PROVERBS LESSON 39

     We will begin this lesson in Proverbs 24:19 "Fret not thyself
because of evil [men], neither be thou envious at the wicked;"
Proverbs 24:20 "For there shall be no reward to the evil [man]; the
candle of the wicked shall be put out."

     Many people do not understand the prosperity of the evil man on
this earth. This Scripture is warning the righteous not to want what
the evil has. There is no future at all for the evil one.  His only
pleasure will be right here on this earth. Their pleasure is but for a
short while here on this earth. On resurrection day there will be a
great reward awaiting the righteous in heaven.  When we all stand
before the Lord, the righteous will be given eternal life in heaven
with our Lord, but the evil ones who rejected the Lord will be thrown
into the lake of fire with the devil and his demons. There is no
future at all worth having for the evil of the world.

     Proverbs 24:21 "My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: [and]
meddle not with them that are given to change:" Proverbs 24:22 "For
their calamity shall rise suddenly; and who knoweth the ruin of them
both?"

     Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, as we learned in a
previous lesson. It is also, an intelligent thing to have respectful
fear of anyone who is in authority over you. The sentence ("meddle not
with them that are given to change") don't get involved with someone
trying to overthrow  the government; and for sure don't be involved in
someone trying to change the Word of God. Overthrow of the government
tries wind up with those who are involved being tried for treason and
hung. The last few words in the Bible warn what will happen  to those
who change the wording of the Bible. Either one of these things could
be disastrous.

     Proverbs 24:23 "These [things] also [belong] to the wise. [It is]
not good to have respect of persons in judgment."

     In Acts 10:34 "Then Peter opened [his] mouth, and said, Of a
truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:" James 2:1 "My
brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, [the Lord] of
glory, with respect of persons." You should read all of James 2:1 thru
2:9  God is not a respecter of persons, as well. We should judge all
the same with no prejudice because of wealth or prominence.

     Proverbs 24:24 "He that saith unto the wicked, Thou [art]
righteous; him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him:"

     There is nothing worse than an unjust judge. The people can tell
when someone is playing favorites, and they don't like it. They demand
justice. Fair play is not only wanted, but demanded by the people.

     Proverbs 24:25 "But to them that rebuke [him] shall be delight,
and a good blessing shall come upon them."

     The people want the guilty punished and the innocent to go free.
The judge that does just that, without playing favorites, is respected
and loved by the people and by the Lord, as well.

     Proverbs 24:26 "[Every man] shall kiss [his] lips that giveth a
right answer."

     I don't believe this literally means to kiss someone who tells
the truth. It possibly means that every one shows approval of right
answers.

     Proverbs 24:27 "Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for
thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house."

     This is just saying for a man to build up whatever he is doing
for a living, before he takes on a family, and before he builds a
house to live in. It is saying, get your living established first and
then go and build a house.

     Proverbs 24:28 "Be not a witness against thy neighbour without
cause; and deceive [not] with thy lips."

     Gossip is spoken of badly in the Bible. I believe, here, that
this is speaking of spreading untruths about the neighbors. If you
were called to court to testify, you would have to tell the truth
about the neighbors, but just telling things to get rumors started is
bad.  Deceiving with the lips, perhaps, means stretching the truth to
harm someone.

     Proverbs 24:29 "Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to
me: I will render to the man according to his work."

     The Bible teaches do unto others as you would have them do unto
you. It is not our job to get even with him. Let God fight our battles
with him. We read in II Chronicles 32:8 "With him [is] an arm of
flesh; but with us [is] the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our
battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah
king of Judah."  You see, the Lord fights our battles for us, we do
not need to fight them ourselves.

     Proverbs 24:30 "I went by the field of the slothful, and by the
vineyard of the man void of understanding;" Proverbs 24:31 "And, lo,
it was all grown over with thorns, [and] nettles had covered the face
thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down."

     We know slothful means lazy. In this case, a person who is so
lazy that he will not take care of his own garden; A person who has
never gone to the trouble to accumulate any learning on how to take
care of his vineyard. He is so lazy that he has lain in the bed
resting and let the whole place grow up with thorns and bushes; He has
even let the fence get run down and now wild animals could come in and
destroy the crops, that is, if wasn't to lazy to put a crop in.  This
year it looks like there will be no crop. The owner is too lazy to
farm or run the vineyard.
     Proverbs 24:32 "Then I saw, [and] considered [it] well: I looked
upon [it, and] received instruction."

     After looking over the situation, there was no question but to
fully understand that the owner of this land was in plenty of trouble.

     Proverbs 24:33 "[Yet] a little sleep, a little slumber, a little
folding of the hands to sleep:" Proverbs 24:34 "So shall thy poverty
come [as] one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man."

     The old saying, "no work no eat" applies here. We see a person
who is a sleepyhead. They lay up in the bed and sleep the day away.
Even when they are awake, they spend time idly. A person like this
cannot ever quite get around to working, even though there is plenty
to do everywhere he looks. A person on a farm need not hunger. You can
grow a crop. This poverty coming is a sure thing when a person is too
lazy to work. An armed man robs because he wants what belongs to
others. This person, who will not work, also wants what someone else
has worked to produce. This is a very bad thing. It not only brings
physical poverty but spiritual poverty, as well, and destroys ones
self-respect.

































                     Proverbs Questions 39

1.  Who are we warned not to envy in verse 19?
2.  What will happen to the candle of the wicked?
3.  What 2 are we to fear?
4.  What is meant by "meddle not with them that are given to change"?
5.  What is the beginning of wisdom?
6.  What are people ordinarily tried for, who try to overthrow the
    government?
7.  In judgement, it is not good to do what?
8.  What Scripture tells us that God is not a respecter of persons?
9.  What are we commanded to do in James chapter 2?
10. When a judge says the guilty are innocent, how do the people feel
    about the judge?
11. What two things do the people want from the judge.
12. How do the people react to an impartial judge?
13. Who do you believe verse 26 means?
14. Which should a man build first, his business or his home?
15. Be not a witness against thy neighbor _______ _______ ______.
16. What does "deceive not with thy lips" mean?
17. Who fights the Christian's battles?
18. What does "slothful" mean?
19. What had happened to the field and vineyard of the slothful man?
20. After he considered the situation  of the slothful man, what
    conclusion did he come to?
21. What was the slothful man doing instead of working?
22. What will come from this?
23. What does an armed man rob?