Proverbs 5

Proverbs 5:1-6

The Three Paths to Destruction - Once we receive the call from wisdom in chapter 1, and are shown how to find it in chapter 2, and what blessings come as a result of answering the call of wisdom in chapter 3, and we learn how wisdom transforms our lives in chapter 4, both spirit, soul and body, we are then shown how sin enters our lives and transforms us in chapter Proverbs 5:1 through Proverbs 6:11. Sin will first enter our hearts (Proverbs 5:1-23), then it will corrupt our minds (Proverbs 6:1-5) and finally, it will defile our bodies (Proverbs 6:6-11). Proverbs 5:1 thru Proverbs 6:11 can be entitled “The Three Paths to Destruction.” This passage of Scripture gives us warnings about some of the most common paths of destruction that people fall into. Man’s heart can lead him into bondage through the path of the adulteress (Proverbs 5:1-23). Man’s lack of understanding can bring him into bondage because of his tongue, which is coming into agreement with the wisdom of this world (Proverbs 6:1-5). Man’s body can bring him into the bondage of poverty through slothfulness (Proverbs 6:6-11). We are taken behind the scenes to see the fearful end of those who follow these three deceitful paths. Just as the three paths of wisdom manifest themselves in the lives of those who follow her path, so does the fool show outward manifestations of the path that he is on. Heart - If a person with a transformed heart (Proverbs 4:1-9) will manifest a “crown of glory” (Proverbs 4:9) with an outward peace and anointing, then the corrupted heart of the person who is on the path of adultery (Proverbs 5:1-23) is manifested by being in bondage to sins (Proverbs 5:22). Mind - For those who have a renewed mind (Proverbs 4:10-19), their lives reflect someone who is able to make wise decisions in which they do not stumble (Proverbs 4:12; Proverbs 4:18). But those with a corrupted mind (Proverbs 6:1-5) will be manifested as a person who cannot make sure decisions, but is constantly agreeing to things to please others (Proverbs 6:1-2). Body - Those who allow the Word of God to direct their bodies (Proverbs 4:20-27) will be manifest as those who live a long and health life (Proverbs 4:22). In contrast, those who do not yield their bodies to serve the Lord become people who indulge in fleshly passions, which addictions cause a person to become a sluggard (Proverbs 5:6-11). This is manifested as poverty (Proverbs 6:11), which will be seen in the life of the sluggard. As we step back and evaluate the lessons that we have learned thus far, we find a common factor in each of these sections. They all begin with wisdom calling us to take heed to God’s Words. Every one of these sections, the three paths of wisdom as well as the three paths of the fool, all begin with this same charge. This is because when we take time each day to mediate and study God’s Word, we allow our minds and hearts to become established in the truth so that we will not be deceived by all of the noise from the world. Outline - Note the proposed outline:

1. The Heart - Warnings of the Adulteress — Proverbs 5:1-232. The Mind - Warnings of the Loose Tongue — Proverbs 6:1-53. The Body - Warnings against Laziness — Proverbs 6:6-11

Proverbs 5:15-19

The Remedy: A Happy Marriage - This passage is describing the institution of holy matrimony. Marriage is called a well of water, running waters, fountains, rivers of waters, a loving hin and a pleasant roe. Water refreshes the soul, and sex refreshes the flesh; but genuine love in marriage refreshes the spirit, soul and body. The pleasures of marriage outweigh the pleasures of fornication. The remedy for avoiding the strange woman is to pay attention to wisdom, staying far from the house of the adulteress, and focus on your wife as God’s source of satisfaction. Contrasting the Adulteress with the Wife - The book of Proverbs gives a number of contrasts between the adulteress and the wife.

1. If the wife is called fresh, clean water in this passage, the whore is contrasted as a dirty ditch. Note: Proverbs 23:27, “For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.” Just as filthy water in a ditch is a source of worms and disease, so is a filthy whore a source of infectious disease.
2. The adulteress is called a “strange” woman. It is the strangeness of a whore that stands in direct contrast to “knowing” one’s wife. Proverbs 5:15 Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well. Proverbs 5:15 — Word Study on “cistern” – Strong says (בּוֹ ?ø) (H953) means, “a cistern, pit, well.” Proverbs 5:15 — Comments - Note that in this time period, a man that owned a well was truly blessed. For many neighbours did not have this privilege. Therefore, they find themselves always coming to the house of the one blessed with water and having to purchase it. My wife grew up in a poor neighbourhood where many small houses were built together. Her father was one of the few homes with running water. The other neighbours were constantly coming over to purchase water from him, but the wicked person attempted to steal some water. This is symbolic of adultery. Note: Proverbs 9:17, “Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.”Proverbs 5:16 Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets. Proverbs 5:16 — Comments - For those who had their own well, they found enough for themselves and for others to be blessed also. If the fountain of water represents the man and woman in marriage, then the rivers of water represent their offspring and their overflow of blessings into the society. Rivers of water represent a multitude of children and the divine blessings that overflow into the lives of others. Their offspring will as well become blessings to others in the community.
3. The nation of Judah is said to have come forth out of the waters of Judah. Isaiah 48:1, “Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness.”
4. We see a similar picture of a river being dispersed from the throne of God in the book of Revelation. Revelation 22:1, “And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.” In the book of Revelation, these waters represent the life, or provision, from God.
5. In contrast to the blessings of having many children from a loving wife, the man who commits whoredom will not be producing children, as noted in Hosea 4:10. Hosea 4:10, “For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the LORD.” Proverbs 5:15-16 — Comments – A Man’s Source of Refreshing - A man’s wife is his true source of refreshing, just as the well in his own yard is the proper source of physical refreshment with water (Proverbs 5:15). There is enough refreshment in a godly relationship with his wife to overflow and bless a multitude of others (Proverbs 5:16). Proverbs 5:17 Let them be only thine own, and not strangers’ with thee. Proverbs 5:17 — Comments - Children produced in a holy marriage are loved by the father and honoured by the community. But both often despise children produced in harlotry. We see this illustrated in the Scriptures where Jephthah, the son of Gilead and the son of a harlot, was rejected by his half brothers. Judges 11:1-2, “Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah. And Gilead’s wife bare him sons; and his wife’s sons grew up, and they thrust out Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father’s house; for thou art the son of a strange woman.” We see this illustrated in the relationship of Ishmael with his father Abraham. Ishmael, the son of Abraham’s handmaid, was cast out of the family after he began to despise Isaac, his half brother. Proverbs 5:18 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Proverbs 5:18 — “and rejoice with the wife of thy youth” - Comments - The phrase “the wife of thy youth” occurs in others places in the Scriptures. Ecclesiastes 9:9, “Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.” Malachi 2:14-15, “Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.” Proverbs 5:19 — Comments - There is a joy in early marriage, where the young wife is excited about taking care of her husband and giving him pleasure. They do things together and enjoy the hope of future happiness together. Unfortunately, the husband can easily take advantage of a wife’s desire to serve him and neglect to meet her needs. Such years of neglect leave a woman depressed and less responsive to her husband, so that she loses her beauty and youthful joy. Such immaturity in the husband leads him to look for a new wife, in whom is such youth and excitement. He blames his first wife, when in fact, he has been the cause of her demise. Proverbs 5:19 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love. Proverbs 5:19 — “Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe” – Comments - The NIV reads, “A loving doe, a graceful deer…” Because of the grace of these animals, women were even named after them (Acts 9:36). The Aramaic name “Tabitha” and its Greek equivalent “Dorcas” mean “a gazelle.” Acts 9:36, “Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did.” Matthew Henry notes that the wealthy men would often keep these animals as pets in their homes to entertain them.[68] We see an illustration of this type of pet in 2 Samuel 12:3. [68] Matthew Henry, Proverbs, in Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, New Modern Edition, Electronic Database (Seattle, WA: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1991), in P.C. Study Bible, v. 3.1 [CD-ROM] (Seattle, WA: Biblesoft Inc., 1993-2000), notes on Proverbs 5:15-23.2 Samuel 12:3, “But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.” Note other Scriptural references to the roe in relation to love: Son 2:9, “My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice.” Son 2:17, “Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.” Son 8:14, “Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.” Proverbs 5:19 — “let her breasts satisfy thee at all times” – Comments - The breasts are both the seat of a woman’s emotions and the source of a man’s attraction. If a man is satisfied with his wife, then he will not be looking for the breasts of another. His affection for his wife’s breasts satisfies her sexual needs. Thus, a man’s physical attraction for his wife is an indicator of the strength of his relationship with her. Scripture References - Note other similar Scriptures references: Son 1:13, “A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.” Son 4:5, “Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies.” Son 7:3, “Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins.” Proverbs 5:19 — “be thou ravished always with her love” - Comments - Here, we see the heart of a man in passionate love with his young bride. In order to keep this passion alive, we must follow the remedy that God gives us in this passage of Scripture. Otherwise, a man will find his eyes wandering to other fountains. Proverbs 5:19 — Comments - The word “let” used in Proverbs 519 indicates that it is a matter of a man’s will to decide whether to keep his bond strong with his wife, or to let his eyes and heart wander to a stranger. Thus, when someone says that his passions were beyond his control, he is denying the fact that he chose that path initially of his own free will, although this path may have led him into his passions and bondages. The secular media today is trying to get the seductive woman in front of the eyes of the man so that he will watch their programs, or read their literature and thus, purchase the products that they advertise. The media simply wants his wealth and they use seduction to get access to it. But they must get the man’s eyes off of his wife and on other seductive women. They could care less if it destroys a marriage as long as they get their wealth. I learned as a single man to turn my eyes away from seduction and not to meditate upon it. Otherwise, it could easily bring me into bondage. Put simply, Proverbs 5:19 tells the husband to keep the fires of romance burning. A man’s physical attraction to his wife is an indication of the health of the marriage. Take her on a date. Do things for her to keep her beautiful and sexy. Buy her something romantic to wear for the bedtime hours. Because if the husband does not do it for his wife, then he may become tempted to do it for someone else, even if it is only in his imagination. A man must not neglect the romantic part of a marriage. My experience in marriage shows me that it is the man’s responsibility to keep romance alive, and if he does, the wife will follow his leading by acting and becoming sexy for her husband.

Proverbs 5:20-23

The Punishment for Adultery – Proverbs 5:20-23 gives us a preview of the punishment awaiting those who go down the path of adultery. Proverbs 5:20 And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger? Proverbs 5:20 — Word Study on “ravished” – Strong says the Hebrew word “ravished” (ωָׁ ?βָ ?δ) (H7686) means, “to stray, mislead,” and figuratively, “to mistake, to transgress, to be raptured.” The Enhanced Strong says it is used 21 times in the Old Testament, being translated in the KJV as, “err 11, ravished 2, wander 3, deceiver 1, cause to go astray 1, sin through ignorance 1, go astray 1, deceived 1.” Comments - It serves to say that a man become lost in his passions and fails to listen to reason any more. However, this same Hebrew word is used in a positive way in the preceding verse, “be thou ravished always with her love”, in order to contrast the desire of a man for his wife.Proverbs 5:20 — Comments - Wisdom is now trying to reason with us in this area. Job knew the struggle of overcoming this type of temptation. Note: Job 31:1, “I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?” Proverbs 5:20 — Scripture Reference - Note: Proverbs 6:27, “Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?” Proverbs 5:21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings. Proverbs 5:21 — Word Study on “pondereth” - Strong says the Hebrew word “pondereth” (τָּ ?μַ ?ρ) (H6424) means, “to roll flat, to prepare, to revolve, i.e. to weigh (mentally).” The Enhanced Strong says it is used six times in the Old Testament, being translated in the KJV as, “ponder 3, weigh 2, made 1.” Proverbs 5:21 — Comments - Not only does the Lord see our ways, He weighs our works on the scales of judgment. Note: BBE, “For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the Lord, and he puts all his goings in the scales.” Note other references to the scales of judgment: 1 Samuel 2:3, “Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.” Daniel 5:27, “TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.” Psalms 62:9, “Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.” Also, note other similar verses: Hebrews 13:4, “Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.” Revelation 22:12; Revelation 22:15, “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be….For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.” Proverbs 5:21 — Comments - As a young Christian in the early 1980’s, the Lord gave me a dream with the words, “The Stage and the Scales.” It means that we live this life on a stage before God’s eyes. When we die, we will be weighed on God’s scales of judgment for everything that we have done in this life. Proverbs 5:22 His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins. Proverbs 5:22 — “he shall be holden with the cords of his sins” – Comments - When a man continues in a certain sin, it becomes a bondage that he cannot break, such as alcohol, tobacco, drugs, etc. The sin of sexual perversion is perhaps one of the greatest bondages that a man can fall into. Proverbs 5:23 He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray. Proverbs 5:23 — Comments - We know that Proverbs 5:23 refers to the judgment of the sinner. But we see this judgment on believers clearly illustrated in Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthians when he was discussing God’s chastisement. Note: 1 Corinthians 11:30-32, “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.”