We all know that we will die someday and the author supposes anyone would be aware of this fact that reads the words that he has left for us. It matters that we know all of scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit because the authority of the author rests not on his story and its logic or on his experience and the accumulated experiences of others alone. The father in Proverbs is King Solomon, who was endowed with Wisdom, Knowledge, and Understanding. We learned that he had a vastly huge heart for people. We are reading the words of someone who had exceptional ability to convey the truth of a matter to others and that he cared deeply and empathetically. He was speaking to his son and giving him the best advice that he could so his son could live a full and long life with the promise of eternal life. No one has a father of the caliber of King Solomon on this earth. He had no one that was his equal and had no reason to hold back the truth from anyone. The Proverbs were left in writing for people to read and benefit from the wealth of his Wisdom, Knowledge, and Understanding as well as someone who deeply cared for people and especially his son.

While King Solomon conveys admonitions of how to choose, he presents the choices the son will face in life, choices that he knew all people make in a lifetime. Being wise, King Solomon knows that he will not be there for his son as he goes about living his life in every circumstance. He presents his Wisdom to his son and has asked him to take to heart his words and make intelligent choices based on fact that represents the knowledge and understanding based on the experience of others as well as the Knowledge and Understanding given to him by God. The test speaks for itself and the witness of the Holy Spirit speaks to us from Proverbs if there are doubts as to the validity of what King Solomon has left for us to read inspired by the Holy Spirit. The following comments provided give some indication of the fact that stupidity and folly are not good choices.  In contrast to Lady Wisdom, Lady Stupidity seems a terrible choice for anyone.  Part of the heritage of today is the secularist and humanist, the naturalistic determinist who will tell is that either choice is of equal value, equal weight, and produces morally neutral outcomes with identical results in relativist terms. Harm, destruction, pain, injustice, and death are as pleasing to the secularist with relativistic values as health, safety, ease, justice, and life. Somehow we have evolved socially to the point, or are about to do so, in such a way that all things are good, it is just a matter of opinion. The plan of the humanist sounds good to some on paper and the promises of no consequences for anything that we do sounds alluring.  Little do some of us know that Death and the dead from Sheol resides as a guest with the secularist, the moral relativist, the humanist, the naturalistic determinist. Traditions and religions other than those from a Christian or Judaic view will promise variations on the experiences of mankind and attempt to equate the Bible with dusty old books supposedly inferior to their stories.  Some promise eternal Summerland no matter what people do or within certain strictures of codes of conduct so Folly can be visited again and again without negative consequences, now or in Eternity. The Bible makes a case for a way to Life and bares this life with the wart and all exposed.  Like the son of King Solomon, it is up to us to decide and make our own choices with the information available.

This passage is concerned with the choices the son will make in life and applies to us as well.  The prostitute Rahab was deemed righteous because she chose to help Joshua and his men, having listened to God.  In fact she is one of the ancestors of Jesus according to the New Testament.  Jesus prevented the adulteress from being stoned and was forgiven of her sins. The Savior’s first appearance was to Mary Magdalene. 

¹In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. ²And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. ³His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: ⁴And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. ⁵And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. ⁶He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. ⁷And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.

Matthew 28:1-7

01/29/04 11:34:23 AM