B is for Blameless and B is for Beer

There a lot of good and bad B words in Proverbs but BLAMELESS represents a high ideal for all of us, and BEER, well BEER does have its detractors.

One is either BLAMELESS or what?  Blameful?  Blameish?  Blamable maybe.  How about guilty?
Yes, I think we are either BLAMELESS or guilty.  You may notice that the passage today is a continuation of yesterday's section about ADULTERY, but after describing the terrible things that happen to its participants, these lines are a breath of relief for those who refrain.  The "upright" will not become refugees, and the BLAMELESS get to keep their place!

20 Thus you will walk in the ways of the good
and keep to the paths of the righteous. 

For the upright will live in the land,
and the blameless will remain in it; 
Proverbs 2:20,21

"Oh Lord, I know I am guilty of offending you, but having been forgiven in Jesus' name, I know you now see me, as BLAMELESS!"

BEER certainly has many different effects on people, but one of them is to cause much brawling.  How many bar fights would break out if there was no beer in the bar?  Well I suppose there might be some if the tap ran out early, but the cause there too could be traced back to beer.

There are happy drunks and funny drunks and sweet drunks and sleepy drunks, among the rowdy fighting drunks, but the one thing they all have in common is that they are not being themselves.  They have rejected themselves and allowed another "spirit", as it were, to lead them where they would not otherwise go.  And as the Proverb says, that place is generally "astray".

Notice that being led astray is not quite the same as being ambushed and kidnapped!  It is far more subtle, and takes much more discretion and sensitivity to be avoided.

Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler;
whoever is led astray by them is not wise.
Proverbs 20:1

"Again Father, we need your WISDOM so as to be led straight, and not astray."




By the way...MILLERWRITES copy is COPYRIGHTED. Why cut and paste when you can simply copy the link?

The Proverbs 31 Project: Commenting March 31st on Proverbs 31:6-9

                     March 31st?     Read Proverbs 31!

[Please note: The first two paragraphs below are repeated each day for new readers. My amateur comments are offered below each of today's verses from Proverbs.]

Have you ever noticed that, as most months have 31 days, so the Book of Proverbs has 31 chapters? Fascinating right? Well, it is at least interesting, and coincidentally beneficial to those who would like to read a portion of thought provoking scripture every day of the month. You might like to read the calendar coordinated chapter from Proverbs every day this month (I've included the whole chapter below!) and then see if my comments on a few of those verses line up with your own observations. My plan is to go through the year, writing my response to about one seventh of each chapter's verses every day, during each of the 7 months that have 31 days.  Clear as mud? That's what I thought.

I hope you check in, and leave a comment. Especially if I say something really off base and need to be corrected, because, as we learned this month on the 27th, Proverbs 27:5 says

                                "Better is open rebuke than hidden love." 

                                          Today's inspired verses, 6-9, are highlighted in red

                                                (and my questionable comments are in blue).

Proverbs 31

Sayings of King Lemuel

1 The sayings of King Lemuel—an inspired utterance his mother taught him.
2 Listen, my son! Listen, son of my womb!
Listen, my son, the answer to my prayers!
3 Do not spend your strength[a] on women,
your vigor on those who ruin kings.

4 It is not for kings, Lemuel—
it is not for kings to drink wine,
not for rulers to crave beer,
5 lest they drink and forget what has been decreed,
and deprive all the oppressed of their rights.
6 Let beer be for those who are perishing,
wine for those who are in anguish!


6) So sorry, but if you came all this way to learn more about the famous "Proverbs 31 woman", you still have to wait until May 31st!  (It's not MY fault.  If old King Lemuel hadn't slipped his old 'sayings' into this chapter we would have gotten to the 'wife of noble character back in January, but alas, here we are.)  Although it is my system that will stretch out the study of her description through five months!  Starting at verse 10, we will finish with Proverbs 31, verse 31, on December 31st.  (But feel free to cheat and read the whole chapter below right now!)


If you are really in agony over this then Lemuel says you should go have a beer, I guess.  Or a bottle of wine maybe.  I hope his recommendation is sarcastic.  Drinking to escape has never been a good idea, and never will suffice.

7 Let them drink and forget their poverty
and remember their misery no more.


7)  You're only kidding aren't you Lemmy?  Perhaps your sympathy has gone over the edge.  Can't you think of some other solution to "say" for these poor folk?

 8 Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,
for the rights of all who are destitute.


8) Yes!  I knew you could do it Kingy Buddy!  Those of us outside their trouble (but possibly on the edge of  falling in after) should indeed speak up.  The born should protest the slaughter of the unborn; the working should protest the ruination of job creation; the free Church must protest the persecution of the forlorn and suffering Church worldwide.  


The difficulty here is that it is generally those who are not YET in some oppressive ruin, and therefore do not feel it, who must stand up and speak up for those under the thumb of calamity.  We do all need to hear the evil, see the evil and then speak of the evil all around us!

9 Speak up and judge fairly;
defend the rights of the poor and needy.


9) Speaking up is only half the battle.  Some protest movements consist of thoughtless soundbites, crude slogans and dumb verses poorly but obediently sung to well known tunes.  The 'judging fairly' is critical.  Being 'judgmental' is wholly different from judging, in that only one of them can be done 'fairly'.  The first step in 'defending' the 'poor and needy' would be to carefully and thoughtfully identify their true rights. 

Epilogue: The Wife of Noble Character

10 [b]A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
11 Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
12 She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.
13 She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.
15 She gets up while it is still night;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her female servants.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
17 She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.
18 She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.
19 In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
20 She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.
21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
22 She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
and supplies the merchants with sashes.
25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.
26 She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
27 She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
29 “Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.”
30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
31 Honor her for all that her hands have done,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.
Footnotes:
Proverbs 31:3 Or wealth
Proverbs 31:10 Verses 10-31 are an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

The Proverbs 31 Project: Commenting January 31st on Proverbs 31:1-5

January 31;  Proverbs 31  Verses 1-5


[Please note: The first two paragraphs below are repeated each day for new readers.  My amateur comments are offered below the verses from Proverbs.]

Christians looking for a simple way to review the Bible regularly, have long been convenienced by the fact that the book of Proverbs has 31 chapters, the same number as most of our months.  Each chapter includes multiple bite-sized verses (uhm, proverbs) and can be read through simply in one sitting, one appropriately numbered chapter per day through the month.  A person might read through the Proverbs a chapter a day during any month, but why mess with your head (reading an extra chapter on one, two, or three days!) like that when there are 7 months every year perfectly suited for the endeavor?

My idea here is to reprint about 1/7 of the verses from each day's chapter throughout this year, every time a 31 day month pops up, and then offer a few comments from The Barking Owl.  So in January, we will get through the first few verses of every chapter and then in March, the next group, and so on, until December comes around and we can finally get to the last set of verses in each chapter and complete the book's reading.  If you are smarter than I am (is there any doubt?), you will read the whole chapter every day, every 31 day month, and then you will have read the whole book 7 times this year!  By then you are guaranteed to at least be wiser than The Barking Owl , though no one will ever match the wisdom of Solomon!


[All Bible passages are from the NIV, and are copied from www.Biblegateway.com]

Proverbs 31


Sooooo....Perhaps you are one who googled "Proverbs 31" because you wanted to review thoughts and information on that most famous and controversial chapter, and thought you hit the jackpot when you found something called "The Proverbs 31 Project"!  (Well you did, but in a different sense.)  Now you know that this project is about all 31 chapters of Proverbs, and you can rejoice for I have finally arrived at the famed chapter which celebrates, for the most part, the godly wife.  But now your roller coaster takes a another dive, because that section doesn't start until verse 10, and I won't be getting there until May 31st!  Then again, you don't need me.  Please read the whole chapter, and just think about it today; 


1 The sayings of King Lemuel--an inspired utterance his mother taught him.


1) Not every motherly utterance is inspired, but that is the claim made here regarding  King Lemuel's mother and her words of wisdom.


2 Listen, my son!  Listen, son of my womb!
   Listen, my son, the answer to my prayers!


2) All the "listen, listen"s might turn a kid off, but that last part:  To be called an "answer to my prayers" would get my attention!


3 Do not spend your strength on women,
   your vigor on those who ruin kings.


3) I guess he wasn't a boy, but a young man, when he received this advice.  A hard word, but true.  What does a young man want more than a girlfriend?  And what can drain him of all he has, and is, and might become, more than a girlfriend?  A man needs to be strong his whole life through.  But his whole manly ability is not gained and established at puberty!  Much more importantly than the appearance of new hormones, is the growth, development and maturation of his character.  Not to mention a few other issues like wisdom, real (not sophomoric) humor, fiscal knowledge and responsibility etc etc.  Only with patience as the right number of years pass, will a young man come to find that his strength can actually handle all of his own duties, AND manage to support all the details and  delights of the woman he loves.


4 It is not for kings, Lemuel--
   it is not for kings to drink wine,
   not for rulers to crave beer,


4) I talked about my limited experience with the "spirits" of wine and beer back on Jan 20, so today I will just look at that last line; "not for rulers to crave beer".  It would seem that the real point of the verse is that rulers must live by a different standard.  In all the old movies, the merry old Kings of Old England are swilling wine from giant gold goblets and spilling it all over themselves to boot.  They are usually in some tirade or another over the latest rascal to upset the status quo, and make some great declaration about killing the miscreant.  It never works, because the rapscallions are always smarter than the king and a better fighter than all 150 of the king's guards, and there's always the perfect rope tied up at the top of the stairs so he can swing over the hall and drop the chandelier on the troops below.  In reality, Solomon warns, the reason such a king would fail to protect his kingdom's ideals from someone outside the order of government, is that he is too darn drunk to pay attention to his work!


Our president, we are told, is never more than 10 or 20 feet from the "nuclear football", a briefcase of data and equipment which would enable the president to order an appropriate nuclear attack in an emergency.  But what if the commander in chief was more than two or three drinks out of his senses when the crisis arose?  Not good.  For any leader distracted from his serious obligations, becomes a direct assault on the freedoms of the people.


5 lest they drink and forget what has been decreed,
   and deprive all the oppressed of their rights.


5) I like this verse for its incidental defining of an authority's role.  And it even hearkens forward to our Declaration of Independence by suggesting that the people already have rights.  It is simply the government's duty to "secure" them, not to "endow" them, as God has already done.