Greetings everyone. We’ll begin the Bible Study through the book of Proverbs today with chapter 20. So let’s turn to Proverbs 20:1:
1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
So Solomon is saying right here that alcohol is something that must be carefully considered. So often it is abused. So often wine, liquor, beer ends up being a terrible addiction and can cause all kinds of trouble in a person’s life—can cause accidents, can cause terrible conduct, can ruin one’s health, can be the demise and failure of whole families. So here’s the warning here in chapter 20:
1 Wine is a mocker—
Oh, it might taste good, and then more of it taste even better, then more of it taste even better, but then it backfires and ends up being a problem, a mocker, and
1 —strong drink is raging:—
Or intoxicating drink arouses to brawling. People can be very peaceful and gentle and kind, and yet they start drinking and they can turn into a ferocious individual that just tries to pick fights and hurt people and do violent things because of drinking too much.
1 —and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
Alcohol can give one a false sense of security, a false sense of power, a false sense of intellect. And misjudgments and wrong actions follow, and then not only can the individual get hurt because of foolishness and because of wrong thoughts and wrong words and wrong actions, but other people can get hurt. So we need to really be careful and be very cautious and really consider and think through this matter of alcohol. And if we do have a drink, we need to make sure that we can handle it because if we can’t, then we shouldn’t drink at all.
Now we know that there are reports coming out now showing that in moderation wine or certain types of alcohol can be beneficial to our health. We’re told that by health experts, and even in the Bible there’s an indication that that is true.
Let’s turn to I Timothy 5. This is not a prescription or anything, but here’s something to consider. Here we are in I Timothy 5:23, and the apostle Paul is writing the evangelist Timothy and he’s saying:
23 Drink no longer water,—
Or the meaning is: Don’t just drink water any longer.
23 —but use a little wine for your stomach’s sake and your often infirmities.
Or your frequent sicknesses. That’s not talking about grape juice there. That’s talking about actual wine. But notice the word little that precedes the word wine. He wasn’t telling Timothy to drink too much. He wasn’t telling him to become an alcoholic. He wasn’t telling him to begin to rely on wine to feel good or get all pumped up or brave. He was simply saying, use it as a food.
23 —use a little wine for your stomach’s sake and your often infirmities.
Use it for medicinal purposes in as far as it can be used that way. A little wine.
And we see other verses in the Bible, which we won’t take time to turn to, that say that it’s fine to drink wine or to drink strong drink. But it’s always in moderation, always at the right time and the right place. And that’s the whole key. Otherwise it’ll become a mocker. It’ll become a stimulus to create havoc and trouble and pain and sorrow in our lives.
So that’s the admonition here in chapter 20 and verse 1. Beware, be careful, be very cautious. And if wine or strong drink is used properly—you don’t mix it with driving, you don’t mix it with delicate or skillful actions, but if you use it in the right way at the right time in moderation—then for most people it can be very enjoyable and even can be beneficial.
2 The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion: whoso provokes him to anger sins against his own soul.
The terror of a king, the wrath of a king. Someone in authority, someone in power, needs to be respected. Not worshiped or bowed down to—only God should be worshiped or bowed down to. But those in authority and power should be respected. Otherwise, if you disrespect them and you begin to get out of line with them, it can be trouble for you, it can be painful for you.
If a policeman pulls you over and gives you a ticket, and you respect him—or her, if it’s a policewoman—you might get a warning ticket or else you’ll just get a ticket. But if you start disrespecting that authority, that civil authority, and you start creating trouble for them, then you’re going to have trouble and I will too if I do that. And so why do that?
2 —whoso provokes him to anger sins against his own—
Life. So there should be respect for other people and respect for those in positions of authority. And we need to teach our children respect for those in positions of authority—teachers and the elderly and policemen and civil authorities, etc. And above all, of course, we must respect those in authority from God—God Himself, Jesus Christ, His ministers and those who are leading and serving. That’s the attitude. That’s the whole principle and point here. It is teaching us to actually ultimately stand in awe and respect God. And one of the things that helps us to learn to do that is, not standing in awe of others, but respecting others and respecting the authority or the position they hold, and realizing and remembering that if we don’t do that, then that authority and that position can be used in a way that will not be pleasant for us.
3 It is an honor for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling.
You know, it’s easy to get in a fight. It’s easy to lose your temper. It’s easy to get in an argument. It’s easy to get involved in trouble. But it’s honorable for a man to walk away from that. Now, some people say, “Oh well, you know, if you walk away from a fight or you walk away from an argument or you walk away from trouble, you’re just being a coward.” Well, not really, you’re actually being wise, and the Bible says it’s an honorable thing to do.
It doesn’t mean that you should be a throw rug or be stomped on or be mistreated or be pushed around. There are ways to handle that. You can stand your ground and stand for what is right without getting into strife and without getting into a fight or a brawl. You can explain or you can take it to the proper authorities or you can take it to the proper channels. But don’t ever worry about somebody saying you’re afraid or you’re a coward if you walk away from a fight or you walk away from an argument or you walk away from strife. You’re not being a coward at all. You’re actually doing an honorable thing. It doesn’t take a wise man, it doesn’t take an honorable man, to get involved in a quarrel.
A better translation here is: “But every fool can start a quarrel.” Any fool can start a fight, any fool can start an argument, any fool can start a quarrel. What’s the big deal about that?
It takes somebody to have substance, somebody that has character, somebody that has quality in their lives to walk away from that. Because where can you go with it? It’s just going to get worse and worse, and if you’ll come back tomorrow and talk to the person, maybe it would have cooled off by then. Maybe not, but maybe it will.
So, we’re supposed to be peacemakers. Jesus Christ said, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” We’re supposed to spread peace. We’re not supposed to stir up strife. And it’s an honorable thing if we walk away from it and cease from that and defuse that. And sometimes, as we already read in the book of Proverbs, a “soft answer” will turn that away.
But a fool will be meddling, a fool will be starting stuff like that. And it’s real easy to start a quarrel as the Bible says right here in verse 3. But what’s the big deal about that? It’s just a quarrel. No good will come of it.
4 The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold;—
or in the winter
4 —therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.
You know, we’re supposed to work. Work in due season. There’s a time to work, and we’re supposed to go out and do it. The Bible doesn’t advocate being a workaholic or being a slave to work. But it does advocate hard work and working when it’s time to work.
And if you’re on a farm, there’s a time to plow the field so you can plant the crop and harvest it. You plow in the down months and the winter, and you plant in the spring, and you harvest in the fall. But if you don’t get out there and plant because it might be a little blustery or it might be a little cold or it might be a little unpleasant, if you don’t get out there and plow during that time, then when it comes time to plant, you’re not going to be able to plant. And then when it comes time to harvest, there’ll be no harvest. Why is that? Well, because the person was a sluggard. The person was too lazy. The person was too indolent. The person didn’t want to go out there because after all it’s work and it might be a little cold.
That principle applies in anything, however. It applies to being prompt and dependable on any job we have. It applies to keeping the home neat when we need to keep the home neat. Instead of saying, “Well, I don’t want to. I got other things to do. I’m too tired.” But instead just getting up and cleaning the house, and making a nice meal and enjoying it with the family, or getting out and mowing the yard or washing the car, or going ahead and getting to work on time and working all day even though it might be cold, even though it might be raining, even though it might be hot, even though there might be unpleasant circumstances that you have to work with in order to get to work and work all day and earn a living. An industrious, responsible individual will go ahead and do that and they will really enjoy the fruit of their labor.
But somebody who is always looking for an excuse to lay around and not produce and not work and not be busy and not be dependable and not be responsible, then they’re not going to have much and they’re going to be looking around and be jealous of those who do have because they work and wondering why they don’t have. Not willing to look at the fact that the reason they don’t is because they won’t plow when they need to plow, so they won’t harvest when they should be harvesting. They’re lazy.
5 Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.
Someone who has a lot of depth to them and a lot of really good information that could be shared with others, doesn’t always go around spouting that out and pushing that on people. They have more concern and more propriety and more savvy and smarts than to do that. But if you get to know them and you appreciate them and you take time with them and you begin to discuss things with them and listen to them when they talk and then talk when you need to talk, what will happen is, you’ll begin to plumb the depths of their experience and their knowledge and their character.
It’s like having a well of water that’s really excellent water, but it’s way down deep and it takes a little time to let the bucket down and to draw it back up and to pour it into another bucket and then drink that nice, wonderful, cool, refreshing water. You had to draw it up and pour it out and drink it. It wasn’t shallow. It wasn’t on the surface. Well, quite often, that’s the way it is when you have a friend or you have an acquaintance or you’re spending some time with somebody who has a lot to offer. Quite often you have to give it time to all come out, and even set the stage and create an atmosphere so that it will gradually come on out. But you know what? It’s worth the wait. It’s like nuggets of wisdom that were worth waiting for. And if you have understanding, and you have appreciation, and you have respect for that individual, then you will take time to draw it out of that person—or to give it to the person who draws it out of you—for the benefit of both of you and others that might hear it as well.
6 Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?
Isn’t it easy to hear people brag about themselves, talk about themselves, pontificate, and spout about how great they are, how smart they are, how strong they are, where they’ve been, who they know, what they’ve got? It just rolls out at the drop of a hat for hours at a time. Most people will just talk, talk, talk, talk, talk about themselves and cascades out in a torrent, in a gush of words.
6 —but a faithful man who can find?
Someone who has balance, someone who has a sense of propriety, someone who doesn’t just always focus on themselves, brag about themselves, talk about themselves, and bore other people with pushing themselves on them, but they will listen and they will appreciate the other individual. then they will talk about some of the experiences they’ve had. Then they will listen to some of the experiences other people have had. And it ends up being a scintillating, profitable, enjoyable, interesting conversation that way.
But who do you find that will take that approach and be balanced like that? You can find people like that—and all Christians should be like that—but we don’t have enough people like that. And I hope we can grow and develop and overcome, and come to the point that we have that kind of balance in our lives and in our thinking and in our personalities and conversation.
7 The just man walks in his integrity: and his children are blessed after him.
See, that’s another thing that’s really inspiring and encouraging and ought to really stimulate us to overcome and grow and do the things that God wants and develop characteristics and qualities like integrity. Because you know, it’s not just for us—and we are blessed if we do that—but it’s for other people. And it’s not just for other people, it’s for our own family.
Think about that. We all love our children. We all love them no matter what age they are. You know, if we are people who want to do the right thing and who are just and who want to be full of integrity, it’s not that we’re the only ones that are going to be blessed. Our children will be blessed even after we’re gone, and they’ll also be blessed while we’re here. They will learn to have integrity and therefore be blessed, and they will also experience some of the blessings that come to us because of integrity. The blessings kind of spill off. There’ll be collateral blessings that fall on them as well.
So that’s all the more reason to really focus on being a strong practicing Christian on a day–by–day basis. Because as we do that, others benefit from it too, and in particular, people that are close to us iour family and those in our household.
8 A king that sits in the throne of judgment scatters away all evil with his eyes.
A leader that is using good judgment and he uses his position of authority and power for the right reasons—you know what he does? He looks well at his responsibilities. He doesn’t over–delegate and depend on everybody else to do what he should be doing. On the other hand, he doesn’t under–delegate either and try to do it all for himself. But one thing he will do is he’ll take a look for himself. He will know what he needs to look into. He will know what he needs to personally be involved in, and he will go and do that, and be able to pick up things that others would not be able to pick up, and be able to spot things that others would not be able to comprehend, and do something about it. And therefore he can get rid of the problem and he can cast out and purge out the evil that others might overlook. Why? Because he is a king that is using judgment and one that is engaged and going and looking and being involved in areas where he needs to be so that he can see for himself and do something about it himself—sees it with his own eyes, hears it with his own ears, gets it firsthand and can deal with it. And therefore, he can expunge the evil out of his area of responsibility. That’s the principle. It works with parents, it works with employers, it works with anybody and everyone.
Whatever responsibility you have, you don’t want to over–manage, but you don’t want to under–manage either. You want to manage. And you want to make sure that you understand that sometimes you got to go take a look for yourself, and then you’ll see some things that need changing, and it might even be evil that you need to get rid of in the organization in the area of responsibility that you have.
Whereas if you leave it up to other people and you never take a look for yourself, you’ll find yourself getting increasingly isolated and increasingly detached and increasingly out of touch with what’s really going on. And then therefore, how can you lead, how can you be responsible for your company or your family or whatever you might be taking care of or leading or supervising? So that’s a very important principle to keep in mind. There comes a time when we ought to take a look for ourselves and see for ourselves so that we can fix what needs fixing, and usually we’ll find something that needs fixing if we do that. No matter how big the responsibility or small the responsibility, that’s a very important principle to keep in mind.
9 Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?
Nobody can if we’re honest. If we’re really honest, we know that we all fall short. We all are sinners. Of and by ourselves, we all are, frankly, useless and filthy and vile just left to our own devising and left to ourselves. It says so right here in Jeremiah 17:9. Let’s just turn very quickly to Jeremiah 17:9. Here’s what we are like on our own and without God and left to our own devices and our own ways. Jeremiah 17:9:
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
10 I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
So that’s what we’re like. We’re not pure. We’re not clean. But we can become pure and we can become clean and we can have all of our sins forgiven and blotted out and wiped out, and we can overcome them when we obey God, when we repent, when we submit to God, when we yield to God, when we put God right in the center of our lives. When we ask Him to be in the center of our lives, when we saturate our minds with His word and when we focus on Him through prayer and Bible Study and we begin to turn everything over to Him and we ask Him to clean us up and we ask Him to give us the mind of Jesus Christ and give us a pure mind and a clean heart and holy, righteous, godly character, then we can have a clean heart and then we can be pure from our sins through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. But that’s the only way that can happen. And when we don’t do that and when we leave Him out of the picture, then no one can honestly say, “I’ve made my heart clean. I am pure from my sin.” That can only happen through Jesus Christ and through God’s mercy and through His holy spirit and through the power that can come from only Almighty God Himself.
10 Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the Lord.
In other words, deceitful weights and deceitful measures. In this matter of business, people want to have an accurate weight when they buy, but then they tinker with the weight when they sell so that they can cheat an individual. God says, “Have an accurate weight when you buy and have an accurate weight when you sell.” It could be a weight where a trucker pulls in and gets his load weighed. It can be buying feed at the store. It can be purchasing anything—anything that has to be weighed or measured. God says He wants accurate measurements. He doesn’t want one measurement for the buyer and then one measurement for the seller. He wants accurate measurements in both cases. Because if they are inaccurate in both cases, it says right here, verse 10:
10 —both of them are alike abomination to the Lord.
And why is that so? Well, because it’s deceiving, because it’s stealing, because it’s lying, because it’s breaking the commandments, because it’s mistreating other people and not loving your neighbor. And so He wants business practices to be on the up and up and to be accurate and to be fair and to be right. And if they aren’t, even if it is at the highest level of the corporate world and captains of industries are involved, all the way down to the lowest level of whatever the occupation might be—whether it’s selling papers or selling candy or selling cattle or whatever it is, or buying these things—God says He wants the business transactions to be right. And if they aren’t right, it’s an abomination to Him, and He makes that clear by describing inaccurate weights and inaccurate measurements in verse 10.
11 Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.
We’re all known by what we do. That’s how we build a reputation or we destroy a reputation or we establish the wrong kind of reputation. It’s by what we do. What we do, say, and think all come together and that’s what we’re known by. And you know what? No matter who we are, that’s what we’re known by. Even children are known by what a little girl or a little boy does.
11 Even a child is known by his doings—
Is she pleasant to be around? Is he obedient? Do they have fun? Do they respect their mother and dad? Do they do their homework? Do they keep their room clean? And then adults, we’re all known by, do we work or do we not work? Do we keep our word or do we twist our word and lie? Do we set a good example or a poor example? Can we be depended on? Are we predictable? All of these things have to do with what we do, and that’s what we’re known by.
11 Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.
Or whether it be impure and whether it be wrong.
12 The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord has made even both of them.
And He gave us ears to hear and eyes to see, and these are tremendous blessings—two of the most important senses of the five senses that we have. And if we use our ears to hear good things and our eyes to see good things, and especially hearing things of God and seeing things of God, then we’re using them for what they were given to us to be used for.
But if we pervert how we use our ears and pervert what we let our eyes see, then they are not pluses, they are not blessings, they are not instruments that God gave us for our good. They end up being instruments He gave us for our good that end up being used in a bad way and that is very, very poor and very, very sad and very, very wrong in the eyes of God. So let’s make sure that we don’t do that.
Alright, we’ll stop there with verse 12 and pick it up with verse 13 next time when we continue our Bible Study through the book of Proverbs.
This is Charles Bryce with the Enduring Church of God.