Rearing Our Children and Avoiding Booze – Proverbs 22-23

Joy: You’re listening to Season 2 of the Lifting Her Voice podcast.  This is Episode #201 and today we’ll read Proverbs 22-23 together.   Here we learn wisdom about rearing our children and avoiding booze.  

Welcome

Welcome to the Lifting Her Voice podcast, Season 2!  I’m your host, Joy Miller, and I invite you to grab your Bible and join me – from the beginning – simply reading God’s word together.  We built some spiritual muscles in 2020 with just the New Testament.  But this year we’re going all out, cover-to-cover, Old Testament and New.  So, whether with your first cup in the morning, your commute to work, or as the last thing on your mind before sleep, God’s Word will equip you for every good work.  I’m really glad you’re here!

Proverbs 22

A good name is to be chosen over great wealth;

favor is better than silver and gold.

Rich and poor have this in common:

the Lord makes them all.

A sensible person sees danger and takes cover,

but the inexperienced keep going and are punished.

Humility, the fear of the Lord,

results in wealth, honor, and life.

There are thorns and snares on the way of the crooked;

the one who guards himself stays far from them.

Start a youth out on his way;

even when he grows old he will not depart from it.

The rich rule over the poor,

and the borrower is a slave to the lender.

The one who sows injustice will reap disaster,

and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.

A generous person will be blessed,

for he shares his food with the poor.

Drive out a mocker, and conflict goes too;

then quarreling and dishonor will cease.

The one who loves a pure heart

and gracious lips — the king is his friend.

The Lord’s eyes keep watch over knowledge,

but he overthrows the words of the treacherous.

The slacker says, “There’s a lion outside!

I’ll be killed in the public square!”

The mouth of the forbidden woman is a deep pit;

a man cursed by the Lord will fall into it.

Foolishness is bound to the heart of a youth;

a rod of discipline will separate it from him.

Oppressing the poor to enrich oneself,

and giving to the rich — both lead only to poverty.

Words of the Wise

Listen closely, pay attention to the words of the wise,

and apply your mind to my knowledge.

For it is pleasing if you keep them within you

and if they are constantly on your lips.

I have instructed you today — even you —

so that your confidence may be in the Lord.

Haven’t I written for you thirty sayings

about counsel and knowledge,

in order to teach you true and reliable words,

so that you may give a dependable report

to those who sent you?

Don’t rob a poor person because he is poor,

and don’t crush the oppressed at the city gate,

for the Lord will champion their cause

and will plunder those who plunder them.

Don’t make friends with an angry person,

and don’t be a companion of a hot-tempered one,

or you will learn his ways

and entangle yourself in a snare.

Don’t be one of those who enter agreements,

who put up security for loans.

If you have nothing with which to pay,

even your bed will be taken from under you.

Don’t move an ancient boundary marker

that your ancestors set up.

Do you see a person skilled in his work?

He will stand in the presence of kings.

He will not stand in the presence of the unknown.

Proverbs 23

When you sit down to dine with a ruler,

consider carefully what is before you,

and put a knife to your throat

if you have a big appetite;

don’t desire his choice food,

for that food is deceptive.

Don’t wear yourself out to get rich;

because you know better, stop!

As soon as your eyes fly to it, it disappears,

for it makes wings for itself

and flies like an eagle to the sky.

Don’t eat a stingy person’s bread,

and don’t desire his choice food,

for it’s like someone calculating inwardly.

“Eat and drink,” he says to you,

but his heart is not with you.

You will vomit the little you’ve eaten

and waste your pleasant words.

Don’t speak to a fool,

for he will despise the insight of your words.

Don’t move an ancient boundary marker,

and don’t encroach on the fields of the fatherless,

for their Redeemer is strong,

and he will champion their cause against you.

Apply yourself to discipline

and listen to words of knowledge.

Don’t withhold discipline from a youth;

if you punish him with a rod, he will not die.

Punish him with a rod,

and you will rescue his life from Sheol.

My son, if your heart is wise,

my heart will indeed rejoice.

My innermost being will celebrate

when your lips say what is right.

Don’t let your heart envy sinners;

instead, always fear the Lord.

For then you will have a future,

and your hope will not be dashed.

Listen, my son, and be wise;

keep your mind on the right course.

Too Much Wine

Don’t associate with those who drink too much wine

or with those who gorge themselves on meat.

For the drunkard and the glutton will become poor,

and grogginess will clothe them in rags.

Listen to your father who gave you life,

and don’t despise your mother when she is old.

Buy — and do not sell — truth,

wisdom, instruction, and understanding.

The father of a righteous son will rejoice greatly,

and one who fathers a wise son will delight in him.

Let your father and mother have joy,

and let her who gave birth to you rejoice.

My son, give me your heart,

and let your eyes observe my ways.

For a prostitute is a deep pit,

and a wayward woman is a narrow well;

indeed, she sets an ambush like a robber

and increases the number of unfaithful people.

Who has woe? Who has sorrow?

Who has conflicts? Who has complaints?

Who has wounds for no reason?

Who has red eyes?

Those who linger over wine;

those who go looking for mixed wine.

Don’t gaze at wine because it is red,

because it gleams in the cup

and goes down smoothly.

In the end it bites like a snake

and stings like a viper.

Your eyes will see strange things,

and you will say absurd things.

You’ll be like someone sleeping out at sea

or lying down on the top of a ship’s mast.

“They struck me, but I feel no pain!

They beat me, but I didn’t know it!

When will I wake up?

I’ll look for another drink.”

Close

I learned something interesting a few years ago about Proverbs 22:6, Start a youth out on his way; even when he grows old he will not depart from it.  Most of us probably recognize it a little better in the New King James Version:  Train up a child in the way he should go,And when he is old he will not depart from it.  It may not surprise you to learn that I was listening to a The Bible Project podcast, and it was called the Wisdom Series.  It was a series about Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.  

Tim said something that has stuck with me.  He said – and I’m paraphrasing – that Proverbs 22:6, in Hebrew, is both a warning and a promise.  We interpret the verse as encouraging we parents to teach our children God’s ways and these habits will serve them well for the rest of their lives.  The warning comes about in the nuance of the language in that the opposite is also true.  If we do not bring our children up in the right way, those bad habits will plague them even when they are old.  I thought that was really interesting.  I encourage you to listen the podcast if you get the chance.  If certainly goes right along with the reading of Proverbs.  

Too Long, Too Often

Proverbs 23:29-35 is one of my favorite passages in the Book of Proverbs.  The absolute naked truth of what happens when someone stays a little too long, a little too often in the bottle is apparent to anyone who has experienced this.  I think it’s safe to include any mind-altering substance in this warning.  It indeed bites like a snake and stings like a viper.  Then stupidity too often takes over so that once the pain subsides, the imbiber goes right back in, planning the next excursion into delirium.  What a waste of the time and gifts that God has given us.  If only we could make young people believe.  We should be on our knees everyday, asking God to open eyes to this tragedy before it actually becomes a tragedy in a life.  

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Thank you for joining me here today.  I pray that by spending time in His Word every day, you will by changed.  Visit me at Lifting Her Voice.com with your comments and questions.  And don’t forget to visit the Blog page while you’re there.  If you like the podcast, it would be great if you’d give it a five-star review and share it with everyone you know.  Don’t forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.  See you tomorrow!

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible(r), Copyright (c) 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible(r) and CSB(r) are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.