A Peak At Proverbs

What motivates you? Our society is very good at using the infamous “carrot and stick” approach. There is always an offer that is too good to be true; “free” is a common one, followed by the stick approach: some adverse circumstance that must be avoided at all costs.  We were raised that way; the billions spent on advertising depend on the human response to carrots and sticks. There are tens of thousands of rules, regulations, and penalties affecting our lives. A sense of urgency usually accompanies behavioral control. In reality, however, basic human behavior is driven by a much deeper source, the very roots of our beliefs.

The work of the psychiatrist Albert Ellis¹https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Ellis in the mid-1950s led to the development of the original form of cognitive-behavioral therapy, called Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT). Ellis believed that most people were unaware that many of their self-perceptions were irrational and that these perceptions adversely affected their behavior in essential relationships and situations. According to Ellis, it is these thoughts that lead people to suffer negative emotions and engage in self-destructive behavior. To simplify this further, it meant that bad behavior, even sins in the eyes of our God, comes from deep within our own beliefs, which were formed by the many experiences, good and bad, within our lives. To behave in terms satisfactory to our God, to change our behavior, therefore, first requires an understanding of our beliefs and how they were formed.

• We can look to a much earlier time, to our Bible, to see that the idea of proper instruction, the formation of Godly behaviors, was always understood to be rooted in what you believe. Proverbs conveyed wisdom in brief points and principles but were not regarded as “laws” or even as universal promises.
• Proverbs by design pointed to observations, meant to be memorized and pondered, not always intended to be applied ‘across the board’ to every situation without qualification. It is said that Solomon could quote over 3,000 proverbs.
• Proverbs generalize, as a proverb must, and may seem to make life too tidy to be true. Example: While “Many hands make light work,” Too many cooks spoil the broth.” A proverb is not a magical formula that brings wisdom and blessing by incantation. It has no value unless it is applied to the proper set of circumstances with common sense.
• Proverbs rarely quote other parts of Scripture and are analogous to folk wisdom. We find, however, its own description in Proverb 1²NIV New International Version Translations.

¹ The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: ² for gaining wisdom and instruction; for understanding words of insight; ³ for receiving instruction in prudent behavior, doing what is right and just and fair; ⁴ for giving prudence to those who are simple, knowledge and discretion to the young—⁵ let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance—⁶ for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise. ⁷ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs, also called The Book of Proverbs, is an Old Testament book of “wisdom” found in the third section of the Jewish canon, known as the Ketuvim, or Writings. The book is called “The Proverbs of Solomon.” We should not attribute full credit to King Solomon; the writings are part of a collection of wisdom materials (mostly short sayings) from a wide variety of periods and cultures. The book of Proverbs provides a poetic roadmap of how God has designed the world to function. Following the practical day-to-day guidance of Proverbs was intended to make our lives more pleasant. Proverbs are simply God’s advice and wisdom for His people. There is a subtle use of language here, a difference between advice and wisdom. Seeking wisdom, rather than merely advice, requires more work in the human heart. It means that we need to identify the sources of our beliefs that inhibit change and ensure that what we choose to believe is grounded in real observations, as in Proverbs. Good wisdom is the only thing that can change erroneous beliefs and lead to changed behavior.

Here is a link from a website, KnowingJesus.com³https://www.knowing-jesus.com/. They provide a list of more than 900 points of wisdom from the Book of Proverbs, sorted by popularity. For this lesson, let us examine only the top three from their list and see how each might impart wisdom and address the beliefs in our world today.

Number Three

Proverbs 1:7 – The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

The fear of the LORD, the fear of the God who not only created the universe but who deigned us to be in relationship with Him, is said to be the prerequisite for true wisdom. This is being described as a reasonable fear to have because it teaches us our place in the world and how to live well in it. Fear of God keeps us from that huge mistake made by Adam and Eve, to be deceived by Satan, into thinking that we too can be like God. Historically, people did “fear God” in the sense that they were genuinely afraid of Him. Although God bestowed blessings, He was also a God of judgment. If you did not respect God, you had good reason to fear Him. “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Heb. 10:31).

The Bible offers a sample of such evidence of why people were afraid of God:

• In Genesis, there was Noah’s Flood that wiped out all the evil people on earth.
• God’s fire destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of their sins (Gen. 18:20-19:25);
• In Exodus, we see the plagues that came upon Egypt, some of which also affected the Israelites.
• In Leviticus, we see that when Aaron’s sons offered unlawful fire before Yahweh, fire came out of their containers and burned them to death (Lev. 10:1-3); and
• God also had His tent (the “Tabernacle”) put behind curtains. Any unauthorized person who came to God’s sanctuary was to be put to death (Num. 3:5-10, 38).

There are always consequences when dealing with God, and some of those consequences can be serious. God does not threaten us; He lovingly and honestly warns us, as any concerned parent would warn a child. Examples of human disobedience and its consequences appear throughout the Bible. Our God is never to be taken lightly, and any direct disobedience is always dangerous to both our earthly and eternal safety.

Number Two

Proverbs 22:6 – Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Our proverb about children has been repeatedly demonstrated. Beliefs are typically formed early in life. Many of them come from either experience, observation, or formal education. There are a few essential points of wisdom in this Proverb. First, there is the required “action” on the part of those around the child. We are called to initiate, train, and educate our children. The most important part, however, is that the educational purpose is to give them direction, a path to follow for their life. The path is to be tailored to the individual child’s character. Their teaching is to engage in the closest possible study of each child’s temperament and to adapt “their way of life” to that path. Yes, it means according to their capacity and potential. With every child whose path crosses ours, their beliefs, their future behavior choices will be influenced by how we affect them.

Here is just one example:

In 1874, Richard L. Dugdale was employed by the New York Prison Commission to visit the state prisons. As he visited, he was surprised to find criminals in six different jails whose relatives were mostly criminals or paupers, and was even more surprised to discover that these six criminals were all descended from the same family.

This led Mr. Dugdale to study their relatives, living and dead. He studied court and prison records, reports from town poorhouses, and the testimony of elderly neighbors and former employers. He learned the details of 540 descendants of “Max” (the name given to the patriarch born about 1720) in five generations. He knew the exact facts about 169 who married into the family. He traced others linked to the family, bringing the total to 1,200 members of the Jukes (Juke was not the family’s real name). A. E. Winship described the family as having almost universal traits of idleness, ignorance, and vulgarity. They would not work, they could not be made to study, and they loved vulgarity. It wasn’t easy to find anyone who was honest and industrious, pure and prosperous in the Juke family.

In 1897, A. E. Winship was asked by a scholarly organization to prepare a paper on Jonathan Edwards. During his studies, Winship discovered that the descendants of Edwards presided over the New York Prison Commission when it employed Mr. Dugdale to study the Jukes. This led Winship to conduct a study contrasting the Jukes and the Edwards. Jonathan Edwards’ great-great-grandfather, Richard Edwards, who went from Wales to London about 1580, was a clergyman. Among the first members of the Edwards family to come to the New England colonies was William, a son of this clergyman, born about 1620, who settled in Hartford, where his son Richard was born in 1647.

Jukes family summary

• 310 of the 1,200 were professional paupers—more than one in four.
• 300 of the 1,200—one in four—died in infancy from lack of reasonable care and good conditions.
• 50 women who lived lives of notorious debauchery.
• 400 men and women were physically wrecked early by their own wickedness.
• Seven were murderers.
• Sixty were habitual thieves who spent, on average, twelve years each in lawlessness.
• 130 convicted criminals.

Edwards family summary

• 1 U.S. Vice-President (Aaron Burr)
• 3 U.S. Senators
• 3 governors
• 3 mayors
• 13 college presidents
• 30 judges
• 65 professors
• 80 public office holders
• 100 lawyers
• 100 missionaries, pastors, and theologians.

The witness we are to our children now, the teachings, the wisdom they are offered, will create the beliefs that are established in their minds. It will be these beliefs that manifest as the behavior society observes. If we use God as our principal source of wisdom, we can make a positive difference in this world.

Number One

Proverbs 3:5 – Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.

This proverb compares human intellectual power to the power of the Creator of all things, a force greater than anything found in humanity. It is a recognition that mankind may not the highest form of intellect in the universe. This is an observational piece of wisdom, discerned through the recognition that human life is finite, its knowledge bounded by time itself, and always found to be inconsistent. Just look at history. Trust, therefore, should be placed in the highest authority that can be found to exist. Of all the Proverbs, this one is the most dependent on observation and forces a binary decision. Each person must decide whether God is real. That may be the most critical observation and decision that anyone can make in their lifetime. We are not asked to trust or suspend our critical judgment blindly. Instead, we are asked to have confidence that living for God is reasonable and that our lives will be better as a result.

The wisdom found in Proverbs allows us to compare the deep-seated beliefs that drive our behavior against another standard: the expectations of our covenant Lord. Proverbs teach that wisdom is not merely about what we know and do, but also about who God is, what He has done for us, and how we can lead a life more pleasing to Him. That is the heart of the book called Proverbs and the primary reason why all should study it.

Contemplations

• Where would you say your primary beliefs about God originally came from?
  • Ideas to Explore: Family members; early church experiences; later-in-life experiences that drew you to reflect on your faith walk?
• Have you ever had to change a fundamental belief you had? Why? Was it difficult, and what did you do to help the process? Who were the influential people in your life? What made you change?
  • Ideas to Explore: Many times, we learn things incorrectly. Opinions are often formed from observing parents. Are there any early observations that turned out to be both influential on you but also wrong? How do we pass on erroneous beliefs to our children?
• Where do you find your sources of worldly wisdom today?
  • Ideas to Explore: Have you read Proverbs? Are you a quote-a-holic, a person who loves quotes from famous people?  What standards do you apply to a “bit of wisdom” to assure yourself that it is worthy and faithful? What do you read?
• Do you think that Proverbs are still relevant today as a source of wisdom?
  • Ideas to Explore: Why? Are they timeless? If so, why? Why do you think they appeal to children?
• How should The Book of Proverbs be worked into life today?
  • Ideas to Explore: Do you plan on reading it? Should favorite proverbs be shared with others? Have you ever put a proverb out on social media?