Notes from Studying the Book of Proverbs Ch 3

In verses 1-2 we learn that if we hide God’s laws in our hearts being not forgetful hearers, His Word will prolong our lives. These 2 verses corroborate Ecclesiastes 7:12 which says “For wisdom is a defense, and money is a defense: but the excellence of knowledge is, that wisdom gives life to them that have it”.

Verses 3-4 exhorts us to make love and faithfulness our life pattern. Love simply means treating others as we would like to be treated. It is important at this juncture to emphasize that it is not necessary to like people before you love them. Love everybody, including those you don’t like. Faithfulness means that we do not renege on the things we have agreed on verbally, in writing or as implied by behavior. This makes us God’s children because Numbers 23:19 makes us understand that faithfulness is a cardinal quality of God. He does not go back on His Word. Faithfulness does not depend on the other party’s behavior. God was/is faithful to the children of Israel and us even when we are not faithful to Him.

Verse 5 says we should trust in God and lean not on our own understanding. To understand this let us all read John 20:29 “Jesus said unto him, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed”. Thomas did not trust Jesus who is The Son of God. He wanted confirmation before he believed. But God wants us to take His Words in The Bible at face value and believe without waiting for a dream, a prophet to confirm it or some other sign. An angel or a dream is not greater than God’s revealed Word in The Bible.

Verse 6 says if we acknowledge God He will direct our paths. Jesus demonstrated this verse. Before He took important decisions, He would isolate Himself and pray to God for direction. His Father was His power source. Luke 6:12-14 says “One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles”. What this means is that we cannot act on impulse. Impulses are often from the enemy  or the flesh which is why they mostly contradict Godly principles.

Verses 7-8 admonishes us not to be wise in our own eyes. The highest that human beings can attain to without God is cleverness. This is manipulative and creates strife. This is the reason why manipulators always love crisis, because that is when they are able to do their best work. Without a connection to God’s principles we cannot attain wisdom.

Verse 9 says we should honour God with the First fruits of our substance. This is clear and unambiguous. If you are not making contributions to The Kingdom of God (church, missions, evangelism) as a First Line charge on your income you are not obeying this principle. Matthew 6:33 says we should seek first The Kingdom. Those who seek it second or third are placing something else before God.

Verse 10 tells of the reward of obeying verse 9.

Verses 11-12 teaches us that God uses discipline to help us grow better the way a gardener uses shears to prune bushy branches from a tree so it may grow better.

Verses 13:18 extol the virtues of wisdom assuring us that it will bring peace, prosperity and long life.

Verses 19-20 reveal, albeit secretly, the identity of wisdom when it says “By wisdom the LORD laid the earth’s foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place;. by his knowledge the watery depths were divided, and the clouds let drop the dew”.  Since we are told that God used wisdom in creating earth and dividing the waters, the question becomes, how did God create the earth and divide the waters?

Genesis 1:1-2 says “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters”. God created the earth and divided the waters using His Spirit. From this we understand that God’s Holy Spirit is the Dispenser of Wisdom.  And we see this in Numbers 27:18 when God told Moses “And the LORD said unto Moses, Take you Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay your hand upon him”. God chose Joshua as the successor to Moses because Joshua was wise and the reason Joshua was wise is because he had The Spirit of God.

Verses 21-26 describes the protective power of wisdom. How it preserves those who seek it from the fate that befalls the wicked.

Verses 27-28 deals with the love aspect of wisdom. We know that God is love and He permits His sun and rain to shine and fall on the just and unjust. So these verses admonish us to act like God and never refuse to do any good required of us by our neighbour when it is within the power of our hands to do so.

Verses 29-31 admonishes us not to falsely accuse people out of jealousy of plot against them. This warning is directed to the righteous because we may have such temptations when we see the unrighteous prospering.

Verses 32-35 teaches us that God has a curse on the house of the wicked. This means that some people may suffer the consequences of a curse because of where they dwell. If we dwell in a cursed place, we are not cursed but we may see the consequences of curses around us. From this we learn that we should be sensitive in making decisions as to where we dwell.