Got 31 days in the month?
God's got 31 chapters in the book of Proverbs!
What a coincidence!
For each date then, again this month, you will find commentary on a few verses from the corresponding chapter. There are 7 months in the year with 31 days, so I divided each chapter into 7 parts and spread them out so that each verse will be reviewed on the date related to its chapter by the same number name. No, I am not deliberately trying to make this explanation complicated! (But, if you can explain my system any better than I have tried to do in the past three 31-day months, there is probably a proverb proclaiming your wisdom, and you will be recognized here for your high achievement!).
Below this introduction you will find the whole chapter representing today's date, with this month's verses highlighted in red, and my amateur comments for today low lighted in blue. Enjoy!
PROVERBS 6
Warnings Against Folly
1 My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor,
if you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger,
2 you have been trapped by what you said,
ensnared by the words of your mouth.
3 So do this, my son, to free yourself,
since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands:
Go—to the point of exhaustion—
and give your neighbor no rest!
4 Allow no sleep to your eyes,
no slumber to your eyelids.
5 Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
6 Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
7 It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
8 yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.
9 How long will you lie there, you sluggard?
When will you get up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest—
11 and poverty will come on you like a thief
and scarcity like an armed man.
12 A troublemaker and a villain,
who goes about with a corrupt mouth,
13 who winks maliciously with his eye,
signals with his feet
and motions with his fingers,
14 who plots evil with deceit in his heart—
he always stirs up conflict.
15 Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant;
he will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.
16 There are six things the Lord hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
16) I love this kind of poetic device: claim six but then describe 7. Don't ask me why this was devised, or why it works so well, but it just does. Am I the only one? Anyway, here we go.
17 haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
17) Haughty eyes: Pride again! Remember how it goes before the fall? Here we see its evil presence manifest through the eyes. How is it that our bodies betray our wicked spirits so carelessly? But they do! Perhaps it is simply because we are all the same, so we can easily recognize our own sin when it shines from another.
A Lying Tongue: Jesus said "I am the Truth." To speak a lie is to deny the Christ. To deny Christ is to stand "detestable" before the Lord.
Hands that shed innocent blood: Some blood must be shed; that of the guilty. God hates it when we shed innocent blood, simply because such blood deserves to flow through the veins it was intended to serve, for the good works they were planned to support, for the God the whole body should continue to glorify.
18 a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
18) God wants to avenge innocent blood, but a corrupt heart (devising wicked schemes) he detests. Such a heart will be stopped from pumping its vile blood and its schemes will be short lived.
Stupid feet! Why are not our feet more apt to rush into love joy or peace? Because they are literally, the fruits "of the Spirit". Since our forebears rejected obedience to God, our fruit (which is their fruit) rushes the wrong way entirely.
19 a false witness who pours out lies
and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.
19) Again we see God's attitude toward the untrue, and the untruistic (liars). They are perhaps the real anti-Christs because they foster the anti-Truth. And a "false witness" directly violates the ninth Commandment: Thou shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Exodus 20 (Incidentally; there may be a time to lie, but bearing false witness is always heinous. Ask about that in the comment section if you'd like.)
I can't think of a time when "stirring up conflict" is not done with a lie. But our God wants peace for our communities, and he hates any effort that disrupts the gift of peace.
Warning Against Adultery
20 My son, keep your father’s command
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
21 Bind them always on your heart;
fasten them around your neck.
22 When you walk, they will guide you;
when you sleep, they will watch over you;
when you awake, they will speak to you.
23 For this command is a lamp,
this teaching is a light,
and correction and instruction
are the way to life,
24 keeping you from your neighbor’s wife,
from the smooth talk of a wayward woman.
25 Do not lust in your heart after her beauty
or let her captivate you with her eyes.
26 For a prostitute can be had for a loaf of bread,
but another man’s wife preys on your very life.
27 Can a man scoop fire into his lap
without his clothes being burned?
28 Can a man walk on hot coals
without his feet being scorched?
29 So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife;
no one who touches her will go unpunished.
30 People do not despise a thief if he steals
to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.
31 Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold,
though it costs him all the wealth of his house.
32 But a man who commits adultery has no sense;
whoever does so destroys himself.
33 Blows and disgrace are his lot,
and his shame will never be wiped away.
34 For jealousy arouses a husband’s fury,
and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
35 He will not accept any compensation;
he will refuse a bribe, however great it is.
[Anyone willing to author an explanation of my system, let me know, and if it makes more sense than my attempts (how could it not?) I will use it in October.]
By the way...MILLERWRITES copy is COPYRIGHTED. Why cut and paste when you can simply copy the link?
Warning Against Adultery
20 My son, keep your father’s command
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
21 Bind them always on your heart;
fasten them around your neck.
22 When you walk, they will guide you;
when you sleep, they will watch over you;
when you awake, they will speak to you.
23 For this command is a lamp,
this teaching is a light,
and correction and instruction
are the way to life,
24 keeping you from your neighbor’s wife,
from the smooth talk of a wayward woman.
25 Do not lust in your heart after her beauty
or let her captivate you with her eyes.
26 For a prostitute can be had for a loaf of bread,
but another man’s wife preys on your very life.
27 Can a man scoop fire into his lap
without his clothes being burned?
28 Can a man walk on hot coals
without his feet being scorched?
29 So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife;
no one who touches her will go unpunished.
30 People do not despise a thief if he steals
to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.
31 Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold,
though it costs him all the wealth of his house.
32 But a man who commits adultery has no sense;
whoever does so destroys himself.
33 Blows and disgrace are his lot,
and his shame will never be wiped away.
34 For jealousy arouses a husband’s fury,
and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
35 He will not accept any compensation;
he will refuse a bribe, however great it is.
[Anyone willing to author an explanation of my system, let me know, and if it makes more sense than my attempts (how could it not?) I will use it in October.]
By the way...MILLERWRITES copy is COPYRIGHTED. Why cut and paste when you can simply copy the link?
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