Talk of JESUS .com

Tag: Proverbs

A popular saying, regarded as conveying wisdom. Scripture records a great number of didactic proverbs and also preserves some popular sayings.

Proverbs – Biblehub.com Proverbs topical index

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  • Prophesy in a Proverb

    Prophesy in a Proverb

    Hear and understand what is not of your own tongue or written with words of your understanding:

    Proverbs 30:

     דִּבְרֵי אָגוּר בִּן־יָקֶה הַמַּשָּׂא נְאֻם הַגֶּבֶר לְאִֽיתִיאֵל לְאִיתִיאֵל וְאֻכָֽל׃

     כִּי בַעַר אָנֹכִי מֵאִישׁ וְלֹֽא־בִינַת אָדָם לִֽי׃

      וְלֹֽא־לָמַדְתִּי חָכְמָה וְדַעַת קְדֹשִׁים אֵדָֽע׃

     מִי עָלָֽה־שָׁמַיִם וַיֵּרַד מִי אָֽסַף־רוּחַ בְּחָפְנָיו מִי צָֽרַר־מַיִם בַּשִּׂמְלָה מִי הֵקִים כָּל־אַפְסֵי־אָרֶץ מַה־שְּׁמֹו וּמַֽה־שֶּׁם־בְּנֹו כִּי תֵדָֽע׃

    This is how you may have read it, but you still do not understand:

    The Words of Agur

    30 The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The oracle.

    Do you ever feel this way about the wisdom of the Bible?

    The man declares, I am weary, O God;
    I am weary, O God, and worn out.
    2 Surely I am too stupid to be a man.
    I have not the understanding of a man.
    3 I have not learned wisdom,
    nor have I knowledge of the Holy One.

    “Surely I am too stupid to be a man. I have not the understanding of a man.”  Do you ever feel this way about the wisdom of the Bible?  I do.

    The King James uses the word ‘brutish’ for stupid.  I don’t like to think of myself as stupid or brutish, but often when I try to understand the written word of God, I realize: “I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the Holy One.”

    Prior to going back to the opening Hebrew, let’s look at the King James Version for verse 1.

     Proverbs 30:1 The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, even the prophecy: the man spake unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Ucal

    Behind each gem of scripture; beneath each verse of knowledge of the Holy One; dwells understanding to be studied and understood in God’s meaning for us.  Take just this verse, for example:

    Agur means: gathered. He is son of Jakeh: which means blameless.

    Ithiel means: God is with me. Ucal means: devoured and he is a student of the teacher: Agur

    Without this wisdom and understanding of who speaks to us the burden of prophesy in this Proverb, the weight of the following verse will most likely fall on deaf ears of a brutish man like you or me.

    You are not so brutish, or am I so wise as to understand what you cannot study in scripture.  I will leave the key verse of Proverbs 30:4 to your word study.  May the Lord and the Son give you knowledge.  yada yada

    4 Who has ascended to heaven and come down?
    Who has gathered the wind in his fists?
    Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment?
    Who has established all the ends of the earth?
    What is his name, and what is his son’s name?
    Surely you know!

     

  • An Excellent Wife Who Can Find?

    An Excellent Wife Who Can Find?

    Proverbs 31:

    10 An excellent wife who can find?
    She is far more precious than jewels.
    11 The heart of her husband trusts in her,
    and he will have no lack of gain.
    12 She does him good, and not harm,
    all the days of her life.

    A rare jewel is a wife faithful to Christ Jesus.  A reward more precious than gold is a wife faithful to her husband.

    An excellent wife who can find?

    The vows of commitment of our Christian marriage speak of unbreakable relationship:

    • unbreakable relationship of a man to a woman (We sure need them in our lives.)
    • unbreakable relationship of a woman to a man
    • and life-long relationship to our God as perfect example of love to both.

     “In the name of God, I, ______, take you, ______, to be my wife/husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until we are parted by death. This is my solemn vow.”

    The vow and the word of a Christian is witness to our trust in Christ Jesus as our Lord.

    A Christian wife is trusted by her husband as he must also trust in Christ our Lord to keep His promise of eternal Life.

    When we are joined as one in the name of God, we are also one with the witness of our vows: our God and Lord, Christ Jesus. A Christian wife would no more betray her husband than an Apostle would betray his Lord. She is a woman of faith and integrity in the Lord.

    The Bible makes clear that Christian marriage is the best example of the intimacy of the Bride, Christ’s Church, being joined as One with the returning Bridegroom, Jesus Christ our Lord, who IS and will return for His faithful Bride.

    “She does Him good and not harm all the days of her life.”

    Is this not the witness every Christian (man or woman) ought to have for Christ our Lord?

    The Bible offers many examples of advice for men and about the counsel and company of other godly men; but the one place in the Bible offering some of the best advice for women is Proverbs 31.

    Proverbs 31 opens with a reference to King Lemuel.

    I never knew anything of this wise husband.  I can offer no better insight than that of John MacArthur, a faithful authority on scripture.

    I would offer my sisters in the Lord one additional resource to the scripture. (Some may be familiar with their radio broadcasts, which I too find encouraging.) Proverbs 31 Ministries.

    Like a faithful husband in the Lord, a good wife needs encouragement of other Christians, women to offer her encouragement in scripture and prayer.

    Please pray for my wife.  Pray also for me.

    Beloved sister in the Lord,

    Seek the Lord and you will find Him. He is faithful to His bride.

    07-07-07
    07-07-07

    I love my wife, my blessing.

    (“Love” includes many loves for me. {See 1 Corinthians 13 & Song of Songs})

    I love Jesus Christ as my Lord. Let no one doubt this First love of mine.

    I will pray also for your Christian marriage.

    (Just add a comment.)

  • Liar, liar, pants on fire

    Liar, liar, pants on fire

    Do you recall that kid’s expression?

    I heard it from my friends when caught in a lie.

    Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

    It’s not a biblical quote, however the Bible continually teaches us the value of truth and the consequence of lies.  God takes truth very seriously.

    “The Liar.” a poem by William Blake from about 200 years ago is probably the source of the expression. Jesus had to deal with liars even in the Temple 2000 years ago. (We’ll get to that shortly.) And about 3000 years ago the Proverbs of the Bible addressed lies as wickedness in relationships.

    Proverbs 17:4 An evildoer listens to wicked lips,

    and a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue.

    Wickedness, mischief, speaking evil – all connected.

    We owe our souls to the master of lies when we are unwilling to face the truth of God.  We tell lies first to our SELF – lies from Satan. Then we lie to others to cover our evil tracks.

    Lies poison our relationships with others.  Liars willingly listen to other liars, accepting lies as truth.

    Why would a ‘friend,’ a family member or a loved one lie for you?   What truth visible to God would they hide?

    Consider the evil motives of a liar:

    “If someone is willing to lie for you, they are also willing to lie to you.

    Men with miserable lives will even die for a lie they willingly believe — (reward of evil: virgins for them in heaven). These same religious leaders who cover women from head to toe on earth will lead their fellow sinners to death for the lie of a false prophet.

    Religious leaders lead followers toward worship of a virgin while claiming chastity to God and hiding unrighteousness with a lie for a friend. Church Bishops have even built homes for mistresses and lovers even in medieval times.

    Wickedness, built on lies – even to the highest levels of religious leadership at times and in all faiths over the millenia.

    Jesus had to confront this in the Pharisees of the Temple – evil and wicked men with motives to hold onto their power and evil even in face of opposing God. They brought a woman caught in adultery to Jesus to test him.  They did not bring the man to stone. (Perhaps he was a religious leader.)

    Then the Pharisees accused Jesus of being born out of a relationship of unrighteousness, in essence saying: “Your mother was no virgin.”

    Of course the lie in this is not the issue. The point is Who they confront with all of their lies to hold onto their power:

    Jesus IS Son of Man, Son of God – Jesus IS truth.

    Part of the Talmud is a lie. The Book of Mormon is a lie. The Bible of the Jehovah Witness is a lie (full of incomplete and deliberately mistranslated Scripture). And of course the writings of the false prophet of Arabia are a lie.

    The atheist is both a liar and a contradiction. How can you be ‘against’ a God you do not believe in? Yet justification of SELF and the evil without accountability require much effort and energy of the atheist, the agnostic, and worshipers of creation in place of the Creator. NO God = NO hell (the same false lie and false hope of the idolatrous religions: Hinduism, Buddhism and others).

    Again from Proverbs – the caution from the Bible:

    Proverbs 30:5-6 Every word of God proves true;
    he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

    Do not add to his words,
    lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.

    To be clear (for those who refuse to listen to God’s truth), definition  for ‘rebuke’ from the Hebrew word:

    yakach – [“He will reprove” KJV] – to prove, decide, judge, rebuke, reprove, correct, be right

    God will judge your lie.  Consider the description of Hell, liar.

    John 8:

    23 He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”

    25 So they said to him, “Who are you?”

    Jesus said to them,“Just what I have been telling you from the beginning…

    The Truth Will Set You Free

    31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

    You Are of Your Father the Devil

    44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me…

    Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

    Are you so bold as to stand up to the liars of this world for the Truth?

    Proverbs 8:

    6 Hear, for I will speak noble things,
    and from my lips will come what is right,
    7 for my mouth will utter truth;
    wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
    8 All the words of my mouth are righteous;
    there is nothing twisted or crooked in them.
    9 They are all straight to him who understands,
    and right to those who find knowledge.

    Jeremiah 5:3

    O LORD, do not your eyes look for truth?
    You have struck them down,
    but they felt no anguish;
    you have consumed them,
    but they refused to take correction.
    They have made their faces harder than rock;
    they have refused to repent.

    John 14;

    I Am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life

    14 “Let not your hearts be troubled.

    Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.”

    … “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

    6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.