Proverbs Chapter 2

Proverbs Chapter 2

1 My son, if you receive my words,
And treasure my commands within you,
2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom,
And apply your heart to understanding;
3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment,
And lift up your voice for understanding,
4 If you seek her as silver,
And search for her as for hidden treasures;
5 Then you will understand the fear of the LORD,
And find the knowledge of God.
6 For the LORD gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;
7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
He is a shield to those who walk uprightly;
8 He guards the paths of justice,
And preserves the way of His saints.
9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice,
Equity and every good path.
10 When wisdom enters your heart,
And knowledge is pleasant to your soul,
11 Discretion will preserve you;
Understanding will keep you,
12 To deliver you from the way of evil,
From the man who speaks perverse things,
13 From those who leave the paths of uprightness
To walk in the ways of darkness;
14 Who rejoice in doing evil,
And delight in the perversity of the wicked;
15 Whose ways are crooked,
And who are devious in their paths;
16 To deliver you from the immoral woman,
From the seductress who flatters with her words,
17 Who forsakes the companion of her youth,
And forgets the covenant of her God.
18 For her house leads down to death,
And her paths to the dead;
19 None who go to her return,
Nor do they regain the paths of life—
20 So you may walk in the way of goodness,
And keep to the paths of righteousness.
21 For the upright will dwell in the land,
And the blameless will remain in it;
22 But the wicked will be cut off from the earth,
And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it.

The writer here in chapter 2 does not give a list of commands, but rather gives a series of conditional statements. The writer made great promises (verse 5). Solomon has been dead for thousands of years (1st Kings 11:40-43). Unless we believe that the bible is divinely inspired, we should have no reason to believe that these promises made should hold true for us today.

Verse 5 he promises that we shall find the knowledge of God. Hosea 6:3 also calls us to pursue the knowledge of the Lord. When is this accomplished? Do we find the knowledge of God at the point of salvation, at death, at Christ’s return when he takes us home to be with Him in heaven? Or because God is an eternal being, is this a never ending task?

Verse 5 implies that we will not be able to truly understand the fear of the Lord, nor find the knowledge of God, unless we seek Wisdom. Paul in 1st Corinthians 1:24 refers to Christ as the "wisdom of God", and Jesus Himself claimed to be the exclusive way to God the Father (John 1:6)

Verse 6 "the Lord gives wisdom", If we look at Christ as the wisdom, then I am reminded of John 3:16. and how "He gave His only begotten Son".

God is the giver of every good and perfect gift. (James 1:17) But we must not forget the conditional statements found in the first 4 verses. We must seek wisdom. Wisdom is not the same as common sense. Wisdom must be sought today because we are promised of a time when although we seek we shall not find. (Proverbs 1:28, John 7:34)

God is the source of sound wisdom. But there are other sources for other sources of worldly wisdom. Moses was trained in the wisdom of the Egyptians, then when he was 40 years old he killed a man. (Acts 7:22-23) Worldly wisdom teaches the fear of man and glorifies man. But sound wisdom teaches the fear of the Lord and glorifies God.

Verses 6-21 there are lasting benefits for seeking wisdom. Notice of the key words concerning this: (Guards, preserves, keep, deliver, remain). These words cannot be applied to people who at one time prayed some special prayer and then shortly return to their old lifestyle. And never again seek wisdom or the things of God.

Verse 17 reminds me alot of recreational dating. "A series of relationships with its bonding a breaking is preparation for divorce, not marriage"- Bob Jenning

Verses 21-22 promises that the upright and blameless will remain in the land, but the wicked and unfaithful will be uprooted from it. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) Why then should all mankind not be cut off and uprooted from the earth? We are justified freely by grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:24) We are then imputed the righteousness of Jesus and considered blameless, if we have faith in Him.