Pastor Phil and I are teaming up to teach this course. Is it every other week? No, not necessarily. Sometimes we'll both be teaching on a given night, sometimes one or the other, but we'll work together. The title of the course is Proverbs Practical Life Skills. Well, what are life skills? The dictionary defines Life skills is a skill that is necessary or desirable for full participation in everyday life. Got that? A skill that's necessary for full participation in everyday life. So give me some examples. What are some things you would say are life skills? Cooking food. Okay, carrying on a conversation. Yes. Mmm, financial management. Proper bathing, Pastor Sean said, more than once a week. He said if he were in Kentucky, it would have been good for up to a year, I think is what he said. Any other life skills? Yeah, parenting. We certainly see a lack of that skill around us, but yeah. Yeah, you get the point. So, Proverbs is a book, as we will see, that is designed to give us practical life skills. We'll begin to understand the connection between Proverbs and practical life skills tonight a little bit, and especially next week, as Pastor Phil talks about the theme of Proverbs. Well, I have a book here. It's called How to Read a Book. Has anybody read this book called How to Read a Book? Yeah, it's a classic. It actually is a classic, and it's not a joke. It's a book about how to read books. And the point is, so one thing he says is, before you dive into the first page of a book, have you ever done that? You get a book and you just dive right into the first page and start reading? He says, you need to get a better understanding of what it is you're about to read. So look at the front cover. The subtitle, look at the back cover, what's said about the book, how is it described, the inside dust jacket if it has one, who endorses it, read the table of contents to see the outline of the book and then maybe skim of some pages and then get into it. Before we get into the book of Proverbs, before we dive into its teachings, we're going to do that. We're going to get familiar with it. Most of us have probably read through the book of Proverbs, I would assume, but are you as familiar with it as, say, the New Testament Gospels, you know, John or Mark or maybe the book of Romans or even a book like Genesis, you know. We might be more familiar with some of those books than Proverbs because it's so unique. And so that's what my goal is tonight is to familiarize us with the book as a whole, big picture. before we dive into it. So, introduction to the Book of Proverbs. What kind of literature is it? It is wisdom literature. That's the genre of writing. That's the kind of writing that it contains, along with the books of Job, Psalms, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon. So they're written differently than, you know, the first five books of the Old Testament, the Torah. They're written different than prophecy, or history, or whatever it might be. So who wrote it? Well, let's look at some verses. I think you know the answer to this. You can go ahead and write it down. Solomon. But let's look at the Bible to see what it says. So turn to Proverbs 1. We are going to look at some verses in Proverbs tonight. So be ready to flip around in the book of Proverbs. And let's just see with our own eyes who it says wrote this book. There it is. Chapter 1, verse 1. The Proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel. Flip ahead to chapter 10, verse 1. Or if you're using your phone, dial ahead or whatever you might want to call it. Swipe ahead to 10, verse 1. And I can't turn the page, there we go. The Proverbs of Solomon, it says. That doesn't mean that 2 through 9 aren't Proverbs of Solomon, it's just this is a collection. So this was probably another section of Proverbs that was brought in and added. And then 25 verse 1, look at that. These are also our Proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah, copied. We'll talk about that in just a moment. So at the very least, he wrote chapters 1 through 22, verse 16, so the first 21 and a half chapters at least, and then 25 through 29. All right, and you say, well, what about the others? We'll get to that in a minute. Well, what do we know about Solomon? We know he was very wise, don't we? We know that. Do you remember the story in 1 Kings about how he had just become king and God appeared to him and said, I'll give you whatever you want, blank check from God. How's that? What would you ask for? And Proverbs, Solomon said, I am now ruling this nation of 12 tribes that have their own agendas and all these people, and I'm young and I don't necessarily know all there is to know, so I would like wisdom." And it says that that's what God gave him. So 1 Kings 3.12, I'll read it to you. So, if this verse is true, and it is scripture, so I believe it, Solomon could be considered to be the wisest person to have ever lived, save Jesus Christ, of course. But that's pretty impressive. And in 1 Kings 4, 29-34, God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding and largeness of heart. That's interesting. Like the sand on the seashore. You know, if you have an enlarged heart, that's usually not a good thing, medically speaking, but this is talking about his capacity for goodness and wisdom. In Hebrew thought, the heart was the seat of the inner being. Emotions, mind, all wrapped up in one. So it's talking about just his capacity to know and think and feel and all these things. His wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the men of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than all men, and then it lists some really wise men that we haven't even really heard about, but they were known to be wise. His fame was in all the surrounding nations." Now look at what he did. If you've turned to there, if not, I'll read it. But 1 Kings 4.32, and this is in the notes, he spoke 3,000 proverbs. That's what 1 Kings 4.32 said. and his songs were 1,005, so 1,005 songs. That's pretty impressive. The Psalms contain two of his songs, Psalm 72 and Psalm 127 are attributed to Solomon. There could be others, but those are the ones that specifically say Solomon. So this is a pretty smart guy, pretty wise guy. And not in the sense that we would use that, oh, a wise guy like the Three Stooges. No, this is a guy who is wise and that is different than intelligence, isn't it? And we're going to see that, especially next week as Pastor Phil talks to us about wisdom. So, unfortunately, and we have to be honest about this, unfortunately Solomon did not carry his wisdom through all the way to the end of his life, did he? His heart was turned away from the Lord. He didn't follow his own advice in many cases in his own book that he wrote, unfortunately. And that's a warning to us, especially as we grow older, that we need to continue to walk with the Lord. So, secondly, who wrote it? The wise, that's the answer, the second blank there, the wise, because Proverbs 22, verse 17, if you turn there after you've written that down, Proverbs 22, 17 says, And so some scholars think that this is a different section of the book. that is set off from the previous chapters that are written by Solomon. So Solomon and others may have incorporated other wise sayings. Others say, no, this is still Solomon's Proverbs and it's not a point that's going to make a huge difference. We're not going to argue the point necessarily. You know, it does speak in the first person in that verse, apply your heart to my knowledge. So again, a case can be made that this could still be Solomon's Proverbs that are being recorded here. Again, it doesn't necessarily matter, but then there are two others. Chapter 30 is written by Agur, A-G-U-R, Agur, the son of Jaka. Well, who's he? I don't know, but he's in scripture. The words of Agur, the son of Jaka, his utterance. This man declared to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ukal, and then it goes on to say some smart things that he said, some wise sayings. And then chapter 31, King Lemuel, King Lemuel. Who is King Lemuel? He's not one of the kings recorded as kings of Israel, so a king maybe of a different country. It could possibly be an alternative name for a king that we know of that it's like a nickname or it could be an ideal king. So kind of like this is the ideal king, what he would have to say about wisdom. And his mother taught him these things. So here you go, mothers and grandmothers teaching their kids. She teaches him about the, what's the woman, the Proverbs 31 woman. The virtuous woman, that's the word I'm looking for. That's an important thing to teach sons about. When was this book written? Well, it was written from the time of Solomon. Okay, now he reigned, and here you can write in the blanks, 971 to 931. So 971-931, 40 years. 971 through 931 BC. This was the zenith of Israel's greatness and glory. This was the golden age of Israel. It was a time of peace. Solomon's name, it would actually be pronounced in Hebrew, Shlomo. Now, that sounds kind of like slow-mo or something, you know, you'd be calling somebody slow or something, but slow-mo is how his name would be pronounced. Now, what word does that make you think of that you've heard biblically? Shalom, yeah, which means peace. So his name means peaceable, the man of peace, and that's what was going on during his reign, peace. The temple was built during Solomon's reign. Remember, David wanted to build it, but God said, no, you're a man of war, so your son is going to build it. Well, I read to you already chapter 25 verse 1 that says, these are the sayings of Solomon that were compiled by in the days of Hezekiah. So we know that the final form, or copied it actually says, copied by the men of Hezekiah, king of Judas. So the final form of this book, the book of Proverbs, may not have come together as we have it until the day the reign of Hezekiah, the reign of Hezekiah, and he reigned from 729 to 686 BC, 729 to 686, which is 200 years later, so at least 200, 250 years later. So this was put together over a period of time, but the vast majority of it is from Solomon, we believe, because we believe that's what the Bible says, and we believe the Bible. To whom was it written? It was written to Solomon's son. My son is mentioned in the book of Proverbs 23 times, that phrase, and son just on its own 44 times. So, for example, chapter 1 verse 8, right at the beginning, This was probably taught in the palace. This was almost like the textbook for instructing his son in what it means to be a follower of Yahweh and what it means to be a good king, a wise king, trying to bring him up. There's princely advice towards the end of the book. There's sayings that would be very appropriate for someone who is a king, such as chapter 20, verse two, the wrath of a king is like the roaring of a lion, whoever provokes him to anger, sins against his own life, and so on. There's some things that would be very appropriate in a palace setting to learn. And you know what? Proverbs is for you and me, right? You can write that down in the next blank. For you and me. Yes, me, not I. For you and me. Proper English, right? Because 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17 says all Scripture is inspired, right? And is useful, profitable. that the man of God would be thoroughly equipped in every good work. It's useful for teaching, for training, for correction, for rebuke, training in righteousness. And so Proverbs is useful for us. It's helpful. It's written to us because it's in God's Word and we need to understand and study it and learn from it. How is it organized? There's some basic organization. You can see in your notes there, there's an introduction and the motto, the theme of the book in one, one through seven. Then there are about nine chapters of discourses. In other words, short teachings on a theme or a subject, like the forbidden woman, you know, or avoid the friends who are going to entice you to sin. So they're not just proverb, proverb, proverb, proverb, one after another. They're more extended sections of teaching. Then chapters 10 through 29 are what we generally think of when we think of the book of Proverbs. Classic Proverbs, verse after verse after verse. Sometimes two or three verses put together, but one after another. Sometimes you can sense a theme, like, okay, I can see how these two verses are next to each other because they're similar, or these three or four. But sometimes it almost seems random, like, something about this and something about that and on to the next subject and so it's difficult to break it down any further or to come up with a detailed outline proves difficult that's the next blank so but you know what this is a collection or compilation of proverbs there are some thought clusters there's some associative thinking associative thinking but oftentimes not and one scholar named Michael V. Fox, not Michael J. Fox, but Michael V. Fox, says a proverb is like a jewel. And the book of Proverbs is like, he calls it a heap of jewels. I would think more like mining jewels out of a mine. And they're not all laid out in a row. You know, you don't go down in a mine and there's a row of diamonds just nice and neat sitting there and you just grab them off the shelf. they may be clustered together, there may be a big gap, they may be, you know, so he says they're not all laid out in pretty symmetric designs or divided into neat little piles and we have to do some work to understand exactly what they mean. All right, now, introduction to the concept of proverbs or proverbial statements. We've talked about the book of proverbs. Now, let's think a little bit more about what a proverb is to begin with. What is a proverb? I have three definitions for you, and you can pick which one you like the best, so I'll give you all three here. First, it's a short statement that makes a comparison or summarizes a common experience. It makes a comparison. or summarizes a common experience. That's from Dan Phillips. And if I were to recommend one book to you, and Pastor Phil might have others, but one that I like is called God's Wisdom in Proverbs. I think it's in the back of your notes by Dan Phillips. It's a good balance between digging deep, a little deeper, and being accessible. So even if you don't know Hebrew or something like that, you could still benefit from this book. And it's more than just a little devotional book. It's going to dig a little deeper, but it's understandable. And there is a paperback version of this available on Amazon. God's Wisdom in Proverbs. And the way he writes, I just like the way he writes. A short witty saying, that's the next one, a short witty saying that gives you a standard by which you might judge your life. It's a short witty saying that gives you a standard by which you might judge your life. Speaking of short, This third one is short and sweet. A short observation and conclusion about how to live life. Maybe that's the best one. A short observation about, you know, an observation about life and a conclusion about it, about how to live life. Are they unique to the book of Proverbs? No, of course not. Proverbs have been found in almost every known civilization. In ancient times, they abounded in the countries around Palestine or Israel. In Egypt, Persia, Greece, there were volumes of these wise sayings. One of the more famous of the books of Proverbs was the Egyptian work called the teaching of Amenemope. Well, I've never read that one. And there are proverbs in other parts of the Bible. Again, you don't need to turn here, but I'll just quickly mention. In 1 Samuel 24, 13, David said to Saul, as the proverb of the ancients says, wickedness proceeds from the wicked. That's the proverb. Wickedness proceeds from the wicked. What do you mean by that? What does that proverb mean? Yeah, wicked people are going to do wicked things. Yep. If that's their nature, that's what they're going to do. Don't be surprised when, okay. Saul himself became the origin of a proverb when he all of a sudden, he was a king, right? He was not a prophet, but all of a sudden he started prophesying. And so people started saying from that point forward, is Saul also among the prophets? This was an expression of shock at something. It would be, you know, you're surprised at something or somebody says something that's just out of their character, maybe more intelligent than you would have suspected they had in them. Is Saul also among the prophets? You're just bewildered that they said this thing, you know, it's just crazy. Jeremiah 31 29 Jeremiah quotes a proverb from his day the fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge and Jeremiah says in the future in the day of the Lord that won't be said anymore that proverb will never be spoken Now, what in the world does that mean? Basically, the point is people are complaining because they're saying, hey, our fathers are the ones that sinned and we're paying the price for it. We're being judged and punished for it. Like if my father ate sour grapes and I'm going, gritting my teeth, well, that doesn't make sense. If my father eats sour grapes, he should be the one gritting his teeth. So it was a Proverbs complaining that they were reaping the consequences for something they hadn't done. It was their fathers that had done it, and that wasn't true. But Jeremiah says, well, that won't be true in the future. Justice will be served for the person who did the crime. True justice will be served. Jesus used Proverbs. In Luke 4, 23, he said, Physician, heal yourself. That was a proverb meaning you're trying to heal everybody else. Well, why don't you heal yourself first? Right. And and then Paul, writing to Titus, this is an ironic proverb, he said, a prophet of your own on the isle of Crete, where Titus ministered, he was the pastor there, said, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons. And he said, that testimony is true. Now what's ironic is, Cretans are always liars. What do you think about that statement? Yeah, it's self-refuting. They're always liars, which means even saying that statement is a lie, which means it's not true, but it's irony and it's supposed to be humorous. But Paul was quoting a prophet and he's encouraging Titus, yeah, you're going to have some difficult work there on Crete, but... That's okay. All right, there are modern-day proverbs. That's the next one. Man, I am fascinated by Benjamin Franklin. I don't know about you. There's a great biography here, Benjamin Franklin in American Life. I've read this a couple times. He was just a fascinating guy. He's like the Forrest Gump of the founding fathers. He was just involved in everything. He was the only one to be involved in the writing of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitutional Convention, and the treaty with England, which he had a very large part in going over to France and trying to work all that out. He was a terrible, terrible father and husband. Terrible. But he was an amazingly Brilliant man in so many ways. I could talk about him for quite a while. But, you know, we know some Proverbs from him. So we're going to do something for just a minute, just for fun here. And I'm going to give you a proverb from Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac. And I want you to read it and be prepared to explain it. And if you don't want to do this, that's totally fine. I'll give it to you, but you don't have to say anything out loud. I'll just pass some of these out here. And you know what? I'll just take one. Pass, if you have extra, pass it behind you, okay? Just take one and pass it along here. See if you can figure out what it means. I got tons of these, so. Whoops, sorry. There you go. He didn't necessarily come up. I have more here. Does anybody need one? Thank you, Doug. Oh, in the back there. Okay. I got some more here. All right. Did you get one? Okay. All right. Read the proverb to us and then explain what it means. I'll start with Pastor Phil here. All right. Hold on. Hello, hello, hello. Okay, Ben says, look before or you'll find yourself behind. I'm sure he's meaning look ahead or you'll find yourself behind, which it just means make your plans, look out front, don't just let things catch up with you or you'll be behind. That's right. Okay. Anybody, Mary, you want to say yours and what it means? All things are easy to industry, all things difficult to sloth. Well, if you've got energy and industrious, you're gonna get things done. But if you're a lazy little bum, everything's gonna be hard. Everything's hard, I can't do it. Yeah, that's right, that's right. Okay, what do you think? Better slip with foot than tongue. And Ernie said, If you have a slip of the foot, you'll fall. If you have a slip of the tongue, you'll get in trouble. Yeah, that's right. Good job, good job. What do you think? And over here, Doug, do you want to say yours? He that falls in love with himself will have no rivals. So if you're all consumed with yourself, nobody's going to want to hang around you and also love you. That's right. That's good. That's good. All right. Anyone else want to share theirs? Okay. Beware of small expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship. Yeah. And I'd say small expenses do add up. There you go. There you go. Someone else want to share theirs? All right. An ill wound but not an ill name may be healed. You can heal a wound, but you can't heal a bad name. If you have a bad name about yourself, nobody's going to care about you. Bad reputation, yep. That's right. Someone else? OK. Many a man thinks he is buying pleasure when really he is selling himself a slave to it. Sin is deceitful. Yeah. It's amazing how much spiritual wisdom he had. The unfortunate thing is he never seemed from all accounts to translate that into faith in Jesus Christ. He was a great admirer and even friend of George Whitefield. awakening evangelist, but he admired his oratory and a lot of the things he said, but he never came to trust Christ as Savior as far as we know. Anyone else want to share theirs? Okay. When the wells dry, we know the worth of water. And so those things of value that we take for granted quite often, we don't realize it until it's gone. So for you ladies, you don't realize the value of us husbands until we're gone. So I just wanted to share that. Wasn't there a proverb about a fool opening his mouth or something? No, I'm sorry, Sean. I'm sorry. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. Anyone else? Jim. Oh, okay. Okay. Happiness is just around the corner. Okay. You've got to remember to do that. Think that way when you go to work and when you go to other places. Yeah, all right. So it may not be just Ben Franklin, of course. We have lots of Proverbs. Anyone else? All right, you get the idea. There's lots of these. And what's the most famous ones he's known for? I didn't hand them out, but... Yes, that's actually not quite exactly how it went, but it's better said. Some of these he said it one way. Like, for example, he said, there are no gains without pains. Well, how have you heard that? No pain, no gain, which is a little bit more memorable. So yeah, a penny saved is a penny earned. Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise, that's his. So the point of a proverb is, and let me go on and say this here, what's different about the biblical book of proverbs then? These are divinely inspired proverbs. You can write that down, divinely inspired. The very breathings of the spirit of God. And so God doesn't just give us teachings or laws In the book of Proverbs, we have practical life instructions, and we should be grateful for that. Why are Proverbs helpful? Well, they don't take long to say. They make you think. They're easy to remember, like an advertising jingle or a bumper sticker. They have universal truths. I didn't have any blanks to fill out underneath there, but you can write something down like, you know, they make you think, that you can remember them. So, for example, if I were to say to you, Doug, A bit of perceptive and proactive forethought, followed up with appropriate and prompt action, will head off the need to spend a great deal more time and effort in regretfully remedying the situation down the road. I could say that, or I could say, a stitch in time saves nine. and say the same thing. Now you have to think about it a little bit more, but that was what I said. A proverb is truth dressed to travel. That's what somebody said. Truth dressed to travel. All right? Not all of Proverbs is Proverbs, all right? In other words, much of the book contains short pithy sayings, but not all of it. Chapters 1 through 9 have longer teachings and parables, but the majority of it are Proverbs. So next section, Introduction to Hebrew Poetry. What is Hebrew poetry? If we are going to understand and interpret Proverbs correctly, we need to know that Hebrew poetry is the development of ideas in a creative, evocative way. Creative and evocative way. What are the primary characteristics of Hebrew poetry? There are three. First is terseness. terseness, or brevity, whichever you prefer. Proverbs are designed for lean economy of expression. One example, Proverbs 10, verse six, has only six words, seven words, excuse me, in the original language of Hebrew. Seven words. It has 16 words in English to help us understand. In English it says, the labor of the righteous leads to life, the wages of the wicked to sin. But in Hebrew, it only has actually seven total words. So again, a stitch in time saves nine, boom, boom. It's short and sweet. Same with Proverbs. Secondly, imagery is the second characteristic. Imagery, I-M-A-G-R, excuse me, G-E-R-Y, imagery. This is the abundance of picturesque, figurative language. Now I'd like you to note these examples with me. So turn to chapter 1, verses 8 and 9, verse 9 specifically. He says that the instruction of your father and the law of your mother will be like a graceful ornament on your head and chains about your neck, meaning like necklaces and jewelry. Okay, so the word picture's there. Chapter 2, verses 3 and 4. So... Picturesque language I'm going to read a quick section here from this book, and he tells us this He says in reading proverbs you will find word pictures to your imaginations delight You'll cringe from crucibles flee from whirlwinds wince at thorns dodge arrows Shiver and snow sweat in the heat you'll plunge your hands into gold and silver and jewels you'll drink from fountains and springs or run from them, pluck fruit off trees, and luxuriate in exotic fragrances and spices. You'll behold both feasts and famine, rooftops and deserts. You'll ponder ants and lions and conies and roosters and snakes and eagles and vultures." So, and there's more that could be said about that. Lots of imagery. And the third characteristic Now, before I say it, the first two that I've mentioned are also true of English poetry. Terseness, generally speaking, and imagery. This third one is not, and the third one is parallelism. So the word parallelism, P-A-R-A-L-L-I-S-M. E-L-I-S-M. Parallelism is the arrangement of parallel thoughts or ideas. See, in English poetry, there's rhyming. Rhyming is the parallelism of sound, right? Two words that sound the same are paralleled in traditional poetry. Think Dr. Seuss-type poetry. I know modern poetry, it's just whatever you want it to be, but what we generally think of as poetry. Hebrew poetry rhymes thoughts. Not sounds. You get that? It's the parallel arrangement of ideas or thoughts, not sounds. So there's no rhyming, necessarily, even if we could hear the Hebrew. And often Hebrew poetry is in two lines. The second line related to the first. The second line further explains the first line, to complete it, define it, emphasize it, enlarge it, be an alternative to it. So let's look at a simple example, and then we're gonna dive a little deeper here. Look at chapter 15, verse one, okay? This is a very familiar proverb, you all know it. And look at Proverbs 15, one. A soft answer turns away wrath, but, A harsh word stirs up anger. Now, I want you to see how the words are parallel. So, soft answer is parallel to what? Harsh word. Now, that doesn't mean they're the same, okay? They're obviously opposites, but they're parallel ideas. They're similar in some way. We're supposed to notice some kind of comparison or similarity. Turns away is parallel to stirs up. and then wrath and anger are parallel. So line one or A, we're going to go line A and B, line A and then line B are like railroad tracks and there's some similarity between the two that we're supposed to understand to get the meaning of the parable, the proverb, excuse me. So here are the different kinds and you say, wow, what in the world does this have to do with reading Proverbs? Trust me on this for just a minute, okay? Bear with me, and you'll see the value of this, I hope. First of all is synonymous, and I apologize, I don't have it up on the screen, but try to spell it your best, synonymous. The first line is paralleled by a similar thought in the second. So this is like saying A, and in other words, B. Okay, both are complete thoughts. And many times it uses the word and in between, but not always. So A, and in other words, B. All right, let's look at one example, chapter 16, verse 18. Chapter 16, verse 18. Another familiar proverb. Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Those two statements you could separate as complete sentences. but they're put together and the point is it helps us understand the meaning of parallel terminology. So pride... I can better understand by haughty spirit, because those are parallel. And destruction I can better understand by a fall, because they're parallel. So I can interpret them by figuring out, oh, okay, there's similar thoughts here. Contrast is the next one, or antithetical, where the second line contrasts, or is opposite of the first. So this is saying A, but by way of contrast, B. All right, here's an example, chapter 11, verse 1. We actually just saw an example earlier, 15.1, but chapter 11, verse 1, dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight. So you have parallel dishonest scales with what? just wait, abomination, delight, okay? But it's a contrast instead of, here's a modern day one, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. So that's an example of a modern day parallel. It doesn't always use the word but, but it often does. And then the third one is comparison proverbs. These use simile or metaphor. So like A is B, or as A is B. Here's an example, chapter 11, verse 22. As a ring of gold in a swine's snout, so is a lovely woman who lacks discretion. Well, that's picturesque, isn't it? So a comparison is made. If you think of this and how ridiculous it would be to put a ring of gold in the snout of a pig, well, that's like a pretty woman who has no judgment or wisdom at all. Yeah, lipstick on a pig. There you go. There you go. That's how we would say it. Yep. Okay, next one is a consequence. The second line is the result of the first. If you do A, then B will happen. Chapter 16, verse 3. Commit your works to the Lord and your thoughts will be established. If you do this, then this. Computer programming, right Doug? If-then statement. And now Pastor Phil's going to give us a little bit of a caution about this in just a couple minutes here, but the basic idea is Modern day one early to bed early to rise makes man healthy wealthy and wise if you go to bed early and get up early You'll be healthy wealthy and wise and that's the result the consequence of the first line Evaluation the first line is preferred over the second better is a than B. It often uses the better than formula so 25 24 says, it is better to dwell in a corner of a housetop than in a house shared with a contentious woman. I didn't just choose the woman proverbs on purpose. So, how about this? In modern day English, better late than never, right? That's a proverb, better than. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. It doesn't use better and than, but it's the same idea. It's better to have a bird in your hand than two that you're hunting for and you don't have. Sometimes there's also, we won't get into this, but sometimes it's how much less or how much more. So if this is true, well then how much more true is this? And there's some examples there. And then lastly, synthetic. The second line continues or completes the thought of the first line. A, and what's more, B. So this is kind of confusing with the first one synonymous, but the point here is that the first one couldn't really stand on its own without further explanation. So chapter 14, verse 7 says, go from the presence of a foolish man. Now, if you just said that, you'd say, well, why? It's not complete yet. When you do not perceive in him the lips of knowledge. So that completes the thought. 15 verse 3. The eyes of the Lord are in every place. Well that could be a complete statement but this further explains it. Keeping watch on the evil and the good. All right. Well, why is this so important? It helps you interpret them because if you are having trouble understanding part of the proverb, you can look at the second line or vice versa, and that will help you understand the meaning because the words will be parallel or opposites, okay? I think we're gonna try to do this really quick here, so I'm gonna give you... a sheet, and so I'm just going to have you start passing these back. Take one, pass them back. I've got more for this side. And I won't call on everybody, but you know what? I'm going to divide that in half and make this go just a bit quicker here. So I'm going to start about halfway back. So take one. See if you can determine what kind of Proverb it is out of those choices, synonymous, contrast, comparison, consequence, or evaluation. I actually didn't give any for the last one, synthetic, because those are a little bit harder. And then how does this help you understand the proverb? It may not, you may say, oh, I get it without knowing that, but it may help you. So just take a look at that. I'll give you a quick minute here. Thank you, Doug. All right, we'll start up with some in the front since they got theirs quicker. So, Phil, what'd you have? You can read the verse and then tell us what kind it is. I have Proverbs 1, 2, to know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight. And I would say it's synonymous. Yes. All right. Someone else? I'll just ask for volunteers here. Nobody has to do it. I had 15, 17, better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred. And that's evaluation. Yeah. Yep. OK. Someone else? Want to do yours, Deb? All right. I've got 11, 25. The generous soul shall be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself. So it's synonymous to. Yeah, and so if you just had the second one, he who waters will be watered himself, you'd kind of scratch your head and go, what? But what does the first one say again? Yeah, the generous soul will be made rich. So it helps you understand the meaning because you see the parallel thoughts there. Someone else? All right, Austin, you want to pass that down to Austin there? I have 1616, which is how much better it is to get wisdom than gold and to get understanding is to be chosen above silver. I think that would be an evaluation. Yeah. How much better? Yeah. Good. Anyone else? All right. Well, I have just one more thing to say here, and then I want to give Pastor Phil the opportunity had a good, important clarification. The purpose of Proverbs, why was it written? It was written to impart wisdom. Wisdom. And that's the subject of next week, so I'm not going to get into that too much tonight. But basically, wisdom is knowing what is right and doing what is right. It is not the same as intelligence. It's Skillful living in the fear of the Lord. And that's why we call this practical life skills. Not just gaining more knowledge, but practical Christian life skills. Biblical life skills. Life skills that please the Lord. And so this will be continued next week. Time is running short here, but Ecclesiastes 12, 8 through 14 is very interesting because even though Ecclesiastes was written after the book of Proverbs, it's almost like he circles back around to the book of Proverbs. You know, I'm just going to read it to us because it's like he goes, you know what? I just wish I'd followed my own advice in the book of Proverbs. Okay, because here's what he says. Vanity of vanity, says the preacher, all is vanity. That's the theme of Ecclesiastes. And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge. Yes, he pondered and sought out and set in order many proverbs. The preacher sought to find acceptable words and what was written was upright, words of truth. The words of the wise are like goads. What is a goad? It's a prod, a cattle prod basically, as they kick up their heels or they don't, so they don't kick up their heels when they're plowing. The words of scholars are like well-driven nails given by one shepherd. So my question for you is, as we go about studying the book of Proverbs, are you ready to do this? I would suggest Read a chapter a day, every day this summer. You could even catch up and try to line up your chapters with the day of the month, you know, the second chapter. I know we're behind in June already, but maybe you can catch up. So if you did that, you'd read through Proverbs three times, June, July, August, and that will help. And are you ready to be admonished by these Proverbs? That's the last blank, admonished. That's what Ecclesiastes chapter 12, verse 12 says. Not just learn, but to be maybe challenged to live that way, all right? Well, Pastor Phil, why don't you wrap this up for us. Oh, here it is. Alright, just a couple of notes, and that is before you can really approach this book or any book, it states very clearly here that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. And I could go on and I could say, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And so it's going to say over and over and over in this book, it's going to say to teach you knowledge, to get knowledge, you know, and above all you're getting, get wisdom and go for it. And you need to have knowledge. You need to know how to use the knowledge, which is, that's what wisdom is, the application of knowledge. And we'll talk about that next week. But the first step is the fear of the Lord. And this passage, this book could be read by many people and it would just bring giggles. They wouldn't see anything. Oh, that's a cute way of saying something. But it wouldn't have any weight and they wouldn't feel any impression from anywhere to put it into practice. They would say, oh, that might be true, but they wouldn't want to do it. And the reason is, is because it's the fear of the Lord that would make us receive anything from God, whether it's John 3, 16, or whether it's Romans 5, 8, or whether it's any one of these Proverbs, the fear of the Lord. And you say, well, what is the fear of the Lord? Well, I'm sure there's this whole idea of God is dangerous. God is powerful. He's awesome. And he's mighty, but to not fear the Lord is to walk as if he does not exist. To fear the Lord is to walk in the light and the knowledge of Him that He exists, that He's interested, that He has a will and a plan, and that He expects us to listen to Him. The fear of the Lord is to always keep it in the light, in our minds, as all decisions we are making. We have to think about him. And so a person that understands God is and God is also calling for accountability, then that makes us want to approach a book like Proverbs, read each proverb when you get to chapter 10, which is where they begin to, they begin to be just one proverb at a time. Sometimes two or three verses make one proverb. But normally it's just a short, pithy saying, like Greg has said, and in order to pull anything out of it, you've got to have the fear of the Lord and know God's trying to tell me something. What is God trying to tell me, even in this little short statement? The fear of the Lord will make you dig it out. This book, this Bible that I brought with me tonight, it's a hardcover Bible, and it is a Bible that is a journaling Bible, and I'm just gonna hold it up. And I go through Proverbs every day, and I have just had this Bible a little while, and I've been reading it, and I've been writing things down. It's amazing. I'll read one of those Proverbs, and I'll say, oh, that's really interesting, and then I'll think about it for a minute, but it doesn't really hit me hard and doesn't really say anything. But maybe something's going on, or there's something happening in life, or I hear about something going on, or maybe there's an event in the world, and I'm reading that Proverb again, and all of a sudden, wow. You know, it's almost like it was demonstrated and lived out right before my eyes. And I have got, man, I've got occurrences written here, I've got all kinds of thoughts, I've written down, I've written notes, and then I've come back and written notes under those notes, and then I've put parentheses and written more notes on the same. So the thing is is that the book of Proverbs is one of those books that a healthy diet and a constant intake of it on a continual basis will do nothing but help you give you wisdom, give you knowledge, and it'll explain a lot of the things that are going on in life as well. Just three notes that I want to give you. Greg pointed some of these out and we talked about them. This is really important. There are three warnings that are given here. One is this, make sure you understand as you approach the Proverbs. Proverbs really may be difficult to understand. He gave an example a while ago, you know, a stitch in time saves nine. That's one of our American proverbs that we have and we use. And you might say that to somebody and they don't really get that. They need some, they need a little bit of explanation to understand what you're talking about. Well, that's why meditation is important because many of the proverbs require, they are intended for us to dig, to think, to meditate, to ponder, to consider, and maybe talk to somebody about it. Sit down and, you know, have a friend say, you know, I read this proverb the other day. Can't make heads or tails out of it. What about you? You know, and just talk about it and dig it out. A proverb may be difficult to understand. It's supposed to stimulate thought and make us dig a little deeper and think a little longer. And then a proverb is a saying. It is not a dissertation. In other words, there's a whole lot more there than just, I mean, it's the summary statement of big observation. When Solomon or the others, Agur and others, wrote things down, it was a summary statement of perhaps a lot of observation. And then Solomon would say, I've been seeing this and that. In fact, in Ecclesiastes, he writes in that style. He gives a whole lot more of the information as he comes to a conclusion. It's just at that time, he wasn't right with God and he didn't come to some very good conclusions in the book of Ecclesiastes, which there's another whole story to be told there. A proverb is a saying, it's not a dissertation, it's very short, but it is a summary, it's not a huge statement. And then finally, and this may be the most important one. A proverb is a principle and it's not a promise. And the way I like to say this is I like us to remember that when you are reading proverbs, remember that you are reading proverbs. These are not promises that you are going to be able to twist God's arm behind his back to get him and to put him in the dock as if you're going to take him to task because, well, I did this and I did that and proverbs said this and that. No. Proverbs are the general outcome, the circumstances being according to what it is said, these are the general outcomes if you obey them. But Job is the exception to the rule. How many of you would consider that Job was an upright person who was doing, and the Bible says so. God even said so. He even said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job that he's upright, he loves God, and he hates evil? Have you considered there's no man like him, nobody anywhere like Job. So it wasn't that Job messed up and he had a lot of problems because he messed up. No, God was doing something else. And so there's no such thing as employ the Proverbs and it will always turn out exactly like the Proverbs says. No. Let me give you the classic example. I've been in the ministry a long time. I've had more moms and dads sitting at my desk saying, well I trained up my child in the way he should go and now he's old and he has departed from it. And there's several things I'd like to say to that. Number one, the story's not finished yet usually. Number two, that is, is that remember that it is a proverb and it is incumbent upon us to train up the children in the way they should go. And up until the time that they walk out the door and when they're no longer under our direction and under our control, they are responsible for themselves. But this is a general principle. It is not an absolute promise. I've had moms and dads Come in and say, well, I must not even be saved. I must not even be a Christian. I must be lost because I tried to train my children and they didn't do it. That's just one example. Proverbs are proverbs. They are not promises. If you want to go to promises, we can go all the way through the Bible and talk about promises. I'm going to preach on one on Sunday about God's promise to Abraham that he was going to give him a son named Isaac. And then God said, take Isaac and kill him. Wow, that seems like a contradiction of the promise. Well, we'll talk about that on Sunday. But proverbs are not promises. They are the usual, normal outcomes of the way things go when the ingredients are put in, but there may be variables. It's so very, very, very important. We always have to remember that a person has his libre albedrio, which is the Latin, and what it really means is it means that a person has got the ability to choose. Are they going to obey God or not obey God? Are they going to follow his will or not follow his will? So that's very important. And then it is a wonderful, wonderful book of accumulated wisdom, and we can certainly benefit from it. We'll talk about that more next week. Anything else, Greg? Got to unmute it, there we go. So this is how after next week, which is going to be focused on wisdom, which is the theme of Proverbs, then it'll be a topical study. So each week there'll be a certain topic, a theme that is woven throughout Proverbs that we will mine out, okay? So we won't take it chapter by chapter, but rather thematically and topically. All right, that's the plan. Thank you so much.