Today, I am reading and commenting on Proverbs 29-31.

Today the passage, once more, gives many pieces of advice on different subjects.  However, one theme which the writer keeps coming back to is the way that fools rage while the wise remain calm.  I will remind the reader that the translators’ notes from early in the Book of Proverbs pointed out that the word translated as “fool” throughout the book implies someone who is morally deficient.  Both parts of that meaning are relevant when the writer speaks of those who give in to rage.  Allowing rage to control your behavior will not bring about good ends, for you or for others, but some people will intentionally give voice to rage in order to manipulate others.  On the other hand the wise see the benefits to be had by all if everyone remains calm, even while disagreeing, perhaps, especially while disagreeing.  I think of videos I have watched recently of people angrily jumping from one argument to another when the person with whom they are debating has a reasoned reply to one of their arguments.  Some of them are just too busy being angry to listen to what others have to say, while some use the anger and chaos to keep those they disagree with from making a point and possibly convincing someone.  If you care about convincing others you will choose the wise path and remain calm.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Proverbs 25-28.

The passage begins with a series of proverbs attributed to Solomon by courtiers of King Hezekiah.  They give advice on good government.  I really like this one:
“Remove the dross from the silver,
    and a silversmith can produce a vessel;
 remove wicked officials from the king’s presence,
    and his throne will be established through righteousness.”
As a Christian, I do not feel that I should be involved in the government.  However, this proverb should be thought about carefully by those who seek good government.  All too often people who desire to address a problem created by corrupt government officials seek new laws, when instead they should seek to remove corrupt people from the government.  The lesson which applies here also applies to our personal life.  If you seek to find a loophole in God’s law you will not find the benefits of doing His will.  Actually, we have an example of this lesson in a pair of proverbs later in this lesson.  If you take each of them at face value, they contradict each other.
“Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
    or you yourself will be just like him.
Answer a fool according to his folly,
or he will be wise in his own eyes.” 
It both says that you should not answer a fool according to his folly and that you should answer a fool according to his folly.  The first part tells us that we should not allow a fool to frame the discussion, do not allow them to set the definitions of terms in ways with which you disagree.  On the other hand, if you point out how you view the situation, they may realize the merit of your position.  There are so many more sayings in today’s passage which we should take to heart with lessons we should strive to live by.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Proverbs 22-24.

Today’s passage comes closer to following a theme than the passages for the last two days.  It still covers a lot of ground in giving us advice on how to live wisely.  However, one thing is says is that these sayings will teach us to be honest and to speak the truth.  A little later it says:
“Buy the truth and do not sell it—
    wisdom, instruction and insight as well.”
My initial understanding of that reads it as telling us to be truthful and not be willing to lie in order to gain something.  I genuinely believe that the writer would agree with that, but would then tell me that there is more to it than that.  In addition to being truthful we should seek out the full truth.  We should not be satisfied with the simple easy things we can learn about events.  We should seek the entire truth and not settle for partial truths.  The writer is once again telling us t gather all of the facts before we reach a conclusion about a situation.  Another one of the sayings in today’s passage is closely related to this:
“Rescue those being led away to death;
    hold back those staggering toward slaughter.
 If you say, ‘But we knew nothing about this,’
    does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?”
When you know terrible things are being done to others, but look the other way because you pretend that you do not know what is going on, you are either failing to “buy the truth” or you are “selling” it.  Many times people see this as applying to looking the other way when the government unjustly persecutes people, and they are not wrong (although I have not always been convinced that those who apply it that way were seeing actual persecution).  But it also applies when we look the other way when the mob riots and causes destruction.  We need to call out those who are in the wrong in both cases.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Proverbs 18-21.

Today’s passage is again  collection of short proverbs which do not have a theme.  However, several of them touch of the idea that those who stir up controversy and conflict are foolish.  Related to these are proverbs which recommend choosing our words carefully and being wary about spending time with people who feel the need to fill silence with words.  In many ways, I suspect that the latter proverbs are intended as much to suggest that we should be careful not to say too much as they are to tell us to avoid the company of people who talk too much.  Mixed in with those are proverbs which tell us that we should wait until we have all of the facts to judge a situation.  These include warnings that people will explain things in ways that make themselves look better, but also that they have a tendency to see things in a way which justifies them getting what they want out of the situation.  So that even if they intend to accurately relay the facts, they may not see the importance of something, and thus not mention it, because it would go against their own interest in the situation.  The final point made here that I want to pull out for a closer look is the idea that the key to success is hard work and laziness leads to poverty.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Proverbs 14-17.

Every year when I come to this passage, and many of those which follow in the Book of Proverbs, I debate with myself how I want to approach writing about it.  Today’s passage is composed of a large number of short proverbs which each provide some guidance for living our lives.  However, they do not have a theme.  They are not grouped together so that those which are on a particular theme are together.  I have never even been able to find a thread which explains why the writer chose to place them in this order.  Today I have chosen a few ideas of these proverbs which seem to explain things which I have observed recently.  The first one is this:
“Whoever fears the Lord walks uprightly,
    but those who despise him are devious in their ways.”
I have noticed that you often times see people bring up arguments that they think will undermine their opponents position but which they do not themselves believe.  An example of this is someone who argues for a different interpretation of a verse than the traditional one who later reveals that they don’t think the verse should be considered authoritative even with their alternate interpretation.  

Another proverb which I have seen played out recently is:
“Mockers resent correction,
    so they avoid the wise.”
Here we see it with people who cut off ties with those who disagree with them.  And while sometimes that happens because one person was offensive in the way they expressed their beliefs, all too often it is because the person who cuts off communication does not want to consider that they were wrong and the other person correct.

Finally I want to leave you with one which all of us should heed more than we do:
“Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent,
    and discerning if they hold their tongues.”

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Proverbs 9-13.

I debated for awhile about what I wanted to write today.  I know I have talked about this previously, but I wanted to look at the way in which the writer compares wisdom and folly.  I want to start by talking about how this passage could be used to support the argument that the Bible, and in particular the Book of Proverbs, is misogynistic.  The writer says that “Folly is an unruly woman:”  If you read that without paying attention you might think the writer was denigrating women.  However, that overlooks the fact that he also anthropomorphizes wisdom as a woman as well.  In any case, I like the fact that the writer tells us that both wisdom and folly call out to people from the most prominent position possible.  Their invitations are the same,  “Let all who are simple come to my house!”  Wisdom does not invite those who think they are wise, she invites those who know they are foolish.  If you think that you are wise, you will not listen to what wisdom has to say.  However, if you know that you are foolish, but wish to be wise, you will respond to wisdom’s invitation.  Those who take pleasure in wickedness will prefer what folly offers without realizing that all she really offers is death.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Proverbs 5-8.

Today’s proverbs warn against adultery and laziness.  The writer compares someone entering into an adulterous affair to an ox going to the slaughter.  In many ways what it says highlights how we easily fall prey to foolish behavior when we allow lust to control our thoughts.  The writer tells us that we should seek wisdom before wealth, discretion before pleasure.  In both cases, if you must choose between things choose the first option before the second one.  When faced with a decision about what actions to take that the wise course is the one which embraces righteousness and justice.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Proverbs 1-4.

The writer of the Book of Proverbs starts out by telling us that his purpose in making this compilation was to aid in the gaining of wisdom and understanding.  He writes that the simple (someone who is gullible and inclined to evil) who read and follow the words contained here will learn prudence.  The young will gain knowledge and discretion.  While the wise will become wiser.  He then tells us that the beginning of knowledge and wisdom is fear of God, but that wicked fools (which is redundant) refuse to accept instruction and despise wisdom.  Those fools think that they have it all figured out and will not be held accountable.  In the second chapter the writer tells us that if we search for wisdom they way that prospectors search for silver, or the way many seek to find hidden treasure, we will find knowledge of God and learn to fear Him.  As we continue to pursue wisdom and the knowledge of God (which is also redundant) we will learn what is just and right.  The writer goes on to warn us that we must never think that we are wise.  Instead, we must constantly seek to gain wisdom.  The foolish think they can pursue wicked pleasures without consequence.  The wise recognize that doing God’s will brings true joy.

Reading today’s passage reminds me of some of the Youtube videos I have watched recently where various apologists for Christianity debate with atheists.  The atheists argue that one can be moral without believing in God.  The Christians agree, but argue that without God, morality is meaningless.  That latter argument is the case which the writer of Proverbs makes here.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Proverbs 29-31.

I do not exactly have a theme I want to write about today, but there are a few things written here that I want to pull out to highlight.  The writer tells us that the righteous detest those who are dishonest while the wicked detest the upright.  When we feel hostility towards those with whom we disagree, we need to make sure that our hostility does not result from feeling called out by them.  We must strive to make sure that we are honest in our attempts to change their minds.  As we debate others let us strive to base our arguments on what God has said, because God’s words are flawless.  Let us rely on His word, but make sure that we do not put our words into His mouth.  If we ask Him, and trust Him, God will keep us honest, will keep us from falsehoods and lies.  The writer then ties the idea that we should seek enough wealth to meet our worldly needs, but not so much that we think we do not need God.  As we seek to allow God to keep us honest we should also seek to depend on Him for our material needs.  And as we seek to depend upon Him for our material needs we should depend upon Him to keep us honest.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Proverbs 25-28.

When I first read through today’s passage I did not see any common themes running through the various proverbs in it.  So, I pulled out a few phrases around which I struck me as a basis to build what I would write.  Then I looked at them to begin to write and realized that at least some of them fit together.  The first thing I saw was how the writer emphasized the value of gentle patience.  When we seek to convince others gently and patiently reasoning with them from love will accomplish more than angry and forceful rhetoric.  Closely related to that, the writer warns us against hastily reaching conclusions.  Instead, we should wait for all of the facts to come out before we reach a conclusion about events.  Speaking of waiting for the facts, the writer tells us that gossip provides fuel for quarrels between people, and some people stir up strife for their own entertainment.  Neither succeeds if we do not allow them to convince us with partial information.  Rather than form an opinion about what others have done based on gossip, or the partial information provided by those who seek to generate strife, let us patiently wait for all of the facts.  Let us find others who will similarly seek to do God’s will, and ask them to test our thoughts before we reach a conclusion.

The writer gives us two proverbs together which seem to contradict each other:
Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
    or you yourself will be just like him.
 Answer a fool according to his folly,
    or he will be wise in his own eyes.
These two represent two important things to keep in mind when having a debate with someone.  The first one means that you need to make sure that you do not debate someone on issues where they make assertions which are not supported by their assumptions.  For example, if an atheist argues that God cannot be good because He allows for evil.  Ask him to explain what evil means.  Ask the atheist to explain what makes it evil.  Which in a way leads us to what the second of those two proverbs means.  When debating someone who has taken a foolish position (as defined by the Bible), take their assumptions to their logical, foolish conclusion.  Finally, when debating, or in any other sort of confrontation, with someone who is hostile, treat them well, do not return their hostility.  Instead, treat them with respect and provide for their needs.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.