Now we are going to actually launch into the book of Proverbs proper, having had an overview of the book in our first article. We will begin by looking at the first nine chapters, and we will break that into two sections because these chapters are so extraordinarily important. Here, we look at chapters one through four and next week dig into the next five.
These nine chapters provide ten of what are called sermonic exhortations—invocations as if it were from a father to a son. These are invitations to pursue wisdom. On every page these ten various invitations provide not only the benefits of pursuing wisdom, but also, by contrast, the downside of neglecting wisdom—of rejecting wisdom’s offer. What we will see are chapters and verses designed to prepare the people, much like Deuteronomy was designed to prepare the people. Before you get to the legal material in Deuteronomy, the first eight or ten chapters focus on the preparation of the people, both morally and spiritually, and it is encouraging them to receive what they are about to hear, and to apply it to new generations.
Here, then, we see a generation being instructed and being told to learn and live, and not merely live and learn. They are being told to develop character, and then here are the reasons why. They are being told to develop a heart for the subject so that when they begin hearing the proverbs in chapter ten, they can hear that wisdom with a proper perspective, because what is the use in giving a person proverbs if they lack a heart to receive them? If you do not have a heart for the subject, then it is a hopeless task. So, the implication here is that the child is untutored, naïve, and is not formed yet in the way of wisdom, prudence, discernment, equity, righteousness, and knowledge. All these things must be formulated in the child, and you will hear many of these expressions again and again because they need to be heard again and again. As you know, repetition is a very important pedagogical device; if you do not repeat yourself people generally aren’t going to get the message the first time around. This is true in almost all relationships, and there are certain things that must be heard many times before you get the idea.
This is very true for the gospel itself; hearing about Jesus and what He offers, especially for a person who has never heard it before, sounds very much like a foreign language. It must be heard over and over, and often from several people, before some even get a clue as to what is going on because it goes against the natural bent of our mind. Normally we think we earn everything ourselves—we get into heaven the hard way, we earn it. Actually, we don’t earn it. If anything in Scripture is clear, this is it: we don’t earn it, and we don’t merit it; the Law was revealed not to save anybody but to make us realize the need for faith in the Lord. And then having put their faith and hope in Him, that brings about the justification and the change. So also, here, we have something that also transcends the Law insofar as Proverbs deals with the many aspects of living that are too fine to get caught in the mesh of the Law—aspects of living that are too small to be hit by the broadsides of the prophets. These are details of life that are more refined, and it is really in the small details of living that the decisive elements of our character are going to be developed and exposed. Proverbs is a book that looks at, and pays attention to, the little details of life, and that is why it is a very practical and often convicting book because it is so penetrating and so piercing.
Let’s begin our journey through the first four chapters. As I have mentioned, the book starts off by describing the authorship. Although we do know that Solomon did not author all of them, all are considered to be Solomonic. However, in verse one we see: “The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel.” We know, of course, that Solomon was a man whose knowledge was encyclopedic; his quest for wisdom made him a person who knew more than anyone else, who had understanding and discernment, and whose wisdom was so legendary that people would come from hundreds of miles away to hear him speak. He would often give lengthy discourses on birds, animals, and life itself. Sadly, of course, this wisest of men became foolish in his old age, becoming a man that did not follow his own wisdom. It is one thing to have wisdom, in terms of the knowledge; but it is another thing to apply it, and that needs to be done in dependence upon the power of God. The purpose of Proverbs was to know wisdom and instruction, and to discern the sayings of understanding.
So, what we have here in verse one is the title, and then in verses two through six we have the purpose of the book itself. The word ‘proverbs’—mashal in Hebrew—are simple illustrations that expose fundamental realities about life; that is the best way I know to define a proverb. The word also relates to similitudes, or comparisons; they are simple, pithy, and catchy; they can also be easily memorized, which is part of the idea here, and they can be understood and then applied. In short, they are sayings that serve us well.