Proverbs 5:1 My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:
2 That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
3 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.
6 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.
Every person that has ever lived has to admit they have done foolish things in their past. I am not including Jesus Christ here, because He is more than just a person. He is the eternal Son of God.
Every person should also agree that God has given us THE PURE UNADULTERATED WORD OF GOD so that we do not need to make foolish choices. The problem is with us, not with God. The solution is to first of all be saved, and then to become a member of a true, local, Bible-believing church where you can grow in the Lord.
As we see in our text, God wants the son to lay hold on some very important Truths. Notice that the son is being spoken to by his father. This suggests that the father has already attended to God’s wisdom and is now wanting to pass that on to his son. It is important that the father not corrupt God’s wisdom before passing it on to his son. The only way that can happen is if the father takes the preserved and inspired Word of God and reads that to his son in his youth and continues to instruct his son in the Truth. No father can do that if he accepts any one of the many perversions on the market. It is a fact that the King James Bible is NOT A PERVERSION. It all goes back to the source from which the particular Bible is taken. Anyone that is interested in the truth on this is welcome to send me an email or give me a call or visit our church. I will be pleased to show them why the King James Bible is the ONLY true Word of God for the English speaking world. I will not waste my time listening to this “scholar” or that “professor” who claims to be smarter than all others and wants to promote his corruption of the Word of God. If someone wants to waste their time chasing a lie, they can do that. I am not interested in that.
It is very important for the father to be a God-fearing man. A God-fearing man will do all he can to teach his son the truth. Too often fathers are careless and not attentive enough to that which really matters. Our children are very impressionable. Bad influences can have long lasting negative effects on our children. Sometimes we do not learn that until it is too late.
The fact is that we do not need to experiment to find out what bad influences will do to our children. We have the Bible. Every child will need to decide for themselves if they will accept the truth. It is imperative that we not put stumbling blocks before our children.
In verse 2 we see the need for discretion. The son needs to know how to look at a situation and make a wise choice. The context here is with regard to a strange woman. I just finished listening to an account of one young woman who had consecutive relationships with four different young men. The first question is: where is that girl’s father? Why is he allowing her to be tossed around like that? The second question is where are the fathers of those four young men. Why are those fathers not teaching their sons the fear of God? If they had the fear of God they would not want to defile a young woman.
God says the young man needs to regard discretion so that his lips may keep knowledge. Don’t let knowledge just blow through your lips and then go and do something foolish.
The Bible is very clear that we as men, the male sector of humanity, are very weak when it comes to dealing with women. That is the result of the fall. Adam was made first. He was being trained to be a faithful patriarch. He chose to listen to his wife, who had been deceived. Then when he listened to her he chose to try to blame God and Eve for his wilful disobedience to God. Quite the feat. He thought he could get away with that. God showed him that does not work. It never works.
In verse 3 God introduces the “strange woman” to this account. He needed to have the son’s attention first. The strange woman is someone other than a man’s wife. We are not told if this son is married. The strange woman could be a prostitute or she could be someone who is a flirt. She is out there advertising herself.
God warns the son that her lips drop as an honeycomb. I like the taste of a honeycomb. As far as I can remember, I have only had one of them in my lifetime. I have had honey many times, but I can only remember one time having a honeycomb. It was sweet and very tasty. God says the strange woman’s lips will be like that if the son does not have discretion. He will get himself in over his head very quickly.
God says her mouth is smoother than oil. She knows how to lure the son. The son needs to be operating from a position of a clear and well trained mind and emotion. He cannot operate from the position of lust. Lust is a very common sin among humanity. The Bible gives us many examples of where men were lured into a bad situation by lust. Samson was one such man. King David was another. Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. He certainly did not have control of his mind nor his emotions, nor his heart.
In verse 4 we see that the initial “thrill” of the strange woman is not the end of it all. Her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. She is very destructive. The wise son needs to see red flashing lights and the word POISON in large letters when he gets any hint of this strange woman. He needs to get away from her, not entertain her.
In verse 5 we see that her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell. That is where the unchecked lust takes the young man. Keep in mind, that man is to be the patriarch. Wet noodles are for eating, but not a good quality in a man. The father needs to teach his son to take hold on wisdom. He needs discretion. He needs to know how to make wise choices. He needs to know where he should be spending his time and what he should be avoiding. Unless the son is convinced in his heart of the truth, he can get into trouble in the local church or out on the street.
It is important for the young women to be properly trained as well, but the son cannot make excuses and claim that he was overpowered. Some men don’t mind claiming they were overpowered by a woman. That is what Adam did. Then after they are swept off their feet by the strange woman, they want to give counsel to others on how to live.
Verse 6 tells us that there is no need to think there is a legitimate crossroad where there are several options. There is only one right choice. The path of the strange woman is moveable. If she cannot get you one way she will try another. She has a goal and it is not good. The wise son does not waste his time trying to figure out the strange woman. He needs to understand he will never figure her out. It is foolish to think that the wise son can befriend the strange woman because he is wise enough to win her to the Lord.
God says stay away from her. Shame her into looking into the mirror and into God’s Word and seeing how despicable she really is. She needs to be saved. The wise son will not be lured in by smooth talking, sweet, soft-spoken lips. He will desire truth. He will desire a woman who loves the Lord and has a higher goal than getting into bed or even just a little touching and kissing. A flirtatious woman is a danger to avoid at all cost.
That is a very important lesson for the wise son to learn.
Today is the Lord’s Day. It is the right day to go to a true, Bible-believing church that will teach the Word of God without apology. Don’t be careless. If you are content to sit and listen to someone who lacks the discernment to take God’s Word as their authority, you cannot expect anything good to come out of their mouth.
Pastor Bartel