Sunday, October 14, 2018 – Proverbs 22 - 24
Introduction, How the Wise Discipline Themselves to Follow
GOD in Everything.
Grace Fellowship Church
Pastor/Teacher, Jim Rickard
For written Bible studies in Proverbs chapter 1-21 click here: http://gracedoctrine.org/books-of-the-bible-2/
For audio and video messages of these chapters click the links below:
Chapters 1 - 3
Chapters 3 - 11
Chapters 12 - 17
Chapters 18 - 21
Returning back to our study of the Book of Proverbs, we once again note the basic outline of the book.
Solomon I:
Collection I, chapters 1-9;
Collection II, chapters 10:1-22:16,
Collection III, chapters
22:17-24:22
Collection IV chapters 24:23-24:34
Solomon II:
Collection V, chapters 25-29
The Sayings of Agur Son of Jakeh:
Collection VI, chapter 30
The Sayings of Lemuel:
Collection VII, chapter 31
As you can see, there are four main authors and seven
“collections” or mini books within the overall book. The reason we say four
authors is because Solomon II is a collection of couplets or sayings thought to
have originally been authored by Solomon but collected and edited by King
Hezekiah’s men, “i.e., the “Men of Hezekiah.” Therefore, they get credit for
authorship.
In this round of studying the Book of Proverbs, we are going
to continue in Collection II that ends half way through Chapter 22 in vs. 16,
and at least study through to Collection IV that includes Chapter 24:23-34.
A more detailed outline of the sections we will study in
this round are highlighted in bold below:
II. Collection 2:
Solomon’s couplets expressing wisdom, Prov 10:1 - 22:16.
A. The marks of wise
living, Prov 10 - 15.
B. How to please God, Prov 16:1 - 22:16.
1. Trusting God, Prov 16.
2. Peacemakers and
troublemakers, Prov 17.
3. Friendship and
folly, Prov 18.
4. Further advice for pleasing God, Prov
19:1 - 22:16.
III. Collection 3:
Thirty sayings of the wise, Prov 22:17 - 24:22.
A. Introduction to the 30 sayings, Prov
22:17-21.
B. The 30 sayings, Prov 22:22 - 24:22.
IV. Collection 4: Six
more sayings of the wise, Prov 24:23-34.
In Chapter 22, we
will conclude the proverbs encouraging godly living, Prov 16:1-22:16, and begin the proverbs concerning various
practices, Prov 22:17-24:34, in
Collections 3-4.
Specifically, we will see:
1. How the wise discipline themselves to follow God in
everything, vs. 1-16.
2. Wisdom tells us when to speak and when to be silent, vs. 17-21.
3. The wise ones care for and protect the poor, vs. 22-29.
We begin with, “How the wise discipline themselves to
follow God in everything,” vs. 1-16.
Here we see that the theme of the Lord’s sovereignty over
kingdoms and peoples, which we previously studied in Prov 21:30-31, paves the way for a description of the theme
regarding our Lord’s sovereignty over wealth in the first sub-unit vs. 1-9; the final unit of Collection II.
Every verse, except the partial sub-unit of vs. 5-6, contains terms pertaining to wealth. As such, this section
teaches that the Lord pays back virtue but punishes immorality. In the light of
God’s moral administration, this section aims to moderate the rich, to console
the poor, to warn the oppressor, and to comfort the oppressed, cf. vs. 7.
Vs. 1, is an
introduction to the whole section that speaks of the need for moral instruction
in connection with wealth, which is expanded in vs. 10-16, of which vs.
15-16, function as a conclusion to the theme. We also see the emphasis on
moral instruction when connecting vs.
6-7, with vs. 15-16, that draws
the unit and the Collection to its conclusion. Vs. 6, calls for correcting youth’s innate depravity as soon as
possible, and vs. 15, calls for
discipline, (chapter 5 similarly
mixed the call for moral instruction with the lesson).
From a literary perspective, the key root word “rich,” ASHIR, is found in vs. 1a, 2a, 4a, 7a, 16b that encompasses
the whole section, cf. vs. 1 and 16. In addition, the catchword “the Lord” is used in vs. 2, 4, 12, and 14 that
punctuates the section, as does the refrain “gives,” NATHAN and “poor,”
DAL, concluding the verse of each half, vs.
9, 16. In addition, vs. 15-16,
function as a conclusion to the whole section.
The first sub-section, vs.
1-9, consists of an introduction asserting the priority of a good name
compared to wealth, vs. 1. In
support of this, the following verses combine the Lord’s sovereignty, vs. 2, with human accountability, vs. 3-4, with the assertion of the
Lord’s retribution, vs. 7-9. In the
middle of all of this, we see the importance of
education, vs. 5-6. Throughout we
see the assertion of equality between the rich and poor before the Lord, especially
in heaven, vs. 2-4, and their
inequality on earth, vs. 7-9. Each,
in its own way, seeks to heal the natural social rupture between the classes
that destroy the community’s peace.
The second sub-section, vs.
10-16, consists of three proverb pairs:
1. The
introduction, regarding the king’s friends, vs. 10-11, that indirectly motivates the youth to accept the
parent’s teaching by commanding rulers to evict mockers and by asserting the
pure and understanding have the king for a friend.
2. The body,
containing warnings against the deceptive speech of the sluggard vs. 12, and the unfaithful wife, vs. 13-14, with the warnings against easy
money and easy sex by asserting the Lord unfailingly protects the moral order
upheld by the ideal king, vs. 12a, through
frustrating treacherous words, vs. 12b.
3. The conclusion,
pertaining to wealth and moral instruction, vs. 15-16, implicitly instructs the father to drive folly, such as
laziness and promiscuity, from the son’s depraved nature.
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