“Say to wisdom, "You are my sister," and call understanding your kinsman; they will keep you from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words.” – Proverbs 7:4-5
Has anyone else noticed how much talk there is of adultery in the first nine chapters of Proverbs?? If it was any other manuscript than the Bible I would say it’s a little too much. But since it’s the Bible, God obviously has something to teach us.
As this scripture says, its wisdom and understanding that will keep us from the adulteress. We’re called to become close personal friends with wisdom and understanding. We’re supposed to call out to wisdom and tell her (notice the feminine form of wisdom) that she is our sister and call understanding a close family member! Apparently when you’re in the same family as wisdom and understanding you are protected from the horror of the adulteress and her lies. Keeping family like this will keep you away from the terrible results of lying with her:
“Many are the victims she has brought down; her slain are a mighty throng. Her house is a highway to the grave, leading down to the chambers of death.” – Proverbs 7:26-27
So I was thinking about this, if calling understanding your kinsman and wisdom your sister leads to a life free from the terrible result of adultery, what is the effect of running with other spirits? So the opposite of wisdom as declared by Proverbs is foolishness. Then the opposite of understanding must be ignorance? So run with wisdom and understanding and stay away from adultery, run with foolishness and ignorance and fall right into her trap?
Also of note, in proverbs foolishness is always used in the masculine, wisdom in the feminine. Do you think that God is trying to tell us something??
LIFE LESSON?
Who do you call your family?
Has anyone else noticed how much talk there is of adultery in the first nine chapters of Proverbs?? If it was any other manuscript than the Bible I would say it’s a little too much. But since it’s the Bible, God obviously has something to teach us.
As this scripture says, its wisdom and understanding that will keep us from the adulteress. We’re called to become close personal friends with wisdom and understanding. We’re supposed to call out to wisdom and tell her (notice the feminine form of wisdom) that she is our sister and call understanding a close family member! Apparently when you’re in the same family as wisdom and understanding you are protected from the horror of the adulteress and her lies. Keeping family like this will keep you away from the terrible results of lying with her:
“Many are the victims she has brought down; her slain are a mighty throng. Her house is a highway to the grave, leading down to the chambers of death.” – Proverbs 7:26-27
So I was thinking about this, if calling understanding your kinsman and wisdom your sister leads to a life free from the terrible result of adultery, what is the effect of running with other spirits? So the opposite of wisdom as declared by Proverbs is foolishness. Then the opposite of understanding must be ignorance? So run with wisdom and understanding and stay away from adultery, run with foolishness and ignorance and fall right into her trap?
Also of note, in proverbs foolishness is always used in the masculine, wisdom in the feminine. Do you think that God is trying to tell us something??
LIFE LESSON?
Who do you call your family?
I believe that most women are more intuitive than men, especially when it comes to the subtle non-verbal cues that we all throw off at one other. We can sense the unspoken jab or "feel" the tension in the air alot easier than our male counterparts. It reminds me of when my husband and I first got married. There was this gal that lived in the next apartment building over from us. She was single and attractive. Upon noticing that she had just bought a new car, Victor and I stopped to roll down the window and say "Hey, nice car!" I was on the passenger side and she leaned in OVER me to say hello to VICTOR, never even acknowledging me or my step-son in the backseat. When we drove away, I looked my husband right in the eye and said to him..."Mark my words, that girl is up to no good. Don't ever be caught alone with her. She WILL come on to you." Of course as my husband is a very Godly man, and a bit naïve at that, he waved me off and thought I was crazy or over-protective. Just one week later this same woman came up behind my husband, rubbing herself up against him when he was trying to get his key to open the outer apartment building's door….to HELP him. He was horrified and very shaken up as he had done nothing to encourage her.
ReplyDeleteI said all this to say that wisdom, as she is a feminine word, give us the ability to see the subtle, sneaky plans that the enemy has for us. Foolishness, as it is masculine would tend to completely ignore (foolishness and ignorance run together) these cues. My theory has always been that most times we set ourselves up to fail, because we WANT to sin. It is commonly called "self-sabotage." We can subconsciously create situations, so that we have a good reason to fail. God's word tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:13 "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it." So you see.....when we fail, it is because we have not accessed Christ's power over sin; which is really what GRACE is. Grace isn't simply forgiveness of sin, that is mercy; it is the ability to overcome sin.
So, "as a dog returns to his vomit, a fool returns to HIS folly." Combat foolishness and embrace true wisdom which can only come from God.
Wow! Great stuff!
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