Agere Sequitur Esse

Proverbs

Book of Proverbs

Notes.. .

. ..Introduction. By Solomon, Agur, and Lemuel to apply wisdom to daily life and provide moral instruction.
. ..Themes. Wisdom, Relationships, Speech, Work, and Success.
. ..Outline. “The ancient thinkers recognized the orderliness of the world and understood that if they tried to live in harmony with that set order, life would be that much more enjoyable and fulfilling. We call these early thinkers, wise men, and their writings, wisdom. The goal of such instruction appears to have enabled its learners to master their lives and thereby to discover happiness” (William Seay 2019, L9 00:23–00:58).
. ..Application. “Proverbs clearly reminds us that we are all walking down the road of life. A road with two branches. The one chosen by the wise produces joy, happiness and a meaningful existence as well as an eternal hope. The other road chosen by the foolish brings about heartache, sorrow, and ultimate destruction” (Seay 2019, L9 06:27–06:53).
. ..Timeline. It was written by Solomon with some of the later sections written by Agur and Lemuel during the first part of Solomon’s reign.

Introduction. 38:50 – The purpose is to teach people how to be understanding, just, and fair in everything they do to make the simple minded wise, to warn young men about some problems they will face and help the wise to become good leaders. In short, to apply wisdom to daily life and provide moral instruction. Solomon wrote most of this book with Agur and Lemuel contributing some of the later sections.

Themes. 39:35 – There are five major theological themes. (i) Wisdom. God wants His people to be wise. Two kings of people portray two contrasting paths to life. The fool and wicked stubborn person who hates and or ignores God. The wise person seeks to know and love God. (ii) Relationships. Proverbs gives us advice for developing our personal relationships with friends, family, and work. In every relationship we must show love, dedication, and high moral standards (iii) Speech. What we say shows our real attitude towards others. How we talk reveals what we are really like. Our speech is a test of how wise we have become. (iv) Work. God controls the final outcome of all we do. We are accountable to carry out our work with diligence and discipline and not laziness. (v) Success. Although people work very hard for money and fame, God views success as having a good reputation, moral character, and spiritual devotion to obey Him.

Outline. The ancient thinkers recognized the orderliness of the world and understood that if they tried to live in harmony with that set order, life would be that much more enjoyable and fulfilling. We call these early thinkers, wise men, and their writings, wisdom. The goal of such instruction appears to have enabled its learners to master their lives and thereby to discover happiness. Some people believe that gods set us the world to follow a fixed order that all one had to do was observe nature, learn that order, and live in accordance with it. However, any conduct that varied from that order would bring quick and severe punishment and even death. In Israel, wisdom thinking probably began among the clans or early tribes. Such early Israelite wisdom consisted of simple observations about life. One generation handed such wisdom down to another in a continuing search for answers to life’s perplexing problems. Such observations probably dealt with such topics as integrity, contentment, sexual and family relationships. Unlike their neighbors’ wisdom, for Israel, the fear of the Lord provided the central theme tying all wisdom teaching together. If we were to try and put a capstone on the book of proverbs, the book of proverbs clearly defines how God expects His people to find meaningful existence. If we had to find a defining centralized theme for the book of proverbs that would be it; that the book of proverbs clearly defines how God expects His people to find meaningful existence. In doing this, two doctrines are emphasized: (i) The human search for meaning and (ii) the nature of God. Though all mankind has searched constantly for meaningful existence, Israel’s search is unique in at least two ways. First, through the wisdom literature which recognizes and orderliness to the world. It never pretends that one can know that order fully or that knowing it would automatically bring about riches or a meaningful existence. The revealed wisdom of proverbs clearly tells God’s people how to both relate to God and to other people. More explicitly, it teaches honesty, truthfulness, sobriety, hard work, compassion towards one’s enemies, humility, proper sexual and marriage relationships, proper parent-child relationships, and trust in God. No doubt, all of these individually and collectively if followed will provide a more meaningful life. The inspired biblical wisdom centers uniquely on God.

Wisdom outside of the bible speaks of God who can provide an orderliness to creation and need of people to discover that orderliness. The wisdom of Israel’s neighbors does not speak of God or gods seeking to reveal that order nor does it speak of such an orderliness that leads to eternal salvation. Certainly, from the very beginning to the end of the book of proverbs the fear of the Lord in the sense of a reverence for God that produces a willing obedience not only as content but also as constant theme. For example, the very first chapter clearly states that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. This is followed up by a call to repent of sin and to trust in God as Lord and Savior. In different forms, this theme is followed up with the book.

Finally, the book ends by reaffirming the one who fears the Lord is to be praised. This book, like the others in the bible, clearly teaches that meaningful existence can only come from the proper relationship with God. God inspired proverbs to make these very practical teachings readily available for His people to follow and thus find meaningful life with Him. Unfortunately, the children of Israel never seem to understand to follow such wise precepts and thus, they had to face God’s judgements.

Application. 6:20 – Proverbs clearly reminds us that we are all walking down the road of life. A road with two branches. The one chosen by the wise produces joy, happiness and a meaningful existence as well as an eternal hope. The other road chosen by the foolish brings about heartache, sorrow, and ultimate destruction.

Since there is clearly no middle ground, save the personification of wisdom, proverbs plead with us: (i) First to acknowledge God as the Creator and Sustainer of the world. (ii) Second, to repent of our sin and trust in God as Lord and Savior. (iii) Three, to so order our lives in accordance with His will that His love will clearly be reflected in our relationships with our family, friends, neighbors, strangers, and even our enemies. (iv) Four, to teach these precepts diligently to our children both in word and in deed. (v) Five, to praise God for the fullness and joy that He provides along life’s way.

Timeline. 7:50 – We do not have one because Solomon wrote and compiled most of these proverbs early in his reign. The books of proverbs are said to be a book of wise sayings. It is a textbook for teaching people how to live Godly lives through the repetition of wise thoughts and wise actions. As far as the timeline application is concerned, we can simply say that it was written by Solomon with some of the later sections written by Agur and Lemuel during the first part of Solomon’s reign.

Ref.

Seay, William. 2019. Old Testament Theology [MP3]. Andersonville Theological Seminary (ATS). Camilla, GA: ATS