteress drip honey"
* "her speech is smoother than oil"
*
>What is it in the end? (4)
* Proverbs 5:4 "but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword."
* "in the end she is bitter as gall"
* "sharp as a double-edged sword"
*
>How does verse 5 emphasize the seriousness of adultery?
* Proverbs 5:5 "Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave."
*
* The marriage covenant is physical, emotional, mental, financial, and spiritual bonding. Two become one. A covenant is a binding vow between two. A covenant reflects the nature of God who makes covenants with people. Therefore, God pays attention to marriage covenants.
Adultery is breaking a marriage covenant for an important part of the covenant is the one that becomes new during sexual union. The Father instructs his child to maintain discretion when the temptation of adultery promises delight (1-3).
Sexual temptation wears blinders. The sweet honey and smooth oil promise for the tempted do not see the hidden bitter gall and heart-splitting double-edged sword (4). Breaking the marriage covenant is the death of the two that become one (5). The beautiful matrix created dies and is buried. The temptation does not see these consequences (6). Therefore, know now the truth about adultery.
Listen to the above comments on Proverbs 5:1-6.
>How is adultery forgetting its consequences? (6)
* Proverbs 5:6 "She gives no thought to the way of life; her paths are crooked, but she knows it not."
* "She gives no thought to the way of life"
* "her paths are crooked"
* "she knows it not."
*
II. It Leads to Ruin (5:7-14)
* The engraving from a book titled "Icones catecheseos et uirtutum ac uitiorum illustratae numeris / Iohannis Hofferi ... ; item Historia passionis Domini nostri Iesu Christi effigiata" by Hoffer, Johann (1534-1583) is now in public domain. From Genesis 39, Joseph flees from Potiphar's wife leaving his tunic in her hands, as she attempts to seduce him. An engraver's knife and initials (I.L.C.T. = Iacobus Lucius Corona Transylvanus) are in the upper right. The date of the woodcut and perhaps the initials of the artist are at the foot of the bed. Courtesy of the Digital Image Archive, Pitts Theology Library, Candler School of Theology, Emory University: http://www.pitts.emory.edu.
>3. To what extent does the Father tell his children to avoid the adulterous? (7-8)
* Proverbs 5:7-8 "Now then, my sons, listen to me; do not turn aside from what I say. Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of her house,"
* "Now then, my sons, listen to me"
* "do not turn aside from what I say"
* "Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of her house,"
*
>What is the Biblical definition of marriage? (Mark 10:6-9; 1 Corinthians 6:15-17)
* Mark 10:6-9 Jesus said, "But at the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female.' 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."
* 1 Corinthians 6:15-17 "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, "The two will become one flesh." But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit."
* Ephesians 5:22-33 "Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church- for we are members of his body. "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." This is a profound mystery-but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband."
*
>What does adultery do to the married couple?
*
>4. What happens to the married couple when one or both of them go to the sexual bed of another?
* Proverbs 5:9 "lest you give your best strength to others and your years to one who is cruel"
* "lest you give your best strength to others"
* "your years to one who is cruel"
*
>Who benefits in the end?
* Proverbs 5:10 "lest strangers feast on your wealth and your toil enrich another man's house."
* "lest strangers feast on your wealth"
* "your toil enrich another man's house."
*
* Adultery is to be avoided because a divided soul will not function well. Continuing with a divided soul does not mend a broken life. Infidelity self-robs strength, giving it to another (9). For when a man and woman are made into one through the covenant of marriage they are bound and synchronized by the hand of God. Marital immorality drains the life of the one made from the two like the sun drains a grape changing it into a hard raisin.
Marriage starts with a covenant before and with God thus becoming a newborn soul. The new life needs nourishment and nurturing to mature as a newborn baby does. Toil is a part of the maturing marital life. As the bounded conjugal soul develops they become a unique new life. Marital life is a reflection of the holy relationship between the Father and Jesus through the Spirit. The conjugal soul is more valuable than all the rare gems and minerals mined from rock and soil.
Infidelity is letting someone feast on the priceless conjugal soul (10). A perfidious spouse enriches another person's house. The Father's advice is wise and good. "Do not turn aside... keep to a path far from the adulterous, do not go near the door of that house." (7)
Listen to the above comments on Proverbs 5:7-10.
>5. What does verse 11 tell us about the results of sin?
* Proverbs 5:11 "At the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body are spent."
* "At the end of your life you will groan"
* "when your flesh and body are spent."
*
>Who is responsible for the result of our life of sin? (12)
* Proverbs 5:12 "You will say, "How I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction!"
* "How I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction!"
*
>6. What must we realize about ourself when we commit adultery? (13)
* Proverbs 5:13 "I would not obey my teachers or listen to my instructors."
* "I would not obey my teachers"
* "listen to my instructors."
*
>What must first be accepted and admitted to if we every want to correct the wrong commited? (14)
* Proverbs 5:14 "I have come to the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly."
* "I have come to the brink of utter ruin"
* "in the midst of the whole assembly."<
*
* Everyone looks back with regrets about foolish decisions made. The older I get new foolish decisions exist staring at me with disappointment at the fool I was. They extract from me the payments needed for the decisions I made. Debts that I can never pay off.
At the end of life, many groan when their flesh and body are spent due to foolish decisions' continuing tolls (11). From when I was a youth till my early twenties I hated discipline! I did not listen to my instructors (13). How I hated correction (12). I brought myself to the brink of utter ruin. Now, the man that I am looks back to the foolish decisions made by the man that was.
I am so thankful for the Son of Man, the Son of God who paid the price for the fool that I was and sometimes still is. He redeemed me from the empty life I lived. (1 Peter 1:18) "He redeemed me in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to me a Gentiles through Christ Jesus so that by faith I might receive the promise of the Spirit." (Galatians 3:14) Jesus paid the price with his blood."
Listen to the above comments on Proverbs 5:11-14.
III. In Full View of the Lord (5:15-23)
>7. What is the relationship with our spouse supposed to be like? (15)
* Proverbs 5:15 "Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well."
* "Drink water from your own cistern"
* "running water from your own well."
*
>What can happen if we don't see and treate our marriage in this way?
* Proverbs 5:16 "Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares?"
* "Should your springs overflow in the streets"
* "your streams of water in the public squares?"
*
>How can you ensure this to not be so?
* Proverbs 5:17 "Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers."
* "Let them be yours alone"
* "never to be shared with strangers."
*
>8. What does it mean to bless our spouse?
* Proverbs 5:18 "May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth."
* "May your fountain be blessed" -The wife is compared to a fountain to be taken into the body for refreshment and life. The father is telling his son to bless his wife. Bless here in the original Hebrew is "barak" meaning "abundantly to salute, praise, congradulate, thank, and kneel down to".
* "may you rejoice in the wife of your youth." -Chosen by you when you were young. The father is telling his young unmarried, but assume to marry soon that from the beginning of a marriage he should look and act in way to bless his wife for that will give great results in the future of his marriage.
*
* Marriage based on God and his character principles will enjoyingly last long. God is love. Therefore, a marriage based on his nature of love is well established. God's love is displayed in Jesus who willingly laid down his life for others while we were still sinners. Love is an emotion executed.
Drinking water from one's own cistern is expressing and enjoying romantic love with one's spouse (15). When a wife displays respect for her husband and a husband displays love for his wife it is filling their cup.
Deliberate attention to detail is blessing their fountain (18). The years go by and the symbols of youth slowly change to hieroglyphs. Yet, a man can act to bless his wife's gifts and a woman can bless her husband's presence. Why should the streams drain a lake (16)? Shouldn't the streams fill the lake? Purify the lake as you swim with the spouse of your youth.
Listen to the above comments on Proverbs 5:15-18.
* The engraving from a book "Beschouwing der wereld : bestaande in hondert konstige figuuren, met godlyke spreuken en stichtelyke verzen / door Jan Luiken" by Luiken, Jan (1649-1712) now in public domain is titled "The Hill: So as Not to Go Astray".
In a valley, two hikers point to a man standing on a hill from which he surveys his surroundings. The Dutch artist and poet Jan Luiken (1649-1712) was responsible for drawing this emblem and composed the poem that accompanies it. The etching was executed by Jan Luiken or his son Casper Luiken (1672-1708), who had used this image in an earlier work. The attendant scriptures are Proverbs 5:23 and Proverbs 16:25.
Courtesy of the Digital Image Archive, Pitts Theology Library, Candler School of Theology, Emory University: http://www.pitts.emory.edu.
The motto is "One walks with care, Along his life's path through this time". The accompanying poem is:
Should the trail of the route be wrong for one,
The hill, raised above the ground,
Lets him look out, where he is,
So that he will correct his perspective.
He who has lost his way through the wasteland,
Of the world's heath and wilderness,
Whose course is in a wretched state,
Through missing the right path for a long while:
Climb the height of the soul,
The hill of thoughtfulness,
So that it becomes clear for thee
How far thy foot has trod in error.
How far and wide thou art astray,
From the garden where thou shouldst end up,
How thou hast turned around and around,
Through thicket, forest, and wild trees.
How thy path more and more
Would lead thee from the place of rest,
And bring thee finally also so far,
So far, so far, on barren heath,
That from thee, in the last review,
The chance to once again come home
Through indecision, perhaps,
Was wrested and taken away.
Where the dismalness of the night
On the desolate field came to overtake thee,
Where carelessness had brought thee,
Unto the valley of the vale of tears.
Yes, also so far, so far, so far,
That thou never again didst come to tell the tale,
Fallen away without return,
As far as the abyss of hell.
Do not then walk past this hill,
The height, of deliberation,
So that one perceives where one is,
So as to gain the path to eternal salvation.
(Translation by Josephine V. Brown, with editorial assistance from William G. Stryker)
>Is it possible to be satisfied with out spouse our entire physical life? (19) How?
* Proverbs 5:19 "A loving doe, a graceful deer- may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her love."
* "A loving doe, a graceful deer"
* "may her breasts satisfy you always"
* "may you ever be captivated by her love."
*
>What does it mean to be captivated by another and how long does the captivity last? (20)
* Proverbs 5:20 "Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another man's wife?"
* "captive... by an adulteress" -The Hebrew for "adulteress" is "zur" meaning "stranger" and "strange woman". The term (along with ward wife) occurs in 2:16, 5:20, and 7:5. They mean anyone other than one's owm wife is off limits, like a foreigner who live and worship in another land to another god. (1 Kings 11:1)
*
* Many forms of sexual temptation abound in life. Most at least once are meet with deductive words that are hard to resist. We must be prepared if we mean to keep the covenant of marraige.
* Hebrews 13:4 " Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral."
*
* Human nature tends to sway to unexciting familiarity concerning someone in our life and too unkind thoughts concerning their actions and character, especially to our spouse. The human mindset plays the same old song triggering unpleasant emotions concerning the one we deeply loved at one time in the past. Our nature, character, and idiosyncrasies also change over time for us and our spouse.
A healthy and blessed marital relationship must include a continual mature adult execution. We need to find ways to rejoice in the wife or husband of our youth (18). How? One way is to see them with new kind eyes every day. A man can see his wife as a loving doe, a graceful deer to gently care for always being satisfied by her breast (19). A woman can see her husband as a steed available and ready for riding.
A husband should look for the way his wife loves him. When he finds and touches her hidden eggs of love the husband will naturally be captivated by her. This is a natural male trait.
A wife should look for the ways her husband respects her. When she finds and intakes his hidden seeds of respect the wife will naturally be captivated by him. The is a natural female trait.
A woman's main relationship language is love and a man's main relationship language is respect for that is what each craves more than the other. Men want and give respect more than love. Women want and give love more than respect.
Therefore, a way to find how to rejoice in the spouse of our youth is to look for signs in their relational language. Why be captivated by an adulteress? Why embrace the boom of another person's spouse? (20) When right in front of you, laying right next to you is a person you deeply loved and respected in the past. It can be easy to be captivated again if we just look for and express love and respect.
Listen to the above comments on Proverbs 5:18-20.
>9. Is adultery only known by two no matter to what extremes they go to to hide it from others? (21)
* Proverbs 5:21 "For a man's ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all his paths."
* "For a man's ways are in full view of the LORD"
* "he examines all his paths."
*
* Sometimes we believe that God doesn't see us nor care for us. Other times we hope that God takes his gaze away from us and leaves us alone. Yet in spite of what we believe about God and want God to do for us his truth of character exists eternal.
One truth is revealed in verse 21, "Each person's ways are clearly seen by the Lord, and he surveys all his actions." God has the ability to see time and space completely as one. He knows everything I do and every place I am at all at once. More than that he knows what motivated me to be there, think that, feel that, say that, and do that. Nothing about every moment of me is hidden from God.
So what does this mean for my day? Knowing that God examines my path for this day will help me hold fast to him and his ways. I can be assured that whatever I do and where ever I am God knows and cares for me. I can be assured that though I do not understand and may not like it, all works out good for those who believe.
Listen to the above comments on Proverbs 5:21.
> What does it mean that our deeds ensnare us? (22)
* Proverbs 5:22 "The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast."
* "The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him"
* "the cords of his sin hold him fast."
*
>Who is the only person to blame for adultery? (23)
* Proverbs 5:23 "He will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly."
* "He will die for lack of discipline"
* "led astray by his own great folly."
*
>10. Considering the entirty of this chapter is there hope for the adulterer? (John 8:3-6)
* The chapter is a father's warning to his son. He is educating him on the wisdom of avoiding the temptations of an adulteress. He concludes with the condition of the soul of the man who gives himself to the adulteress. That man is wicked and has committed an evil deed (24). "The cords of his sin hold him fast."
The Father tells his son that if he marries and then has sexual relations with another then it is his own great folly (23). If he has not yet married and has sexual relations with another man's wife, then that too is an evil act. The act of adultery is the fault of the person who does so. Evil is no one else's fault but our own. Adultery is death due to our own lack of discipline (23). Adultery leads to eternal death.
Hope exists for those who have committed adultery, whether mentally or physically. Once religious elders brought a woman caught in the act of adultery to Jesus to trap him. (John 8:3-6) They quoted the law of Moses saying the woman should die for her evil act. Jesus' reply to the woman is hope for the adulterer. He said to the woman, "Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin." When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
Jesus forgives, gives direction and strength to start over again, and most amazingly gives life to those who are dead because of their act of adultery and lack of discipline.
