Proverbs 5 Adultery-- Physical and / or Spiritual!
1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom; lend your ear to my understanding,
"My son, attend unto my wisdom,.... Not the wisdom of the world or of the flesh, worldly wisdom and carnal policy; but spiritual and evangelical wisdom; such as one that is greater than Solomon has in him, even Christ; 'for in him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge', Colossians 2:3; and which he teaches and communicates to others, even all proper instructions for conduct in life: the Gospel, and each of the doctrines of it, which are 'the wisdom of God in a mystery', 1 Corinthians 2:7, these every child of God, and disciple of Christ, ought carefully and diligently to attend unto;
and bow thine ear to my understanding: listen attentively to those things which I have, and give an understanding of, even things divine and spiritual; the understanding of which is of the utmost moment and importance." (Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible)
2 that you may preserve discretion, and your lips may keep knowledge.
"That thou mayest regard discretion,.... Observe it; retain it in thine heart, as Aben Ezra adds, and use it; think, speak, and act discreetly, and so avoid the bad woman afterwards described: the Vulgate Latin version is, 'that thou mayest keep the thoughts'; and so Gersom interprets the word; 'good thoughts', according to the Septuagint version; the thoughts of the heart are to be observed. A man of spiritual wisdom will take notice of them; evil thoughts, which lead to uncleanness, are to be repressed and kept in; good ones to be cherished and improved; wise and sagacious ones (such the word here used signifies) are to be attended to, as being of great advantage in the various affairs and business of life; and spiritual and evangelical wisdom helps to such thoughts, and directs to the observance and exercise of them;
and that thy lips may keep knowledge; may be able to speak of things worthy to be known, and communicate the knowledge of them to others; by which means useful knowledge will be kept and preserved, and be continued in successive ages; see Malachi 2:7; even the knowledge of God and of Christ, and of the Gospel and its doctrines; and which will be a means of preserving men, as from false doctrine, error, and heresy, so from profaneness and immorality; and particularly from the adulterous woman, next described."(Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible)
3 For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil;
"For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb. The conjunction 'for'... states the reason why the preceding exhortation is worthy of attention... The LIPS;...The organ of speech is here used for the speech itself, like the parallel 'mouth.' A STRANGE WOMAN (zarah); i.e. the harlot. The word occurs before in Proverbs 2:16, .... She is EXTRANEA, a stranger with respect to the youth whom she would beguile, either as being of foreign extraction, or as being the wife of another man,... In this sense she would be an adulteress. St. Jerome, in Ezekiel 6:1-14; takes her as the representative of the allurements from sound doctrine, and of corrupt worship (Wordsworth). DROP AS AN HONEYCOMB (nopheth tithoph' nah); rather, DISTIL HONEY. The Hebrew 'nophteth' is properly a 'dropping,' 'distillatio', and so the honey flowing from the honeycombs (tsuphim). Kimchi explains it as the honey flowing from the cells before they are broken, and hence it is the PURE FINE VIRGIN HONEY. Exactly the same phrase occurs in So Ezekiel 4:11, 'Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as an honeycomb (nopheth tithoph'nah).'.. [Perhaps this is reading the Bible translation without understanding or discernment... or wrestling to establish doctrine, like many do.]
Her mouth is smoother than oil; i.e. her words are most plausible and persuasive. The Hebrew 'khik' is properly 'the palate,' though it also included the corresponding lower part of the mouth (Gesenius). It is used as the instrument or organ of speech...'for my mouth (khik) shall speak truth;' and in Job 31:30, 'I have not suffered my mouth (khik) to sin.' Under the same figure David describes the treachery of his friend in Psalms 55:22, 'His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.'" (The Pulpit Commentary)
4 But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.
"But in the end she is bitter as wormwood... The verb [BITTER] 'marar' describes things that are harmful and destructive for life, such as the death of the members of the family of Naomi (Rth 1:20) or finding water that was undrinkable (Exo 15:22–27). The word indicates that the sweet talking will turn out badly." (The Agora Bible Commentary)
sharp as a two-edged sword... The Hebrew has 'like a sword of [two] mouths', meaning a double-edged sword that devours or cuts either way (cp Psa 149:6). There is no movement without damage. There may be a wordplay here with this description of the sword with two mouths, and the subject of the passage being the words of her mouth -- which also have two sides... The strange woman turns out to be bitter and cutting. Her first impressions are deceitfully dangerous; they disguise the fatal poison; they cover the deadly blade. She will take you to death, all the while you 'enjoy' the trip! She will take all your time, for lusts are not satisfied with short liaisons or infrequent contact. The guilt will devour you day and night. Fear of being caught and exposed will destroy your confidence and conscience. The lie you must live to cover your sin will turn your life into a perpetual drama of deception. How bitter! How cutting!
Beyond all this, know that she certainly deceived others in order to seduce you, and it is only a matter of time until she deceives you for another! The betrayal of 'love' and devotion will leave you vulnerably insecure. The prospect of revenge by her husband or father will chase you wherever you go -- you'll be afraid of shadows and looking over your shoulder all your life! And your reputation will be destroyed, while those you care about most in the world will quite possibly come to despise you!
Since she has, undoubtedly, had other 'lovers', your health will be at risk -- and perhaps terminally so, such is the world we live in now! Neither does her 'love' come cheaply, whether she is a true prostitute, or only an 'imitation' one! She will expect much in exchange for her 'favors' -- and you will pay in ways you can scarcely imagine. And then, finally, as if it all weren't enough... there comes the Last Judgment -- almost too much to contemplate (vv 11,12)! " (The Agora Bible Commentary)
5 Her feet go down to death, her steps lay hold of hell.[Sheol-- the grave]
6 lest you ponder her path of life— her ways are unstable; you do not know them.
Proverbs 5 Come Out Of Her, My People
7 Therefore hear me now, my children, and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
"Hear me now therefore, O ye children,.... Since such is the character, this the wretched end, and these the ways of the adulterous woman; those that are young in years, and liable to be ensnared by her, should hear what Solomon, or Christ, here says, for their caution and instruction; and especially such who are, or profess themselves to be, the children of God and of Christ; and therefore, as dear children, should be followers of them, and not of an harlot;
AND depart not from the words of my mouth... the warnings, directions, and exhortations given to avoid the whorish woman; the doctrines of Christ, the truths of the Gospel: these should not be forsaken, but abode by; and also his precepts and ordinances, which should be closely attended unto." (Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible)
8 Remove your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house,
"Remove thy way far from her...The term conveys the impression that the youth has come within the compass of her temptations, or that in the highest degree he is liable to them. The Hebrew meal, compounded of min and al, and meaning 'from upon,' being used of persons or things which go away from the place in or upon which they had been.
And come not nigh the door of her house; i.e. shun the very place where she dwells. 'Be so far from coming into her chamber as not to come near the door of her house' (Patrick). She and her house are to be avoided as if they were infected with some mortal disease. The old proverb quoted by Muffet is applicable -
'He that would no evil do,
Must do nothing that 'longeth [i.e. belongeth] thereto.'
The reasons why the harlot is to be avoided follow in rapid succession."(The Pulpit Commentary)
9 lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one;
10 lest aliens be filled with your wealth, and your labors go to the house of a foreigner;
11 and you mourn at last, when your flesh and your body are consumed,
12 and say: “How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised correction!
13 I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me!
14 I was on the verge of total ruin, in the midst of the assembly and congregation.”
The Fall of the False Church-- "After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, 'Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication (HER HARMFUL DOCTRINE), the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.'
And I heard another voice from heaven saying, 'Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her. In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’ Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her." (Rev 18:1-8 )
This end-time, false church will be appointed an inheritance of the wicked. She will be tormented or vexed (Rev 18:7). This comes from the Greek basanizo, a word often translated ‘torment:’ but which, according to Strong’s Concordance, meant literally ‘a touch stone.’ "A touch stone was used in gold mining, to assay the gold content of ore. The ore was rubbed against the stone and, if containing gold, would leave streaks of gold on the touch stone. Idiomatically, it came to signify a ‘putting to the test, an investigation, to assay or assess.’” http://www.heraldmag.org/literature/bio_6.htm The guilty are also promised death, mourning and famine of the Word of God. (Rev 18:8)
Proverbs 5 -- Cisterns of Living Water
15 Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well.
16 Should your fountains be dispersed abroad, streams of water in the streets?
17 Let them be only your own, and not for strangers with you.
18a Let your fountain be blessed,
Cisterns of Living Water by Lyn Chaffart
“Does this passage puzzle you as much as it did me when I read it? After all, what could possibly be wrong with drinking water that someone else has given to you? And certainly there is nothing wrong with sharing a glass of water with someone else!
Of course, if you read it in context, Solomon is advising against the evils of [spiritual] adultery [with other gods], a vital lesson to be learned! But as I contemplated these verses, a second potential meaning was impressed upon me. Reference to springs of water, streams of water, cisterns of water, etc are not uncommon in the Bible, and these terms have often been used in Scripture to represent the Holy Spirit: ‘the Lord, the spring of living water.’ (Jer. 17:13), ‘Jesus answered her: If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.’ (John 4:10), and ‘Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him would later receive’ (John 7:38,39)
Could this passage be subtly teaching us an important lesson about a friendship with Jesus? Could this be suggesting that we cannot experience the Holy Spirit without a personal relationship with Jesus? That we can’t experience the Holy Spirit through someone else? Likewise, could this be saying that we can’t be the source of the Holy Spirit for someone else, and therefore, we shouldn’t even try?
Yet how many sincere Christians try to get all of their spiritual drink from outside sources? From churches, pastors, sermons, etc., always taking the interpretation of someone else without bothering to take it back to God for verification?
Some time ago I was studying with sincere lady who had expressed a sincere desire to have a personal friendship with God. We met together, at this lady’s request, once a week, and she listened hungrily to what I had to say. However, when she heard something that didn’t ‘jive’ with what she had learned in the past, she simply dismissed it. When she was encouraged to take the time to study on her own, she always found some excuse not to do so. She was trying to drink water from other sources! I don’t wish to sound too harsh, for much of this was my own doing. You see, I was trying to ‘force’ my own understanding of the Bible on her, fully expecting her to accept it because I said it was gospel truth! And guess what? It didn’t work! The poor lady ended up more and more frustrated, and even worse, she moved farther and farther away from her own personal friendship with Jesus! Why? Because I was allowing my ‘springs’ to ‘overflow in the streets’! I was trying to ‘share’ my water with her, when what I should have been doing was trying to direct her to have her own personal ‘cistern, running water from [her] own well’!
We cannot be, nor should we try to be, the source of ‘water’ for anyone. Instead, our God-given role is to guide others into a personal relationship with God so that they will find their ‘own cistern, running water from [their] own well’. Neither can we accept another human being as a source of ‘water’ for ourselves! We must have that personal friendship with Jesus in order to be able to ‘Drink water from your own cistern’, as Solomon advises us to do! We must take everything we read or hear—in Bible school, in church, in inspirational books, from Christian friends, from our pastors—back to God for verification through Bible Study and Prayer.
Lord, I want You to be my only source of water! Give me wisdom to be able to guide others to their own sources of that wonderful water that each of us needs!”
http://www.scripturalnuggets.org/folder1/CISTERNS%20FO%20LIVING%20WATER.htm
18 b ... And rejoice with the wife of your youth.
“Jarchi interprets this of the law learned in youth; but it might be much better interpreted of the pure apostolic church of Christ, ‘the beulah’, to whom her sons are married, Isaiah 62:4; to whom they should cleave with delight and pleasure, and not follow the antichristian harlot.” (Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible)
Jesus is the Bridegroom; the Church is the Bride. (Mark 2:19-20; John 3:29) “You shall no longer be termed forsaken, nor shall your land any more be termed desolate; but you shall be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you; and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.” (Isaiah 62:4-5)
19 As a loving deer and a graceful doe, let her breasts satisfy you at all times; and always be enraptured with her love.
20 For why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman, and be embraced in the arms of a seductress?
“To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, ‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. NEVERTHELESS I HAVE THIS AGAINST YOU, THAT YOU HAVE LEFT YOUR FIRST LOVE. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”’ (Revelation 2:1-7)
[YOU HATE THE DEEDS OF THE NICOLAITANS, WHICH I ALSO HATE] “Who are these people and what do they believe that is so offensive to a righteous God?... some suggest that they are followers of the deacon Nicholas who was appointed at the time of Steven (See Acts 6:5)…”(Nicholas Brightman)
“Here Paul’s ‘wolves’ are called Nicolaitanes. They were… trying to establish as ‘Priestly Order’—PROBABLY trying to model the Church after the Old Testament order of Priests, Levites, and common people. This is seen in the meaning of the word which is from ‘Niko’ to conquer, to overthrow, and ‘Laos’ the people or laity. The object was to establish a ‘Holy Order of Men,’ and place them over the laity, which was foreign to the New Testament plan, and call them not pastors, but— Clergy, Bishops, Archbishops, Cardinals, Popes. Here we have the origin of the dogma of ‘Apostolic Succession,’ and the separation of the Clergy from the Laity, a thing that God ‘hates.’ The church at Ephesus was not deceived, but recognized them as false apostles and liars.” (Clarence Larkin)
21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He ponders all his paths.
22 His own iniquities entrap the wicked man, and he is caught in the cords of his sin.
23 He shall die for lack of instruction, and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.