14  He who blesses his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it will be counted a curse to him.

I love to sleep in the morning.  Most of my occupations has been to start later in the day.  I love to relax and slowly open my day and stay up later at night.  My husband, on the other hand, opens his eyes, and up he goes.  He's prompt at going to bed at his designated time.  He never needs any sort of alarm clock.  He rises early and gets right to it.

• I do remember when I did have jobs where I had to get up early.  That sound of the blasting alarm clock was an extreme annoyance to me.

While I don't think this scripture verse is talking about whether we are early or late risers, or having blaring sounds in our ears to wake us up -  but I do think we are talking about annoying voices that come to us that sound like praises, but in actuality are flattery with motives behind it.  Flattery is either deceptive or manipulative and not pleasant to the ears.

• Now, I enjoy praises just as much as anyone else.  But when I suspect it is coming in the form of flattery, I then put my guard up.  If it continues, then it becomes an annoyance.  At that point, I then start looking for motives in that person, and as this verse says, it can be counted as a curse.

15  A continual dripping on a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike;  16  Whoever restrains her restrains the wind, and grasps oil with his right hand.

Comparing a contentious woman is like a dripping faucet, stopping the wind or is as hard to manage as holding onto oil in your hand. 

• We have seen several verses on a contentious woman.  Because it is spoken of several times, King Solomon was stressing the importance of this proverb.

After meditating on these verses on contentious women, and doing additional research, here is my opinion, and I repeat my opinion.

This we know:  In Bible times, a woman was the possession of either her father or her husband.  When a man searched for a wife, and when he found one, a man looked at his wife as a piece of property with hopes that she would be a good wife.  On the other hand, the woman had her own hopes as well; however, she generally had no choice as to whom she would marry.  Even in certain countries today, that is the cultural.

• Sometimes marriages were arranged between families when the woman was still a child...or even the man while he was a boy.  The betrothal had then begun.  It was then assumed by the family that the two would eventually marry.  Their reasoning could be that the dowry was hefty, families wanted to stick together, or keep the arrangements within their tribe or a myriad of other reasons.
• The marriage could even be an old man picking out a young girl for a wife, and the girl had no choice in the matter.  As long as it was agreed by the girl's family, it was a done deal.
• When a man went out to choose a wife, and when finding one in which the woman's family consented to,  it was often done even without the knowledge or consent of the woman.  Upon choosing a wife, the man agreed to pay a certain fee in the form of a dowry, whether it was in livestock or a form of monetary to the family of the woman, and when it was agreed with the father, it was sealed with a glass of wine.  At that time they were betrothed.  Love generally had nothing to do with the marriage.
• The marriage consumation took place in the marriage tent where the bride then lost her virginity.  They were then considered married.  Then they left the tent to celebrate the marriage feast, and they would often celebrate for seven days.
• This was the culture, and this is the world that women lived in.  They were born into it, and all her life a girl knew that was her future as a woman.

In no place throughout Scripture is a woman commanded to love her husband - only submit to him.  It is the husband who is commanded to love his wife.

The wife had no choice in the marriage.  This was her lot in life whether she liked it or not.  Would she become one of these contentious wives that the Bible keeps speaking about?  As a woman, I ask these questions:

• Was the husband a good husband where he treated his wife kindly?
• Did he love her in a way the Scriptures command him to?
• Or could he have been mean and abusive?
• Maybe he was a weak man, full of vices, including excess drinking or other women?
• Was she treated more like a slave instead of a wife?

Generally, a woman will treat a man back in the same manner in which she was treated.  If she had an abusive husband, as many men were, she may cower and submit to his demands, and in the eyes of the man, she would be considered a good wife.  Or, if her husband was abusive or weak, having vices of wine and women, and especially if the wife was a strong woman, she would have a tendency to be contentious because her situation was abusive and she would be living more like a slave, with no place to go.  Her lot in life was to be either contentious or submissive unless she had a husband who treated her with love and kindness..

• If life was so unbearable to where she couldn't make the best of her situation, you could understand why she felt as she did.
• Then to hear her husband complain about her being a contentious woman, comparing her to a drippy faucet...that would be an insult. 

So taking what is known of Old Testament women and wives, and trying to put myself in one of their situations, I simply gave you my opinion as to how I might feel.

• Maybe I am off base, but I don't think so.

17  As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

Iron sharpens iron, but it happens when striking one iron against the other and friction happens. This scenario is used as a comparison in that one friend can be used to sharpen his friend through constructive criticism or continuous encouragement.  They walk together, talk together, grow from each other through thick and thin, being there for one another.  Each can learn from the other as they are honest enough with each other to share, care, and even confront when necessary. 

18  Whoever keeps the fig tree will eat its fruit; so he who waits on his master will be honored.

A man who spend the time and effort to plant and nurse a fig tree, which needs a lot of care, should be the one to enjoy the fruit of his labor.  To take it away would be dishonorable.  

• In the same way that a slave, or servant, takes care of his master, he too should be honored by his master, receiving his approval.

What does that say to us as New Covenant believers?  

• I believe it is telling us that when we are faithful to the Lord, following Him in His ways, He also honors us, and we are most certainly approved by Him.  He will treat us with respect and favor because we have been faithful to Him.

19  As in water face reflects face, so a man’s heart reveals the man.

Reflections reflect the image whether it is in the mirror or on the face of clear waters.  It becomes a perfect image of the reflection.

Our hearts too are reflected through our feelings, thoughts, facial expressions, words spoken, and actions taken.  Who we really are inside will eventually be shown to others around us as our words and actions reveal our heart.

20  Hell and Destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.

Sin begets sin, evil looks for more evil.  Satan is always on the prowl, seeking whome he may devour.  Sadly, hell keeps multiplying in numbers because sin is never content in itself - never satisfied.  

• Where is it any different than our desires?  We see something we lust after, and we lust even more.  So much so, to where we will never be satisfied.
• It could be lust for a woman, lust for power, lust for money - the good life, per se - and a person is never satisfied.  Always wanting more and more.

Until everyone of us turns our lives over to the Lord, allowing Him to be our satisfaction, we will always look outside of ourselves to find those desires.

• It always comes back to trusting in the Lord with all our heart, allowing Him to satisfy our souls.  That's is where true contention comes which nothing in this world could ever compare to.

21  The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold,
and a man is valued by what others say of him.

The refining of silver and gold means both have gone through the burning heat of taking out the dross to make it pure.  For then and only then can we consider it to be of value to us.

In order for us to be useful to God and others, we too must go through the refining fire of life.  The fire of life can be brutal at times, but depending on the sin, or dross that we have in our life, will also depend upon the amount of heat that we need to experience to change our ways to be useful to God and those around us.

• It then is not what we think of ourselves, for even a fool thinks himself wise, it is what others think of us. 
• We can ask ourselves questions: 
   
  • Am I kind to others?
  • Am I honest before God and man?
  • Do I show love in the same way Christ showed His love upon us?
  • How do I treat the poor?
  • Do I represent Christ and His Word to the world?
  • Do I follow Jesus' greatest command - love the Lord thy God with all my heart, and then love my neighbor as myself?
• If we do as Jesus' commanded, we will receive the honest praise and respect from others just as these verses tell us.

22  Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, yet his foolishness will not depart from him.

Some of you might not even know what a mortar and pestle are.  (Show)

• Originally it consisted of rock in which to grind grain or other substances into flour, mush, or even liquid.
• That same principle was used in making wine with a huge stone rolling on a base of stone.
• My mortar and pestal is made out of metal, which came from my husband's grandmother, making it over 100 years old.
• We can also see mortals and pestals today, made out of marble against marble. 
• Any extreme hard surface that can be used as a mortar, having the same kind of hardness in the pestal can effectively be used.

So then, though you grind a fool in a mortar and pestle, you cannot grind his foolishness out of him.   The foolishness will still be there. 

• One of the marks of a fool is that he will not learn.

23  Be diligent to know the state of your flocks, and attend to your herds;  24  For riches are not forever, nor does a crown endure to all generations.  25  When the hay is removed, and the tender grass shows itself, and the herbs of the mountains are gathered in,  26  The lambs will provide your clothing, and the goats the price of a field;  27  You shall have enough goats’ milk for your food, for the food of your household, and the nourishment of your maidservants.

Solomon wrote this with images from the world of animal because many of his people throughout Israel came from the world of agriculture.  Here we see King Solomon comparing it to several principles in life.

• Whatever you have charge over, be diligent to know the state of everything that is within your charge. 
• If you are in charge over flocks, herds, farmers, corporations, small businesses, management positions, pastors, or any other leadership role, take it as if God has given you charge over it. 
• You have got to know the conditions of everything that is under you in order to effective manage or lead it.   Col. 3:23 tells us that  whatever we do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.

If we take good care of what God has given us now, God can then bless us with the fruit of our labor to enjoy now and in the future.  If we don't, however, like a lazy man, it could slip away from us - little by little - until one day we see that we have lost it all.

• So then, be diligent in whatever task God has given to you.  Make the most of what you have.

We have finished chapter 27.

God bless!

Pastor Joyce Erickson
Believersbibleschool.com