Proverbs 7:1-27
- My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee. 2 Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye. 3 Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart. 4 Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman: 5 That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words. 6 For at the window of my house I looked through my casement, 7 And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding, 8 Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house, 9 In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night: 10 And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart. 11 (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house: 12 Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.) 13 So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him, 14 I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows. 15 Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee. 16 I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt. 17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. 18 Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves. 19 For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey: 20 He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed. 21 With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him. 22 He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks; 23 Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life. 24 Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth. 25 Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths. 26 For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her. 27 Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death
Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived wrote this proverb. It is about a young man who refused to listen to the instructions of his father. The scripture says son, but it is talking to everyone, not just the males of the human race. God calls us the church, his body, his son. I John 3:1&2 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God.
In this proverb, Solomon says to listen to the words of the father. He was trying to give his son wisdom because one day he would be king. Who is this father that is speaking? When we look at this from a spiritual viewpoint, Solomon is talking about God, our spiritual Father, who is talking to us, his children, the church. The Father is telling the son to keep his commandments and live. He repeated this twice and when God speaks something twice; it is very important for us to take heed. It was imperative for the son to listen to the words of his Father. God called Saul twice. On the road to Damascus, he said, Saul, Saul. He wanted to make sure he had Saul’s attention. When we see something twice, we need to pay special attention.
VERSE 2 - The Father is telling the son to keep his commandments and live. God is telling us to keep His commandments and live. He was letting him know that if he didn’t keep the commandments, there would be consequences for his actions. He said to keep the law as the apple of your eye. When something is the apple of your eye, it is precious. When we keep the law as the apple of our eye, it means we are cherishing his law. It is precious to us. It is important to us. What law is he talking about? God is telling us to keep the commandments of love. We must love him with all our heart….. and love our neighbors as ourselves. It is about love. Because when something is the apple of your eye, it is cherished above all others.
VERSE 3 - Solomon also said to bind the words upon your fingers. To bind means to tie. People sometimes tie strings around their fingers to remind them of something important. Something they don’t want to forget. When we bind the commandments on our fingers, they will be a constant reminder of what is required of us from God. Let the commandments be precious to you, like a wedding ring. A wedding ring is a constant reminder that you are married. So, when you bind the commandments upon your finger, they are a constant reminder of what you have to do in order to have a relationship with God. Let the commandments be a constant reminder of your relationship with God.
Solomon also said to write the commandments upon the table of your heart. Why the heart? Because the heart is the seat of affection. We must keep the commandments of God as our treasure. St. Luke 12:34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. We are told to write them on the table of our hearts. If you keep the commandments upon the table of your heart, you have great affection for them; they are precious to you, and you love the commandments. You keep them in your heart; you keep them close to you so they will be there when you need them. Whenever you tell a person they are in your heart, what you are actually saying is that you love that person, and you have affection for them.
God said He would write His law in our hearts; he would take out the old stony heart and give us a heart of flesh. You can’t do much with stone. It is hard and un-pliable. You can shape it by chipping away, but once it has a form, you can’t do anything else with it. You can only shape stone one time. You have seen sculptures that are made from stone. In order to get the stone into the shape, you see the sculptor had to chip away at the stone until it is the shape they want. Once they have gotten the shape, they can’t do anything else to it. The shape is set. They can’t remake it; they can only tear it down and if they continue to chip away at it, the stone will eventually disappear.
An example would be the Hope diamond. This diamond started out at 112 carats but owner after owner wanted to change it and now it has been reset down to 45 carats.
If you have a stony heart, there is nothing God can do with it. It is not pliable. But if you have a heart of flesh, God can mold it and shape it into whatever he desires. By giving us a heart of flesh, the Lord is saying he will now be able to mold and shape the heart into something that he can use. He wants to come forth as pure gold. If you notice, gold is a soft substance when heated. That’s why it can be molded and shaped. That’s why we should keep the commandments in our hearts, because if it’s in your heart, you have easy access to it. They are in your heart and mind, so when Satan comes, you can draw from the word and defeat the devil. If you don’t have the word, if you haven’t eaten the word through reading, hearing, and studying, then you have nothing to draw from when Satan comes. This is what Jesus used when Satan tempted him. Jesus said it is written.
VERSE 4 - The next thing Solomon said was, say unto wisdom, you are my sister, which indicates a close relationship. And call understanding my kinswoman which means to be (closely allied with, working together to defeat the enemy).
We must make the word of God familiar to us. We should always be seeking after wisdom. God said he would give wisdom to anyone who asked. When you have wisdom, it indicates you have a close relationship with God. Wisdom is one of the seven Spirits of God. King David had wisdom. The scripture says he behaved himself wisely and went in and out among the people. We must take pleasure and delight in it. If the word is in our heart, we will take pleasure from it. Solomon said in chapter 6:21 to bind the commandments on your heart and tie them around your neck. If we bind the commandments around our necks, they will lead and guide us in the direction which we should go.
Verse 3 – Write them on our hearts = affection (where your treasure is, there will your hearts be also)
Verse 3 – Tie them around our fingers = it is a reminder to do the works of God
Chapter 6:21 – Tie them around our necks = direction (a yoke steers us in the direction we should go)
Why did Solomon say this? Keep my commandments and live? The reason we are told to keep the commandments. To bind them upon our fingers and write them on our hearts is to is to keep us from the strange woman. Who is this strange woman? This woman is called a harlot. She has the attire of a harlot, but in actuality, she is a married woman posing as a harlot. Who is this woman? Who is this harlot? The book of Revelation calls Babylon a harlot, the mother of harlots. Why? Because she defiles herself with the wickedness of the world. Not just one time, but many times. God called Israel a harlot because she left Him and defiled herself with other nations. God became angry with Israel and said she was playing the harlot because she kept following after other gods. She refused to follow only God; she kept worshipping idols and defiling herself with the wickedness of other nations.
Sadly, many Christians have been keeping company with this strange woman.
VERSE 10 - When Solomon is talking about the harlot, he is talking about the world and the wickedness in the world. He is talking about the pleasures of sin in the world. When Solomon describes this woman, he describes her as having the attire of a harlot; she is cunning and subtle. It reminds me of Satan in the Garden of Eden when he was talking to Eve. Satan was subtle; he came to Eve with enticing speech and enticing words and because she was drawn away with her own lusts; she listened to his words. He tricked her and caused her to sin. He was more cunning and subtle than all the beasts of the field. Satan tries to make himself look good to us, so we will follow him. He pretends to be something he is not. He transforms himself into an angel of light and, if were possible, he would deceive the very elect. But the elect have fortified themselves with wisdom and understanding.
VERSE 11 - Solomon also said for us to keep our lips from the strange woman because she will lead you to death and hell. She is persistent and constantly speaking to us so that we will not notice we have strayed. So, you won’t come to church, you won’t pray or read the bible. The scripture says, do not forsake the assembly of yourselves together. This is what happened to the young man. The woman kept talking to him to keep him distracted, and she kept talking to keep him from thinking. An example would be talking on the phone while driving or talking with someone who is in the car with you. It is impossible to be totally aware of what you are doing when you drive and talk on the phone. Something is going to get less of your attention, and you are more prone to make a mistake. You might end up missing your turn because your attention was divided, and you weren’t focused on what you were doing.
This is what Satan does. He tries to make us keep our attention on something other than God, and one day we wake up and wonder how we got in the shape we are in. How did this happen? How did I get into this situation? The woman wants to stop us from thinking about what we are doing or what we are about to do. She whispers sweet nothings into our ears, enticing us to submit. She says things like,” it won’t hurt only this once, no one will know. What harm can come from it?” etc. How many times has Satan whispered into your ear? how many times has he tricked you into doing something you thought would be harmless? How many times have you done something that was not according to God’s will, and you didn’t repent?
VERSE 11 - The woman continues to talk to the young man. She is loud and stubborn, not willing to take no for an answer. She is loud because she needs to drown out the other voices that might be calling to him. She needs him to notice her and no one else. She needs him to not hear the voice of God. She needs to keep him distracted and not focused. She needs to take his attention away from wisdom that is crying out LISTEN TO ME.
In the 1st chapter of Proverbs verses 20-21, wisdom is crying in the street. God is constantly calling out to us, but people who are simple-minded ignore it because they love simplicity. They love silly, deceptive, flattering, and enticing talk and conduct. They are naïve and easily deceived or persuaded. They heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. People who tell them what they want to hear. People who will not bring correction to them but tell them all is well.
A simple-minded person is unsuspecting. Scripture says we are to be always watching and praying. We are to always be on the lookout because Satan, our enemy, walks about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. A simple-minded person also acts rashly. They allow their emotions to get in the way. They are inconsiderate and unwary because they lack knowledge and understanding. But simplicity is not something a person has to live with forever, a simple-minded person can change. He or she does not have to stay that way, but in order for the person to change, they must do something. They must acquire the knowledge of God because this knowledge will make the simple wise. All they have to do is ask for it. All they have to do is keep the commandments of the Lord. Psalms 19:7 says, The law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul, the testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple.
VERSE 15 - This strange woman who entices the young man lies in wait, seeking her prey, waiting to pounce. She made it appear as if she was waiting for and looking especially for the young man. She made it seem as if she would have been so unhappy and disappointed if she had not found him. But in actuality, if he hadn’t come along, she would have found someone else. Someone who was willing to go with her. She was looking for anyone to entice. (Young, old, male, female, saved, unsaved). It doesn’t matter to her. That’s the way sin is. It looks for anyone to entice, anyone willing to follow it. This strange woman is constantly trying to entice us to follow her and partake of her pleasures. But if we keep ourselves fortified with the word of God, which brings wisdom, we will not be like the simple-minded young man. Satan is always looking for someone he can cause to stray; someone he can get to follow after him.
VERSE 9 - This young man is out late at night, going where he should not be. He was out at a time when he should not have been. The scripture says he went the way to her house. This young man might not have been looking for her. He might not have been looking for trouble, but because he was somewhere he should not have been, it led to trouble. Because he was not keeping himself fortified with the word of God. He was not praying and studying. In Proverbs 9:13-18 the foolish woman calls to passerby’s saying, turn in here, stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. Not knowing that her way is the way to destruction.
She makes it appear like everything is so good and wonderful. She makes sin attractive; no one will find out. She makes the person think they are getting away with it. No one is here but us, the person doesn’t know that sin will lead to spiritual death, but that spiritual death will lead to death and hell. Complete separation from God.
This is what Satan whispers to us. No one will know. The pleasure will be better because you will get a thrill from the secrecy. But in Proverbs 9:1-6 wisdom is calling saying come eat of my bread and drink of my wine, forsake the foolish and live. Come over here where the table is spread, and the feast of the Lord is going on. We should be constantly seeking after and following after God. Wisdom is constantly calling out to us. She cries out in the streets, LISTEN TO ME.
Scripture tells us to not seek after the world and the things of the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. You can only be tempted when you are drawn away of your own lust and enticed. We cannot be a friend of God and a friend of the world. I know, this is a hard saying, who can hear it. If we do, we will fall into a deep pit. The world and the sin in the world are a trap waiting to ensnare anyone who is simple. Anyone who refuses to accept the gift of salvation Jesus gave to us. Anyone who lacks wisdom and understanding, anyone not seeking after God. Proverbs 6:27 says can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? When a person flirts with temptation, they will get burned. Stay out of the devil’s territory. Temptation leads to willful ignorance and willful ignorance leads to really stupid decisions. Be careful of the decisions you make because you might find yourself digging your own grave.
In this Proverb, the Father is telling his son to give him his heart and let his eyes observe his ways. How can our eyes observe our ways? Because our eyes give us direction, they allow us to see where we are going. When the eye is single, the whole body is full of light. We walk in the direction we see. But he is not talking about our natural sight, but spiritual.
When we follow wisdom, we will flee from the temptations of the woman. I Peter 2:11 says, Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul. This simple young man did not listen to his father; he was void of understanding, not because the information was unavailable, because it was. It was not as if he couldn’t get wisdom and understanding because he could. It was constantly crying out in the street. Come in here, turn this way, but he chose not to, he chose to stay simple-minded. So, if you’re simple-minded or void of understanding, it’s because you choose to stay that way. This young man was simple-minded because he chose to ignore the warnings of his father. The same way people today choose to ignore God calling to them. Sadly, we can preach and teach the word, but we can’t make people have a relationship with God.
Scripture says in Joshua 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
VERSE 15 – 19, This woman tells the young man to come. She says, “I have been looking for you and I found you.” Satan is looking for any open door in which to enter in. He is looking for a crack in the door. He is looking for any opportunity. That’s why the scripture says do not give place to the devil.
She has been waiting for him, and her husband is not at home. It’s been 2000 years. The woman made it seem as if it was alright because she had paid her vows. It was ok because she had gone to church; it was ok because she gave in the offering; it was ok because she sang on the praise team; it was ok because she prayed; it was ok…. she said I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt. 17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. 18 Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves.
This is what people have been told. Just go to church, give your tithes and offering, sing praises to God and you are alright with Him. You can use profanity, you can fornicate, you can have hate and bitterness in your heart. You can gossip and put people down, you can spend all your time doing things of the world, not giving God time and you are still a Christian. God forbid.
She made everything look good and smell good; she made it pleasant and pleasing to the eye. That’s what the world does. It makes sin attractive, and it makes everything look like it is so much fun. If you come over here, you will have so much fun. The ads on TV are made to appeal to the lust of the eye and flesh. They are made to entice. The alcohol ads on TV make it seem like drinking is so much fun, everyone is having such a good time, nothing is going to happen, there are no consequences to what you are doing, and you don’t have to worry. Have your fun and go home. But that isn’t the case. One day the goodman of the house (Jesus) is going to come home. One day he is going to come back and give everyone a reward according to the deeds done in the body.
Verses 21-23 “With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him. He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks; Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.”
But wisdom is saying, “Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth. Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths.” Verse 24-25
This young man yielded to temptation. He does not realize that what he is about to do will lead to his death and his destruction.
Vs. 26 says, “For she has cast down many wounded, yea, many strong men have been slain by her.”
Strong men – people who were rooted and grounded in the word at one time, but they began to listen to another voice. They began to give in another voice and now they have fallen away from the truth. “O how the mighty are fallen.” But there is hope.
Proverbs 2:18-19 For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead. None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.
Do not be like the simple-minded young man; listen to and follow the instructions of your Father and live because He loves you.
Prophetess Nadine Richmond
