PROVERBS LESSON 31


    We will begin this lesson in Proverbs 20:1 "Wine [is] a mocker,
strong drink [is] raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not
wise."

    One of the worse problems in our society today, many think, is the
abuse of alcohol.  My own personal opinion is that abuse of alcohol is
a symptom of a much greater problem.  The problem is sin or lack of
God 's security in our lives.  Most people who drink heavily, or in
fact those who use drugs also, are running from reality.  They feel
that they cannot face their problems and they hide in alcohol and
drugs.  Sin brings torment.  The only way to stop drug and alcohol
abuse is to have a national revival.  Turn to God, away from sin, and
He will bring you peace.  There will be no reason to hide, you will
have Jesus Christ as your help.  Only a fool would refuse Jesus and
live in the torment of drugs and alcohol.

    Proverbs 20:2 "The fear of a king [is] as the roaring of a lion:
[whoso] provoketh him to anger sinneth [against] his own soul."

    We discussed that fear of the king is fear of what he can do to
you on this earth.  If you provoke him to anger, you could lose your
head or spend a lifetime in jail.

    Proverbs 20:3 "[It is] an honour for a man to cease from strife:
but every fool will be meddling."

    In our society today many believe that they should avenge all
wrongs themselves.  The Bible teaches to be good to your enemies.
Bless them that curse you.  A fool keeps a strife going.  He does not
try to stop trouble.  He meddles in other's business and causes
strife.

    Proverbs 20:4 "The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold;
[therefore] shall he beg in harvest, and [have] nothing."

    I see in this sluggard (lazy person) someone who looks for just
any excuse not to work.  In this particular case, fields need to be
plowed when there is moisture in the ground to keep from breaking the
plow.  If you miss the plowing time, there will be no reaping time.
The cold is just an excuse not to work.  The sluggard says it is too
hot to work in the summer.  As I said, this is just an excuse not to
work.  He and his family will suffer for his laziness in harvest time.
There will be no crop to gather.

    Proverbs 20:5 "Counsel in the heart of man [is like] deep water;
but a man of understanding will draw it out."

    This is the very reason, I believe, that it is so important to
study your Bible every day.  If some day we were not allowed to have a
Bible we could hold in our hand, we that have studied regularly would
still have the Bible hidden away in our heart.  No one could take that
Bible away from us.  This "counsel in the heart" is that kind of
counsel.  I sing a song called "There is a River" and it speaks of a
river from deep within that frees the soul from sin.  This counsel
flows from way down deep in the heart, from a pure heart, stayed upon
God.  The good things that we have stored in our heart can be drawn up
whenever we need them.  The Holy Spirit will quicken to us Scriptures
that we have hidden in our heart as we need them.

    Proverbs 20:6 "Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness:
but a faithful man who can find?"

    We must be very careful not to go around bragging on ourselves.
The way of the world is for a man to brag on his own good traits.
These very same people who are continually telling how good they are,
are sometimes found wanting when they are tested to see just how much
faith they really have.  Faith is not fact.  Faith is believing when
we cannot see with our physical eye.  Just a few men in the Bible were
listed among the faithful in the Old Testament.  You can find a list
of them in Hebrews 11.

    Proverbs 20:7 "The just [man] walketh in his integrity: his
children [are] blessed after him."

    We see by this that a just man lives his Christianity.  He walks
in his salvation every day.  He walks uprightly before the Lord.
People have great respect for him because they know that he walks
uprightly before God.  Even his children are highly thought of by the
community because of their father's walk before God.  We see this
blessing of children from their father's pleasing God in Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob.

    Proverbs 20:8 "A king that sitteth in the throne of judgment
scattereth away all evil with his eyes."

    We know that the King of kings (Jesus Christ) can see directly
through those who would stand before Him and lie.  There is nothing
concealed that He does not know.  An earthly king who was used to
judging would be pretty well able to tell the truth from a lie, also.
If they have been judging very long, every story in the world has
already been tried on them.  Their experience with people would tell
them who is telling the truth.  No one would dare do evil in his sight
for fear that their punishment for their sin would be even greater.
Just one look in the king's eyes and you would be compelled to tell
the truth.

    Proverbs 20:9 "Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure
from my sin?"

    The answer is no one.  Only Jesus can cleanse our heart from sin.
Our heart must be washed in the blood of Jesus to make us free of sin.
His blood doesn't just cover our sin, it does away with it entirely.

    Proverbs 20:10 "Divers weights, [and] divers measures, both of
them [are] alike abomination to the LORD."
    God hates dishonesty.  This sin does not just bring harm to the
sinner, but to the person he has cheated by false weights and
measurements, as well.

    Proverbs 20:11 "Even a child is known by his doings, whether his
work [be] pure, and whether [it be] right."

    Children do not conceal what they are.  At a very early age,
character starts forming, and a child is known as a good child or a
bad child by the things he does and says.  Only the rod of correction
and or God can change a bad child into a good child.

    Proverbs 20:12 "The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath
made even both of them."

    God truly made our eyes and our ears, because we are His creation.
I believe this is intended to mean the spiritual ear that listens and
receives and the spiritual eye, as well, that sees things everyone
does not see.  In Revelation, over and over we are told that they have
eyes to see and they see not and ears to hear, but they hear not.
These eyes, in verse 12, see and these ears hear.  I believe this is
saying that it is God that opens our understanding.  We see
spiritually and hear spiritually, because He opened our understanding
to His secrets.

    Proverbs 20:13 "Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open
thine eyes, [and] thou shalt be satisfied with bread."

    If you lie around sleeping all the time instead of working, you
will not earn any money and you will be poor.  If you work hard, you
will have at least enough money to eat on.

    Proverbs 20:14 "[It is] naught, [it is] naught, saith the buyer:
but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth."

    This is saying that it is wrong to run someone else's merchandise
down just so you can buy it cheaper.  The condition of the merchandise
in this verse 14, suddenly changes to better when ownership is
changed.

    Proverbs 20:15 "There is gold, and a multitude of rubies: but the
lips of knowledge [are] a precious jewel."

    Gold and rubies are very valuable, but it is possible to have them
if you have enough money.  If you have enough money, they can be
found.  I believe this Scripture is saying that a person who speaks in
God's knowledge is very scarce and hard to find.







                         Proverbs 31 Questions

1.  What is wine in verse 1?
2.  Strong drink is what?
3.  What do most people think our greatest problem is today?
4.  What is it really?
5.  Why do people hide in drugs and alcohol?
6.  What does sin bring the sinner?
7.  How does the author think is the only way to stop drug and alcohol
    abuse?
8.  Who is the only person who would refuse salvation through Jesus?
9.  It is an honor for a man to cease from --------.
10. Why will the sluggard not plow?
11. If he doesn't plow, what will he do in harvest?
12. Counsel in the heart of man is compared to what?
13. What is faith?
14. Where in Hebrews can you find a list of the faithful of the Old
    Testament?
15. In verse 7, the just man walketh in his ----------.
16. A king that sitteth in the throne of judgment scattereth away all
    evil with his -------.
17. Who is King of kings ?
18. Who can say, "I have made my heart clean"?
19. How is the only way to cleanse the heart from sin?
20. What kind of weights and measures are an abomination to God?
21. A child is known by his ---------.
22. Who made the seeing eye?
23. If you love sleep, what shall you come to?
24. Trying to run a person's merchandise down to buy it, is what?
25. In verse 15, what is more precious than gold and rubies?