Isaiah 5
KingCommentsIsaiah 5:1
Honor and Rejoice Your Father and Mother
Soon after Proverbs 23:19, the call for the son to listen is heard again in Proverbs 23:22. Now it is added that he must listen to his father, the motivation being that he was the one who begot him. The son must listen to his father because he owes his natural life to him. This emphasizes not so much the biological relationship but a deeply human relationship. A father must realize the great privilege of having been allowed to beget a son and at the same time the tremendous responsibility (which is also a privilege) to teach his son the fear of the LORD as the beginning of wisdom.
It is one of the great tragedies of our time that more and more children have only a biological father. They have absolutely no human relationship with him, let alone a deeply human one, to say nothing at all about the task of teaching him the fear of God. It is downright shocking to hear that a father seeks contact via Facebook with his son whom he has not looked after for ten years because he ran off with another woman. After ten years, the son suddenly receives a request from his father via Facebook if he wants to become ‘his friend’. I leave it to the reader to think about the son’s reaction.
Solomon also has a word for his son about the mother. The son should not despise her “when she is old”. Not to despise means to have deep respect. Today children know much more intellectually than their parents. Often they also have more abilities. The intellectual knowledge of the parents lags far behind that of the children, and also their physical strengths decline. Diseases of old age may make their appearance, making the mother needy.
There is a great danger that the advice of an old mother will be despised by a child. It takes time to visit her. You already have so little time and the little free time you would like to spend for yourself. And if she then also gives her advice regarding what you are doing or want to do, you don’t want that at all. Such a child shows great ingratitude and insensitivity for the many years his mother has been there for him. She was always there for him.
The instruction not to despise the mother must still sound powerfully today. If the son is a wise son, he will continue to have deep respect for her among other things because of her commitment to him. Her care has allowed him to achieve what he is today. It is a reason to keep listening to his mother. Not that she continues to tell him what he should and should not do in the way she used to. It is about children continuing to listen to the experiences of life that she went through with God. Children still have to go through that. They do wise and honor her when they listen to her. She speaks through her words and through her whole life.
The first expression of honoring parents is to follow them in their holding to the truth. Therefore, in Proverbs 23:23 follows the instruction to buy the truth and not to sell it. He who is eager to have something, buys it and pays the price asked for it. He who sells something prefers the money to what he is selling. He who buys the truth and does not sell it pays the purchase price for it, no matter how high it is, and will not sell it again for any price, no matter how high the bid. It is not about a desire to buy the truth, but about actually purchasing it for the price it is worth.
Truth is not a particular doctrine, but consists of “wisdom and instruction and understanding”. These things are more valuable in life than any material prosperity and are necessary to make life on earth valuable. Their value is eternal and is connected to the knowledge of God in Christ. The ‘purchase price’ is the time we invest, the efforts we make and the resources we purchase to know more of the truth. Buying also means going to Christ and asking Him to give us wisdom, instruction and understanding by His Spirit (cf. Revelation 3:18).
The appreciation for the truth that is evident from buying makes parents happy. Proverbs 23:24-25 describe the exuberant joy of parents whose son reveals himself to be righteous and wise. The father “will greatly rejoice” (Proverbs 23:24). It is again pointed out that he has “sired” him (Proverbs 23:22), emphasizing the profound involvement. It is the son who has come forth from him. He has sired him to make him a wise son.
In Proverbs 23:25, the son is told to make sure that both his father and his mother are glad and rejoice. This will be so when they see that he longs to go his way with the Lord. The father begot, the mother gave birth. Together they have raised the son. When they see that their upbringing has the effect they ardently desired, they have a deep joy (cf. 2 John 1:4; 3 John 1:4). Children must be made aware of the fact that by living a Godly life they will be a joy to their parents.
Isaiah 5:2
Honor and Rejoice Your Father and Mother
Soon after Proverbs 23:19, the call for the son to listen is heard again in Proverbs 23:22. Now it is added that he must listen to his father, the motivation being that he was the one who begot him. The son must listen to his father because he owes his natural life to him. This emphasizes not so much the biological relationship but a deeply human relationship. A father must realize the great privilege of having been allowed to beget a son and at the same time the tremendous responsibility (which is also a privilege) to teach his son the fear of the LORD as the beginning of wisdom.
It is one of the great tragedies of our time that more and more children have only a biological father. They have absolutely no human relationship with him, let alone a deeply human one, to say nothing at all about the task of teaching him the fear of God. It is downright shocking to hear that a father seeks contact via Facebook with his son whom he has not looked after for ten years because he ran off with another woman. After ten years, the son suddenly receives a request from his father via Facebook if he wants to become ‘his friend’. I leave it to the reader to think about the son’s reaction.
Solomon also has a word for his son about the mother. The son should not despise her “when she is old”. Not to despise means to have deep respect. Today children know much more intellectually than their parents. Often they also have more abilities. The intellectual knowledge of the parents lags far behind that of the children, and also their physical strengths decline. Diseases of old age may make their appearance, making the mother needy.
There is a great danger that the advice of an old mother will be despised by a child. It takes time to visit her. You already have so little time and the little free time you would like to spend for yourself. And if she then also gives her advice regarding what you are doing or want to do, you don’t want that at all. Such a child shows great ingratitude and insensitivity for the many years his mother has been there for him. She was always there for him.
The instruction not to despise the mother must still sound powerfully today. If the son is a wise son, he will continue to have deep respect for her among other things because of her commitment to him. Her care has allowed him to achieve what he is today. It is a reason to keep listening to his mother. Not that she continues to tell him what he should and should not do in the way she used to. It is about children continuing to listen to the experiences of life that she went through with God. Children still have to go through that. They do wise and honor her when they listen to her. She speaks through her words and through her whole life.
The first expression of honoring parents is to follow them in their holding to the truth. Therefore, in Proverbs 23:23 follows the instruction to buy the truth and not to sell it. He who is eager to have something, buys it and pays the price asked for it. He who sells something prefers the money to what he is selling. He who buys the truth and does not sell it pays the purchase price for it, no matter how high it is, and will not sell it again for any price, no matter how high the bid. It is not about a desire to buy the truth, but about actually purchasing it for the price it is worth.
Truth is not a particular doctrine, but consists of “wisdom and instruction and understanding”. These things are more valuable in life than any material prosperity and are necessary to make life on earth valuable. Their value is eternal and is connected to the knowledge of God in Christ. The ‘purchase price’ is the time we invest, the efforts we make and the resources we purchase to know more of the truth. Buying also means going to Christ and asking Him to give us wisdom, instruction and understanding by His Spirit (cf. Revelation 3:18).
The appreciation for the truth that is evident from buying makes parents happy. Proverbs 23:24-25 describe the exuberant joy of parents whose son reveals himself to be righteous and wise. The father “will greatly rejoice” (Proverbs 23:24). It is again pointed out that he has “sired” him (Proverbs 23:22), emphasizing the profound involvement. It is the son who has come forth from him. He has sired him to make him a wise son.
In Proverbs 23:25, the son is told to make sure that both his father and his mother are glad and rejoice. This will be so when they see that he longs to go his way with the Lord. The father begot, the mother gave birth. Together they have raised the son. When they see that their upbringing has the effect they ardently desired, they have a deep joy (cf. 2 John 1:4; 3 John 1:4). Children must be made aware of the fact that by living a Godly life they will be a joy to their parents.
Isaiah 5:3
Honor and Rejoice Your Father and Mother
Soon after Proverbs 23:19, the call for the son to listen is heard again in Proverbs 23:22. Now it is added that he must listen to his father, the motivation being that he was the one who begot him. The son must listen to his father because he owes his natural life to him. This emphasizes not so much the biological relationship but a deeply human relationship. A father must realize the great privilege of having been allowed to beget a son and at the same time the tremendous responsibility (which is also a privilege) to teach his son the fear of the LORD as the beginning of wisdom.
It is one of the great tragedies of our time that more and more children have only a biological father. They have absolutely no human relationship with him, let alone a deeply human one, to say nothing at all about the task of teaching him the fear of God. It is downright shocking to hear that a father seeks contact via Facebook with his son whom he has not looked after for ten years because he ran off with another woman. After ten years, the son suddenly receives a request from his father via Facebook if he wants to become ‘his friend’. I leave it to the reader to think about the son’s reaction.
Solomon also has a word for his son about the mother. The son should not despise her “when she is old”. Not to despise means to have deep respect. Today children know much more intellectually than their parents. Often they also have more abilities. The intellectual knowledge of the parents lags far behind that of the children, and also their physical strengths decline. Diseases of old age may make their appearance, making the mother needy.
There is a great danger that the advice of an old mother will be despised by a child. It takes time to visit her. You already have so little time and the little free time you would like to spend for yourself. And if she then also gives her advice regarding what you are doing or want to do, you don’t want that at all. Such a child shows great ingratitude and insensitivity for the many years his mother has been there for him. She was always there for him.
The instruction not to despise the mother must still sound powerfully today. If the son is a wise son, he will continue to have deep respect for her among other things because of her commitment to him. Her care has allowed him to achieve what he is today. It is a reason to keep listening to his mother. Not that she continues to tell him what he should and should not do in the way she used to. It is about children continuing to listen to the experiences of life that she went through with God. Children still have to go through that. They do wise and honor her when they listen to her. She speaks through her words and through her whole life.
The first expression of honoring parents is to follow them in their holding to the truth. Therefore, in Proverbs 23:23 follows the instruction to buy the truth and not to sell it. He who is eager to have something, buys it and pays the price asked for it. He who sells something prefers the money to what he is selling. He who buys the truth and does not sell it pays the purchase price for it, no matter how high it is, and will not sell it again for any price, no matter how high the bid. It is not about a desire to buy the truth, but about actually purchasing it for the price it is worth.
Truth is not a particular doctrine, but consists of “wisdom and instruction and understanding”. These things are more valuable in life than any material prosperity and are necessary to make life on earth valuable. Their value is eternal and is connected to the knowledge of God in Christ. The ‘purchase price’ is the time we invest, the efforts we make and the resources we purchase to know more of the truth. Buying also means going to Christ and asking Him to give us wisdom, instruction and understanding by His Spirit (cf. Revelation 3:18).
The appreciation for the truth that is evident from buying makes parents happy. Proverbs 23:24-25 describe the exuberant joy of parents whose son reveals himself to be righteous and wise. The father “will greatly rejoice” (Proverbs 23:24). It is again pointed out that he has “sired” him (Proverbs 23:22), emphasizing the profound involvement. It is the son who has come forth from him. He has sired him to make him a wise son.
In Proverbs 23:25, the son is told to make sure that both his father and his mother are glad and rejoice. This will be so when they see that he longs to go his way with the Lord. The father begot, the mother gave birth. Together they have raised the son. When they see that their upbringing has the effect they ardently desired, they have a deep joy (cf. 2 John 1:4; 3 John 1:4). Children must be made aware of the fact that by living a Godly life they will be a joy to their parents.
Isaiah 5:4
Two Ways
Solomon asks his son to give him his heart. By this he means that his son gives full attention to the teaching he gives him. In doing so, the father also points out his own ways, his actions and his walk, thus giving his son an example worth following (cf. 1 Corinthians 4:16; 1 Corinthians 11:1; Philippians 3:17; 1 Thessalonians 1:6). He now appeals not to his ears to listen, but to his eyes to look. Let him keep the ways of his father before his eyes. Nor should he just look at them, but look at them with “delight” as something attractive.
In Proverbs 23:26, the father has turned insistently to his son, urging him to keep his ways before his eyes, to imitate him in them, and to take delight in them. In Proverbs 23:27 comes the reason, which is indicated by the word “for”. His urgent call is related to the sexual dangers that threaten the son. If he gives his heart to his father and keeps the ways of his father in mind, his heart will not go out to “a harlot” or “an adulterous woman”, i.e. a strange woman, and he will not set his eyes on her.
The father warns him about two kinds of women. The “harlot” is the prostitute, the woman who offers herself to commit sexual impurity with her. For payment, of course. The “adulterous woman” or “strange woman” is the married woman who wants something different. Today, both types of women also offer themselves through the Internet and commercials.
The father calls the harlot “a deep pit” and the adulterous woman “a narrow well”. If the son engages with the one, he will sink deep, and if he engages with the other, he will fall into utter distress. He will not be able to free himself from either the pit or the well. The pit and the well are a vestibule of hell. Only through Divine intervention in grace and power will it be possible to free himself from the pit and the well.
Proverbs 23:28 emphasizes that the son is dealing with a danger that is not merely latent, but is actually at work. As mentioned, the woman offers herself. For this “she lurks like a robber”. The word “surely” that precedes it gives extra force to his remark. Surely, that is how it is, and not otherwise. In Proverbs 7, the father described in detail the ways of the harlot and the consequences of her depravity (it is good to read that chapter again). Here he repeats that in brief.
Every man she persuades to commit harlotry with her “increases the faithless among men”. It means that her victims demonstrate faithlessness to God’s institution of marriage and are also faithless to their own marriage relationship. She also leads people to all kinds of other forms of faithlessness, such as lying, stealing, killing someone, committing suicide.
Isaiah 5:5
Two Ways
Solomon asks his son to give him his heart. By this he means that his son gives full attention to the teaching he gives him. In doing so, the father also points out his own ways, his actions and his walk, thus giving his son an example worth following (cf. 1 Corinthians 4:16; 1 Corinthians 11:1; Philippians 3:17; 1 Thessalonians 1:6). He now appeals not to his ears to listen, but to his eyes to look. Let him keep the ways of his father before his eyes. Nor should he just look at them, but look at them with “delight” as something attractive.
In Proverbs 23:26, the father has turned insistently to his son, urging him to keep his ways before his eyes, to imitate him in them, and to take delight in them. In Proverbs 23:27 comes the reason, which is indicated by the word “for”. His urgent call is related to the sexual dangers that threaten the son. If he gives his heart to his father and keeps the ways of his father in mind, his heart will not go out to “a harlot” or “an adulterous woman”, i.e. a strange woman, and he will not set his eyes on her.
The father warns him about two kinds of women. The “harlot” is the prostitute, the woman who offers herself to commit sexual impurity with her. For payment, of course. The “adulterous woman” or “strange woman” is the married woman who wants something different. Today, both types of women also offer themselves through the Internet and commercials.
The father calls the harlot “a deep pit” and the adulterous woman “a narrow well”. If the son engages with the one, he will sink deep, and if he engages with the other, he will fall into utter distress. He will not be able to free himself from either the pit or the well. The pit and the well are a vestibule of hell. Only through Divine intervention in grace and power will it be possible to free himself from the pit and the well.
Proverbs 23:28 emphasizes that the son is dealing with a danger that is not merely latent, but is actually at work. As mentioned, the woman offers herself. For this “she lurks like a robber”. The word “surely” that precedes it gives extra force to his remark. Surely, that is how it is, and not otherwise. In Proverbs 7, the father described in detail the ways of the harlot and the consequences of her depravity (it is good to read that chapter again). Here he repeats that in brief.
Every man she persuades to commit harlotry with her “increases the faithless among men”. It means that her victims demonstrate faithlessness to God’s institution of marriage and are also faithless to their own marriage relationship. She also leads people to all kinds of other forms of faithlessness, such as lying, stealing, killing someone, committing suicide.
Isaiah 5:6
Two Ways
Solomon asks his son to give him his heart. By this he means that his son gives full attention to the teaching he gives him. In doing so, the father also points out his own ways, his actions and his walk, thus giving his son an example worth following (cf. 1 Corinthians 4:16; 1 Corinthians 11:1; Philippians 3:17; 1 Thessalonians 1:6). He now appeals not to his ears to listen, but to his eyes to look. Let him keep the ways of his father before his eyes. Nor should he just look at them, but look at them with “delight” as something attractive.
In Proverbs 23:26, the father has turned insistently to his son, urging him to keep his ways before his eyes, to imitate him in them, and to take delight in them. In Proverbs 23:27 comes the reason, which is indicated by the word “for”. His urgent call is related to the sexual dangers that threaten the son. If he gives his heart to his father and keeps the ways of his father in mind, his heart will not go out to “a harlot” or “an adulterous woman”, i.e. a strange woman, and he will not set his eyes on her.
The father warns him about two kinds of women. The “harlot” is the prostitute, the woman who offers herself to commit sexual impurity with her. For payment, of course. The “adulterous woman” or “strange woman” is the married woman who wants something different. Today, both types of women also offer themselves through the Internet and commercials.
The father calls the harlot “a deep pit” and the adulterous woman “a narrow well”. If the son engages with the one, he will sink deep, and if he engages with the other, he will fall into utter distress. He will not be able to free himself from either the pit or the well. The pit and the well are a vestibule of hell. Only through Divine intervention in grace and power will it be possible to free himself from the pit and the well.
Proverbs 23:28 emphasizes that the son is dealing with a danger that is not merely latent, but is actually at work. As mentioned, the woman offers herself. For this “she lurks like a robber”. The word “surely” that precedes it gives extra force to his remark. Surely, that is how it is, and not otherwise. In Proverbs 7, the father described in detail the ways of the harlot and the consequences of her depravity (it is good to read that chapter again). Here he repeats that in brief.
Every man she persuades to commit harlotry with her “increases the faithless among men”. It means that her victims demonstrate faithlessness to God’s institution of marriage and are also faithless to their own marriage relationship. She also leads people to all kinds of other forms of faithlessness, such as lying, stealing, killing someone, committing suicide.
Isaiah 5:7
The Disastrous Consequences of Drunkenness
Immediately following the warning about harlotry in Proverbs 23:26-28 is a warning about drunkenness in Proverbs 23:29-35. This subject has already been briefly addressed by the wise in Proverbs 23:20-21. Drunkenness is closely related to harlotry (Revelation 17:2) and also easily leads to harlotry (Proverbs 23:33). Vividly and imaginatively, the wise man paints the picture of someone who is drunk.
He begins in Proverbs 23:29 with six questions, to which he gives the answer in Proverbs 23:30. In Proverbs 23:31 he has some advice, while in Proverbs 23:32 he shows the consequences if his advice is not followed. In Proverbs 23:33-34, he addresses his son directly. He concludes his description in Proverbs 23:35 with words that come from the mouth of the drunkard himself.
The drunkard is one who cries “woe” and “sorrow” because he is miserable (Proverbs 23:29). These cries can also refer to what he causes others, such as his family, by his drunkenness. The drink turns him into someone who seeks contention, a troublemaker. When he awakens from his intoxication, there is “complaining”, because he is miserable. The “wounds” he has, he has received during his drunkenness, either from a fight or from stumbling or bumping into something over and over again in his waddling gait. They are “wounds without cause”, because he would not have suffered those wounds had he not been drunk. Because of his drunkenness, he can no longer see clearly, for his eyes are bloodshot, making his vision blurry and double.
The answer in Proverbs 23:30 to the six questions of Pro 23:29 is as brief as it is telling. Drunkards are described here as people “who linger long over wine” and “who go to taste mixed wine”. They do not drink a little glass with their food, but wine fills their existence. They continue drinking into the early hours. This includes tasting mixed drinks. This increases the drinking pleasure.
Drunks know no time and no responsibility. They are people without a spine. The fact that they have to be at work on time the next day does not concern them. They don’t think about how things are at home. They are in a daze and unable to think about responsibilities.
The father advises his son not to look at the wine “when it is red” (Proverbs 23:31), that is, when the wine has a special attractiveness. This may be when you are going through an unpleasant period, or have to deal with a major disappointment. There may then be a special temptation from wine to drink from it. Therefore, the urgent advice is not to look at it. If you do, you will see how attractive it is. Your resistance to it will melt like snow in the sun. You will put the cup of wine to your mouth and experience how smoothly it goes down.
But you must remember that the brief pleasure ends with the bite of a serpent and the sting of a viper (Proverbs 23:32). You will “at last” be destroyed by it. No one indulges in wine when he thinks for a moment about what the end is. His fellow drinkers don’t tell him that. They offer him the first glass of wine. If he doesn’t take it, they laugh at him. Therefore, he takes the glass and drinks it. Indeed, it drinks easily and it tastes exquisite. It ends up demolishing his entire human dignity.
In Proverbs 23:33-34, the father addresses his son directly. He should be aware that drunkenness makes boundaries blur and easily leads him to harlotry and debauched talk (Proverbs 23:33). His clouded brain no longer has the awareness that he is married. His eyes become eyes that see strange things or strange women, his eyes are full of adultery, and because he no longer has a sense of standards, he comes to the disgusting act of adultery. The language he utters is of the same perverse, disgusting content. Uninhibitedly, the most disgusting things come out of his mind.
The drunken son will be utterly insensitive to what happens to him (Proverbs 23:34). A drunkard does not know what he is doing, where he is and where he is going. He may find himself in the heart of the sea, in a heavy storm, but totally unaware that he could just drown. He is like a sleeper to whom nothing penetrates. Or he may find himself in the top of a mast, where he is swinging back and forth and can make a deadly fall, unaware of this danger. Again, he is like a sleeper to whom nothing penetrates. He saunters down the street and wallows in his own vomit without the slightest awareness of it (Isaiah 28:7-8; cf. Psalms 107:26-27).
The drunkard knows he has been beaten, but he does not know by whom (Proverbs 23:35). It has not made him sick or bound him to his bed. They even struck him with hard blows, but he felt nothing. How wonderful it is to be drunk! Anything can happen to you, but it doesn’t bother you at all. This life he wants to continue. He is incorrigible, he just wants to remain drunk and therefore numb to misery. Therefore, when he wakes up, he will again reach for his great comforter, the bottle (Isaiah 56:12; Isaiah 5:11). What a tragedy!
Isaiah 5:8
The Disastrous Consequences of Drunkenness
Immediately following the warning about harlotry in Proverbs 23:26-28 is a warning about drunkenness in Proverbs 23:29-35. This subject has already been briefly addressed by the wise in Proverbs 23:20-21. Drunkenness is closely related to harlotry (Revelation 17:2) and also easily leads to harlotry (Proverbs 23:33). Vividly and imaginatively, the wise man paints the picture of someone who is drunk.
He begins in Proverbs 23:29 with six questions, to which he gives the answer in Proverbs 23:30. In Proverbs 23:31 he has some advice, while in Proverbs 23:32 he shows the consequences if his advice is not followed. In Proverbs 23:33-34, he addresses his son directly. He concludes his description in Proverbs 23:35 with words that come from the mouth of the drunkard himself.
The drunkard is one who cries “woe” and “sorrow” because he is miserable (Proverbs 23:29). These cries can also refer to what he causes others, such as his family, by his drunkenness. The drink turns him into someone who seeks contention, a troublemaker. When he awakens from his intoxication, there is “complaining”, because he is miserable. The “wounds” he has, he has received during his drunkenness, either from a fight or from stumbling or bumping into something over and over again in his waddling gait. They are “wounds without cause”, because he would not have suffered those wounds had he not been drunk. Because of his drunkenness, he can no longer see clearly, for his eyes are bloodshot, making his vision blurry and double.
The answer in Proverbs 23:30 to the six questions of Pro 23:29 is as brief as it is telling. Drunkards are described here as people “who linger long over wine” and “who go to taste mixed wine”. They do not drink a little glass with their food, but wine fills their existence. They continue drinking into the early hours. This includes tasting mixed drinks. This increases the drinking pleasure.
Drunks know no time and no responsibility. They are people without a spine. The fact that they have to be at work on time the next day does not concern them. They don’t think about how things are at home. They are in a daze and unable to think about responsibilities.
The father advises his son not to look at the wine “when it is red” (Proverbs 23:31), that is, when the wine has a special attractiveness. This may be when you are going through an unpleasant period, or have to deal with a major disappointment. There may then be a special temptation from wine to drink from it. Therefore, the urgent advice is not to look at it. If you do, you will see how attractive it is. Your resistance to it will melt like snow in the sun. You will put the cup of wine to your mouth and experience how smoothly it goes down.
But you must remember that the brief pleasure ends with the bite of a serpent and the sting of a viper (Proverbs 23:32). You will “at last” be destroyed by it. No one indulges in wine when he thinks for a moment about what the end is. His fellow drinkers don’t tell him that. They offer him the first glass of wine. If he doesn’t take it, they laugh at him. Therefore, he takes the glass and drinks it. Indeed, it drinks easily and it tastes exquisite. It ends up demolishing his entire human dignity.
In Proverbs 23:33-34, the father addresses his son directly. He should be aware that drunkenness makes boundaries blur and easily leads him to harlotry and debauched talk (Proverbs 23:33). His clouded brain no longer has the awareness that he is married. His eyes become eyes that see strange things or strange women, his eyes are full of adultery, and because he no longer has a sense of standards, he comes to the disgusting act of adultery. The language he utters is of the same perverse, disgusting content. Uninhibitedly, the most disgusting things come out of his mind.
The drunken son will be utterly insensitive to what happens to him (Proverbs 23:34). A drunkard does not know what he is doing, where he is and where he is going. He may find himself in the heart of the sea, in a heavy storm, but totally unaware that he could just drown. He is like a sleeper to whom nothing penetrates. Or he may find himself in the top of a mast, where he is swinging back and forth and can make a deadly fall, unaware of this danger. Again, he is like a sleeper to whom nothing penetrates. He saunters down the street and wallows in his own vomit without the slightest awareness of it (Isaiah 28:7-8; cf. Psalms 107:26-27).
The drunkard knows he has been beaten, but he does not know by whom (Proverbs 23:35). It has not made him sick or bound him to his bed. They even struck him with hard blows, but he felt nothing. How wonderful it is to be drunk! Anything can happen to you, but it doesn’t bother you at all. This life he wants to continue. He is incorrigible, he just wants to remain drunk and therefore numb to misery. Therefore, when he wakes up, he will again reach for his great comforter, the bottle (Isaiah 56:12; Isaiah 5:11). What a tragedy!
Isaiah 5:9
The Disastrous Consequences of Drunkenness
Immediately following the warning about harlotry in Proverbs 23:26-28 is a warning about drunkenness in Proverbs 23:29-35. This subject has already been briefly addressed by the wise in Proverbs 23:20-21. Drunkenness is closely related to harlotry (Revelation 17:2) and also easily leads to harlotry (Proverbs 23:33). Vividly and imaginatively, the wise man paints the picture of someone who is drunk.
He begins in Proverbs 23:29 with six questions, to which he gives the answer in Proverbs 23:30. In Proverbs 23:31 he has some advice, while in Proverbs 23:32 he shows the consequences if his advice is not followed. In Proverbs 23:33-34, he addresses his son directly. He concludes his description in Proverbs 23:35 with words that come from the mouth of the drunkard himself.
The drunkard is one who cries “woe” and “sorrow” because he is miserable (Proverbs 23:29). These cries can also refer to what he causes others, such as his family, by his drunkenness. The drink turns him into someone who seeks contention, a troublemaker. When he awakens from his intoxication, there is “complaining”, because he is miserable. The “wounds” he has, he has received during his drunkenness, either from a fight or from stumbling or bumping into something over and over again in his waddling gait. They are “wounds without cause”, because he would not have suffered those wounds had he not been drunk. Because of his drunkenness, he can no longer see clearly, for his eyes are bloodshot, making his vision blurry and double.
The answer in Proverbs 23:30 to the six questions of Pro 23:29 is as brief as it is telling. Drunkards are described here as people “who linger long over wine” and “who go to taste mixed wine”. They do not drink a little glass with their food, but wine fills their existence. They continue drinking into the early hours. This includes tasting mixed drinks. This increases the drinking pleasure.
Drunks know no time and no responsibility. They are people without a spine. The fact that they have to be at work on time the next day does not concern them. They don’t think about how things are at home. They are in a daze and unable to think about responsibilities.
The father advises his son not to look at the wine “when it is red” (Proverbs 23:31), that is, when the wine has a special attractiveness. This may be when you are going through an unpleasant period, or have to deal with a major disappointment. There may then be a special temptation from wine to drink from it. Therefore, the urgent advice is not to look at it. If you do, you will see how attractive it is. Your resistance to it will melt like snow in the sun. You will put the cup of wine to your mouth and experience how smoothly it goes down.
But you must remember that the brief pleasure ends with the bite of a serpent and the sting of a viper (Proverbs 23:32). You will “at last” be destroyed by it. No one indulges in wine when he thinks for a moment about what the end is. His fellow drinkers don’t tell him that. They offer him the first glass of wine. If he doesn’t take it, they laugh at him. Therefore, he takes the glass and drinks it. Indeed, it drinks easily and it tastes exquisite. It ends up demolishing his entire human dignity.
In Proverbs 23:33-34, the father addresses his son directly. He should be aware that drunkenness makes boundaries blur and easily leads him to harlotry and debauched talk (Proverbs 23:33). His clouded brain no longer has the awareness that he is married. His eyes become eyes that see strange things or strange women, his eyes are full of adultery, and because he no longer has a sense of standards, he comes to the disgusting act of adultery. The language he utters is of the same perverse, disgusting content. Uninhibitedly, the most disgusting things come out of his mind.
The drunken son will be utterly insensitive to what happens to him (Proverbs 23:34). A drunkard does not know what he is doing, where he is and where he is going. He may find himself in the heart of the sea, in a heavy storm, but totally unaware that he could just drown. He is like a sleeper to whom nothing penetrates. Or he may find himself in the top of a mast, where he is swinging back and forth and can make a deadly fall, unaware of this danger. Again, he is like a sleeper to whom nothing penetrates. He saunters down the street and wallows in his own vomit without the slightest awareness of it (Isaiah 28:7-8; cf. Psalms 107:26-27).
The drunkard knows he has been beaten, but he does not know by whom (Proverbs 23:35). It has not made him sick or bound him to his bed. They even struck him with hard blows, but he felt nothing. How wonderful it is to be drunk! Anything can happen to you, but it doesn’t bother you at all. This life he wants to continue. He is incorrigible, he just wants to remain drunk and therefore numb to misery. Therefore, when he wakes up, he will again reach for his great comforter, the bottle (Isaiah 56:12; Isaiah 5:11). What a tragedy!
Isaiah 5:10
The Disastrous Consequences of Drunkenness
Immediately following the warning about harlotry in Proverbs 23:26-28 is a warning about drunkenness in Proverbs 23:29-35. This subject has already been briefly addressed by the wise in Proverbs 23:20-21. Drunkenness is closely related to harlotry (Revelation 17:2) and also easily leads to harlotry (Proverbs 23:33). Vividly and imaginatively, the wise man paints the picture of someone who is drunk.
He begins in Proverbs 23:29 with six questions, to which he gives the answer in Proverbs 23:30. In Proverbs 23:31 he has some advice, while in Proverbs 23:32 he shows the consequences if his advice is not followed. In Proverbs 23:33-34, he addresses his son directly. He concludes his description in Proverbs 23:35 with words that come from the mouth of the drunkard himself.
The drunkard is one who cries “woe” and “sorrow” because he is miserable (Proverbs 23:29). These cries can also refer to what he causes others, such as his family, by his drunkenness. The drink turns him into someone who seeks contention, a troublemaker. When he awakens from his intoxication, there is “complaining”, because he is miserable. The “wounds” he has, he has received during his drunkenness, either from a fight or from stumbling or bumping into something over and over again in his waddling gait. They are “wounds without cause”, because he would not have suffered those wounds had he not been drunk. Because of his drunkenness, he can no longer see clearly, for his eyes are bloodshot, making his vision blurry and double.
The answer in Proverbs 23:30 to the six questions of Pro 23:29 is as brief as it is telling. Drunkards are described here as people “who linger long over wine” and “who go to taste mixed wine”. They do not drink a little glass with their food, but wine fills their existence. They continue drinking into the early hours. This includes tasting mixed drinks. This increases the drinking pleasure.
Drunks know no time and no responsibility. They are people without a spine. The fact that they have to be at work on time the next day does not concern them. They don’t think about how things are at home. They are in a daze and unable to think about responsibilities.
The father advises his son not to look at the wine “when it is red” (Proverbs 23:31), that is, when the wine has a special attractiveness. This may be when you are going through an unpleasant period, or have to deal with a major disappointment. There may then be a special temptation from wine to drink from it. Therefore, the urgent advice is not to look at it. If you do, you will see how attractive it is. Your resistance to it will melt like snow in the sun. You will put the cup of wine to your mouth and experience how smoothly it goes down.
But you must remember that the brief pleasure ends with the bite of a serpent and the sting of a viper (Proverbs 23:32). You will “at last” be destroyed by it. No one indulges in wine when he thinks for a moment about what the end is. His fellow drinkers don’t tell him that. They offer him the first glass of wine. If he doesn’t take it, they laugh at him. Therefore, he takes the glass and drinks it. Indeed, it drinks easily and it tastes exquisite. It ends up demolishing his entire human dignity.
In Proverbs 23:33-34, the father addresses his son directly. He should be aware that drunkenness makes boundaries blur and easily leads him to harlotry and debauched talk (Proverbs 23:33). His clouded brain no longer has the awareness that he is married. His eyes become eyes that see strange things or strange women, his eyes are full of adultery, and because he no longer has a sense of standards, he comes to the disgusting act of adultery. The language he utters is of the same perverse, disgusting content. Uninhibitedly, the most disgusting things come out of his mind.
The drunken son will be utterly insensitive to what happens to him (Proverbs 23:34). A drunkard does not know what he is doing, where he is and where he is going. He may find himself in the heart of the sea, in a heavy storm, but totally unaware that he could just drown. He is like a sleeper to whom nothing penetrates. Or he may find himself in the top of a mast, where he is swinging back and forth and can make a deadly fall, unaware of this danger. Again, he is like a sleeper to whom nothing penetrates. He saunters down the street and wallows in his own vomit without the slightest awareness of it (Isaiah 28:7-8; cf. Psalms 107:26-27).
The drunkard knows he has been beaten, but he does not know by whom (Proverbs 23:35). It has not made him sick or bound him to his bed. They even struck him with hard blows, but he felt nothing. How wonderful it is to be drunk! Anything can happen to you, but it doesn’t bother you at all. This life he wants to continue. He is incorrigible, he just wants to remain drunk and therefore numb to misery. Therefore, when he wakes up, he will again reach for his great comforter, the bottle (Isaiah 56:12; Isaiah 5:11). What a tragedy!
Isaiah 5:11
The Disastrous Consequences of Drunkenness
Immediately following the warning about harlotry in Proverbs 23:26-28 is a warning about drunkenness in Proverbs 23:29-35. This subject has already been briefly addressed by the wise in Proverbs 23:20-21. Drunkenness is closely related to harlotry (Revelation 17:2) and also easily leads to harlotry (Proverbs 23:33). Vividly and imaginatively, the wise man paints the picture of someone who is drunk.
He begins in Proverbs 23:29 with six questions, to which he gives the answer in Proverbs 23:30. In Proverbs 23:31 he has some advice, while in Proverbs 23:32 he shows the consequences if his advice is not followed. In Proverbs 23:33-34, he addresses his son directly. He concludes his description in Proverbs 23:35 with words that come from the mouth of the drunkard himself.
The drunkard is one who cries “woe” and “sorrow” because he is miserable (Proverbs 23:29). These cries can also refer to what he causes others, such as his family, by his drunkenness. The drink turns him into someone who seeks contention, a troublemaker. When he awakens from his intoxication, there is “complaining”, because he is miserable. The “wounds” he has, he has received during his drunkenness, either from a fight or from stumbling or bumping into something over and over again in his waddling gait. They are “wounds without cause”, because he would not have suffered those wounds had he not been drunk. Because of his drunkenness, he can no longer see clearly, for his eyes are bloodshot, making his vision blurry and double.
The answer in Proverbs 23:30 to the six questions of Pro 23:29 is as brief as it is telling. Drunkards are described here as people “who linger long over wine” and “who go to taste mixed wine”. They do not drink a little glass with their food, but wine fills their existence. They continue drinking into the early hours. This includes tasting mixed drinks. This increases the drinking pleasure.
Drunks know no time and no responsibility. They are people without a spine. The fact that they have to be at work on time the next day does not concern them. They don’t think about how things are at home. They are in a daze and unable to think about responsibilities.
The father advises his son not to look at the wine “when it is red” (Proverbs 23:31), that is, when the wine has a special attractiveness. This may be when you are going through an unpleasant period, or have to deal with a major disappointment. There may then be a special temptation from wine to drink from it. Therefore, the urgent advice is not to look at it. If you do, you will see how attractive it is. Your resistance to it will melt like snow in the sun. You will put the cup of wine to your mouth and experience how smoothly it goes down.
But you must remember that the brief pleasure ends with the bite of a serpent and the sting of a viper (Proverbs 23:32). You will “at last” be destroyed by it. No one indulges in wine when he thinks for a moment about what the end is. His fellow drinkers don’t tell him that. They offer him the first glass of wine. If he doesn’t take it, they laugh at him. Therefore, he takes the glass and drinks it. Indeed, it drinks easily and it tastes exquisite. It ends up demolishing his entire human dignity.
In Proverbs 23:33-34, the father addresses his son directly. He should be aware that drunkenness makes boundaries blur and easily leads him to harlotry and debauched talk (Proverbs 23:33). His clouded brain no longer has the awareness that he is married. His eyes become eyes that see strange things or strange women, his eyes are full of adultery, and because he no longer has a sense of standards, he comes to the disgusting act of adultery. The language he utters is of the same perverse, disgusting content. Uninhibitedly, the most disgusting things come out of his mind.
The drunken son will be utterly insensitive to what happens to him (Proverbs 23:34). A drunkard does not know what he is doing, where he is and where he is going. He may find himself in the heart of the sea, in a heavy storm, but totally unaware that he could just drown. He is like a sleeper to whom nothing penetrates. Or he may find himself in the top of a mast, where he is swinging back and forth and can make a deadly fall, unaware of this danger. Again, he is like a sleeper to whom nothing penetrates. He saunters down the street and wallows in his own vomit without the slightest awareness of it (Isaiah 28:7-8; cf. Psalms 107:26-27).
The drunkard knows he has been beaten, but he does not know by whom (Proverbs 23:35). It has not made him sick or bound him to his bed. They even struck him with hard blows, but he felt nothing. How wonderful it is to be drunk! Anything can happen to you, but it doesn’t bother you at all. This life he wants to continue. He is incorrigible, he just wants to remain drunk and therefore numb to misery. Therefore, when he wakes up, he will again reach for his great comforter, the bottle (Isaiah 56:12; Isaiah 5:11). What a tragedy!
Isaiah 5:12
The Disastrous Consequences of Drunkenness
Immediately following the warning about harlotry in Proverbs 23:26-28 is a warning about drunkenness in Proverbs 23:29-35. This subject has already been briefly addressed by the wise in Proverbs 23:20-21. Drunkenness is closely related to harlotry (Revelation 17:2) and also easily leads to harlotry (Proverbs 23:33). Vividly and imaginatively, the wise man paints the picture of someone who is drunk.
He begins in Proverbs 23:29 with six questions, to which he gives the answer in Proverbs 23:30. In Proverbs 23:31 he has some advice, while in Proverbs 23:32 he shows the consequences if his advice is not followed. In Proverbs 23:33-34, he addresses his son directly. He concludes his description in Proverbs 23:35 with words that come from the mouth of the drunkard himself.
The drunkard is one who cries “woe” and “sorrow” because he is miserable (Proverbs 23:29). These cries can also refer to what he causes others, such as his family, by his drunkenness. The drink turns him into someone who seeks contention, a troublemaker. When he awakens from his intoxication, there is “complaining”, because he is miserable. The “wounds” he has, he has received during his drunkenness, either from a fight or from stumbling or bumping into something over and over again in his waddling gait. They are “wounds without cause”, because he would not have suffered those wounds had he not been drunk. Because of his drunkenness, he can no longer see clearly, for his eyes are bloodshot, making his vision blurry and double.
The answer in Proverbs 23:30 to the six questions of Pro 23:29 is as brief as it is telling. Drunkards are described here as people “who linger long over wine” and “who go to taste mixed wine”. They do not drink a little glass with their food, but wine fills their existence. They continue drinking into the early hours. This includes tasting mixed drinks. This increases the drinking pleasure.
Drunks know no time and no responsibility. They are people without a spine. The fact that they have to be at work on time the next day does not concern them. They don’t think about how things are at home. They are in a daze and unable to think about responsibilities.
The father advises his son not to look at the wine “when it is red” (Proverbs 23:31), that is, when the wine has a special attractiveness. This may be when you are going through an unpleasant period, or have to deal with a major disappointment. There may then be a special temptation from wine to drink from it. Therefore, the urgent advice is not to look at it. If you do, you will see how attractive it is. Your resistance to it will melt like snow in the sun. You will put the cup of wine to your mouth and experience how smoothly it goes down.
But you must remember that the brief pleasure ends with the bite of a serpent and the sting of a viper (Proverbs 23:32). You will “at last” be destroyed by it. No one indulges in wine when he thinks for a moment about what the end is. His fellow drinkers don’t tell him that. They offer him the first glass of wine. If he doesn’t take it, they laugh at him. Therefore, he takes the glass and drinks it. Indeed, it drinks easily and it tastes exquisite. It ends up demolishing his entire human dignity.
In Proverbs 23:33-34, the father addresses his son directly. He should be aware that drunkenness makes boundaries blur and easily leads him to harlotry and debauched talk (Proverbs 23:33). His clouded brain no longer has the awareness that he is married. His eyes become eyes that see strange things or strange women, his eyes are full of adultery, and because he no longer has a sense of standards, he comes to the disgusting act of adultery. The language he utters is of the same perverse, disgusting content. Uninhibitedly, the most disgusting things come out of his mind.
The drunken son will be utterly insensitive to what happens to him (Proverbs 23:34). A drunkard does not know what he is doing, where he is and where he is going. He may find himself in the heart of the sea, in a heavy storm, but totally unaware that he could just drown. He is like a sleeper to whom nothing penetrates. Or he may find himself in the top of a mast, where he is swinging back and forth and can make a deadly fall, unaware of this danger. Again, he is like a sleeper to whom nothing penetrates. He saunters down the street and wallows in his own vomit without the slightest awareness of it (Isaiah 28:7-8; cf. Psalms 107:26-27).
The drunkard knows he has been beaten, but he does not know by whom (Proverbs 23:35). It has not made him sick or bound him to his bed. They even struck him with hard blows, but he felt nothing. How wonderful it is to be drunk! Anything can happen to you, but it doesn’t bother you at all. This life he wants to continue. He is incorrigible, he just wants to remain drunk and therefore numb to misery. Therefore, when he wakes up, he will again reach for his great comforter, the bottle (Isaiah 56:12; Isaiah 5:11). What a tragedy!
Isaiah 5:13
The Disastrous Consequences of Drunkenness
Immediately following the warning about harlotry in Proverbs 23:26-28 is a warning about drunkenness in Proverbs 23:29-35. This subject has already been briefly addressed by the wise in Proverbs 23:20-21. Drunkenness is closely related to harlotry (Revelation 17:2) and also easily leads to harlotry (Proverbs 23:33). Vividly and imaginatively, the wise man paints the picture of someone who is drunk.
He begins in Proverbs 23:29 with six questions, to which he gives the answer in Proverbs 23:30. In Proverbs 23:31 he has some advice, while in Proverbs 23:32 he shows the consequences if his advice is not followed. In Proverbs 23:33-34, he addresses his son directly. He concludes his description in Proverbs 23:35 with words that come from the mouth of the drunkard himself.
The drunkard is one who cries “woe” and “sorrow” because he is miserable (Proverbs 23:29). These cries can also refer to what he causes others, such as his family, by his drunkenness. The drink turns him into someone who seeks contention, a troublemaker. When he awakens from his intoxication, there is “complaining”, because he is miserable. The “wounds” he has, he has received during his drunkenness, either from a fight or from stumbling or bumping into something over and over again in his waddling gait. They are “wounds without cause”, because he would not have suffered those wounds had he not been drunk. Because of his drunkenness, he can no longer see clearly, for his eyes are bloodshot, making his vision blurry and double.
The answer in Proverbs 23:30 to the six questions of Pro 23:29 is as brief as it is telling. Drunkards are described here as people “who linger long over wine” and “who go to taste mixed wine”. They do not drink a little glass with their food, but wine fills their existence. They continue drinking into the early hours. This includes tasting mixed drinks. This increases the drinking pleasure.
Drunks know no time and no responsibility. They are people without a spine. The fact that they have to be at work on time the next day does not concern them. They don’t think about how things are at home. They are in a daze and unable to think about responsibilities.
The father advises his son not to look at the wine “when it is red” (Proverbs 23:31), that is, when the wine has a special attractiveness. This may be when you are going through an unpleasant period, or have to deal with a major disappointment. There may then be a special temptation from wine to drink from it. Therefore, the urgent advice is not to look at it. If you do, you will see how attractive it is. Your resistance to it will melt like snow in the sun. You will put the cup of wine to your mouth and experience how smoothly it goes down.
But you must remember that the brief pleasure ends with the bite of a serpent and the sting of a viper (Proverbs 23:32). You will “at last” be destroyed by it. No one indulges in wine when he thinks for a moment about what the end is. His fellow drinkers don’t tell him that. They offer him the first glass of wine. If he doesn’t take it, they laugh at him. Therefore, he takes the glass and drinks it. Indeed, it drinks easily and it tastes exquisite. It ends up demolishing his entire human dignity.
In Proverbs 23:33-34, the father addresses his son directly. He should be aware that drunkenness makes boundaries blur and easily leads him to harlotry and debauched talk (Proverbs 23:33). His clouded brain no longer has the awareness that he is married. His eyes become eyes that see strange things or strange women, his eyes are full of adultery, and because he no longer has a sense of standards, he comes to the disgusting act of adultery. The language he utters is of the same perverse, disgusting content. Uninhibitedly, the most disgusting things come out of his mind.
The drunken son will be utterly insensitive to what happens to him (Proverbs 23:34). A drunkard does not know what he is doing, where he is and where he is going. He may find himself in the heart of the sea, in a heavy storm, but totally unaware that he could just drown. He is like a sleeper to whom nothing penetrates. Or he may find himself in the top of a mast, where he is swinging back and forth and can make a deadly fall, unaware of this danger. Again, he is like a sleeper to whom nothing penetrates. He saunters down the street and wallows in his own vomit without the slightest awareness of it (Isaiah 28:7-8; cf. Psalms 107:26-27).
The drunkard knows he has been beaten, but he does not know by whom (Proverbs 23:35). It has not made him sick or bound him to his bed. They even struck him with hard blows, but he felt nothing. How wonderful it is to be drunk! Anything can happen to you, but it doesn’t bother you at all. This life he wants to continue. He is incorrigible, he just wants to remain drunk and therefore numb to misery. Therefore, when he wakes up, he will again reach for his great comforter, the bottle (Isaiah 56:12; Isaiah 5:11). What a tragedy!
Isaiah 5:15
Don’t Be Envious of Evil Men
The father warns his son not to be “envious of evil men” (Proverbs 24:1). He should not “desire to be with them”, for they are bad company (cf. Proverbs 1:10-19; Proverbs 3:31; Proverbs 23:17). The envy here goes beyond a mere feeling or expression. It involves a desire to be with evil men because of their apparent prosperity. That is not something the son should be envious of or would like to have. Envy is a hateful, resentful awareness of another’s prosperity.
Feeling or expressing bitterness or indignation over ( supposedly) unfair treatment may be the result of envy: why does he have that prosperity and I do not? In any case, it is dissatisfaction with one’s own circumstances, a dissatisfaction that results from comparing oneself to others while excluding or keeping God out of the circumstances. Envy is a characteristic of people who suffer from shortsightedness.
The word “for” with which Proverbs 24:2 begins indicates that now follows the reason for the warning of Pro 24:1. Evil people are obsessed with violence. “Their minds” go out to “violence”, which is devised there. “Their lips” express what is in their mind, which is nothing but “trouble”. They speak words that wish someone only doom, misfortune. They owe their apparent prosperity to the violence they have devised in their minds and the words of doom they have spoken. When the son realizes this, surely he will not be so foolish to be with them.
Isaiah 5:16
Don’t Be Envious of Evil Men
The father warns his son not to be “envious of evil men” (Proverbs 24:1). He should not “desire to be with them”, for they are bad company (cf. Proverbs 1:10-19; Proverbs 3:31; Proverbs 23:17). The envy here goes beyond a mere feeling or expression. It involves a desire to be with evil men because of their apparent prosperity. That is not something the son should be envious of or would like to have. Envy is a hateful, resentful awareness of another’s prosperity.
Feeling or expressing bitterness or indignation over ( supposedly) unfair treatment may be the result of envy: why does he have that prosperity and I do not? In any case, it is dissatisfaction with one’s own circumstances, a dissatisfaction that results from comparing oneself to others while excluding or keeping God out of the circumstances. Envy is a characteristic of people who suffer from shortsightedness.
The word “for” with which Proverbs 24:2 begins indicates that now follows the reason for the warning of Pro 24:1. Evil people are obsessed with violence. “Their minds” go out to “violence”, which is devised there. “Their lips” express what is in their mind, which is nothing but “trouble”. They speak words that wish someone only doom, misfortune. They owe their apparent prosperity to the violence they have devised in their minds and the words of doom they have spoken. When the son realizes this, surely he will not be so foolish to be with them.
Isaiah 5:17
Building a House and Filling the Rooms
These verses form a unity. They are about the building of a house, its foundation and what to fill its rooms with. To build a good house, to do so on the right foundation and to furnish it with taste requires successively “wisdom”, “ understanding” and “knowledge”. At the same time, the use of these words indicates that it is about more than building a stone house, with rooms that are furnished with furniture.
By “house”, then, we may think here primarily of a household living in that house. It takes “wisdom” to establish a family (Proverbs 24:3). The happiness of a family depends more on the relationships between them than on the bricks and mortar. Only through the wisdom of God can there be good relationships among family members. A house is then established that is well built.
“Understanding” is important for the foundation. This means that God’s Word is the foundation of the functioning of each family member. Understanding that each member of the family is different from every other member and what the differences consist of – such as gender, age, ability – allows each member to be himself or herself. There will be no need to pretend to be better or an exercise of compulsion to make someone do things our way. This also avoids tensions.
The “knowledge” that there is of the capacity each has received from God will encourage the use of those capacities (Proverbs 24:4). As a result, each can make his or her own valuable contribution and be encouraged in it. As a result, “the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches”. Precious and pleasant possessions include love and solidarity, safety and security, acceptance of who you are and being there for others. Children who grow up in an atmosphere of love and security grow up to be loving and peaceful individuals.
We can also apply this to the local church, which we can also see as a family. Wise believers with understanding and knowledge will make every effort to have each believer take the place in the church that the Holy Spirit has assigned to him or her (1 Corinthians 12:4).
Isaiah 5:18
Building a House and Filling the Rooms
These verses form a unity. They are about the building of a house, its foundation and what to fill its rooms with. To build a good house, to do so on the right foundation and to furnish it with taste requires successively “wisdom”, “ understanding” and “knowledge”. At the same time, the use of these words indicates that it is about more than building a stone house, with rooms that are furnished with furniture.
By “house”, then, we may think here primarily of a household living in that house. It takes “wisdom” to establish a family (Proverbs 24:3). The happiness of a family depends more on the relationships between them than on the bricks and mortar. Only through the wisdom of God can there be good relationships among family members. A house is then established that is well built.
“Understanding” is important for the foundation. This means that God’s Word is the foundation of the functioning of each family member. Understanding that each member of the family is different from every other member and what the differences consist of – such as gender, age, ability – allows each member to be himself or herself. There will be no need to pretend to be better or an exercise of compulsion to make someone do things our way. This also avoids tensions.
The “knowledge” that there is of the capacity each has received from God will encourage the use of those capacities (Proverbs 24:4). As a result, each can make his or her own valuable contribution and be encouraged in it. As a result, “the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches”. Precious and pleasant possessions include love and solidarity, safety and security, acceptance of who you are and being there for others. Children who grow up in an atmosphere of love and security grow up to be loving and peaceful individuals.
We can also apply this to the local church, which we can also see as a family. Wise believers with understanding and knowledge will make every effort to have each believer take the place in the church that the Holy Spirit has assigned to him or her (1 Corinthians 12:4).
Isaiah 5:19
Strength and Victory Through Wisdom
Building the family spoken of in Proverbs 24:3-4 requires the strength of wisdom (Proverbs 24:5; Ecclesiastes 7:19; Ecclesiastes 9:15-16). In the natural life, a wise man by certain means knows how to carry a load many times heavier than one man can carry. In the spiritual life it does not come down to bodily strength, but to the strength of wisdom. That strength is present in those who live with Christ, the Source of wisdom.
“A wise man” is also “a man of knowledge”. When it comes to the deployment of the power granted by wisdom, its use, knowledge of circumstances is necessary. “A man of knowledge” knows the will of God and wants to do it. He knows how to properly handle his powers and deploy them in the right place. Wisdom for making the right choice and knowledge of the will of God go hand in hand (Colossians 1:9-11).
The word “for” with which Proverbs 24:6 begins indicates the importance of the power of wisdom and knowledge. We must realize that we are living in spiritual war zone and are engaged in a spiritual battle. That battle rages especially for the families of believers. More than ever, wise counsel is needed for this spiritual war.
A wise man is not stubborn and does not figure out everything on his own. He knows the meaning and value of “wise guidance” from others, with an “abundance of counselors”. Misplaced self-confidence or reliance on his own resources or strength are not an issue with him. God has given us to one another as members of His people. We ask Him for counsel, and we also seek counsel from brothers and sisters who live with Him, which we see by their obedience to and knowledge of God’s Word.
After we have sought guidance, we must “wage war” for ourselves. In everyday life, we are surrounded not by our brothers and sisters, but by a God-hostile world. The world wants to take away from us everything we want to set apart for God, such as our family and possessions. All kinds of obstacles will be put in our way to break down our family, to seize our children. This can happen, for example, through lessons in school and/or decisions of politics that go against God’s Word. Impulsiveness, naivety and indecision lead to defeat. A victorious life results from profound consultation, good thinking and wise fighting.
Isaiah 5:20
Strength and Victory Through Wisdom
Building the family spoken of in Proverbs 24:3-4 requires the strength of wisdom (Proverbs 24:5; Ecclesiastes 7:19; Ecclesiastes 9:15-16). In the natural life, a wise man by certain means knows how to carry a load many times heavier than one man can carry. In the spiritual life it does not come down to bodily strength, but to the strength of wisdom. That strength is present in those who live with Christ, the Source of wisdom.
“A wise man” is also “a man of knowledge”. When it comes to the deployment of the power granted by wisdom, its use, knowledge of circumstances is necessary. “A man of knowledge” knows the will of God and wants to do it. He knows how to properly handle his powers and deploy them in the right place. Wisdom for making the right choice and knowledge of the will of God go hand in hand (Colossians 1:9-11).
The word “for” with which Proverbs 24:6 begins indicates the importance of the power of wisdom and knowledge. We must realize that we are living in spiritual war zone and are engaged in a spiritual battle. That battle rages especially for the families of believers. More than ever, wise counsel is needed for this spiritual war.
A wise man is not stubborn and does not figure out everything on his own. He knows the meaning and value of “wise guidance” from others, with an “abundance of counselors”. Misplaced self-confidence or reliance on his own resources or strength are not an issue with him. God has given us to one another as members of His people. We ask Him for counsel, and we also seek counsel from brothers and sisters who live with Him, which we see by their obedience to and knowledge of God’s Word.
After we have sought guidance, we must “wage war” for ourselves. In everyday life, we are surrounded not by our brothers and sisters, but by a God-hostile world. The world wants to take away from us everything we want to set apart for God, such as our family and possessions. All kinds of obstacles will be put in our way to break down our family, to seize our children. This can happen, for example, through lessons in school and/or decisions of politics that go against God’s Word. Impulsiveness, naivety and indecision lead to defeat. A victorious life results from profound consultation, good thinking and wise fighting.
Isaiah 5:21
Wisdom Is Too Exalted For a Fool
The haughty, hardened fool cannot obtain any wisdom. All wisdom, in any field, is unattainable for him. Wisdom is far beyond his ability. He will never be able to give any wise counsel, and we should therefore never consult him. Therefore, he should also never be given the opportunity to open his mouth in the gate. The gate is the place where city officials discuss problems and make decisions (Proverbs 31:23; Rth 4:1). There the fool must not be given the opportunity to let his folly be heard.
Isaiah 5:22
Planning to Do Evil and the Devising of Folly
“One who plans to do evil” (Proverbs 24:8) is doing the work of the devil, who cannot do anything but plan to do evil. The devil can rightly be called “a schemer”. He who is not a child of God is a child of the devil (1 John 3:10). All children of the devil have his nature. He inspires them to plan to do evil; they are “inventors of evil” (Romans 1:30). Not everyone does this to the same degree, but the principle is in the thinking of all the children of the devil. In particular, this refers to the cold, calculating person who is active in planning to do evil.
Not only the committing of folly is sin, but even all “the devising of folly is sin” (Proverbs 24:9). The folly of a scoffer is indeed the height of folly. This type of person tramples on all morality. Even people who want nothing to do with God, but who still maintain a certain morality, get disgusted with him at some point. A scoffer is one who not only rejects what he should believe, but laughs at and ridicules and despises what he should believe. He does the same to those who believe.
Isaiah 5:23
Planning to Do Evil and the Devising of Folly
“One who plans to do evil” (Proverbs 24:8) is doing the work of the devil, who cannot do anything but plan to do evil. The devil can rightly be called “a schemer”. He who is not a child of God is a child of the devil (1 John 3:10). All children of the devil have his nature. He inspires them to plan to do evil; they are “inventors of evil” (Romans 1:30). Not everyone does this to the same degree, but the principle is in the thinking of all the children of the devil. In particular, this refers to the cold, calculating person who is active in planning to do evil.
Not only the committing of folly is sin, but even all “the devising of folly is sin” (Proverbs 24:9). The folly of a scoffer is indeed the height of folly. This type of person tramples on all morality. Even people who want nothing to do with God, but who still maintain a certain morality, get disgusted with him at some point. A scoffer is one who not only rejects what he should believe, but laughs at and ridicules and despises what he should believe. He does the same to those who believe.
Isaiah 5:24
Test of Distress
“The day of distress” is not a literal twenty-four-hour day, but any day or period of difficulty and trial that can make life distressing. Those who then become slack and discouraged and want to give up life with the Lord show little strength. There is no strength of spirit and the hands hang limp (cf. Hebrews 12:12-13). It is precisely in a day of distress that it becomes clear whether a person possesses the strength of wisdom (Proverbs 24:5), so that his eye remains focused on the Source of wisdom (Isaiah 40:31).
Solomon uses a play on words here to emphasize the connection between the two lines of verse. The Hebrew word for “distressed” is sarah and the word for “limited” (literally: narrow) is sar. It is good to strengthen ourselves in God in days of distress (1 Samuel 30:6; Psalms 84:6). Then God’s strength will be perfected in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Isaiah 5:25
Deliver Those Who Go to Slaughter
God gives His people the responsibility to deliver people who are in mortal danger (Proverbs 24:11). These are people who are “taken away” and face a certain death, without any possibility of delivering themselves from that situation. The words “death” and “slaughter” indicate the seriousness of the situation. These people are innocent victims of gangs of robbers or circumstances beyond their control. They are about to be killed, slaughtered. “Staggering”, exhausted, they are driven toward death. If deliverance does not dawn very soon from an unsuspected side, it is over with them.
The assignment is clear. We must do everything possible to deliver them from death. An impending “Oh” sounds if we stand aside, if we remain aloof and passive. The Hebrew midwives did not throw the baby boys into the Nile against Pharaoh’s command, but saved them (Exodus 1:13-17). Esther risked her life to save her people who were doomed (Esther 3:6-13; Esther 4:13-16; Esther 8:4-6). They saved and did not remain aloof. Even the prophet Obadiah who served in Ahab’s court saved prophets from death by hiding and providing food for them (1 Kings 18:4).
The spiritual application for us is that we tell the people of the world that they “are being taken away to death”. Because of sin, they are handed over to death. Here there is no question of being innocent, but rather of lacking any ability to save themselves. Our responsibility is to tell the people of the world that they can escape the judgment of God by confessing their sins and believing in the Lord Jesus. If we fail to do so, an impending ‘woe’ sounds for us. Paul understood this and said: “For woe is me if I do not preach the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:16).
We will be held accountable for all those instances where we have known of eternal death to which people were headed and that we have not pointed out the possibility of escaping it (Ezekiel 33:1-33). We cannot come up with “see, we did not know this” (Proverbs 24:12). Ignorance is not an excuse when we have deliberately closed our eyes to an evil. It sounds like the excuse Germans used after World War II regarding the Holocaust, which has become a winged word: ‘Wir haben es nicht gewusst’ (‘We did not know it’).
With the excuse of ignorance you can sometimes get away with people, but not with God. He constantly tests the hearts and notices without mistaking whether truth dwells in them. He watches the soul, sees how life is lived and what drives it. Heart and soul are under His constant supervision, and no motive escapes Him. He therefore knows perfectly whether the claim not to have known is true or whether it is a lie.
Based on His omniscience, He will “render to man according to his work” (Revelation 22:12), whereby it is impossible for Him to err. Rendering to man according to his work means that man is measured by the measure by which he has measured. Those who have not shown mercy will not receive mercy. He who could have saved the lives of others and failed to do so will die.
Isaiah 5:26
Deliver Those Who Go to Slaughter
God gives His people the responsibility to deliver people who are in mortal danger (Proverbs 24:11). These are people who are “taken away” and face a certain death, without any possibility of delivering themselves from that situation. The words “death” and “slaughter” indicate the seriousness of the situation. These people are innocent victims of gangs of robbers or circumstances beyond their control. They are about to be killed, slaughtered. “Staggering”, exhausted, they are driven toward death. If deliverance does not dawn very soon from an unsuspected side, it is over with them.
The assignment is clear. We must do everything possible to deliver them from death. An impending “Oh” sounds if we stand aside, if we remain aloof and passive. The Hebrew midwives did not throw the baby boys into the Nile against Pharaoh’s command, but saved them (Exodus 1:13-17). Esther risked her life to save her people who were doomed (Esther 3:6-13; Esther 4:13-16; Esther 8:4-6). They saved and did not remain aloof. Even the prophet Obadiah who served in Ahab’s court saved prophets from death by hiding and providing food for them (1 Kings 18:4).
The spiritual application for us is that we tell the people of the world that they “are being taken away to death”. Because of sin, they are handed over to death. Here there is no question of being innocent, but rather of lacking any ability to save themselves. Our responsibility is to tell the people of the world that they can escape the judgment of God by confessing their sins and believing in the Lord Jesus. If we fail to do so, an impending ‘woe’ sounds for us. Paul understood this and said: “For woe is me if I do not preach the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:16).
We will be held accountable for all those instances where we have known of eternal death to which people were headed and that we have not pointed out the possibility of escaping it (Ezekiel 33:1-33). We cannot come up with “see, we did not know this” (Proverbs 24:12). Ignorance is not an excuse when we have deliberately closed our eyes to an evil. It sounds like the excuse Germans used after World War II regarding the Holocaust, which has become a winged word: ‘Wir haben es nicht gewusst’ (‘We did not know it’).
With the excuse of ignorance you can sometimes get away with people, but not with God. He constantly tests the hearts and notices without mistaking whether truth dwells in them. He watches the soul, sees how life is lived and what drives it. Heart and soul are under His constant supervision, and no motive escapes Him. He therefore knows perfectly whether the claim not to have known is true or whether it is a lie.
Based on His omniscience, He will “render to man according to his work” (Revelation 22:12), whereby it is impossible for Him to err. Rendering to man according to his work means that man is measured by the measure by which he has measured. Those who have not shown mercy will not receive mercy. He who could have saved the lives of others and failed to do so will die.
Isaiah 5:27
Sweetness of Wisdom
The father exhorts his son to eat honey (Proverbs 24:13) because he wants to apply the eating of honey to the knowing of wisdom (Proverbs 24:14). What honey does to the body is similar for the soul to know wisdom.
The father urges his son to eat honey (Proverbs 24:13) because he wants to apply eating honey to knowing wisdom (Proverbs 24:14). What honey is to his body, is knowing wisdom to his soul.
Honey is good for it is healthy (Proverbs 24:13). Honey from the comb is the best of honey. It is the honey that separates from the honeycombs by itself, without pressing, without human action. It is the purest. It says several times of the land of Canaan that it is a land flowing with milk and honey. Honey is a special blessing from God for His earthly people.
To “know wisdom” (Proverbs 24:14) has the health and sweetness of honey. It has the added quality of a delight that lasts forever (cf. Psalms 19:10; Psalms 119:103; Ezekiel 3:3). The father speaks of it to his son that he must seek it, for he must find it. He promises him that his efforts will be richly rewarded. He will enjoy the sweetness of it now, and for the “future” he will have “hope”. Attached to wisdom are future and hope. Wisdom gives a hope that is not cut off, a hope that does not shame.
Those who have tasted honey need no further proof that it is sweet. They will not be able to be convinced by any argument to the contrary, for after all, they have tasted it themselves. The same is true in spiritual application for those who have experienced the power of the wisdom of God in Christ. All the atheists in the world, with all their fallacies, cannot reason away that taste or take away its enjoyment.
Honey is the product of bees working diligently together and not of whoever collects the honey. There is a richness attached to knowing wisdom that is obtained by feeding on what others have already gathered. The honey from the comb we enjoy when we engage directly with the Source of wisdom, with Christ, by reading in God’s Word. The honey that we take to ourselves when we are with brothers and sisters and the honeycomb that we take to ourselves when we read God’s Word are enjoyed by us personally.
Isaiah 5:28
Sweetness of Wisdom
The father exhorts his son to eat honey (Proverbs 24:13) because he wants to apply the eating of honey to the knowing of wisdom (Proverbs 24:14). What honey does to the body is similar for the soul to know wisdom.
The father urges his son to eat honey (Proverbs 24:13) because he wants to apply eating honey to knowing wisdom (Proverbs 24:14). What honey is to his body, is knowing wisdom to his soul.
Honey is good for it is healthy (Proverbs 24:13). Honey from the comb is the best of honey. It is the honey that separates from the honeycombs by itself, without pressing, without human action. It is the purest. It says several times of the land of Canaan that it is a land flowing with milk and honey. Honey is a special blessing from God for His earthly people.
To “know wisdom” (Proverbs 24:14) has the health and sweetness of honey. It has the added quality of a delight that lasts forever (cf. Psalms 19:10; Psalms 119:103; Ezekiel 3:3). The father speaks of it to his son that he must seek it, for he must find it. He promises him that his efforts will be richly rewarded. He will enjoy the sweetness of it now, and for the “future” he will have “hope”. Attached to wisdom are future and hope. Wisdom gives a hope that is not cut off, a hope that does not shame.
Those who have tasted honey need no further proof that it is sweet. They will not be able to be convinced by any argument to the contrary, for after all, they have tasted it themselves. The same is true in spiritual application for those who have experienced the power of the wisdom of God in Christ. All the atheists in the world, with all their fallacies, cannot reason away that taste or take away its enjoyment.
Honey is the product of bees working diligently together and not of whoever collects the honey. There is a richness attached to knowing wisdom that is obtained by feeding on what others have already gathered. The honey from the comb we enjoy when we engage directly with the Source of wisdom, with Christ, by reading in God’s Word. The honey that we take to ourselves when we are with brothers and sisters and the honeycomb that we take to ourselves when we read God’s Word are enjoyed by us personally.
Isaiah 5:29
A Righteous Man Falls, but Rises Again
The wicked, possibly the wickedly behaving son, is commanded “not to lie in wait … against the dwelling of the righteous” (Proverbs 24:15). The purpose of lying in wait is to watch for an opportunity to break in and steal, for example, when the righteous leaves his dwelling. He may even want to cause so much mischief that he wants to destroy the “resting place” of the righteous. The word for “resting place” is also used for the stable of the sheep, where they go to lie down. It draws the righteous as a sheep that is defenseless and innocent. He who lies in wait against that resting place and sets out to break in and destroy the resting place is a wolf, a symbol of the devil.
It is senseless and also works its own destruction, to mistreat anyone of God’s people, for he always survives (Proverbs 24:16). The wicked, on the other hand, perish in the mischief they do. To attack a righteous person is to attack God, and it will always prove impossible to overcome Him (cf. Matthew 16:18). A righteous man may fall a number of times, he will rise again (Psalms 37:24; Micah 7:8; Job 5:19). Conversely, the wicked will not survive. Without God, they have no power to survive misfortune. In the end, the righteous will triumph and those against them will stumble in their calamity.
“Seven times” means a rounded number. God allows the righteous to experience as much discipline as He sees fit. Those disciplinary actions serve to his purification, not his ruin. The righteous overcomes even a severe fall, while the wicked merely stumble, after which it is over and done with them. Peter fell many times, but rose again and again. Judas stumbled in calamity and remained down.
Isaiah 5:30
A Righteous Man Falls, but Rises Again
The wicked, possibly the wickedly behaving son, is commanded “not to lie in wait … against the dwelling of the righteous” (Proverbs 24:15). The purpose of lying in wait is to watch for an opportunity to break in and steal, for example, when the righteous leaves his dwelling. He may even want to cause so much mischief that he wants to destroy the “resting place” of the righteous. The word for “resting place” is also used for the stable of the sheep, where they go to lie down. It draws the righteous as a sheep that is defenseless and innocent. He who lies in wait against that resting place and sets out to break in and destroy the resting place is a wolf, a symbol of the devil.
It is senseless and also works its own destruction, to mistreat anyone of God’s people, for he always survives (Proverbs 24:16). The wicked, on the other hand, perish in the mischief they do. To attack a righteous person is to attack God, and it will always prove impossible to overcome Him (cf. Matthew 16:18). A righteous man may fall a number of times, he will rise again (Psalms 37:24; Micah 7:8; Job 5:19). Conversely, the wicked will not survive. Without God, they have no power to survive misfortune. In the end, the righteous will triumph and those against them will stumble in their calamity.
“Seven times” means a rounded number. God allows the righteous to experience as much discipline as He sees fit. Those disciplinary actions serve to his purification, not his ruin. The righteous overcomes even a severe fall, while the wicked merely stumble, after which it is over and done with them. Peter fell many times, but rose again and again. Judas stumbled in calamity and remained down.