We're going to Proverbs chapter 5. Alright, so we are continuing our Bible study in Proverbs, the first nine chapters. So, this study in chapter 5 is entitled, Regret. So chapter four concluded with some strong warnings, and the warnings in chapter four were strong warnings about avoidance, about staying away from the wrong, the evil way. But even though those warnings were very strong, They were somewhat general. They weren't really given specific illustrations. Now, we saw some specific illustrations very early on, like in Chapter 1 and such, but they were somewhat general, but that's not the case here in Chapter 5. So, Chapter 5 gives a very strong warning in really the first part of the chapter, and then the second part of the chapter gives description of blessings. And so we've seen a little bit of this. Sometimes it's warnings about what avoiding wisdom will cost, what the consequences will be. And sometimes it's what the blessings of keeping wisdom are. And so we get a little bit of both in this chapter. The first part of this chapter reintroduces the strange woman, which I think was introduced in chapter two maybe. So we've heard of her before, and really she is going to have a place in the next three chapters, five, six, and seven. So quite a bit of illustration and application there concerning going in the way of wisdom. So we're going to look at the first 14 verses here in chapter number 5. We'll start with verse 1. My son, attend unto my wisdom and bow thine ear to my understanding that thou mayest regard discretion and that thy lips may keep knowledge. So verses one and two serve kind of like an introduction to this chapter, and obviously it's the start of a new address that Solomon is making to his son. And notice once again is urging the attentiveness, urging intelligent listening, attend unto my wisdom. bow thine ear, incline thine ear to my understanding." So he's urging him to listen, to bow, and the idea of bowing gives us a hint at least that this does require a certain amount of humility. It's something about our human nature, I think, that probably most of us don't like to be told what to do. And there's some of us that like to tell us what to do. But, you know, we don't like to be told what to do. And so when it comes to receiving wisdom, there's going to be a certain degree of humility. We've already seen numerous verses that talk about how that wisdom comes through discipline and so there's correction and there's instruction and reproof or rebuke of some wrong way. So the idea of bowing down to get understanding is a very fruitful image when you think about it. Solomon later describes young fools throughout Proverbs, and they're devoid of understanding. They're missing this, and so they are taken in a trap. They fall into a snare. Now, wisdom is obviously important regardless of what age that we are, but we do know that these addresses are aimed to the young man particularly, and so we can all take application from them, especially the young people. But we've seen the exhortation that we come out of chapter four was to get in the way of wisdom and stay in it and avoid the way of folly. Now regarding discretion, that thou mayest regard discretion that thy lips may keep knowledge. This is sort of like to guard, to set a guard over, to watch over very, very diligently. The word for discretion has the idea of planning in it and the idea of being able to distinguish a good plan from a bad plan. You know, when you're growing up as a young person, and you, you know, kind of have a little group of friends, you've, you've usually always got that one who has, you know, terrible plans, they come up with these terrible ideas. And he's like, No, that's that's terrible. That stinks. And we're not going to do that. Well, being able to discern between a good plan and a bad plan, a foolish plan and a wise plan, and not only just the plan, but also carrying through. So able to discern what is a good plan and to be able to see it through. That's sort of captured in this idea of discretion. Now obviously the word can be used negatively. Here it's positive, but it can be used negatively to speak of someone that can conceive of an evil plan and carry it through to execution. So it can work both ways, but it's obviously in a positive context here. Keeping knowledge, and notice that this is knowledge that's kept with the lips. That is the safeguard, as it were, of wisdom in the heart. So recognize the plan of folly and be able to give a wise answer to it. So you can see this in terms of sort of like a response, able to speak wisely, able to discern a good plan from a bad plan and able to speak wisdom. In other words, to maybe be able to identify the problems and where are the pitfalls here and where are we going astray and that sort of thing. And so you regard, you set a guard over discretion and keep knowledge with your lips. Now the reason for this introduction and this particular call to attention begins here with verse number three. Now, we've talked about the strange woman before. We met her back, I think, in Chapter 2 for the first time. And the word literally means foreign woman, but it's a phrase that come to mean an immoral woman. And usually, she is painted as an adulteress, though she may or may not be married. So basically it's just sort of put for any sort of an immoral woman. And there's actually a lot in chapters 5 and 6 and 7 that talk about her and her ways, and there's a lot of warnings against her. So here in this chapter, Actually, through Chapter 7, it seems like the idea of an adulteress, of a married woman, is in view, but again, application could certainly be broadened. So, the chapter opened up about talking about the ear and the lips, being employed in attending to wisdom and in keeping knowledge. And now we can see that these are a direct defense against the temptations of the strange woman because she is employing her lips and her mouth in this sense, and they are put for speech here. So being smoother than oil is describing flattering speech, and that is one of her tools that she uses. So flattering speech, we're told that her lips drop as a honeycomb Dropping or dripping honey is sweet to the taste. It's enjoyable. So her words are suited to appeal to the taste in a similar manner. Now we've already talked about back beginning very early on in chapter one how that temptations are generally speaking appeals to desires within us and oftentimes natural desires that are not bad in and of themselves but they can be corrupted perverted they can be used in or satisfied in sinful ways so the idea is that her flattering speech appeals to the desire in a young man in particular in this instance. And again, that's the orientation of these proverbs. It certainly works the other way around as well as a warning and teaching to young women as well. actually refers to, let's say treachery, some sort of betrayal. So in other words, There's an intentional deception about her words. She has a design of ensnaring, and there's a deception there. And so Solomon, of course, advised that the wisest course would be to avoid her altogether. He goes on to describe that even though she flatters in this way and sounds appealing, verse four says, but her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Now, end refers to the future, her outcome, as it were, and there's a stern reminder here that there is an after. In other words, her sweet speech and flattering words are in a certain moment, but there is an afterward. And that's going to come out more and more as we go through. So this one is on a course somewhere. So she appears smooth, appealing, flattering, sweetness, delicious promises, but she's really going the opposite way. Her end is bitterness rather than smoothness and is sharpness. So Solomon uses two figures here to illustrate how really all adulterous activity must end. And we've talked a little about, even when we're looking in Exodus, some of the difference between the biblical term for fornication and the biblical term for adultery. Of course, fornication includes adultery, but it's a little more broad. Adultery is always, in some way, a violation of a marriage, in some way. And so there are some, you might say there are some extra consequences, so to speak, just because of the nature of that relationship. And so that's what Solomon is focusing on here, but he uses these two illustrations, and that is Wormwood. and a sharp sword. Now wormwood, the word usually is related to some kind of bitterness and it's usually used as an image for suffering in the Bible. It's usually some sort of affliction. Sword is obviously a symbol of death and that's what her way leads to. That's where it inclines to. So Solomon demonstrates again the nature of wisdom in this warning. Wisdom considers. Wisdom looks forward. Wisdom doesn't make decisions entirely on the sum of the moment, but looks forward and considers the ends and the outcome. Verse 5 says, continuing to describe, her feet go down to death, her steps take hold on hell. So now we've gone from mouth and lips to feet and steps. So mouth and lips are presenting a certain picture, but feet and steps are showing the way that she really is going. So you can say the sort of the mirage is ended and here's a true picture of where she is headed. Of course, steps and feet stands for course of life. We've seen it. It's a very important controlling metaphor in Proverbs. And so they're continually used. The strange woman actually, in a way, presents a companion picture to the way of the evil man that's been warned against as well. Death and hell that are used here, down to death, take hold on hell. Obviously the death symbol comes in from the use of the sword and the warning here is essentially that a life is destroyed through adultery. Now that doesn't mean necessarily immediate death. So Solomon is speaking a little bit hyperbolically here, but it certainly does destroy lives. It certainly can lead to physical death in various ways, but that's not necessarily usually the case. So the strange woman's way is obviously not a good way. It's a way of death and destruction. And so now you can see a contrast between the picture that she's painting. Obviously her looks are going to play into that. mannerisms, and the way that she acts, and the way that she talks, and all these things are going to present one picture, and that picture is of temptation, that picture is of availability, but then the reality is that her way is a way of destruction. So he is warning. And remember that in Proverbs, ultimately, from beginning to end, you have a young man being prepared to be king. And obviously the importance of a wise marriage and such as that is one of the lessons that comes out through Proverbs. And so here is one of the things to avoid. So we get this word, lest. So we get a consequence here. Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life. Her ways are movable that thou canst not know them. So right here in the center of this verse, which is quite literally in the center and also figuratively in the center, her ways are movable, they are changeable, unreliable, unpredictable. But this also goes along with what we saw earlier in her flattering speech is that there is an intention to deceive and to entrap. So obviously She is very skilled at these sort of temptations. She changes easily from one to the other to catch her victim, you might say. And she can also change to try to bring, create urgency. and to prevent any sort of pondering, any sort of considering. It's certainly, you know, it's right now. She does not want men to consider what they're doing and what the consequences will be. But she's unknowable. She's unknowable. She's a flatterer, a deceiver, and really what her true thoughts and feelings are, you cannot tell. She's adaptable to whatever ends it is she's trying to achieve. Now, there's a contrast that's going to come later. with, in the later part of the chapter, with a good marriage. But here's a reality that's inescapable with this strange woman. So she may be able to provide momentary pleasure but she can never provide the deep intimate connection and even emotional satisfaction and physical satisfaction and things that come between a husband and a wife. So, in other words, you're never going to have that. how I would say that oftentimes that might even be a part of the deception, a part of what's being promised, a part of this great relationship that is going to take place. But the relationship between a husband and a wife is one that develops over time and it deepens and it strengthens and such. But the overarching trajectory for The strange woman is obviously ruin and misery for those that do not keep away from her. Verse 7, "'Hear me now, therefore, O you children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.'" So verses 7 to kind of starting here down through verse 14, we're going to get broader description and very vivid imagery of what we might call the consequences of these sexual sins that are being spoken of and that certainly is what Solomon is focused on here. So once again he's giving that admonition, hear me, depart not from the words of my mouth, listen Attentively, of course, to depart is to turn aside, is to go the other way, in essence. Verse 8 begins this instruction, "'Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house.'" So one of the aspects of wisdom is discerning the way of evil and folly and not beginning in it. And we saw that being urged in chapter four. Words like remove, come not nigh or near, they're really at the very heart of what Solomon is saying in this regard. Stay away from. Avoid in whatever means necessary. Keep away. Don't even go close. So the way, this is direct in the Hebrews, the word for literally for a path, but again, it's the course of life that you're on. So remove your way. far from you, your path, your course of life. In other words, I don't think it's too much to say that Solomon would say, reroute your life, if necessary, to stay away from this dangerous temptation to sin. Obviously, you know, we can rationalize a lot of things in our minds and we can sort of accidentally end up here or there and what have you. And so Solomon is saying, be on guard for that. Don't fall for that. So this would, and certainly, again, Solomon's writing at a time when these things would happen in certain ways, in certain places, and we have even broader application when you start to think about the devices that we have, and the technology, and the internet, and online, and with social media, and websites, and all of these sort of things. And so this can be in the form of not even a you know, a real living, breathing person that you see, but images on a screen and things of that nature through the internet and all of that. So we have to, we certainly have to broaden this application when Solomon is saying, don't even go near. door of your house. Don't go near where these temptations are and reroute your life if necessary. Remove your way from it. So there's all kinds of applications that could be made, but when you think about being near the door of her house, well, you know, you don't, you're not going to go inside the house if you don't go through the door. You know, if you're not, if you're never near the door, then you're not inside the house. And so that is this, that's the real strength of the warning that Solomon is giving in this instruction. Verse 9 gives a consequence of disregarding this message. And so now we start a little more properly with some of these consequences and these high costs. So the alternative from keeping far away from her house, honor that is used here is a word that has the idea of beauty, of majesty, and it's a word that seems to point to a loss of integrity, a loss of respectability, a loss of good reputation, the giving of years, also refers to a loss. The cruel could refer to slave masters. It could be possible that a man is subjected, if he's lost wealth and respect, that he ends up as a slave. But Solomon is clearly counting costs here. And as he goes on counting the cost, there's a message that should be very clear. And that is that you always have more to lose than you do to gain. There's always more to lose than there is to gain when it comes to these type of sexual sins and temptations, again, taking that broader application. So he goes on counting this cost, verse 10, lest strangers be filled with thy wealth and thy labors be in the house of a stranger, which again gives us again the idea of coming to some sort of slavery, some sort of dependency because of this. So there's a loss of wealth and labors in the house of a stranger. There's a loss of wealth-getting ability. Now, obviously, these are on the way, you could say, to destruction. Of course, the old covenant law for acts of adultery gave the death penalty. We also know historically that that wasn't wasn't always carried out as it should have been. But one of the things is that you become more vulnerable, you might say, to extortion, to oppression, and such. In other words, You lose a degree of dominion, of control over your own life. You've essentially ceded these things, handed these things over. Verse 11, and thou mourn at the last when thy flesh and thy body are consumed. Now the word for mourn means to growl or moan and it's a word often used to describe the sound that some animal might make that is in great distress. And so at the last this would be the end that would be the the future, the outcome, the result. And Solomon is looking forward to the end of life and the outcome of the way. And refusing to heed such warnings bring you to what you could just call a howling misery and a regret. Now, the flesh and body being consumed, that's talked about there, Most likely is imagery and it's not like referring to some sort of disease or something like that. But it is a waste, is a waste of life and strength and it is to come to ruin. So there's a lamenting here of what has been lost, and it's a regret that has wasted what cannot be recovered. And so you're consumed, as it were, with regret and with grief. Verse 12 continues, "...and say, How have I hated instruction and my heart despised reproof?" So this future lament continues here, this state of regret that has come to. This man realizes too late that he has been a fool. Proverbs is clear. Fools hate knowledge and instruction and wisdom. Fools hate to be corrected, to be taught, and they hate the counsels of wisdom. And here we see a despising. They despise reproof. And so the statement here is that of regret. In other words, in the end, by refusing to heed the Proverbs, the person essentially becomes a Proverbs 13, 18, "...poverty and shame shall be to him that refuses instruction, but he that regardeth reproof shall be honored." So you essentially suffer the fate that you have been warned against. Verse 13, So what we're getting in this picture is a man later in his life filled with regret and condemned by his own conscience. He's guilt-ridden and he recognizes that his teachers and many others have taught and instructed him just so he would not end up in this place. And he realizes that, and he has shunned all of that. He has despised it. He threw it off as being just a bunch of old fuddy-duds and whatever else. Do I have to insert whatever it is the cool kids say today? I didn't have fuddy-dud in my notes. It just sort of came out, so that's probably dating me a little bit, but anyway. All these teachers and all these ones have been warning not to go that way because this is where it leads to. And when he arrives at that destination, he is full of regret that he did not listen. He was stubborn, he was proud, he was foolish, he was obstinate and he would not listen. The word for obeyed that is used there is again this hearing intelligently. He didn't listen attentively. He just passed it off. He didn't consider what he had heard. He just let it go in one ear and out the other. He did not incline his ear, as Solomon has repeatedly advised to do. He didn't take time to search out wisdom. He didn't take time to consider his way. He just lived for that momentary pleasure and promise, and he comes to ruin and misery and bitter regret. Then verse number 14. I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly." So this is the concluding part of this first part of the chapter, and as all this address goes together, it just makes a turn to the end and goes toward the blessing side. So Solomon has talked about numerous consequences, and Solomon is not done with this subject. It obviously is an important one. It is a very common sin to man, and all you have to do is read the Bible to see how often that these sort of sins entrapped and ensnared people, even people of faith. So, it's fitting here that sort of the last step in this assembly or congregation, the gathering of the assembly, now what this refers to is judgment. And we've talked a little bit about that judgment as we've been looking in Exodus and things of the law. Now the law condemned such a person to death, but historically that doesn't seem like it was held to. But certainly, those guilty of these sins were brought to public disgrace. Now, the tricky, part of this is, particularly for young people in our modern world, is that the public disgrace aspect has really fallen away. Not to say that maybe within a church community there would be recognized some disgrace and some dishonor, but really, and even when you're looking at the sins described here with this strange woman, It's relatively mild considering many other things that we're seeing that are being praised and lauded. I read a little article, it's been just a few years back, and I don't think I saved it. I can't seem to find it, but I do remember it talking about statistics among young people that profess to be Christians and how that over, I forget what the time span was, but the opinions of whether or not sex outside of marriage was okay has changed. And even among many young people that profess to be Christians, there's the idea that it's perfectly all right. It's perfectly acceptable. you know, living together outside of marriage, perfectly acceptable. A lot of these things are, you know, being accepted and being tolerated and being embraced, even among young people that profess to be Christians. Well, what that tells you is that Whereas Solomon appeals somewhat to the idea of honor and somewhat to the idea of reputation and somewhat to the idea of public shame, that's largely reversed. The general pressure around you is going to be the other way. In other words, the shame, in many ways, is those with the crazy notion that God has designed there to be marriage between a man and a woman, and God has designed for sex to be within that bonds of marriage and not outside of it and that's so old-fashioned and that's just that's such backward thing and in many places that's just hate speech to say that sort of thing. So the pressure has actually flipped quite a bit and so for for young people there's going to be more and more pressure publicly to go the way of the strange woman than to not. So this man regrets, he's come to judgment, again he has lost honor and reputation, he's come to public shame, and all of these things he was duly warned against. So just a couple things as we wrap up here. Reading through Proverbs and going through these early sections especially, There's some repetition and it can get kind of tedious. Each one of these addresses kind of starts out very similarly. Sometimes just uses a little bit different wording and what have you, but it's very similar. But stop and think about just how many times do we need to be told that we should listen? Apparently quite a bit. because not only in Proverbs but even in many other places throughout the Bible. I can't help but think of Peter's letters as he's nearing the end of his life and he's saying, basically telling them, I'm not telling you anything you haven't heard from me before. I want to stir you up. I want you to remember. I want you to keep these things. So the fallen man's regret As he comes to the end of his life, the fallen man's regret was that he did not listen. That was what he pinpointed, that Solomon emphasized he did not listen. He had been told, he had been warned, but he did not listen. And we don't listen, oftentimes because We rationalize our sins and we take our cues from our physical appetites and think, well, surely this is gonna make me happy and surely that's gotta be a good thing, right? But again, Proverbs is not all warnings. There are blessings that are described and those are to come in the next section.