The Book of Proverbs

Chapter 13

Proverbs 13:1  A wise child accepts a parent’s discipline; a mocker refuses to listen to correction.

King Solomon instructed his son(s), and we can be certain that he also spoke these proverbs from his throne to those who came to listen to his wisdom, whether they were Jew or foreign pagan kings or leaders of other nations.  A wise father will teach his son wisdom in the same way that he follows wisdom.  That way, that same kind of wisdom can be passed on down from father to son. 

• If a child is rebellious, however, that child will miss out on one of the greatest gifts a father can give to his son.  A rebellious child does not listen to rebuke, rejecting the guidance of his father; therefore not learning the important lessons his father purposed to teach him.

² Wise words will win you a good meal, but treacherous people have an appetite for violence.  ³ Those who control their tongue will have a long life; opening your mouth can ruin everything.

Wise and gracious speech brings forth many different kinds of blessings, including favors from God and others, as well as prosperity in life.   Many years can be added to those who speak wise words, especially in a moment of crisis, which will carry one over a lifetime.  Wise words spoken at the right time can free you from a lot of trouble when troublesome troublesome people come your way. 

• Those who speak unkind words to people while putting them down do not have the favor of God or from others, furthermore, they are acting out as pawns in the hands of Satan.  This kind of speech has the propensity to bring forth violence, should that kind of speech be spoken to the wrong person.  Just as wise speech has the propensity to add years to one's life, unkind words spoken in a moment of crisis can shorten one's life as well.

⁴ Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper.

• Because lazy people do not apply themselves to their tasks at hand, nothing gets accomplished.  It isn’t that he or she doesn't want the job done, because they do desire it completed, but they either see the task as overwhelming, or they just don't have the ambition to complete the task.  Furthermore, they lack the diligence to get the job done.  Again, hard work with diligence gets the task done and sense of pride comes when the task is accomplished.

I can't help but think how that applies to our spiritual life as well.  Have you often thought how you wished you knew more about the Bible, but just don't think you have the time or the gumption to do it?  Or, I'll read it later, or tomorrow?  Or, how about our relationship with the Lord?  Do you often wish you had a closer relationship with Jesus, but you just don't seem to spend that quality time in prayer with Him in the morning?  You mean well, but the days seem to fly by and you just haven't spent that quality kind of time with Him yet and now the day is finished?

• Well, you are not alone.  I think as Christians we all fall in either of those categories from time to time.  While we certainly don't want to make a Law about our relationship with the Lord,  we do need to have regular time spent in His Word and in our prayer closet.  Chances are, our trusty phones with Facebook, Pinterest, and games often get in the way with our time with the Lord.  This is something we all need to guard against.
• I know for me, when I seem to lose that zest for wanting to be with the Lord, the best thing I do is simply ask the Holy Spirit to nudge me when to pray, whether it means to stop what I am doing, or get up earlier, or simply just give me back that desire to be with Him.  The Holy Spirit honors that!  And when we get back on track, how wonderful we feel, and our communication with the Lord gets stronger and stronger.

⁵ The godly hate lies; the wicked cause shame and disgrace. 

God is love and truth, and not only that, He cannot lie. He hates lying from us and considers it an abomination.  We were created in the image and likeness of God, and God so desires that we become holy like Him in love and truth. 

• The wicked - those who choose to live contrary to the will of God may find temporary excitement in life while they feed on the things that God considers wicked and abominable.  They will, however, eventually be brought down to shame and disgrace.  

⁶ Godliness guards the path of the blameless, but the evil are misled by sin.

For a righteous or blameless person who lives a godly life, his or own conscience will guide him because that person has renewed his or her mind to God's knowledge, understanding and wisdom.  Righteousness guides him or her through life.  While a blameless life is not free from temptation and sin, he or knows the value of repentence and forgiveness.  When sin is repented of, forgiveness comes.  As such, the righteous or blameless person is honored and blessed by God.

• The sinner who practices wickedness, however, surcombs to the wiles of the devil in that when the devil tempts him or her with wickedness, not only will he give in, but will take pleasure in doing the evil deed. 

⁷ Some who are poor pretend to be rich; others who are rich pretend to be poor.

• Material wealth does not make the person, nor does it give lasting happiness.  One may work hard to make himself rich yet at the end of it all realizes he has nothing - in the same way that King Solomon came to the same realization.  He ended his life as a wretched old man, living out the sorrows of his wrong decisions in his later life.
• On the other hand, ones who appears to be poor, or more correctly appears not to have wealth,  generally do not rely on their wealth for happiness.  These kind of people are often generous to others because they do know their riches do not bring  happiness and success in life.  They share what they have - and that gives them great pleasure. 
• In the same way, Jesus had it all.  He was rich beyond measure, yet He chose to become poor for our sakes.  As the Son of God, He left His riches in heaven to come to earth to become poor like us, and because of what He did, we are spiritually rich in Him.  (2 Cor 8:9)

⁸ The rich can pay a ransom for their lives, but the poor won’t even get threatened.

Whenever kidnapping and ransoms are demanded, it is done only on the rich because the kidnappers know the kidnapped have the means to give out the ransom money.  The poor are not threatened in that area, because they would have nothing to offer any kidnappers.  In that respect, the poor escapes these kind of dangers.   

⁹ The life of the godly is full of light and joy, but the light of the wicked will be snuffed out.

The life of the godly and the wicked are displayed by light and darkness.  The godly to light and the wicked to darkness.  In the light, there is rejoicing, and in darkness the wicked cannot and will not see light.  

• This also could possibly be referring to the end judgment where the godly will live in the light of God forever, whereas the wicked will live in darkness and eternal punishment forever.  

We have learned that anything that goes contrary to the will of God, God considers wicked or evil and is a sin.  Sin is sin - and there are no degrees or levels of sin in God's eyes while mankind lives upon this earth.  Judgment Day, however, will come to everyone after leaving this earth and the books will be opened and God will judge accordingly.  For believers in Christ they will stand before Christ at the Judgment Seat of Christ following the Rapture of the Church, and for all unbelievers - those who have not believed, nor put their trust in Christ Jesus as their Lord and Savior, they will stand before God at the Great White Throne Judgment following Christ's second coming.  No one escapes judgment. 

For unbelievers, they will have to stand before God at the Great White Throne Judgment and the books will be opened on their life.  Everything sinful deed will be listed in that book and God will judge that person according to their sins into an Eternal Lake of Fire to spend all eternity.

• When I was a young teenager, swimming with my cousins, I drowned.  As I was going down for the third time God showed me a vision of judgment of my life.  I saw every sin I had committed in my life like a TV screen rolling in front of me, and there were hundreds - maybe thousands of sins that were shown before me.  Then I saw the flames of hell below me - and I was, like a magnet, being pulled down into those flames.  Right before I reached those flames, I blanked out.  The next thing I knew I was laying on the dock and one of my cousins was giving me mouth to mouth resesitation, and I was revived. 
• I knew for sure that I was going to hell.  Even though I had spent my life in church, I was still going to hell.  This experience, however, was the impudous that brought me to come to Jesus and surrender my life to Him.  That was 68 years ago.  

If you have accepted Jesus as your own personal Lord and Savior, fully trusting in Him, Judgment Day will be entirely different for you than that of an unbeliever.  Believers in Christ will stand before Christ following the Rapture of the Church, and when the books are open, Jesus will find no sin for any believer.  The pages of their sin will be blank because Jesus paid the penalty for their sins of the cross of Calvary.  Believers have been set free from the penalty of sin because of their faith and trust in Jesus.  Believers, however, will be judged on what they did for Christ and what they have done with what God has given them - according to the gifts and talents God bestowed upon them.   There will be no eternal penalty for their sins, but only eternal rewards depending on how they served Christ and mankind while on earth as they rule and reign with Christ.

• My life changed that day 68 years ago from death to life.  I am no longer afraid of dying, because hell is not my future home, but I will be spending eternity with Jesus, and I know that the Judgment book of my life will be white and clean, because Jesus paid the price for my sins, and I have accepted Him as my Lord and Savior.  

The believing Jews of the Old Testament believed in the resurrection and an afterlife, but their afterlife will be different than that of Christians.  They will not inherit heaven like that of believers in Jesus Christ.  Jews have been promised a resurrection of the body to receive all the promises given to them through the prophets, which is the promise of their land and all of its blessings.  Then they will be judged according to the Mosaic Law.  Their promised land will come when their Messiah comes to rescue them, which Christians know of as the 2nd coming of Christ. 

All other people - Jew and Gentile alike - those who did not follow the Mosaic Law will be judged and condemed to the Lake of Fire at the Great White Throne Judgment when they stand before God to be judged.  Today, those who did not believe in their heart who Jesus is and what He has done for them, as considered unbelievers and just like the Gentiles of the Old Covenant, they will have to stand before God at the Great White Throne Judgment, and sent into the Eternal Lake of Fire.  

¹⁰ Pride leads to conflict; those who take advice are wise.

What is pride?  Excessive self-focus thinking you are better than others prevents anyone from being humble - the very thing that God looks for in a person.  When people are focused only on themselves, there will always be conflict.  

• Pride is probably the #1 sin that God judges on.  While sin is sin, pride was the sin that Satan fell to.  Pride was the 1st sin listed in Proverbs 6 that God considers an abomination. 
• Since none of us are without fault, we must know that it takes a humble person to admit they have sinned or made an error.  It takes humble people to seek advice from godly people to walk in wisdom. 
• God wants all of us to walk humbly before Him so that the Lord can reach us with His godly wisdom.  First comes His knowledge, then understanding, and then wisdom.

¹¹ Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows over time.

• In get-rich quick schemes, someone will be on the losing end.  That means that those who get rich quick are doing it by dishonest means.  God cannot blessed that kind of action.  That's why the Lord keeps stressing hard work.  Good hard honest labor will take longer, but it reaps lasting results.  God honors that!  While get-rich quick schemes quickly appear, they disappear just as quickly.  Easy come - easy go!

¹² Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.

• Hope is a wonderful gift God has given us.  It sustains the heart when things look bleak.  When hope labors on and on, however, people start to waiver and if gone on really long, eventually people lose their hope.  They become the hopeless.  As this verse says here, losing hope makes the heart sick.  That is why we need to keep encouraging ourselves in what we are hoping for.  That means standing on the promises of God given to us in His Word.  And it certainly helps to receive encouragement from others in our hope as well.  
• When hope is fulfilled, people rejoice, and it is like a tree of life or streams in the desert.